Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: Ohio State Primer
1/5/2016 5:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
Fast break points. . . .
BEFORE their Big Ten home opener last Saturday against Maryland, the 'Cats had scored 37.6 percent of their points with the three. But against the Terps, that shot accounted for just 10 percent of their 59. That is why, on Tuesday afternoon, Chris Collins was right on when he said, "Obviously we're a team that's at our best when we're hitting threes."
BEFORE their Big Ten home opener last Saturday against Maryland, the 'Cats had averaged 25.6 threes and 32.9 twos per-game. That's a difference of just 7.3. But against the Terps, they put up 20 threes and 39 twos. That's a difference of 17. So, again, Collins was right on when he now continued, "Teams know that, so it's going to be a point of emphasis to take that away the best they can. But I think with our guards, they've shown a great ability to break defenses down and get into the paint. Then if guys (opponents) aren't going to help as much, we've got to finish. Whether it's those floaters by our guards or those dump-off shots that our big guys are getting. We just have to do a better job of finishing (than they did) the other night."
THE TERPS, in that game, hugged (Collins' term) the 'Cats three-point shooters and took on their penetrators straight up. This is why their inability to finish was fatal. For, explained Collins, "If you finish those shots and make them pay for doing that, then all of a sudden they're going to start helping and now the threes are going to be open. Our inability to finish when we did get in there was big. We just have to do that. If they're going to take away our three-point game, then we have to drive the ball, we have to get the ball inside, we have to finish, get fouled and find other ways to score."
THEIR FUTURE, which begins Wednesday night at Welsh-Ryan when they host Ohio State, promises more of the same defensive approach. "That's how I think a lot of teams will start guarding us just because they (Maryland) had success with it," noted point Bryant McIntosh. "So we've got to get out in transition and find our shooters on the open floor -- or a broken floor, as coach is calling it. Then we've got to find guys and make the right reads in our offense. Looking back on the film, we made mistakes on our reads. There were things they were giving up that we didn't take advantage of. They did some things we have counters for, and we didn't do the counters. We continued running our offense. If we'd made the right reads and run the counters, then we would have had success."
ALSO NOTABLE in that Terp game was the 'Cats inability to hit the three, which they were doing at a 39.1 percent clip. For here, in stark contrast, they went a mere two-of-20 (10 percent). "It can be," Collins said when asked if poor shooting can be contagious. "I think it's like anything. When everybody sees the shots going in, I think it carries over, and certainly, when you're not making them, you can get a little bit tighter. For us, we had a tough shooting night last game, and a lot of it had to do with Maryland's defense.
"I think their length bothered us. They're just a really big team, and they did a really good job on Tre Demps, not letting him get any clean looks. (He ended just four-of-16 from the field.) They also did a great job on (Aaron) Falzon. (He entered the evening averaging 5.8 three-point attempts per-game). We run a lot of stuff to try and get him shots, and they really chased him off the three-point line and made him be a driver. (Against the Terps he put up only two). It was great to see he got eight free throws, which was big. But a lot of that the other night I really credit to the defense Maryland played. Hopefully it'll be a good learning experience for us watching the film. How we can execute better and make life easier on ourselves by not turning the ball over and making the right decisions."
THIS MATTER OF FINISHING promises to be important against the Buckeyes, who -- like the Terps -- are long and athletic and very protective of their rim. (They average 6.2 blocks per game.) "Ohio State has great wings," said McIntosh. "So it'll be another good test for us. We're excited about it."
THE 10-5 BUCKEYES have won six straight, a streak that includes a victory over then No. 4 Kentucky, and eight-of-their-last nine. "They're playing really well now, ever since that Kentucky game," noted Collins. "They have a young team, they were figuring out who they had. Since then they've been rolling."
CENTER ALEX OLAH will not play against the Buckeyes, missing his fourth straight game with a stress-related foot injury. That means the inside load will again be carried by fifth-year Joey van Zegeren and freshman Dererk Pardon, who combined for 16 points and nine rebounds against the Terps while shooting seven-of-eight from the field. They, clearly, did finish when given the chance.
PARDON has been a revelation, averaging 14 points and 7.3 rebounds since having his redshirt lifted three games ago. "There's a term, they say, 'You can rebound out of your area,'" Collins said when asked about the young center's board work. "Which means, if the rebound is not in his area, he has the ability to get outside of that. Some things you can't really teach. Rebounding to me, you see a lot of guys who are great at it. They just have a knack for it. They see where the ball's coming off, they have quick decision-making to get to the right angles, grab the ball, good hands. That's something he has. That's not something we taught him. He came here with that knack. That's something that we loved about him. His ability to get rebounds, especially when they're not right to him. He can rebound out of his area."
PARDON is listed as 6-foot-8. But he has a 7-foot-3 wingspan. And, said Collins, "With that wingspan, he plays 6-10."
AND FINALLY, McIntosh, on the 'Cats outscoring the Terps by seven in the second half of their game after trailing by 20 at the break: "It was very very beneficial just from a confidence standpoint, just seeing we could play with them. That game certainly could have gotten worse."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
Fast break points. . . .
BEFORE their Big Ten home opener last Saturday against Maryland, the 'Cats had scored 37.6 percent of their points with the three. But against the Terps, that shot accounted for just 10 percent of their 59. That is why, on Tuesday afternoon, Chris Collins was right on when he said, "Obviously we're a team that's at our best when we're hitting threes."
BEFORE their Big Ten home opener last Saturday against Maryland, the 'Cats had averaged 25.6 threes and 32.9 twos per-game. That's a difference of just 7.3. But against the Terps, they put up 20 threes and 39 twos. That's a difference of 17. So, again, Collins was right on when he now continued, "Teams know that, so it's going to be a point of emphasis to take that away the best they can. But I think with our guards, they've shown a great ability to break defenses down and get into the paint. Then if guys (opponents) aren't going to help as much, we've got to finish. Whether it's those floaters by our guards or those dump-off shots that our big guys are getting. We just have to do a better job of finishing (than they did) the other night."
THE TERPS, in that game, hugged (Collins' term) the 'Cats three-point shooters and took on their penetrators straight up. This is why their inability to finish was fatal. For, explained Collins, "If you finish those shots and make them pay for doing that, then all of a sudden they're going to start helping and now the threes are going to be open. Our inability to finish when we did get in there was big. We just have to do that. If they're going to take away our three-point game, then we have to drive the ball, we have to get the ball inside, we have to finish, get fouled and find other ways to score."
THEIR FUTURE, which begins Wednesday night at Welsh-Ryan when they host Ohio State, promises more of the same defensive approach. "That's how I think a lot of teams will start guarding us just because they (Maryland) had success with it," noted point Bryant McIntosh. "So we've got to get out in transition and find our shooters on the open floor -- or a broken floor, as coach is calling it. Then we've got to find guys and make the right reads in our offense. Looking back on the film, we made mistakes on our reads. There were things they were giving up that we didn't take advantage of. They did some things we have counters for, and we didn't do the counters. We continued running our offense. If we'd made the right reads and run the counters, then we would have had success."
ALSO NOTABLE in that Terp game was the 'Cats inability to hit the three, which they were doing at a 39.1 percent clip. For here, in stark contrast, they went a mere two-of-20 (10 percent). "It can be," Collins said when asked if poor shooting can be contagious. "I think it's like anything. When everybody sees the shots going in, I think it carries over, and certainly, when you're not making them, you can get a little bit tighter. For us, we had a tough shooting night last game, and a lot of it had to do with Maryland's defense.
"I think their length bothered us. They're just a really big team, and they did a really good job on Tre Demps, not letting him get any clean looks. (He ended just four-of-16 from the field.) They also did a great job on (Aaron) Falzon. (He entered the evening averaging 5.8 three-point attempts per-game). We run a lot of stuff to try and get him shots, and they really chased him off the three-point line and made him be a driver. (Against the Terps he put up only two). It was great to see he got eight free throws, which was big. But a lot of that the other night I really credit to the defense Maryland played. Hopefully it'll be a good learning experience for us watching the film. How we can execute better and make life easier on ourselves by not turning the ball over and making the right decisions."
THIS MATTER OF FINISHING promises to be important against the Buckeyes, who -- like the Terps -- are long and athletic and very protective of their rim. (They average 6.2 blocks per game.) "Ohio State has great wings," said McIntosh. "So it'll be another good test for us. We're excited about it."
THE 10-5 BUCKEYES have won six straight, a streak that includes a victory over then No. 4 Kentucky, and eight-of-their-last nine. "They're playing really well now, ever since that Kentucky game," noted Collins. "They have a young team, they were figuring out who they had. Since then they've been rolling."
CENTER ALEX OLAH will not play against the Buckeyes, missing his fourth straight game with a stress-related foot injury. That means the inside load will again be carried by fifth-year Joey van Zegeren and freshman Dererk Pardon, who combined for 16 points and nine rebounds against the Terps while shooting seven-of-eight from the field. They, clearly, did finish when given the chance.
PARDON has been a revelation, averaging 14 points and 7.3 rebounds since having his redshirt lifted three games ago. "There's a term, they say, 'You can rebound out of your area,'" Collins said when asked about the young center's board work. "Which means, if the rebound is not in his area, he has the ability to get outside of that. Some things you can't really teach. Rebounding to me, you see a lot of guys who are great at it. They just have a knack for it. They see where the ball's coming off, they have quick decision-making to get to the right angles, grab the ball, good hands. That's something he has. That's not something we taught him. He came here with that knack. That's something that we loved about him. His ability to get rebounds, especially when they're not right to him. He can rebound out of his area."
PARDON is listed as 6-foot-8. But he has a 7-foot-3 wingspan. And, said Collins, "With that wingspan, he plays 6-10."
AND FINALLY, McIntosh, on the 'Cats outscoring the Terps by seven in the second half of their game after trailing by 20 at the break: "It was very very beneficial just from a confidence standpoint, just seeing we could play with them. That game certainly could have gotten worse."
••••••
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