uneblinstu's Post Game Chatter: Vol 9, Ed 13 - @ Indiana

[uneblinstu]

That was fun!

 

- What to say! They just went out and took it to the Hoosiers. They withstood the IU run to end the first half and responded. There's a lot of really great things to take from this.

- I think we've found our 8 man rotation.

- Zero minutes from McVeigh. We'll see him again, I think, but he's gonna have to earn it when he gets his chances.

- The freshmen looked like Big Ten players and under the Big Ten lights they didn't buckle.

- Ed is a man. I was worried when he fouled out, but dang, he is tough to handle.

- I was suprised they went with the 3 guard lineup to start. But clearly coach thinks that's the best 5 to start games. It was telling Roby was on the floor in crunch time and not Jordy when Ed went out.

- So, I think Horne's earned some more minutes, huh?

- Watson went straight cold-blooded killer down the stretch.

- The Watson and Webster tandem is going to be one of the better back courts in the conference. I'm not the first to say that, but you're probably gonna get 35-40 a night from that duo. That's a solid base to build off of.

- Though Jacobson did a lot of dirty work tonight that people aren't going to see in the box score. Would be great if he could get a little more going in the scoring column, though.

- I don't know what switch was flipped at halftime, but they handled that zone 10 times better in the 2nd half than they did in the 1st. Roby, particularly made quick decisions and found open shooters. Tonight they hit some of those shots. He also missed some opportunities to get to the rim. When he learns to do that, he's gonna be a real handful.

- If outworking teams becomes the MO of this team, they're going to have a nice conference run. If they can combine that with the talent they've got on the floor more often, like they did today, the future suddenly becomes very, very bright.

- They have 3 games I think they'd really like to have back: Clemson, Virginia Tech and, of course, Gardner-Webb. They canceled out one of them tonight.

- The real test will be how they build off this win. Do they play well vs. Maryland? What about when they come home vs. Iowa and Northwestern? This game will increase in value if do. Three years ago, they rode the wave of the win in MSU to the dance. This team is more talented than that one, but not sure if they're ready to do that yet. Last year, they didn't really capitalize on the win at Mich. St. Hopefully they do this time.

- This is the first time since joining the Big Ten that NU has opened conference play with a win. Kinda nice for a change.

- I thought the difficult non-conference schedule came into play tonight. You could tell the guys weren't afraid of Assembly Hall. They'd gone into Allen Fieldhouse and held their own for much of that game and KU is better than IU. They'd taken #2 and undefeated UCLA to the wire. They're better than the Hoosiers, too. I'm guessing it'll be a fairly sleepy atmosphere in Maryland on Sunday. Hopefully the Huskers will be wide awake and can sneak one out of there, too.

Edited December 29, 2016 by uneblinstu

[Thattimeofyear4]

Wondering what that does for rpi lol

Sent from my LGL62VL using Tapatalk

[brfrad]

1 minute ago, Thattimeofyear4 said:

Wondering what that does for rpi lol

Sent from my LGL62VL using Tapatalk
 

According to Warren Nolan, we went from 102 to 68. 

[brfrad]

Here's an unofficial stat.  Miles has 2 wins at home against ranked teams, in his career at Nebraska.  He has 3 wins, on the road against ranked teams.

[49r]

5 minutes ago, Thattimeofyear4 said:

Wondering what that does for rpi lol

Sent from my LGL62VL using Tapatalk
 

 

KenPom jumped from 96 to 82.

[Huskerpapa]

This was a great win.  But it is simply a good step.  We are 7-6, but perhaps more importantly, we are now 1-0 in the league.  We need to use this win as a stepping stone, not a feel good win.  We can go into Maryland and do the same thing, then after that game, we cannot lay an egg against that team East of Omaha.

Players tonight:

- Jake played a good game.  He scrambled, fought, played aggressive defense and did a bunch of little things well.  I hope he can find his outside game.

- Tai was a stud.  That said, he missed some free throws and had some costly turnovers.  If he can clean up those little things without losing his aggressiveness, then we are going to continue to see growth.  By the way, he played stellar defense.

- Ed was a flipping animal.  I have no clue what his numbers were, but he seemed to block everything, rebound anything and score just enough

- Glynn had sort of a quiet great game.  He still gets beat on defense, but he is improving there as well.

- Talk about someone having a quietly good game...Evan played well.  He was excellent on defense, and did little to hurt us on the offensive end.

- Isaiah had his coming out party tonight.  The dude balled.  Nice to see.  Perhaps the rust is completely off and the nerves are now calmed.

- Buckets did some nice things.  His three's were all necessary and great to see.  But he played well defensively as well.  He is certainly earning his minutes.

- I thought Jordy sort of struggled tonight.  He continues to learn, but in the meantime, he provided necessary minutes. 

[unl]

This is the biggest win (best feeling, biggest surprise/upset, most positive moment, etc.) since what? Off memory I'd say at Michigan State (I think that was a January game?)

 

I do not think Gill (or McVeigh for that matter) are cancers to the team, like Biggs was, but the thought crossed my mind that we have found a lineup that works...and good things are to come. Am I crazy? If I had to pick right now, I'd say NU wins 10 in the conference. Seriously. (Okay, I just went through the schedule again and think 8-9..)

 

Even if you guys think that's too high, I'm going to continue to drink my Koolaid!

[49r]

1 minute ago, unl said:

Am I crazy? If I had to pick right now, I'd say NU wins 10 in the conference. Seriously. (Okay, I just went through the schedule again and think 8-9..)

 

Even if you guys think that's too high, I'm going to continue to drink my Koolaid!

 

Not terribly high.  Right now KenPom has us getting 7 wins.  We could flip a couple more.

[Huskerpapa]

Perhaps many of us noticed that in the midst of the celebratory behavior on our bench was Jack.  He was celebrating and had his arms around Ed and whoever was on Jack's right.

[FredsSlacks]

this was a really good indiana team(wins vs kansas/unc), and we beat them with all freshman/sophomores not counting tai.

 

the future looks very bright regardless of how many we win this year.

Edited December 29, 2016 by TimSmiles

[PimpMario]

Wins like this only matter if we win the next couple. Time for Maryland

[throwback]

Pretty impressive to fight like we did in that environment from start to finish - had more than a few opportunities where it would've been easy to fold the tents and give in, but the guys just played tougher.

 

To have 3 true freshmen on the floor for a good chunk of the game and not have them give in to the pressure was impressive.

 

That last rebound and put back Ed had was unreal - he set the screen at the top of the key and crashed all the way through the lane in a hurry to pick up the hustle rebound.

 

And I think we found ourselves against the zone tonight - LOVE having Roby as the guy flashing in the middle. He makes things go. And he looked as cool as possible draining those 2 FTs late. Huge step forward for him tonight.

 

Edited December 29, 2016 by throwback

[Fullbacksympathy]

This was the first game of the season where Miles finally trusted the great talent he has recruited here.  He gave extended minutes to the three freshmen out of necessity and, guess what?  It turns out he is a phenomenal recruiter and we do have high end B1G talent.  They are young, but they are certainly not outmatched, talent-wise.  We had better guards, and Morrow went toe-to-toe with Bryant.  

 

The Gill injury kept the ball in Watson's hands, honestly, and that's where it should've been all season.  He needs to log huge minutes for us to be successful.  He and Tai are among the best guard combo in the B1G when they're on the court at the same time.  Taylor needs to give spot minutes to each in addition to playing the 3 on occasion.  

 

Freshmen:

 

I'm not sure what more Roby needs to do to earn a starting position.  He was dominant.  He's the biggest matchup problem we can put on the court.  He needs to log big minutes for us to win.  He is an elite B1G athlete and I trust the ball in his hands.  It's extremely rare to be able to do what he does at 6'8".  We can run an offense through him and he is the ultimate zone buster from the high post.  I am so glad this kid is suiting up for us.  

 

Horne was great.  Wow can he ever fill it up fast, and what a quick release.  He leaves a lot to be desired defensively, but that's coming around.  He's a great option at the 4, and a good change of pace from Jacobson.  

 

I thought Jordy played well.  Bryant may be the best center in the country, so this was one game I expected Jordy to get worked.  He held his ground and played physical--that's all we could ask from him tonight, especially since both Morrow and Jacobson played their absolute hearts out on the glass tonight.  

 

This was a great win, and a barometer of what we have, talent-wise.  There's no question we have a roster to compete for the next several years, but here's to hoping they might've learned how to win THIS season tonight. 

 

Quality Win.  

I've been hard on Miles of late, but this was one hell of a coaching job both from an x's and o's and also motivation and mental fortitude of the team.  

[ajb5856]

6 minutes ago, PimpMario said:

Wins like this only matter if we win the next couple. Time for Maryland

Yeah I say we try for a win against Maryland too. Seems like a good plan.

[a0t0w0]

I would like to take this moment, on behalf of myself and my think tank, to issue the following-

 

Nebraska basketball will rise.

 

My think tank is a bottle of cheap whiskey, but here's to it. 

[HuskerFever]

Just now, a0t0w0 said:

I would like to take this moment, on behalf of myself and my think tank, to issue the following-

 

Nebraska basketball will rise.

 

My think tank is a bottle of cheap whiskey, but here's to it. 

 

How do I invest?

[FredsSlacks]

our best 8 players played today. it's sad that it took an injury from gill and an abysmal shooting slump by jack for Miles to figure out that this is his best 8 guys.

[a0t0w0]

1 minute ago, HuskerFever said:

 

How do I invest?

 

$12 at certain wal-(unnamed color) can buy you a 1.75 of bliss

 

God bless beating Crean, and God bless the United States of America.  Hallelujah hills back.

[brfrad]

27 minutes ago, huskercwg said:

 

- Buckets did some nice things.  His three's were all necessary and great to see.  But he played well defensively as well.  He is certainly earning his minutes.

- I thought Jordy sort of struggled tonight.  He continues to learn, but in the meantime, he provided necessary minutes. 

I saw only 1 bad play on defense by Horne, tonight.  He was guarding his man on the wing, Indiana got the ball to Bryant at the top of the key, beyond the 3 point line.  Horne left his man to go towards Bryant.  Bryant passes to the guy Horne was on, and the Indiana guy buries a 3.  Every player has that kind of play, though, but for the most part Horne played a very good all-around game.

 

I thought Jordy played pretty well, given who he was going up against.  A tough match-up, and Bryant went 5 for 12 from the floor.

[uneblinstu]

If you're interested in my thoughts, which I wouldn't blame you if you aren't, I updated the top post.

[brfrad]

10 minutes ago, TimSmiles said:

our best 8 players played today. it's sad that it took an injury from gill and an abysmal shooting slump by jack for Miles to figure out that this is his best 8 guys.

Horne is going to go through some struggles, and Jack is going to have to start making 3's.  I have no problem with Miles trying to get Jack going in previous games.

[jdw]

46 minutes ago, huskercwg said:

This was a great win.  But it is simply a good step.  We are 7-6, but perhaps more importantly, we are now 1-0 in the league.  We need to use this win as a stepping stone, not a feel good win.  We can go into Maryland and do the same thing, then after that game, we cannot lay an egg against that team East of Omaha.

Players tonight:

- Jake played a good game.  He scrambled, fought, played aggressive defense and did a bunch of little things well.  I hope he can find his outside game.

- Tai was a stud.  That said, he missed some free throws and had some costly turnovers.  If he can clean up those little things without losing his aggressiveness, then we are going to continue to see growth.  By the way, he played stellar defense.

- Ed was a flipping animal.  I have no clue what his numbers were, but he seemed to block everything, rebound anything and score just enough

- Glynn had sort of a quiet great game.  He still gets beat on defense, but he is improving there as well.

- Talk about someone having a quietly good game...Evan played well.  He was excellent on defense, and did little to hurt us on the offensive end.

- Isaiah had his coming out party tonight.  The dude balled.  Nice to see.  Perhaps the rust is completely off and the nerves are now calmed.

- Buckets did some nice things.  His three's were all necessary and great to see.  But he played well defensively as well.  He is certainly earning his minutes.

- I thought Jordy sort of struggled tonight.  He continues to learn, but in the meantime, he provided necessary minutes. 

Glynn had 26 a d was the best player on the court

[49r]

5 minutes ago, uneblinstu said:

If you're interested in my thoughts, which I wouldn't blame you if you aren't, I updated the top post.

 

FWIW, I read and agree with everything you said in the OP.

[Norm Peterson]

This honestly looks more like the team I thought we had when we played Dayton and UCLA.

 

I think this team is capable of finishing in the top half of the league. 

 

They hit a rough spot when they went through that grinder of 6 top-50 teams in 7 games and I suspect some guys lost some confidence and the team as a whole lost some mojo.  That's what I blame Gardner-Webb on.  We recovered a little against Southern, who actually played better against us than their record.  And now I think we've kind of recovered.

 

That early season grinder may yet pay dividends because we aren't going to see teams any tougher than the ones we've already gone head-to-head against and held our own.  It doesn't get any tougher than this and we've shown we're equal to the challenge.

 

This is, again, looking a lot more like the team I thought we'd be.

[AuroranHusker]

WHOA, BIG RED!