Positivity, determination helped McVeigh break out of slump
There have been multiple points this season where Jack McVeigh could have let frustration get the best of him and potentially spoil his entire sophomore year.
The 6-foot-8 forward came in with lofty goals and expectations for himself, but an inexplicable 12-game slump sent McVeigh from a fixture in Nebraska’s starting five to not even seeing the floor per coach’s decision at one point.
But rather than allow the rough stretch to become his ultimate undoing, McVeigh maintained his up-beat and positive attitude throughout.
Now, following a 12-point performance off the bench at Rutgers on Sunday, he finally seems to be getting his game back on track.
“It feels good to know (shots are) going in in the games, because I know I can make those shots, and the coaches have faith in me to take them because they see me putting in the work and see me making them in practices,” McVeigh said. “So it felt good to know that they’re finally going in, especially after that little rough patch.”
McVeigh actually got off to a blazing start to the season, averaging 14.7 points and 6.0 rebounds while shooting 52.6 percent (10-of-19) from behind the arc over Nebraska’s first three games.
Then came the trip to California for the Wooden Legacy tournament.
McVeigh ended up shooting just 3-of-22 from the field during the three-game event, which started a steady decline that would only continue to get worse over the following weeks.
From the start of the Wooden Legacy and extending all the way through Nebraska’s double-overtime win over Iowa, McVeigh was just 12—of-55 (21.8 percent) from the field and 8-of-42 (19.0 percent) from 3-point range.
Things got so bad that in the Huskers’ loss at Kansas on Dec. 10, McVeigh played just seven minutes in the first half and was benched for the entire second half. He has not started a game since, and he didn’t see the court at all in NU’s win at Indiana to open Big Ten play.
“I had some late nights where I was just sitting there like, ‘My team needs me, and here I am kind of missing these shots I should be making,’” McVeigh said. “So definitely, definitely frustrating. There’s no doubt about it… It’s hard. Anyone that would say it’s easy is lying.”
Knowing something needed to change, McVeigh took his demotion in stride and decided to focus on doing as many of the little things he could to help break him out of his slump.
Along with trying to give maximum effort in every practice and taking occasional mental breaks to take a brief step away from basketball, McVeigh looked at what some of his NBA idols had done when they went through slumps of their own.
In particular, McVeigh tried to model himself off of fellow Australian and NBA veteran Patty Mills, who had a particularly rough stretch during one season with the San Antonio Spurs. Rather than pout over his struggles, Mills was constantly engaged in games from the bench, waving towels and cheering on his teammates.
Eventually, that positive approach began to pay off.
Over the past three games that sophomore forward Edward Morrow has been out with a foot injury, McVeigh has averaged 8.3 points on 43-percent shooting.
In the loss to Rutgers, McVeigh came off the bench to knock down four 3-pointers in the second half, including three straight from behind the arc to spark NU on a 9-2 run and take a 64-59 lead with 1:34 left.
His 27 minutes played in the loss also marked his highest total since the Creighton game back on Dec. 7.
“He would have been the hero,” head coach Tim Miles said. “He would’ve been who we are all talking about here had it not been for that last-second put-back. I’m really happy, because it’s easy to lose faith when you go from starter to not even playing. How about that?
“A lot of times when circumstances change, your loyalty changes. Like, 'Well, I’m not playing, it’s not my fault.' You start to blame people. Jack was never like that. He was like, ‘I’m just waiting for my chance and I’ll be ready.’ He has been.”