Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: DePaul In Review
12/4/2016 3:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
Notes, quotes and observations from the Wildcats' convincing win over DePaul Saturday night...
DePAUL PUT UP JUST 18 POINTS in the first half of its Saturday night visit to Welsh-Ryan. Scottie Lindsey, in that same time, scored 16. The Blue Demons, in those 20 minutes, had more turnovers (nine) than field goals (seven). The 'Cats, in stark contrast, had 18 assists on their 19 field goals. Just as stunning was the difference in the shooting percentages during this time. DePaul went just seven-of-29 overall (24.1 percent) and 0-of-11 on its threes. The 'Cats, after dropping 75 percent of their attempts in first 10 minutes (12-of-16), finished at 54.3 percent overall (19-of-35) and at 53.8 percent on their threes (seven-of-13). Most importantly—and most impressively—they were up 36 when halftime finally arrived.
The rest of this game would now be played merely to fulfill contractual obligations.
THERE IS A NEW MATURITY ABOUT THE 'CATS NOW, and a new confidence, and one place where that is most evident is the performance of Lindsey, who ended this night with 19 points and seven assists and six rebounds and a pair of steals. "He's become a mature, good player," Chris Collins later said of him, invoking the M word he has employed often this season."You can see physically he's gotten stronger. He's gotten better. I think his defense has really improved. He's become a two-way player. I'm really proud of him. He's playing great. I think he took it as a personal challenge with the loss of Tre (Demps). Everybody wanted to know who was going to step up. I think he privately said, 'I'm going to be that guy.' I'm really proud of the off-season he had and what he's done early in this season."
"Tre was a huge part of our team last year, and I knew there would need to be a replacement," Lindsey himself said when asked about that. "I wanted to step up and be one of the guys to replace him."
And what's the difference between him now and him a year ago?
"Maturity," he said, himself invoking that M word. "I have a different fire for the game. I knew I had to step up. Just being a leader, a veteran. Those types of things. Just getting older."
Later, while discussing the parallel paths he and Vic Law have traveled, Lindsey also said, "I think both of us have grown up a lot since we've been here."
LAW FINISHED UP SATURDAY with 16 points and six rebounds and five assists and two steals, and forward Gavin Skelly finished with 15 points and three rebounds. But point Bryant McIntosh, the fourth and final member of Collins' first recruiting class, took just four shots and ended with a mere four points in limited minutes (24). "There's going to be nights when he has to do what he did in the Wake Forest game," said Collins, referring back to that night he carried the 'Cats to a win with his 23 points. "A night like tonight, he can distribute and get guys shots and set the table. We have enough fire power to win those games as well. For us to score 80 points and him only get one basket, it shows we've got a lot of guys who can score. . .so there's not as much on Bryant's plate to have to score every night, which is a good thing."
SENIOR SANJAY LUMPKIN, who was on campus when Collins arrived, scored 11 on Saturday night, while grabbing 10 rebounds and dropping both of his three-point attempts. The 'Cats have now won 14 straight when he makes a three. "Everyone in the locker room, we all know that," he later said of that streak. "We always joke, if I hit a three, the game's over. That's a running joke in the locker room."
THE 'CATS FRESHMEN, in turn, played, uh, well, like freshmen. The 6-foot-10 Barret Benson, who started in place of the injured Dererk Pardon, made two of his three shots and grabbed three rebounds and committed a pair of turnovers and got beat on a couple pick-and-rolls in his 20 minutes. "This was new territory for him. He hadn't gotten a chance to play a lot. . .(and) I thought he did a great job," Collins said of him. "Are there things he can do better? Absolutely. But the only way you can learn those things is to play."
Isiah Brown, who has been heralded as instant offense off the bench, struggled even more. He missed all seven of his field goal attempts and committed four fouls in his 15 minutes. "He's a freshman," Collins said of him. "So there's going to be night like tonight. There's going to be nights like Texas when he plays great and helps us win. It's the ebbs and flows of what freshmen go through. The good thing about our team now is we're not so reliant every night on our freshmen. They can go through those peaks and valleys, and we can help them along, and they can be great learning experiences."
THAT, OF COURSE, was not the case when McIntosh and Skelly and Law and Lindsey were freshmen. They were thrown out there, and they endured on-the-job training, and some of their experiences were stinging and some of their losses were bitter. But now, as Lindsey noted, they are all grown up, and their past has prepared them for the present, and here they are tough and hardened, ambitious and unsatisfied with anything but success. "They're at a high level of confidence right now," the DePaul coach Dave Leitao said on Saturday night. "They're only a couple plays away from being undefeated and they play like that. I have a whole lost of respect and enthusiasm for what's going on here. I think they're doing it well and I think they're doing it right."
"It's been a progression," Chris Collins later said. "You go through some stretches in the first couple years, it's tough. But you always try to look at the long term. Now we're starting to get the fruits of the work of the Vic Laws and the Scott Lindseys and the Gavin Skellys and the Bryant McIntoshes. Those were the young guys in the early years. . . . It's our fourth year now. What I like, there's a culture in place. The players in the program are preaching the message instead of me all the time. That's when you know you're starting to turn the corner."
And what's that message?
"The way we do things. The way we work. The way we prepare for games. The investment in terms of the time you've got to put in," Collins finally said. "When we first started this thing— there's no reason, when you're at a place like this, why you can't strive for excellence in everything. You can be a great student and a great player. You can want to be a great basketball player and strive for a career in basketball, and still be serious about your academics and your degree. Those are the kind of guys that we've tried to get, and I'm really proud now that the things I tried to teach them when they were younger—what it takes to be successful; how tough you have to be; how you have to prepare; how you have to play every play—those are things I now hear them saying to the younger guys in the locker room. That's a good feeling when it's coming from them because they're taking ownership.
"You hear the great coaches talk about it all the time. The best teams are the ones that are led by the players. I'm starting to see that a little bit, which is really fun."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
Notes, quotes and observations from the Wildcats' convincing win over DePaul Saturday night...
DePAUL PUT UP JUST 18 POINTS in the first half of its Saturday night visit to Welsh-Ryan. Scottie Lindsey, in that same time, scored 16. The Blue Demons, in those 20 minutes, had more turnovers (nine) than field goals (seven). The 'Cats, in stark contrast, had 18 assists on their 19 field goals. Just as stunning was the difference in the shooting percentages during this time. DePaul went just seven-of-29 overall (24.1 percent) and 0-of-11 on its threes. The 'Cats, after dropping 75 percent of their attempts in first 10 minutes (12-of-16), finished at 54.3 percent overall (19-of-35) and at 53.8 percent on their threes (seven-of-13). Most importantly—and most impressively—they were up 36 when halftime finally arrived.
The rest of this game would now be played merely to fulfill contractual obligations.
THERE IS A NEW MATURITY ABOUT THE 'CATS NOW, and a new confidence, and one place where that is most evident is the performance of Lindsey, who ended this night with 19 points and seven assists and six rebounds and a pair of steals. "He's become a mature, good player," Chris Collins later said of him, invoking the M word he has employed often this season."You can see physically he's gotten stronger. He's gotten better. I think his defense has really improved. He's become a two-way player. I'm really proud of him. He's playing great. I think he took it as a personal challenge with the loss of Tre (Demps). Everybody wanted to know who was going to step up. I think he privately said, 'I'm going to be that guy.' I'm really proud of the off-season he had and what he's done early in this season."
"Tre was a huge part of our team last year, and I knew there would need to be a replacement," Lindsey himself said when asked about that. "I wanted to step up and be one of the guys to replace him."
And what's the difference between him now and him a year ago?
"Maturity," he said, himself invoking that M word. "I have a different fire for the game. I knew I had to step up. Just being a leader, a veteran. Those types of things. Just getting older."
Later, while discussing the parallel paths he and Vic Law have traveled, Lindsey also said, "I think both of us have grown up a lot since we've been here."
LAW FINISHED UP SATURDAY with 16 points and six rebounds and five assists and two steals, and forward Gavin Skelly finished with 15 points and three rebounds. But point Bryant McIntosh, the fourth and final member of Collins' first recruiting class, took just four shots and ended with a mere four points in limited minutes (24). "There's going to be nights when he has to do what he did in the Wake Forest game," said Collins, referring back to that night he carried the 'Cats to a win with his 23 points. "A night like tonight, he can distribute and get guys shots and set the table. We have enough fire power to win those games as well. For us to score 80 points and him only get one basket, it shows we've got a lot of guys who can score. . .so there's not as much on Bryant's plate to have to score every night, which is a good thing."
SENIOR SANJAY LUMPKIN, who was on campus when Collins arrived, scored 11 on Saturday night, while grabbing 10 rebounds and dropping both of his three-point attempts. The 'Cats have now won 14 straight when he makes a three. "Everyone in the locker room, we all know that," he later said of that streak. "We always joke, if I hit a three, the game's over. That's a running joke in the locker room."
THE 'CATS FRESHMEN, in turn, played, uh, well, like freshmen. The 6-foot-10 Barret Benson, who started in place of the injured Dererk Pardon, made two of his three shots and grabbed three rebounds and committed a pair of turnovers and got beat on a couple pick-and-rolls in his 20 minutes. "This was new territory for him. He hadn't gotten a chance to play a lot. . .(and) I thought he did a great job," Collins said of him. "Are there things he can do better? Absolutely. But the only way you can learn those things is to play."
Isiah Brown, who has been heralded as instant offense off the bench, struggled even more. He missed all seven of his field goal attempts and committed four fouls in his 15 minutes. "He's a freshman," Collins said of him. "So there's going to be night like tonight. There's going to be nights like Texas when he plays great and helps us win. It's the ebbs and flows of what freshmen go through. The good thing about our team now is we're not so reliant every night on our freshmen. They can go through those peaks and valleys, and we can help them along, and they can be great learning experiences."
THAT, OF COURSE, was not the case when McIntosh and Skelly and Law and Lindsey were freshmen. They were thrown out there, and they endured on-the-job training, and some of their experiences were stinging and some of their losses were bitter. But now, as Lindsey noted, they are all grown up, and their past has prepared them for the present, and here they are tough and hardened, ambitious and unsatisfied with anything but success. "They're at a high level of confidence right now," the DePaul coach Dave Leitao said on Saturday night. "They're only a couple plays away from being undefeated and they play like that. I have a whole lost of respect and enthusiasm for what's going on here. I think they're doing it well and I think they're doing it right."
"It's been a progression," Chris Collins later said. "You go through some stretches in the first couple years, it's tough. But you always try to look at the long term. Now we're starting to get the fruits of the work of the Vic Laws and the Scott Lindseys and the Gavin Skellys and the Bryant McIntoshes. Those were the young guys in the early years. . . . It's our fourth year now. What I like, there's a culture in place. The players in the program are preaching the message instead of me all the time. That's when you know you're starting to turn the corner."
And what's that message?
"The way we do things. The way we work. The way we prepare for games. The investment in terms of the time you've got to put in," Collins finally said. "When we first started this thing— there's no reason, when you're at a place like this, why you can't strive for excellence in everything. You can be a great student and a great player. You can want to be a great basketball player and strive for a career in basketball, and still be serious about your academics and your degree. Those are the kind of guys that we've tried to get, and I'm really proud now that the things I tried to teach them when they were younger—what it takes to be successful; how tough you have to be; how you have to prepare; how you have to play every play—those are things I now hear them saying to the younger guys in the locker room. That's a good feeling when it's coming from them because they're taking ownership.
"You hear the great coaches talk about it all the time. The best teams are the ones that are led by the players. I'm starting to see that a little bit, which is really fun."
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