Raise a glass to Wake Forest Forward John Collins, a dominant college big with some solid NBA Draft stock. John Collins is not to be confused with the cocktail of the same name invented in London back in the 1860s; or the more popular drink known as a Tom Collins for that matter.
The sophomore big man is getting some love as a NBA Draft first round prospect.
“I can see that.” Northwestern basketball Coach Chris Collins responded when we brought this topic up.
“He’s 6-10, his motor’s ridiculous, it’s what I was most impressed with,” Collins (are you getting enough Collinses in this article) said after Northwestern beat Wake Forest 65-58 in the B1G/ACC Challenge.
“He was relentless on the offensive boards. He’s got a chance to be really good, he’s just a sophomore, but he’s got a nice touch, he’s athletic, got post moves, certainly his skill set and size and motor, translates to that next level if he keeps moving up.”
“He’s a young guy, but he’s certainly on the right track, I like his game a lot.”
Northwestern Guard Bryant McIntosh said his teammate, NU power forward Sanjay Lumpkin, guarded John Collins “incredibly the last 10 minutes” as the Wildcats, in a dogfight with the Demon Deacons for the nearly the entire game, finally got a true advantage in the closing minutes. It was an ugly, grind it out kind of street fight, but during the final stretches, Northwestern pulled away and did more than just win, they got a victory against the spread.
It ended up being a rock fight kind of game, and in those areas, it’s where Lumpkin often excels. The Northwestern senior and glue guy was able to limit an opponent who came in boasting the second best player efficiency rating (40.7) in the entire country.
Lumpkin on guarding John Collins: “It’s tough, you gotta do dirty work, it was kind of like when I had to guard (AJ) Hammons a few years ago. I told Coach James to put me on him, I just had to battle him.”
On why Collins was a tough matchup: “He’s always trying to post me out, I had to push him out as far as I can. Obviously I had to box him out, he’s super athletic. It takes all five guys to do that.”
“For people who know basketball, to see the plays Sanjay was making in the second half against John Collins, giving up six inches,” Chris Collins said.
“He was magnificent tonight in his own way.”
John Collins did still “get his” though, even during a game in which the defensive game plan worked quite well. He scored 12, tying Keyshawn Woods for the Wake lead in points, and his 16 rebounds were more than anyone else in the contest, by a very wide margin.
Collins is the Demon Deacons’ leading scorer and rebounder this season, as he’s gotten off to a very productive start in 2016-17. However, he’s got plenty of room yet to grow. We’ve discussed all his positive attributes already, now let the Deacs third year head coach Danny Manning discuss where John Collins still has to improve.
“He could break out a little more if he stayed out of foul trouble,” Manning said.
“John’s an athletic kid, last year in the minutes that he played his production was really really high and he gets a lot of things done out there on the court, but the thing we continue to stress to him is defensive position, defensive position.”
“I think a lot of times when you’re a big guy in high school your high school coaches tell you not to foul or come up and block a shot, and when you get to this level and try to time up a block, or make a great defensive play, you usually end up getting a foul,” the 1988 National Player of the Year and Final Four Most Outstanding Player said.
“That’s just something we have to continue to work on with him,” the 1998 NBA Sixth Man of the Year said.
John Collins should definitely heed the advice of Danny Manning, who played in the league who played in the league for 15 years and earned two NBA All-Star appearances.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.
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