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Rarefied Air


Norm Peterson

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11 hours ago, B-town hoopsfan said:

 

You are correct on nana,apologizes. It’s really all based on what service you use. I prefer to go by rivals however 24/7 ranks more guys so their service is probably a better way to gauge the guys we get.

Yeah I shouldn't have been so indignant about it forgot that there are lots of different ways to look at it.

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1 hour ago, khoock said:

Bold move.

Butler might have been a poor example. My point is, teams that finish 4th in a Major Conference make a run at the Title ALL-THE -TIME. Why not us? To hell with winning “one” game!

Edited by Handy Johnson
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9 minutes ago, Handy Johnson said:

Butler might have been a poor example. My point is, teams that finish 4th in a Major Conference make a run at the Title ALL-THE -TIME. Why not us? To hell with winning “one” game!

I get what you are saying - 16/17 South Carolina Final 4 team is the example you we're looking for!

 

They were 4th in the SEC and we are probably more talented than that team. They we're a program with no history of winning, NIT team the year prior.  Anything can happen come march - as long as you are talented and play for each other (maybe the strongest trait of our team). Just gotta get in. 

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1 hour ago, hskr4life said:

I mean, if we are looking at teams finishing outside of the Top 2 in their conference.... Michigan just last year comes to mind.  Would you take that team or our team this year? 

I’d say it’s a toss up, fact is we really don’t know just how good this NU squad is. I’ve got a hunch they might surprise all of us...

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On 11/14/2018 at 11:47 PM, HolyBobpilgrimage said:

I appreciate this moment and what this history means, I'll enjoy it...

 

However:

We cant just see a good season like this as an anomaly we have to enjoy while its here. I understand because of the misery we've experienced as husker fans, but in my opinion as fans and as a program, the attitude and mood around here has to change! Enough of this loser mentality, we have to find 20 wins and some national attention more of a normality in the state, and start to string these seasons together so that we can actually build a successful program and attract talent. Of course, that doesnt mean getting ahead of ourselves and expecting crazy standards like in football. I love where we are as nebrasketball and everything that means, including how special this all all feels, and how much we value heart  hustle and hard work in our players and a high standard of fan support (side note, I'm a bit worried about some of the bad fans we attract when we find success, but I suppose that's to be expected. that's also another topic for another day)

In the end, we should enjoy this! But dont think this is a one and done. I believe in tim and everyone involved, the AD and the direction we're going. Time to accept success. (This all isnt meant as an attack on you btw, just pointing out something I feel is an important detail)

 

Didn't view this as an attack, so no sweat there.

 

But ...

 

1. We fans don't have much control over what happens on the floor, so whether we demand success or not, the reality is there are 350 other D1 teams who have fans out there saying they should demand success and enough with the loser mentality, etc. etc. etc. Doesn't mean they'll achieve success just because they want it.

 

2.  Reality is seasons like '90-'91 happen once every ...

 

3.  Take Illinois. I'm sure their fans don't have that loser mentality and demand high levels of success from their basketball team.  How far has that gotten them over the last dozen years or so?  They hired Bruce Weber to replace Bill Self and he had them in the Sweet 16 his first season and a national runner-up finish his second.  His teams finished 5th in conference or better in all but 2 seasons.  They finished 9th in conference his 5th season and again his 9th season.  After his 9th season, they fired him.  And hired John Groce.

 

Illinois reached the 2nd round of the NCAA tourney Groce's first season.  Illinois hasn't sniffed a tourney appearance since then.  Groce was fired at the end of year 5, after which Illinois hired Brad Underwood, who took Illinois to a losing season last year in spite of having a fairly talented roster. And they're 1-1 this year with a home loss to Georgetown in the Gavitt Games.  Nice work there, Illinois.

 

Meanwhile, whatever happened to Bruce Weber?  Oh yeah, he went to Kansas State.  He's lead the Wildcats to 4 NCAA tourney appearances in 6 years, including a Great 8 appearance last year.

 

4. So, you can want shit all you want.  You can demand it.  You can eschew a loser's mentality.  You can have high expectations.  You can fire the underperforming coaches every 5 years and start over from square one twice every decade if you want (because that's what not having a "losers mentality" evidently demands).  BUT ...

 

5.  Do you realize -- do you have ANY notion -- of the confluence of factors that had to come together in order for us to be in the position we're in this year?  I doubt many people have stopped and given this a lot of thought.

 

There are a lot of people out there who rip on Coach Miles for not using all his available scholarships every year.  They say he's subjected himself to self-imposed scholarship reductions every year.  But you know what?  If he had filled all the scholarship spots for the '16-'17 season, we don't have room for Isaac Copeland.  And if we don't land Isaac Copeland, we are NOT an NCAA tourney team, let alone a ranked team.

 

There are a bunch of national pundits out there -- not just the sunshine pumping, homer fans -- who have picked us high enough that we would certainly expect a decent seed in the NCAA tourney, would be a first-round favorite to win a game, get this tourney monkey off our back and, depending on who you listen to, we're a Sweet 16 caliber ball club.

 

I don't care what kind of effing expectations you have or how much you, as a fan, eschew that loser's mentality that says "give this coach another year or two or three," fan expectations =/= program success.  If they did, every program would win a national championship every year.  And they don't; only one does.

 

History says we don't win these things every year.  In fact, history says we've never EVER won an NCAA tourney game.  But if I was a betting man, I'd say that streak ends this year.  If so, it will be the first time in program history for us to win one in the dance.  And crap, we're equipped to maybe make a little run.  Wouldn't be shocking, IMO, to see us win a game or even two.  I don't think it's outlandish to see that as a legitimate possibility for this crew.

 

If that happens, it's a once-in-a-lifetime event in the sense that it's never happened before.

 

Maybe it'll happen again and we'll start having great success.  But the odds don't favor that happening.  Not because we're Nebraska, but because there are 350 other D1 teams who all want to succeed and it's a numbers game.  Only 10% of D1 programs win a first-round game every year.  It's hard to climb up into that upper echelon no matter how fortunate you might be.

 

So, like I said above, you better enjoy this ride.  We hope it happens again.  We hope it happens with regularity.  But there's a good chance we'll never see another run like the one I'm hoping/expecting we'll see this year.  Not in my lifetime and maybe not in yours either.

 

I stand by my point in the OP.

Edited by Norm Peterson
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3 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

Didn't view this as an attack, so no sweat there.

 

But ...

 

1. We fans don't have much control over what happens on the floor, so whether we demand success or not, the reality is there are 350 other D1 teams who have fans out there saying they should demand success and enough with the loser mentality, etc. etc. etc. Doesn't mean they'll achieve success just because they want it.

 

2.  Reality is seasons like '90-'91 happen once every ...

 

3.  Take Illinois. I'm sure their fans don't have that loser mentality and demand high levels of success from their basketball team.  How far has that gotten them over the last dozen years or so?  They hired Bruce Weber to replace Bill Self and he had them in the Sweet 16 his first season and a national runner-up finish his second.  His teams finished 5th in conference or better in all but 2 seasons.  They finished 9th in conference his 5th season and again his 9th season.  After his 9th season, they fired him.  And hired John Groce.

 

Illinois reached the 2nd round of the NCAA tourney Groce's first season.  Illinois hasn't sniffed a tourney appearance since then.  Groce was fired at the end of year 5, after which Illinois hired Brad Underwood, who took Illinois to a losing season last year in spite of having a fairly talented roster. And they're 1-1 this year with a home loss to Georgetown in the Gavitt Games.  Nice work there, Illinois.

 

Meanwhile, whatever happened to Bruce Weber?  Oh yeah, he went to Kansas State.  He's lead the Wildcats to 4 NCAA tourney appearances in 6 years, including a Great 8 appearance last year.

 

4. So, you can want shit all you want.  You can demand it.  You can eschew a loser's mentality.  You can have high expectations.  You can fire the underperforming coaches every 5 years and start over from square one twice every decade if you want (because that's what not having a "losers mentality" evidently demands).  BUT ...

 

5.  Do you realize -- do you have ANY notion -- of the confluence of factors that had to come together in order for us to be in the position we're in this year?  I doubt many people have stopped and given this a lot of thought.

 

There are a lot of people out there who rip on Coach Miles for not using all his available scholarships every year.  They say he's subjected himself to self-imposed scholarship reductions every year.  But you know what?  If he had filled all the scholarship spots for the '16-'17 season, we don't have room for Isaac Copeland.  And if we don't land Isaac Copeland, we are NOT an NCAA tourney team, let alone a ranked team.

 

There are a bunch of national pundits out there -- not just the sunshine pumping, homer fans -- who have picked us high enough that we would certainly expect a decent seed in the NCAA tourney, would be a first-round favorite to win a game, get this tourney monkey off our back and, depending on who you listen to, we're a Sweet 16 caliber ball club.

 

I don't care what kind of effing expectations you have or how much you, as a fan, eschew that loser's mentality that says "give this coach another year or two or three," fan expectations =/= program success.  If they did, every program would win a national championship every year.  And they don't; only one does.

 

History says we don't win these things every year.  In fact, history says we've never EVER won an NCAA tourney game.  But if I was a betting man, I'd say that streak ends this year.  If so, it will be the first time in program history for us to win one in the dance.  And crap, we're equipped to maybe make a little run.  Wouldn't be shocking, IMO, to see us win a game or even two.  I don't think it's outlandish to see that as a legitimate possibility for this crew.

 

If that happens, it's a once-in-a-lifetime event in the sense that it's never happened before.

 

Maybe it'll happen again and we'll start having great success.  But the odds don't favor that happening.  Not because we're Nebraska, but because there are 350 other D1 teams who all want to succeed and it's a numbers game.  Only 10% of D1 programs win a first-round game every year.  It's hard to climb up into that upper echelon no matter how fortunate you might be.

 

So, like I said above, you better enjoy this ride.  We hope it happens again.  We hope it happens with regularity.  But there's a good chance we'll never see another run like the one I'm hoping/expecting we'll see this year.  Not in my lifetime and maybe not in yours either.

 

I stand by my point in the OP.

Well, holy sht, take my upvote. And never assume I dont know what blood sweat and tears went into the teams success, not to mention the decades of misery felt as a fan. So believe me, I appreciate this. This is history. And I'm sure as hell gonna enjoy it with y'all, my brothers in basketball (and misery and joy). This is goddamn fun. I've been a fan and ticket holder for a long time, though undoubtedly not as long as you.

Thank you sir for the primer, it's good to look back on the context for why this means so much.

#Nebrasketball

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