I heard MJH poking some fun at Bill Carmody today and it made me take a look at his record at Northwestern. Let's see:

8 years
95-112 overall
35-77 in the Big ten
No Tournament appearances.

When does Northwestern move this guy out of Evanston and try again?

It said in the paper that he has the best record of any coach in NU history. I'm all for a coach who could completely change the mindset at NU, but I think this is as good as it gets.

you guys got me thinking....so, i looked up Jimmy Collins stats at UIC.
prior to this season he had 164 wins in 10 years.
i'm throwing this 11th season out, but the Flames did win 14 games overall.

I'm not really happy with only 16 wins a year, especially b/c UIC had three 21+ win seasons in that span and only one .500 season.

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@audioidkid

From what I hear, Carmody is pretty tight with NU's president, Henry Bienen. Bienen came from Princeton and brought Carmody over from there the first chance he got. I don't think Carmody is going anywhere anytime soon. Carmody has done a pretty good job of keeping his team out of last place while making his players go to class. That's all Bienen seems to want from NU's basketball program.

I am interested in Loyola's recent improvement. Jim Whitesell is a good coach and seems to be able to find players who can perform. I think they will be moving up over the next few years, although next year may be a problem due to Blake Schilb's entry into the draft.

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TM, Whitesall has had two solid recruiting classes in a row. His first class of Blount and Young will be juniors next year. I think you will see Blount pick up the scoring from Schilb. Blount and Polka should make them a great rebounding team.

Now if they get Jeff Jordan in next year's class, Loyola might start getting some real attention.

The offense they run will never do anything but keep them close in games. It can work for a game or two but when you have players like Oden, Conley, Tucker, Neitzel, Landry, and all the other highly skilled players in the Big Ten it won't work. They will pull an upset or two but a team with superior players who is well coached enough to be patient will beat them 9 times out of 10.

Northwestern football can field a team that is competitive every year. Unless you are a top 10 team, they are not an easy win. Northwestern basketball could be the same as that but you aren't going to get anyone excited to play for you running that offense.

It's just weird that Northwestern can't get 2 or 3 real good players and a bunch of complimentary players and compete. To be good in basketball, you really only need 6 or 7 good players compared to football where you need at least 20 and if you want to win a lot you need 35 or 40.

I think Carmody has made a critical error in recruiting because he's no longer looking at European players like O'Neil was. Blending highly skilled Europeans with typically more athletic American players was the right approach. In contrast, Carmody seems to be putting a lot of faith in transfers from basketball factories--he typically keeps one or two scholarships open for such prospects each year. But that's a mistake--there's a reason a lot of these guys can't get playing time at the bigger schools. They're just not that good.

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I'm still waiting for an NU game story with the headline "A Carmody of Errors". Unless it's already been used and I missed it.

Vedran Vukusic. How good could he have been in a different system? And whatever happened to ex Dukie transfer, ex Cat Michael Thompson anyway? Talk about a kid who got worse with more coaching....

Carmody has a couple of city kids coming in again next year, (another) Michael Thompson from Lincoln Park and Mike Capoci from Glenbard East. Are they any good? Most of the other Chicago kids he has recruited have hardly played.

michael thompson is supposed to be pretty solid...

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@audioidkid

Capocci was the Daily Herald All Area Dupage team captain. Small Forward type 6'7" 180 pounds. He was a two time all DuPage Valley player of the year who was offered by Marquette and Wisconsin. Averaged 18 pts and 7 boards a game this year. He's one of 32 finalists for the Mr. basketball award. Chicagohoops has him as the 9th best prospect in IL.

Thompson is regarded as the second best PG in the Public league (behind Rose), averaged 16 pts and 8 dimes a game. He's also a finalist for the Mr. Basketball award. Chicagohoops has him as the 13th best prospect.

once again....thanks Vince.

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@audioidkid

I would think so:

Position: C-F
Height: 6'10" Weight: 226 lbs.
Born: January 30, 1955 in Nassau, Bahamas
High School: Jackson in Miami, FL
College: University of Minnesota

Drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1st round (1st pick) of the
1978 NBA draft.

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"In an insane world, only the sane will seem insane"

Vedran Vukusic. How good could he have been in a different system? And whatever happened to ex Dukie transfer, ex Cat Michael Thompson anyway? Talk about a kid who got worse with more coaching....

Carmody has a couple of city kids coming in again next year, (another) Michael Thompson from Lincoln Park and Mike Capoci from Glenbard East. Are they any good? Most of the other Chicago kids he has recruited have hardly played.[/quote]

I have seen Capocci in person a number of times in the last three years. His jump shot needs to get better, much better, but he has good hops and passes the ball well. Solid player who has improved each of the last three years. I'm just not sure where you play him in college. Better suited for small forward, but he will need to be much quicker to succeed in the Big 10.

As a season ticketholder, I share the frustration exhibited here. NU is a pathetic basketball program and the school ain't gonna do much to change that.