By Dan McLoone, columnist
As the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) competition heats up, the Northeastern University men’s basketball team is still trying to define what kind of team it will be in the upcoming season.
Northeastern wrapped up its non-conference schedule on Monday with an 81-69 overtime loss to the University of Detroit, a game that they had no business losing in the first place. But that has been the theme early on in the season for Bill Coen’s squad. Its fluctuating performances have led to a Jekyll-and-Hyde season, involving wins against good teams immediately followed by bad losses.
Just last week, the Huskies pulled out a thrilling win over Hofstra University, one of two teams expected to compete with Northeastern for the conference title. In that game, they scored 91 total points, 44 of them coming in the paint. Senior forward Scott Eatherton led the way with 21 and junior forward Zach Stahl chipped in 14 as well.
The theme of Northeastern’s offensive schemes since Eatherton transferred to the school have been: when all else fails, feed Scott in the post. Eatherton’s presence combined with the reliability of senior forward Reggie Spencer and development of Stahl’s post game gives Coen an abundance of options for open looks.
Recently, however, it has been a trend. In Monday’s loss to Detroit, the Huskies only put up 28 points in the paint. Instead, the team ended most of their possessions jacking up three-point field goals. They finished the game shooting 6-25 from deep, a terrible number on such a large sample. To compare with recent games, Northeastern went 7-14 from
deep against College of Charleston on Jan. 17 and
5-10 against Hofstra.
While the Huskies have some very capable shooters from beyond the arc, they are best suited to continue running their offense through possessions in the low post. There is a reason why Eatherton was selected as a preseason All-CAA First Team member. While he can definitely step back and hit an open 3-pointer if needed, it is his presence in the paint that wears down opposing defenses. With strong guard play, Eatherton should be able to touch the ball on every possession. He is an elite scorer who will draw double teams once he finds his shot. And when that happens, it opens the door for the outside shooting.
Once Eatherton, Stahl and even junior forward Quincy Ford have established a low-post presence in a game, opposing defenses will be forced to collapse to prevent open looks, giving the Northeastern men the opportunity to dish the ball out to open shooters on the wing. Junior guard David Walker has flashed great scoring ability and has been a reliable outside shooter. Ford and sophomore guard T.J. Williams can hit from deep when needed. Redshirt junior guard Caleb Donnelly has received more time as the season progresses due to his ability to hit 3-pointers.
The players are there – Northeastern just needs to put it all together. All momentum that the team gains with big wins over Hofstra or University of Richmond seem to be offset by head-scratching losses to weaker teams like Detroit, University of North Carolina at Wilmington or California Polytechnic State University. This is a team that will be competing for a spot in the national tournament come March, and letdowns against weaker teams in the CAA with top opponents like Hofstra or the College of William & Mary waiting on the schedule could be the difference between being a part of March Madness or not.
In the end, it all comes back to Eatherton. He is the centerpiece of the Northeastern offense and will be the one who dictates how far the team goes in the postseason. Sure, guys like Walker or Ford can carry the team to some wins, but Eatherton’s presence in the post is what gives the other Huskies open shots. And it is those open shots that could bring Northeastern a CAA title.
-Dan McLoone can be reached at [email protected].
