uneblinstu's postgame chatter : vol 17; ed 15-IOWA

[Bugeaters1]

 

[AuroranHusker]

That was brutal tonight, all of it. I got nothing else.

 

[hskr4life]

There are always going to be bad calls.  BUT, the two that are almost comical... the two that should get someone at least written up (or whatever the referee version of that is)

 

1. The missed double dribble. Even if the lead doesn't see that, the Trail and Center both could have came in there. How do ALL THREE referees miss something that obvious. Something that obvious has to be reviewable as well.

 

2. The Gary foul on the baseline that wasn't called on his drive. It takes a lot of force to knock him down like that. He doesn't just "go down" very much. That has to be a foul.

Edited January 8 by hskr4life

[throwback]

I guess we got the best officials Peacock could afford. I knew we were in trouble when Kent & Jake had no idea before the game who two of the guys were. Still, we could've & should've taken it out of the officials' hands. 

 

Really sucks to score a buzzer beater and still lose the game - those don't come around too often.

 

[HuskerBB]

Officiating was obviously very bad and one-sided tonight - BUT If we had made free throws anywhere close to our usual percentage it would not have mattered.

 

Was worried when we got that lead that at some point they would make a run and get momentum and that is exactly what happened.   I thought a key to that was our defensive intensity going down for a stretch which I attributed to Uhlis being in the game.   We are a very team oriented defense and I just am not sure Aaron grasps that fully yet - or maybe was just not as tuned into it based on the extended time he has missed.    We need to play him - but we have to get him up to speed on the defensive end.   Multiple turnovers by Cale and Sam hurt too.   Perhaps unfair but we really need those guys to play mistake free basketball with the ball.   Love Sam but once in a while he tries to do too much on the offensive end and gets himself in trouble.   That is OK as long as he doesn't turn it over - but tonight he got out of control and cost us possessions as a result.

 

Overall it was a great opportunity to steal a win that unfortunately got away.   But we need to have a short memory and move on to the next game.    The Big 10 schedule is a grind and you can't let issues from one game impact the next one.

[hskr4life]

We all would have taken a 1-1 road trip and that's still out there for the taking. Go get the W on Sunday.

[CanadianHusker]

I knew the officiating was going to be one-sided, but that was something else. Still as others have said, if we make the layups and FTs and don't turn it over, that was a W. We also played at Iowa's pace way too often. I kind of wondered if Fred would really slow it down and make them defend for 30 seconds and use more of the Creighton game plan. That's the hard part about this loss. It was right there for us. But you absolutely cannot let this loss turn into 2 losses. Let this light a fire for us that will get a much bigger W at Purdue.

 

And yes, Uhlis was a little too amped up returning to Iowa. He wasn't helpful on either end of the floor. Hopefully he can turn a corner because he will need to help us throughout the season. Rollie's FTs were horrible but otherwise solid. Gary was amazing on the boards, but needed more composure with the putbacks. I can't wait to crush the Squawkeyes on March 9 for senior day. It won't be pretty for them that day! It will be a 20+ point W. Mark it down now! GBR!!!

[hhcmatt]

Not sure if losing this year where he pissed the game down our leg was better or worse than last year where we didn't even show up.  A real 'choose your own misery' there.

[RedEyedFanatic]

2 minutes ago, hhcmatt said:

Not sure if losing this year where he pissed the game down our leg was better or worse than last year where we didn't even show up.  A real 'choose your own misery' there.

I'll be damned if "choose your own misery" doesn't just sum up husker basketball fandom in a nice tidy bow. Like they say in England, its the hope that kills you.

[hhcmatt]

Notes from UNL

 

*-This was Nebraska's first overtime game of the season, and the Huskers dropped to 67-57 all-time in OT games.
*-Brice Williams finished with 28 points, his seventh 20th-point night of the season and the 23rd of his career. He has now reached double figures for the 14th time in 15 games, and 18th in the last 19 games
*-Juwan Gary finished with his first double-double of the season and seventh of his career with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Gary's 13 rebounds were the most by a Husker this season. The previous high was 12 by Andrew Morgan against Murray State.
*-Nebraska with a 14-0 run in the first half, marking the Huskers' 14th double-figure run of the season.
*-Nebraska held Iowa to a season-low 31 first-half points, as Iowa's previous low was 33 against Washington State.

[LNKtrnsplnt]

Classic nebrasketbal: Went into the game expecting a loss. Team gives you hope, reels you in. Expected loss stings worse. 

Positive: metrics (KP, BT, NET) didn’t change much. Top 30 BT still. 

[jimmykc]

I'm just glad it was on Peacock. I listened to it on radio and turned it off after I heard Kent say we won on a buzzer beater and went to bed happy!                  

Edited January 8 by jimmykc

[brfrad]

35 minutes ago, jimmykc said:

I'm just glad it was on Peacock. I listened to it on radio and turned it off after I heard Kent say we won on a buzzer beater and went to bed happy!                  

To be fair to Kent, he called the double dribble and Iowa doesn't get 2 free throws.   Brice's 3 then wins it.

[kldm64]

We missed free throws and refs were bad.......all true.  However, you have a team down by 15 in the 2nd half and their body language is bad, you have to go into killer instinct mode and we didn't.  We started chucking up bad shots instead of playing the way that got you the lead in the first place.  It is glaring that we need other scoring options beside Brice. Teams are starting to double team him and we don't have any other consistent option.  

 

The other thing I noticed is we are back to playing alot of 1-on-1 basketball and creating your own shot.  There are times due to matchup this is fine but we seem to like to create our own shot instead of ball movement and get kids an open look.  Bottom line is this as a very winnable game and we let it slip away.  It hurts as we could be 3-1 in conference play and looking at a very good seed in NCAA tournament.  Instead, we drop to .500 in conference and miss opportunity for a conference road win.  Now you have a tough road game ahead of you and if you lose that one, you are under .500 and on a 2 game losing streak.  Amazing how one game can change the whole outlook.

[AGHANSEN]

There were about 100 reasons we lost this game.

1. The officials. You can't miss the double dribble call. I'm pretty sure Iowa had 5 fouls with 10 minutes and didn't they call a single foul until the final minute.

2. Payton Sandfort. Give him credit. He went off. He took some crazy shots that happened to go in.

3. Free throw shooting was awful.

4. Gary was really bad tonight. I think he was expecting to get fouled most of the time.

 

Iowa had to play perfect the final 12 minutes of the game and unfortunately they did.

I'm not going to freak about this loss.

Yes, it was brutal, but Nebraska showed that they can play with anyone when the defense is locked in. 

 

Edited January 8 by AGHANSEN

[HuscurAdam]

I think everyone has sufficiently addressed the obvious reasons for the loss (missed FTs & layups, inconsistent defense, horrible officiating)…

 

What I would have liked to have seen though, besides a killer instinct when you have a team down big, is more “booty ball” from Rollie and lobs to Meah.

 

Rollie had a huge mismatch against their little PG and was effective a couple of times just backing him down, but we went away from it. I would have liked to see more of that to force Iowa to double team, allowing spray-out passes for open shots. We were also effective throwing the ball up to Meah in the paint and should have gone to him more, especially once Freeman got in foul trouble. It was obvious Iowa had no answer for his size and we didn’t take advantage. Alas, what could have been a needle-moving road win turned into another disappointing loss; it’s déjà vu all over again.   

[hhcmatt]

The killer is that in addition to winning all the games we are 'supposed to win' (something that changes daily), we need to grab at least one we are not.  This was one of those games we were not supposed to win and we had it in the boat getting ready to post it to instagram and it jump out.

[cozrulz]

3 hours ago, brfrad said:

To be fair to Kent, he called the double dribble and Iowa doesn't get 2 free throws.   Brice's 3 then wins it.

 

Should have never come to that.  You can't lose the ball with a chance to win.

[roscoe]

Sorry but I'm that guy that does place blame on officiating. It's a helluva lot easier to come back from 15 down when calls are in your favor. 

No call made when Juwan got bumped retrieving loose ball in front of NU bench. Not sure he was out of bounds either.

Freeman gaining possession even though he hadn't established position inbounds on a loose ball under NU basket. 

Moving screen being set on Hoiberg on 1 of Sandforts 3 pointers.

All those happened during comeback. And say a few of the missed fouls against us get called that's more free throws to shoot just not sure would have made them. 

Also refs will spend 2 minutes looking at whether a fingernail hits a ball going out of bounds but are so inept they couldn't see Brice was 6 inches behind 3 pt line.

It was also brought up that clock didn't stop at 1 minute mark after Huskers made basket with just over minute to go. Aren't timing issues reviewable that late in game? And to add to their ineptness they missed Brice trying to foul late in game just like they missed Harding trying to foul. No situational awareness on their part.

[jimmykc]

Two more sage predictions and I am then forgetting this game: 1. Neither Sandfort will ever score 27 points in one half again. 2. (Barring unforeseen injuries) Nebraska will win its last regular season game with Iowa to gain some momentum going into the tournaments. 

[basketballjones]

I feel none of you want to hear this but so be it...

 

Sam and Essegian both played 25 minutes apiece. 25 minutes was the highest total of Sam's season so far. 

 

Their two perimeter guys combined for 61 points. 

 

Sam is:

1. Better at home than he is on the road. He's an energy guy that gets the crowd into it and feeds off off the crowd, in short spurts. 

2. Better with less minutes. He can't be a full-time guy, he does not possess the length to contest shooters. I've never seen someone work harder flying at shooters to contest, and watch the 3pt just splash in his face. 

Edited January 9 by basketballjones

[hhcmatt]

24 minutes ago, basketballjones said:

I feel none of you want to hear this but so be it...

 

Sam and Essegian both played 25 minutes apiece. 25 minutes was the highest total of Sam's season so far. 

 

Their two perimeter guys combined for 61 points. 

 

Sam is:

1. Better at home than he is on the road. He's an energy guy that gets the crowd into and feeds off of the crowd, in short spurts. 

2. Better with less minutes. He can't be a full-time guy, he does not possess the length to contest shooter. I've never seen someone work harder flying at shooters to contest, and watch the 3pt just splash in his face. 

 

Some of that was Brice having foul trouble. Some of that was playing in a 45 minute game. Otherwise, Berke only played 19 minutes so someone had to pick those up. Playing Ulis and Worster at the same time is dicey because they don't make 3s. Could have really used Gavin or Cale, assuming Cale played better in the second half. 

 

 

[Navin R. Johnson]

Where the hell was DJ Carstensen when we needed him?

[HB]

11 minutes ago, hhcmatt said:

 

Some of that was Brice having foul trouble. Some of that was playing in a 45 minute game. Otherwise, Berke only played 19 minutes so someone had to pick those up. Playing Ulis and Worster at the same time is dicey because they don't make 3s. Could have really used Gavin or Cale, assuming Cale played better in the second half. 

 

 

 

Cale earned his spot on the bench the entire second half.  He was awful in his minute at the end of the first half.   Completely not ready to play.  

[basketballjones]

17 minutes ago, hhcmatt said:

 

Playing Ulis and Worster at the same time is dicey because they don't make 3s. Could have really used Gavin or Cale, assuming Cale played better in the second half. 

 

Ulis is simply not very good and Rollie, who was one of my early favorite players, is becoming increasingly difficult to stick up for. He is struggling.