Jan. 01--Northwestern has an abundance of interchangeable parts along the perimeter entering its Big Ten home-opener Sunday against Wisconsin.
But the center of attention for the physically challenging conference season is 7-foot, 270-pound Alex Olah, who will face the Badgers' preseason Big Ten player of the year Frank Kaminsky.
The Wildcats upset the Badgers, 65-56, at the Kohl Center last season as Drew Crawford scored 30 points and Kaminsky was held to eight.
"He's a huge key to our success," Wildcats coach Chris Collins said. "When Alex plays well, we usually play pretty well. He's the anchor, not only on offense, but on defense. He has got to protect the basket for us and be a presence on the boards. And we have to establish him offensively."
Northwestern (10-4) opened its Big Ten season Tuesday afternoon at Rutgers with a 51-47 triumph.The Wildcats finished 6-12 in conference play last season and they need to improve on that number if they want to entertain NCAA tournament hopes.
Olah showed flashes of brilliance throughout the non-conference schedule, especially against Georgia Tech and Butler. But his lack of consistent offensive aggressiveness was reflected in his last two games, during which he was held without a field goal. He did manage to garner six rebounds and dish seven assists against Northern Kentucky, and five rebounds and two blocked shots at Rutgers. He has blocked 26 shots in the first 14 games.
"Coming into every game, a big focal point for us is trying to find ways to get him going and get him producing early on," said Collins, who also can look for inside help from 6-10 Jeremiah Kreisberg, 6-8 Gavin Skelly and 6-7 Nathan Taphorn.
On his best days, Olah fancies himself trying to emulate sharp-shooting 7-1, 265-pound Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol, who is averaging 20.2 points and 8.2 rebounds this season. After all, Olah has been his team's best 3-point shooter (7 of 14 for 50 percent).
"For a while I was focusing on Kevin Love. He can shoot, of course. He can rebound, he can post up. He can do pretty much anything," Olah said. "But lately, I asked (assistant) Coach (Brian) James and he said: 'You really should watch Marc Gasol.' I started watching tape on him and I really like the way he plays."
Olah, a junior from Timisoara, Romania, who played at Traders Point (Ind.) Academy, has been working on building his confidence as well as his physical stamina and mechanics.
"You can't really think about, 'Oh, I missed a shot.' Every (confident) player has to think, 'Oh, I missed a shot, I know I am going to make the next two,' " Olah said. "Seeing the ball going through the hoop ... even if it is just a free throw or a layup, it's always good. It makes you feel better about yourself."
"There have been a couple games this year where he has gotten off to tough starts and he has turned it around within the game," Collins said. "That would have never happened last year. I mean, last year if he missed a couple shots early, or if he got a shot blocked early ... he had a tendency to lose confidence. Now I am seeing a growth where he might miss a couple early or not go well and come back in the second half and give us a dominant performance. I am noticing a lot of growth and maturity on that end. Hopefully he can continue to do that."
While Collins will be counting on guards Tre Demps, JerShon Cobb (who has been injured) and Bryant McIntosh for much of the scoring, he knows Olah will have to step up his game for easier buckets around the basket in Big Ten play.
"The coaches trust me a lot, and they have told me I am a big part of this program right now," Olah said. "I have to be a leader on and off the court. The way I can do that is by talking and playing good in games and practice. It is something I want to do. I want to be good for this team and I want to win. The players trust me. It has been hard, but I had a great offseason. I hope I can continue to be as consistent."
fmitchell@tribpub.com
Twitter@kicker34
