Wow. Northwestern flashed a level of dominance it hasn’t put on tape in years with a 110-63 win over Cleveland State on Monday night. The 47-point victory came on the heels of holding Boston University
to just 53 in another easy buy game. While the real tests come now with six straight power conference games on the schedule, the early signs are extremely encouraging for a team that has struggled to dominate the weakest teams on the schedule early in the season in years past.
There is so much phenomenal tape to break down, especially from Monday’s game, but due to time and space concerns, we can’t get to all of it. So with all due respect and acknowledgement towards Jayden Reid’s transition game and Max Green’s Steph Curry-like run, the focus is going to be on some schematic things that are not as easily identifiable on first watch.
Offense
With 110 points, it wasn’t easy to narrow down the offensive possessions worth highlighting. In the end, though, there was one thing that stuck out schematically to me and that was Northwestern’s ability to attack the middle of the paint using the bigs in a high/low manner.
Northwestern ran this action at least a half dozen times in the first half of the Cleveland State game to great success. Page is so dangerous offensively because he can hit the jumper from the elbow or back down his defender and get to the rim easily. To counter, Cleveland State tries to bring a double team, which is exactly what Page is waiting for. He takes a couple slow dribbles (and carries the ball, but who’s counting?) and as soon as Mullins’ defender breaks towards him, he slides the ball to the dunker’s spot for an easy two.
Here’s a different iteration of the same idea. Page gives the handoff on the left wing and then heads for the right block. Jake West’s down screen allows Page to get the switch onto West’s defender Tre Beard which makes the post-up significantly easier for Page because of the size difference. When Page gets the ball, his man Josiah Harris is just recovering to him and Beard has to stay with Page for the double team. As the ball goes in to Page, watch Tre Singleton and West on the back side. Singleton acts like he’s going to set a screen on his own defender, Foster Wonders, to get West open on the wing while his man is double teaming Page. Wonders closes out on West, but Singleton is already slipping the screen for the layup, which is a much higher percentage shot and a much easier pass for Page to make than the skip pass over a double team to the opposite wing. By the time Wonders realizes his mistake, Singleton is by him for the deuce.
Here’s another variation, this time with Martinelli in the middle attacking an ineffective Vikings zone. It’s almost like a box-and-one, but instead of the one being used to match up with the best Wildcats player, Dayan Nessah is just chasing the ball. Quick ball movement pulls him off of Martinelli and the entry pass is wide open. Ivan Spirov is pulled up to guard Martinelli in a part of the floor where he’s dangerous and Lucas Burton is forced to drop down to guard Tyler Kropp at the rim, leaving the much-improved shooter Mullins all alone for a wide open shot. The ball movement is night and day compared to large chunks of last season and it’s impossible for a zone, even a good one (which this was most certainly not), to keep up with decision-making and pinpoint passing of this quickness.
This was my personal favorite set of either game this week and it starts with the personnel on the floor. Last year, Northwestern played most of the year with just Jalen Leach as a real point guard, eventually replacing him with Jordan Clayton after Leach’s injury. Windham ran the point at times, but he is really more of a two. This year, though, Northwestern can cycle through three point guards in Clayton, Reid and West. As a result, the ‘Cats are able to put two point guards on the floor when they want the extra playmaking, which is what pays off here.
West initiates the action with a handoff to Singleton before wheeling around to the weakside baseline. The ball shoots back up top to Clayton. West curls all the way under the rim and finds Martinelli setting a down screen for him on the block. Meanwhile, the defense’s eyes are on Page, who is approaching Clayton as if to initiate a pick-and-roll, a set that Northwestern has had success with throughout the game. Instead of being tight to Martinelli, CSU’s Priest Ryan has two feet in the paint to tag Page’s roll if it comes. The gap between the two gives West breathing room to curl off of the Martinelli screen, catch the timely pass from Clayton and face the rim. Ryan actually does an admirable job guarding the play after Wonders is completely out of position, but unfortunately for him, Martinelli is automatic with that left-handed floater.
Defense
Defensively, there is plenty to enjoy from both games. I actually thought the defense was noticeably better in the Cleveland State game, despite the fact that Northwestern allowed 11 more points in that contest. Despite the headline, no game is ever perfect, though, so let’s start with my one question mark defensively this week.
After playing nearly exclusively drop coverage in the pick-and-roll against Mercyhurst, Northwestern came out hedging against Boston. It caught the Terriers by surprise, as they only had four points in the first ten minutes and change, but eventually they figured it out eventually and exploited Page. Northwestern then went back to drop coverage in the second half to a much more successful tune.
The problem with using Page as a hedger is that he’s an extremely overzealous defender. That can be a good thing when he’s getting hands in passing lanes and creating difficult contests at the rim, but on this play, he sees the ball and way overplays his position. Page ends up nearly fully behind the ball while swiping for a steal. Singleton slides way off his matchup to try and take away the slip pass into the paint. When the ball swings back, Singleton is in no position to stop his man, who goes unimpeded to the cup after Martinelli gets boxed out.
Compare that defensive possession to this one, where Page goes back to drop coverage. Instead of getting pulled above the three point line, he stays under his man and there’s not chance for a roll and an easy layup. He trusts Mullins to get over the screen and stay in front of his man, but remains in help position in case Mullins can’t. As we know, Mullins is an elite on-ball defender and takes care of business here, forcing a pass. Ciaravino is also an elite perimeter defender and the shot clock causes the Terriers to hoist a prayer at the horn.
Coach Collins Clip of the Week
The one downside of continued blowout wins that frankly are never close is we still haven’t seen a Chris Collins eruption at a referee yet. I considered Collins’ postgame presser with color commentator (and Wildcat legend) Shon Morris after Monday’s win but decided that a happy Collins was not in the spirit of this article, as rare as it may be.
Instead, let’s zoom in on Collins yelling at his team and Singleton in particular. This isn’t particularly shocking on its own, but the time and score situation make it funny. You can see Collins yell something about “defense!” and instruct Singleton that he had screwed up a defensive assignment. The humorous part is twofold. One, Northwestern leads by 22 at this point, so it isn’t like a defensive miscue will cost them the game. More importantly, he’s yelling at his team to play better defense after they had just forced a turnover. Chris Collins and his coaching staff have pushed all the right buttons so far through two weeks, so if yelling at his team with this big of a lead is what it takes, I’m all for it.
