Mike Hidden and Brian Molis understand the importance of a closely knit family-in life and in basketball.
So when Northern Illinois got off to a 3-7 start this season, the Huskies` senior co-captains realized their basketball family was being torn apart. The last straw was an 82-69 loss Jan. 4 at Akron, a game after which coach Brian Hammel said, ”Right now, we`re very disjointed. We didn`t give a good effort. We didn`t follow the game plan.”
In the locker room, Hammel asked if anybody had anything to say.
”I wasn`t going to say anything,” Hidden says now. ”I didn`t think it was the right time after a loss. But I just spoke up and said we`ve got to start talking. We`ve got everything inside us and we have to get it out.”
A meeting ensued the following day.
”I had a lot to say,” says Molis. ”The basic thing was we weren`t consistently playing hard. We can`t take anybody lightly.
”It wasn`t just the younger guys. It starts with me and Mike. We have to lead by example. It starts by us showing leadership and playing hard.”
The next night, the Huskies beat Cleveland State 82-79 for their first road victory of the season. The gabfest worked-for a night, anyway.
”It`s sad to say it took us this long to get over it,” says Hidden.
”We talked about getting the `I`s` out of our talking, like `I`m doing this,` or `I`m the scorer.` Now it`s `we` the team.”
”We really pulled together,” says Hammel. ”I felt a lot of good things came out of that meeting.”
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The Huskies (4-9, 2-2) have continued to hang together through incredible adversity. They`re down to nine players, three of them walk-ons. They`ve dropped two straight since Cleveland State-83-65 to Southern Illinois and 58-43 Monday against Mid-Continent Conference favorite Wisconsin-Green Bay.
But it`s not the end of the world, or the season, which continues Saturday night with a home game against Illinois-Chicago.
”I need them to rally the troops,” Hammel says of Hidden and Molis.
”The good ones rally themselves. The great ones rally the troops, make the others ready.”
Molis and Hidden have a few war stories to tell.
The adversity Molis has endured during his college career, the Huskies could lose 10 more in a row and it wouldn`t affect his hard-nosed play one bit.
”I`ve been through a lot,” Molis admits. ”I believe there`s nothing I can`t handle.”
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Now, that is.
A couple years ago, he had a difficult time handling life in general.
After playing two seasons at Colorado and not getting along with coach Tom Miller, Molis, a graduate of St. Joseph, transferred to Northern. On Nov. 1, 1989, he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, and on Dec. 28 of the same year, he had more surgery for a bone chip in his left ankle.
While rehabilitating the ankle, he suffered a cracked tibia.
”That is when . . . I thought, what else can go wrong?” Molis says.
He found out May 2, 1990, the day his mother, Carol, died. His grandfather died the following December.
”Injuries are nothing compared to that,” Molis says. ”It was a horrible time in my life, something I wouldn`t wish on my worst enemy.
”My mom never missed a game. She knew everything about me. She was the only person who really knew me. It was hard getting through everything.
”Our family got a lot closer, though. And it did put basketball into perspective. It showed me there`s a lot more important things than basketball. Family always comes first.”
The 6-foot-4-inch Molis rejoined Northern`s basketball family last season and witnessed first-hand the importance of its closeness. He started 10 games and averaged 6.4 points a game as the Huskies went 25-6 and played in the NCAA tournament. This season, the son of former NBA and ABA player Wayne Molis is averaging 15.9 points and 6.8 rebounds a game-but the nagging injuries
(sprained ankle, infected blisters on his left foot) won`t go away.
Yet, the fire still burns inside him to go out with a winning team.
”If I was going to war, he might get the first phone call to be in my foxhole, just because of his attitude,” says Hammel.
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The second person Hammel might call is Mike Hidden. He`s not as emotional or outspoken as Molis, but if there`s a loose ball to be had, Hidden will sacrifice his body to get it. If there`s a pass to be made, Hidden will make it. If there`s a three-pointer needed, Hidden will put it up without fear.
”Mike sees life and basketball as it is, not as he would like it to be,” says Hammel. ”That`s the sign of a leader.”
He has been able to adjust from being a scorer in high school (he once had 51 points in a game for Loves Park Harlem) to a role player at Northern, playing tough defense and picking up floor burns. But becoming the leader this season has been a real learning experience.
He still confers with last season`s captain, Antwon Harmon, about how he handled certain situations, and Hidden and Molis found out their approach of yelling at their younger teammates when they made mistakes wasn`t the answer. That was one important point that came out of the meeting in Cleveland.
”Last year, it was different,” says Hidden. ”You could yell at a guy and he`d pick himslef up. This team needs their confidence lifted.”
”Leadership is tough,” says Hammel. ”This country is looking for leaders.
”What`s confusing is they think a leader has to be popular. A leader has to take a strong stand. He has to be respected. Great leaders aren`t always popular.”
More than ever, Hammel needs his senior leaders to get the Huskies through these tough times. Both have thrived as swingmen, getting the green light to fire up the three-pointer and crash the boards. They`re 1-2 in scoring and rebounding on the team, and Hidden (13 points, six rebounds a game) leads the team in assists, as well.
When Hidden hit a recent rut, a word of encouragement from Hammel to keep shooting and a call from his brother, Steve, was just what he needed.
”(Steve) knows how it is,” says Hidden. ”He`s been through it (playing at Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Beloit). He keeps reminding me to play for fun. Basketball was getting too much control over his life at Stevens Point, and he had to take a break from school.
”He knows I love the game, and he doesn`t want that to happen to me.”
It hasn`t, and it won`t. In fact, except for a few too many defeats, Hidden is enjoying his senior season.
”Every game is a highlight,” he says. ”It`s fun being one of the guys who`s counted on to help the team win.”