Small sample size observations….

[bkamler]

The good:

Bryce - shooting 52% from the field and 38.5% from 3

Andre - scoring and rebounding like a mad man in his 15 minutes 

Breidenbach - taking charges and playing good defense

 

The bad:

Trey - not one 3 point attempt in 55 minutes!

Verge - 36 shots in 66 minutes while only hitting 36% of them

Mayan - 0 for 4 from 3 and Zero boards in 18 minutes!

 

Verge is super talented but we will be crushed by BT opponents if he is allowed to continue to play street ball. He played so well against Colorado I was thinking maybe a All Big Ten type year and he was going to be my favorite player, etc.

 

Seeing how pissed off Hoiberg was about Verge’s wild drives into the lane when we needed to work some clock and get fouled by SHS late in the game gives me hope that the next time that happens there will be some immediate, appropriate bench time. We need the Colorado version of Verge and I think he will turn it around.

 

Go Big Red!

[GoBigRed]

I hate what we've seen from Verge these two games. I fear the Colorado game was an anomaly. This is what he was at Arizona State. Fred thought he could make him a play-making point guard, but really he's just a smaller version of Teddy Allen so far. I am worried we would be better with him on the bench. Addition by subtraction. I hope he turns it around pronto, like starting Tuesday. He could be a very good player for us if he can eliminate the out of control drives and shots. 

Edited November 14, 2021 by GoBigFred

[Huskerpapa]

Just saying...

After the first exhibition game most people were saying Alonzo had to be in the starting line up.  Now many people are questioning his play.  Hmm.  The dude is good.  If we trust the coaching staff, we should expect the staff to coach the expectations and we will see good growth. 

I am much more concerned with shooters rushing shots; shooters missing open looks; missed lay ups and lack of rebounding. 

To focus on one player as the issue seems a bit biased.  Can he get better, yes.  But goodness, so can everyone else.

[Cazzie22]

The Huskers are a work in progress.  It’s going to take some time to gel and there will probably be more hiccups.  As fans we may need to be patient.

[Norm Peterson]

My feeling is you have a few big egos on this team and they each wanted to get theirs in that first real game. And, as a result, the team stunk it up and lost to an inferior opponent on our home floor.

 

Game 2, there were still a few issues with that, but it was decidedly less. And I got the impression these guys were figuring out: a) it's a long season and there will be plenty of opportunities to be THE MAN; and b) losing sucks.

 

So, I'm hopeful we'll see the boys dig down and try to return to the form that had them boat race Colorado and go up by 27.

 

It'd be nice to do that to another CU team.

[OurDecay]

I would also say this…the amount of bricklaying by our team thru two games is contributing to the assist numbers. If our kids - who by all appearances were supposed to be great shooters - regain some semblance of base-level production things will look a lot better.

 

Likewise…while I don’t love Verge these first two games, if the guy could just make layups it would change everything.  Him finishing better would lead to better opportunities to kick it out.  
 

I still stand by my concern after the first exhibition game - until Trey and Verge learn to coexist, we will be a mess.

 

Eduardo’s emergence as a traditional 5 is going to cause Fred to have to adjust.  He has been too effective to not play extended minutes

[bkamler]

I agree on Andre playing much more. It is rare when a guy who is as big as he is plays like the Energizer Bunny diving for lose balls, etc. 

 

 

[Jugular]

3 hours ago, OurDecay said:

I would also say this…the amount of bricklaying by our team thru two games is contributing to the assist numbers. If our kids - who by all appearances were supposed to be great shooters - regain some semblance of base-level production things will look a lot better.

 

Likewise…while I don’t love Verge these first two games, if the guy could just make layups it would change everything.  Him finishing better would lead to better opportunities to kick it out.  
 

I still stand by my concern after the first exhibition game - until Trey and Verge learn to coexist, we will be a mess.

 

Eduardo’s emergence as a traditional 5 is going to cause Fred to have to adjust.  He has been too effective to not play extended minutes

I’d argue that our shooting would improve if our passes were more accurate so that our shooters can shoot easier. But when the passes are wild, at the knees, up over their head, etc ii is difficult to catch and shoot in rhythm

[bkamler]

My wife gets tired of hearing me say “bad pass” all the time when there is no turnover, etc. A pass below the waist is generally a bad pass because you can’t seamlessly pass it on, shoot it or drive.

[busticket]

7 hours ago, Huskerpapa said:

Just saying...

After the first exhibition game most people were saying Alonzo had to be in the starting line up.  Now many people are questioning his play.  Hmm.  The dude is good.  If we trust the coaching staff, we should expect the staff to coach the expectations and we will see good growth. 

I am much more concerned with shooters rushing shots; shooters missing open looks; missed lay ups and lack of rebounding. 

To focus on one player as the issue seems a bit biased.  Can he get better, yes.  But goodness, so can everyone else.

He is very talented but not a good point guard at the moment.  His play should be questioned right now, because the reality is the point guard is the guy who stirs the drink and it is killing our offense.  When the ball doesn’t move and passes aren’t made in executing the offense, shooting gets a heck of a lot harder.  We have guys taking a lot of contested shots because we aren’t executing the offense and that starts at the point.  The other guys are still responsible for their floor spacing which hasn’t looked good either.  Shooting in rhythm is way different than just shooting and that doesn’t generally happen without getting the ball to the shooter at the right time.  Hopefully Fred can get everyone in the same page in short order.  Sorry for the rant…the point guard play has been making my eyes bleed.  

[bkamler]

Some times when the point guard is over dribbling if no screen is set then someone needs to cut thru the lane and this will create defensive movement that results in an open driving lane. Then drive and dish off.

[Handy Johnson]

Just finished watching the Coaches show & was reminded of how many players we have that are tragically one dimensional, & if that part of their game is “off” they become a real liability. Looking forward to Tuesday, I’m almost ashamed to admit it but I haven’t seen a Nebraska/Creighton game in person since 1991…

[bkamler]

See you Tuesday night!

[hhcmatt]

17 hours ago, OurDecay said:

I would also say this…the amount of bricklaying by our team thru two games is contributing to the assist numbers. If our kids - who by all appearances were supposed to be great shooters - regain some semblance of base-level production things will look a lot better.

 

Hoiberg hasn't coached a team with a assist percentage under 50%.  This would be the % of baskets that came off an assist.  This is the type of offense we run.

At this point this year it's 35.6%. Our scoring is more 1 on 1 based than normal.

[Fullbacksympathy]

If Verge is too hard headed to pass the ball, then he needs to be used as a 6th man like he was at ASU.  Right now I'd rather start Trey at PG and bring Verge off the bench with the green light to score.  

 

I think I'd start Trey, Bryce, Keon, Breidenbach, and Andre based on the defense/rebounding effort I've seen so far.  

[HuskerFever]

 

[Timforthewin]

Just finished listening to the Jon Rothstein podcast that feature a Coach Hoiberg interview. He referenced an interaction he shared last year with John Beilein about the re-building process that was necessary when Fred took over. The quote from Beilein really stuck out:

 

"When I joined the Big Ten, there were 11 teams and 5 of them were going through a rebuild. When you joined the Big Ten, there were 14 teams and you're the only one going through a rebuild."

 

Building up a team is hard enough, but doing it in the toughest conference in college basketball is a daunting task. You have to recruit talent, develop players, create buy-in and trust between both teammates and coaches, and promote a cohesive unit in an era where kids transfer faster than ever before. You also have to deal with the emotions of college-aged kids experiencing beatdowns night in and night out with the talent they're stacked up against, when the door is always open to go somewhere where both team and individual success (at least stat-wise) may come a lot easier. All odds are stacked against you to succeed in a re-build process. 

 

I think Fred has succeeded in a couple of the areas mentioned above, but I think even he is learning day-by-day how this is different from the rebuild at Iowa State. He's a very analytical coach, and I have no doubt he's evaluating every aspect of the program to get the puzzle pieces to fit together. This may take longer than we would've hoped initially, but I'm confident he'll get this figured out.

[49r]

2 hours ago, Timforthewin said:

Just finished listening to the Jon Rothstein podcast that feature a Coach Hoiberg interview. He referenced an interaction he shared last year with John Beilein about the re-building process that was necessary when Fred took over. The quote from Beilein really stuck out:

 

"When I joined the Big Ten, there were 11 teams and 5 of them were going through a rebuild. When you joined the Big Ten, there were 14 teams and you're the only one going through a rebuild."

 

Building up a team is hard enough, but doing it in the toughest conference in college basketball is a daunting task. You have to recruit talent, develop players, create buy-in and trust between both teammates and coaches, and promote a cohesive unit in an era where kids transfer faster than ever before. You also have to deal with the emotions of college-aged kids experiencing beatdowns night in and night out with the talent they're stacked up against, when the door is always open to go somewhere where both team and individual success (at least stat-wise) may come a lot easier. All odds are stacked against you to succeed in a re-build process. 

 

I think Fred has succeeded in a couple of the areas mentioned above, but I think even he is learning day-by-day how this is different from the rebuild at Iowa State. He's a very analytical coach, and I have no doubt he's evaluating every aspect of the program to get the puzzle pieces to fit together. This may take longer than we would've hoped initially, but I'm confident he'll get this figured out.

 

That's why losing to WIU (and having to come back from being down double digits to SHSU) was so devastating.  In a rebuild in the Big Ten, you simply can not lose those games (or let them be even close) to think you have even a remote chance.  I'm afraid our season has already ended, even before it got started.

 

We can hope for double digit wins this season and not too many transfers out at this point.  But that's about it.

[Swan88]

11 minutes ago, 49r said:

I'm afraid our season has already ended, even before it got started.

Yikes!  Life isn’t that hard.

[Timforthewin]

43 minutes ago, 49r said:

 

That's why losing to WIU (and having to come back from being down double digits to SHSU) was so devastating.  In a rebuild in the Big Ten, you simply can not lose those games (or let them be even close) to think you have even a remote chance.  I'm afraid our season has already ended, even before it got started.

 

We can hope for double digit wins this season and not too many transfers out at this point.  But that's about it.

Agreed that it's frustrating and at some point the expectation is those are the games where you'd look to see initial progress in a rebuild. However, and I may be in the minority here, if a loss to WIU in the first game of the year keeps us on the wrong side of the bubble come March, I would consider that progress.

Edited November 16, 2021 by Timforthewin

[Swan88]

B1G not looking all that good tonight.

[Art Vandalay]

4 hours ago, 49r said:

 

That's why losing to WIU (and having to come back from being down double digits to SHSU) was so devastating.  In a rebuild in the Big Ten, you simply can not lose those games (or let them be even close) to think you have even a remote chance.  I'm afraid our season has already ended, even before it got started.

 

We can hope for double digit wins this season and not too many transfers out at this point.  But that's about it.

dang, that makes the glass half empty guys look positive. Many teams have lost early season games and went on to have great years. To early to tell anything right now

[49r]

10 hours ago, Art Vandalay said:

dang, that makes the glass half empty guys look positive. Many teams have lost early season games and went on to have great years. To early to tell anything right now

 

The good news is we should probably be able to expect to get 6 or 7 wins in non con play this year so we will only need to win 3 or 4 conference games to get to double digits.  It'll be tough, but doable I think.

[49r]

and in case anyone needs a refresher:

 

2020 Schedule 

Game Plan | Opponent Tracker

Date	Rk	Opponent		Result			Location	Record	Conf
Tue Nov 5	96	211	UC Riverside	L, 66-47	65		Home	0-1
Sat Nov 9	127	161	Southern Utah	L, 79-78	99	2OT	Home	0-2
Fri Nov 15	136	119	South Dakota St.	W, 90-73	79		Home	1-2
Fri Nov 22	134	250	Southern	W, 93-86	77	OT	Home	2-2
Mon Nov 25	140	127	Washington St.	W, 82-71	78		Neutral	3-2
Tue Nov 26	134	174	George Mason	L, 85-66	75		Neutral	3-3
Wed Nov 27	150	125	South Florida	W, 74-67	64		Neutral	4-3
Wed Dec 4	143	64	Georgia Tech	L, 73-56	80		Away	4-4
Sat Dec 7	146	12	Creighton	L, 95-76	81		Away	4-5
Fri Dec 13	158	34	Indiana	L, 96-90	82	OT	Away	4-6	0-1
Sun Dec 15	150	24	Purdue	W, 70-56	70		Home	5-6	1-1
Sat Dec 21	129	231	North Dakota	L, 75-74	67		Home	5-7
Sun Dec 29	138	303	Texas A&M Corpus Chris	W, 73-52	76		Home	6-7
Fri Jan 3	136	28	Rutgers	L, 79-62	65		Home	6-8	1-2
Tue Jan 7	153	23	Iowa	W, 76-70	71		Home	7-8	2-2
Sat Jan 11	139	132	Northwestern	L, 62-57	69		Away	7-9	2-3
Tue Jan 14	131	8	Ohio St.	L, 80-68	66		Away	7-10	2-4
Sat Jan 18	133	34	Indiana	L, 82-74	75		Home	7-11	2-5
Tue Jan 21	134	22	Wisconsin	L, 82-68	68		Away	7-12	2-6
Sat Jan 25	135	28	Rutgers	L, 75-72	72		Away	7-13	2-7
Tue Jan 28	131	16	Michigan	L, 79-68	75		Home	7-14	2-8
Sat Feb 1	131	26	Penn St.	L, 76-64	75		Home	7-15	2-9
Sat Feb 8	136	23	Iowa	L, 96-72	74		Away	7-16	2-10
Tue Feb 11	138	11	Maryland	L, 72-70	73		Away	7-17	2-11
Sat Feb 15	132	22	Wisconsin	L, 81-64	71		Home	7-18	2-12
Thu Feb 20	136	7	Michigan St.	L, 86-65	75		Home	7-19	2-13
Mon Feb 24	135	30	Illinois	L, 71-59	69		Away	7-20	2-14
Thu Feb 27	134	8	Ohio St.	L, 75-54	68		Home	7-21	2-15
Sun Mar 1	143	132	Northwestern	L, 81-76	88	OT	Home	7-22	2-16
Thu Mar 5	146	16	Michigan	L, 82-58	79		Away	7-23	2-17
Sun Mar 8	148	27	Minnesota	L, 107-75	79		Away	7-24	2-18
Big Ten Conference Tournament
Wed Mar 11	152	34	Indiana	L, 89-64	78		Neutral	7-25
Home games played at Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,000, 29th largest in D-I)

 

2021 Schedule 

Game Plan | Opponent Tracker

Date	Rk	Opponent		Result			Location	Record	Conf
Wed Nov 25	117	340	McNeese St.	W, 102-55	78		Home	1-0
Thu Nov 26	109	91	Nevada	L, 69-66	73		Home	1-1
Sat Nov 28	112	139	North Dakota St.	W, 79-57	72		Home	2-1
Tue Dec 1	104	159	South Dakota	W, 76-69	78		Home	3-1
Wed Dec 9	108	37	Georgia Tech	L, 75-64	69		Home	3-2
Fri Dec 11	111	22	Creighton	L, 98-74	82		Away	3-3
Thu Dec 17	118	NR	Doane	W, 110-64	82		Home	4-3
Tue Dec 22	119	14	Wisconsin	L, 67-53	66		Away	4-4	0-1
Fri Dec 25	116	3	Michigan	L, 80-69	73		Home	4-5	0-2
Wed Dec 30	116	11	Ohio St.	L, 90-54	72		Away	4-6	0-3
Sat Jan 2	120	64	Michigan St.	L, 84-77	73		Home	4-7	0-4
Sun Jan 10	119	50	Indiana	L, 84-76	72		Home	4-8	0-5
Sat Feb 6	123	64	Michigan St.	L, 66-56	76		Away	4-9	0-6
Mon Feb 8	123	62	Minnesota	L, 79-61	77		Away	4-10	0-7
Wed Feb 10	128	14	Wisconsin	L, 61-48	67		Home	4-11	0-8
Fri Feb 12	130	4	Illinois	L, 77-72	74	OT	Home	4-12	0-9
Sun Feb 14	127	40	Penn St.	W, 62-61	69		Away	5-12	1-9
Tue Feb 16	118	35	Maryland	L, 64-50	68		Away	5-13	1-10
Wed Feb 17	119	35	Maryland	L, 79-71	66		Away	5-14	1-11
Sat Feb 20	117	25	Purdue	L, 75-58	72		Home	5-15	1-12
Tue Feb 23	117	40	Penn St.	L, 86-83	79		Home	5-16	1-13
Thu Feb 25	114	4	Illinois	L, 86-70	79		Away	5-17	1-14
Sat Feb 27	114	62	Minnesota	W, 78-74	74		Home	6-17	2-14
Mon Mar 1	109	38	Rutgers	W, 72-51	67		Home	7-17	3-14
Thu Mar 4	91	7	Iowa	L, 102-64	81		Away	7-18	3-15
Sun Mar 7	94	79	Northwestern	L, 79-78	70		Away	7-19	3-16
Big Ten Conference Tournament
Wed Mar 10	92	40	Penn St.	L, 72-66	72		Neutral	7-20

 

 

 

This is quite a large sample size actually.