01/22/2013 - Illinois Report Card

[hhcdave]

OFFENSE: D

Not quite an "F" because Nebraska did score over 50 and did a nice job of getting to the free throw line (30 attempts at a conversion rate of 70%).

That's a good thing because had NU not earned all of those charity line attempts, it would have struggled to hit 40, based on the fact it shot 32% from the field and had TWO 8 minute scoring droughts from the field.

That's right, Nebraska had not one, but TWO 8 minute stretches where it didn't hit a field goal. That just can't happen.

More than any other time, this team looked slow and lethargic tonight. The Fighting Illini also did a TREMENDOUS job of putting pressure on the basketball in the first 15 minutes of the game, often times pushing NU's offensive sets six to eight feet beyond the three point line.

Nebraska never could get anything going from the field but give them credit for being aggressive and attacking the hoop, especially Dylan Talley, our Player of the Game, who scored seven of his sixteen points at the line (7-7).

One other note - Andre Almeida has GOT to start making these bunnies. Go up with authority, big man!!! You're better than this.DEFENSE: C

Sure, Nebraska allowed 30 points to D.J. Richardson and sure, Illinois cracked 70.

However, had NU rebounded worth a squat, they hold the Illini at 60 or less and a respectable 45% from the field. The Huskers also forced a decent amount of turnovers (14) but in the end, when you allow shot after shot after shot, and you have three zebras on your side, it makes it tough.

All in all, though, I thought Nebraska was average tonight defensively.

REBOUNDING: F

Tim Miles said on his post game that in all of his years of coaching, no matter the level, he was never more disappointed and embarassed by one aspect of the game as he was tonight, with NU's rebounding in the first half.

As a matter of fact, Illinois had 10 of its 14 offensive rebounds at halftime, en route to out boarding NU by twelve (40 to 28).

BALL HANDLING: D+

14 turnovers and 5 assists aint gonna get it done!

While Talley is our Player of the Game, he led the team with four turnovers, including a couple of awful ones that seniors can't make.

Ray Gallegos also had one of the worst turnovers you'll ever see on a side armed bounced pass to Jordan Tyrance near the timeline, that was vertical in fashion in the closing minutes of the first half. Tyrance had to dive for it and it went out of bounds. No idea what kind of pass that was.

COACHING: C+

Nebraska continues to start games in a sleep walking fashion, which is bothersome.

Is that Miles' fault? Maybe partially, but probably moreso, its just fatigue and other teams coming out with more swagger because of talent and experience.

Still, it's not much of an excuse at the beginning of games/halves, because that's the point of the contest where NU should have the most energy. But maybe we prefer to be Justin Verlander, saving up our stuff for later in the game, so we can still hit 99 in the 8th and 9th innings????

Miles does a nice job of fighting for his team and staying intense. It did seem as though he was like a fan tonight, though, almost looking sad, let down and depressed in the second half. Not saying I blame him, but it almost felt like he lost some of the insane intensity and confidence he had in the first half, when he was over there coaching Gallegos how to play defense, moving his feet, looking like he was ready to come in the game himself! You wonder if that transferred over to the team as well.

Again, not saying I blame him nor is it realistic to expect that for 40 minutes, just making an observation.

OVERALL GRADE: C-

Nebraska played slightly below average tonight and faced a borderline Top 25 team that was at the top of its game. No shame in losing this one, though it would have been nice to see a better basketball game.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: DYLAN TALLEY

RAY GALLEGOS - 8

DYLAN TALLEY - 4

BRANDON UBEL - 3

SHAVON SHIELDS - 3

DAVID RIVERS - 2

JORDAN TYRANCE - 1

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[tcp]

solid report card. this was a tough game for everyone involved. I was more merciful on rebounding because I thought a large part of that was the wildly inconsistent officiating in the paint between the two halves.

 

no idea how we start shooting better on our home court, but until we do, we might not be able to beat anyone in the Bob right now.

[hhcmatt]

https://twitter.com/CoachMiles/status/293911739060342786

 

Enough said.

[tcp]

lol at Timmeh. I don't think it was that bad, but I guess he's gotta light a fire under the boys. This really was an athletic mismatch.

Maybe 12.5 pride?

[hskr4life]

https://twitter.com/CoachMiles/status/293911739060342786

 

Enough said.

 

Maybe... just maybe... this will fire the team up enough to put a whipping on NW Saturday.  Then again........... 

[hskr4life]

And as a follow up... do you think this is a sign that he is starting to lose these guys?   That they are breaking down mentally??

[HuskerBB]

Good report card - I would have given the POG to Ubel though.  I thought Brandon really played tough and matched up well against much more athletic players.  Something no one else on the team did tonight.

 

[tcp]

And as a follow up... do you think this is a sign that he is starting to lose these guys?   That they are breaking down mentally??

 

Not in the slightest. Honestly, this team is as mature as they are undertalented.

[hskr4life]

And as a follow up... do you think this is a sign that he is starting to lose these guys?   That they are breaking down mentally??

 

Not in the slightest. Honestly, this team is as mature as they are undertalented.

I hope you are right as that could be the difference in winning 1 to 2 more or 3 and 4 more this year.

[uneblinstu]

And as a follow up... do you think this is a sign that he is starting to lose these guys?   That they are breaking down mentally??

Mentally?  Not really.  I think they're probably fighting some heavy legs at times, though.  Especially with a two day turnaround and Illinois having 5 days to prepare.  I don't think he's losing guys, but they're approaching the wall and after Saturday, they get 4 ranked teams in 5 games...

[Cheap Seat Perspective]

I think tonight's game also had to do with the fact that Illinois next 5 games are against ranked teams! I think they played with a little more fire because they saw this game as almost a must win, going into their next stretch of games! 

[hal9000]

Spot on report card.

 

Illinois clearly came out with more intensity and energy.  We needed to match it, but couldn't.  If I'm Tim Miles, I'm telling them, you have to find a way, especially at home.

[Huskerpapa]

Good scorecard, although I could argue that the coaching grade could have been a bit lower.  This team did not look well prepared for the game emotionally, physically or mentally.  This is the second home game in a row that there were admissions from the team and staff that the team was not ready to play...really? 

[Silverbacked1]

After the game Miles said they will today off because practices are becoming hard. 

 

As in they are tired and not crisp at all.

 

Even said that they quit practice early on Monday because of it.

 

They have hit the wall.

[hugh42]

Good scorecard, although I could argue that the coaching grade could have been a bit lower.  This team did not look well prepared for the game emotionally, physically or mentally.  This is the second home game in a row that there were admissions from the team and staff that the team was not ready to play...really? 

 

I'm not sure how lack of effort by the players can ever be attributed to a coach.  If you are a competitor, you shouldn't need to be motivated by a coach or anyone else.  JMO.

[ajb5856]

"That's right, Nebraska had not one, but TWO 8 minute stretches where it didn't hit a field goal. That just can't happen"

Very true, BUT...and now I'm not downplaying this at all because, absolutely it cannot happen and you won't win any games when it does...BUT...is that a very fair stat to gage anything by when the refs didn't allow any un-whistled run? I mean I would like to know what our FG attempts total was during that 16 minutes of bucket less action? It doesn't count as a field goal, obviously, but working against that stat is anytime we drew a foul and went to the line. What do you guys think we were during that stretch? 0 for 8 attempts, 9 attempts, 10? It's hard to get any shots off when the play is whistled for a foul every 10 seconds and we trade turns walking to the other end of the floor for free throw attempts.

[Handy Johnson]

After Almeida had that clean rip called as a foul, the Huskers packed it in.  We had to work our a** off for everything, they got good looks at their leisure. Definitely a step back.

[Husker Fan]

Very good report card.  We continue to see long scoring droughts and we now have a different coach.  I feel that Miles' offense is less structured with better spacing which is condusive to letting players make plays.  Whether is Doc's offense or Miles' offense, basically the same players are still having long scoring droughts.  Have to get better players, who can beat people off the dribble and flat out score.

[tcp]

Very good report card.  We continue to see long scoring droughts and we now have a different coach.  I feel that Miles' offense is less structured with better spacing which is condusive to letting players make plays.  Whether is Doc's offense or Miles' offense, basically the same players are still having long scoring droughts.  Have to get better players, who can beat people off the dribble and flat out score.

 

this. it was always the hosses. you can see it every time we go in for layups or drive. they're an adventure. we can't get over most defenders in our conference, and we know it, so we blow a lot of bunnies when we do get clear.

[hhcmatt]

"That's right, Nebraska had not one, but TWO 8 minute stretches where it didn't hit a field goal. That just can't happen"

Very true, BUT...and now I'm not downplaying this at all because, absolutely it cannot happen and you won't win any games when it does...BUT...is that a very fair stat to gage anything by when the refs didn't allow any un-whistled run? I mean I would like to know what our FG attempts total was during that 16 minutes of bucket less action? It doesn't count as a field goal, obviously, but working against that stat is anytime we drew a foul and went to the line. What do you guys think we were during that stretch? 0 for 8 attempts, 9 attempts, 10? It's hard to get any shots off when the play is whistled for a foul every 10 seconds and we trade turns walking to the other end of the floor for free throw attempts.

 

First Half

 

7-14

0-9

 

Second Half

 

7-12

0-9

[rlgyank]

Good scorecard, although I could argue that the coaching grade could have been a bit lower.  This team did not look well prepared for the game emotionally, physically or mentally.  This is the second home game in a row that there were admissions from the team and staff that the team was not ready to play...really? 

 

I'm not sure how lack of effort by the players can ever be attributed to a coach.  If you are a competitor, you shouldn't need to be motivated by a coach or anyone else.  JMO.

I totally agree with you Hugh, lack of effort should never be attributed to the coach. I never played athletics in college, but in high school and in my softball days during college and after college, the games were the things I looked forward to the most. If you have trouble getting excited for a game as a high school or collegiate athlete, that is all on you. I can understand the pros a little bit as those are very long seasons with lots of games, but not at the high school or college level.

[uneblinstu]

Let's not confuse effort with energy.  When you're an undermanned team watching losses mount, with less talent coming off a quick turnaround (Illinois had three more days off coming into this one) that has to play with a high level of energy every night just to stay competitive, that will wear down even the most fit of athletes.  I don't question their effort.  

 

I've played recreational sports too, and there days when everything just adds up and the energy just isn't there.  Sometimes you can fight through it, other times you can't.  That's just part of being a human being.  I truly doubt that they didn't want to compete more in this game than they did last Saturday.

[Silverbacked1]

Every time you go up a level in any sport your body has to readjust to it.

 

Remember reading about how some rookie that came out of high school to the NBA a few years back was sleeping like 15 hours a day.

 

He went to the doctor and the doctor said your body is telling you that you are just tired and your body needs the rest.

 

Hard to do with classes and studying to get all that in.

[ajb5856]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="hhcdimes" data-cid="13882" data-time="1358967704"><p>

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="ajb5856" data-cid="13856" data-time="1358957421"><p>"That's right, Nebraska had not one, but TWO 8 minute stretches where it didn't hit a field goal. That just can't happen"<br />

<br />

Very true, BUT...and now I'm not downplaying this at all because, absolutely it cannot happen and you won't win any games when it does...BUT...is that a very fair stat to gage anything by when the refs didn't allow any un-whistled run? I mean I would like to know what our FG attempts total was during that 16 minutes of bucket less action? It doesn't count as a field goal, obviously, but working against that stat is anytime we drew a foul and went to the line. What do you guys think we were during that stretch? 0 for 8 attempts, 9 attempts, 10? It's hard to get any shots off when the play is whistled for a foul every 10 seconds and we trade turns walking to the other end of the floor for free throw attempts.</p></blockquote>

<br />

First Half<br />

<br />

7-14<br />

0-9<br />

<br />

Second Half<br />

<br />

7-12<br />

0-9</p></blockquote>

Awesome. So we were 0-18 during that drought time? That's what I was looking for. Those stretches can't happen. We weren't ready last night but it was frustrating as heck trying to watch that. The refs decided that basketball wasn't going to be allowed last night, interrupting all the time. Another interesting thing to find out would be how many times during the game did they allow 2 or more possessions to string together consecutively without a whistle. Couldn't have been many.

[Huskerpapa]

Good scorecard, although I could argue that the coaching grade could have been a bit lower.  This team did not look well prepared for the game emotionally, physically or mentally.  This is the second home game in a row that there were admissions from the team and staff that the team was not ready to play...really? 

 

I'm not sure how lack of effort by the players can ever be attributed to a coach.  If you are a competitor, you shouldn't need to be motivated by a coach or anyone else.  JMO.

I said that the team did not look well prepared.  I provided three categories...perhaps all three are "on" the players, but some of it could have been game plan, or sharpness, or whatever...My point was that you could "argue" for a lower grade.  You could also simply chalk it up to the appearence that we came to the horse race with plow horses, and Illinois showed up with thoroughbreds?