NUdiehard

1 minute ago, Huskerpapa said:

I keep going back to the year-end interviews.  These interviews supposedly involve projected future roles along with expectations for improvement of skills, conditioning and the like.

So I go back to a question of whether or not we provided a push to the players to exit the program?  Perhaps not an overt push; but a push nonetheless.

I can envision the discussions with every player that has departed, as well as the few that have stayed so far.  And if they went as I have envisioned, then I am not as shocked by the departures.  Just saying.

I would be shocked if the coaching staff tried to "push" or "nudge" JL out.  After JL's departure, NU now has 6 open scholarships.  Fred may be able to find a couple nice additions that are an upgrade to the team, but there is almost no chance that he lands 6 players of higher caliber than JL.  And logic dictates that if he can't get all 6 better than JL, then there is no reason to push or nudge someone like JL to leave.  For instance, let's say the staff is able to land 3 players better than JL, but the other 3 are worse than JL.  Why would the staff want to the net result to be worse?  Why not just sign the 3 upgrades and keep JL who is (probably) far better than the 6th player signed out of the portal?

9 minutes ago, basketballjones said:

Shannon just would not take no for an answer today. 

8 minutes ago, Cazzie22 said:

Not having C.J. to at least play some minutes really hurt us in the 2nd half.  Can’t be terribly disappointed because we had some bad matchups in this game.  Yes, the foul disparity was there but when you shoot mostly perimeter shots you aren’t going to get free throws.

 

Let’s put this behind us and get prepared for our game Thursday or Friday.  Please NCAA, do not put us in the 11:00 AM game Thursday.

Illinois shot 8 more 3-point shots than Nebraska. 
 

Nebraksa shot 42 2-point shots to IU’s 34. 
 

But please carry on with your enlightened takes about the foul disparity. 

That game was pure fun. Hoiberg ball at its best. 
 

4 hours ago, hhctony said:

 

I am kind of starting to wonder if you DON'T want to do this to build a good, quality, consistent program. Starting throwing money and guys and they are start running the program. But get good, solid players in here that appreciate and get what Fred is doing and wants to build and you have something. 

I think I get what you are thinking, but not sure I agree with the logic.  The first step for ANY recruit coming to UNL is getting the nod of approval from the the coaching staff, including HCFH.  Although Fred made mistakes in his first 3 years (mostly trusting he who shall not be named), most would agree he has learned his lesson and now knows exactly what type of players he wants (which I am assuming does NOT include primadonnas).  Thus, if HCFH is recruiting the player, I feel confident that recruit meets HCFH's criteria for what he wants on the team (which includes being a team player).  If this is the case, the next crucial step is securing the commitment from the athlete.  If NIL is a factor, then we should generally be able to make sure NU is in line with whatever other schools may be in the picture to make sure it is not the deciding factor.  And please don't say "well, if money is all that matters we don't want him anyway."  Who on this board, if they were interviewing for a job, would not at least give some weight to the salary/compensation offered by the different prospective employers.  

Plus, there are ways to pay significant NIL without it leading to the "recruits running the program."  For instance, it is my understanding that Creighton pays all of its starters the same amount (which his a pretty significant sum) and pays the non-starters the same amount.  This makes sense, because this would prevent any one player from being resentful of what another player is making.  There are other options along these lines that could be implemented.    

Last, I want someone who really knows to answer this question.  Is NU Hoops "total" NIL package this year as larger or larger than Creighton's total NIL package?  Anyone?  If the answer is no, then that is unacceptable.  

On 3/6/2024 at 1:14 PM, HuscurAdam said:

 

Does anyone have a grasp on our NIL situation though? I have heard conflicting info about it; everything from it's bottom third of P6, to it's very competitive except with a handful of bluebloods. I'd really like to know what the reality is. Do any of the big money boosters support basketball, or do they only care about football? 

Gary Sharp (Sharp & Handley sports radio Omaha) has repeatedly and recently said that NU Hoops NIL needs to improve.  I would imagine he has some inside info on this considering his position as a Nebraska sports media person.  Similarly, Tom Shatel stated before the season that NU's hoops NIL is nowhere near as good as Creighton's.  I would imagine he had a basis for this before putting it in print. 

On an anecdotal note, every time we receive interest or have a visit from a bit time (5 star or high 4 star) recruit, I pretty much move on right away because I have never seen any evidence that we are competing in the NIL for these types of players. 

This is not to say the NU hoops NIL is terrible, it probably is decent, but there has been little evidence that we are competing with the big boys in the hoops NIL department.  The hope is that this year's success--an NCAA tourney appearance, Fred's recognition as coach of the year thereby solidify him as a long-term coach--will help "boost" the donations to a point where we really can be competitive with the blue bloods. 

2 hours ago, hhcdave said:

Which of the juniors will come back next year? I keep hearing we have a lot coming back and I HOPE LIKE HECK we do. But I kind of feel like only one of the following comes back:

 

Rienk

Brice

CJ

Juwan

 

I expect 3 and hopefully all 4 to return.  It would be devastating in only 1 come back.  BUT, this is where NIL comes in.  Before NIL, I could definitely understand why the 6th (and even 5th) year seniors would want to move on and go overseas and make some money.  BUT, in the NIL era, a school like NU should be able to pay them just as much, if not more, than what they would get overseas.  NIL is how we got Walker to return last year.  Of course, with 4 guys, it means more NIL money, not to mention the other players and young recruits. 

But if the NIL money isn't there to keep the guys we already have here, then we can pretty much just end the dream of ever being a success in hoops at DONU.  Whether these players return will be 95% based on NIL.  Not the coach (because the coaching is very sound). Not the culture (because the culture is very sound).  Not the school (B1G school with great fan support).  Its about the benjamins.  Of course, Coach Hoiberg will be the one who will have his fate (and job status) decided by whether they return, but the reality is no coach will be able to consistently win at NU if there is not sufficient NIL support.  It's that simple. 

Mast and Allick are combined 0-8 on 2-PT FGs even though Illinois mostly playing then 1v1. 

CJ stole Keisei's soul

it was the worst of times. It was the best of times.

Anyone who went to the Ohio State game and watched him "warm up" could see that he was EXTREMELY gimpy and frankly did not look like he would be playing in a game anytime soon.  It seemed kind of ridiculous that he even suited up, maybe it was just to throw off the scouting report.

That ball was kicked twice by Rutgers 

3 minutes ago, hhcmatt said:

Hoping Gary's season isn't over

If it’s Achilles, not only this season but next as well

I’m thinking Achilles. Terrible. 

On 11/10/2023 at 1:17 PM, Breslin Petteway said:

No experience with it, but I like it. We have an identity and guys seem to know where they need to be. The way I see it is there is always someone at the rim to take away layups, and we do our best to run guys off the three point line. That leaves the mid range, the shot all teams are taught to avoid.

 

I think that our biggest issues come from quick skip passes that create long close outs, and giving up open corner threes. Games where we are just a step slow rotating can lead to open threes. If I remember rights B1G teams seemed to have some success with this last year, but when we had Bando, Gary, Sammy G flying around we were deadly. We don't have that length this year obviously, but Sam and Jamarques sure fly around and play great defense. 

 

I think teams make the baseline drive a part of their offense in today's game, and we are often in great position to make steals out of that rotation. I'm no expert, but it's just nice to have an identity on that end of the floor, one I think puts our guys in a pretty good spot to make steals and be aggressive. 

It's not just a matter of being a step slow (although that often is part of the problem).  The problem is that once you get in to league, the coaching is better and the scouting is better (same with Creighton), and coaches have figured out how to attack this defense.

In our defense, the off-ball defender ALWAYS helps in to the paint.  This makes us susceptible to the swing pass or the skip pass.  But in addition, the better coached teams in league play are positioning an offensive player behind Nebraska's off-ball defender to SCREEN him from closing out on the 3 point shooter.  This is done over and over and over again.  So even if the Husker defender was playing fast and with great effort, it is impossible for him to run through that screen and get to the shooter. 

Overall, I feel the coaching staff has done a good job and they clearly are trying to make the best out of the less athletic defenders on the team. But man, giving up wide-open 3 point shots from the corner over and over and over again does become a bit maddening. 

We would be much better off if JL and Gary hadn’t started the game jacking up hero-ball ill-advised 3s early in the clock. Set I is back in a huge hole. 
 

Oh and Gary needs to stop getting lost on the defensive end. His man gets wide open shot way too much. 
 

how about Eli. Way to go young fellow 

Too much hero ball so far. Need to work the offense and get the right players the right shots 

How ya like those apples  

30 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

Alls I can say is not winning by a lot is a shit ton better than losing by any amount.

 

Failing to administer a beat-down in a win drops us by half a dozen spots; a loss would have dropped us a couple dozen.

Last night's game was a bit of confluence of bad fortune for NU.  Nebraska lost its most important player for the game while ND gained its best player that it hasn't had all year.  Had ND had #4 all year, it would have had a better record and better ranking, and NU wouldn't have been "expected" to win by such a large margin.  Such are the vagaries of early season computer rankings. 

1 hour ago, Faux Mike Peltz said:

Jeezus guys. We get our poop pushed in by the sweater vests, I get subjected to endless heckling today at work by the legal department and Napa winery folks in blue and we think Tominaga is the problem here?? He was arguably the ONLY player yesterday that came out and EMBRACED the atmosphere and gravity of the game. Mast didn’t. Allick was weaker than Bekka out there. Wilcher looked like he couldn’t stay in front of Alison Weidner in a leg brace, Boogie hoisted up a shot that looked like he was shooting a half court shot for a weekend stay in Denver, Brice was wide eyed the first 15 minutes, and JL out of control at times and the take is KT is the issue??? Laughable. CU’s game plan was to shut down and deny KT and he kept us in the game in the first half. He came back with ZERO NIL deals. Yes he wants to prove he can play at the next level, but he loves it in Lincoln and playing for Nebraska. Unreal. 

+1000

Incredible effort by the team.  Fun to watch.  A few quick thoughts:

1. Williams really showed what he can be for this team.  Great game and effort.  He even had some tough offensive rebounds and put-backs in heavy traffic.  Wasn't sure he had that in him, still not sure he can do it consistently, but it was nice to see.

2.  Rienk is so steady and reliable.  Keep it up big fella

3.  Gary continues to be a beast on the boards and at the rim.  Don't really love him shooting so many threes each game tho.  One or two is okay if he is wide open, but it not, please move the ball and try to find an open look for a better shooter like Keisei

4.  Speaking of Keisei, he played a very controlled game, didn't try to do too much.  With that said, I still feel this team does not work hard enough to get him good looks and at times almost seems to avoid passing him the ball.  This team is a better scoring team, and Keisei doesn't have to carry as much of a load as late last season, but he still is our best shooter and he should be shooting at least 5 threes per game, and sometimes much more.  There is absolutely no reason Juan Gary should be shooting more 3s than Keisei

5.  Still don't like that bench lineup of Boogie, Sam, CJ, Gary and Allick.  Yes, I acknowledge they provided a little spark in the first half.  But most of that was on defense, and other than Sam's 3 ball and circus layup, they still struggled to score.  And for the second game in a row, in the 2nd half, the starters came out gang-busters and built a nice cushion, and then that bench lineup quickly gave it all back.  That bench lineup really, really struggles to score, and if another team gets hot while it is on the floor, the game could be over before the starters get back in the game. 

6.  Allick provides incredible energy and effort.  But if the game is on the line, I want Gary in the game at PF.  In a close game, the "end of game" lineup should be: JL, Keisei, Brice, Gary, Mast. 

7. Can someone post the box score with the player's +/- again?

It is December 3, 2023, NU and Creighton are tied 61-61 with 6 minutes remaining, who you do want on the court for the last 6 minutes (you cannot sub during this stretch)?

As the schedule become more challenging, Fred is gong to have to shorten his bench.  In the second half, the starters came out and quickly extended the lead to something like 16 points.  But then the subs came in and lost it just as quickly.  I have been a big supporter of Sam H., but I simply don't see the need or value in playing both Sam and Boogie, let along both of them together.  One of them should be the backup PG, and whoever loses that battle should not play against good teams. 

Gary was a beast, and he showed why he should be starting and finishing over Allick at PF. 

Mast is showing he can be an very good passer/facilitator, much like Walker.  It will be fun watching him continue to develop that chemistry and timing with Keisei and others as the season progresses. 

There is a dropoff when Reink goes out and Allick goes to center.  Allick is not a rim protector and does not have Reink's size to body up down low.  Allick also is not as skilled an offensive player or passer.  I hope Reink is in excellent shape because his minutes are going to be critical this season.

The missed layups/bunnies are going to be a continuing frustration this season.  The reality is that guys like JL and Brice are the players who are best at getting to the rim, but simply are not good/great finishers at the rim, especially through traffic/contact.  On the positive side, Brice is very good at getting the foul called on contact.  There are so many times it feels like he is getting bailed out because if he didn't get fouled, I doubt he would convert the shot. It will be interesting to see if B1G teams scout this and try not to foul him as much in the paint. 

JL has been serviceable at PG, but not great, and he still has not found his shot.  It would be real nice to see him drain 3 or 4 threes in a game just to get his confidence up.

Still seems like there is a bit of selfish play going on.  Late in the 2nd half there was a stretch of about 5 minutes where it seemed Keisei did not receive a single touch, almost as if his teammates were intentionally not passing to him because they thought he would shoot it. I am just speculating of course, and maybe I am reading something into nothing, but I just feel that when Keisei is on the court, he should be involved in the offense in at least some manner almost every time down the court.  He is still the best offensive weapon, and the other players need to accept that.