Impressions from last night in Evanston
I was one of the many (thousands?) who donned some maize and blue and took over Northwestern's "Arena" last night, and it was the first time I've seen this team in person, and it's slow on the board, so here are my thoughts:
- We're really good at basketball. It seemed like we weren't even quite hitting on all cylinders, but even with a couple of misfires we put up 94 points.
- Trey Burke loves being faster than everyone. It's not every day you can beat a guy who is a foot taller than you for a layup.
- Timmy found his stroke. Ankle? What ankle? His bad decisions have been cut immensly. And even when he took a ball to the rim that didn't look like it was in the flow of the offense, he got to the line. He's matured a ton as a basketball player.
- Mitch still isn't at 100% (might be healthy, but isn't quite in top game shape?). But when he gets there, watch out.
- The refs were just bad - Morgan's tech seemed like BS, there were some touchy non-calls and calls... but again, we won by 28 so it's like, OK. (edited for early morning math error)
- We need to practice Alley-Oops more. I mean, layup oops? Really? /picking all of the nits
- All 5 starters were in double figures despite:
- Stauskas is obviously a TERRIBLE shooter in the B1G /statistic'd
- GR3 is going to be a matchup problem for a lot of 4s throughout B1G play.
Also, on the arena, etc:
- Wow, if you thought old Crisler was bad, head to Welsh-Ryan. It's like the inside of yost with a higher rake and fewer endzone seats
- They don't have many concession stands, and had no apparell store. They did bring in racks with T-shirts for sale though
- They did have vendors throughout the crowd selling stuff. I don't remember seeing that at many college games
- The scoreboard was like Yost's old one, an early 90's LED board that had about 10% of the lights burned out
- Pat Fitzgerald thanked everyone during a break with their bowl tropy. I didn't realize they won 10 games. Way to go Northwestern
- Also, Pat is totally a meathead linebacker
Anybody else make the trip? How maize was the crowd on TV?
January 4th, 2013 at 9:32 AM ^
No. No mercy for the rest of the conference. Complete and utter dominance is what I want.
January 4th, 2013 at 10:50 AM ^
/Cobra Kai'd
January 4th, 2013 at 9:40 AM ^
January 4th, 2013 at 9:53 AM ^
January 4th, 2013 at 10:15 AM ^
i loved that Michigan fans drowned out the "Let's go cats" cheer with "Let's Go Blue!" Very apparent on TV.
January 4th, 2013 at 10:27 AM ^
When the Michigan fans got going, it was thunderous. By the end of the game, half the Northwestern fans had cleared out, but the Michigan fans were still packed in.
January 4th, 2013 at 10:25 AM ^
One thing I forgot! Pregame a guy up in the rafters near us had a cowbell, started the "lets go blue" and had it confiscated immediately. We would have rocked even louder had they not taken that.
January 4th, 2013 at 10:10 AM ^
Watched it on TV and am duly impressed (have been all season, though)--this team has the makings of something really, really special.
Some TV notes:
-Couldn't tell there was a huge Michigan presence from most of the TV angles--you could not see the vast maize and blue crowd until they showed one shot from the floor up, showing the top sections completely filled with maize.
-Lots of close-ups of Fitzgerald and the NW students (the few that were there) + band.
-Absolutely heard the 'Go Blue' chants.
-Definitely heard the 'Ohhhh's when Burke put his NBA moves on hapless Mildcat defenders.
-Announcers seem convinced that U-M is for real.
Love this team!!
January 4th, 2013 at 10:11 AM ^
You may not have seen it live but ESPN had 3 or 4 replays in which he mouthed off to the refs and definitely spiked the ball. No doubt it was tech-worthy
January 4th, 2013 at 10:28 AM ^
Just released their athletics facilities master plan. It's going to be pretty sweet.
January 4th, 2013 at 10:29 AM ^
This about sums up how I felt after the game:
January 4th, 2013 at 10:35 AM ^
-We have to cherish Trey Burke. Wow.
-Welsh-Ryan was fine, but cramped
-It really felt like the Michigan fans completely drowned out the NW fans. It was a really fun environment to be in.
-I love McGary. He's as raw as raw can be, but I think Ace tweeted last night the most accurate description of him: he's like a puppy on wooden floors. You just can't help but say "awwwww" every time he does something
-I'm also very excited for LeVert. Lots of room to grow (both physically and in his game) but its so clear why the coaches are as high on him as they are. He's a real talent.
-We should really cherish Trey Burke. Oh, I said that already? Well it definitely deserves repeating. He made some of the NW players look like children. His first step is absurdly quick
-GR3 might actually be my favorite player on this team. He is quietly doing all the little things. You can tell he just looks like a future NBA player when you see him in person.
-The only negative I have is I worry about the defense. It's easy to get away with when your opponent is pretty bad, but I saw some communication mistakes, mostly involving Morgan when he came to help. Hopefully something that will get fixed, or just will continue to be not much of a problem.
I love this team. Go Blue
January 4th, 2013 at 11:08 AM ^
January 4th, 2013 at 10:35 AM ^
I noticed after a questionable no call one of our freshman (LeVert I think) started arguing with the ref. Burke immediately ran up to him, and I imagine told him "we're the road time in the Big Ten, get used to it". I thought the refs were pretty easy on NU as well, but that's what you expect on the road.
January 4th, 2013 at 11:37 AM ^
I had the chance once to talk with a B10 basketball official. He said one of the things that happens every year at the start of conference play is what you just described.
During the non-conference season, things are pretty easy. Freshmen are getting their feet wet and the intensity is low. In the first couple games of conference play there's always freshmen who want to get mad at the refs and have too much spunk and swagger. An upperclassmen always comes over and basically gives the "Frosh chill, these guys are professionals and we'll have them several more times during conference play so you need to just let them do their job."
January 4th, 2013 at 11:38 AM ^
Pat is a meathead linebacker? Isn't that what Hoke is too?
January 4th, 2013 at 11:39 AM ^
Almost.
January 4th, 2013 at 12:08 PM ^
Agree Welsh-Ryan kind of looks like a large high school gym.
I kind of got the same feeling when I went to Ryan Field last season. It is obviously much larger than a high school field on the bandstand side, but on the other side (where I was) it really felt like a high school atmosphere. Not necessarily in a bad way, just really weird.
January 4th, 2013 at 12:16 PM ^
January 4th, 2013 at 12:25 PM ^
We are playing very well and I hope we keep this rhythm going deep into the Big Ten season. Trey Burke is playing unbelievable basketball.
January 4th, 2013 at 1:41 PM ^
Our Michigan group was consuming food and drinks before the game at the Bluestone when Fitz walked in with his family. The crowded dining room (about half of which were maize n' blue faithful) gave him a round of applause. As he passed our table we congratulated him on his bowl win. In response he said we were wearing the wrong colors and then he turned to one of my friends and said that his Michigan hat made him want to vomit. I know he must still be very butt-hurt over his team's loss to us, but c'mon man.
Was very surprised that Matt Vogrich didn't play more last night given that friends and family must have been in the house (compare Beilfeldt's PT in Peoria when we played Bradley). I know Vogrich is buried on the bench but he must be really underground or in the dog house, or both.
January 4th, 2013 at 4:12 PM ^
Hoke saying that?
January 4th, 2013 at 4:38 PM ^
January 4th, 2013 at 5:19 PM ^
I sensed that he was somewhat pissed to walk into a venue full of Michigan fans just blocks from his playground. He certainly wasn't appreciative of our congratulatory comments. Just a little disappointed with his reaction.
January 4th, 2013 at 5:42 PM ^
January 4th, 2013 at 3:03 PM ^
fun game to go to ...
as old and as rickety as that arena is
its the most accessable,,,reminds me of a big high school gym
the concessions their at the arena are 50 x better than at Ryan Field, who run out of everything by halftime--easily the worst stadium in the big ten by far......
Got the chance to meet GR III,Stauskas, Mcgary, Beilfeldt,Mclimans, and Jordan Morgan after .... Nice Guys---
got to meet Tim Hardaway also,Sr that is, not JR
The Northwestern trip is always fun for basketball