Northwestern strolled to a 80-64 win over Quincy Thursday night in an exhibition game eight days before the start of the 2015-16 season. Here's what Chris Collins and players had to say afterwards:
Chris Collins
- Collins said he thought it was an excellent exhibition game for the team.
- Collins said he thinks the team got exposed in some areas and said he saw things that his team needs to get better at on both ends.
- Collins on quick start: "A number of guys did a lot of good things. Early on, I liked our pace." Collins said his heavy subbing pattern affected the pace of second half.
- On Joey van Zegeren: "His size is a difference maker for us." Collins said he showed a lot of activity around the basket, and said that van Zegeren gives the team "a dimension we've never had."
- On Aaron Falzon: "He can shoot the leather off the ball. It puts a lot of pressure on defenses."
- On the starting five: "I just went with the older guys, rewarded the two juniors — they've practiced well." Collins said Vic Law would normally be out there, but he missed practice time with a shoulder ailment. "I view all those guys as potential starters," Collins said, but also said all four, along with Scottie Lindsey, will play no matter what.
- On lineup combinations, Collins said he's trying to use Falzon and Nathan Taphorn separately in the same role. "That's kind of a shooting spot," he said. Collins also said he doesn't know how much he'll play Taphorn and Falzon together.
- On McIntosh's slow start: "He's going to be fine." Collins thought he created well on offense and had a couple of early fouls that forced him to sit. "He's going to get more than 22 minutes," Collins said.
- On Demps' ability to distribute: "We need that, Tre's really our secondary guy [at point guard]." Collins thought he saw the floor better, had really good reads and kick-outs, and played a great first half.
- On Alex Olah not diving for a ball in the first half: "I told him that's what our program is built on, guys diving on the floor... He knows those are the plays we need to make, we pride ourself on that."
- On Olah's lack of defensive rebounds: "Games like these are harder on the big guys, because they're playing smaller lineups... [Quincy] was making a conscious effort to get him out on the floor," away from the basket, "because they had two bigs who could make a shot."
- Collins was pleased with the way the guards rebounded. Tre Demps had 5 rebounds, Vic Law had 6, and Scottie Lindsey had 7.
- On offense, "We showed we can put the ball in the basket and really score," Collins said. He also said he thinks the numerous shooting threats puts a lot of pressure on opposing defenses.
- On Quincy: "This is going to be a great teaching tape, I'm excited."
- Collins said there was no agreement with Quincy to play certain types of defenses that might have been beneficial for the Wildcats to face.
Tre Demps
- On team performance: "Thought we did some good things. Executed well offensively. We wanted to play harder and felt we left that up in the air."
- On distributing the ball more: "This year we have some tremendous shooters, Aaron, Tap, Vic, Scottie... I like to get in the lane and when the defense collapses, those guys are open. Thinks that will open up lanes for him and Bryant."
Aaron Falzon
- He feels comfortable playing the 3 or the 4 right now, but Collins has him primarily at the 4 right now.