Sorry about all that turbulence earlier.
It doesn’t seem too long ago that Purdue came to Evanston and embarrassed the Northwestern men’s basketball team in its conference home opener. In the Boilermakers’ 69-61 win, the Wildcats made Purdue center John Allison look Shaq-like in the paint and let forward Rodney Smith jet past them in the air.
A shaky takeoff, to say the least.
But eight home games later the Cats have finally leveled their wings and taken the plane to heights it hasn’t flown at since the NIT season two years ago. Home wins over Iowa and Penn State and a gutsy effort in a loss to Ohio State on Saturday are clear proof of an NU turnaround – of a team that has improved exponentially since the beginning of the year.
“I haven’t said that much that we’ve improved this year as it has gone along,” NU coach Bill Carmody said Saturday. “But I thought we were a pretty decent team out there tonight. I liked the way our guys played.”
The Cats have Carmody to thank for what has turned into a promising end to the season. When Kevin O’Neill ejected from the cockpit without warning – the parachute that opened up somewhere above New York City may or may not have been emblazoned with a middle finger – he left Carmody to come rushing up from business class to pull NU out of its spinning nosedive.
And after weeks of yanking up on the joystick, Carmody has his team competing and playing aggressive basketball – at least at home.
“The first step to having a good program is that no one can beat you on your home court,” Carmody said.
If that’s the case, then NU is starting to shape up. Against Ohio State, the Cats played tight defense and inspired offense. On the whole, they were a few missed threes and a couple of botched breaks from winning the game.
Tavaras Hardy is playing like a true leader, having grown comfortable with his role as the Cats’ scorer down in the trenches. He poured in 23 against Penn State and notched 17 against Ohio State – a few of those points coming one-on-one against all-conference center Ken Johnson, the best shot-blocker in Big Ten history.
Meanwhile, Jitim Young has left his freshman growing pains at the baggage claim, blossoming into a complete player and a proven starter in less than one season.
One of Saturday’s most dazzling plays was Young driving to the basket and tossing in a layup over Ken Johnson’s 747 wingspan, drawing a foul in the process. (The other, incidentally, was Hardy faking out Johnson at the top of the key and driving the lane for a two-handed flush.)
Ben Johnson, who scored 10 points Saturday, is regaining the scoring form that earned him high praise as a freshman last season, and Winston Blake has consistently knocked down his threes at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Considering that the Cats’ first conference game this season was a 73-56 loss to the Buckeyes, NU has come a long way. And the Cats are finding their comfort zone at a peak time – just before the conference tournament.
Of course, there was a stretch of games earlier this season that had Carmody and his staff reaching for the under-the-seat flotation devices.
The preflight safety demonstration didn’t exactly have the flight attendants pantomiming 3-for-19 three-point shooting against Illinois or 6-for-23 at Purdue. Insert the buckle into the clasp and pull until the belt is fastened tightly around your neck. Remember, air-sickness bags are located in the seat in front of you.
At about the time they were served in-flight drinks, the Cats were 0-10 in the conference and hovering at a dangerously low altitude, the losses piling up like screaming toddlers kicking their seats from behind.
But then came a win against Iowa, the end of a record Big Ten losing streak and the beginning of the best stretch of basketball NU fans have seen in a while – the frequent-flier-miles equivalent of a trip to Acapulco. With the toddlers muzzled.
The win sparked the Cats, who won their next home game against Penn State to ensure that they would finish the year with a winning record at Welsh-Ryan (now at 8-7).
“Each game we build our confidence,” Ben Johnson said.
Said Ohio State coach Jim O’Brien: “It’s not so much playing against individual players as it is playing against a system. They seem to be a lot more comfortable than they did the last time we played them.”
No longer reaching for the oxygen masks, the Cats are flying high.
They thoroughly outplayed Penn State and beat up a game – albeit lame – Iowa squad. Either of those teams could serve as the Cats’ first-round opponent in the Big Ten tournament in two weeks. The skies are suddenly much friendlier.
The Cats have earned their wings. They finally understand their coach’s plan and have the confidence they lacked under Kevin “Kamikaze” O’Neill.
Captain Carmody called the Ohio State loss the Cats’ best performance this year and “a game next year I hope we win.”
Let’s hope they can fly away from that “doormat” label, too.
Leo Ebersole is a Medill junior. He can be reached at [email protected].
