uneblinstu's postgame chatter: vol 11; ed 16 - Penn St.

[colhusker]

Palmer is just so much better when the game flows through him. The last three games that has not happened and he is forcing it to much.

Last night is as bad a game for Copeland as we’ve seen.

Roby was a stud last night.

Thomas Allen needs the ball more.

Watson had a very good game.

Bench as pointed out needs to give the team more than 13 minutes and 1 point. Granted, when you not played that is hard.

Miles and staff need to spend a ton of time teaching boxing out.

Crowd was not into game but hard to get excited watching what they saw last night. I will say the boo birds after PSU got a couple offensive rebounds were uncalled for.

 

Winning ugly beats losing pretty is always a good thing.

Edited January 11, 2019 by colhusker

[tcp]

It's a W. No idea what's going on with this team. But they're not on the same page right now. 

[HB]

6 minutes ago, tcp said:

It's a W. No idea what's going on with this team. But they're not on the same page right now. 

 

Yeah, it's not a good look right now.    That might have been the least amount of enthusiasm from a team that I have seen.   The bench was particularly morose the last 30 seconds, when one would have expected some cheering and celebrating.  Personally I think the burden of high expectations all year is taking a toll.   We seem to do better when we're preseason 13th.   I hope the switch can be flipped and guys can get back to having some fun.    

[rr52]

Did refs know both teams had limited depth? That's how the game was called. The calls Palmer normally gets when he drives didn't get called tonight. And think Brian Rosenthal even tweeted about Watson taking a body check on a made lay-up and nothing was called. And most (7 of the 11) Huskers free throws came in last minute when PSU started sending NU to ft line. NU usually gets to the line with more frequency than what was given them last night. Worst call of the night was the reach foul on Amir. Ref was on opposite side of the floor and was blocked by players and the action and made call. Replay showed clean steal.

Like others, wondering how starters will hold up with amount of minutes they are starting to play. Hopefully they figure out how to start rebounding. Got to go coachspeak and tak'em one game at a time from here on out.

[hhcmatt]

9 hours ago, Crush78 said:

With Palmer & Copeland having mediocre at best games, wins are hard to come by, so I'll take it. Also not sure why they didn't post up Watkins more, the few times they did, he killed us

 

Watkins looks really slow.  He's had some mental issues that kept him out of the lineup to start the season and I wonder if he's taking some medication that effects his energy level. Did anyone else notice how Chambers was switching him out on defense on every single possession so that Roby wouldn't burn him again?

[uneblinstu]

9 hours ago, thrasher31 said:

- I actually want a reason why there were no subs in the second half. I understand they aren't the best. Amir and Nana can both give 5-10 minutes per half usually. As long as two of the big 4 are on the court at a time I think they'll be fine.

Miles took the blame for that in the post game. It was Amir's first game back and probably could have used one or two more before he was all the way ready. Nana's been sick. Tanner and Brady probably should have seen some time in the second half. Heiman was a DNP-Coach's decision, right?

[hhcmatt]

9 hours ago, thrasher31 said:

- I actually want a reason why there were no subs in the second half. I understand they aren't the best. Amir and Nana can both give 5-10 minutes per half usually. As long as two of the big 4 are on the court at a time I think they'll be fine. 

 

Via Miles

-------------------

Nana plays a decent amount of minutes but he missed a lot of practice with sickness and wasn't up to speed on the game plan

Amir is just coming back. He had a good rebound and that's something we need so his PT should increase.

--------------------

 

I think we would have been ok with Tanner in the game but then you have someone that Penn St can use Watkins or Harrar to guard and that we won the game exploiting those guys

Unless Brady was ready to pick and pop some 3s it's tough sledding expecting him to guard either of their bigs or Lamar Stevens 

 

I get that it seemed like some of the guys lacked energy at the end but it really seemed like there was a lack of energy on offense to start the game.  Was it by design that we were slowly bringing the ball up the court last night most of the game and if so was it so we would have enough energy to play defense? If that was the case, that's a lack of substitution problem.

[FredsSlacks]

the no sub thing isn't that big of a deal to me. these guys are 21 and have 3 days of rest. they'll be fine.

 

we are sitting at 12-4 which i think all of us would have taken at the start of the season. 

 

we're going to have plenty of chances to get a couple marquee wins.

 

i'm a little concerned by a couple of the guy's body language. i think some of these guys are putting too much pressure on themselves and just need to have fun out there.

[kleitus]

If this team figures out its head issues there isnt a single team we cant beat.

 

If it doesnt, we will keep sputtering.

 

There isnt much else to it.

[FredsSlacks]

1 minute ago, kleitus said:

If this team figures out its head issues there isnt a single team we cant beat.

 

If it doesnt, we will keep sputtering.

 

There isnt much else to it.

palmer needs to have a better attitude when his shot isn't falling. this team needs him to be a leader.

[B-town hoopsfan]

1 minute ago, TimSmiles said:

palmer needs to have a better attitude when his shot isn't falling. this team needs him to be a leader.

And play some defense when he isn’t asked to shoulder the load on offense 

[nustudent]

To me...it looked like we considered the game a given W.  

 

We have won 19 in a row at home and Penn State is 7-8 and 0-4.   It's an automatic win.   Penn State comes out and punches us in the face early and we were shellshocked for most of the night.   We go on several runs and get close to running away with it and a stupid play by Palmer or lazy defense by Copeland keeps PSU in it just enough for them to build some confidence and momentum.

[hhcmatt]

3 minutes ago, nustudent said:

lazy defense by Copeland

 

We kept Stevens in check most of the night as it took him 20 shots to score 13 points. After Stevens started taking it at Cope in the paint at the 7 minute mark the decision to switch Roby onto him and have Cope follow around their center ended up being the right move.

[Huskerpapa]

I mentioned in the game thread that this game was a rock fight.  Penn State has a handful of talented players who play good defense.  It was extremely difficult to get points in the paint and our isolation plays were largely unsuccessful.  A needed win, but we need to locate and then turn the corner as we move forward.

- Isaiah was a stud last evening.  He disrupted many Penn State shots throughout the night.  He also was much more aggressive on the offensive end; yet that said, he still bypassed a number of open looks.

- Glynn was off-kilter at the beginning of the game, but he finished strong.  He had a few bone-headed plays, but I can accept that for the most part.  He defended well and rebounded well in the second half.

- James just has a brain fart when playing Penn State.  Goodness, he was pressing and he couldn't do anything with his dribble-drives.  I did note in the pre-game that Coach Gates was out on the perimeter working with Isaiah and James on their three point shots.  Nice.

- Cope had a very pedestrian game.  He played decent defense, he hit a few timely shots, but he struggled at times as well.  There were some difficult match-ups for our front court.

- Tom really played well in the first half.  Some of his drives to the basket (along with Glynn) were almost unbelievable.  He still passes on open looks; which frustrates me, but he also appears to understand that he is not yet the number one option on most of our sets.  Soooo, he continues to be a work in progress.

- I thought Tanner played well in his two minutes.  WTH.  He should have had at least ten minutes of game action.  He must have been sick as well?

- Nana was a step or two slow in his brief action.  I never learned until after I got home from the game that he had been ill this week

- Good to see Amir back.  He looked good for a minute or two, but you could tell he got gassed.  We need him back, he will certainly help.

 

The things that bugged me last night was the sloppiness on offense and the failure to rebound.  When we get beat on the perimeter, Isaiah, Cope and Tanner come off their man to help.  The perimeter player must then assist with the "helpers" man.  This did happen sometimes, but not all the time.  In some instances, the guards attempted to help, but their lack of size hurt.  I am not smart enough to fully understand the fix, but a fix has to be in the works.

 

Hey, this was a needed and necessary win.  Effectively done.  We made errors that are correctable.  It is time for the seniors to understand that time is now short, we have to find a way to finish this season strong.

[Huskerpapa]

8 minutes ago, hhcmatt said:

 

We kept Stevens in check most of the night as it took him 20 shots to score 13 points. After Stevens started taking it at Cope in the paint at the 7 minute mark the decision to switch Roby onto him and have Cope follow around their center ended up being the right move.

Not only was the switch the right move, it was likely what stopped their offensive flow the last five minutes of the game.  Stevens struggled scoring after Isaiah started defending him.  I remember a pull up jumper that Stevens attempted from the baseline with perhaps three minutes left.  Isaiah altered the trajectory of that shot and it ended up barely hitting the backside of the rim.  Zay appeared to be in Stevens head.  Great to see that intimidation factor.

 

By the way, Coach Miles gave Coach Mo the credit for that change.

Edited January 11, 2019 by Huskerpapa

[tcp]

1 hour ago, HB said:

 

Yeah, it's not a good look right now.    That might have been the least amount of enthusiasm from a team that I have seen.   The bench was particularly morose the last 30 seconds, when one would have expected some cheering and celebrating.  Personally I think the burden of high expectations all year is taking a toll.   We seem to do better when we're preseason 13th.   I hope the switch can be flipped and guys can get back to having some fun.    

 

Yeah, remember last year how animated that bench was all the time? Last night, they looked more tired sitting there than the players on the court. I wish I could go beyond mere gut instinct, but something's not right in there. Reminds me of that 14-15 team that returned everyone and their chemistry had gone to sh*t. Not saying this is that, but just the change in the enthusiasm level reminds me of that. Hopefully just garden variety fan worry-wart-ing, but I dunno....something's off. 

Edited January 11, 2019 by tcp

[Norm Peterson]

9 hours ago, HuskerBB said:

Just seemed like we could never find a way to get on a run tonight in a way that would provide momentum.   Inability to get a rebound was a big part of that for most of the game.   I think that contributed to the fact that it seemed like an uncharacteristically dead crowd.   Felt like the old Collier / Sadler days when the crowd just sat and watched - except we had 3 times the people and 3 times better players on the floor.

 

 

And the crowd still left early, which SO MANY PEOPLE assured me would never happen if they actually had a team worth watching.

[Norm Peterson]

1 hour ago, HB said:

 

Yeah, it's not a good look right now.    That might have been the least amount of enthusiasm from a team that I have seen.   The bench was particularly morose the last 30 seconds, when one would have expected some cheering and celebrating.  Personally I think the burden of high expectations all year is taking a toll.   We seem to do better when we're preseason 13th.   I hope the switch can be flipped and guys can get back to having some fun.    

 

Winning also solves a lot of those kinds of problems.

[basketballjones]

10 hours ago, brfrad said:

Part of the reason we struggle rebounding  is we have 3 guys go for a block.  That leaves 2 guys to box out 4.  We got to be more disciplined. 

 

Roby and Watson played great.  We can beat anyone with Palmer, Copeland playing up to their level, along with Roby and Watson playing like tonight.

Blocks are the most overrated stat out there. 

[Huskerpapa]

There were times the crowd was into the game, and at other times, people sat on their collective hands.  Perhaps the choppiness of the game played a role???  I know our section would be standing after an offensive bucket, and tried to rev the engines, and PSU would go back to the other end and score, and the butts would slide back into the seats.  Everyone seemed tense.  

 

As far as people leaving early...I have never understood it, I will never understand it and I will never like it.

 

Short story, with the game on the line last evening and with only a couple minutes left; the "fan" on my left decided to ask me about the Creighton/Marquette game.  She said she felt bad for Creighton.  I had to apologize to my family as we were walking back to the car; cause I sort of went off on her.  Kinda, sorta....yeah..  If she happens to read this, I apologize!  Then again, NEVER is a good time to tell me that you feel bad about Creighton basketball; especially when I am at a tight Husker game.  Come on man!

[hhcmatt]

Some notes

 

*-The win was Nebraska’s 20th consecutive home win dating back to Dec. 20, 2017, matching a school record which stood since the 1965-66 and 1966-67 seasons
*-Isaiah Roby scored a career-high 22 points and added season highs in rebounds (11) and blocked shots (four). It was his first double-double of the year and fifth of his career
*-Glynn Watson Jr. finished with 19 points, one off his season high and added four rebounds and three assists.

[basketballjones]

I wish there was a way to get Amir more time. I really think he’s a missing piece/element to our rotation. Amir can really do some things that we haven’t seen fully on display yet. I promise you guys that. 

[RedEyedFanatic]

4 minutes ago, basketballjones said:

I wish there was a way to get Amir more time. I really think he’s a missing piece/element to our rotation. Amir can really do some things that we haven’t seen fully on display yet. I promise you guys that. 

we are gonna need something down the strtech.  i already think we have missed his 10 min of solid D the last month.  i wonder how much that plays into our d looking like a shell of it's former self?

[Huskerpapa]

3 minutes ago, basketballjones said:

Blocks are the most overrated stat out there. 

Respectfully, that is the opinion of some, but not all.  Blocks can be significant if it alters the behavior of a team.  If it causes a change in the offensive scheme of a team, then it is a viable and important defensive tactic.

 

In an article titled 'The Forgotten Art of Shot Blocking," author Christopher Riches (I have no clue who this dude is) talks about  shot blocking being the most intimidating skill offensive teams face from help defense. In many instances, shot blocking is highly desirable as skill that can add another layer to a team’s defensive capabilities. 

 

In my humble opinion, having a shot blocker allows perimeter players to play more aggressively, knowing they have that backside intimidator.  

[cjbowbros]

1 hour ago, rr52 said:

Did refs know both teams had limited depth? That's how the game was called. The calls Palmer normally gets when he drives didn't get called tonight. And think Brian Rosenthal even tweeted about Watson taking a body check on a made lay-up and nothing was called. And most (7 of the 11) Huskers free throws came in last minute when PSU started sending NU to ft line. NU usually gets to the line with more frequency than what was given them last night. Worst call of the night was the reach foul on Amir. Ref was on opposite side of the floor and was blocked by players and the action and made call. Replay showed clean steal.

Like others, wondering how starters will hold up with amount of minutes they are starting to play. Hopefully they figure out how to start rebounding. Got to go coachspeak and tak'em one game at a time from here on out.

The refs hurt us in this game because Palmer relies on the refs and we drove more. But honestly if every game was called like that I would be overjoyed. They didn't totally botch any calls and were quite consistent in their no calls at the rim. There were things I disagreed with but great job by the refs.