Backdoorpass, you are right on the money. CC has instilled a winning culture and knows that it is a process when creating a new tradition. He is doing what all great coaches do, maximizing the potential of the players in regards to player development.
As for the final few minutes of close games, you bring up an excellent observation. I think that in the final couple of minutes the defense gets tighter on the main stars and you have to have playmakers or shotmakers from more than just BMac. NU now has some play makers in late game situations like BMac and Dererk who seem to thrive in late game situations since they were familiar being on winning and state champion high school teams. Scottie and Vic have developed significantly and are getting there. Brown is a playmaker. Skelly seems to be able to make a play on defense or offense at key times. But more are needed. I loved Sanjay's heart, but, I think everyone would agree, he was not a playmaker or shotmaker and defenses could sag off of him and clog the middle and try to make it more difficult for BMac to drive and penetrate. Falzon might be a perfect fit to this starting lineup as he will be able to stretch the defense with his three point shooting and he was tougher on defense than people gave him credit.
One last thing, Collins and his staff have shown an ability to understand their team's needs and recruit to fill those voids. We have not had many dribble penetrating guards with the exception of BMac and flashes of Brown doing that. From the film shown above, it appears (knock on wood) that Gaines' skillset includes the ability to dribble, penetrate and score or get fouled which was a void on the team from the two-guard position.
Lol