By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
This promised to be just one final tuneup, one last dress rehearsal before the 'Cats began the grind of Big Ten play. For here they were with a sparkling record of 11-1 and now, on this Sunday night at Welsh-Ryan, they were up against Loyola (Md.), whose record was a polar opposite 1-9. They had lost only to North Carolina, and the Greyhounds had defeated only the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and so, yes, this one certainly looked like nothing more than a chance for them to work out some kinks and to pad some stats before their real season began.
But reality has a way of upending even the most firmly held of expectations, and that is just what happened here even though the 'Cats would finally win by 15.
••••••••••
They topped Sacred Heart last Monday and then they scattered, heading off to various pinpoints on the map for a three-day Christmas break. Their center, Alex Olah, was fine when he departed for his sponsor's home in Indianapolis, but soon enough he was on the phone with one of his team's trainers. "He woke up, his foot wasn't feeling good," Chris Collins would recount.
That left foot was not broken. X-rays he had taken while at home revealed that, but it could not be fully examined until he returned to school and underwent an MRI. "We were keeping our fingers crossed, praying, hoping that it was just something that would go away after a couples days," Collins went on, but it was more than that. Olah, the 'Cats learned on Saturday, was in fact suffering from a stress-related injury that would sideline him indefinitely.
"That's when it all came crashing in on us. Now we have to adjust everything," continued Collins, who that afternoon met with the 6-foot-8, 230-pound freshman center Dererk Pardon. This was going to be his redshirt year, and that plan remained in effect even when Joey van Zegeren, Olah's backup, had been sidelined by his own stress-related foot injury. Gavin Skelly, the sophomore forward, could fill that role well enough against opponents like Chicago State and Mississippi Valley State, but now the situation was far different.
Now the Big Ten loomed and, explained Collins, "We need big bodies. We've got two of our big guys now battling foot injuries, so we need Dererk. There was no other option. There was no other option."
"He told me they needed me," said Pardon, recalling Collins' message in their meeting. "That was a big decision for me to make."
"But to Dererk's credit," said Collins, "he knew there was no other option and there was no hesitation at all. It shows the kind of kid he is."
"I felt I would let my team down if I didn't take off the redshirt," said Pardon. "I wanted to be with those guys, live in this moment. We have a great season going on."
••••••••••
This promised to be just one final tuneup, one last dress rehearsal before the 'Cats began the grind of Big Ten play. But reality has a way of upending even the most firmly held of expectations, and that is just what happened Sunday through the first half of their meeting with Loyola (Md.). Now Olah was in a walking boot, and Van Zegeren was their starting center, and through these 20 minutes their offense sputtered and struggled.
The 'Cats would miss their first seven shots and find themselves down 9-0 with just under five-and-a-half minutes gone. The 'Cats would drop just three of their first 13 shots and find themselves down 14 with 13 minutes gone. The 'Cats, who average 80.4 ppg, would score just 22 points in this half and find themselves down 11 when it finally ended. "Give Loyola credit," Collins later said. "They brought the fight to us. They were really ready to play. They had a lot of energy to start. They were playing harder than we were, quite frankly. They were beating us to loose balls, attacking us off the dribble and we kind of had that holiday look in our eyes."
Was missing Olah a factor?
"I think so. I thought part of the first half was, 'Where's Alex?' Usually to start games we really try to establish him. We're so used to going to him early, to getting it inside, trying to get some baskets and opening it up for our shooters. So it was an adjustment. Hopefully, we're over it. We have no choice now."
••••••••••
Van Zegeren ended that half with just two points and one rebound and Pardon, in his seven minutes, with nary a point or a rebound. But early in the second the 'Cats did adjust, switching to a zone defense they would use through to the finish, and that finally unfettered their offense, which would score 52 points through these 20 minutes. "I thought the change of defense slowed them down," point Bryant McIntosh later explained. "That kind of kept them out of the paint and allowed us-- we rebounded well out of it and that allowed us to get out in transition and we found shooters in transition."
McIntosh himself was the catalyst here, constantly penetrating off the pick-and-roll on his way to scoring 33 while going 11-of-15 from the field. Scottie Lindsey, off the bench, added 11 second-half points after scoring but three in the first, and the 'Cats as a team went seven-of-10 on their threes after opening a mere one-of-seven. Then there were Van Zegeren and Pardon, who through these final 20 minutes combined for 10 points and eight rebounds. "I was really proud of what those two guys did," Collins would say of them.
"For Dererk to come in here, not playing a single game, he played exceptionally," added McIntosh. "I was so happy for him. He wanted to play this whole time. It's tough to red shirt. To his credit, he worked, and it paid off for him a little bit tonight, and I think it'll continue to pay off for him."
"I always had the mind of just staying ready," Pardon himself finally said. "I never was lax through my redshirt time. I always stayed ready. Coach always told me, 'Anything can happen. Stay ready.' I did."
••••••••••
Now comes the grind of Big Ten play, which the 'Cats begin Wednesday afternoon at Nebraska before returning home to face No. 4 Maryland on Saturday. That part of their future is certain, but far less so is the status of Alex Olah. He will definitely sit against the Huskers, Collins definitively said on Sunday. But when asked when he might return, he could only say, "Hopefully sooner rather than later.
"We don't want to do anything that will jeopardize-- we've got 18 games left. It if means we have to hold him out one or two games to get him healthy, that's what we'll do."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
This promised to be just one final tuneup, one last dress rehearsal before the 'Cats began the grind of Big Ten play. For here they were with a sparkling record of 11-1 and now, on this Sunday night at Welsh-Ryan, they were up against Loyola (Md.), whose record was a polar opposite 1-9. They had lost only to North Carolina, and the Greyhounds had defeated only the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and so, yes, this one certainly looked like nothing more than a chance for them to work out some kinks and to pad some stats before their real season began.
But reality has a way of upending even the most firmly held of expectations, and that is just what happened here even though the 'Cats would finally win by 15.
••••••••••
They topped Sacred Heart last Monday and then they scattered, heading off to various pinpoints on the map for a three-day Christmas break. Their center, Alex Olah, was fine when he departed for his sponsor's home in Indianapolis, but soon enough he was on the phone with one of his team's trainers. "He woke up, his foot wasn't feeling good," Chris Collins would recount.
That left foot was not broken. X-rays he had taken while at home revealed that, but it could not be fully examined until he returned to school and underwent an MRI. "We were keeping our fingers crossed, praying, hoping that it was just something that would go away after a couples days," Collins went on, but it was more than that. Olah, the 'Cats learned on Saturday, was in fact suffering from a stress-related injury that would sideline him indefinitely.
"That's when it all came crashing in on us. Now we have to adjust everything," continued Collins, who that afternoon met with the 6-foot-8, 230-pound freshman center Dererk Pardon. This was going to be his redshirt year, and that plan remained in effect even when Joey van Zegeren, Olah's backup, had been sidelined by his own stress-related foot injury. Gavin Skelly, the sophomore forward, could fill that role well enough against opponents like Chicago State and Mississippi Valley State, but now the situation was far different.
Now the Big Ten loomed and, explained Collins, "We need big bodies. We've got two of our big guys now battling foot injuries, so we need Dererk. There was no other option. There was no other option."
"He told me they needed me," said Pardon, recalling Collins' message in their meeting. "That was a big decision for me to make."
"But to Dererk's credit," said Collins, "he knew there was no other option and there was no hesitation at all. It shows the kind of kid he is."
"I felt I would let my team down if I didn't take off the redshirt," said Pardon. "I wanted to be with those guys, live in this moment. We have a great season going on."
••••••••••
This promised to be just one final tuneup, one last dress rehearsal before the 'Cats began the grind of Big Ten play. But reality has a way of upending even the most firmly held of expectations, and that is just what happened Sunday through the first half of their meeting with Loyola (Md.). Now Olah was in a walking boot, and Van Zegeren was their starting center, and through these 20 minutes their offense sputtered and struggled.
The 'Cats would miss their first seven shots and find themselves down 9-0 with just under five-and-a-half minutes gone. The 'Cats would drop just three of their first 13 shots and find themselves down 14 with 13 minutes gone. The 'Cats, who average 80.4 ppg, would score just 22 points in this half and find themselves down 11 when it finally ended. "Give Loyola credit," Collins later said. "They brought the fight to us. They were really ready to play. They had a lot of energy to start. They were playing harder than we were, quite frankly. They were beating us to loose balls, attacking us off the dribble and we kind of had that holiday look in our eyes."
Was missing Olah a factor?
"I think so. I thought part of the first half was, 'Where's Alex?' Usually to start games we really try to establish him. We're so used to going to him early, to getting it inside, trying to get some baskets and opening it up for our shooters. So it was an adjustment. Hopefully, we're over it. We have no choice now."
••••••••••
Van Zegeren ended that half with just two points and one rebound and Pardon, in his seven minutes, with nary a point or a rebound. But early in the second the 'Cats did adjust, switching to a zone defense they would use through to the finish, and that finally unfettered their offense, which would score 52 points through these 20 minutes. "I thought the change of defense slowed them down," point Bryant McIntosh later explained. "That kind of kept them out of the paint and allowed us-- we rebounded well out of it and that allowed us to get out in transition and we found shooters in transition."
McIntosh himself was the catalyst here, constantly penetrating off the pick-and-roll on his way to scoring 33 while going 11-of-15 from the field. Scottie Lindsey, off the bench, added 11 second-half points after scoring but three in the first, and the 'Cats as a team went seven-of-10 on their threes after opening a mere one-of-seven. Then there were Van Zegeren and Pardon, who through these final 20 minutes combined for 10 points and eight rebounds. "I was really proud of what those two guys did," Collins would say of them.
"For Dererk to come in here, not playing a single game, he played exceptionally," added McIntosh. "I was so happy for him. He wanted to play this whole time. It's tough to red shirt. To his credit, he worked, and it paid off for him a little bit tonight, and I think it'll continue to pay off for him."
"I always had the mind of just staying ready," Pardon himself finally said. "I never was lax through my redshirt time. I always stayed ready. Coach always told me, 'Anything can happen. Stay ready.' I did."
••••••••••
Now comes the grind of Big Ten play, which the 'Cats begin Wednesday afternoon at Nebraska before returning home to face No. 4 Maryland on Saturday. That part of their future is certain, but far less so is the status of Alex Olah. He will definitely sit against the Huskers, Collins definitively said on Sunday. But when asked when he might return, he could only say, "Hopefully sooner rather than later.
"We don't want to do anything that will jeopardize-- we've got 18 games left. It if means we have to hold him out one or two games to get him healthy, that's what we'll do."