Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: New Orleans In Review
12/12/2016 10:12:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
FAST BREAKS. . . .
THE 'CATS have openly expressed their new-found belief. They feel they are a good team, a team capable of playing with anyone. On Sunday night at Welsh-Ryan they buttressed that contention by doing exactly what good teams do. They steamrolled an overmatched foe, here toppling New Orleans by 34.
CHRIS COLLINS said later that this was the kind of game that worried coaches. His players had been busy with exams, and their practice time had been limited, and the Privateers were coming off wins over Tulane and Washington State, and the storm outside would limit the crowd size and the juice inside. But, again, the 'Cats did exactly what good teams do. They ignored those peripheral factors, and performed from the start with intent and purpose.
This was especially true of their defense, which limited New Orleans to seven points in this game's first 10 minutes and to 16.6 percent shooting on its first dozen attempts (it made but two). This effort staked them to an 11-point lead that grew inexorably, finally peaking at 41 with 12:57 remaining. "The defense was the key tonight, the way we guarded in that first half especially," said Collins. "We took them out of things they wanted to do. We turned them over (21 times by the end). I noticed they were getting frustrated. It was our defense that carried the day, no question."
THE SENIOR FORWARD NATHAN TAPHORN helped carry it as well, finishing his evening with a team-high 18 points while going seven-of-11 overall and three-of-seven on his threes. This was not insignificant for a pair of reasons. First, before the game, the 'Cats announced that sophomore forward Aaron Falzon would be undergoing season-ending knee surgery, which will increase Taphorn's playing time and his importance to the team. Then there was the matter of his confidence, which had not been in a good place since his last-minute error against Notre Dame cost the 'Cats a final shot at a big win. "After that game," he admitted on Sunday, "I kind of got down on myself and I can't do that. He's (Collins) been on me about that. Like coach says, I've got to be confident in myself, play within myself and just do what I have the ability to do."
TAPHORN entered Sunday's fray at 8:27 of the first half and, two minutes later, dropped his first shot, a three from out high. "That's always a big thing. It always helps your confidence, especially when you're coming off the bench," Collins later said of that initial success. "But we've always believed that Tap can do that. He's a talented guy. It's just a matter of him being confident out there and going out and playing. I was proud of him. I thought he did a great job tonight. He can be a real weapon for us coming off the bench. He's a big part of what we're doing, especially now that we're down a couple of guys."
And since one of those guys is Falzon?
"He gets all those minutes," said Collins. "When you have Aaron and Tap, you're trying to find minutes for both those guys. They're similar type guys. Six-eight. Stretch forwards, hybrid forwards that have a similar skill set. Now with Aaron's out, that's Tap's role. He knows he's going to get consistent minutes every night. Sometimes that helps you too when you know. You know you have a defined role. You know where your minutes are coming from. You know when you're going into the game. I think it helps you relax and settle into what you need to do."
"Yeah. You get your mind ready when you know you're going to go in," Taphorn would agree when asked about that. "You have an idea. You're on the bench, you see the game flow, you see foul trouble, you see how things are going in the game. You get mentally revved up even more so."
ISIAH BROWN is another 'Cat who can be provide instant offense off the bench, but on Sunday the freshman guard played young again and struggled. He dribbled into traffic, and he took quick shots, and he went just three-of-11 from the field, and once—when he exited the game—the junior point Bryant McIntosh draped an arm over his shoulder and talked to him. "That's my younger brother," the wise elder later said when asked about that moment. "I just told him to slow down. I thought he got sped up. That happens to freshmen in this game. It's a big jump going from high school to college. It's easy to get caught up, and the coaches are on him, so I wanted to be the calming voice for him. He knows how to play, and not to overcomplicate the game of basketball. He's so quick, he just needs to make one move to get by somebody. He is really skilled. But sometimes I think he overcomplicates it and fumbles everything. So I just told him to slow down, take his time. See the play, make the play, as (assistant) Coach (Pat) Baldwin always says. That's what I was trying to get through to him. Slow down."
"Isiah's just got to relax," Collins agreed. "I think he's pressing a little bit. You can see. He's going real fast, he's fumbling the ball a little bit. He wants it. He knows he's important, he knows we need him. I'm not down on Isiah at all. These are valuable games for him. He needs experience. He needs minutes."
BROWN PUT IN 22 minutes on Sunday and the 'Cats other backup guard, sophomore Jordan Ash, put in 13. "A gut feel," Collins said when asked how he uses this pair. "They're different kinds of players. Jordan is a stabilizer. He's a hard-nosed defender. He's a solid player. Isiah's more of that explosive type of guy, hit or miss. They had different skills sets, different games. I think there's a role for both those guys. They're going to play. They're both going to play."
THE 'CATS, with their variety of injuries, are down to nine able-bodied scholarship players, and on Sunday each played at least 13 minutes. Scottie Lindsey put in the most, logging 32, and he was ruthlessly efficient, scoring 16 on six-of-nine shooting. Gavin Skelly was just behind him, putting in 28, and he filled the stat sheet, ending with 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds and three assists and a pair of blocks. Vic Law, in stark contrast, suffered through a rough shooting night. But he did go to the line eight times, making each of his attempts, and he did finish with 11 points in a rout.
This, one last time, is exactly what good players and good teams do. They find ways to win, to succeed, no matter the circumstance.
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