Wisconsin-Northwestern thoughts

Sshould have watched Happy Feet on Showtime instead of that pile of crap. And I've seen Happy Feet - it sucks.

Not much good to report here, other than Landry's game, which was basically taking what Northwestern gave him. My biggest disappointment was not getting to see Wquinton Smith tonight, thought there was an even-money shot.

-Marcus really did play well, finishing inside against guys he should be able to finish against. This whole five different guys scoring 20 in five straight games is really pretty incredible. They're saying this is the first time that's happened in Wisconsin history; I would guess it's the first time this has happened in all of college basketball history.

As much fun as it was to watch Alando and, to an extent, Kam, take over games on a regular basis, it might be more fun to watch a different guy do it every night.

-Krabby also pretty well, especially on defense, but still had some pretty horrible passes. His reverse layups are sweet.

-Trevon had a really bad game. Wasn't able to penetrate until Northwestern was scrambling late, missed his shots, fell asleep on defense at times. Did he really hurt his ankle again? It looked like he'd have to come out, then five seconds later he's back at full speed.

-J-Bo didn't play very well, either. Before the game Northwestern's radio guy was talking about how their 1-3-1 leaves openings for 3-pointers. We were only 4-for-14 there, and J-Bo's looks were open. Also, he seemed like a magnet for double teams and did not deal with them proactively.

-On that note, our first half offensive approach was embarrassing. It looked like we hadn't prepared for the 1-3-1 at all, we made them look like friggin' Duke for 20 minutes.

-Flowers played a good game, did a nice job on Moore and pitched in his share of scoring. Maybe my favorite play of the game was when he leveled Thompson with that pick near the end, although it looked like Thompson was acting (shocking!).

-Thirty-seven free throws: good. Sixty-five percent free throw shooting: ugh. It's going to catch up to us at some point.

-Stiemsma didn't play tonight, and I figured it was just because of matchup reasons, but Bo just said on the radio that Greg had been nicked up physically and didn't practice yesterday. Hope he's better for Michigan on Tuesday, there are good matchups there.

-Poorly officiated game, the refs let both coaches influence calls

-How in the world does Coble average 18 a game? Krabby did a good job on him, but he didn't look like he had any moves to free himself for open looks, and Lord knows their offense isn't designed for anyone to score.

-Bill Carmody and Conan O'Brien: separated at birth?

-My take on Northwestern: I don't see how Carmody ever wins here. Granted, no one ever has won with that program, but his "system" is ridiculous. On offense, they do most of their work 45 feet from the basket, and their guards execute spin dribbles for no apparent reason.

The only consistent threat they had tonight was Michael Thompson driving - not fast enough to get around his defender - drawing contact, and going to the free throw line because Carmody whined enough to get a technical.

They shot 13 free throws, but probably earned about three of them. They miss a ton of shots, but don't send anyone to the offensive boards. Their first possession of each half end with a shot clock violation, and it couldn't have been because we threw an exotic defensive look at them.

The announcers said Carmody was making recruiting inroads into the Chicago Public League, but if the best he can get is Thompson, who didn't even attempt a jump shot tonight, and Sterling Williams, who looks like he'd be a better fit at Whitewater, well, that ain't gonna get it done.

Northwestern should follow the long-ago example of the University of Chicago and withdraw from Division I Big Ten athletic competition, put the money it saves on sports on its academic/research pursuits that would further mankind. God knows it would be better for someone in Evanston to cure cancer than watch Jeremy Nash hit the side of the backboard on a 3-pointer attempt.

At least the only time we saw Tim Doyle tonight was in the Big Ten Network studio at halftime.