uneblinstu's postgame chatter: vol 15, prologue: @ Colorado

[Handy Johnson]

4 hours ago, ConkintheCorner said:

Pretty underwhelmed with Wilhelm’s play. I know he is coming off surgery but he needs to be ready to shoot when he gets ball. Him putting the ball on the floor or pump faking is not what we want. He had a couple chances to shoot it and passed

I don’t want to “pile on” Wilhelm either since it really is his first year, but coming out of CA I though we were getting a taller Piatkowski type, not Bill Johnson with a Beard. 

[Norm Peterson]

12 hours ago, Cazzie22 said:

I don’t disagree with your points but a search can be conducted with Hoiberg still in place.  I just don’t like calling for his job when this season hasn’t started. 

 

I don't like calling for the coach's head before the start of the season either. But I absolutely detest watching the slow-motion train wreck of a team falling apart on an about-to-be-fired coach because half of them have given up hope of saving the guy's job and the other half are trying too hard to make up for everyone else.

 

I don't know how this season will turn out. It is certainly possible this whole discussion will be rendered moot by virtue of the fact that Hoiberg turns things around and gets things going the right way. He could still save his job. I don't think the die is cast yet.

 

But if, by mid-January, it's clear not enough progress has been made, the merciful thing for everyone involved might be to just pull the trigger and get it over with. Let an interim finish the season. Let the guys hit the reset button and play for pride. And give the fans something hopeful to talk about.

[HuskerFever]

It's not like this is a new phenomenon. Our last basketball coach with through the same ringer for a couple years.

[HB]

14 minutes ago, HuskerFever said:

It's not like this is a new phenomenon. Our last basketball coach with through the same ringer for a couple years.

Only because his ADs cut his nuts off.  He didn’t have remotely the same situation as Fred.   And the end came on suddenly.  Going into the season, and especially after we blow out Creighton no one is thinking this.  Collapse was quick and brutal and there it went.  

[NUdiehard]

On 11/1/2022 at 8:23 AM, Chuck Taylor said:

2. Our shooting is mostly a result of poor shot selection. Wilcher and Tominaga can shoot, but they force shots when the team shows a mindset of "better shoot because I won't see the ball again."

 

3. Gary and Bandoumel suffer from the chronic P5 transfer to Nebraska syndrome. "If I transfer to NU, then I'll be the man." Palmer and Petteway forced shots but made it work. However, they were young players when they came here. Gary and Bando played a lot at their former schools, and they're not budding stars.

 

 

 

 

Getting our "shooters" like Wilcher, Keisei, Bando and Lawrence good shots is going to be the key to having offensive success.  But with that said, there is a reason it consistently appears as though guys appear to be "forcing" shots-- opposing teams are guarding them tough on the 3-point line.  This is in contrast to guys like Gary and Dawson, Walker, etc, which teams are going to play soft when guarding them on the perimeter.  In fact, Chadron St. completely ignored Gary when he was at the 3-point line, played 10 feet off him and simply sat in the paint.

 

The question is which would you rather have?  Wilcher or Keisei shooting a slightly off-balance or contested 3, or Gary, Dawson or Walker shooting a wide-open 3?

 

Based on their history and what I have seen so far, I would rather Wilcher, Keisei and Lawrence keep firing away even if off-balance or contested than Gary or Dawson or Walker wide open.  Gary is simply not a good shooter at all.  I know that Fred says he has been working on his balance and leaning to the side, etc, but the odds of that translating to game speed are low.  I do hope he can improve things, but if we have to live-or-die with Gary shooting 3s it could be a very long season.  He shot 11% his freshman year and 22% his sophomore year.  He is also a career 55% free throw shooter, and missed 3 of 4 FTs in the exhibition against CU.  

 

Griesel looks like a guy who can hit 35%+ when he is wide open on 3s, but will struggle when contested or off-balance.  Wilhelm has not given any indication he can shoot consistently at this level.  Maybe if wide open, but he has not even established that.  This leaves just 3 guys (not including Lawrence who is not in the rotation) who can consistently make the 3, and other teams know it.  It is going to be very difficult to get those 3 guys wide open 3s, so they are going to have to take some difficult ones.  

 

Although Lawrence missed all three of his 3-point attempts, I really liked what I saw from him on the offensive end.  He seemed to have good movement, spacing and confidence to shoot.  He is a good shooter and those shots will start falling if he get more opportunities.  Question is whether his defense will prevent him from getting minutes.  But if Keisei struggles, I have to believe Lawrence could play defense close to Keisei's level, so maybe those two can fight for playing time.  Reality is we need at least one of them to be on the court and firing away, because this team lacks so much shooting in its other rotation players.

 

[NUdiehard]

Oleg has some potential.  He is more polished and skilled on the offensive end that Keita. 

 

Biggest problem with Oleg is that he is still so skinny and not strong enough, he really struggles to box out and hold his position.  Against Chadron St., he would initially have good rebounding position, but then a small 6'4" Chadron St. player would simply put a hip on him and easily move him off his spot.  Chadron St. got a lot of offensive rebounds, and Oleg was a part of the issue because he simply can't hold his ground. 

 

If Walker is out for an extended time, it is going to be interesting to see how Fred handles it.  He will either have to give Oleg rotation minutes, or put Wilhelm at the 5.  Personally, I have not loved what I've seen from Wilhelm at the 4, so maybe time to try him at the 5 with Gary or Dawson at the 4.

 

[49r]

On 11/1/2022 at 12:18 PM, Breslin Petteway said:

All things considered I thought it went okay.

 

Defense

Looks pretty solid, the guys are competing and putting out multiple efforts. You feel guys like Emanuel, Denim, Gary, Sam, Walker (fingers crossed). They disrupt stuff and our scheme is unique which could throw some teams off. Guys compete on the glass as well. Wilhelm and Keisei try but feel like pretty big negatives on this end.

 

Offense

Yikes. Turnovers, killed us. Mark Jackson type backdowns from Griesel were our best offense. Someone mentioned earlier there is a desperate need for someone who can get into the lane and create. We can't get around anyone off the dribble which makes it tough for guys like Wilcher, Wilhelm, and Keisei who can shoot but not create their own. Fred seems to think we can fix our offense through set plays, but I doubt it. 

 

Before Sunday I thought Walker and the defense would will us to 6-7 Big Ten wins. I still feel that way if he is okay. Hoping he just is freaked out about altitude.....anything long term and we are in deep trouble. If this was Fred's first roster it would be damn fun, but this is year 4 and while this team might be fun to root its time for results and hopefully the conference is down enough for us to get them 

 

@Breslin Petteway is a very interesting choice for username.  I would love to hear the story behind that choice!

[hugh42]

47 minutes ago, NUdiehard said:

 

Getting our "shooters" like Wilcher, Keisei, Bando and Lawrence good shots is going to be the key to having offensive success.  But with that said, there is a reason it consistently appears as though guys appear to be "forcing" shots-- opposing teams are guarding them tough on the 3-point line.  This is in contrast to guys like Gary and Dawson, Walker, etc, which teams are going to play soft when guarding them on the perimeter.  In fact, Chadron St. completely ignored Gary when he was at the 3-point line, played 10 feet off him and simply sat in the paint.

 

The question is which would you rather have?  Wilcher or Keisei shooting a slightly off-balance or contested 3, or Gary, Dawson or Walker shooting a wide-open 3?

 

Based on their history and what I have seen so far, I would rather Wilcher, Keisei and Lawrence keep firing away even if off-balance or contested than Gary or Dawson or Walker wide open.  Gary is simply not a good shooter at all.  I know that Fred says he has been working on his balance and leaning to the side, etc, but the odds of that translating to game speed are low.  I do hope he can improve things, but if we have to live-or-die with Gary shooting 3s it could be a very long season.  He shot 11% his freshman year and 22% his sophomore year.  He is also a career 55% free throw shooter, and missed 3 of 4 FTs in the exhibition against CU.  

 

Griesel looks like a guy who can hit 35%+ when he is wide open on 3s, but will struggle when contested or off-balance.  Wilhelm has not given any indication he can shoot consistently at this level.  Maybe if wide open, but he has not even established that.  This leaves just 3 guys (not including Lawrence who is not in the rotation) who can consistently make the 3, and other teams know it.  It is going to be very difficult to get those 3 guys wide open 3s, so they are going to have to take some difficult ones.  

 

Although Lawrence missed all three of his 3-point attempts, I really liked what I saw from him on the offensive end.  He seemed to have good movement, spacing and confidence to shoot.  He is a good shooter and those shots will start falling if he get more opportunities.  Question is whether his defense will prevent him from getting minutes.  But if Keisei struggles, I have to believe Lawrence could play defense close to Keisei's level, so maybe those two can fight for playing time.  Reality is we need at least one of them to be on the court and firing away, because this team lacks so much shooting in its other rotation players.

 

 

One thing Fred has been able to do since he has been here is get our shooters open looks from 3, so that shouldn't be an issue. Having those shooters make the open shot...that has been a different story.

[Norm Peterson]

On 10/31/2022 at 3:08 PM, Ron Mexico said:

Have it on pretty good authority that HCFH won't make it to Christmas. I'm just going to leave it at that.

 

So, did I find Ron's source?

 

[49r]

So why did folks suddenly pick today to get all itchy about the football coaching search??

[hhcmatt]

On 10/31/2022 at 3:08 PM, Ron Mexico said:

It's not "stubborn or stupid" for him to force the AD to fire him. There is not a single person on this board who would quit, and leave millions on the table for the good of DONU.

 

Have it on pretty good authority that HCFH won't make it to Christmas. I'm just going to leave it at that.

 

It takes a certain lack of self awareness to include that last paragraph, when everything before it was mostly the venting of a frustrated fan. All of us have been there.

Seems to be that you have spent to much time on this message board,  and for your mental health I would suggest taking a break until sometime after Dec 17th.

Your wish is going to come true. At this point there is no need to pile on or exhaust emotional energy.

 

 

The absoluteness of this is what makes it non-credible as while it's unlikely Fred is going to win much this year it's not like it's impossible he could find himself at .500 or above at this point in the season. 

[hskr4life]

9 hours ago, 49r said:

 

@Breslin Petteway is a very interesting choice for username.  I would love to hear the story behind that choice!

 

I remember that game like it was yesterday.  Man that was fun.  Huge in allowing us to make the dance.

[millerhusker]

22 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

 

I remember that game like it was yesterday.  Man that was fun.  Huge in allowing us to make the dance.

That's the one that got the ball rolling for us. I was going nuts in the second half when Petteway couldn't be guarded. Still remember the BTN announcer yelling, "OH MAN, THIS GUY IS NAILS!" 

[Dead Dog Alley]

On 11/2/2022 at 11:11 AM, Norm Peterson said:

 

But if, by mid-January, it's clear not enough progress has been made, the merciful thing for everyone involved might be to just pull the trigger and get it over with. Let an interim finish the season. Let the guys hit the reset button and play for pride. And give the fans something hopeful to talk about.

 

I don't know that anyone would want that interim tag.  That 0-16 interim record will stay on their Wikipedia page forever, and who wants to carry something like that around.

 

[Breslin Petteway]

9 hours ago, 49r said:

 

@Breslin Petteway is a very interesting choice for username.  I would love to hear the story behind that choice!

Ha I struggled coming up with a name and Petteway hitting dagger 3's in the Breslin Center to take down Michigan State is the happiest Nebrasketball memory I could think of (No Sit Sunday excluded)

[49r]

10 hours ago, Breslin Petteway said:

Ha I struggled coming up with a name and Petteway hitting dagger 3's in the Breslin Center to take down Michigan State is the happiest Nebrasketball memory I could think of (No Sit Sunday excluded)

 

Kind of hard to believe that there was once a time that we beat MSU three years in a row.  At any event welcome aboard!

[Ron Mexico]

On 11/1/2022 at 10:27 PM, Cazzie22 said:

I don’t disagree with your points but a search can be conducted with Hoiberg still in place.  I just don’t like calling for his job when this season hasn’t started. 

I don't think it is calling for his job. Those who have, have already made themselves known. I think @Norm Peterson is just taking a step back and answering w/o emotion. While I agree that a search can be done while he is still in place that also comes with certain uncomfortable complications, and of course that would have 0% chance of being kept under raps.

[hskr4life]

Soooooo Colorado just lost to Grambling…

[AuroranHusker]

26 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

Soooooo Colorado just lost to Grambling…

 

Nebraska lost to Western Illinois last season, it's the NU-CU reverse curse.

[hskr4life]

32 minutes ago, AuroranHusker said:

 

Nebraska lost to Western Illinois last season, it's the NU-CU reverse curse.

Where did CU finish is the real question.

[Dead Dog Alley]

1 hour ago, hskr4life said:

Soooooo Colorado just lost to Grambling…

 

Grambling's third victory ever over a major conference opponent and second since 1988.

 

Pretty sure everyone here knows who that win in 1988 was against.

[49r]

Grambling was KenPom 324 before last night's game, Colorado was 58.

Grambling jumped to 296 and Colorado dropped to 74.

 

This was a home game for Grambling (not exactly sure why Colorado would play a true road game like that, obviously a recipe for disaster).

[millerhusker]

4 minutes ago, 49r said:

Grambling was KenPom 324 before last night's game, Colorado was 58.

Grambling jumped to 296 and Colorado dropped to 74.

 

This was a home game for Grambling (not exactly sure why Colorado would play a true road game like that, obviously a recipe for disaster).

Part of the Pac-12/SWAC Legacy Series

[jayschool]

On 11/11/2022 at 11:20 PM, Dead Dog Alley said:

 

Grambling's third victory ever over a major conference opponent and second since 1988.

 

Pretty sure everyone here knows who that win in 1988 was against.

I have heard Thad Boyle referred to as Colorado's Danny Nee.

[jayschool]

18 hours ago, 49r said:

This was a home game for Grambling (not exactly sure why Colorado would play a true road game like that, obviously a recipe for disaster).

That gym and the 837 people in attendance (seriously) were jumping.