By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
Ten things as the 25th-ranked 'Cats ride their six-game winning streak down to West Lafayette for a Wednesday night meeting with No. 23 Purdue. . . .
1) They are enjoying their journey. "It's awesome, being with this group of guys," says fifth-year Sanjay Lumpkin. "We've got a great thing going. We're just enjoying it. Welsh-Ryan's been amazing to play in. The fans have been unbelievable. We've got a lot of people behind us. A lot of people came before us. We're all out here doing it for each other. It's awesome."
2) As he says that, Lumpkin's eyes twinkle and a small smile dances across his face. So, yes, they really are enjoying the journey."Yeah. It's awesome," he reiterates. "Especially this being my last year, I'm just cherishing all of this and doing whatever I can to help this team out. It's been awesome."
3) They are, at 18-4, off to the best 22-game start in school history and poised to receive the program's first invite to the NCAA tourney. But, says Chris Collins, "We never talk about the NCAA tourney. We talk about the next game. That's not just coach speak. We talked about it at the beginning of the year. What were our goals? To be good enough to be in that mix at the end of the year. I don't think there's anything that changed that. What we do talk about is the more attention they are getting—and all of it is good; we want to enjoy it—but it can't distract us from our preparation and it can't make us lose our focus of what's made us good. I've been really proud for that. A lot of this is new to a lot of them. For me, I'm not playing, but obviously I was at a place (Duke, as both a player and an assistant coach) where there was a lot of attention all the time. So I'm used to those pressures. But for these guys all this is new. So for them to be able to stay focused and eliminate a lot of outside chatter and just be with each other and be excited and have fun along the way— it's something you worry about because you don't know how they're going to handle it. But they've been great."
4) Here is one reason for that. They have fresh scars that remind them not to get ahead of themselves. "Last year we were 15-4 (actually 15-3), in the same position as this year," remembers redshirt sophomore Vic Law. "I think some guys got a little drunk off success and were just thinking how everything would come easy. Then we lost four or five in a row (five), and that just killed our whole season right there. Now we're in such a good position, we want to take it one game at a time and play like we're still unranked, play like we're still desperate and have nothing to lose."
5) They also have some older scars, picked up during a 10-game losing streak in early 2015, that have steeled them for and during their current run. "That's how you learn, by your experiences," Collins explains. "A lot of the guys in our locker room have a lot of sweat equity involved in this. They've had some good highs, they've had their hearts broken a number of times. To see them persevere and get tougher through that and rally together is a big reason (for their current success). That's how you become tough."
6) During that streak they lost in overtime at Michigan State, and by five to Illinois, and by two at Michigan, and by two to Ohio State, and by one at No. 13 Maryland. "Just how bad it hurts when you lose," Collins says when asked what his team learned in those losses that is playing a role now. "You don't want to go back there. How much it churns inside of you when you put a lot into it and you don't win. The feeling of losing burns and you don't want to feel that feeling. So if you can use it the right way to motivate you to play harder and do better, I think that's what drives all of us. And certainly for these guys, they talk about it all the time. They want to be different. They want Northwestern to be a program that's relevant, and they take pride in being the group that makes that happen. I've said it a number of times and I believe it. They're the ones that have done. They're the ones out there. They're the ones that have done the tough things and made the plays. I'm just kind of along for the ride. It's been great to be their coach because they've taken great ownership of this team."
"That's definitely motivation," Lumpkin says when reminded of that losing streak. "In the past we've let some games get away. We feel this year we've won a lot of games that, in recent years, we would have lost. Obviously, trying to get this program in the right direction, we know how much each game means. So there's extra fire every game, thinking of what we've been through."
"The experience of playing in those games and not wanting to lose again is something that really propels a team forward," Law concludes when asked about this subject. "Especially in my class, playing in those hard, close games, you learn that every possession is golden and you've got to execute even more down the stretch. You're seeing now, in college basketball, so many team are losing. Everyone's going to play hard. So you can't take anything for granted. You've got to go into every game ready to play."
7) That makes it fitting, then, that this season's journey actually began with a loss, the overtime loss to Michigan in last spring's Big Ten tourney. "We played well. We came up short," explains Collins. "I thought the taste in all of our mouths of how last year ended funneled into all of the off-season. I just noticed with these guys all summer, all fall, there was a different mentality. There was a determination. There was a hunger. You had a guy like Vic coming off an injury, so he's super hungry. They've been like that all year long. Then they've really embraced the fact that they know that they need each other. We know we're not a one-man band, and it kind of shows game to game. You see a guy like (center Dererk) Pardon get 19 (points) and 22 (rebounds against Nebraska). Then the next night (against Indiana) he doesn't have a field goal and (point Bryant) McIntosh has 21. We find a way to put it together and play great team defense. That's been the formula for our success."
8) Back in the day of the Bulls' greatest successes, Michael Jordan would sometimes create imagined insults (from an opposing coach, an opposing player) to motive him. During their current streak, the 'Cats have their own way of staying motivated. "Every game we approach as if it's the biggest game of the season and do something to make sure it's the only thing on our minds," says Lumpkin. "Ohio State, we knew how long it had been since we'd won there. That's what we focused on the whole time. We weren't focused on what the game would mean to our season later down the road. We were just focused on winning that individual game. When we played Nebraska, we knew how long it'd been since Northwestern had won five in a row. Then six in a row (before the Indiana game). We'll probably learn today how long it's been since seven in a row (1933). We try to do that for every game just to stay grounded."
9) They believe in themselves. "There's a confidence level that we haven't had and part of that is through winning," says Collins. "When you win and you play against good competition and have success, you do get more confident. There's no question. And a lot of them are the same guys who weren't as confident in the past. That's what's cool about it, to see that evolution. To see them become confident. To see them take the floor knowing that we can win."
10) They are not shy about explicating their ambition. "We're just trying to make history in every game," Sanjay Lumpkin finally says. "We're focusing on being different, on being a different Northwestern."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
Ten things as the 25th-ranked 'Cats ride their six-game winning streak down to West Lafayette for a Wednesday night meeting with No. 23 Purdue. . . .
1) They are enjoying their journey. "It's awesome, being with this group of guys," says fifth-year Sanjay Lumpkin. "We've got a great thing going. We're just enjoying it. Welsh-Ryan's been amazing to play in. The fans have been unbelievable. We've got a lot of people behind us. A lot of people came before us. We're all out here doing it for each other. It's awesome."
2) As he says that, Lumpkin's eyes twinkle and a small smile dances across his face. So, yes, they really are enjoying the journey."Yeah. It's awesome," he reiterates. "Especially this being my last year, I'm just cherishing all of this and doing whatever I can to help this team out. It's been awesome."
3) They are, at 18-4, off to the best 22-game start in school history and poised to receive the program's first invite to the NCAA tourney. But, says Chris Collins, "We never talk about the NCAA tourney. We talk about the next game. That's not just coach speak. We talked about it at the beginning of the year. What were our goals? To be good enough to be in that mix at the end of the year. I don't think there's anything that changed that. What we do talk about is the more attention they are getting—and all of it is good; we want to enjoy it—but it can't distract us from our preparation and it can't make us lose our focus of what's made us good. I've been really proud for that. A lot of this is new to a lot of them. For me, I'm not playing, but obviously I was at a place (Duke, as both a player and an assistant coach) where there was a lot of attention all the time. So I'm used to those pressures. But for these guys all this is new. So for them to be able to stay focused and eliminate a lot of outside chatter and just be with each other and be excited and have fun along the way— it's something you worry about because you don't know how they're going to handle it. But they've been great."
4) Here is one reason for that. They have fresh scars that remind them not to get ahead of themselves. "Last year we were 15-4 (actually 15-3), in the same position as this year," remembers redshirt sophomore Vic Law. "I think some guys got a little drunk off success and were just thinking how everything would come easy. Then we lost four or five in a row (five), and that just killed our whole season right there. Now we're in such a good position, we want to take it one game at a time and play like we're still unranked, play like we're still desperate and have nothing to lose."
5) They also have some older scars, picked up during a 10-game losing streak in early 2015, that have steeled them for and during their current run. "That's how you learn, by your experiences," Collins explains. "A lot of the guys in our locker room have a lot of sweat equity involved in this. They've had some good highs, they've had their hearts broken a number of times. To see them persevere and get tougher through that and rally together is a big reason (for their current success). That's how you become tough."
6) During that streak they lost in overtime at Michigan State, and by five to Illinois, and by two at Michigan, and by two to Ohio State, and by one at No. 13 Maryland. "Just how bad it hurts when you lose," Collins says when asked what his team learned in those losses that is playing a role now. "You don't want to go back there. How much it churns inside of you when you put a lot into it and you don't win. The feeling of losing burns and you don't want to feel that feeling. So if you can use it the right way to motivate you to play harder and do better, I think that's what drives all of us. And certainly for these guys, they talk about it all the time. They want to be different. They want Northwestern to be a program that's relevant, and they take pride in being the group that makes that happen. I've said it a number of times and I believe it. They're the ones that have done. They're the ones out there. They're the ones that have done the tough things and made the plays. I'm just kind of along for the ride. It's been great to be their coach because they've taken great ownership of this team."
"That's definitely motivation," Lumpkin says when reminded of that losing streak. "In the past we've let some games get away. We feel this year we've won a lot of games that, in recent years, we would have lost. Obviously, trying to get this program in the right direction, we know how much each game means. So there's extra fire every game, thinking of what we've been through."
"The experience of playing in those games and not wanting to lose again is something that really propels a team forward," Law concludes when asked about this subject. "Especially in my class, playing in those hard, close games, you learn that every possession is golden and you've got to execute even more down the stretch. You're seeing now, in college basketball, so many team are losing. Everyone's going to play hard. So you can't take anything for granted. You've got to go into every game ready to play."
7) That makes it fitting, then, that this season's journey actually began with a loss, the overtime loss to Michigan in last spring's Big Ten tourney. "We played well. We came up short," explains Collins. "I thought the taste in all of our mouths of how last year ended funneled into all of the off-season. I just noticed with these guys all summer, all fall, there was a different mentality. There was a determination. There was a hunger. You had a guy like Vic coming off an injury, so he's super hungry. They've been like that all year long. Then they've really embraced the fact that they know that they need each other. We know we're not a one-man band, and it kind of shows game to game. You see a guy like (center Dererk) Pardon get 19 (points) and 22 (rebounds against Nebraska). Then the next night (against Indiana) he doesn't have a field goal and (point Bryant) McIntosh has 21. We find a way to put it together and play great team defense. That's been the formula for our success."
8) Back in the day of the Bulls' greatest successes, Michael Jordan would sometimes create imagined insults (from an opposing coach, an opposing player) to motive him. During their current streak, the 'Cats have their own way of staying motivated. "Every game we approach as if it's the biggest game of the season and do something to make sure it's the only thing on our minds," says Lumpkin. "Ohio State, we knew how long it had been since we'd won there. That's what we focused on the whole time. We weren't focused on what the game would mean to our season later down the road. We were just focused on winning that individual game. When we played Nebraska, we knew how long it'd been since Northwestern had won five in a row. Then six in a row (before the Indiana game). We'll probably learn today how long it's been since seven in a row (1933). We try to do that for every game just to stay grounded."
9) They believe in themselves. "There's a confidence level that we haven't had and part of that is through winning," says Collins. "When you win and you play against good competition and have success, you do get more confident. There's no question. And a lot of them are the same guys who weren't as confident in the past. That's what's cool about it, to see that evolution. To see them become confident. To see them take the floor knowing that we can win."
10) They are not shy about explicating their ambition. "We're just trying to make history in every game," Sanjay Lumpkin finally says. "We're focusing on being different, on being a different Northwestern."