uneblinstu's postgame chatter: vol 12; ed 15 - vs. Iowa

[Silverbacked1]

Oh forgot to say that the new Thor's hammer all over the screen after Thorir's 3's was sick last night..

 

Hope to see it many more times this year and next.

[hhcmatt]

10 hours ago, Faux Mike Peltz said:

Kavas played like 2 minutes it seemed. 

 

He's in a platoon with Thorir and with TT playing so well and Kavas not really doing anything with his minutes it was a no-brainer to stick with Thor.

[Red Rum]

1 hour ago, Nebrasketball1979 said:

This is fantastic - well done by UNL social media people!!!

 

 

 

I'd also like to add a kudos to whoever's idea it was to drop a thor hammer graphic on the scoreboard when he hits a 3. Well played

[jayschool]

Chad Leistikow from the Des Moines Register:

 

LINCOLN, Neb. — Down to eight available scholarship players and another starter lost to injury, Iowa knew it needed to find a way to survive and beat the Big Ten Conference’s most beatable team. But the Hawkeyes had an off night.

 

Wieskamp had spent a few days practicing with Adidas basketballs, the kind that Nebraska uses for home games. They have a different feel, but he entered confident.

 

That was the resounding message afterward from the stunned Hawkeyes, who had just dropped a game to the Big Ten Conference’s worst team, one that had lost home games to UC Riverside, Southern Utah, North Dakota and, most recently, by 17 points to Rutgers. Keep shooting.

 

Iowa dropped to 10-5 overall, 1-3 in the Big Ten on Tuesday. I am confident those marks would be 12-3 and 3-1 if Bohannon was healthy, and we’d be talking about a seismic home game Friday against No. 14 Maryland. The Hawkeyes missed his game-closing ability in a down-to-the-wire 89-86 loss against Penn State, and he would’ve tortured Fred Hoiberg’s zone Tuesday night.

 

BUT BOHANNON ISN'T HEALTHY, CHAD! AND WE'D BE A LOT BETTER IF WE HAD OUR THREE SIT-OUT TRANSFERS, BUT WE KNEW WE WOULDN'T, JUST AS IOWA KNEW IT WOULD HAVE TO PLAY WITHOUT BOHANNON FOR MOST OF THE BIG TEN SEASON AND THAT THEY'D HAVE TO SHOOT (GASP) OTHER TEAMS' BALLS IN  AWAY GAMES.

 

I'm usually not an all-caps kinda guy, but sheesh!

Edited January 8, 2020 by jayschool

[Norm Peterson]

Notably, former Husker Bakari Evelyn, 5th year senior, played 15 minutes, was 0-3 from the field and did not score. That's not far off his average.

 

Easy for me to say, but I think he made a mistake grad-transferring from Valpo, where he averaged about 32 minutes and 10 points/game.

[Swan88]

34 minutes ago, 49r said:

 

I think it's more important that all future opponents just hit 10% of their 3's against us...I mean, fair is fair, if Iowa hits even a pathetic 20% of their 3 point shots they win going away.

Ha!  Yeah, but if we can collapse back into the paint, ignore the opponents who aren’t good at hitting threes (e.g., Bakari Evelyn) and constantly harass those who can, Doc says we can have a chance.

Edited January 8, 2020 by Swan88

[jayschool]

3 minutes ago, Swan88 said:

Ha!  Yeah, but if we can collapse back into the paint, ignore the opponents who aren’t good at hitting threes (e.g., Bakari Evelyn) and constantly harass those who can, Doc says we can have a chance.

Last night's defense reminded me of Doc's mighty-mite D from 2008-2009 — defend the paint, run out to the perimeter, fight like hell.

[jayschool]

I also found it comical last night that 6-10 senior Ryan Kriener often found himself guarded by 6-2 freshman walk-on Charlie Easley, and he did virtually nothing. 

Edited January 8, 2020 by jayschool

[Norm Peterson]

5 hours ago, Blackshirt83 said:

 

The thing about Green is:

 

He has the 3rd worst 3pt% on the team at 30%. Only above Cross and Easley but leads the team in 3pt attempts at 61. (tied now with Cam, Prior to tonight he was alone as the only guy with 60+ 3pt attempts) 

 

He's also dead last (not counting Arop who has yet to take a shot) in fg% and yet is one of 5 players with over 100 attempts. (he had the 3rd most attempts on the team going into tonight.)

 

Considering the fact that he's put up those shot numbers despite missing 2 full games and again is often the worst shooter on the floor... that is simply an offense killer. Nothing else he brings to the table right now makes up for what is lost just by having him on the floor taking shots.

 

 

I get what you're saying and I don't disagree with you. In defense of Jervay, however, he was a 39% 3-point shooter in juco ball and over 54% from the floor. He was a high-volume shooter, and sometimes high-volume shooters have to shoot themselves out of a funk or into a flow. And a guy who's used to shooting a lot of balls might miss his first few and then go on a tear. But Jervay doesn't have or hasn't had the luxury of being able to shoot his way out of his funk. Not in the way he would have been used to being able to do at WNCC.

 

Jervay at his best is still a great weapon. I watched a number of his juco games and he could drive the ball to the rim and finish against contact or pull up and knock down a trey. If he's hitting ~40% from 3-point range for us, he's on the floor a lot. For whatever reason, he just hasn't gotten it going and it's affecting him in other ways. I know if I was a college kid and my shot went to shit, I'd have a hard time keeping a positive attitude.

 

I hope he pulls out of it because he still could be a very good player for us. But the way things stand right now, we're undoubtedly better as a team by playing Charlie Easley and Thor instead.

[hhcmatt]

41 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

Notably, former Husker Bakari Evelyn, 5th year senior, played 15 minutes, was 0-3 from the field and did not score. That's not far off his average.

 

Easy for me to say, but I think he made a mistake grad-transferring from Valpo, where he averaged about 32 minutes and 10 points/game.

 

You have to think that him transferring to Iowa wasn't all about playing time.  His role was Bohannon insurance when he signed.

[Ron Mexico]

- Need to continue to play with that intensity.

- Remainder of January is 4 on the road and 2 at home

- Cam is playing at an all conference level as PG

- Haanif is the quiet leader of this team.

- Dachon has played himself into getting more minutes but he needs to continue to work on his defense. There was a play in the 1st half where Iowa PG blew by him and HCFH went right to the bench for Charlie.

- Charlie brings a lot of intangibles. His defense is how he has earned his minutes. He's an energy guy. If he is going to shoot 3's he needs to make them.

- Thorir scored 17pts but it felt like more. He killed it on the defensive boards.

- We are watching the growth of Kevin before our eyes. He is going to be a matchup nightmare for teams in the coming years.

- Yvan did a good job on Garza. Would like to see him a bit more active on the offensive boards. 

- Matei seems lost out there at times and can be liability on defense. If wants more playing time he is going to have to start making his 3's. 

- I had forgotten Bakari ended up at Iowa.

- Credit to Doc for the defensive game plan.

- HCFW offense creates a lot of open shots.

 

[HuskerFever]

13 hours ago, uneblinstu said:

I like beating Iowa.

 

It's spelled "Ioa", because they don't know how to get the 'W' anymore.

[Mr. Red]

13 hours ago, LK1 said:

Thor really is a xfactor for us.  When he hits from outside, he’s a legit stretch 4 for us because he’s still somewhat serviceable there on the defensive end.  Great game from him on the boards.  
 

Cam is truly special when the guys around him decide to play at his IQ level and move without the ball/make shots.  
 

PLAY EASLEY.  He’s our best perimeter defender.  Gotta make those threes because once he does, we’ll have ourselves a Bruce Bowen.  
 

Burke was very clutch tonight.  He had a nice stat line, but he kept us steady with some big shots.  
 

Cross was fantastic and played like a true versatile big.  1/3 threes, 4/5 from the line.  Some grown man finishes around the rim.

 
Cheatham was a nuisance on both ends.  He was probably a part of 4-5 team steals.  Good to see the threes go down for him.  
 

Yvan was okay.   The effort was definitely there on both ends.  
 

Game ball goes to Doc for this one.  He put together another pesky defensive game plan.

 

I don’t think this game was a fluke.  I think we’re a decent team at home when we don’t crap the bed in the first 10 minutes.  There are more home wins on the horizon.  Let’s not talk about the road. 

This (in my opinion) is exactly why he says Thor is his "best friend" on the court.  Thor is arguably the best off the ball offensive player on the team (last year and this year).  You could see it last year even in his few minutes he got.  Many  posters commented during games last year that Thor just had a knack for knowing where to be/had a high bball IQ.  Now that he is getting minutes and has a jump shot, he is really flowering.

[Fullbacksympathy]

3 hours ago, jayschool said:

I also found it comical last night that 6-10 senior Ryan Kriener often found himself guarded by 6-2 freshman walk-on Charlie Easley, and he did virtually nothing. 

Easley is our best defender and absolutely ate the lunch of everyone he guarded.  

[AuroranHusker]

1 hour ago, Mr. Red said:

This (in my opinion) is exactly why he says Thor is his "best friend" on the court.  Thor is arguably the best off the ball offensive player on the team (last year and this year).  You could see it last year even in his few minutes he got.  Many  posters commented during games last year that Thor just had a knack for knowing where to be/had a high bball IQ.  Now that he is getting minutes and has a jump shot, he is really flowering.

 

I'm lovin' the Thor / Cam connection. Thor's also a good passer. Two kindred spirits out on the court, that's exactly the type of camaraderie that NU needs this season & going forward.

[Fullbacksympathy]

3 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

I get what you're saying and I don't disagree with you. In defense of Jervay, however, he was a 39% 3-point shooter in juco ball and over 54% from the floor. He was a high-volume shooter, and sometimes high-volume shooters have to shoot themselves out of a funk or into a flow. And a guy who's used to shooting a lot of balls might miss his first few and then go on a tear. But Jervay doesn't have or hasn't had the luxury of being able to shoot his way out of his funk. Not in the way he would have been used to being able to do at WNCC.

 

Jervay at his best is still a great weapon. I watched a number of his juco games and he could drive the ball to the rim and finish against contact or pull up and knock down a trey. If he's hitting ~40% from 3-point range for us, he's on the floor a lot. For whatever reason, he just hasn't gotten it going and it's affecting him in other ways. I know if I was a college kid and my shot went to shit, I'd have a hard time keeping a positive attitude.

 

I hope he pulls out of it because he still could be a very good player for us. But the way things stand right now, we're undoubtedly better as a team by playing Charlie Easley and Thor instead.

I don’t think we’ll see Green as an off guard again.  I think his game only functions well when he dribbles a lot like his JUCO days.  But because we have arguably the best point guard in the conference, Green’s minutes will have to be slim since we are good to go at the 2 with Burke/Easley.  
 

I’d still like to see Green get 5-10 minutes a night at PG.  I would hope Cam goes back down to the 30-35 range now that we seem to have a more settled rotation.  

[MJW82]

Besides the great points already made in this thread, I’d really like to know what it’s going to take to get the University to sell me some gear with that logo on it. 

[AuroranHusker]

4 hours ago, jayschool said:

Chad Leistikow from the Des Moines Register:

 

LINCOLN, Neb. — Down to eight available scholarship players and another starter lost to injury, Iowa knew it needed to find a way to survive and beat the Big Ten Conference’s most beatable team. But the Hawkeyes had an off night.

 

Wieskamp had spent a few days practicing with Adidas basketballs, the kind that Nebraska uses for home games. They have a different feel, but he entered confident.

 

That was the resounding message afterward from the stunned Hawkeyes, who had just dropped a game to the Big Ten Conference’s worst team, one that had lost home games to UC Riverside, Southern Utah, North Dakota and, most recently, by 17 points to Rutgers. Keep shooting.

 

Iowa dropped to 10-5 overall, 1-3 in the Big Ten on Tuesday. I am confident those marks would be 12-3 and 3-1 if Bohannon was healthy, and we’d be talking about a seismic home game Friday against No. 14 Maryland. The Hawkeyes missed his game-closing ability in a down-to-the-wire 89-86 loss against Penn State, and he would’ve tortured Fred Hoiberg’s zone Tuesday night.

 

BUT BOHANNON ISN'T HEALTHY, CHAD! AND WE'D BE A LOT BETTER IF WE HAD OUR THREE SIT-OUT TRANSFERS, BUT WE KNEW WE WOULDN'T, JUST AS IOWA KNEW IT WOULD HAVE TO PLAY WITHOUT BOHANNON FOR MOST OF THE BIG TEN SEASON AND THAT THEY'D HAVE TO SHOOT (GASP) OTHER TEAMS' BALLS IN  AWAY GAMES.

 

I'm usually not an all-caps kinda guy, but sheesh!

 

Nevermind that NU has 14 of 16 on its entire roster that had never practiced together prior to the 2019-20 season. Amazing spin job there by a Hawkeye Homer named Chad Lickmewounds. 

 

 

[HuskerFever]

1 hour ago, LK1 said:

Easley is our best defender and absolutely ate the lunch of everyone he guarded.  

 

...not to be confused with Andre Almeida.

[Red Don]

6 hours ago, hhcmatt said:

Stating the obvious here but those consecutive 3s by Thor were just huge. Steered the game from tight finish to comfortable last couple of minutes

 

Well, maybe just a 'little' more comfortable; But I still kept my 'Heart Pills' Handy at the end!    

[cornfed24-7]

5 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

Fair enough. I think the "doom and gloom" is coming from the idea that I was dumbstruck at some of the people on here saying NCAA tourney in year 2 based on either Teddy Allen or Lat Mayen committing (don't recall which.) I don't know. Until we have some players besides Mack that show some all-Conference potential, then our guys are only Big Ten-caliber players in the sense that they play on a Big Ten team.

 

It's still possible. But I'm going to wait and see before I start signing onto the "NCAA in Year 2" crew.

Put me firmly in the "this thing comes together in year 3 and we dance" camp. Next year I see us winning the ones we're supposed to, continuing to be tough at home, and struggling on the road. I think we end up on some bubble discussions but ultimately fail. But year 3...

[hhcmatt]

 

[49r]

Anybody else notice how some of the biggest cheers of the night were for guys boxing out and getting defensive rebounds?  

Edited January 8, 2020 by 49r

[Norm Peterson]

40 minutes ago, 49r said:

Anybody else notice how some of the biggest cheers of the night were for guys boxing out and getting defensive rebounds?  

 

Easley. Had another fantastic box-out and rebound. It's like he puts on a clinic for everyone else. "Here, stick your butt right into their side and walk them out of the damn way."

[49r]

22 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

Easley. Had another fantastic box-out and rebound. It's like he puts on a clinic for everyone else. "Here, stick your butt right into their side and walk them out of the damn way."

 

Yep.  Of course their defensive game plan last night lent itself to better rebounding opportunities so there is that.  Same story in the Purdue game.

 

Heck there was that one time the rebound bounced on the ground TWICE before we picked it up.