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Matt Abdelmassih recruiting (a/k/a "he had ONE job!")

Norm Peterson

By Norm Peterson
in The Haymarket Hardwood

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Norm Peterson

Norm Peterson

Posted
Posted

Sorry to those who don't want to revisit this. Feel free to skip this thread if that's the case.

 

For all his faults, and he had plenty, one of them that was somewhat concealed was his bad recruiting.

 

And it isn't that he brought in terrible players. No, in fact some of the players he brought in were very good.

 

The problem was hidden kinda until this year. And now that we have a non-Matt recruit running the point, we can clearly see what this offense was supposed to look like.

 

The *problem* was that the good players Matt was bringing in were players who were terribly ill-suited to this offensive scheme. For this system to be successful, the ball has to keep moving from player to player. It has to move from side to side. Players have to move well without the ball. We're getting that this year. In a thread last year, though, I catalogued some of the possessions that began and ended with the ball basically in one or two player's hands. Two years ago, Teddy Allen was a gifted scorer, but everyone here knows we criticized his "hero ball" approach the whole season when he was here. He could not or would not adapt his game to Hoiberg's system. And when he was basically demoted, he quit.

 

And blame Fred too for failing to hold players accountable. Verge and Bryce should have taken a seat on the bench in game 1 last year when they decided the game was about how many shots they each were going to take. Now, my understanding is that Matt sheltered them and protected them from some of those consequences, and therefore blame Fred for not parting ways with Matt sooner.

 

We might very well have less overall talent now than we did in any other season under Fred. But we're having the best season we've had and it's because of the buy-in and players who are willing to subordinate themselves to the greater success of the team. And for the first time in his coaching tenure at Nebraska, you're getting a sense of what this thing is supposed to look like. And I gotta be honest: I like what I see. This style of basketball is pleasing to watch.

 

If Fred is given more time (not advocating one way or the other in this thread, just saying if it happens) I hope he's successful in finding some pieces in the portal that will complement what we have returning and upgrade our overall talent. Because I can see some potential for success with this.

tcp

tcp

Posted
Posted

the nice thing is that are plenty of opportunities remaining to test the hypothesis that the lights are back on inside Nebrasketball. I'm pretty sure Alberts is doing the same thing. Hoiberg's a guy you can't help but root for. If he's finally figured stuff out, let the bloody chips ride. It's not like we had another hot date waititng in the wings. 

49r

49r

Posted
Posted

speaking of ball movement, was anybody else really impressed with the crisp ball movement from PSU yesterday?  WOW!

 

As far as Fred's system, once the players get bought in and figure out what to do it is really a pleasure to watch the movement and passing.  I remember seeing some stupidly slick passing from Thor at the end of his last season here.  Now we're seeing the same thing from Walker and KT/Sam.  It's been fun.  Would like to see that become more consistent.

 

I honestly think it's pretty plug-n-play as a system goes.  We just desperately need more consistency in the roster and guys willing to stop playing hero ball and pass the dang ball.

Norm Peterson

Norm Peterson

Posted
  • Author
Posted
  On 2/6/2023 at 4:52 PM, 49r said:

speaking of ball movement, was anybody else really impressed with the crisp ball movement from PSU yesterday?  WOW!

Expand  

 

Yeah, me.

 

There was one possession near the end of the first half where they decided they needed to get an open look from 3 for either Lundy or Funk. So initial ball movement, pass to the corner, guy drives baseline, kicks to the top of the key, one extra pass beyond that to a wide-open Lundy on the wing, and he nails it.

49r

49r

Posted
Posted
  On 2/6/2023 at 5:15 PM, Norm Peterson said:

 

Yeah, me.

 

There was one possession near the end of the first half where they decided they needed to get an open look from 3 for either Lundy or Funk. So initial ball movement, pass to the corner, guy drives baseline, kicks to the top of the key, one extra pass beyond that to a wide-open Lundy on the wing, and he nails it.

Expand  

 

I guess that's the kind of stuff that happens when you start 4 seniors and a junior.

TourneyBound

TourneyBound

Posted
Posted
  On 2/6/2023 at 4:44 PM, Norm Peterson said:

Sorry to those who don't want to revisit this. Feel free to skip this thread if that's the case.

 

For all his faults, and he had plenty, one of them that was somewhat concealed was his bad recruiting.

 

And it isn't that he brought in terrible players. No, in fact some of the players he brought in were very good.

 

The problem was hidden kinda until this year. And now that we have a non-Matt recruit running the point, we can clearly see what this offense was supposed to look like.

 

The *problem* was that the good players Matt was bringing in were players who were terribly ill-suited to this offensive scheme. For this system to be successful, the ball has to keep moving from player to player. It has to move from side to side. Players have to move well without the ball. We're getting that this year. In a thread last year, though, I catalogued some of the possessions that began and ended with the ball basically in one or two player's hands. Two years ago, Teddy Allen was a gifted scorer, but everyone here knows we criticized his "hero ball" approach the whole season when he was here. He could not or would not adapt his game to Hoiberg's system. And when he was basically demoted, he quit.

 

And blame Fred too for failing to hold players accountable. Verge and Bryce should have taken a seat on the bench in game 1 last year when they decided the game was about how many shots they each were going to take. Now, my understanding is that Matt sheltered them and protected them from some of those consequences, and therefore blame Fred for not parting ways with Matt sooner.

 

We might very well have less overall talent now than we did in any other season under Fred. But we're having the best season we've had and it's because of the buy-in and players who are willing to subordinate themselves to the greater success of the team. And for the first time in his coaching tenure at Nebraska, you're getting a sense of what this thing is supposed to look like. And I gotta be honest: I like what I see. This style of basketball is pleasing to watch.

 

If Fred is given more time (not advocating one way or the other in this thread, just saying if it happens) I hope he's successful in finding some pieces in the portal that will complement what we have returning and upgrade our overall talent. Because I can see some potential for success with this.

Expand  

Im with ya Norm but man Derrick Walker is going to be hard to replace next year..  Have to find someone in portal that can bring something close to what he brings to the table.  

89Husker

89Husker

Posted
Posted
  On 2/6/2023 at 8:07 PM, ConkintheCorner said:

Im with ya Norm but man Derrick Walker is going to be hard to replace next year..  Have to find someone in portal that can bring something close to what he brings to the table.  

Expand  

Love what Derrick brings to the table and he is critical to this team. We can be pretty sure his replacement next year won't be able to pass like him, probably won't bring the ball up the court.  However, maybe that guy will rebound better or protect the rim better?? I would hope replacement could average close to 10 pts/game  and have a lot less turnovers.  Maybe we have a pt guard next year so the 5-man won't have to be such a facilitator. 

Anyway, the team will be way different whomever they get as their new 5. Just need to get 1-2 critical pieces to fill gaps.

Swan88

Swan88

Posted
Posted
  On 2/6/2023 at 5:15 PM, Norm Peterson said:

 

Yeah, me.

There was one possession near the end of the first half where they decided they needed to get an open look from 3 for either Lundy or Funk. So initial ball movement, pass to the corner, guy drives baseline, kicks to the top of the key, one extra pass beyond that to a wide-open Lundy on the wing, and he nails it.

Expand  

Also impressive was Husker movement on defense. 

There were many mistakes, but when the Huskers got the defensive adjustments right . . . it was a thing of beauty to behold:

 1. It all started by assisting on defense around the basket to minimize points in the paint--which worked very well, with relatively few close-in lion buckets!

 2. That meant someone else is unguarded, so Husker defenders had to adjust to the open lion . . . and continue adjusting as passes to the next open lion continued.  When the defenders got it right (and they did--lots of times) it was amazing!

 3.  But sometimes, Husker defenders adjusted to the wrong guy--open threes resulted, which went in at a high rate.

 4.  And sometimes, the lions made a well-defended three anyway: one happened at the southwest corner of the floor with Keisei immediately in front of the lion, who drained it anyway--Keisei trotted to the other end shaking his head and muttering something like, "What else could I have done?"   

royalfan

royalfan

Posted
Posted

I can't speak to Matt being a horrible person.  I have no idea, but feel people that have stated that have good reason to think it is true.  Strictly talking about his recruiting, I still am not sure a lot of what Norm discussed was all his fault, or even largely his fault.  If Fred instructed him to get dudes and he will figure out how to blend them together, then that is on Fred.   Doc also was not holding them accountable on defense(yeah I know Doc wasn't a coach and had nothing to do with the defense🤣).  Only when Loenser took over the defense fairly late in the season and Doc started sitting with his back turned to the team on the bench did we see defense played.  It just took Fred way longer than it should have to figure out that you have to play great defense to be a good team in this league.  That blows my mind and gives me a lot less confidence that he is as smart as I once thought.  I am fine keeping him here as long as the trajectory only improves from here.  

cipsucks

cipsucks

Posted
Posted
  On 2/7/2023 at 8:00 PM, royalfan said:

I can't speak to Matt being a horrible person.  I have no idea, but feel people that have stated that have good reason to think it is true.  Strictly talking about his recruiting, I still am not sure a lot of what Norm discussed was all his fault, or even largely his fault.  If Fred instructed him to get dudes and he will figure out how to blend them together, then that is on Fred.   Doc also was not holding them accountable on defense(yeah I know Doc wasn't a coach and had nothing to do with the defense🤣).  Only when Loenser took over the defense fairly late in the season and Doc started sitting with his back turned to the team on the bench did we see defense played.  It just took Fred way longer than it should have to figure out that you have to play great defense to be a good team in this league.  That blows my mind and gives me a lot less confidence that he is as smart as I once thought.  I am fine keeping him here as long as the trajectory only improves from here.  

Expand  

 

royalfan, can I use your post to sidetrack this thread for just a moment?  I learned yesterday that one of Aurora's finest, and actually Hampton's as well, passed. Dave Hahn died at the age of 66.  As far as all-time great athletes from Aurora, there is Tom Kropp and then everyone else ties for second.  I think Dave was at the top of that list. He attended Hampton Lutheran grade school through the eighth grade.  That grade school team played Aurora Junior High his last year and beat them by double digits.  Where he lived, he had the chance to go to high school in Hampton or Aurora. He, of course, chose Aurora.  Great decision.  However, that eighth grade team from Hampton Lutheran went on to win 51 straight games at Hampton High.  Had Dave gone to Hampton, that streak would have been in the upper 70's.  Super nice guy!  RIP!

Crush78

Crush78

Posted
Posted
  On 2/6/2023 at 4:52 PM, 49r said:

speaking of ball movement, was anybody else really impressed with the crisp ball movement from PSU yesterday?  WOW!

 

As far as Fred's system, once the players get bought in and figure out what to do it is really a pleasure to watch the movement and passing.  I remember seeing some stupidly slick passing from Thor at the end of his last season here.  Now we're seeing the same thing from Walker and KT/Sam.  It's been fun.  Would like to see that become more consistent.

 

I honestly think it's pretty plug-n-play as a system goes.  We just desperately need more consistency in the roster and guys willing to stop playing hero ball and pass the dang ball.

Expand  

The movement is much cleaner this year. Passing to keep the offense moving instead of only passing when you are trying to boost your assist numbers.

Norm Peterson

Norm Peterson

Posted
  • Author
Posted
  On 2/8/2023 at 3:11 PM, Crush78 said:

The movement is much cleaner this year. Passing to keep the offense moving instead of only passing when you are trying to boost your assist numbers.

Expand  

 

I had to go back and watch highlights of last year's tOSU game just to confirm whether my memory is accurate or my mind is just playing games with me. Nope, it was pretty accurate. Sure, there was one point in the game where the announcers commented that Verge had 7 assists. And that's a good number. But there were three possessions in a row at the end of the game where we were nursing a small lead with around 2 minutes to play and he took it 1-on-5 every single time and failed to score all three possessions.

 

And you have Matt A in the background telling him to ignore what the other coaches are saying and to play the game his way.

 

Speaking of Matt, is he coaching anywhere else now? Has any other program picked him up? No one? Not a single team?

 

Color me shocked.

Huskerpapa

Huskerpapa

Posted
Posted
  On 2/8/2023 at 4:06 PM, Norm Peterson said:

 

I had to go back and watch highlights of last year's tOSU game just to confirm whether my memory is accurate or my mind is just playing games with me. Nope, it was pretty accurate. Sure, there was one point in the game where the announcers commented that Verge had 7 assists. And that's a good number. But there were three possessions in a row at the end of the game where we were nursing a small lead with around 2 minutes to play and he took it 1-on-5 every single time and failed to score all three possessions.

 

And you have Matt A in the background telling him to ignore what the other coaches are saying and to play the game his way.

 

Speaking of Matt, is he coaching anywhere else now? Has any other program picked him up? No one? Not a single team?

 

Color me shocked.

Expand  

I will need to do additional verification; but I am pretty sure he decided to become a player agent.

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