SPORTS
Wildcats take step back
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by Dave McGrath
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
Coming off of a season where the Northwestern Wildcats were able to reach new heights by going 8-8 in conference play — only the second time since the 1967-68 season that the program was able to win eight Big Ten games — they now continue to falter in head coach Bill Carmody’s fifth year. The competitiveness the Wildcats displayed in 2003-04 has faded this season, as the squad struggles to recuperate the loss of guard Jitim Young.
“I’ve been disappointed certainly with the attitude of the guys,” Carmody said. “They seem to work pretty hard, but they don’t seem to have that much life. I don’t know if it is just the personality of the guys, or just in their DNA, I can’t do anything about that. I certainly am going to address that and I have [in the past].”
The inconsistent effort for Northwestern last week — where the Wildcats beat Iowa and then fell to Ohio State at home — was very much a microcosm of the season, Carmody said.
“It was a crazy kind of week,” Carmody said. “We didn’t play well against Iowa and we didn’t deserve to win and we win at the end. Then against Ohio State here, we get off to a slow start, but have an eight-point lead with eight minutes to go and then score only one point in the last seven or eight minutes. I felt that was a game we could’ve won, and didn’t, so I guess [the week] evened out.”
Carmody is not only disappointed but disheartened by his teams play thus far and does not relish the idea of having to get his team back on track at the Kohl Center against Wisconsin tonight.
“We are having trouble getting over the hump, a little bit,” Carmody said. “I just heard the end of [Minnesota head coach] Dan Monson’s talk, and he sounds upbeat and happy and all, and I wish I felt that way. I was hopeful that our win against Iowa would help give us confidence, move us along, catapult us; do something, but it didn’t. Against Ohio State we came out really flat, actually. Now we have three of our next four games on the road, so it doesn’t get any easier.”
The Wildcats are winless away from Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston and are also winless all-time at the Kohl Center, all of which bodes well for the Badgers.
“You don’t know where to start with those guys,” Carmody said. “I think [Wisconsin’s] a very solid team and it’s almost impossible to beat them there.”
However, Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan is not taking anything for granted against the downtrodden Wildcats.
“There are a lot of good things [about] the Northwestern players and their system and what Coach Carmody does,” Ryan said. “I see a lot of good things that they bring to the table and that is what you have to prepare for.”
Keady’s last call
Gene Keady, in his 25th and final season at Purdue is having the worst season of his illustrious career. Purdue picked up its first Big Ten victory Saturday by blowing out Michigan 84-55, snapping a seven-game losing streak and adding a bright spot to an otherwise dismal season. Keady, however, says he is still focused and has not gotten sentimental, or thought about what happens for him after this season.
“Coaches go to win games,” Keady said. “It is very much appreciated, [all the honors], but I haven’t got caught up in the emotional side of it yet. We don’t know what we are going to do, but certainly basketball would be in my [plans]. If somebody had the right offer, I certainly would consider it, sure. I still love what I do.”
