uneblinstu's postgame chatter: vol 14; Prologue - Colorado

[HolyBobpilgrimage]

5 hours ago, OurDecay said:

I get the purpose of a thread like this…but it feels a little nitpicky given that we just blew out a P5 team.  I mean…we ARE all NU basketball fans here, right?  As in the team that only won 7 games each of the last couple years?

 

Are there tons of things to improve?  Of course.  Do some of our players need to develop?  Clearly.  But let’s not miss the forest for the trees, fellas.  We are so talented offensively compared to previous years.  We’ve made 23 3-pointers in our two exhibition games.

 

Also…our improvement from exhibition game 1 to 2 was…whoa.  Makes me really wonder where the ceiling is.

 

As a side bar, I took my 15-yr-old son to his first NUBB game today and he thought the team looked great and the overall experience was fantastic.  I didn’t have to try to convince him to like this team…the team did that all by themselves.  They made a fan today.

This is so awesome. Love hearing stories like this. Glad your son got to go to a game. I share a lot of the same sentiments, I'm level headed with this team esp after a couple decades as a husker hoops fan. It's gonna be a process, but that's the same for every college team, so why are people surprised it's not perfect? Some people are crazy with their alternate realities and dumb expectations.

I'm blown away by the potential too. This is gonna be real fun, at the very least. If Colorado was truly a 40th-ish power level opponent,  then we have a fighters chance in the big ten, because most of the teams are around that kenpom and a group in the top 20.

Oh boy. Buckle in! And support these college kids. Need positivity not screaming couch quarterbacks.

[basketballjones]

10 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

He's a freshman. An immensely talented freshman. If you can't see the immense talent through the "getting used to the feel of the college game" then you need to take another look.

And I think that's exactly what Mike is saying. He's speaking to those who don't understand. 

[49r]

10 hours ago, hhcmatt said:

Box score

 

 

Attendance: 15,345

LOL

 

Also, 15.8% from 3 for the Buffs.  I guarantee that will be the lowest 3PT% for any opponent against us all year.  I said it yesterday and I'll say it again, this CU team is straight garbage.  I had no idea they would miss Wright so much.

[Norm Peterson]

28 minutes ago, basketballjones said:

And I think that's exactly what Mike is saying. He's speaking to those who don't understand. 

 

Yeah, I need to make sure my meaning is clear. I'm not irritated with Mike for saying it; I'm irritated with the fact that it apparently needed to be said.

 

I mean, it's just not fair to the kid. If what you're seeing doesn't match your expectations, then the problem is your expectations and not what you're seeing. What I see is an immensely talented freshman. Part of that is "immensely talented;" the other part is "freshman."

 

Now would be an appropriate time for a reminder that Glynn Watson missed the first 11 consecutive 3-point attempts of his college career. And he was a consensus top 75 recruit who ended up being a pretty good shooter for us.

 

Three plays stand out from yesterday that tell me this is no ordinary freshman talent:

 

1. Already talked about Lat Mayen's airball. Bryce had the presence of mind to recognize it was a complete miss, go up and grab it out of the air, and wheel and bank it in for a bucket. That's #1.

 

2. He's driving the baseline, sees Walker cutting down the lane, has the court vision to see the opportunity, the awareness to realize what was developing, and the ability to make an Alonzo Verge-esque pass to the cutting Walker for a layup. That's #2.

 

3. After missing all 4 3-point attempts against Peru, he gets a kick-out in the 2nd half and calmly, without hesitation, drains a triple from the right wing. He's showing the poise of an upperclassman there -- reacting to the circumstance instead of thinking, which allows muscle memory to happen.

 

And then there's the freshman play: Shot clock running out; he dribbles to his right; and then passes back to Walker at the 3-point line for a miss AND a shot clock violation. But he's going to learn from that and I bet we don't see that mistake again.

Edited November 1, 2021 by Norm Peterson

[aphilso1]

Is Kobe hurt?  Was surprised he didn't get into the game when Verge got into early foul trouble.  Seems that we have a solid 9 man rotation, plus an insurance policy for big man foul trouble (Andre) and an insurance policy for ball handler foul trouble (Kobe). 

[49r]

Game highlights from the Buffs' perspective.  What jumps out to me is, most of the time Wilhelm is the guy getting beat on the Buffs' highlights.

 

 

Fortunately he is a strong enough offensive player to overcome his defensive lapses.

[jimmykc]

Nice job, Colorado. If they had only blocked out the score, it would appear that the Buffs must have won by twenty.

[Norm Peterson]

22 minutes ago, aphilso1 said:

Is Kobe hurt?  Was surprised he didn't get into the game when Verge got into early foul trouble.  Seems that we have a solid 9 man rotation, plus an insurance policy for big man foul trouble (Andre) and an insurance policy for ball handler foul trouble (Kobe). 

 

He was having back spasms so they held him out.

[hhcmatt]

20 minutes ago, 49r said:

Attendance: 15,345

LOL

 

I think I missed it when they dropped the actual attendance from the box score.  Someone correct me if I'm wrong but it would seem the NIT game vs Butler was when it happened.  I think maybe the NIT generates the box score so the end might have been ushered in by the start of the Fred Hoiberg era

[Nighthawk]

1 hour ago, 49r said:

 

Attendance: 15,345

LOL

 

Also, 15.8% from 3 for the Buffs.  I guarantee that will be the lowest 3PT% for any opponent against us all year.  I said it yesterday and I'll say it again, this CU team is straight garbage.  I had no idea they would miss Wright so much.

 

Think the attendance numbers were generated by the same people that generate the fake sellout numbers at memorial stadium.  Although, I'm betting if the weather doesn't cooperate on Saturday, memorial stadium might look like PBA. If fans continue to follow tradition, the arena will look like this until the Creighton game, and probably then clear through to conference play. I hope one day we get to a point where ticket sales match actual attendance and the fans view the Non conference games with as much excitement as the conference games. 

 

 

[basketballjones]

51 minutes ago, aphilso1 said:

Is Kobe hurt?  Was surprised he didn't get into the game when Verge got into early foul trouble.  Seems that we have a solid 9 man rotation, plus an insurance policy for big man foul trouble (Andre) and an insurance policy for ball handler foul trouble (Kobe). 

Didn't even suit up. Not sure. 

[jayschool]

From NetBuffs message board:

Thankfully just exhibition

But this team doesn't look NIT worthy right now and I can see a maddening season. Corn looks talented and deep and I can only hope they are a NCAA tourney team, so props to RG or Tad - whoever scheduled that so CU got a taste of real hoops before regular season.

 

Didn't see it all but thought CU competed(at least in 2nd half). Nebraska is loaded up w/ transfers and a 5* kid who looks real good. Can't have Battey and Parquet score 2 points in 42 min combined. Still, after a stretch where NU hit 4 or 5 straight 3's to go up by 25 or so, CU won the last 10 minutes.. cut it to 12 once and had some oppts to get it under 10.
 

[Swan88]

Colorado had an advantage over Nebraska for this game: back in August, Colorado played four games in Costa Rico against local teams.  Three of those games were blowouts, but one had a score of 68-54.  That's four actual games of experience that the good guys did not have.

[Norm Peterson]

This discussion about Bryce needing time reminds me of a water cooler conversation I had with a guy the day after the "Haunted Husker Hoops" thing (or whatever it was called) in 1992, probably 29 years ago today, actually.

 

The team had held an open scrimmage where, for the first time, we got to see three of the most talented freshmen in the history of the program in some of their first action in Husker uniforms.

 

Keep in mind, one of those guys ended up spending about a decade in the NBA and another was 2-time All-Big Ten as a point guard and 3rd team All-American as a senior.

 

I was just over-the-moon about the talent those three freshmen displayed. And this other guy, well, this is a direct quote: "I wasn't impressed. All they did was shoot 3-pointers."

 

I was gobsmacked. Sure, they made some freshman mistakes, but the talent AND THE ATHLETICISM were undeniable.

 

And, so, fast-forward 29 years and it's like deja vu all over again.

[Nighthawk]

4 minutes ago, basketballjones said:

Didn't even suit up. Not sure. 

If I saw it correctly, he was having back spasms.  

[basketballjones]

1 hour ago, 49r said:

Game highlights from the Buffs' perspective.  What jumps out to me is, most of the time Wilhelm is the guy getting beat on the Buffs' highlights.

 

 

Fortunately he is a strong enough offensive player to overcome his defensive lapses.

Wilhelm was only in the game on 3 of the clips in the first 1:30 of that video? 
1. was a terrible call where he was completely up-right. 
2. was a 3 where he was nowhere near the play.

3. was a ball screen where he hard hedged and no one bumped the cutter.

In the second half of that video I only saw 4 more clips where he was in also...
1. He kept the dude in front and forced him into a spinning turn around jumper that he hit.
2. 3pt shot from the ball screen where he did his job with the role man.
3. Verge got caught trailing and lazy, his guy face cut him and got a lay up, Wilhelm was just in the area.
4. Only one where I'd say he played poor defense and got caught too low (cutter from top of key where Wilhelm was hanging out covering up the backside, but he was way too low). 

Edit: I've decided Wilhelm is my favorite player to ever play the game so I am admitting I will defend him with pure bias until the end of time. 

Edited November 1, 2021 by basketballjones

[Navin R. Johnson]

9 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

This discussion about Bryce needing time reminds me of a water cooler conversation I had with a guy the day after the "Haunted Husker Hoops" thing (or whatever it was called) in 1992, probably 29 years ago today, actually.

 

The team had held an open scrimmage where, for the first time, we got to see three of the most talented freshmen in the history of the program in some of their first action in Husker uniforms.

 

Keep in mind, one of those guys ended up spending about a decade in the NBA and another was 2-time All-Big Ten as a point guard and 3rd team All-American as a senior.

 

I was just over-the-moon about the talent those three freshmen displayed. And this other guy, well, this is a direct quote: "I wasn't impressed. All they did was shoot 3-pointers."

 

I was gobsmacked. Sure, they made some freshman mistakes, but the talent AND THE ATHLETICISM were undeniable.

 

And, so, fast-forward 29 years and it's like deja vu all over again.

 

In Bryce's case I think he just needs to fill out and get stronger which about every frosh has to do.  The problem is we probably will not see the fully developed Bryce but you can see the potential NBA scouts see.  In a year or two he will finish at the rim so much better. 

[49r]

19 minutes ago, jayschool said:

From NetBuffs message board:

Thankfully just exhibition

But this team doesn't look NIT worthy right now and I can see a maddening season. Corn looks talented and deep and I can only hope they are a NCAA tourney team, so props to RG or Tad - whoever scheduled that so CU got a taste of real hoops before regular season.

 

Didn't see it all but thought CU competed(at least in 2nd half). Nebraska is loaded up w/ transfers and a 5* kid who looks real good. Can't have Battey and Parquet score 2 points in 42 min combined. Still, after a stretch where NU hit 4 or 5 straight 3's to go up by 25 or so, CU won the last 10 minutes.. cut it to 12 once and had some oppts to get it under 10.
 

 

Reminds me of so many games we've played where we'd say "well, after they hit those 5 threes in a row to go up by 30, we actually out played them the rest of the way" or "we won the second half" kinds of comments.

 

Nice to be on the other side of that for once.

[Norm Peterson]

Re: @basketballjones post about the CU highlights:

 

Funny thing about Wilhelm.

 

That first terrible call happened in the first half where he was completely upright. Second terrible call happened in the 2nd half and the foul probably should have been called on Lat, but Heem got the whistle. And he was pissed. The crowd was quiet enough that I could hear what he said and he was NOT happy. And when I say not happy, I mean he was really pissed.

 

And, the next couple of possessions, he went down and nailed a couple of treys in their 7-footer's face.

 

Note to opposing big men: Don't make Wilhelm angry. You wouldn't like him when he's angry.

[49r]

3 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

The crowd was quiet enough that I could hear what he said

 

Dang, you could hear him from all the way up in the 300's @Norm Peterson?  

[Norm Peterson]

9 minutes ago, 49r said:

 

Dang, you could hear him from all the way up in the 300's @Norm Peterson?  

 

There were a lot of unused seats in the lower bowl and I hate seeing things like that go to waste.  

[Norm Peterson]

24 minutes ago, Navin R. Johnson said:

 

In Bryce's case I think he just needs to fill out and get stronger which about every frosh has to do.  The problem is we probably will not see the fully developed Bryce but you can see the potential NBA scouts see.  In a year or two he will finish at the rim so much better. 

 

Just a quick example of Bryce learning and I'll try to move on to another topic (try.)

 

The first game, he had a rebound stripped because he didn't pinch it close. Yesterday, he goes up for a rebound in a similar circumstance and he made sure to keep it close so no chance of getting stripped.

 

That's just one game to the next. Learned that lesson and it didn't happen a second time.

 

So, shot chart yesterday shows Bryce took exactly 3 bad shots -- outside the lane; inside the arc -- and missed all 3.

 

I don't anticipate we'll see that kind of shot chart from him again.

 

He missed a couple at the rim that were just bad geometry. Didn't use the angles off the glass very well. But that ... happens. From time to time. Even to the best of finishers.

 

I'm far more excited than worried about the things I've seen.

[Nighthawk]

12 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

There were a lot of unused seats in the lower bowl and I hate seeing things like that go to waste.  

I remember back in the days of the Bob, the PA announcer would have the decency to actually invite "those sitting in the upper section" to move down to the lower parts of the arena to fill up the empty seats.  Wonder if it's because they  have people up there doing concession and other things for the upper level, but it would be nice if they would invite those sitting in the 200-300 level seats to come down to the 100 level to fill up all the empty seats.

[Norm Peterson]

1 minute ago, Nighthawk said:

I remember back in the days of the Bob, the PA announcer would have the decency to actually invite "those sitting in the upper section" to move down to the lower parts of the arena to fill up the empty seats.  Wonder if it's because they  have people up there doing concession and other things for the upper level, but it would be nice if they would invite those sitting in the 200-300 level seats to come down to the 100 level to fill up all the empty seats.

 

I just took the self-guided tour.

[aphilso1]

1 hour ago, basketballjones said:

Edit: I've decided Wilhelm is my favorite player to ever play the game so I am admitting I will defend him with pure bias until the end of time. 

 

I'm glad you're over your Kevin Cross obsession.  Wilhelm >>>>>>> Kevin.