Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: Indiana Primer
2/25/2017 11:51:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
FAST BREAK POINTS AS THE 'CATS HEAD TO BLOOMINGTON FOR A SATURDAY NIGHT DATE WITH INDIANA. . .
BACK IN THE DAY, back when he was laying the foundation for the program he would build, Chris Collins allowed that his 'Cats might not win every game they played. But, he avowed, he wanted them always to be the toughest and hardest working team on any court they might grace. That is why he and his players were so nauseous after they fell to Illinois last Tuesday. That night in Champaign, they were not that. "We were all very disappointed. It was just kind of unlike us. It was a weird night," he explained on Friday.
"I just didn't think we had the energy or the fight we needed in a game like that. It was a little bit upsetting to all of us that we weren't more prepared to play that game. And I think the players really took it personal, which is great. I want them to have that kind of ownership of the team. But it's only great if the words turn into something on the floor. You hear about those things all the time, players' meetings, which is great. You want guys to express their feelings, and you want guys to figure out what's going on and how they can be better. But it only works if you transfer it to the floor."
WERE THEY UPSET that they weren't more prepared mentally or physically? "For just the fight," Collins said. "Watching from the sidelines, I thought Illinois outfought us. I really did. It's one thing to get out-executed. But they were the tougher team the other night. They were physical. They were sharper. They had more energy. To me, that's unacceptable this time of the year. There's no reason for us not to be laying it on the line. You might not win. But with it being the end of the season, it's not a marathon anymore. The season's a sprint. You've got three games left. There's a week left. You lay it on the line for 40 minutes. I'm confident we'll do that (Saturday). I don't know what that'll mean in terms of winning and losing. But I'm confident that we'll come to play."
THE 'CATS, OF COURSE, are looking to get invited to their first NCAA tourney, and this means they are playing meaningful games in February. This is new to them, as is the attention (both local and national) they are receiving as the Kid of the Moment, and it was this new reality Collins touched down on last Monday before they headed south. "I want these guys to stay in the present," he said then. "I've talked about that a lot. I want them to play loose. I want them to play free. I want them to play hungry."
Since they had not done that against the Illini, he was asked on Friday if they might be feeling the pressure of the moment.
"I don't know. I don't know if that was part of it. Maybe," he said. "You guys know. I'm always honest. I think we've done a pretty good job of staying focused with each game. But I don't know. If I knew how to explain the other night, maybe I would have had a better chance of changing it. But it was just one of those nights. Some nights you just don't have it. We didn't have it. I don't want to discredit Illinois. They played well. It's nothing against them. We just didn't match it."
THE 'CATS won six of seven in January and, in them, scored 66, 74, 69, 89, 74, 73 and 68 points. That is an average of 73.3 ppg. But on Feb. 1, without Scottie Lindsey, they managed just 59 while losing to Purdue, and then they put up 61 while losing at home to Illinois and 66 while winning at Wisconsin and 64 while losing at home to Maryland. Lindsey returned for their Feb. 18 win over Rutgers, but still they scored just 69, and then they limped home with only 50 in Champaign. That is an average of 61.5 ppg and so it was no surprise that Collins would say Friday, "Our real problem has been our inability to score recently.
"Part of it is getting Scottie back into the mix. Another part of it is we're just not executing well. We're not cutting. We're not screening. And we're not getting good shots. We've got to do a better job of that because what happens then is teams put everything into stopping (point) Bryant (McIntosh). Like the other night, he was exhausted at halftime because he wasn't getting help from other guys. We've got to find balance. We need to get back to playing offense like we did when we were executing and playing well earlier in the year."
LINDSEY has totaled just eight points while going three-of-19 from the field in his two games back, which is no real surprise. He was forced to sit idle for three weeks while recovering from mono. "Scottie's rusty," noted Collins. "We're going to play him, and he's going to work through it. He's working hard at practice. But you don't do nothing for three weeks and step on the court and pick up where you left off. I knew it was going to be an adjustment period for him. I want him to continue to be aggressive. He's got to keep taking his shots. He's got to keep playing. And hopefully, sooner rather than later — that's what's tough about the timing. It's not early January. It's the end of February. This is the end. I know he's been working really hard in between games to get his timing back, to get his rhythm and conditioning.
"Hopefully, he'll be better (Saturday), which helps Vic (Law). It helps Vic. It helps Bryant. It helps all our guys when you have another threat like that."
WHEN LINDSEY, the 'Cats leading scorer, went out, Law moved up on the opponent's scouting report and was confronted by their best wing defender. This helps explain why, in February, he has shot just 25 percent from the field (14 of 56). "That's part of it," agreed Collins. "But part of it is the kind of shots he's been getting. We haven't been getting him a lot of clean shots. I'd like to see him get out on the open floor a little bit. Maybe get some easy ones. Get to the line, see the ball go in with some free throws.
"But, yeah. There's no question he's not shot the ball well. I want him to stay confident, though. You guys hear me. I always talk about the law of averages. That's the way we approach it. As long as you prepare, and practice the right way, and take good shots— as long as he's taking good shots, I'll live with the result. I think part of it too is our execution. We're not a one-on-one team. It's just not who we are. We have to screen. We have to work together. We've got to move the ball. We've got to help each other get shots. Guys like Vic are beneficiaries of that when we're executing well."
AND FINALLY, COLLINS, on the situation of his 'Cats, who have gone 2-4 in February: "At the end of the day, if you would have said to all of us that we'd be where we are right now at our first team meeting, I think we all would have signed up for it. So we should be excited to play. We should go out there and do whatever it takes to get a win, which won't be easy in a tough environment."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
FAST BREAK POINTS AS THE 'CATS HEAD TO BLOOMINGTON FOR A SATURDAY NIGHT DATE WITH INDIANA. . .
BACK IN THE DAY, back when he was laying the foundation for the program he would build, Chris Collins allowed that his 'Cats might not win every game they played. But, he avowed, he wanted them always to be the toughest and hardest working team on any court they might grace. That is why he and his players were so nauseous after they fell to Illinois last Tuesday. That night in Champaign, they were not that. "We were all very disappointed. It was just kind of unlike us. It was a weird night," he explained on Friday.
"I just didn't think we had the energy or the fight we needed in a game like that. It was a little bit upsetting to all of us that we weren't more prepared to play that game. And I think the players really took it personal, which is great. I want them to have that kind of ownership of the team. But it's only great if the words turn into something on the floor. You hear about those things all the time, players' meetings, which is great. You want guys to express their feelings, and you want guys to figure out what's going on and how they can be better. But it only works if you transfer it to the floor."
WERE THEY UPSET that they weren't more prepared mentally or physically? "For just the fight," Collins said. "Watching from the sidelines, I thought Illinois outfought us. I really did. It's one thing to get out-executed. But they were the tougher team the other night. They were physical. They were sharper. They had more energy. To me, that's unacceptable this time of the year. There's no reason for us not to be laying it on the line. You might not win. But with it being the end of the season, it's not a marathon anymore. The season's a sprint. You've got three games left. There's a week left. You lay it on the line for 40 minutes. I'm confident we'll do that (Saturday). I don't know what that'll mean in terms of winning and losing. But I'm confident that we'll come to play."
THE 'CATS, OF COURSE, are looking to get invited to their first NCAA tourney, and this means they are playing meaningful games in February. This is new to them, as is the attention (both local and national) they are receiving as the Kid of the Moment, and it was this new reality Collins touched down on last Monday before they headed south. "I want these guys to stay in the present," he said then. "I've talked about that a lot. I want them to play loose. I want them to play free. I want them to play hungry."
Since they had not done that against the Illini, he was asked on Friday if they might be feeling the pressure of the moment.
"I don't know. I don't know if that was part of it. Maybe," he said. "You guys know. I'm always honest. I think we've done a pretty good job of staying focused with each game. But I don't know. If I knew how to explain the other night, maybe I would have had a better chance of changing it. But it was just one of those nights. Some nights you just don't have it. We didn't have it. I don't want to discredit Illinois. They played well. It's nothing against them. We just didn't match it."
THE 'CATS won six of seven in January and, in them, scored 66, 74, 69, 89, 74, 73 and 68 points. That is an average of 73.3 ppg. But on Feb. 1, without Scottie Lindsey, they managed just 59 while losing to Purdue, and then they put up 61 while losing at home to Illinois and 66 while winning at Wisconsin and 64 while losing at home to Maryland. Lindsey returned for their Feb. 18 win over Rutgers, but still they scored just 69, and then they limped home with only 50 in Champaign. That is an average of 61.5 ppg and so it was no surprise that Collins would say Friday, "Our real problem has been our inability to score recently.
"Part of it is getting Scottie back into the mix. Another part of it is we're just not executing well. We're not cutting. We're not screening. And we're not getting good shots. We've got to do a better job of that because what happens then is teams put everything into stopping (point) Bryant (McIntosh). Like the other night, he was exhausted at halftime because he wasn't getting help from other guys. We've got to find balance. We need to get back to playing offense like we did when we were executing and playing well earlier in the year."
LINDSEY has totaled just eight points while going three-of-19 from the field in his two games back, which is no real surprise. He was forced to sit idle for three weeks while recovering from mono. "Scottie's rusty," noted Collins. "We're going to play him, and he's going to work through it. He's working hard at practice. But you don't do nothing for three weeks and step on the court and pick up where you left off. I knew it was going to be an adjustment period for him. I want him to continue to be aggressive. He's got to keep taking his shots. He's got to keep playing. And hopefully, sooner rather than later — that's what's tough about the timing. It's not early January. It's the end of February. This is the end. I know he's been working really hard in between games to get his timing back, to get his rhythm and conditioning.
"Hopefully, he'll be better (Saturday), which helps Vic (Law). It helps Vic. It helps Bryant. It helps all our guys when you have another threat like that."
WHEN LINDSEY, the 'Cats leading scorer, went out, Law moved up on the opponent's scouting report and was confronted by their best wing defender. This helps explain why, in February, he has shot just 25 percent from the field (14 of 56). "That's part of it," agreed Collins. "But part of it is the kind of shots he's been getting. We haven't been getting him a lot of clean shots. I'd like to see him get out on the open floor a little bit. Maybe get some easy ones. Get to the line, see the ball go in with some free throws.
"But, yeah. There's no question he's not shot the ball well. I want him to stay confident, though. You guys hear me. I always talk about the law of averages. That's the way we approach it. As long as you prepare, and practice the right way, and take good shots— as long as he's taking good shots, I'll live with the result. I think part of it too is our execution. We're not a one-on-one team. It's just not who we are. We have to screen. We have to work together. We've got to move the ball. We've got to help each other get shots. Guys like Vic are beneficiaries of that when we're executing well."
AND FINALLY, COLLINS, on the situation of his 'Cats, who have gone 2-4 in February: "At the end of the day, if you would have said to all of us that we'd be where we are right now at our first team meeting, I think we all would have signed up for it. So we should be excited to play. We should go out there and do whatever it takes to get a win, which won't be easy in a tough environment."
••••••
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