Northwestern University Athletics
Saturday, February 10
College Park, Md.
11 a.m.
Northwestern
at
Maryland
The Skip Report: Maryland Preview
2/9/2018 4:03:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
Ten things. . . .
1. The young 'Cats were saddled with a five-game losing streak when they faced Maryland back in January of 2015, but here they led the No. 13 Terps late by one. "I missed the front end of a one-and-one," recites Bryant McIntosh, who was then a first year. "Melo (Trimble, the Terp star) dribbled down, left hand, pulled up, missed. Dez Wells (a Terp forward) came in and tipped it in (for the winning points). He went through four of our guys. We didn't block out. Definitely a play that'll always stick with me and that I think about."
"Winning at Maryland has always been a big thing for this team because we feel we've had so many games with them where we feel we should have won," adds Scottie Lindsey, another who was a callow first year back then. "Then they have such a great atmosphere at their games, so it's fun playing there. I definitely think this is a moment for us to win at their place. We're going to use all those bad experiences and remember how we didn't finish off games in the previous years."
2. The 'Cats get that chance for a win in their Saturday matinee with the Terps, but the senior McIntosh already has a memory that measures the distance he and they have traveled since that afternoon three years ago. "I think about last year in D.C. (at the Big Ten Tournament)," he says now, "basically playing them on the road, and how awesome it was to see everybody exiting the building and us going out on top (by eight). It was after that game in D.C. last year where I just saw how far we had come. They're a really good program, they were really good last year (ranked No. 25 when the 'Cats topped them), and to see us take those steps and then beat them, it was a good feeling."
3. McIntosh himself was far better than good in the 'Cats Tuesday win over No. 20 Michigan, finishing that night with 24 points (on just 11 shots) and five assists and a single turnover in 35 minutes. "I thought it was my best game so far this year as far as just going out and playing and not worrying about mistakes, not worrying about previous things that had happened," he would say two days later. "Just going out and trying to win a game."
4. "The power of the mind is crazy. It can paralyze you at times," echoes Northwestern coach Chris Collins. "With a kid like Bryant it happens to him because it comes from a good place. He wants to win. He cares. He wants to play well. But he's just got to play instinctively. He's got to play with passion and joy and let the guys feed off of that."
5. Back as a freshman, as the 'Cats began transforming themselves into a tournament team, this was no problem for McIntosh. "There was an understanding it was going to take time," he explains. "There weren't any expectations on us. I was the only one who expected anything."
6. But this year, after a tourney appearance and a preseason ranking, that was hardly the case. "After we became very good," he goes on, "expectations by everybody obviously rose and my expectations for everybody rose as well. When I'm not meeting my expectations and everybody else's expectations about how we should be playing, I take it personally. I just put so much pressure on myself. You could tell when I was playing I just wasn't having fun."
7. All of this, not surprisingly, had a deleterious effect on his performance. "When I'm stressed out, trying to control everything, trying to micromanage everything, I'm thinking too much and then I'm slower," he says. "I don't have any energy, emotion. I don't share emotion."
"When he's internalizing a lot he gets slower," echoes Collins. "He doesn't move as quick. His decisions aren't as quick. I call it 'pop.' He doesn't have that pop to his game. When he's just playing instinctually, that to me is when he's at his best."
8. Shortly before the Michigan game, Collins and McIntosh had a heart-to-heart on this subject. "We've had a couple great talks," says the player. "What it comes down to is me relaxing and just going out and playing the way I know I can."
"He's got a month left in his career," says the coach. "We just talked about, 'Hey. This last month and change, go out there and play as the little kid who has always loved playing the game and having fun and playing with a smile on his face.'"
That explains why Collins had said this shortly after McIntosh's performance against Michigan. "That was the thing that made me most happy. I saw smiles on his face," he said.
"You definitely can tell," McIntosh says when asked about that. "You can see it in my emotions if I'm relaxed or uptight."
9. The point, it turns out, symbolizes the current condition of 'Cats, who are collectively smiling after four wins in their last five games. "When things weren't going well earlier in the season, guys didn't say anything, kind of went their own way," Scottie Lindsey notes. "We've been a little bit more connected and we've definitely had more fun with it whether we're struggling or not. We can't take it for granted and I think we're definitely having more fun with it."
It?
"The game of basketball. We've been talking about that a lot. It's just a blessing to be able to play at this level, to be able to play at all. I think everyone's taken that into account. We've definitely been having more fun. We're getting better each game we play and want to keep this thing going."
10. The 'Cats still believe they can keep it going into March and the NCAA tournament. "I think the guys feel good," Collins finally says in explanation. "When you're on a team, you always kind of know when you're playing well, when you're not playing well. I think these past five, six games, going back to when we started with that Minnesota stretch (on Jan. 10)— maybe we've had one clunker game, at Indiana. Other than that Indiana game our guys feel we're playing pretty well. We're connecting. We're enjoying and playing with each other. I think the guys are trying to hold onto that.
"Our whole philosophy has been, just one game at a time. Let's control what we can control. We've got Maryland coming up, that's what's in front of us. Let's see where the dust settles after that. Then just keep playing as long as we have games."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
Ten things. . . .
1. The young 'Cats were saddled with a five-game losing streak when they faced Maryland back in January of 2015, but here they led the No. 13 Terps late by one. "I missed the front end of a one-and-one," recites Bryant McIntosh, who was then a first year. "Melo (Trimble, the Terp star) dribbled down, left hand, pulled up, missed. Dez Wells (a Terp forward) came in and tipped it in (for the winning points). He went through four of our guys. We didn't block out. Definitely a play that'll always stick with me and that I think about."
"Winning at Maryland has always been a big thing for this team because we feel we've had so many games with them where we feel we should have won," adds Scottie Lindsey, another who was a callow first year back then. "Then they have such a great atmosphere at their games, so it's fun playing there. I definitely think this is a moment for us to win at their place. We're going to use all those bad experiences and remember how we didn't finish off games in the previous years."
2. The 'Cats get that chance for a win in their Saturday matinee with the Terps, but the senior McIntosh already has a memory that measures the distance he and they have traveled since that afternoon three years ago. "I think about last year in D.C. (at the Big Ten Tournament)," he says now, "basically playing them on the road, and how awesome it was to see everybody exiting the building and us going out on top (by eight). It was after that game in D.C. last year where I just saw how far we had come. They're a really good program, they were really good last year (ranked No. 25 when the 'Cats topped them), and to see us take those steps and then beat them, it was a good feeling."
3. McIntosh himself was far better than good in the 'Cats Tuesday win over No. 20 Michigan, finishing that night with 24 points (on just 11 shots) and five assists and a single turnover in 35 minutes. "I thought it was my best game so far this year as far as just going out and playing and not worrying about mistakes, not worrying about previous things that had happened," he would say two days later. "Just going out and trying to win a game."
4. "The power of the mind is crazy. It can paralyze you at times," echoes Northwestern coach Chris Collins. "With a kid like Bryant it happens to him because it comes from a good place. He wants to win. He cares. He wants to play well. But he's just got to play instinctively. He's got to play with passion and joy and let the guys feed off of that."
5. Back as a freshman, as the 'Cats began transforming themselves into a tournament team, this was no problem for McIntosh. "There was an understanding it was going to take time," he explains. "There weren't any expectations on us. I was the only one who expected anything."
6. But this year, after a tourney appearance and a preseason ranking, that was hardly the case. "After we became very good," he goes on, "expectations by everybody obviously rose and my expectations for everybody rose as well. When I'm not meeting my expectations and everybody else's expectations about how we should be playing, I take it personally. I just put so much pressure on myself. You could tell when I was playing I just wasn't having fun."
7. All of this, not surprisingly, had a deleterious effect on his performance. "When I'm stressed out, trying to control everything, trying to micromanage everything, I'm thinking too much and then I'm slower," he says. "I don't have any energy, emotion. I don't share emotion."
"When he's internalizing a lot he gets slower," echoes Collins. "He doesn't move as quick. His decisions aren't as quick. I call it 'pop.' He doesn't have that pop to his game. When he's just playing instinctually, that to me is when he's at his best."
8. Shortly before the Michigan game, Collins and McIntosh had a heart-to-heart on this subject. "We've had a couple great talks," says the player. "What it comes down to is me relaxing and just going out and playing the way I know I can."
"He's got a month left in his career," says the coach. "We just talked about, 'Hey. This last month and change, go out there and play as the little kid who has always loved playing the game and having fun and playing with a smile on his face.'"
That explains why Collins had said this shortly after McIntosh's performance against Michigan. "That was the thing that made me most happy. I saw smiles on his face," he said.
"You definitely can tell," McIntosh says when asked about that. "You can see it in my emotions if I'm relaxed or uptight."
9. The point, it turns out, symbolizes the current condition of 'Cats, who are collectively smiling after four wins in their last five games. "When things weren't going well earlier in the season, guys didn't say anything, kind of went their own way," Scottie Lindsey notes. "We've been a little bit more connected and we've definitely had more fun with it whether we're struggling or not. We can't take it for granted and I think we're definitely having more fun with it."
It?
"The game of basketball. We've been talking about that a lot. It's just a blessing to be able to play at this level, to be able to play at all. I think everyone's taken that into account. We've definitely been having more fun. We're getting better each game we play and want to keep this thing going."
10. The 'Cats still believe they can keep it going into March and the NCAA tournament. "I think the guys feel good," Collins finally says in explanation. "When you're on a team, you always kind of know when you're playing well, when you're not playing well. I think these past five, six games, going back to when we started with that Minnesota stretch (on Jan. 10)— maybe we've had one clunker game, at Indiana. Other than that Indiana game our guys feel we're playing pretty well. We're connecting. We're enjoying and playing with each other. I think the guys are trying to hold onto that.
"Our whole philosophy has been, just one game at a time. Let's control what we can control. We've got Maryland coming up, that's what's in front of us. Let's see where the dust settles after that. Then just keep playing as long as we have games."
••••••
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