uneblinstu's Post Game Chatter: Vol 9, Ed 24 - Wisconsin

[hhcmatt]

This is right up there for gut punch game of the year.

Nebraska battles back and bring it to overtime with Jacobson's first 3 since the South Dakota game.

Wisconsin makes some big and bad shots in OT.

Brutal.

[hal9000]

Yap.  This hurts worse than OSU or Rutgers to me.  As my father-in-law would say, "Sonofabitch some more!"

[hskr4life]

No fanbase should have to endure the cruel, gut punch, kick in the nuts, slap in the face, terrible shot going in, freethrowless, freethrow miss, injury plagued, one possession, last second shot games that we have to go through.  Just brutal!  

[AuroranHusker]

Gotta beat the snot out of PSU on Valentines Day!!!

 

 

[hhcmatt]

 

[Silverbacked1]

What is our record during this 8 game slide if Ed plays in them all, and/or we play like we did tonight every time?

 

Okay now I will go back to hitting my head against the wll.

Edited February 10, 2017 by Silverbacked1

[BigAppleBucky]

Nebraska certainly played well enough to win this game. Or Wisconsin bad enough.  Not sure which.

 

Since mid January the Badgers have had a series of mainly close wins, including three overtime games.  The team has shot poorly and given up far more turnovers than usual, and yet continues to win.

 

The 2014 Final Four team lost five games in a row mid season, but that was due to norovirus raging through the team.  I've read tales of nagging injuries to Koenig and Hayes, but they both played long minutes last night, so who knows?

 

Wisconsin is a team that will get knocked out early in the tourneys if it doesn't straighten out and fly right.  On the other hand, the team is pretty darned good under pressure.

[Jugular]

Not quite sure which there were more of...Ethan Happ travels that weren't called or fouls that weren't called on him. If you added them up, you would be over 10. It's unbelievable what he gets away with.  

 

Nice showing for Roby last night. By far his best game

[jayschool]

1 hour ago, BigAppleBucky said:

Nebraska certainly played well enough to win this game. Or Wisconsin bad enough.  Not sure which.

 

Since mid January the Badgers have had a series of mainly close wins, including three overtime games.  The team has shot poorly and given up far more turnovers than usual, and yet continues to win.

 

The 2014 Final Four team lost five games in a row mid season, but that was due to norovirus raging through the team.  I've read tales of nagging injuries to Koenig and Hayes, but they both played long minutes last night, so who knows?

 

Wisconsin is a team that will get knocked out early in the tourneys if it doesn't straighten out and fly right.  On the other hand, the team is pretty darned good under pressure.

I feel bad for ya, really I do.

[jimmykc]

Ugly game, ugly officiating, both teams played with guts and injuries, missed bunnies and free throws were the difference, important game for Roby's confidence, Badgers just had a smidgen more luck, let's keep up this level of intensity and turn the page.

[colhusker]

Roby was a big time bright spot last night.

[Miles ahead of the rest]

I would love to see the shot chart from last night.  The amount of shots missed within 5 feet last night will make every single one of us cringe!

[Art Vandalay]

3 hours ago, Jugular said:

Not quite sure which there were more of...Ethan Happ travels that weren't called or fouls that weren't called on him. If you added them up, you would be over 10. It's unbelievable what he gets away with.  

 

Nice showing for Roby last night. By far his best game

 

This was killing me Roby basically fouled out doing what Happ does every possession. I counted at least 4 times he should have gotten a foul called at one point and he had zero. It is criminal what he gets away with just because of reputation.

 

I hate 90% of basketball officials 

[Coaches kid]

Roby changed the complexion of the game last night with his disruptive defense and hustle. IMHO that was really just a small glimpse of how good he could be. Once he gets a bit stronger and more confident offensively, he will be a match-up nightmare. Teams will have to guard him with a smaller player because of his mobility, and because he passes the ball so well, he will create a ton of opportunities for teammates. 

[hhcmatt]

20 minutes ago, Miles ahead of the rest said:

I would love to see the shot chart from last night.  The amount of shots missed within 5 feet last night will make every single one of us cringe!

 

 

Might not be the best view.

The right side was first half, the left side the second and OT

Anything at the rim is put on the side. Thus you will see we missed 6 layups/dunks in the first half and 3 in the second.

Wisconsin has shot blocking length so some of that you can attribute to us missing because we're trying to avoid it. I distinctly remember a bad Jordy shot like that.

[49r]

2 hours ago, jayschool said:

I feel bad for ya, really I do.

 

Right?  I mean, POOR Wisconsin.  Struggling to a paltry 21-3 record.  Poor, poor babies!!!

 

Reminds me of Thad Matta's comments after the OSU game, that "it was about time something good happened for this team".  It must have been hell for them to go through a 4 game losing streak.  Nobody should have to suffer like that...

 

...oh wait.

 

 

 

[uneblinstu]

- It was great to have Ed back! His rust was evident at times, but man, he made a big difference inside.

- Jordy had a rough night.

- Man, Roby flashed some tantalizing things. That was the best effort he's shown all year. We need more of that.

- Didn't think Jack was particularly great. He got lost a few times on defense. I don't know how much of that was his fault. He did hit a couple big shots, though. It's really huge that's he's found his shot again.

- Jacobson played 26 minutes last night. It felt like he only played 16. I know he's not at 100% or maybe it's just that we had an extra body in the rotation plus Roby playing well.

- But dang, he hit some big shots, huh? Too bad they didn't win or that 3 to send it to overtime might have been one of legend. That was a really cool moment.

- Thought Watson was fighting that injury all night. He had his best offensive game in a while, but you could tell he was fighting it a bit.

- The refs had a rough night. That's all I'll say about that.

- Webster did his thing, but he had a handful of shots that were fairly head scratching.

- A season high number of turnovers, some absolutely mystifying, looms large. NU had only been above 20 one other time this year, vs. Gardner-Webb. Only one other time this year have they been above 15 and that was vs. Mary. Really uncharacteristic performance there tonight. Maybe Wisconsin played a part in that, but on the whole, that's probably the first place I'd look when dissecting how NU lost this game.

- Ethan Happ gets the Aaron Craft treatment from the refs. That was astounding. He's whistle immune. I just watched the highlights and holy hip check, Batman! Lots of contact before that block.

- So, NU has Ed back, Glynn's able to play and NU's probably as close to full strength as they're gonna be the rest of the year. The schedule sets up for a decent little run to close it out. If this group can keep their wits about them with all the close losses and injuries they've endured, I think they've got it in 'em. It starts on Tuesday vs. Penn St.

[Nighthawk]

10 hours ago, hskr4life said:

No fanbase should have to endure the cruel, gut punch, kick in the nuts, slap in the face, terrible shot going in, freethrowless, freethrow miss, injury plagued, one possession, last second shot games that we have to go through.  Just brutal!  

 

yeah...I kind of feel this way about the team as well.  I mean we get up the next day and go about our normal life.  The team has to live with it...they have to rewatch it...they have to hit the court and try to move on and learn from and fix the mistakes. 

[Norm Peterson]

OK, so here's my take:

 

We played like shit. 

 

The refs helped us play like shit (IMO).

 

We still took the #5 team in the land to OT playing like shit.

 

For the first time EVER (and by "EVER" I mean probably at least the last 20 years), I don't feel like there's a team in the league we cannot beat.  (In other words, I think we have the ability to knock off any other league opponent we might face.  This is NOT to say that I think we'll go unbeaten down the road, but there's not a team in this league that I just look at and say, "we cannot beat that team.")

 

So, where am I going with this?

 

Well, OK, I realize it's not probable.  In fact, it's real damn unlikely.  But if we get hot at the right time, we could actually win the Big Ten tourney. 

 

OK, calm down.  I didn't say we would win it; I said we could win it.  And, for further clarification, I don't mean "could" like some theoretical possibility like getting hit by an asteroid.  I mean we really do have the ability and the players that if we play our A game, and maybe get a tiny little bit of luck, we really could beat the other teams in the league.  And I've certainly never felt that way any other year since we've been in the Big Ten.

 

Do you all remember Colorado with Shaun Vandiver making it to the finals of the Big 8 tourney as the 8th seed?  I think that could be us.  Except I think we can win it.

[uneblinstu]

2 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

Do you all remember Colorado with Shaun Vandiver making it to the finals of the Big 8 tourney as the 8th seed?  I think that could be us.  Except I think we can win it.

I don't, no, but I'm on board with the rest!

 

A little momentum over the next couple of weeks (with 6 winnable games left on the schedule) and not playing on the first day of the tournament would help, too...

Edited February 10, 2017 by uneblinstu

[Fullbacksympathy]

All this game did for me was reaffirm that this program is headed in the right direction.  I really haven't held the non-Ed and especially the non-Ed non-Glynn games against the team or staff.  We have top 5 league talent.  I don't need any more proof.  

 

If we can stay healthy for the remainder of the season, I think things are going to get more interesting than we might think.  We might have a streak in us that starts with the last 2-3 games.  We need to heat up before the conference tournament.  

 

The bottom line is that this staff had our healthy squad beyond ready to start B1G play.  I think we need a couple of games with our best players to get our feet under us again, and then anything can happen.  Yes, we lost a couple of brutal close ones, but we don't lose those games with Ed, and we probably squeak out a W on the road vs. Iowa too.  Really, we'd be a 1-2 loss team with Ed during that stretch.  Whatever.  

 

I think we have, at minimum, a 50/50 shot at beating any conference team with a healthy roster on a neutral court.  

[Fullbacksympathy]

4 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

OK, so here's my take:

 

We played like shit. 

 

The refs helped us play like shit (IMO).

 

We still took the #5 team in the land to OT playing like shit.

 

For the first time EVER (and by "EVER" I mean probably at least the last 20 years), I don't feel like there's a team in the league we cannot beat.  (In other words, I think we have the ability to knock off any other league opponent we might face.  This is NOT to say that I think we'll go unbeaten down the road, but there's not a team in this league that I just look at and say, "we cannot beat that team.")

 

So, where am I going with this?

 

Well, OK, I realize it's not probable.  In fact, it's real damn unlikely.  But if we get hot at the right time, we could actually win the Big Ten tourney. 

 

OK, calm down.  I didn't say we would win it; I said we could win it.  And, for further clarification, I don't mean "could" like some theoretical possibility like getting hit by an asteroid.  I mean we really do have the ability and the players that if we play our A game, and maybe get a tiny little bit of luck, we really could beat the other teams in the league.  And I've certainly never felt that way any other year since we've been in the Big Ten.

 

Do you all remember Colorado with Shaun Vandiver making it to the finals of the Big 8 tourney as the 8th seed?  I think that could be us.  Except I think we can win it.

 

You beat me to my entire post.  haha.  

[Blindcheck]

3 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

OK, so here's my take:

 

We played like shit. 

 

The refs helped us play like shit (IMO).

 

We still took the #5 team in the land to OT playing like shit.

 

For the first time EVER (and by "EVER" I mean probably at least the last 20 years), I don't feel like there's a team in the league we cannot beat.  (In other words, I think we have the ability to knock off any other league opponent we might face.  This is NOT to say that I think we'll go unbeaten down the road, but there's not a team in this league that I just look at and say, "we cannot beat that team.")

 

So, where am I going with this?

 

Well, OK, I realize it's not probable.  In fact, it's real damn unlikely.  But if we get hot at the right time, we could actually win the Big Ten tourney. 

 

OK, calm down.  I didn't say we would win it; I said we could win it.  And, for further clarification, I don't mean "could" like some theoretical possibility like getting hit by an asteroid.  I mean we really do have the ability and the players that if we play our A game, and maybe get a tiny little bit of luck, we really could beat the other teams in the league.  And I've certainly never felt that way any other year since we've been in the Big Ten.

 

Do you all remember Colorado with Shaun Vandiver making it to the finals of the Big 8 tourney as the 8th seed?  I think that could be us.  Except I think we can win it.

 

I agree...My thought has always been...Can you coach a team to prepare for the conference tournament.

 

I know their are high school coaches that always seem to find ways to win districts, regardless of record...and the regular season just seems like preparation for the postseason.

 

Thoughts...do you play Morrow enough to keep him fresh...Watson...maybe he sits a game or two to get 100%.

 

If you know the only way to the tourney is winning the conference tourney, do you change the way you manage your roster and your gameplanning over the next couple of weeks?

[Norm Peterson]

Good questions, Blindcheck.  I don't know the answer.  Guess it depends how dinged up Watson and Morrow are.  Watson wasn't slated to start (per the LJS) but there he was.  And Ed was dunking with abandon during warmups.

 

Ed needs to shake some rust and get back to being the player he was earlier in the year.  If he's healthy, you probably want him getting minutes.

[Fullbacksympathy]

I've seen similar things happen: