Final 11 Games

[thrasher31]

16 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

So what’ll it take to energize you and get you back up to happy?  Interested in that answer from everyone.

 

For me personally, getting to 5-6 would have me happy, and getting back to 6-6 would be absolutely huge.

 

Right now any win is a good win though.  We just need a win baby!

I want to start off with a win against Wisconsin and take it game by game from there lol. Overall, if they can reel off 3 wins over this stretch, it'll change the Outlook a lot

 

Wisconsin isn't s pushover. Very fundamental team

Illinois plays really good at home

Maryland I hope they treat as a revenge game. 

 

Just one game at a time

[BannedAccount]

Im amazed at the people still having hope.  I want and have wanted to all year but the reality now after Rutgers and no Copeland is the season is over.  I thought this team was good and defended it as long as I could but the fact is they arent.  Look at the last 2 years.  Outside of Michigan they have beat no one.  Its sad.  I would love to see this team reel off some wins but the harsh reality is I will be surprised if they can get 4 more wins.  It pains me so to say but there will be a change at the end of the year for various reasons.  I just hope for once this program can somehow someday do something special.  I've been waiting since 1993.

[FredsSlacks]

49 minutes ago, coughunter said:

Im amazed at the people still having hope.  I want and have wanted to all year but the reality now after Rutgers and no Copeland is the season is over.  I thought this team was good and defended it as long as I could but the fact is they arent.  Look at the last 2 years.  Outside of Michigan they have beat no one.  Its sad.  I would love to see this team reel off some wins but the harsh reality is I will be surprised if they can get 4 more wins.  It pains me so to say but there will be a change at the end of the year for various reasons.  I just hope for once this program can somehow someday do something special.  I've been waiting since 1993.

i don't think anyone is expecting to make the tournament at this point, but i also don't think it's impossible to finish the season 7-6 and barely get into the tournament.

 

obviously a change will be made if the current trend continues.

Edited January 28, 2019 by TimSmiles

[HB]

8 hours ago, coughunter said:

Im amazed at the people still having hope.  I want and have wanted to all year but the reality now after Rutgers and no Copeland is the season is over.  I thought this team was good and defended it as long as I could but the fact is they arent.  Look at the last 2 years.  Outside of Michigan they have beat no one.  Its sad.  I would love to see this team reel off some wins but the harsh reality is I will be surprised if they can get 4 more wins.  It pains me so to say but there will be a change at the end of the year for various reasons.  I just hope for once this program can somehow someday do something special.  I've been waiting since 1993.

 

You have no idea how long the suffering can go on, youngster......

[ladyhusker]

Ok, I'll bite. I could be very very wrong, but I'm one who still has hope. January 23, 2014, we kicked our own tails at sad, sad Penn State. During our run to the tournament we would also get shellacked by Michigan, and lose a headscratcher at Illinois.

 

It's January 28. We have 11 games left -- literally a third of our season. That's a LOT of games. As of this morning we're still sitting at #24 in the NET rankings and #18 in KenPom. Making the tournament doesn't mean becoming something we aren't, it means doing something we did for the first third of the season (and a little into the second). Literally two weeks ago we were talking about a 4-seed in the tournament. I don't see that happening, but it's not like weirder things haven't happened.

 

But THIS is why I was so critical of the decision not to give more of an extension last year. A rough stretch happens -- as it does for many, many good teams -- and suddenly the wheels are coming off. Why does that need to be the narrative? Why is it such a foregone conclusion that the last few games are now what defines this team, and not the several before them?

 

I'll 100% admit that I'm the anomaly here and that's ok. (Gotten used to being the only chick, might as well get used to being one of a couple sunshine pumpers too.) But I guess it just seems unnecessary to me to just assume it's all over, and makes things a whole lot less fun. If we were down to a couple games, sure, but I don't even have enough fingers to count the ones we have left. At the risk of an Animal House moment here, there's still something to play for and contrary to the media's headlines this weekend, it isn't even that much of a long shot yet. Is it too much to ask to just wait and see what happens in these next 11 games (and actually cheer for good outcomes, not cheer to be right) before assuming there will be a coaching change?

 

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[tcp]

one reality check we need to accept is that we have 3 wins in conference, and all 3 are against teams at the very bottom of the conference. and we're in, I think, 9th or 10th place. 

 

We've lost to everyone above us. 

 

At some point, the sample size is screaming that this might just be who we are, and that's with Copeland. 

 

You can still be a good team, btw, and be 10th in the B1G this year. Penn State was VTech's only loss for a long, long time. And they've won squat in conference. 

 

But we've played 2/3 of our games, and the record says what we are is a good team but not good enough to compete in the top of the conference. And it's largely a combination of mental fragility, poor shooting and non-existent rebounding. We just have too many exploitable holes in a league with first rate coaching and the book on us is pretty much out now. 

 

But I'm still a fan of my school and I'm cheering for these guys until the last second of the last game. I love my school and I love college basketball, and that's enough for me. 

 

 

[Chuck Taylor]

8 minutes ago, tcp said:

one reality check we need to accept is that we have 3 wins in conference, and all 3 are against teams at the very bottom of the conference. and we're in, I think, 9th or 10th place. 

 

We've lost to everyone above us. 

 

At some point, the sample size is screaming that this might just be who we are, and that's with Copeland. 

 

You can still be a good team, btw, and be 10th in the B1G this year. Penn State was VTech's only loss for a long, long time. And they've won squat in conference. 

 

But we've played 2/3 of our games, and the record says what we are is a good team but not good enough to compete in the top of the conference. And it's largely a combination of mental fragility, poor shooting and non-existent rebounding. We just have too many exploitable holes in a league with first rate coaching and the book on us is pretty much out now. 

 

But I'm still a fan of my school and I'm cheering for these guys until the last second of the last game. I love my school and I love college basketball, and that's enough for me. 

 

 

I'm not going to argue with all that, and yet why are we still a top 25 team in NET, KenPom and other analytics? We've looked terrible at times and have a poor BIG record, but on paper we look really good. Copeland has changed everything going forward, of course, but we were in good shape even after the OSU and Rutgers losses.

[HuskerFever]

If this was any other year, we're already out of the tournament. But the reason we were left out of the tournament last year is the reason why we're technically still in it this year. Two-thirds of the conference are likely to make the tournament and the race for those final spots are still up in the air.

[BannedAccount]

I agree to a point but lets be real.  The numbers look good but the product on the court is not.  Would I still like them to claw ti make the tournament? Of course! But the eye test as well as the issues of administration show that this is the end and had put a cloud over this program this year.  Trust me I have fought with people to no end on twitter defending this team but I dont see anyway this team can string together some wins and be something they arent.  It reminds me of 2 years ago when we had the toughest schedule and just need 17 wins to probably be an at large but again were not that good of a team.  Copeland loss was a major blow and feels like the microcosm of Nebrasketball.

[pmd9]

47 minutes ago, ladyhusker said:

Ok, I'll bite. I could be very very wrong, but I'm one who still has hope. January 23, 2014, we kicked our own tails at sad, sad Penn State. During our run to the tournament we would also get shellacked by Michigan, and lose a headscratcher at Illinois.

 

It's January 28. We have 11 games left -- literally a third of our season. That's a LOT of games. As of this morning we're still sitting at #24 in the NET rankings and #18 in KenPom. Making the tournament doesn't mean becoming something we aren't, it means doing something we did for the first third of the season (and a little into the second). Literally two weeks ago we were talking about a 4-seed in the tournament. I don't see that happening, but it's not like weirder things haven't happened.

 

But THIS is why I was so critical of the decision not to give more of an extension last year. A rough stretch happens -- as it does for many, many good teams -- and suddenly the wheels are coming off. Why does that need to be the narrative? Why is it such a foregone conclusion that the last few games are now what defines this team, and not the several before them?

 

I'll 100% admit that I'm the anomaly here and that's ok. (Gotten used to being the only chick, might as well get used to being one of a couple sunshine pumpers too.) But I guess it just seems unnecessary to me to just assume it's all over, and makes things a whole lot less fun. If we were down to a couple games, sure, but I don't even have enough fingers to count the ones we have left. At the risk of an Animal House moment here, there's still something to play for and contrary to the media's headlines this weekend, it isn't even that much of a long shot yet. Is it too much to ask to just wait and see what happens in these next 11 games (and actually cheer for good outcomes, not cheer to be right) before assuming there will be a coaching change?

 

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Don’t assume you are the only chick on this message board.  My whole family knows if they want info about Husker Hoops, ask Mom/Gramma....that would be me.

[ladyhusker]

Don’t assume you are the only chick on this message board.  My whole family knows if they want info about Husker Hoops, ask Mom/Gramma....that would be me.

Yaaaaaaas I'm not alone anymore!!!!!!!!

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[hhcmatt]

[hskr4life]

Agreed that we don’t pass the eye test right now.  Good news is... as we found out last year... we don’t need to.  I’m with ya ladyhusker!  Let’s get it done with or without the bandwagon.

[tcp]

1 hour ago, Chuck Taylor said:

I'm not going to argue with all that, and yet why are we still a top 25 team in NET, KenPom and other analytics? We've looked terrible at times and have a poor BIG record, but on paper we look really good. Copeland has changed everything going forward, of course, but we were in good shape even after the OSU and Rutgers losses.

 

Which is why I'm pretty sure I said you can still be a good team and be in 10th place. My point is that a lot of people seem shellhocked--myself included a bit--that we're sitting at 3-6 near the bottom of the B1G. My point was simply maybe we shouldn't be. Our league results have been fairly consistent. It's a case of "you are what your record says you are", which isn't always true, either, as we found out last year. As for what the NET and everything else says, that's a more convoluted nut to crack. Especially how SoS and scheduling inertia prevents rapid movement once an early floor is set. Like Oklahoma last season. 

[jimmykc]

And let us not forget Moe Iba's last year. When Hoppen blew out his knee and was lost for the rest of the year, everyone gave up and assumed the season was over and that Moe would go. Instead, the team rallied to finish strong enough to make the NCAA, allowing Moe to resign with dignity intact and move to a good gig at TCU. So anything can happen if things begin to bounce right for this team, which still has enough good players to compete with anyone we play on our home court.

[bigFRED]

Talking to my brother after the Ohio State game and before we knew about Cope, I said "Idk if we can win 7-8 more games like this, its not as easy as just coming out and playing better, something BIG needs to happen to totally jumpstart our team." Then an hour later the news about Cope came out. It is terrible, but it is something big? We will see how we respond.

[AuroranHusker]

2 hours ago, ladyhusker said:

Yaaaaaaas I'm not alone anymore!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

I don't believe you were alone before, but the frequency of posts were not sustainable to figure out some of those det's.

 

 

[AuroranHusker]

3 minutes ago, noahjb24 said:

Talking to my brother after the Ohio State game and before we knew about Cope, I said "Idk if we can win 7-8 more games like this, its not as easy as just coming out and playing better, something BIG needs to happen to totally jumpstart our team." Then an hour later the news about Cope came out. It is terrible, but it is something big? We will see how we respond.

 

 

Yeah, that rallying cry could be Cope becoming the Leader from the Bench !!

 

[burgundy95]

On 1/27/2019 at 10:48 AM, Huskerpapa said:

I am not going to bank on the following, but it is worth a small bit of optimism...sometimes when a team loses a player of value such as Cope, the team will draw closer together and accomplish significant tasks.  I am sure most of you are not old enough to remember Bob Griese and the '71 Dolphins.  Griese was sort of the Drew Brees of his day (both short and both played at Purdue).  He went down with a severe injury at the beginning of the season and the team could have folded and went away.  Instead they started winning with Earl Morrall at QB.  Morrall was sort of a career back up.  They went on to an undefeated season and celebrate each year when all the NFL teams finally lose a game.  Heck, as recently as last year the same sort of thing happened with the Eagles.

 

Bottom line, I still hold out hope...but oh man, this is going to mean a lot of players, fans and coaches step up, big time.

 

All we can do as fans is play our part. Get to PBA and be loud and support these guys. We're gonna get into the tournament and then who knows, anything can happen. GBR

[Chuck Taylor]

6 hours ago, jimmykc said:

And let us not forget Moe Iba's last year. When Hoppen blew out his knee and was lost for the rest of the year, everyone gave up and assumed the season was over and that Moe would go. Instead, the team rallied to finish strong enough to make the NCAA, allowing Moe to resign with dignity intact and move to a good gig at TCU. So anything can happen if things begin to bounce right for this team, which still has enough good players to compete with anyone we play on our home court.

Along those same lines, I'd turn the team over to the current Coach Mo. His teams always knew how to take the air out of the ball and squeeze each possession. Keep the games in the 50s and 60s, and let JPJ and Glynn throw up a wild-ass shot at the end of the shot clock. Seriously, I think we could still make the NCAA with this style, even though it would be ugly as heck.

[Huskerone]

8-0 run starting tomorrow night.

[Fullbacksympathy]

One small measure of optimism:  I’m interested to see how we fare as a team with traditional looking lineups.  

 

TB - Heiman

Roby - Nana

JPJ - Harris, maybe Thor

Allen - Harris

Glynn - Harris 

 

^^ Speaking specifically to the front court, it does resemble a B1G team size wise, and considering we’ve been getting our asses handed to us on the glass, maybe this will shake out differently than expected.  

 

Roby should be especially interesting.  I’m intrigued.  

[tcp]

9 hours ago, Chuck Taylor said:

Along those same lines, I'd turn the team over to the current Coach Mo. His teams always knew how to take the air out of the ball and squeeze each possession. Keep the games in the 50s and 60s, and let JPJ and Glynn throw up a wild-ass shot at the end of the shot clock. Seriously, I think we could still make the NCAA with this style, even though it would be ugly as heck.

 

Molinari can Sadler-up a game, true. Problem is, his approach, like Doc's, requires high levels of hustle. And that's kind of been one of our recent problems. I keep landing on the same spot--a player or two on our bench is going to have to decide to do an express evolve and be one of those "thrive when it's live" kinds of players at this point. We're going to live or die by players 5-7 now. 

[Huskerpapa]

Per this LJS article, it appears we will also see Amir playing the power forward position (ie. spend some time guarding Happ):

 

https://journalstar.com/sports/huskers/mens-basketball/huskers-shuffle-lineup-search-for-answers-as-badgers-come-to/article_1672b7df-63ed-567d-8bf8-3d2fa452ffc3.html#tracking-source=home-the-latest

 

 Six-foot-6 freshman Amir Harris will likely get some run at the power forward spot, as will Nana Akenten. Brady Heiman was elevated from the practice squad this week in anticipation of an increased workload in the middle.

[Chuck Taylor]

6 hours ago, tcp said:

 

Molinari can Sadler-up a game, true. Problem is, his approach, like Doc's, requires high levels of hustle. And that's kind of been one of our recent problems. I keep landing on the same spot--a player or two on our bench is going to have to decide to do an express evolve and be one of those "thrive when it's live" kinds of players at this point. We're going to live or die by players 5-7 now. 

Dude, I'm trying to be optimistic!