Man, where do you start?

[Huskerpapa 4,801]

Arguably our beloved team regressed this season rather than progressed.  Maybe you can help me find my rose colored glasses that some pointed out that I wore for many a year?  

We have some positives to look forward to for next year...right?  *Fans should be back...correct?

*Top 25 recruiting class?

*Returning experience?

*Big Ten won't be as good?

*Coaching staff will have made adjustments*

 

What else; please help me out!

 

[HuskerFever 7,329]

Defense on the post-COVID break looks so much better than before we haulted. Believe it or not, we were in nearly every game beyond halftime because of that. If we can start making baskets from 0', 3', 15', and 20', then we've got a lot to look forward to next season.

[REDitus 121]

Having Walker play from the get go next year looks like it will help.

 

I'm hoping the additional shooters will help. 

 

[hskr4life 6,816]

It's tough, I agree papa.  At the beginning of the year I thought we'd be somewhere between dancing and where we are now.  I didn't think it was asking much to win 5-7 Big 10 games and show some progress in terms of offensive efficiency and competing for a full 40 minutes.  Unfortunately, we haven't been there.  We show flashes of offensive efficiency followed by a rough, rough stretch.  We show flashes of shooting it well, and then proceed to have our huge scoring drought or let the other team go on a 20-6 run or whatever it might be.  We show flashes of competing, only to lose by 10+ and that's not from fouling at the end of the game.

 

It's been a frustrating year for sure.  BUT, we have shown some bright spots as of late.  We have competed better.  There are some areas that we still need to improve, but there is some hope going into next year.  However, we better start showing some results next year.  I'm not going to put a win number out there, or say we have to dance.  BUT, we need to show some results next year in terms of W/L.  We can't be 1-12 in our first 13 conference games again.

Edited February 21 by hskr4life

[Chuck Taylor 825]

We need to have at least 3 of these return: Mayen, Teddy, Walker (all will be 5th year), Banton (4th year).

 

Otherwise, I'd consider it another "rebuilding" team that finishes below .500 in the BIG. As it is, we're going to be starting a freshman (although a very talented one) and maybe a new PG. That is not the formula for a breakthrough year. 

 

On the positive side, don't look now but our KenPom defense is down to 50. That's NCAA level. But our offense is an unfathomable 224, between Morehead State and Purdue Fort Wayne. 

 

 

 

[throwback 1,802]

2 hours ago, HuskerFever said:

Defense on the post-COVID break looks so much better than before we haulted. Believe it or not, we were in nearly every game beyond halftime because of that. If we can start making baskets from 0', 3', 15', and 20', then we've got a lot to look forward to next season.

I was going to make fun of you for adding shots from 0' - then I remembered how many dunks we've missed the past several games ... so never mind. 

 

With our covid issues and with how good the league is this season, I think it's tough to take much away. Missing a normal preseason practice ramp-up & not having a full slate of exhibition and non-con games really hurt us. 

 

Now, we might not be much better than 1-12 in the league at this point anyway because the B1G is so good. But missing a normal early season kills a team with a ton of new faces.

 

Throw in a covid shutdown in the middle and a killer pace of games since coming back & it's tough to take much out of this season. 

 

I guess the hope is that so many of these guys are playing big minutes for the first time in their careers at this level that they'll take a big leap forward next season. Maybe everyone ends up improving like juco players tend to do in their second seasons. 

 

They certainly have a lot of work to do this summer & a lot to learn from this season. The fact that they've been willing to sell out on the defensive end since coming back may be a good sign that they'll be willing to put in the work this summer. Hopefully the roster stays mainly intact, but we all know that there will be guys leaving. Hopefully it'll be kept to a minimum.

 

Ultimately, everything looks better when shots are going in. So if we improve our shooting going into next year, while continuing to battle on the defensive end, things will look better. If we continue to shoot like we've shot most of the year ... 

 

Hoping we pick up a win or two before the B1G tourney, something positive to take into the offseason.

Edited February 21 by throwback

[uneblinstu 2,534]

4 hours ago, Huskerpapa said:

*Fans should be back...correct?

*Top 25 recruiting class?

*Returning experience?

*Big Ten won't be as good?

*Coaching staff will have made adjustments*

This feels like a lot of things, to me. This team's looked competitive for longer stretches as the year's gone on. And I think they were about to breakthrough when the shutdown happened. That month long break was killer. I bet we see a big jump next year, actually.

[tcp 1,978]

this is a tough time to have to build a program in this league. I've sort of accepted that this might be a pretty dry stretch for us while the league is this deep and strong. We just got blasted by a team of freshman starters and they're going to be around for awhile. that's just the way the league is right now in the top half. 

 

at least the old ACC juggernaut had a bottom. This league..

 

 

[jayschool 3,626]

Where do you start? By beating PSU again. If not, Minnesota and Rutgers, in Lincoln, can be had. And the game at Northwestern, in my mind, is a toss-up. Then steal one in the conference tournament and build on that.

 

That's where you start.

[HuskerFever 7,329]

1 hour ago, uneblinstu said:

This feels like a lot of things, to me. This team's looked competitive for longer stretches as the year's gone on. And I think they were about to breakthrough when the shutdown happened. That month long break was killer. I bet we see a big jump next year, actually.

 

That might very well be true. But I just do t ever recall feeling "we've made any progress so far this year" prior to the COVID break.

[Cazzie22 1,546]

I need to see some improved offensive efficiency in these next few games to have much hope for a forward leap next season.  We cannot continue to have scoring droughts, inexplicable passing errors and impatient shot selection. 

 

Some rays of hope, Andre has potential to develop and Walker provides a steady presence. 

[uneblinstu 2,534]

1 hour ago, HuskerFever said:

 

That might very well be true. But I just do t ever recall feeling "we've made any progress so far this year" prior to the COVID break.

I was just starting to see that in the few games and culminating in the game against Indiana. It was starting to look like it was supposed to look. And the offense flowed much better with Walker in there. Then they lost all that momentum. I think it would have looked a lot different if they hadn’t had to sit for four weeks. 

[Red Don 2,693]

Glass Half Full; Glass Half Empty!  Truth of it is nobody knows what it's going to look like.  Everybody leaves; complete roster turnover (again).  Everybody (eligible) stays.  Incoming recruits are a total bust; incoming recruits are all Stellar! 

[jimmykc 3,631]

Seems more like Glass empty;Glass full (although I'm not sure about the semi-colon).

Edited February 23 by jimmykc

[basketballjones 1,350]

I feel like I am always one who is right on the edge of fully condemning our programs and jumping off the bridge...

But, fellas, this year could not have worked against us more than it did. I am attempting to mentally forget both this Football and Basketball season for our Huskers, and move on to next year. 

[coughunter 197]

10 minutes ago, basketballjones said:

I feel like I am always one who is right on the edge of fully condemning our programs and jumping off the bridge...

But, fellas, this year could not have worked against us more than it did. I am attempting to mentally forget both this Football and Basketball season for our Huskers, and move on to next year. 

I've been saying that unfortunately for about the past 25 years, life of Nebrasketball....

[Swan88 1,445]

Regression?!!

We had a month-long no-practice hiatus in the middle of the season.

Walker didn't get to play in the first half of the season, then played one game before getting Covid.

A few other players also got Covid.

Now, I know that every one of us geniuses on this board would unaffected in the slightest by a Covid infection.

But for a young fella like Walker and other players in that same Covid boat . . . it shouldn't affect their performance or stamina in the slightest, especially when they are playing an actual game like only every other day.

They played well for three-fourths of the game against Purdue--were even ahead around that mark.

I don't care what anyone's glass is like, an intolerance for difficulties in such circumstances is . . . kinda weird.  

[OmahaHusker 318]

45 minutes ago, Swan88 said:

Regression?!!

We had a month-long no-practice hiatus in the middle of the season.

Walker didn't get to play in the first half of the season, then played one game before getting Covid.

A few other players also got Covid.

Now, I know that every one of us geniuses on this board would unaffected in the slightest by a Covid infection.

But for a young fella like Walker and other players in that same Covid boat . . . it shouldn't affect their performance or stamina in the slightest, especially when they are playing an actual game like only every other day.

They played well for three-fourths of the game against Purdue--were even ahead around that mark.

I don't care what anyone's glass is like, an intolerance for difficulties in such circumstances is . . . kinda weird.  

 

These excuses still don't amount to winning only one conference game with the increased talent we have from last year. That's just me though. It's all about the W's. 

[hhcmatt 13,406]

49 minutes ago, Swan88 said:

Walker didn't get to play in the first half of the season, then played one game before getting Covid.

A few other players also got Covid.

Now, I know that every one of us geniuses on this board would unaffected in the slightest by a Covid infection.

 

Anecdotally I have a cousin in his 30s who got covid a couple of months ago and while he didn't end up in the hospital he's still gets fatigued off and on. 

If covid is a factor with guys it might be one of those deals you hear about after the season because teams don't want you to know how to attack them.

[atskooc 2,007]

Where do you start?

 

Well, when the season is over, we'll start with preseason workouts, then the first day of practice, then the first game, and we'll move on from there, like we always do.

[basketballjones 1,350]

3 minutes ago, hhcmatt said:

 

Anecdotally I have a cousin in his 30s who got covid a couple of months ago and while he didn't end up in the hospital he's still gets fatigued off and on. 

If covid is a factor with guys it might be one of those deals you hear about after the season because teams don't want you to know how to attack them.

I had it in early December - and while my physical went fine a week ago - I still have lingering effects of it. 

[hhcmatt 13,406]

It seems like we're building some sort of culture as in we figured out how to play B1G level defense and our motion and cuts are improved. 

I think a big start would be not shedding too many players....about 2-3 seems optimal as that allows you to pursue a PG.  Maybe the landscape will be very different this year with a plethora of seniors deciding they want to come back for one more year but I don't think it's realistic for us to dump a bunch of players and expect to land other players that are significantly more talented. 

 

[basketballjones 1,350]

30 minutes ago, hhcmatt said:

It seems like we're building some sort of culture as in we figured out how to play B1G level defense and our motion and cuts are improved. 

I think a big start would be not shedding too many players....about 2-3 seems optimal as that allows you to pursue a PG.  Maybe the landscape will be very different this year with a plethora of seniors deciding they want to come back for one more year but I don't think it's realistic for us to dump a bunch of players and expect to land other players that are significantly more talented. 

 

I would say that the B1G, collectively throughout major male sport, has basically thrown our idea of being "zig when everyone zags," out the window. 

It's pretty clear there's only a zag in the B1G. You either have 5-star talent across the board and you're gonna win however you do it... Or you get old, stay old, play methodically, fundamentally, and tough. 

[hhcmatt 13,406]

4 minutes ago, basketballjones said:

I would say that the B1G, collectively throughout major male sport, has basically thrown our idea of being "zig when everyone zags," out the window. 

It's pretty clear there's only a zag in the B1G. You either have 5-star talent across the board and you're gonna win however you do it... Or you get old, stay old, play methodically, fundamentally, and tough. 

 

I think we're trying to trend old if you don't count Dorian Gray Ouedraogo

[LK1 1,684]

We are adding players to the roster who currently have skillsets zero people on our current roster have.  Bryce will end scoring draughts by himself.  Tominaga will be a pesky, Gallegos type threat (worse defender, better shooter), and WB is a very skilled big who can stretch the floor.

 

Those are pieces (particularly Bryce) that give Fred seemingly infinite more rotation options.  When I watch us play a competitive half of basketball against the top teams in the country, I'm encouraged by our roster.  We don't have the horses for halftime personnel or rotation adjustments.  Most of the better B1G teams do.  Walker being in the lineup has helped, but we need an option at the 5 to stretch the court because I don't think anyone can stay in front of our other guys in ISO.  WB might really help us there to change up the look in spot minutes for Walker.  

 

I also can't emphasize this enough:  we have a legitimate home court advantage at PBA when there are fans.  I think this team will be really fun to watch at home with their athleticism next season.