MINNESOTA GAME DAY THREAD

[HB]

3 hours ago, Huskerpapa said:

A random thought or two:

* you can be supremely athletic and yet be a miserable basketball player;

* you can be as strong as an ox, and not be good at basketball;

* you can be as quick as a cat, but fail on the court;

* you can hit 95 out of a 100 free throws in practice, but fail in games;

* you can be great in 3 point shooting drills, mut miss 75% in games;

* and on and on and on.

 

The point being is that finding the right players, finding the right fit, goes beyond seeing talent; it also includes the mental toughness and the application of talent in practice and games.

 

We can certainly debate the.level of talent this team has.  In my humble opinion they have the talent to compete in arguably the best conference in the country.  I do question their mental toughness though.  We lost one player who likely was the most mentally tough person on the court.  The remainder of the team could likely overcome that physical loss, but they have not recovered that mental edge.

 

We get pressed, how do we react? We have a turnover, how do we react?  We miss an assignment, how do we react?  A player gets knocked on her butt, how does the individual and team react?

 

I still think we are an above average team with a good coach.   A few things must be fixed; but a major overhaul is not necessary.

 

 

 

I think our fans overrate out talent.  It's natural to like our players.  We're maybe above average with 4 players, and dramatically below average with the depth.  In any event,  I will be real--if we don't up our recruiting, we'll stay mediocre at best.   And we used to be way better than that.  And we're losing ground to teams that have hired new coaches more recently than us.  I'd opt for a different description--average team, average coach. I hope whatever needs to be fixed is, but 7 years is a long track record.  People can change and improve.  Let's hope it happens here.  

[Redhac]

Below is Amy's Big Ten win/loss record in the conference.   This pretty much confirms that she is a mediocre coach with more losses than wins!  NE should at least have more wins than losses over time.

 

Amy Williams Big 10 (14)  Conference Records
	Wins	Losses
16-17	3	13
17-18	11	5
18-19	9	9
19-20	7	11
20-21	9	10
21-22	11	7
Totals	50	55
Thus far 22-23
	6	9

[huskerfrank]

You can't count the 1st year with all inherited players, and going 9-10 in 20-21 was nothing short of a miracle with what that team had.   The 18-19 and 19-20 are disappointments because all of the positive chemistry from 17-18 was wrecked in the 1st month. Last year was really good (and we should not forget that) and now this year is another disappointment for sure. Next year has to be a bounce back, but with Issy and Jazz future up in the air who knows. As far as I know the foreign players are not allowed any NIL which does not help at all.

[All About the Corn]

We have 3 games left. I think 1-2 is a realistic outcome. If we go 0-3 then we need a complete change as much as it will hurt the program on a whole to start over. 1-2 and Williams need to take a hard look at not only herself, but her assistants and as loyal as she is to her staff, that could be hard for her. 2-1 or 3-0 I just do not see happening. Even if it did still think Williams still needs to take a hard look at the program as a whole. If we strike the first year we are 53-51 in the B1G currently. We can and should be better than that. 

[swmckewon]

45 minutes ago, Redhac said:

Below is Amy's Big Ten win/loss record in the conference.   This pretty much confirms that she is a mediocre coach with more losses than wins!  NE should at least have more wins than losses over time.

 

Amy Williams Big 10 (14)  Conference Records
	Wins	Losses
16-17	3	13
17-18	11	5
18-19	9	9
19-20	7	11
20-21	9	10
21-22	11	7
Totals	50	55
Thus far 22-23
	6	9

Counting the first year is a waste of time. It's like counting Connie's first year. 

 

 

[Cazzie22]

Defense requires effort.  Effort was not there against Minnesota. A coach shouldn’t have to coach effort. It makes me think the team has given up on the season.  Yes, we scored plenty of points but does that matter if we can’t get stops on one of the weakest teams in the league?   

 

Looking ahead we have no one to replace Bourne on the current roster and Jaz, if she leaves, is irreplaceable. Weidener’s return can not compensate for our personnel losses.  MM might be the only bench player that can become a starter.  The rest are role players at best.

[12dozen]

1 hour ago, swmckewon said:

Counting the first year is a waste of time. It's like counting Connie's first year. 

 

 

Not sure comparing Amy's and Connie's first years are that much alike.

 

If the average fan looks at Connie's first roster, not sure they will recognize any names, other than a couple of volleyball players.

 

Amy had Shepard, Simon, Whitish, Cincore, Eliely....  

 

I'm not advocating firing Williams.  Just don't agree with your post.

[HB]

4 hours ago, swmckewon said:

Counting the first year is a waste of time. It's like counting Connie's first year. 

 

 

So predictable, fan boy

[Tom Jones]

On the matter of the best path into the future for UNL and HCAW ... 

I will start with what I don't know.  I don't claim to have a keen eye for talent or athleticism, or the process of developing and refining girls right out of HS in bb fundamentals.  Nor am I any kind of expert in the X's and O's

What I think I might know:

• AW's teams don't have enough players
• Too many players (my opinion) don't get much better as they move thru their years of eligibility
• The Huskers fail to execute in some basic situations that opponents seem to do well at. Prime examples are getting the last shot at the end of quarters and getting good shots on out of bounds plays
• (I know I am repeating) We don't have enough players.
• AW is in her seventh year.  She had four-good-not-great years in SoDak.  I can't think of any coaches who, after eleven years of better than average head coach achievement, suddenly experience skyrocketing improvement in recruiting, player development, coaching fundamentals, motivation, etc and then, in their 12th year, go on to greatness. While there may be exceptions, in general, what they are in their 11th year is as good as they get.

So ..... ADTA, after taking note of the improvement in so many Big 10 teams, has a decision to make.  Is he content with a fine and well behaved gentlewoman, players who stay out of trouble and who graduate, a team that occasionally pulls an upset, better than average fan support, but a program that consistently dwells below midpoint in conference standings?  In making the decision, he also must bear in mind that some coaching changes intending improvement, end up doing the opposite. 

 

[swmckewon]

15 hours ago, 12dozen said:

Not sure comparing Amy's and Connie's first years are that much alike.

 

If the average fan looks at Connie's first roster, not sure they will recognize any names, other than a couple of volleyball players.

 

Amy had Shepard, Simon, Whitish, Cincore, Eliely....  

 

I'm not advocating firing Williams.  Just don't agree with your post.

Well, to each their own, but they might not remember because it was 20 years ago. Since this is some sort of rabbit hole debate, I hesitate to point out the good players on Connie's first team because then it'll turn into "well, they weren't as good as x, y and z."

 

At any rate, nothing that happened in Williams' first year has any bearing on the current disappointment. 

[HB]

5 minutes ago, swmckewon said:

Well, to each their own, but they might not remember because it was 20 years ago. Since this is some sort of rabbit hole debate, I hesitate to point out the good players on Connie's first team because then it'll turn into "well, they weren't as good as x, y and z."

 

At any rate, nothing that happened in Williams' first year has any bearing on the current disappointment. 

Well, one of the regulars in her lineup was pulled out of her sorority house to play, so she did have that going for her.  

[Neb Nets]

8 minutes ago, swmckewon said:

Well, to each their own, but they might not remember because it was 20 years ago. Since this is some sort of rabbit hole debate, I hesitate to point out the good players on Connie's first team because then it'll turn into "well, they weren't as good as x, y and z."

 

At any rate, nothing that happened in Williams' first year has any bearing on the current disappointment. 

Some of us WBB fans feel that the Lincoln/Omaha media are professional Amy Williams apologists, unwilling to put her feet to the fire and ask her the hard hitting questions.  So the fact that you can at least acknowledge that the current state of Amy’s program is disappointing is actually a bit encouraging. Thank you. 

[swmckewon]

3 hours ago, Neb Nets said:

Some of us WBB fans feel that the Lincoln/Omaha media are professional Amy Williams apologists, unwilling to put her feet to the fire and ask her the hard hitting questions.  So the fact that you can at least acknowledge that the current state of Amy’s program is disappointing is actually a bit encouraging. Thank you. 

The record's only a 2-3 games worse than I had anticipated at this point- the schedule is legitimately tough - but it's a frustrating team to watch.