Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: Minnesota Primer
1/4/2017 3:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
MOVIN' ON UP . . .
THE 'CATS ARE COMERS, are aspirants, are intent on exiting their familiar Big Ten neighborhood and relocating in those heady environs long inhabited by programs like Michigan State. But this is no easy matter, as they found out last Friday night when they dropped by the Spartans' Breslin Center. For here they not only fell by nine. They also got jumped on in the game's opening minutes and, not insignificantly, went to the line 10 fewer times than their esteemed and highly-regarded host.
THE 'CATS BURST FROM THE BLOCKS with regularity as they won 12 of their first 14 games. But here, in the hothouse that was Breslin, they quickly fell into a 19-point hole they would never fully escape. "The atmosphere may have had a little bit to do with it," point Bryant McIntosh would say when asked the reason for this uncharacteristic beginning. "It was a good atmosphere, the best one we played against so far. It happens. We usually are the ones coming out and having a great start. But it wasn't the case that game. They came out and made a run and kind of put us on our heels."
"I thought it was a little surprising," Chris Collins later said of that non-start. "But it was the best environment we've been in. It was a great crowd. It was loud. Breslin Center's not an easy place to go into and win. For whatever reason, I thought we were on our heels a little bit to start the game. I chalk that up to being uncharacteristic of who we've been."
THE WILDCATS' SANJAY LUMPKIN labored 34 minutes that evening down on the blocks, where the bullets are live and the elbows thrown are honed to fine points. He would get hit with five fouls, but would himself take not a single foul shot. McIntosh, in turn, put in 37 minutes as his team's primary ball handler, a position the Spartans hound with the avidity of a repo man. He too would get hit with five fouls, but would himself take just a single foul shot. Then there was Gavin Skelly, who also fouled out after playing only 12 minutes and exited without even one free throw attempt. "There's definitely a balance of rich and poor," McIntosh would say when asked about those stark disparities.
"But we have to do a better job of going stronger and forcing the officials to make a call. There were times where it could have been a foul and it could not have been. It could have gone either way. When you're on someone else's home court, you more than likely aren't going to get that call. So you've got to force their hand into making the call."
"Obviously it's a tough game, very physical," Lumpkin later echoed. "But we know, going into the game, we don't expect to get any calls. Obviously we have to be tough and force the referees to make those calls. There's nothing else we can do. We don't expect to get any calls or any respect. Going forward, we have to put the refs in the position to make the calls."
THE 'CATS, ON THIS THURSDAY, host Minnesota, another group of aspirants intent on relocating in one of the Big Ten's elite neighborhoods. Last season, their third under Richard Pitino, it finished 8-23 overall and 2-16 in conference and its restless fans wanted his head on a stake. But here they arrive at Welsh-Ryan 13-2 overall and 1-1 in conference after losing at home to Michigan State and winning in overtime at No. 15 Purdue. "I think Minnesota's a team that's going to be relevant all year long," Collins said of it. "This is no fluke. This is a good team. So we know in our preparations that we're going to have to play at a high level if we're going to win this game."
THE WILDCATS' CONFERENCE OPENER with Penn State was analyzed by former UConn coach Jim Calhoun, who described that game as a neighborhood meeting between a pair of teams looking to relocate in ritzier environs. This Thursday night meeting with the Gophers is that as well. "When you're trying to win in a league like the Big Ten— last year we were the most chalk team in America," Collins would begin when asked the importance of winning this type of neighborhood affair. "We finished ninth in the league. We won every game except one against teams below us and we lost every game except one with the teams that finished above us. So we were exactly who we were. We were the ninth-best team. Now, when you're competing to be one of those teams who's in the mix at the end of the year, certainly you have to win games against teams that are fighting for the same thing you're fighting for."
"But I think it's important mostly from a recruiting standpoint," McIntosh would later add. "When we can't compete with a Wisconsin, a Minnesota, an Illinois, a Purdue, Indiana, it's going to make things tough as far as improving the program by recruiting. Those other teams are saying 'We beat them' and the recruits are more than likely going to scratch us off their list. I think that's the most important part of beating someone in your neighborhood. As you beat teams in your neighborhood, you become one of the top dogs and recruits want to play for a top dog."
AND FINALLY, COLLINS, coincidentally touching down on this matter of status and neighborhoods: "I think what you're seeing is that there are a lot of good teams. There is no upper, middle, bottom. I think you've got to play every game in front of you. There's a lot of games (where you think), 'There's no way that team can win.' Well, yeah. They did. They can win on the road. We talk about it as a team. You've got to play every night. We liken the conference to a boxing match. It's 18 rounds and you've got to try to win each round. You come out of that corner and you give everything you have in that round and hopefully, when the dust settles, you win more rounds than you lose. If you lose more, you're knocked out. That's the way we approach it and it's been a good way to lock into what's in front of us and not get ahead or ourselves."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
MOVIN' ON UP . . .
THE 'CATS ARE COMERS, are aspirants, are intent on exiting their familiar Big Ten neighborhood and relocating in those heady environs long inhabited by programs like Michigan State. But this is no easy matter, as they found out last Friday night when they dropped by the Spartans' Breslin Center. For here they not only fell by nine. They also got jumped on in the game's opening minutes and, not insignificantly, went to the line 10 fewer times than their esteemed and highly-regarded host.
THE 'CATS BURST FROM THE BLOCKS with regularity as they won 12 of their first 14 games. But here, in the hothouse that was Breslin, they quickly fell into a 19-point hole they would never fully escape. "The atmosphere may have had a little bit to do with it," point Bryant McIntosh would say when asked the reason for this uncharacteristic beginning. "It was a good atmosphere, the best one we played against so far. It happens. We usually are the ones coming out and having a great start. But it wasn't the case that game. They came out and made a run and kind of put us on our heels."
"I thought it was a little surprising," Chris Collins later said of that non-start. "But it was the best environment we've been in. It was a great crowd. It was loud. Breslin Center's not an easy place to go into and win. For whatever reason, I thought we were on our heels a little bit to start the game. I chalk that up to being uncharacteristic of who we've been."
THE WILDCATS' SANJAY LUMPKIN labored 34 minutes that evening down on the blocks, where the bullets are live and the elbows thrown are honed to fine points. He would get hit with five fouls, but would himself take not a single foul shot. McIntosh, in turn, put in 37 minutes as his team's primary ball handler, a position the Spartans hound with the avidity of a repo man. He too would get hit with five fouls, but would himself take just a single foul shot. Then there was Gavin Skelly, who also fouled out after playing only 12 minutes and exited without even one free throw attempt. "There's definitely a balance of rich and poor," McIntosh would say when asked about those stark disparities.
"But we have to do a better job of going stronger and forcing the officials to make a call. There were times where it could have been a foul and it could not have been. It could have gone either way. When you're on someone else's home court, you more than likely aren't going to get that call. So you've got to force their hand into making the call."
"Obviously it's a tough game, very physical," Lumpkin later echoed. "But we know, going into the game, we don't expect to get any calls. Obviously we have to be tough and force the referees to make those calls. There's nothing else we can do. We don't expect to get any calls or any respect. Going forward, we have to put the refs in the position to make the calls."
THE 'CATS, ON THIS THURSDAY, host Minnesota, another group of aspirants intent on relocating in one of the Big Ten's elite neighborhoods. Last season, their third under Richard Pitino, it finished 8-23 overall and 2-16 in conference and its restless fans wanted his head on a stake. But here they arrive at Welsh-Ryan 13-2 overall and 1-1 in conference after losing at home to Michigan State and winning in overtime at No. 15 Purdue. "I think Minnesota's a team that's going to be relevant all year long," Collins said of it. "This is no fluke. This is a good team. So we know in our preparations that we're going to have to play at a high level if we're going to win this game."
THE WILDCATS' CONFERENCE OPENER with Penn State was analyzed by former UConn coach Jim Calhoun, who described that game as a neighborhood meeting between a pair of teams looking to relocate in ritzier environs. This Thursday night meeting with the Gophers is that as well. "When you're trying to win in a league like the Big Ten— last year we were the most chalk team in America," Collins would begin when asked the importance of winning this type of neighborhood affair. "We finished ninth in the league. We won every game except one against teams below us and we lost every game except one with the teams that finished above us. So we were exactly who we were. We were the ninth-best team. Now, when you're competing to be one of those teams who's in the mix at the end of the year, certainly you have to win games against teams that are fighting for the same thing you're fighting for."
"But I think it's important mostly from a recruiting standpoint," McIntosh would later add. "When we can't compete with a Wisconsin, a Minnesota, an Illinois, a Purdue, Indiana, it's going to make things tough as far as improving the program by recruiting. Those other teams are saying 'We beat them' and the recruits are more than likely going to scratch us off their list. I think that's the most important part of beating someone in your neighborhood. As you beat teams in your neighborhood, you become one of the top dogs and recruits want to play for a top dog."
AND FINALLY, COLLINS, coincidentally touching down on this matter of status and neighborhoods: "I think what you're seeing is that there are a lot of good teams. There is no upper, middle, bottom. I think you've got to play every game in front of you. There's a lot of games (where you think), 'There's no way that team can win.' Well, yeah. They did. They can win on the road. We talk about it as a team. You've got to play every night. We liken the conference to a boxing match. It's 18 rounds and you've got to try to win each round. You come out of that corner and you give everything you have in that round and hopefully, when the dust settles, you win more rounds than you lose. If you lose more, you're knocked out. That's the way we approach it and it's been a good way to lock into what's in front of us and not get ahead or ourselves."
••••••
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