Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: DePaul Primer
12/2/2016 1:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
You are Gavin Skelly, the human thundersquall. You are the 'Cats instigator, invigorator, energizer, a whirling current of constant motion. That was your profile when you joined them as part of Chris Collins' first recruiting class, and that is your profile still. But now, at the front end of your junior season, you are also far more than just that. You are a performer who has matured, who has developed, who has grown enough that your versatility is finally on public display.
It was always there in you, there since your days back at Westlake High School just outside of Cleveland. One of your teammates there was Cameron Brown, whose dad Mike was then the Cavaliers' head coach, and the latter once told you, "It's versatility that takes a player from being good to being great. Being able to play different positions. Shooters go far in life. But they don't go as far as a shooter who can post up."
"That was a huge thing I had to learn," you say now. "Being six-eight is one thing. But being six-eight and able to shoot is a whole different thing. That really helped."
So why is that versatility just manifesting itself now?
"I think coach has more trust in me and me being more comfortable with the ball," you say. "Coming in as a freshman, a lot is thrown at you. So I was trying to get used to things, trying to not make a mistake. Now I'm more comfortable. If I make a mistake, I'm not really afraid. I know the next play's coming. It's a different mindset. Having that feeling that I'm a good player and I can make these plays. Having that, coach having my back on things like that, makes it a lot easier on me."
"It's the experience," your coach will agree. "When these guys come to this level, it's going real fast. As you get a little bit older, the game slows down. Gavin had good moments for us last year. But the whole thing with Gavin and Scottie (Lindsey) and Vic (Law) to a certain extent was a level of consistency. Not being guys who showed it one game, but from night to night you didn't know. I think all three of those guys— Gavin's a great example. He's become a constant. Pretty much night to night you know what you're going to get from him.
"That's what's been great. He's developed a bigger and bigger role. The way we play now, with his skill set— a big reason we won the other night (over Wake Forest) was his ability— they were trapping (point) Bryant (McIntosh) the whole game. His ability to pop back (to the top of the circle), and for us to throw it back to Gavin, and for him to be a playmaker and make shots and drive the ball and find guys, he was a big reason we won the game the other night."
In that game center Dererk Pardon suffered a hand injury that required surgery and so now he is out at least until the Dec. 27 start of the Big Ten season. That means an even bigger role awaits both you and the 6-foot-10 freshman Barret Benson, who has played little and is just starting to understand and adjust to all that goes into winning at this level. "There's a lot more preparation for sure," he says. "There's a lot of different things you didn't have to worry about in high school. Obviously I was the biggest guy. It was pretty easy to just show up and play. But in college everyone's big, everyone's a good player. So you've got to be really prepared."
That is the same epiphany you experienced back when you yourself were a callow freshman and rooming with McIntosh, a basketball junkie weaned in a state (Indiana) where the game's a religion. He was all the time watching games or studying tapes, but when he asked you to join him, you waved him off and went to play some more of your video games. "I still had the high school mindset," you remember. "He watched film more than anyone I'd ever known. On my high school team, we didn't scout. We didn't watch film. Usually when I watched film, I was just watching the game. I didn't know what I was looking for, so I thought it was a waste of time."
"No disrespect, but he wasn't in a situation where he had watched a lot of film," your coach explains. "A lot of basketball terminology was new to him. That's a big adjustment. Just learning simple talk, phrases that are used on the court. How to watch tape. How to prepare for a game. You know Gavin. He's a free spirit. That's part of what makes him good. But when he was younger, it led to a lack of preparation and a lack of details. Now, as he's gotten older, he understands the importance of that."
That you do and that is why you will be prepared, no matter your role in the wake of Pardon's injury. You may start, or you may remain your team's spark off the bench. "We're still figuring out the way we want to go," your coach will say some 48 hours before your 'Cats Saturday date with DePaul at Welsh-Ryan. "Absolutely Gavin can start if needed. But anytime you lose a starter, it effects your rotation. So we're going to take a look at some things and see which way we want to go."
You, in turn, will just go about your business in your own unique style, which—not unimportantly—is now leavened with that crucial ingredient called experience. "Yes, I'm still a goofball," you will admit when asked that. "I still like to have fun playing. That's my personality. Coach knows it. I have to draw a line between being goofy and being serious. It's kind of a gray area. It used to be black and white. Now I've got to find the mix of being serious and also being myself on the court."
Being yourself, back when you were a freshman, often irritated opponents, who would add unprintable epithets when telling you to calm down and shut up. "I don't do that anymore," you now say with a laugh. "I can do it if I want to. I just choose not to. I can really get under peoples' skins, really get into fistfights. Aaron (Falzon, the sophomore forward) and I used to get into it all the time last year. But then coach broke it up, talked to me about it, got really mad. So I don't do that anymore. But I can if I want to."
Finally you are asked about an observation often made by Pat Fitzgerald, who avows that the hardest thing for young players to grasp is just how hard it is to succeed at this level. "Absolutely I agree with that," you say. "It's a different level. You're playing against the best of the best. In high school you're the greatest in your whole area. Now everyone's the greatest in their whole area. So to be the best, you have to do the little things. You have to watch film. You have to eat right. You have to sleep right. You have to do all those little things, which kids aren't used to. So I've been eating better. I've been watching film. I've been sleeping better, taking care of my body better. It's those little things, those winning things, that make a huge difference."
You are Gavin Skelly, and now you are much more than just a human thundersquall.
NUsports.com Special Contributor
You are Gavin Skelly, the human thundersquall. You are the 'Cats instigator, invigorator, energizer, a whirling current of constant motion. That was your profile when you joined them as part of Chris Collins' first recruiting class, and that is your profile still. But now, at the front end of your junior season, you are also far more than just that. You are a performer who has matured, who has developed, who has grown enough that your versatility is finally on public display.
It was always there in you, there since your days back at Westlake High School just outside of Cleveland. One of your teammates there was Cameron Brown, whose dad Mike was then the Cavaliers' head coach, and the latter once told you, "It's versatility that takes a player from being good to being great. Being able to play different positions. Shooters go far in life. But they don't go as far as a shooter who can post up."
"That was a huge thing I had to learn," you say now. "Being six-eight is one thing. But being six-eight and able to shoot is a whole different thing. That really helped."
So why is that versatility just manifesting itself now?
"I think coach has more trust in me and me being more comfortable with the ball," you say. "Coming in as a freshman, a lot is thrown at you. So I was trying to get used to things, trying to not make a mistake. Now I'm more comfortable. If I make a mistake, I'm not really afraid. I know the next play's coming. It's a different mindset. Having that feeling that I'm a good player and I can make these plays. Having that, coach having my back on things like that, makes it a lot easier on me."
"It's the experience," your coach will agree. "When these guys come to this level, it's going real fast. As you get a little bit older, the game slows down. Gavin had good moments for us last year. But the whole thing with Gavin and Scottie (Lindsey) and Vic (Law) to a certain extent was a level of consistency. Not being guys who showed it one game, but from night to night you didn't know. I think all three of those guys— Gavin's a great example. He's become a constant. Pretty much night to night you know what you're going to get from him.
"That's what's been great. He's developed a bigger and bigger role. The way we play now, with his skill set— a big reason we won the other night (over Wake Forest) was his ability— they were trapping (point) Bryant (McIntosh) the whole game. His ability to pop back (to the top of the circle), and for us to throw it back to Gavin, and for him to be a playmaker and make shots and drive the ball and find guys, he was a big reason we won the game the other night."
In that game center Dererk Pardon suffered a hand injury that required surgery and so now he is out at least until the Dec. 27 start of the Big Ten season. That means an even bigger role awaits both you and the 6-foot-10 freshman Barret Benson, who has played little and is just starting to understand and adjust to all that goes into winning at this level. "There's a lot more preparation for sure," he says. "There's a lot of different things you didn't have to worry about in high school. Obviously I was the biggest guy. It was pretty easy to just show up and play. But in college everyone's big, everyone's a good player. So you've got to be really prepared."
That is the same epiphany you experienced back when you yourself were a callow freshman and rooming with McIntosh, a basketball junkie weaned in a state (Indiana) where the game's a religion. He was all the time watching games or studying tapes, but when he asked you to join him, you waved him off and went to play some more of your video games. "I still had the high school mindset," you remember. "He watched film more than anyone I'd ever known. On my high school team, we didn't scout. We didn't watch film. Usually when I watched film, I was just watching the game. I didn't know what I was looking for, so I thought it was a waste of time."
"No disrespect, but he wasn't in a situation where he had watched a lot of film," your coach explains. "A lot of basketball terminology was new to him. That's a big adjustment. Just learning simple talk, phrases that are used on the court. How to watch tape. How to prepare for a game. You know Gavin. He's a free spirit. That's part of what makes him good. But when he was younger, it led to a lack of preparation and a lack of details. Now, as he's gotten older, he understands the importance of that."
That you do and that is why you will be prepared, no matter your role in the wake of Pardon's injury. You may start, or you may remain your team's spark off the bench. "We're still figuring out the way we want to go," your coach will say some 48 hours before your 'Cats Saturday date with DePaul at Welsh-Ryan. "Absolutely Gavin can start if needed. But anytime you lose a starter, it effects your rotation. So we're going to take a look at some things and see which way we want to go."
You, in turn, will just go about your business in your own unique style, which—not unimportantly—is now leavened with that crucial ingredient called experience. "Yes, I'm still a goofball," you will admit when asked that. "I still like to have fun playing. That's my personality. Coach knows it. I have to draw a line between being goofy and being serious. It's kind of a gray area. It used to be black and white. Now I've got to find the mix of being serious and also being myself on the court."
Being yourself, back when you were a freshman, often irritated opponents, who would add unprintable epithets when telling you to calm down and shut up. "I don't do that anymore," you now say with a laugh. "I can do it if I want to. I just choose not to. I can really get under peoples' skins, really get into fistfights. Aaron (Falzon, the sophomore forward) and I used to get into it all the time last year. But then coach broke it up, talked to me about it, got really mad. So I don't do that anymore. But I can if I want to."
Finally you are asked about an observation often made by Pat Fitzgerald, who avows that the hardest thing for young players to grasp is just how hard it is to succeed at this level. "Absolutely I agree with that," you say. "It's a different level. You're playing against the best of the best. In high school you're the greatest in your whole area. Now everyone's the greatest in their whole area. So to be the best, you have to do the little things. You have to watch film. You have to eat right. You have to sleep right. You have to do all those little things, which kids aren't used to. So I've been eating better. I've been watching film. I've been sleeping better, taking care of my body better. It's those little things, those winning things, that make a huge difference."
You are Gavin Skelly, and now you are much more than just a human thundersquall.
••••••
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