Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Closing In On 2004-05 Season
11/8/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 8, 2004
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EVANSTON, Ill. - To hear Northwestern men's basketball coach Bill Carmody, the 2004-05 preseason has been a bit of the same old-same old.
"This year has been no different than any other year," he said. "There has been a lot of teaching, a lot of coaching, a lot of stoppage of play. But each week has been better; there has been less stoppage as we have gotten further along."
Coach Carmody and his staff will lose the power to stop play Thursday night, when the Wildcats entertain DePauw -- an NCAA Division III program -- at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m., and admission to the game is $5 (NU students get in free with their WildCARD).
DePauw is coached by Bill Fenlon, a Northwestern graduate who played basketball for the Wildcats from 1976-79. He is the Tigers' all-time winningest hoops coach, leading his teams to a 201-109 record in 12 seasons.
"We have to maximize what we get out of Thursday's scrimmage," said Carmody. "This is our only game situation before we head to Alaska next week, so we may not get a chance to play everyone as we might have in previous years. We want the guys who are going to be playing in eight days to get used to playing in a game situation, so we are going to approach Thursday's outing as a real game and substitute accordingly."
No major surprises have come from the preseason practices to date. Carmody is pleased with the way the veterans are playing, and he hopes that his bevy of eligible transfers and freshmen can come along and join the fray in due time.
"It is clear that Tim Doyle and Mike Thompson are going to help us," said Carmody, referring to his St. John's and Duke transfers. "They need to get used to playing with the other guys, but after sitting last year they are both getting back into the swing of things and figuring out the difference between playing for the purple (first) team and the white (second) team.
"The freshmen are coming along and I see potential there," he continued. "But at this point a majority of our minutes are going to come from the veterans, and I consider the transfers to be veterans. They understand what it takes to play night-in and night-out at this level. We have spent more time attending to little details and precision."
Carmody is also quick to downplay any talk of the benefit of extra bodies suddenly at his disposal.
"We have 16 players on the roster, but Bernard (Coté) won't play this season and Mike Thompson isn't eligible to play until December, so now you're down to 14," he said. "Mohamed has been in Ramadan throughout preseason, and that makes it 13. The guys are getting a little more rest than the past couple of years, but they shouldn't need it -- they had five months to rest!
"It may help our legs down the road to have so many people for practice, but it's barely November -- everyone should still be fresh at this point."
