Several Northwestern basketball teams were described as “small but slow.”
Third-year Wildcats coach Bill Carmody has taken strides to eliminate the “small” moniker, and hopes freshman T.J. Parker can do something about the “slow” reputation.
Carmody is looking for the mercurial freshman point guard to penetrate and distribute the basketball when Northwestern opens Big Ten play Wednesday night at home against Iowa.
Parker averaged a team-high 12.7 points per game as the Wildcats built an 8-3 non-conference record. The question now is whether his success can continue against Big Ten competition.
Other than 6-foot-11-inch senior center Aaron Jennings, the Wildcats will be undersized in the frontcourt, especially with the season-ending shoulder injury to 6-8 forward Vedran Vukusic. Northwestern will have to counter with a pesky defense and a more up-tempo offense that renders easy baskets. That’s where Parker and shooting guard Jitim Young come in.
Parker’s brother, Tony, plays for the San Antonio Spurs. Their father, Tony, starred at Loyola before playing 15 years of professional basketball in Europe.
“I have been helped a lot by my teammates since I came in here,” said Parker, who recorded his 10th straight double-digit scoring performance in Saturday’s victory over Long Island. “Coach Carmody wants me to get in there and run the offense. I am adjusting pretty well.”
The 6-2, 160-pound Parker has dazzled fans at Welsh-Ryan Arena with his precise no-look passes and acrobatic, off-balance scoop shots underneath the basket.
“T.J. has gained a lot of confidence during our non-conference schedule. He has gotten a taste of the kind of guards we are going to play [in the Big Ten],” Young said.
“I love the way T.J. has played all along,” Carmody said. “He makes open shots and puts a lot of pressure on the defense. He has been really consistent for us.”
Parker has been receiving advice from both near and far.
“My brother and I call each other after every game and see how we did,” Parker said.
Tony Parker dropped 32 points on the Bulls last week.
“When I am down there with Tony in San Antonio [during the off-season], it’s better,” Parker said. “I can play one-on-one with him. It’s really good to have a brother in the NBA, because I want to be able to do the same thing.”
Northwestern finished 16-13 overall last season, 7-9 in the conference. The 16 victories represented the most by an NU team since 1982-83, when the Wildcats won 18.
Since Carmody arrived from Princeton, the Wildcats’ program has gone from 5-25 in 1999-2000 (the season before his arrival) to 11-19 in his first year and then 16-13.
Players such as Parker and freshman three-point specialist Jimmy Maley will be the key to getting NU on the fast track until Carmody is able to recruit more talented big players to the Evanston campus.
Senior guard Winston Blake, the Wildcats’ leading scorer last season, has struggled with his shooting consistency in the early going. Jennings has shown flashes of offensive firepower, but he has been slowed by shin splints. Against Big Ten opponents, Carmody plans to utilize 6-8, 220-pound Croatian Davor Duvancic in the same rotation with Jennings to bulk up the front line.
“Against every Big Ten team we have to play really hard because we are smaller than everybody,” said Parker, who has helped his team win three straight. “Everybody is going to have to crash the boards, and we are going to have to play tough.”
Parker and his brother spent the first 15 years of their lives in Paris with their mother, Pamela Firestone, before moving to Chicago with their father. T.J. starred at Lisle High School for two years, averaging 22 points and 3.5 assists as a senior.
“At first the [English] language was a problem, but I had good people to help me,” Parker said of his French background. “The basketball was not too much of a problem.”
Parker’s mother flew in from Paris to watch her son play against Long Island. “She has been telling me where to go eat and everything. She wants me to eat whole foods instead of going to Burger King,” he said.
Northwestern’s Big Ten season could be easier to digest with the help of Parker.
