Throughout his development as a basketball player, Anthony Gaines has always been focused on the defensive aspect of his game. This year, he has taken it to another level.
The sophomore has emerged as Northwestern's most important defender, a defensive Swiss Army knife for head coach Chris Collins to utilize as he sees fit against the other team's top scorer.
The Wildcats struggles on the on the offensive end this season have been well documented -- Saturday's 46-point, 30-percent shooting performance at Wisconsin being a prime example. But their defense has been a constant, ranking 27th in the country and allowing just 64.3 points per game.
Gaines is a big reason why. In this, his second season in Evanston, he has been handed many of the duties that were once allotted to Vic Law. Law used to guard the opposing team’s most talented offensive weapon, but now that assignment usually goes to Gaines.
“(Gaines) can be such a versatile type guy,” Collins said, “I put him on point guards, shooting guards, small forwards, smaller power forwards. It makes it easy for the other guys. We've had to do that with Vic in the past, and [Anthony] takes pride in it.”
Law is in the midst of a pronounced shooting slump, hitting just 5 of 29 shots (17.2 percent) in Northwestern's last three games, but his decreased defensive workload should pay dividends down the stretch and allow him to expend more energy on the offensive end. The Wildcats certainly need their fifth-year senior as a scorer if they are to make any noise in the Big Ten race.
Gaines’ ability to neutralize the opposing team’s best offensive player provides a two-fold benefit to Northwestern’s defense. The most important is shutting down the player to which Gaines is assigned.
Against Indiana, for example, Gaines’ matchup was star freshman Romeo Langford, the Hoosiers’ leading scorer. Langford, a 47-percent shooter who averages 17 points per game, was held to 12 points on 40 percent shooting and was 0-for-3 on 3-pointers. Further, Langford was often forced to give the ball up to other players, as Gaines’ pressing defense didn’t give him the chance to create many opportunities.
The result was a 73-66 win, the Wildcats' most impressive victory of the season thus far.
“I take pride in that opportunity,” Gaines said. “When you take out the best scorer on the opposing team, you get an advantage.”
The second important aspect of Gaines’ work is the holistic impact it has on the Northwestern defense. Both Collins and Gaines noted that when he is able to lockdown his opponent, it has a substantial impact on the rest of the team’s energy.
“It’s contagious,” Gaines emphasized.
It wasn’t always assumed that Gaines would be able to step in and fulfill his defensive role so effectively. Coming out of New Hampton (N.H.) School, Collins had hoped that Gaines would be able to replicate his defensive efforts in the New England Prep School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC), one of the most competitive conferences in the country. His improvements couldn’t have come at a better time for the Cats.
“It’s impressive,” Collins noted. “We're starting to see some things we saw in high school. He really works at it and I've been really proud of his growth. His game the other night (against Indiana) was a true showing of the improvements he's made in every area. I just love to see where his confidence is at.”
Northwestern is in Maryland tonight to take on the No. 21 Terrapins, and Gaines' primary assignment will be Maryland’s leading scorer, Anthony Cowan Jr., a six-foot point guard. In upcoming games, he will draw Iowa’s Tyler Cook, who is on the other end of the spectrum as a 6-foot-8 forward, and Nebraska’s James Palmer Jr., who is in the middle as a 6-foot-6 wing.
How will Gaines prepare for such a unique group of scorers? It’s nice to have a multitude of skill sets to compete against every day.
“I guard our best players [in practice], whether that be Ryan (Taylor), A.J. (Turner), or Vic, and it really helps,” he said.
As bad as Northwestern looked offensively in Saturday's ugly 62-46 loss on Saturday, its defense still held the Badgers to 62 points, more than 10 below their season average. That defense figures to carry the Wildcats the rest of the way, and if they are to have any success, Gaines will be at the center of it.
