uneblinstu's Post Game Chatter: Vol 9, Ed 11 - Gardner-Webb

[jason2486]

I wonder if Watson coming off the bench is about getting the second unit going. Our bench has been awful. He and Webster are our best threats to score obviously.

[huskerbaseball13]

55 minutes ago, LK1 said:

I continue to be amazed at the rotation.

 

Our heaviest rotation (20 minutes minimum) should easily be:

 

Watson (is the goal to ruin his confidence by not starting him?)

Webster

ROBY (how the hell did he only get 12 minutes?? He was super active)

Morrow

Jordy (8 minutes.. what the hell?  He should've been licking his chops for this game)

 

I am absolutely baffled at this staff's inability to understand what our most talented lineup looks like.  I had said before that I am blown away by Miles' recruiting.  I'm becoming equally blown away by his inability to put that talent on the floor in successful situations.  Ugh.  Warm up the seat.  

I would say the seat was already warm before another bad loss. Today's outcome was the last thing Miles needed. Can Miles surive a 12-18 type year? 

[Fullbacksympathy]

Just now, huskerbaseball13 said:

I would say the seat was already warm before another bad loss. Today's outcome was the last thing Miles needed. Can Miles surive a 12-18 type year? 

 

I'm sure you're right.  That was more for me.  I've been a pretty big Miles apologetic.  

[FredsSlacks]

1 hour ago, LK1 said:

I continue to be amazed at the rotation.

 

Our heaviest rotation (20 minutes minimum) should easily be:

 

Watson (is the goal to ruin his confidence by not starting him?)

Webster

ROBY (how the hell did he only get 12 minutes?? He was super active)

Morrow

Jordy (8 minutes.. what the hell?  He should've been licking his chops for this game)

 

I am absolutely baffled at this staff's inability to understand what our most talented lineup looks like.  I had said before that I am blown away by Miles' recruiting.  I'm becoming equally blown away by his inability to put that talent on the floor in successful situations.  Ugh.  Warm up the seat.  

yep. we finally get a true center, and miles plays him 8 minutes against a team who's tallest player was 6'7.

[hhcmatt]

 

[hhcmatt]

Notes and Quotes

Postgame Notes 
*-Ed Morrow Jr. grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds in the loss. Morrow’s previous high was 13 against Creighton on Dec. 10. His 18 rebounds were the most since Aleks Maric had 19 rebounds against Missouri on Feb. 24, 2007. Morrow has now reached double figures in rebounds four games in 2016-17. *-Morrow also tied his career high with four blocked shots, as he also had four at Penn State on Feb. 25, 2016. 
*-Tai Webster has reached double figures in all 11 games for the Huskers this season and 12 straight games dating back to last season.
*-Nebraska’s 20 turnovers were a season high and most since 22 against Villanova on Nov. 17, 2015.
*-Nebraska shot just 15-of-26 from the line after entering the game 13th nationally in free throw percentage (.783). In the previous five home games this year, NU shot 84.9 percent from the foul line. 
*-Evan Taylor and Anton Gill made their first career starts for Nebraska on Sunday. It is the first college start for Gill, who began his career at Louisville, while Taylor made 15 starts as a freshman at Samford, most recently the 2015 Southern Conference Tournament vs. UNC Greensboro.  It is the first time in 11 games that Nebraska has started a different lineup.

Nebraska Head Coach Tim Miles
Opening Statement: “First of all, I think you have to commend Gardner-Webb for coming in with a mentality of fearlessness that they were coming here to win. They came in here to kick our butts and they did. Obviously, I can’t think of a word beyond disappointment that I didn’t have our guys ready. We had a practice on Friday and it wasn’t going well and we were at the end of the time. So we went 40 extra minutes and we only got moderately better. We wrapped it up and we had an OK practice yesterday [Saturday].”

On the Huskers’ struggles from 3-point range: “I’m surprised we are not shooting better at home. There are some guys that don’t take great threes. Other than that, I thought there were a few guys that got really good looks too and they just didn’t go in. Confidence is earned, you just got to do it. You can’t wish and hope for it.”

On Michael Jacobson: “The only guy I’m going to let of the hook is Michael Jacobson. He came out and didn’t look right, I went to put him back in and he says ‘Coach, something is wrong’ I think he got sick. He comes back in and say ‘Coach I can play’ toward the end of the first half.”

On changing the starting lineup after last game “In practice, you know how guys perform, who is locked into a game plan because we struggled on Friday in practice, that’s how Jordy Tshimanga got out. I’ve seen Jordy play better, I think he can play better. They why Michael Jacobson got in. Other than that, it was the second group that started the second half against Kansas.”

Gardner-Webb Head Coach Tim Craft

Overall feelings on the game

“Just proud of our players to give a great effort on the road, to beat what I feel is a really good team who’s played an unbelievable schedule. I’m proud of our guys, I thought we defended really well other than we got beat on the glass. We got hurt on the class, and Nebraska was terrific on the offensive glass. Other than that, I thought we guarded them well and gave ourselves a chance to win the game. We made enough plays down the stretch to get a win.”

On the first half

“I just think we were able to string some stops together, guys made a couple plays on the offensive end, and we were able to kind of build whatever it was. I think seven was the max lead. I felt like they could come back really quickly, but we were able to make just enough plays and just enough free throws down the stretch to pull it out.”

 

On the defense in the last 15 minutes

“I think we’ve got a good defensive team. We are getting better and better there. I’m just proud of the way the guys competed on that end for sure.”

 

On Tyrell Nelson’s performance

“He came up big. He had a couple plays in the post, they started to double him to take it away a little bit. We had a critical play there at the end in the last two minutes where LaQuincy Rideau kind of came to a stop and bounce-passed it to (David) Efianayi for a layup. That was huge. I think we made just enough plays to keep that two-possession lead there. It seemed like every time they had a chance to close it down, something happened. We got a blocked shot or we scrapped out a big rebound and were able to put a stop together.”

 

On the win’s impact on the program

“It’s a great win for our program, and I think what it does for our players is it validates some of the things that we’ve been talking to them as a coaching staff about and how good they can be if they can play in a stance all the time and defend with max effort all the time. It’s exciting to see them have success against a team in the Big Ten. That’ll validate some of the things we’ve been working on for the last 50 practices.”

[hhcmatt]

Post Game Presser

 

[hhcmatt]

We actually called a timeout after Roby passed up that 3 to make him shoot it. I get the point but maybe the reason he's lacking confidence is because we're trying to turn a guy who should be attacking the rim into a 3pt shooter.

 

I know it seemed like they couldn't miss at the FT line towards the end but I can't believe we didn't foul a poor shooting team at the end.

[Nebrasketballer]

6 hours ago, hhcdimes said:

*-Nebraska’s 20 turnovers were a season high and most since 22 against Villanova on Nov. 17, 2015.

*-Evan Taylor and Anton Gill made their first career starts for Nebraska on Sunday. It is the first college start for Gill, who began his career at Louisville, while Taylor made 15 starts as a freshman at Samford, most recently the 2015 Southern Conference Tournament vs. UNC Greensboro.  It is the first time in 11 games that Nebraska has started a different lineup.

 

 

I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that there is a direct correlation between these two things. I think taking Glynn Watson out of the starting lineup was clearly a foolish decision by Miles.

 

 

 

 

Quote

Gardner-Webb Head Coach Tim Craft:

“It’s a great win for our program, and I think what it does for our players is it validates some of the things that we’ve been talking to them as a coaching staff about and how good they can be if they can play in a stance all the time and defend with max effort all the time. It’s exciting to see them have success against a team in the Big Ten. That’ll validate some of the things we’ve been working on for the last 50 practices.”

 

Conversely, I wonder about the effect that this game will have on Nebraska's players. Especially Glynn Watson. As well as for the rest of the team that can clearly see that there is no excuse for Watson not to be in the starting lineup,

 

For Nebraska, I can't imagine how any of this would validate any of the things that the coaches have been telling them in practice. Especially, when Nebraska is coming off of 2 consecutive sub-.500 seasons and with the way this season is going so far, it looks like they are likely headed towards a 3rd...

Edited December 19, 2016 by Nebrasketballer

[hhcmatt]

1 hour ago, Nebrasketballer said:

don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that there is a direct correlation between these two things. I think taking Glynn Watson out of the starting lineup was clearly a foolish decision by Miles.

 

Seems like a good question to ask him if he shows up for the Monday call in show tonight.

I'm not sure if it was the difference in us losing or winning.  I do know that was the best I've seen Watson play in a while and easily so of the best delivered passes out of him I've seen. Can we get him to play with more speed? Him passively waiting for the ball to roll to him to save seconds so he could walk up the court with the ball in the second half felt like it was killing any sense of urgency.

[jimmykc]

So far the blame for the fiasco has fallen upon: 1. Miles 2. Molinari and other staff for lack of offensive emphasis 3. Cold weather 4. Poor crowd and lack of enthusiasm 5. Players named Gill/McVeigh/Jacobson/Watson/etc. 6. Not recruiting Nebraska players 7. Shim-Shams 8. Fuller for not inventing a cool  "bench move" for the reserves 9. Omaha sports writers 10. Putin. I think we probably have this covered pretty well at HHS now. Its games like this which always seem to liven up the site.

Edited December 19, 2016 by jimmykc

[Silverbacked1]

10 minutes ago, jimmykc said:

So far the blame for the fiasco has fallen upon: 1. Miles 2. Molinari and other staff for lack of offensive emphasis 3. Cold weather 4. Poor crowd and lack of enthusiasm 5. Players named Gill/McVeigh/Jacobson/Watson/etc. 6. Not recruiting Nebraska players 7. Shim-Shams 8. Fuller for not inventing a cool  "bench move" for the reserves 9. Omaha sports writers 10. Putin. I think we probably have this covered pretty well at HHS now. Its always games like this which always seem to liven up the site.

 

Just about covers it Jimmy.

[Silverbacked1]

11 hours ago, LK1 said:

I continue to be amazed at the rotation.

 

Our heaviest rotation (20 minutes minimum) should easily be:

 

Watson (is the goal to ruin his confidence by not starting him?)

Webster

ROBY (how the hell did he only get 12 minutes?? He was super active)

Morrow

Jordy (8 minutes.. what the hell?  He should've been licking his chops for this game)

 

I am absolutely baffled at this staff's inability to understand what our most talented lineup looks like.  I had said before that I am blown away by Miles' recruiting.  I'm becoming equally blown away by his inability to put that talent on the floor in successful situations.  Ugh.  Warm up the seat.  

 

Roby got got in the sluff twice and his man hit  two 3's.  That is when he came out twice.  Jordy loosing the ball what two or three times aginst that 6'7" kid and not even getting the shot off probably didn't help.  Then so did Ed and MJ.  They have "weak hands for such big guys.  They also bring the ball down to low when go to the rim, makes it easier for those "little" guys to swat the ball out of their hands.

 

Just what I saw.

Edited December 19, 2016 by Silverbacked1

[HB]

3 hours ago, Nebrasketballer said:

 

I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that there is a direct correlation between these two things. I think taking Glynn Watson out of the starting lineup was clearly a foolish decision by Miles.

 

 

 

 

 

Conversely, I wonder about the effect that this game will have on Nebraska's players. Especially Glynn Watson. As well as for the rest of the team that can clearly see that there is no excuse for Watson not to be in the starting lineup,

 

For Nebraska, I can't imagine how any of this would validate any of the things that the coaches have been telling them in practice. Especially, when Nebraska is coming off of 2 consecutive sub-.500 seasons and with the way this season is going so far, it looks like they are likely headed towards a 3rd...

 

Watson played 32 minutes.  Taylor played 11.  Me thinks too much is being made of the starting lineup decision.   And also some crazy speculation that the team will melt down over a starting lineup decision for one game.    We have a lot of issues, and it all may end poorly.  But our guys are a helluva lot tougher than the suggestion that they'll all just fall apart because coach didn't start a guy who played 32 minutes.  

Edited December 19, 2016 by HB

[Nebrasketballer]

22 minutes ago, HB said:

 

Watson played 32 minutes.  Taylor played 11.  Me thinks too much is being made of the starting lineup decision.   And also some crazy speculation that the team will melt down over a starting lineup decision for one game.    We have a lot of issues, and it all may end poorly.  But our guys are a helluva lot tougher than the suggestion that they'll all just fall apart because coach didn't start a guy who played 32 minutes.  

 

My comment wasn't intended to say that the team will fall apart solely based on the starting lineup. It's based on the fact that this team looks like it could be heading for a 3rd consecutive sub-.500 season, have lost 6 of their last 7, and just lost to a 5-loss Gardner-Webb team at home. And I said that because the Gardner-Webb coach said that this win would help to validate what they are telling them in practice. If we are to believe that, which is to say that game results can help to validate/invalidate what coaches tell them in practice, then Nebraska's lack of wins over the last 3 seasons is not positive in that regard.

 

I would say that this could be compounded if the players think that the best players aren't being put in the starting lineup to give Nebraska the best chance to win.

Edited December 19, 2016 by Nebrasketballer

[brfrad]

Watson scored 14 points with 3 assists (a chance at more if our big guys could catch the ball) and 1 turnover in 32 minutes.  If it was a motivational ploy, it seemed to do well.

[HB]

1 minute ago, brfrad said:

Watson scored 14 points with 3 assists (a chance at more if our big guys could catch the ball) and 1 turnover in 32 minutes.  If it was a motivational ploy, it seemed to do well.

 

yeah, and that was after totally ruining his confidence, not to mention hurting his feelings!  

[Fullbacksympathy]

2 hours ago, Silverbacked1 said:

 

Roby got got in the sluff twice and his man hit  two 3's.  That is when he came out twice.  Jordy loosing the ball what two or three times aginst that 6'7" kid and not even getting the shot off probably didn't help.  Then so did Ed and MJ.  They have "weak hands for such big guys.  They also bring the ball down to low when go to the rim, makes it easier for those "little" guys to swat the ball out of their hands.

 

Just what I saw.

 

Jordy only had one turnover, but I agree it wasn't his best start.  He also left his feet a couple of times (another tendency of bigs getting too few minutes), but he wasn't in bad defensive position.  He needed a chance to settle in.  

Roby had 6pts on 3-4 shooting, 3 offensive rebounds, and an assist, not to mention contesting several shots in 12 minutes.  He was just getting going.  He's an extremely smart young player, and his defense needs to be learned live to some extent.  I just don't get it--you can't tell me McVeigh (3pts on 1-6 shooting, 3rbs, 2ast, 3stl, 1TO in 22min) was bringing more to the table to log 10 more minutes than Roby.  

[49r]

A little perspective (I guess) from the postgame thread on reddit.  At least Kentucky fans are sympathetic:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Silverbacked1]

15 minutes ago, LK1 said:

 

Jordy only had one turnover, but I agree it wasn't his best start.  He also left his feet a couple of times (another tendency of bigs getting too few minutes), but he wasn't in bad defensive position.  He needed a chance to settle in.  

Roby had 6pts on 3-4 shooting, 3 offensive rebounds, and an assist, not to mention contesting several shots in 12 minutes.  He was just getting going.  He's an extremely smart young player, and his defense needs to be learned live to some extent.  I just don't get it--you can't tell me McVeigh (3pts on 1-6 shooting, 3rbs, 2ast, 3stl, 1TO in 22min) was bringing more to the table to log 10 more minutes than Roby.  

 

Fully agree but that is what I saw that might have caused them to not be on the floor as much as we think they should be.

 

Roby is this years whipping boy, hope he is the kind of kid that can take all this and get better.

 

Like wasn't Anderson that Doc made run till he was crying and throwing up and telling him he should quit because he wasn't D1 material?  I hope Roby can handle it all, because he gets dressed down a lot.

[Handy Johnson]

Well, well, well - this one feels like sliding on an old comfortable, broken in pair of slippers...

[atskooc]

55 minutes ago, LK1 said:

 

Jordy only had one turnover, but I agree it wasn't his best start.  He also left his feet a couple of times (another tendency of bigs getting too few minutes), but he wasn't in bad defensive position.  He needed a chance to settle in.  

Roby had 6pts on 3-4 shooting, 3 offensive rebounds, and an assist, not to mention contesting several shots in 12 minutes.  He was just getting going.  He's an extremely smart young player, and his defense needs to be learned live to some extent.  I just don't get it--you can't tell me McVeigh (3pts on 1-6 shooting, 3rbs, 2ast, 3stl, 1TO in 22min) was bringing more to the table to log 10 more minutes than Roby.  

Miles said on the post-game radio show that Jordy's minutes were minimized because he was terrible on defense.

[tcp]

nothing attracts eyeballs like a flaming wreck!

 

for those of us who were concerned about this team possibly getting knocked out after that brutal stretch in non conf play, this might be the answer to that question.

 

But this is where coaching has to assert itself. When the mentality of a team is such that it can't win, or that things are never going to go their way, it's vital that coaches keep players as level-headed as they can. I'm not saying or implying that Miles and staff aren't at least trying to do that, but as a coach gets more desperate to turn around a career trend, that sense of anxiety is usually picked up by players. That's why coaches on hot seats usually wind up fired. It's sort  of the event horizon of sports. A point at which the gravity captures you and you can never escape.

 

This program is getting too close to that point right now.

 

Still lots of season, and they can't ignore Southern, either, because if they manage to lose that one, they're totally cooked.

 

Miles is going to get one more year regardless, and I think he should. I just hope his players understand that, too. Because if that seat really heats up, then the recruit spigot's turning off, and we're going to have to win with the guys we have for awhile.

 

Here's to the men pulling out of the death spiral and getting this turned around for the 2d semester.

 

 

[hal9000]

7 hours ago, 49r said:

A little perspective (I guess) from the postgame thread on reddit.  At least Kentucky fans are sympathetic:

 

I had to laugh at the Virginia Tech guy's response.  In the post game, Miles, after opening with congratulatory remarks for Gardner-Webb, should have then issued apologies to UCLA, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Creighton, and Kansas.   Well, maybe not Creighton

[Ron Mexico]

I just don't understand what has happened to our offensive production. All of these guys are capable scorers. What is going on that we only score 62 against Garner-Webb?