by Larry Watts
An upbeat Chris Collins met with reporters during Thursday’s Big Ten Basketball Media Day Thursday at the O’Hare Marriott Hotel. The Northwestern head coach is heading into his third season with one of the deepest teams in Wildcat history.
How was Spain?
It was a great trip for us. The best part was the team bonding and building just being away for 10 days together in a foreign country. The games were like glorified scrimmages. It was good for me to want to win the games, but also to play different lineups. I started a different team almost every game. I subbed differently and played different groups together just trying to get a feel for who we were and what things worked well together.
You didn’t play (center) Alex (Olah) in one of the games?
We have three big guys — Alex, Joey (van Zegeren) and Dererk (Pardon). Joey and Dererk needed minutes. I thought the trip was most beneficial for Joey since he hadn’t played since last December and that’s hard for big guys. Big guys can’t just go to SPAC and play pickup. It’s easier for a guard to go in. He got five games to see where his conditioning was and to work off some game rust. We had a three-week break after we came back and I felt like he came back a new guy. He’s going to be a key guy for us in our rotation.
What was the level of competition like?
Solid. It would probably be like mid-major talent but with man strength. They were 25-30 years old and it’s a physical game. Every game the free throw disparity was pretty one-sided. Then you try to talk to the refs and they conveniently didn’t know any English. We were more talented then probably all the teams we played except one and that was our first game (the only loss). I wish we had played that team deeper into the trip because we had just gotten there, but you don’t know what you’re getting because a lot of those teams are in their offseason. All of the games presented different challenges and overall it was a good experience for our guys.
After several younger players bulked up, what is their next step?
I don’t know if confidence or swagger is really the good word. I think the really good teams have the level of expectation that you’re going to win. It doesn’t matter what the talent is. We had teams at Duke that weren’t as talented, but we ended up winning a lot of games because of that jersey we wore. We were expected to win. The next step for us is being able to get that mindset when we take the floor we expect to win, not hope to win. It’s all part of the process. I think our depth is going to be the real strength of this team. I know we’re getting better; I see it on a daily basis. But what does that mean in terms of where we are going to finish? Everybody is getting better (in the Big Ten). When you’re trying to climb a ladder, that means some other teams will have to slip on that ladder. You’re talking about trying to jump over some pretty good programs.
Northwestern never having made the NCAA.
I’m not going to shy away from it; that’s the elephant in the room. I like the fact people are asking us about that because it means we might have a chance. The best example I can use is what I see happening with the Cubs. I don’t see the Cubs feeling 100 years of pressure on their shoulders; I see them playing with young exuberance and enthusiasm. If we go out and play with 70-plus years of not having played in the NCAA on our shoulders, we’re going to crack. They cannot have that on their shoulders. I want them to enjoy this process, enjoy the hunt, enjoy the ups and downs and not feel like they have to live up to what has or has not happened in the program’s history. It’s going to be difficult if we start well because the chatter is going to get more, there will be more questions and that’s where our guys are really going to have to stay focused on the task at hand and keeping everything in front of them and not looking ahead. The moment you start daydreaming into March is the moment you quickly come down crashing to reality and that’s my biggest fear with this team. I know these guys want it, the work they’ve put in and the pieces we have, but they can’t allow the outside distractions to come in. If we start believing that stuff, it’s going to go the other way. At the end of the day, you get what you earn.
How big is it to have all this depth?
It’s huge. The returning guys know me, the way we set up, the way we practice and the strength and conditioning. With four new players coming in, they are more equipped because the older guys are showing them the way. In the really good programs, the old guys grab them and let them know the expectations of the program. I finally saw this summer and fall where it didn’t have to be my staff or me. When you see that happening, you know you’re on the right track. When you see all this stuff happening behind the scenes, the final step is winning.
Are you better because of your experience in close games last year?
It would have been more difficult if we hadn’t been close. We went 6-12 last year and we had six losses by about 20 points. You win three of those and you’re 9-9. We probably should have won three or four of those games. Unfortunately, with younger groups, you have to go through heartaches like that. It’s not fun. The thing that made me most proud was the way we finished the last month. A lot of teams would have went away and hid after losing 10 straight, but our guys stuck with it, kept fighting and we won five of our last seven. It helped give us positive momentum going into the offseason.
What was the thought process in scheduling nonconference this year?
Eight of our 12 players are either in their first or second year. I already knew we had four tough road games. With the remaining nine games I thought it was important to play at home and put ourselves in a position to play teams where we would have a chance to win. Nothing is guaranteed. When you look at our league, we played four games last year against Final Four teams. If you want to be a tournament team, you have to be .500 or better in our league. That means you’re going to have some real resume wins because there aren’t any cupcakes in the Big Ten. I’d like to play a game in the United Center as we get better. We’re going to be playing in some big venues with high profile teams. We’re going to have the Big East Challenge to go along with an ACC game, so as we get better and move forward, you schedule accordingly. With our schedule this year, I felt we needed to be at home and win some games so we could gain some confidence.
What do you want Tre (Demps) and Olah to get out of their last year at Northwestern?
To see both of their progressions has been so rewarding for me in different ways. When I first got here, Alex was this big guy who walked around with head down, unsure of who he was and unsure if he was good enough to play at this level. My goal was to see him become a man who walked around with his chest up and a smile on his face. He’s becoming a man. The basketball stuff is great, but to see his confidence is greater. He’s going to be very upset to leave Northwestern because he really loves Northwestern. It’s been really fun to be a part of his process. I so want for him to have a special senior year in all areas. You want him to leave his mark on this program moving forward and know he was a big part of what we are going to become. Tre is very similar. He is the one guy when I got here who was the gym rat. He was so passionate about being a great player. Others wanted it but no one like he does. When I got the job I was in the office 20 hours a day. The ball is bouncing late at night and early in the morning, and it was always Tre. When I looked out my office window, I knew we were going to get where we’re at when there was more than one guy in there with him. This summer, I would see five or six different guys come in to work on their games in order to get better. That’s the impact he’s made. They’ve seen him work and seen him get better. He was a very introverted guy, not very vocal. Sometimes that gets misconstrued and people think that’s a selfish guy. He has really embraced becoming a better teammate and a better leader. They are two of my guys. Wherever we go, they are going to be guys I talk about with future teams as we build this program.
An upbeat Chris Collins met with reporters during Thursday’s Big Ten Basketball Media Day Thursday at the O’Hare Marriott Hotel. The Northwestern head coach is heading into his third season with one of the deepest teams in Wildcat history.
How was Spain?
It was a great trip for us. The best part was the team bonding and building just being away for 10 days together in a foreign country. The games were like glorified scrimmages. It was good for me to want to win the games, but also to play different lineups. I started a different team almost every game. I subbed differently and played different groups together just trying to get a feel for who we were and what things worked well together.
You didn’t play (center) Alex (Olah) in one of the games?
We have three big guys — Alex, Joey (van Zegeren) and Dererk (Pardon). Joey and Dererk needed minutes. I thought the trip was most beneficial for Joey since he hadn’t played since last December and that’s hard for big guys. Big guys can’t just go to SPAC and play pickup. It’s easier for a guard to go in. He got five games to see where his conditioning was and to work off some game rust. We had a three-week break after we came back and I felt like he came back a new guy. He’s going to be a key guy for us in our rotation.
What was the level of competition like?
Solid. It would probably be like mid-major talent but with man strength. They were 25-30 years old and it’s a physical game. Every game the free throw disparity was pretty one-sided. Then you try to talk to the refs and they conveniently didn’t know any English. We were more talented then probably all the teams we played except one and that was our first game (the only loss). I wish we had played that team deeper into the trip because we had just gotten there, but you don’t know what you’re getting because a lot of those teams are in their offseason. All of the games presented different challenges and overall it was a good experience for our guys.
After several younger players bulked up, what is their next step?
I don’t know if confidence or swagger is really the good word. I think the really good teams have the level of expectation that you’re going to win. It doesn’t matter what the talent is. We had teams at Duke that weren’t as talented, but we ended up winning a lot of games because of that jersey we wore. We were expected to win. The next step for us is being able to get that mindset when we take the floor we expect to win, not hope to win. It’s all part of the process. I think our depth is going to be the real strength of this team. I know we’re getting better; I see it on a daily basis. But what does that mean in terms of where we are going to finish? Everybody is getting better (in the Big Ten). When you’re trying to climb a ladder, that means some other teams will have to slip on that ladder. You’re talking about trying to jump over some pretty good programs.
Northwestern never having made the NCAA.
I’m not going to shy away from it; that’s the elephant in the room. I like the fact people are asking us about that because it means we might have a chance. The best example I can use is what I see happening with the Cubs. I don’t see the Cubs feeling 100 years of pressure on their shoulders; I see them playing with young exuberance and enthusiasm. If we go out and play with 70-plus years of not having played in the NCAA on our shoulders, we’re going to crack. They cannot have that on their shoulders. I want them to enjoy this process, enjoy the hunt, enjoy the ups and downs and not feel like they have to live up to what has or has not happened in the program’s history. It’s going to be difficult if we start well because the chatter is going to get more, there will be more questions and that’s where our guys are really going to have to stay focused on the task at hand and keeping everything in front of them and not looking ahead. The moment you start daydreaming into March is the moment you quickly come down crashing to reality and that’s my biggest fear with this team. I know these guys want it, the work they’ve put in and the pieces we have, but they can’t allow the outside distractions to come in. If we start believing that stuff, it’s going to go the other way. At the end of the day, you get what you earn.
How big is it to have all this depth?
It’s huge. The returning guys know me, the way we set up, the way we practice and the strength and conditioning. With four new players coming in, they are more equipped because the older guys are showing them the way. In the really good programs, the old guys grab them and let them know the expectations of the program. I finally saw this summer and fall where it didn’t have to be my staff or me. When you see that happening, you know you’re on the right track. When you see all this stuff happening behind the scenes, the final step is winning.
Are you better because of your experience in close games last year?
It would have been more difficult if we hadn’t been close. We went 6-12 last year and we had six losses by about 20 points. You win three of those and you’re 9-9. We probably should have won three or four of those games. Unfortunately, with younger groups, you have to go through heartaches like that. It’s not fun. The thing that made me most proud was the way we finished the last month. A lot of teams would have went away and hid after losing 10 straight, but our guys stuck with it, kept fighting and we won five of our last seven. It helped give us positive momentum going into the offseason.
What was the thought process in scheduling nonconference this year?
Eight of our 12 players are either in their first or second year. I already knew we had four tough road games. With the remaining nine games I thought it was important to play at home and put ourselves in a position to play teams where we would have a chance to win. Nothing is guaranteed. When you look at our league, we played four games last year against Final Four teams. If you want to be a tournament team, you have to be .500 or better in our league. That means you’re going to have some real resume wins because there aren’t any cupcakes in the Big Ten. I’d like to play a game in the United Center as we get better. We’re going to be playing in some big venues with high profile teams. We’re going to have the Big East Challenge to go along with an ACC game, so as we get better and move forward, you schedule accordingly. With our schedule this year, I felt we needed to be at home and win some games so we could gain some confidence.
What do you want Tre (Demps) and Olah to get out of their last year at Northwestern?
To see both of their progressions has been so rewarding for me in different ways. When I first got here, Alex was this big guy who walked around with head down, unsure of who he was and unsure if he was good enough to play at this level. My goal was to see him become a man who walked around with his chest up and a smile on his face. He’s becoming a man. The basketball stuff is great, but to see his confidence is greater. He’s going to be very upset to leave Northwestern because he really loves Northwestern. It’s been really fun to be a part of his process. I so want for him to have a special senior year in all areas. You want him to leave his mark on this program moving forward and know he was a big part of what we are going to become. Tre is very similar. He is the one guy when I got here who was the gym rat. He was so passionate about being a great player. Others wanted it but no one like he does. When I got the job I was in the office 20 hours a day. The ball is bouncing late at night and early in the morning, and it was always Tre. When I looked out my office window, I knew we were going to get where we’re at when there was more than one guy in there with him. This summer, I would see five or six different guys come in to work on their games in order to get better. That’s the impact he’s made. They’ve seen him work and seen him get better. He was a very introverted guy, not very vocal. Sometimes that gets misconstrued and people think that’s a selfish guy. He has really embraced becoming a better teammate and a better leader. They are two of my guys. Wherever we go, they are going to be guys I talk about with future teams as we build this program.
