Better Know An Opponent: Northern Illinois University

On Friday November 13 at 7pm local time, NU takes on Northern Illinois University ("NIU") in its first game of the historic 2009-10 men's basketball season.  The game is at the Welsh and will be streamed online at the Big Ten Network (available for $2.99).

NIU Quick Facts:
Location: DeKalb, IL
Nickname: Huskies
Coach: "Ricky" Ricardo Patton
Team Colors: Black and Red
Conference: Mid-American
Student Population: 25K
Most Famous Alum: Dan Castellanta (doh!!!!)

Other Notable Alums: Jimmy Chamberlin (Smashing Pumpkins drummer), Terry Boers (yes, of WSCR), Michael Turner (Atlanta Falcons RB)


NIU is located in DeKalb, IL which is about 65 miles west of Chi-town.  NIU better fits the Big Ten profile than Northwestern as it is a member of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities and has a student population that is much larger than Northwestern.  To better serve its student masses and lack of viable entertainment alternatives in bustling DeKalb, NIU also sports a good-sized, state-of-the-art basketball arena, the Convocation Center, which seats 10K.  Academically, NIU is best known for its bean counters as the school is ranked around the top 10 in the nation for accountants.  It must be a laugh a minute out there in DeKalb.

NIU is in the Mid-American Conference (aka, a "MAC-Daddy"), and is predicted to finish second by the media and first by Sporting News in the MAC West this year.  These are heady expectations for the Huskies who finished fifth last year in the MAC West.  The thinking is that NIU played lots of sophs and frosh last year, and their growing pains will begin to pay dividends this season.

It's difficult to get a bead on these Huskies because, well, this is the first game of the year.  Hence, we at Carmody Court are forced to extrapolate from last year's season.  Overall, the Huskies return 88% of their scoring and 79% of their rebounding.  Their best player was Darion "Jake" Anderson, a junior guard who averaged 17 ppg and 5.5 rpg and can fill it up from distance (37% 3FGM, about 4 attempts per game).  Anderson declared for the NBA draft (sans agent) in May 2009 but returns for another year to build his resume.  Joining Anderson in the backcourt is Mike DiNunno, a soph guard who also likes to launch bombs but isn't quite as proficient at it (34% 3FGM, about 5 attempts per game).  The Huskies have their own version of Alex Marcotullio in Troy Nixon, a true frosh sharpshooter from South Holland IL.

It is appropriate to think of the Huskies as Boulder-East as they have Sean Kowal at center, a kid who made the switch along with Coach Patton from Colorado.  Kowal led the MAC in FG% last year.  Xavier Silas makes his debut in a Huskie uniform against NU after also transferring in from Colorado. 

NIU's weaknesses last year play right into NU's hands.  They were prone to turning the ball over (Nash should have a field day) and defensive lapses (never a good thing against an offense as perpetually active as Northwestern).  NIU also struggled a bit from the charity stripe (60% FTM overall), so NU should not be allowing any easy baskets on slashes toward the hoop.

In short, NIU shapes up to be a worthy foe on Friday.  NIU's backcourt should have an advantage as Crawford gets his legs, though I fully expect Nash to come in quickly off the bench to neutralize this advantage by creating some turnovers and easy fast break points.  NU's advantage is in the front court given our height advantage.  I don't think NIU will have a collective answer for Mirk, Coble, and Shurna which should prove to be NIU's downfall.

Better Know an Opponent: Robert Morris University Illinois

NU takes on the Eagles of Robert Morris University Illinois ("RMU-IL") for an exhibition tomorrow (11/4/09) at 7pm.  The game is at the Welsh and will be streamed online at the Big Ten Network (available for $2.99).

RMU-IL, not to be confused with the better known RMU in Pittsburgh, play in the CCAC (Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference) which is part of the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics).  RMU is a perennial NAIA tourney team and made it to the NAIA Final Four last year.

This is the second straight year NU and RMU (IL) have laced 'em up for an exhibition.  Last year, NU lost which had some NU fans in a tizzy.  Of course, the reason why NU lost was not because NU was bad but because Coach Carmody used the exhibition for what it was intended (i.e, to throw a bunch of things onto the wall to see what sticks -- including a baptism by fire for the five frosh).

Since last year's exhibition loss, Robert Morris has become a University (was a college) and opened a ninth campus in Elgin (go Fighting Elgins!).

So.... what to expect from tomorrow's game?  As was the case last year, Carmody will certainly use the exhibition to try different things and test out some unknowns (the frosh, and the sophs/juniors who didn't play much last year).  The final score?  Aside from some fans who don't understand the point of an exhibition, no one should care nor take anything from it (except for getting a first look at this year's historic squad!!!!!).

Better Know An Opponent: Tulsa

The first installment in the (potential, annual) 344 part "Better Know an Opponent" series (series title and description inspired by and credited to eminent fellow NU alum Colbert, Stephen of The Colbert Report. All associated royalties will be remitted to Mssr. Colbert)...

Get your kicks on Route 66 and learn about NU's first round NIT opponent:

University of Tulsa
Location: Tulsa, OK
Type: Private
# of Undergraduates: ~3K
Campus: "Urban" (ahem)
Motto: Wisdom, Faith, Service (don't they teach Latin in OK?)
Nickname: Golden Hurricanes (Ummm, how many hurricanes do they get in Tulsa? Perhaps they got confused and meant the Golden Tornadoes -- Tulsa is located in Tornado Alley)
Mascot: Captain Cane (this guy?)Official Colors: Old Gold, Royal Blue, Yellow, and Crimson (with so many, why not jump in with both feet and go with ROYGBIV?)
President: Dr. Steadman Upham (name sounds snooty enough for NU!)
Conference: Conference USA (USA! USA! USA!)
Notable Alums: Paul Pressey, Hank Haney, Steve Largent, Nancy Lopez, Lovie Smith, Gus Frerotte, Ray Rhodes, Dennis Byrd

Basketball Team:
University of Tulsa (24-10, 12-4)
2008-09 Regular Season Finish: 2nd (1st: Memphis)
2008-09 Conference Tournament Finish: (2-1, 2nd place: L 39-64 Memphis)
Sagarin: #61, 0-6 vs Top 25, 1-7 vs Top 50 (NU: #54, 3-4, 6-10)
RPI: #53 (NU: #76)
Pomeroy: #58 Overall, #101 AdjO, #33 AdjD, #299 Consistency (NU: #66, #55, #83, #305)

Drilling down into the Pomeroy statistics, Tulsa is very good at eFG% defense (#5!) especially 3P% defense (#1!), is a good rebounding team (20th best at protecting the defensive glass), likes to play at a slow pace (#252 pace), and is a good shot blocking team (#32). Tulsa also appears to attack the rim as they are good at getting to the charity stripe (#47 in nation FTA/FGA).

On the flip side, they don't appear to be very good at protecting the ball. On offense, they are susceptible to ball pressure as they are the #229 worst team in turning the ball over and #271 in giving up steals. On defense, it's a similar story with an abysmal #329 ranking in forcing turnovers and #284 ranking in steals.

Sounds to me that Tulsa is a slow, tall team that doesn't take many risks on defense and is very deliberate about forcing the ball inside or driving the lane on offense.

Individually, they are led by Jerome Jordan, a 7'0" 240lb Junior center who is a rebounding, shot blocking, foul drawing, good free throw shooting fiend. Jordan is complemented by Ben Uzoh, a 6'3" 195lb Junior guard who is a workhorse with decent range and draws his fair share of fouls, too. Tulane has a couple long range bombardiers in Ray Reese and Justin Hurtt. The 5th player of note is Bishop Wheatley, a 6'6" Junior who does most of his work on the interior. Jordan subs out for Steven Idlet, a 6'10" frosh who isn't shy about shooting the ball but isn't nearly as efficient from the field or the charity stripe. Glen Andrews, a 6'3" sophomore, is their 7th man but does not shoot particularly well for a guard.