Chris Collins was dumbfounded after getting a tech on Sunday. He also had to be just as shocked with his team’s play in a demoralizing loss to Michigan State.
Northwestern lost on its home floor for just the third time in the last two seasons on Sunday in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the 78-68 score at the final horn. No. 16 Michigan State walked into Welsh-Ryan Arena and put the screws to coach Chris Collins’ squad by virtue of a 31-6 extended run over 11 minutes in the first half. The ‘Cats have now dropped three in a row and are searching for answers. The season is getting late early. In this column, as usual, we’ll start our search on the defensive side of the ball.
Defense
While the offensive ineptitude continues to make headlines, it was surprisingly poor defense that widened the gap in the first half. Time and time again, Sparty ripped apart Collins’ patented hard hedge coverage that I’ve praised numerous times in this column.
This was MSU’s first offensive set of the morning (this game tipped off at 11 a.m.). Big man Szymon Zapala comes to set a screen for Jeremy Fears Jr.. Nicholson, guarding Zapala, gets dragged 45 feet away from the rim by a retreating Fears and becomes so concerned with getting his hip bump that Zapala flees the scene unaccounted for. Instead of trying to rifle a pass over Martinelli, who has reset his defense to the top of the key, Fears wisely passes across to Kohler in the opposite slot. Barnhizer and Leach were both sitting in the paint in help defense on Zapala, but the horizontal ball movement brought the tandem flying to the strong side to guard their men. Kohler rifled his pass into Zapala, whose dunk occurred closer to the front row than the nearest Wildcat defender.
In this situation, Nicholson has to be aware enough to understand how far out of position he is. Martinelli was reset after getting under the screen, and Berry is in further help. The lumbering center cost himself significant recovery time by advancing as far out as he did. However, Leach also pulls himself out of position. He was in a good help location but overplayed his man in the corner to give Zapala his space. Holloman is a 33% three point shooter without a clear lane to receive a pass. There was no reason for Leach to leave his spot in the key.
Yet another example of Northwestern giving up an easy bucket off the pick-and-roll, this time by overplaying the roll man and messing up strong side coverage. Here the blame falls on Keenan Fitzmorris. Playing backup center minutes with the injury absence of Luke Hunger in this game, the Stony Brook transfer overplays the hard hedge near half court. Mullins comes from the weak side to defend the roll, leaving Akins wide open in the corner to knock down a three.
But what catches my eye here is the opposite corner. Watch Kohler set a screen on Berry while Fidler runs to the corner. Collins likes to switch one through four, so Berry should be peeling off to help on Zapala’s roll. However, Barnhizer is overplaying Kohler and doesn’t see the screen which means he can’t call the switch. The confusion leaves Zapala wide open so Mullins is forced to crash the lane and leave Akins open. Credit to Tom Izzo for some beautiful play calls and to Fears who was tremendous running the point for the Spartans, but Collins has to figure out how to throw some wrinkles into the defensive coverages so the Wildcats aren’t so predictable.
Offense
Offensively, Nick Martinelli got going while Brooks Barnhizer looked lost. Let’s start with the good.
This play is so simple but so pretty from Martinelli. He flies into the front court and wastes no time getting into his post up on the left block. Then he gets patient. Watch his eyes. He looks first at Barnhizer and then at Leach. He doesn’t look at the rim, which baits Carson Cooper to come double over the top, thinking to catch the forward unaware. Martinelli was waiting for this because it took Cooper away from the spot Martinelli loves to get to. As soon as the lefty sees Cooper move, he grabs his dribble and steps through the double team before powering the layup up and in, plus the foul. Martinelli looked much better in this game than he did last week against Purdue. He was aggressive, decisive and physical, keeping the ‘Cats from getting dismantled completely.
On the other side, Barnhizer had his worst game in the points column since Northwestern’s loss to UCLA in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in his sophomore season. Barnhizer attempted 13 shots and made two of them while missing all six three pointers. He looked lost and scared of contact, settling for long jumpers instead of attacking the rim which he does so well.
On this play, Barnhizer attempts two threes. The first one came about four feet behind the three point line with 17 seconds on the shot clock. Coen Carr had over-helped and Barnhizer had a lane to the rim, but he elected to fire the long three anyways. After the ‘Cats got the back tip, Barnhizer goes into a pick and roll with Nicholson. While Carr went under the screen, the Captain should understand that he’s shooting under 30% from three and should be either attacking the sloppy coverage or lobbing one over the top to Nicholson. His insistence in shooting the ball despite missing badly over and over in this contest was mystifying.
Coach Collins Clip of the Week
Everyone knew this was coming. Collins received his first technical of the season, and it was a doozy. The bench boss had been jawing at referee D.J. Carstensen for a few minutes and had been warned to stop. However, the incident that actually garnered the technical was certainly not significant.
After getting T’d up, Collins’ reaction was incredible. You can see him in the top right corner just standing on the court. As soon as he receives the news, Collins starts yelling at Carstensen and tracking him up the sideline. If you listen closely, you can hear the reactionary Collins just yell “Why? Why?” over and over again. In total, he asks, cajoles and begs for an answer eight consecutive times using the same diction. He then looks around a little before fixing his gaze on Carstensen, staring down the official to give the home crowd something to react to in a blowout second half.
My personal favorite part comes right before the camera cuts away from Collins. He turns to face down the bench and says to any ear who will listen, “I didn’t even curse at him!” That sentence, more than anything else, proves Colllins’ confusion. This is a guy who understands the limits he can (and frequently does) push with refs without receiving a tech in retribution. To get one in that situation bewildered Collins.