Northwestern Basketball: When Playing Hard Just Isn't Good Enough

The Northwestern men's basketball team clearly has the talent to compete with anyone in the Big Ten. Next year, with the additions of Kevin Coble back from injury and Rivals.com four-star recruit Jershon Cobb, they'll have top tier Big Ten talent.

But they still might not make the NCAA Tournament.

This team lacks any player who consistently wants the ball with the game on the line. I want to preface this argument by saying that I am not questioning the team's effort. This team plays really hard all of the time, and I admired their resiliency in coming back against Wisconsin in the Kohl Center.

But all of NU's players are too...nice.

Basketball is something they are all really good at, and have been practicing all their lives to compete at the highest level. But if it doesn't work out, it's not that big of a deal.

Tim Doyle might have said it best after Greg Oden overwhelmed NU center Vince Scott a few years ago. "Greg is going to be a NBA center, Vince is going to be an investment banker."

Obviously the difference there was talent, but the point is: NU's greatest blessing is also their biggest curse. Basketball is not the be all end all for these players. The players are all very respectful and nice to their opponents. I think I've seen one scuffle during my four years here and that was between Craig Moore and Devan Dumes.

I'd like to see some attitude for once.

I don't want to say nice guys finish last, but I will say nice guys rarely win championships in basketball.

Watch Kentucky play basketball. I'm disgusted by their antics, but when the game is on the line those other Wildcats find a way to win almost every time. The talent differential between Kentucky and their competition isn't as great as many people seem to think; they've been in more close games than I can count.

I think they're very immature and might slip up in the tournament. But they have a bunch of alpha males who want the ball when it matters most.

That's an extreme example, but for Northwestern when it's a one-possession game with the clock winding down under a minute, there is no one on this team that demands the ball.

This has hurt them three times this year, twice against Wisconsin, and the other time at Minnesota.

That quite simply is the difference between the NCAA Tournament and the NIT.

The first time against the Badgers, Trevon Hughes gave NU a good look at what they don't have. The point guard struggled all game, but when it mattered the most he basically single-handily willed Wisconsin to the victory.

Everyone is familiar with Hughes' story thanks to the BTN's excellent show The Journey, but needless to say he came from the school of hard knocks. He was extremely immature as a kid, so immature he was sent to military school to get him away from the people he was associating himself with on the streets.

Compare his story to John Shurna's and you get my point. Hughes' way out of his situation on the east coast was basketball. Shurna's extracurricular activity is basketball. Hughes' team is going to the NCAA Tournament, Shurna's is not.

Obviously, Shurna has hit some huge shots in his NU career. He helped spur the comeback against Minnesota and hit a buzzer beater last year against Ohio State.

But he looked more sad than angry Sunday when NU came up short against Wisconsin again. Northwestern players always look sad when they lose.

I want to see some anger.

I don't think it's possible with these players. It's funny how what society should view as a good thing (well-rounded, realizing it's just a game, not being completely consumed by it), is ultimately NU's downfall.

But basketball is great because it really only takes one superstar to change things completely. Look at Ohio State with Evan Turner compared to when he's not on the floor.

Will Northwestern ever find that one player who combines superior talent like Shurna and Crawford with that consistent burning desire to win at all costs? I think Nash has that desire now that he's a senior and realizing that time is running out, but he simply doesn't have the talent to back it up every game.

It's certainly going to be difficult to find that special player, especially with regards to the Princeton Offense. It's a successful system, but it's not exactly one where stars can put up huge numbers.

Carmody has often compared his offense to a democracy.

Unfortunately, with the clock ticking towards zero, sometimes you need a dictatorship.