The sophomore emerged as a true scoring threat this season for an undermanned Northwestern squad.
2023-24 was everything but a sophomore slump for Nick Martinelli who was arguably Northwestern’s most improved player this season. The Illinois native still has plenty of room for improvement, but he proved he could be an effective offensive option and a starting-caliber Big Ten player. Let’s take a look at his season and break it down as he heads into his junior campaign.
Stats
From Sports Reference:
After averaging 2.6 points per game as a freshman in 10 minutes per night, Martinelli’s role increased drastically — due to his good play and the catastrophic injuries the Wildcats sustained in 2024. Martinelli’s average minutes rose to 26 this year, and he took advantage, raising his scoring average to 8.8 points per game.
The 6’7” forward was also a factor on the glass, averaging 4.3 boards per contest which was tied for second on the roster with Matt Nicholson, behind Brooks Barnhizer. He’s not exactly a distributor but seems to understand his role. When his patented lefty jump-hook is falling and he’s still able to make other shots, he makes sure he gets his looks. But Martinelli also allowed more established stars to take over on nights when he wasn’t feeling it.
Percentage-wise, Martinelli was decent from the field, shooting at a 49.2% clip. His 27.1% three-point percentage marks an area where he can still make strides. His three-point shot isn’t the smoothest-looking stroke in the world, but it was effective at times. Before going cold in the stretch run, his percentage was in the mid-high 30s. Developing a consistent three-point shot off the catch is the next step for Martinelli (100% of his threes were assisted this season; off-the-bounce threes are never going to be a thing).
Shot Distribution:
From Hoop-Math:
Most of Martinelli’s shots were two-point jumpers or took place at the rim, which makes sense. He makes his money down low, backing down opposing forwards and flipping his jump hook over their heads and into the basket. Somehow, it’s the softest shot of all time, and no matter what part of the rim or backboard it hits, it seems to ultimately fall.
Martinelli had the highest two-point jumper shooting percentage on the team because of his unique ability to repeat this same play over-and-over. Here at Northwestern, we don’t question it. It’s just Martinelli. That’s how he works.
Martinelli takes threes when he’s open, but he knows not to chuck up dumb shots in coverage. Just 19% of his shots came from beyond the arc. He also deferred to Boo Buie, Ryan Langborg and Barnhizer when necessary, finishing with the fourth most shots attempted on the season — 73 behind Langborg. His true shooting percentage of 54.4% was bang average to go along with his effective FG% of 51.8%.
The Good
On the defensive side of the ball, while there is room for improvement, he did seem much calmer this season. Last year, Martinelli was flailing all over the place, and his game didn’t seem smooth.
While he still plays a herky-jerky style of basketball, Martinelli looked way more comfortable this year. Offensively, as we’ve discussed, he was undeniably more effective. On the defensive side of the ball, he understands the system and how to play within it. He’s in the right spot much more often.
Overall, Martinelli emerged much more than anyone could have asked for at the start of the year. He’s a completely different player than he was when he first stepped on campus. Credit to Chris Collins for seeing potential many felt wasn’t there.
The Bad
Martinelli wasn’t able to step into a three-point shooting role when Ty Berry went down with a season-ending torn meniscus. The ‘Cats were a fantastic three-point shooting team with Berry, and if Martinelli had been able to fit that role, maybe the ‘Cats don’t have to play UConn in the tournament. But this is a picky criticism.
Defensively, he still tends to get blown by. He doesn’t slide laterally particularly well, and he often can’t change direction in time to keep up with more athletic perimeter players in the conference. In the post, he still seems a little passive from a physicality perspective. Putting on just a few more pounds might make him more confident down there and should be a priority this offseason.
The sophomore also disappeared in big games down the stretch this season. He was inefficient against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament. Then, he had four and eight in the two NCAA Tournament games respectively.
The Bottom Line
Martinelli’s career trajectory is headed in the right direction. His game had a lot of holes heading into this season, but he patched a bunch of them. He’s a better scorer, a better defender, a better leader and a much more polished player than he was as a freshman.
This is a big offseason for the rising junior. Ideally, he comes back next fall throwing his weight around more down low and showing off a more consistent stroke from three-point land. But if all else fails, he always has Martinelli magic to fall back on, locked and loaded in his left arm.