By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
He had missed his six previous three-point attempts. But here, with 6:03 remaining, Aaron Falzon dropped one from straight on, and now the 'Cats trailed Ohio State by just a point in their Wednesday night meeting at Welsh-Ryan. "That's where you've got to win or lose the game, and I thought Ohio State from that point on just really outplayed us on both ends," Chris Collins would later say. "They had great poise. They found their guys."
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The currents that cut through this affair often mirrored those that characterized the 'Cats Saturday night loss to Maryland. The Buckeyes, like the Terps, ardently guarded the three-point line. The Buckeyes, like the Terps, forced the 'Cats into a driving game and defended their rim straight up. The Buckeyes, like the Terps, attended Tre Demps and Bryant McIntosh with all the vigor of a mother caring for her precious baby. The Buckeyes, like the Terps, dared the three other 'Cats on the floor with those guards to beat them.
The results too were similar. The 'Cats missed their first 11 threes before steadying themselves to hit six-of-their-last-14. The 'Cats drivers, notably Demps and McIntosh, were effectively challenged by the Buckeyes' length and athleticism, and those around them struggled as they tried to complement their team's featured performers. Nathan Taphorn did hit both of his shots, a pair of threes, but Falzone finished three-of-11 overall and one-of-seven on his threes. Neither Sanjay Lumpkin nor Scottie Lindsey scored even a point, and the young freshman center Dererk Pardon, who was a monster on the boards (a game-high 14 rebounds), went just four-of-11 from the field and one-of-four from the line.
Their lack of production shined an even-brighter spotlight on Demps and McIntosh, who here were operating once again without the injured senior Alex Olah. "Without Olah, it's tough," McIntosh would later allow. "Tre and I are asked to do a little bit more as far as scoring, and it's tough. Teams are trying to take us away and they're doing a good job of it. They're making us take tough shots and, without Olah, we don't have that inside presence. That's not a knock on Dererk or Joey (van Zegeren, the other 'Cat center). They've done a great job. But Olah, I feel, is an All-Big Ten center. So it's tough taking him out of it."
"Joey and Dererk are doing a great job," echoed Collins. "But Joey's an activity guy and Dererk's more an energy guy as well. It's hard to loosen the defense when you can't drop the ball in the post. That's an element of our offense that's been taken away. Alex demands double teams, so now all of a sudden you've got guys in rotation ... Not making excuses, but not having a guy like Alex to be able to just drop it into the post and get some offense when things aren't going well has really put a lot of pressure on our two guards. Teams are really going after those guys, and making them take tough shots."
McIntosh, through the first 34 minutes of this game, made four of his 10 tough shots. But Demps, after going four-of-16 against the Terps without an assist, again struggled mightily, ending this night three-of-17 without an assist. "I think he's pressing a little bit, as everybody can see," Collins would say of his fifth-year senior, who was the focus of much of his post-game press conference. "He's got to relax a little bit. . . I think Tre, right now, I thought he had a number of open looks, to be quite frank, from three. He just wasn't able to get them down. (He ended one-of-eight from distance.) We're not going to lose confidence in him. But he's just got to relax.
"All really good scorers go through times when you aren't shooting as well. You've just got to relax and focus on other things. That was a big part of my game when I played. I was someone who was supposed to make shots. I always found myself in times when I'd go into a little bit of a shooting slump, the best thing to do was forget about my shot and focus on other areas. Can I get some rebounds? Can I take a charge? Can I get somebody else a shot? Sometimes when you get your focus off of that, then all of a sudden the shots come to you in rhythm and you start knocking them down. But it's easier said than done.
"I thought there were some times when he could have got guys some shots. But he knows we want him to score and I want him to be in attack mode. I don't want to rob him of that. But I think there were some opportunities when he got in there -- this was the second game in a row when he didn't have an assist. Really, when he was playing well, not only was he scoring, he was getting assists, he was finding guys. We've got to get him back to that. Right now he's a scorer who's struggling to score, so he's putting a lot of pressure on himself."
Is he ignoring those other parts Collins talked about?
"I don't think he ignores it," he said. "But you get fixated on what's not going down with your shot. It's easy to say to forget about it, but everybody's human and you're out there and if you know-- I thought he got some really good looks. All of a sudden, if you're not making them, you start thinking about that. It's our job, it's my job -- I'm going to help him better to get him back to playing where he was. It's a long year. You go through these little droughts, you go through these little slumps. We've got to keep his confidence up. It's on all of us to help him play better next time out."
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Still, despite all that, the 'Cats trailed by just one after Falzon's three, and now the lead was there for them to take when Buckeye star Marc Loving missed a right baseline jumper. But his teammate Trevor Thompson corralled the rebound, and was fouled by Demps, and dropped a pair to put his team up three at 5:28. Now McIntosh, who would play all but the last 31 seconds of this game, missed a drive and Loving scored off a break and Demps missed a three, and the tone for the conclusion of this one was established.
The 'Cats would go two-of-nine down the stretch and get outscored by eight and ultimately lose by nine, and McIntosh would go one-of-five down the stretch and turn the ball over once. "I think at the end he was because he knew Tre was struggling," Collins would later say when asked if he thought his young guard, like his old guard, was pressing. "So all of a sudden your running mate -- you can see in his face he's struggling and I think he put a lot on his shoulders to try and do a lot. At the end of the day, he might have had a couple sloppy turnovers, a couple sloppy finishes. But I thought he did his part. Bryant did his part."
"Toward the end of the game, I'd agree. I pressed a little bit," McIntosh himself would finally say. "They put the ball in my hands and asked me to do something, and I was doing the best I could. Maybe I should have made some different calls. But there's a lot of what-ifs."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
He had missed his six previous three-point attempts. But here, with 6:03 remaining, Aaron Falzon dropped one from straight on, and now the 'Cats trailed Ohio State by just a point in their Wednesday night meeting at Welsh-Ryan. "That's where you've got to win or lose the game, and I thought Ohio State from that point on just really outplayed us on both ends," Chris Collins would later say. "They had great poise. They found their guys."
••••••••••
The currents that cut through this affair often mirrored those that characterized the 'Cats Saturday night loss to Maryland. The Buckeyes, like the Terps, ardently guarded the three-point line. The Buckeyes, like the Terps, forced the 'Cats into a driving game and defended their rim straight up. The Buckeyes, like the Terps, attended Tre Demps and Bryant McIntosh with all the vigor of a mother caring for her precious baby. The Buckeyes, like the Terps, dared the three other 'Cats on the floor with those guards to beat them.
The results too were similar. The 'Cats missed their first 11 threes before steadying themselves to hit six-of-their-last-14. The 'Cats drivers, notably Demps and McIntosh, were effectively challenged by the Buckeyes' length and athleticism, and those around them struggled as they tried to complement their team's featured performers. Nathan Taphorn did hit both of his shots, a pair of threes, but Falzone finished three-of-11 overall and one-of-seven on his threes. Neither Sanjay Lumpkin nor Scottie Lindsey scored even a point, and the young freshman center Dererk Pardon, who was a monster on the boards (a game-high 14 rebounds), went just four-of-11 from the field and one-of-four from the line.
Their lack of production shined an even-brighter spotlight on Demps and McIntosh, who here were operating once again without the injured senior Alex Olah. "Without Olah, it's tough," McIntosh would later allow. "Tre and I are asked to do a little bit more as far as scoring, and it's tough. Teams are trying to take us away and they're doing a good job of it. They're making us take tough shots and, without Olah, we don't have that inside presence. That's not a knock on Dererk or Joey (van Zegeren, the other 'Cat center). They've done a great job. But Olah, I feel, is an All-Big Ten center. So it's tough taking him out of it."
"Joey and Dererk are doing a great job," echoed Collins. "But Joey's an activity guy and Dererk's more an energy guy as well. It's hard to loosen the defense when you can't drop the ball in the post. That's an element of our offense that's been taken away. Alex demands double teams, so now all of a sudden you've got guys in rotation ... Not making excuses, but not having a guy like Alex to be able to just drop it into the post and get some offense when things aren't going well has really put a lot of pressure on our two guards. Teams are really going after those guys, and making them take tough shots."
McIntosh, through the first 34 minutes of this game, made four of his 10 tough shots. But Demps, after going four-of-16 against the Terps without an assist, again struggled mightily, ending this night three-of-17 without an assist. "I think he's pressing a little bit, as everybody can see," Collins would say of his fifth-year senior, who was the focus of much of his post-game press conference. "He's got to relax a little bit. . . I think Tre, right now, I thought he had a number of open looks, to be quite frank, from three. He just wasn't able to get them down. (He ended one-of-eight from distance.) We're not going to lose confidence in him. But he's just got to relax.
"All really good scorers go through times when you aren't shooting as well. You've just got to relax and focus on other things. That was a big part of my game when I played. I was someone who was supposed to make shots. I always found myself in times when I'd go into a little bit of a shooting slump, the best thing to do was forget about my shot and focus on other areas. Can I get some rebounds? Can I take a charge? Can I get somebody else a shot? Sometimes when you get your focus off of that, then all of a sudden the shots come to you in rhythm and you start knocking them down. But it's easier said than done.
"I thought there were some times when he could have got guys some shots. But he knows we want him to score and I want him to be in attack mode. I don't want to rob him of that. But I think there were some opportunities when he got in there -- this was the second game in a row when he didn't have an assist. Really, when he was playing well, not only was he scoring, he was getting assists, he was finding guys. We've got to get him back to that. Right now he's a scorer who's struggling to score, so he's putting a lot of pressure on himself."
Is he ignoring those other parts Collins talked about?
"I don't think he ignores it," he said. "But you get fixated on what's not going down with your shot. It's easy to say to forget about it, but everybody's human and you're out there and if you know-- I thought he got some really good looks. All of a sudden, if you're not making them, you start thinking about that. It's our job, it's my job -- I'm going to help him better to get him back to playing where he was. It's a long year. You go through these little droughts, you go through these little slumps. We've got to keep his confidence up. It's on all of us to help him play better next time out."
.
••••••••••
Still, despite all that, the 'Cats trailed by just one after Falzon's three, and now the lead was there for them to take when Buckeye star Marc Loving missed a right baseline jumper. But his teammate Trevor Thompson corralled the rebound, and was fouled by Demps, and dropped a pair to put his team up three at 5:28. Now McIntosh, who would play all but the last 31 seconds of this game, missed a drive and Loving scored off a break and Demps missed a three, and the tone for the conclusion of this one was established.
The 'Cats would go two-of-nine down the stretch and get outscored by eight and ultimately lose by nine, and McIntosh would go one-of-five down the stretch and turn the ball over once. "I think at the end he was because he knew Tre was struggling," Collins would later say when asked if he thought his young guard, like his old guard, was pressing. "So all of a sudden your running mate -- you can see in his face he's struggling and I think he put a lot on his shoulders to try and do a lot. At the end of the day, he might have had a couple sloppy turnovers, a couple sloppy finishes. But I thought he did his part. Bryant did his part."
"Toward the end of the game, I'd agree. I pressed a little bit," McIntosh himself would finally say. "They put the ball in my hands and asked me to do something, and I was doing the best I could. Maybe I should have made some different calls. But there's a lot of what-ifs."