Meet the Big Ten: Northwestern

Since Bill Carmody took over the helm at Northwestern, the Wildcats have improved drastically. \nLast season the team won seven games in the Big Ten for the first time since the 1983-84 season and went 10-3 on its home court, good for the second-best record at Welsh-Ryan Arena in 50 years.\nBut Carmody said he has not used words to turn the program around. Instead, he has emphasized actions.\n"You go out there and you just try to win. I mean, I'm not a great motivational talker," he said. "I don't think motivation is with words always. You go out there and you work hard and you establish habits, so the team has good habits because they practice and they work and work."\nThe Wildcats will look for senior shooting guard Winston Blake (13.6 ppg) and junior point guard Jitim Young (12.1 ppg) to provide leadership for a team with three seniors, two juniors, four sophomores and four freshmen.\nAmong the freshmen, Carmody said he has been most impressed with forward Jimmy Maley and point guard T.J. Parker whose big brother, Tony, starts at the same position for the San Antonio Spurs.\n"TJ's very fast and he's going to mature beyond his years. I think he's gonna help us," Carmody said. "Jim Maley who's a local kid, I think is a very good player. People question him because he's so skinny, but he's a tough nut. And as long as he's not afraid I don't care if he's skinny or not skinny"