uneblinstu's postgame chatter: vol 12; ed 14 - vs. Rutgers

[tcp]

I can't recall liking an NU team less than I like this one, with the arguable exception of the Standhardinger Experience. 

 

We often talk about how a game passes a coach by. I'm beginning to think the game has passed me by, too. 

 

Suppose I should go toss beer cans at kids now or something age appropriate. 

[Chuck Taylor]

40 minutes ago, tcp said:

I can't recall liking an NU team less than I like this one, with the arguable exception of the Standhardinger Experience. 

 

We often talk about how a game passes a coach by. I'm beginning to think the game has passed me by, too. 

 

Suppose I should go toss beer cans at kids now or something age appropriate. 

I'd been holding out hope that we'll "gel" at some point, but at this point it just seems like our talent level is the problem. Cam's good enough to start on a decent team, and the 2 frosh bigs are improving, but honestly, is there another player who deserves a spot in the rotation of a good BIG team? The three transfer redshirts will help, but I don't think any of them will be stars. It's looking like Teddy Allen needs to be a supernova for us to make a jump next year. 

[khoock]

Many on here rave about Kevin Cross's potential (and im not saying youre wrong) but right now he is a poor defender and only shows any offensive acumen in our ***what is suppose to be*** buy games. Plus, to me, it seems like he has too loose of handles to be a big that can bring the ball up the floor in this offense. He hasnt impressed me enough to think he will be a part of the rotation next season.

 

But he's young and really good off season could change that.

Edited January 4, 2020 by khoock

[khoock]

14 minutes ago, Chuck Taylor said:

Cam's good enough to start on a decent team, and the 2 frosh bigs are improving, but honestly, is there another player who deserves a spot in the rotation of a good BIG team? 

I agree with this. And was something I had brought up earlier in the season in a different thread. I think there is B1G talent on this team. But I think some of guys are playing larger roles than what they should be compared to their ability. For example, Player A could be a solid bench piece for an average to good team getting 10-15 MPG. However, Player A should not be starting for your team, averaging 30+ MPG, and be the second or third leading scorer on your team.

 

My hope is with the addition of our three RS transfers and two JUCOs, current players will be shifted to more appropriate roles. Hopefully that makes sense.

Edited January 4, 2020 by khoock

[huskerbaseball13]

We just don’t have the size or talent to compete night in night out in the Big Ten right now. Perhaps he will surprise me come Feb, but I’m thinking Jervay May need to be on the way out. Between his suspension and his defense I think he will either get lost in the shuffle next year or be processed. 

[millerhusker]

All year I’ve only seen three rotation players who have any sort of mental fortitude and maturity. Haanif, Thor and Yvan. I feel bad saying this, but as a player I wouldn’t have wanted to play with anyone else on this team. And as a fan, I won’t miss seeing several of these guys play. And that’s truthfully not at all due to their basketball ability and talent level. 
 

Fortunately, all three of our redshirts remind me of Thor and Haanif, as far as their maturity level. They all impress me in their interviews and we’ve heard that Walker and Banton are two of the three best leaders on this team, along with Haanif. Looking forward to seeing them play.

[colhusker]

1 hour ago, tcp said:

I can't recall liking an NU team less than I like this one, with the arguable exception of the Standhardinger Experience. 

 

We often talk about how a game passes a coach by. I'm beginning to think the game has passed me by, too. 

 

Suppose I should go toss beer cans at kids now or something age appropriate. 

At least tell them to get off your lawn.  And while you're at it, make sure they stay off mine too please.

 

[Norm Peterson]

10 hours ago, colhusker said:

Well we are a volleyball school, or a rifle team school, or a bowling school 

 

We DOMINATE in speech and debate. I think I heard we won the Big Ten every year we've been in the conference. So we've got that going for us. Which is nice.

[jimmykc]

Fun fact for the night: Easley would have scored 65 points if he had played the whole game.

[Norm Peterson]

2nd chance points: 12-0 Rutgers

Points in the paint: 52-24 Rutgers

Fast break points: 6-2 Huskers

 

Rebounds: 48-31 Rutgers

 

Offensive rebounds were pretty even -- 16-15 Rutgers. Defensive rebounds they clobbered us 32-16.

 

Both teams took 63 shots. They hit 34 of them. We hit 20.

 

That's the story of the game right there. You won't win very many basketball contests when you can't shoot for shit.

[Vinny]

12 hours ago, ConkintheCorner said:

I know Green is a JUCO player and it usually takes awhile for them to adjust but man I was expecting a lot more from him...

I feel the same. I said last night he looks like he’s thinking too much. Hesitant, afraid of making a mistake. It’s hurting him on both ends.

[Blackshirt83]

Just remember Pikiell's first two years in the B10 Rutgers went 3-15 in conference play. It took them 4 years to get to this point.

 

I think Hoiberg is a better coach and recruiter, so they are at or a bit below where we expect to be 2-3 years from now. It takes time to build a program from nothing and we're at ground zero.

 

[Huskerone]

Very unimpressed, expectations were low to begin with.  With that said, effort should be a given, and saw too many times Rutgers out work us, on our own court! 

 

I feel pretty distanced from this team, I guess been through 1 too many rebuilds in my day.

 

A few other observations...

• Cross, yikes
• Kavas, yikes
• Burke Jr, very slim, skinny legs
• Team shot selection, blah
• Team defense, seems to be optional, blah

Team/program has a long way to go, another long cold winter in Lincoln.

 

[hhcmatt]

11 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

Rutgers has this sophomore kid who's 6'11 and has a 7'7 wingspan. Did I mention he's a sophomore?

 

He shoots jump hooks just the way @Dean Smith described them. His touch is deft enough that he was able to hit 9 of 13 shots, all in the paint. Some of them were dunks, of course. But if he got within 10 feet of the rim, he was pretty effective with that little jump hook. He also had 14 rebounds and a couple of blocks.

 

I don't think he had to chase anyone on the perimeter. Our guards were horrid from 3-point range. Our big men were worse. So, if we have a big man sitting at the end of the bench in a sweat suit who can knock down some threes next year, it'll be an improvement over anything we have right now.

 

We'll see. I kinda like what I saw from the Rutgers kid. It would take a lot of threes to make up for 18 points and 14 rebounds.

 

This deal where you say that we don't need traditional big men seems to imply that we don't have them.  We do in Yvan and Walker.  Do we need better ones? Do we need more? 

 

Trevion Williams put up 18 points and 16 rebounds against us and we beat Purdue by 14.  Overcoming a big post player having a dominant night is something that even this inconsistent team can do. Rutgers only took 15 threes last night because we didn't make them settle for threes. 

[hhcmatt]

[hhcmatt]

Notes and quotes

 

Nebraska Postgame Notes
- Haanif Cheatham finished with a team-high 16 points. It was his ninth double-digit effort in the last 10 games.

- Cam Mack finished in double-figures with 11 points, along with six assists. Mack has at least five assists in 10 games this season. With his six assists, Mack has 91 total through 14 games this season. His 6.5 average is on track to rank third in school history and would be the highest since Brian Carr in 1986.

- Dachon Burke Jr. finished with five points and five rebounds. With his five points, Burke brings his career total to 983. He needs 17 points to reach 1,000 career points.

- Thorir Thorbjarnarson set a career high with five assists. He had four against Butler in the first round of the 2018 NIT. 

- Yvan Ouedraogo finished with four points and four rebounds. He is averaging 7.8 points and 8.4 rebounds over the last five games, dating back to Dec. 13.

- Nebraska had made eight three-pointers against Rutgers, bringing its season total to 117 in 14 games. The 8.36 season average is on track to rank second in school history and the highest since 2001-02. 

- Rutgers picked up its first win in Lincoln. Previously, the Scarlet Knights were 0-4 against Nebraska in Lincoln.

Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg
On the physicality of Rutgers
“Give them credit. They’re the most physical team we’ve played to this point. We talked a lot about that leading into this one and how important it was to try to keep them out of the paint as much as possible, and they got in there way too often. They make five threes a game and they hit five tonight, two early and three spread out over the rest of the game. Too often, defensively, we allowed them to get into the paint where we either had to help with the big or they were spraying it out and driving us out on long closeouts. Once they shot it, whether they made it or not, we had no chance of getting it off the glass, just too big and too physical. When we go out there with a defensive mindset and a defensive mentality, we have a chance to win, and when we don’t, we don’t give ourselves a chance. We have to find a way to correct it, get more consistent, on that end of the floor. It’s on me that we’re not more consistent right now and that starts tomorrow.”
 
On Rutgers’ 18-1 run in the first half
“Well we didn’t make shots tonight, that’s something that happens. It happened against Purdue, and in that game we kept guarding and had our best defensive stretch of the season. Tonight, we got off to a good start, obviously. We were hitting shots and getting out in transition. We were moving the ball and then when the ball stopped going in the hoop. I thought we were chasing down rebounds and got away from being solid on the defensive end. That allowed them to break us down on gambles late in the shot clock. We have to stay solid, take it one possession at a time when we dig ourselves a hole like we did. This is about coming back tomorrow and getting our guys and minds right because we have a heck of a game coming up on Tuesday. We have three days to get better.”
 
On Nebraska’s effort
“It’ll be interesting to see how it looks on film. I don’t know if it’s strictly an effort thing as opposed to just getting out of character when we got in that hole and they went on the big run on us. A lot of it is just staying in front of the ball. It’s tough to defend when you’re giving up blowbys. It just opens up so many things when they’re getting to the rim whether they’re converting or not. The most offensively rebounded shot is the layup and we gave up too many paint touches today. We have to get back tomorrow and make corrections.”

Senior Guard Haanif Cheatham
On not hitting shots
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure we had a 10-8 lead. I think just the shots we weren’t hitting kind of messed us up on our offensive flow and defensive end. I think we had plenty of opportunities to extend the lead, get up to probably eight. [We] just couldn’t hit shots. One of those nights. Like Coach [Fred Hoiberg] and Cam [Mack] said, we’ll be back in the gym tomorrow and be ready for our next game against Iowa.”

On the difference between Indiana and Rutgers
“We were hitting shots I’d say [against] Indiana. All of the shots we took, a majority of them went in. Tonight, some weren’t falling like I said. In the game of basketball, you’re not going to hit 100 percent of the shots you take. It was one of those nights, and we’ll be back in the gym. We’ll be back, watch film, get back to who we are defensively and offensively and be ready for Tuesday night.”

Sophomore Guard Cam Mack
On the size and physicality of Rutgers
“I mean Indiana was physical. We played them to the wires. [Tonight,] we’re not hitting shots and physicality and easy leak outs, easy boards, it’s just tough to win, but like coach [Fred Hoiberg] said, we’re going to come in tomorrow. [We’re] not going to dwell on it. We’ve got a big game Tuesday. Come in, work and get straight to it.”

Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell
Opening statement
"First of all, great environment, obviously. I have tremendous respect for Coach Hoiberg  He's a great coach who I've known for a long time. He does a great job and they've been playing really well. They're a dangerous basketball team, and we haven't played well here in the past either, so I'm just pleased with our 40-minute effort tody. Getting a road win in this league is really tough to do, so I'm pleased with that, but that's a really good basketball team, well-coached, and I think he's going to do a really great job here."
 
On making an effort to get Myles Johnson the ball and feeding the ball inside
"It's always a game plan for us. Actually, Ron [Harper Jr.] is usually around the basket a ton too, Akwasi [Yeboah] got some baskets. We like to really share the game and see our box score and see that a lot of guys get shots up. We wanted to attack and share the game, and that's what we did, and we did a good job. Offensive rebounding wise, they really hurt us. They hurt us all night with that, and we are a really good rebounding team, so that's something we struggled with, I think we were giving so much help and we weren't closing out on our block outs. We shared the game, and that's what we do and are glad that those guys produced when we got them the ball."
 
On Fred Hoiberg
"Fred's doing a great job. The Indiana game in overtime, he beats Purdue one of the best teams in the conference. You know it takes time, and he'll do a great job. You got to figure your team out; you have to see what their habits are, you got to see who can play when the lights come on. There's a lot of things that you try to figure out like rotation, especially when you have a whole new team. He's a great coach, and he's got it pretty figured out. This league will challenge you; it challenges you on many levels."  

[hhcmatt]

 

[jayschool]

I see three guys who I'd like to be part of the eight-man rotation next year, and only one starter, Mack.

 

I imagine Yvan and Thor can be role players off the bench at 10-15 minutes per game.

 

We now just need to fill in the other five rotation spots:

1. Allen
2. Stevenson
3. Walker
4. Banton AND

Mayen? Cross? Arop? Easley? TBD?

 

Further, I get why Yvan is starting and playing now: we might not have gotten him a year from now, he needs the experience, we have nobody else, etc. But keep in mind that he's really the same age as a senior in high school, or a peer to 2020 recruits. Myles Johnson was a 2017 recruit who redshirted his first year. Luka Garza, whom we'll see get about 30 points and 20 rebounds on Tuesday, is 21 years old. 

 

In short, we can't compete, but the upside is Creighton fans have to cheer for us in order for their RPI/NET rankings to get a boost.

[Handy Johnson]

6 hours ago, tcp said:

I can't recall liking an NU team less than I like this one, with the arguable exception of the Standhardinger Experience. 

 

We often talk about how a game passes a coach by. I'm beginning to think the game has passed me by, too. 

 

Suppose I should go toss beer cans at kids now or something age appropriate. 

I was really starting to “warm up” to this team after Indiana/Purdue, now it feels like I’ve been c**k blocked on Prom night...

[Art Vandalay]

5 hours ago, huskerbaseball13 said:

We just don’t have the size or talent to compete night in night out in the Big Ten right now. Perhaps he will surprise me come Feb, but I’m thinking Jervay May need to be on the way out. Between his suspension and his defense I think he will either get lost in the shuffle next year or be processed. 

 

Agree on size and talent.

I will take Jervays def over Mack or Burke right now. Those 2 could not keep anyone in front of them all night. Fred  mentioned it post game. The reason their bigs were so affective was because of all the guard penetration, way to easy.

[jayschool]

Watching Iowa, who has both Garza and Kreiner in the game at the same time. How do we guard that? And they also have Pemsl off the bench. Nunge would have given them 6-11, 6-11, 6-10, 6-9 from those four guys. We may not get 20 rebounds.

[Husker Hoops Penitent]

As it stands I would think the starting five for next year are Mack, Allen, Banton, Stevenson and Walker.  I think Arop transfers.

[jayschool]

7 minutes ago, Husker Hoops Penitent said:

As it stands I would think the starting five for next year are Mack, Allen, Banton, Stevenson and Walker.  I think Arop transfers.

I would agree on the starting five.  I hope Arop redshirts. Burke and Green are gonna have to figure some things out over the last 18+ games. 

[Huskerpapa]

I woke up this morning and had to digest the game and clear my head.  What I realize is we looked like and quite frankly played like sh*t last night.

 

So...what did I see that provides me hope for the remainder of the year?  Ummm...quiet, I'm thinking.

 

Okay, I got nothing.

 

But here is an idle thought and I really dislike pointing out a specific player, but here goes --- please sit Kavas and play Easley in his minutes.  He is better capable of scoring, rebounding, defending and moving.

[basketballjones]

Hot take:

 

Playing fast and with pace doesn’t always mean shooting early threes. Especially 0-1 pass 3’s after you’ve missed three in a row and the opposing team is in foul trouble.