We are at a crossroads

[Dean Smith]

I don't start a lot of threads preferring to try to offer what I hope is useful basketball "stuff" and opinions to other's ideas. I thought about adding these thoughts to one of the many threads discussing the team after the last two games but since I truly believe we are now already at a crossroads for this season I decided to start my own.

 

I mentioned after the first couple of games that people might be overreacting on the positive side and felt that some would do the same in the other direction after a loss or two. We may be at that point now. Maybe this is all an over-reaction but here we go.

 

Some here downplayed the lack of assists. I think I was the first to mention that absence and that I thought it might be important because assists usually mean easy baskets and to beat good teams you need easy baskets. I don't remember who said that it didn't matter because we were winning and scoring, but we were doing this against lesser teams. This inability to create easy shots for teammates will haunt us against better teams. 

 

I have seen the look on the Husker's faces the past two days on some of my own players in the past. In my case that look has always meant that we were about to take a giant lurch one way or the other. The team must decide who they are and whether they are going to pull together or pull apart. Are they going to continue to try to get everything on their own or will they start trusting each other. There have been times I've seen players take shots these past two games that I believe they really didn't want to but knew if they passed it they was no chance it was ever coming back.

 

There was one play in particular that stands out in my mind. David Rivers had the ball on top, slightly to the left of the basket. Shields was at the top of the key with his hands in the obvious "throw me the ball" position. Petteway was on the left wing with his hands in the same position. They were both equally open. Rivers looked at one and back to the other and back again. You could see the pain on his face. "Who do I pass it to?" His shoulders dropped as if defeated and he finally passed the ball to Petteway who promptly did exactly what David knew he would do - drove and shot it.

 

From that point on it seemed to me that the whole team just accepted that shots were now going to be jacked up regularly. This acquiescence seemed to suck the energy out the team that showed up mostly on the defensive end. There was a three with just over a minute left that saying it was forced would be an understatement. At the next time out, Miles with his mad face on got in Petteway's face and if I read his lips correctly yelled, "We don't need that! We are only four points down! Play ball!" UAB pulled away when he put up three bad shots in three possessions late in the second half.

 

Many have claimed the Petteway was the player of the game the last two outings, but I believe that he was one of the main reasons we lost both games. Petteway can offer much to the team. He gives us something that we haven't had for a few years, but he needs to get it to fit into the team concept or he will destroy the team. Right now he is our Carmelo Anthony. Anthony can get buckets and yes he has an NCAA title because his talent was just that much better than everyone else. Now in the NBA where there are so many talented players, he is good enough to score massive points but not good enough to get his team to win on a regularly enough basis to come close to a title. Petteway may work very hard in practice but he has got to admit to himself at least that this is not "his team."

 

I think penetration is great but we need to play as one not as five separate entities. I saw Tom Brosnihan demonstrate this once by asking for a player volunteer. He held up his open hand and said that here are five players playing for themselves and then hit the player right in the chest hard enough to knock him back a step. He then closed his fist and said this is five players working together. He looked at his volunteer who just shook his head and sat back down. 

 

I don't see all doom and gloom and it sounds like Petteway is well respected by his teammates. They did vote him captain. If he comes to the conclusion that he can't do it all on his own and admits he is the one that needs to step back and trust his teammates. We could take this experience and use it to became a better team than we could have ever been without it. Pressure makes diamonds and all that stuff.

 

Maybe I'm way off. Maybe I'm just reading my experiences into this situation. We all tend to project. Maybe those faces they had, the posture they held, the look in their eyes was just in response to a loss and it all really means nothing serious. But I do know the first time I saw those signs in my team and told myself it was nothing I then watched my team in fits and starts, slowly fall apart and watched what had been a promising season go down the drain. 

 

As I said in an earlier post, I still plan on sitting back and enjoying the ups and downs of the season. Just hoping and cheering for the best

[Cheap Seat Perspective]

I agree with you Dean, I also don't like the body language or attitudes I've seen from this team so far this year. 

[NUdiehard]

Dean, I think you are spot on with this post. 

[royalfan]

Disagree on Petteway costing us the ball games.  Disagree in a big way.  He was easily our best player.  Not close. 

[hhcmatt]

Dean, I think you make some well thought out and valid points in your argument.  

"We are at a Crossroads"...seems a little hyperbolic at this point in the young season.

[tcp]

For the sake of this board, this stupid tournament can't end fast enough for me.

[Dean Smith]

Disagree on Petteway costing us the ball games.  Disagree in a big way.  He was easily our best player.  Not close. 

I think you might be right, but to carry my point Carmelo is most times the best player on his team but there are lesser players make other teams better. Petteway doesn't make his teammates better. He wants to take the whole game into his hands and he is no Melo. Both of those players need the ball in their hands so much to be effective that they detract from what the other players can contribute. I don't think it has to be permanent condition, but right now he needs to pass the damn ball and let the game come to him. For now the offense stagnates as soon as he touches it, and by definition motion offenses cannot do that and be an effective motion offense. What is best for him is not what is best for the team. There are times that this team will need him to go get a basket, but it can't be as often as it is right now. The offense operated the most efficiently today when he was on the bench in foul trouble and look at the end of the game again. He does hit a bad three but then misses on three consecutive trips and UAB got much easier looks at the other end of the floor and pulls away.

[Fullbacksympathy]

Dean I'm curious what defensive adjustments you would make.

[Dean Smith]

Dean, I think you make some well thought out and valid points in your argument.  

"We are at a Crossroads"...seems a little hyperbolic at this point in the young season.

And you might be right. I don't think it is a crossroads for the program but it could be a crossroads for this season. Again, I might be projecting because I experienced a promising season slip away because of one player who could score but at the expense of his team. Just like the board seems to be doing right now, his actions split the team in half and we became very mediocre. I think it is something that needs fixed and sooner the better. I trust Miles to deal with it. The crossroads doesn't mean the Huskers fall off a cliff, but it can be the difference from a very good season to a very mediocre one.

[Dean Smith]

Dean I'm curious what defensive adjustments you would make.

For awhile I thought whoever knows the most basketball was the best coach. I learned the hard way that's not true. Way more to the job than that.  I don't think this is an X & O problem. Its an attitude and effort problem and I will admit dealing with those were not my strength. I'm curious to see what if any adjustments, defensive, offensive or attitude takes place for our last game in the tournament. I admit the thread title was a little dramatic. I don't believe the sky is falling but these issues can quickly turn into a cancer if not dealt with. Winning cures most problems but since we lost the last two games I guarantee that there were some Huskers in the locker room  that were at least thinking, "That guy is shooting too much."

[PimpMario]

Petteway has shone me nothing but shellfish play. He never gives the ball up in transition.

I blame miles just as much. He is the coach.

Has anyone noticed that petteway has an anger problem? Whenever he gets a foul called on him he looks like he is going to lose it.

[PimpMario]

Disagree on Petteway costing us the ball games. Disagree in a big way. He was easily our best player. Not close.

Remember when you called my comment the dumbest you have read on this board? Seems like we have a lot of dumb people on this board because people are starting to agree with me.

I have yet to be impressed with one game of petteways.

[hskr4life]

Seems to me that the board is starting to seperate into two different roads right now.  I just hope the team does not as well.  We need everyone to stick together if we want to do something this year.

[tbowman]

Dean, I think you make some well thought out and valid points in your argument.  

"We are at a Crossroads"...seems a little hyperbolic at this point in the young season.

 

Doesn't seem hyperbolic to me.  I see a bunch of basketball talent on this Nebraska squad, but a team is nowhere to be found - offensively or defensively.  Miles has his work cut out for him. 

 

Feel like I'm watching a replay of Doc's final season.  The team had some talent.  Bo Spencer and Toney McCray were black holes offensively and rarely played defense.  Neither made their teammates better.  Team chemistry was nonexistant and the season was a disaster.

 

This year NU has far more talent than that team, but the problematic signs are there.

 

I'm still hopeful.  Chemistry issues can be fixed quickly if the guys buy in.  Hopefully they will, and soon.    

[tbowman]

Disagree on Petteway costing us the ball games.  Disagree in a big way.  He was easily our best player.  Not close. 

 

Petteway is the best player at the expense of everyone else offensively.  I don't believe for one second the the remaining NU players are looking at Petteway and thinking "he's our best player, I need to get him the ball." 

 

The scary thing is that Petteway's role is only part of the problem.  Where is the defense, rebounding, and physicality?  The last two games have been some of the worst defense I've ever seen an NU team play.  As poor as some of the worst Nee seasons when the wheels started falling off. 

[uneblinstu]

Kids got loads of talent. There's not really any doubt about that. But he directly cost us no fewer than seven points today and in a game that was still a six point game with five minutes left, that's huge.  

[FredsSlacks]

1.We're young and inexperienced

2.We don't have enough big men offensively and defensively

3.We make stupid fouls. (Adjust to the new rules!)

4.We give up too many easy shots in the paint.

5.We don't rebound well.

6.We have basically have no team chemistry offensively or defensively

7.Our assists numbers would say that we're a selfish team.

 

^^^^ So i think we fix those things and we'll be NCAA tourney bound BABY! Awesome with a capital A!!!

 

 

Here's how you could fix those things

 

1. Be patient and let these guys develop

2. Recruit more big guys.

3. simply don't touch the guy you are defending and move your feet.

4. Recruit more size or pack the lane to force more outside shots.

5. Recruit more size or try harder

6. Be patient and let these guys develop.

7. Move without the ball, run more set plays, set more screens, and don't take so many shots early in the shot clock.

 

Recruit more big guys and let our young guys develop are 2 things that aren't going to happen over night. It could take a little while before we are a good team.

[jimmykc]

In some way I blame Calipari for this. Dribble drive-penetration-kick out works very successfully if your individual talents are better than your opponents' talents. I'm not sure when basketball stopped being a "team' sport, but it has been this way for some years and it is not as pleasurable to watch for me. Maybe we could ask coaches Iba, Knight, or Smith when this happened.

[Dean Smith]

In some way I blame Calipari for this. Dribble drive-penetration-kick out works very successfully if your individual talents are better than your opponents' talents. I'm not sure when basketball stopped being a "team' sport, but it has been this way for some years and it is not as pleasurable to watch for me. Maybe we could ask coaches Iba, Knight, or Smith when this happened.

It hasn't stopped being that everywhere. Even UAB had some nice team possessions. People like Roy Williams & coach K run sets that allow players to take advantage of their individual skill set within a team concept. You see that at a lot of places where their are successful programs. You need to do that to be successful unless you 7 of the 5 star players & then that concept would still make it easier for the 5 stars to score.

[Chuck Taylor]

Are we at a crossroads? Only in the sense that every season has 5 or 6. We'll get back home, beat some schmoes and regain our confidence. Then we'll see if we can handle our next test. Then we'll regroup again. It's a long season, and this is a young team. This is what young teams do.

 

It's way to early to have any kind of opinion one way or the other on the coach, but this is a message board, so venting is encouraged.

[Dean Smith]

Seems to me that the board is starting to seperate into two different roads right now.  I just hope the team does not as well.  We need everyone to stick together if we want to do something this year.

This was the point of my thread. I don't feel nor did I intend my post to be negative. I didn't mention Coach Miles name at all and there was nothing in it that at this point had anything to do with him except that I was interested in seeing how he adjusts to the issues. I don't foresee that terrible things are now going to happen to the team this year. I've also had teams that pull together and use situations to pull together. I had these reservations during the second two wins, losing exacerbates problems. The two losses are not the problem they just highlight the problem.  I hope not but it is quite possible that we will have 2 or more losses in a row going through the B1G season. That will not necessarily mean we have a problem at that time. Not every shot that goes in is a good shot. Sometimes those just encourage more bad shots. Not every win is a good win, but to the casual fan the W can mask the problems.

 

The coach can only guide this situation. It is the players who will decide if they are in this together or for themselves. You don't need to be a "bad" person or even a "selfish" person to play selfishly. You can score lots of points and be hurting your team. One of the biggest keys to team success is not only having well defined player roles but that each player accepts and embraces that role. We have in my opinion some role ambiguity right now. I think Petteway needs to defer to Shields when it come to being the primary focus on the offensive end but I'll let Miles make that decision. I don't see them everyday in practice like he has for the last two years. Because of that and the confidence i have in him I will support whatever he feels will be the best role for each of his players. But regardless of whether Petteway becomes the primary offensive focus, I don't believe he can continue to play the way he has and have Nebraska possess a fluid, consistently workable offense.

 

I still feel we are at a crossroads. I think and hope that they will, but if the players accept their roles and agree with them this team can go far. If one or two players do not agree with the role they are given or refuse to play that role you will soon see the team break into two or more camps and that is a certain recipe for disaster. 

[royalfan]

 

Disagree on Petteway costing us the ball games.  Disagree in a big way.  He was easily our best player.  Not close. 

I think you might be right, but to carry my point Carmelo is most times the best player on his team but there are lesser players make other teams better. Petteway doesn't make his teammates better. He wants to take the whole game into his hands and he is no Melo. Both of those players need the ball in their hands so much to be effective that they detract from what the other players can contribute. I don't think it has to be permanent condition, but right now he needs to pass the damn ball and let the game come to him. For now the offense stagnates as soon as he touches it, and by definition motion offenses cannot do that and be an effective motion offense. What is best for him is not what is best for the team. There are times that this team will need him to go get a basket, but it can't be as often as it is right now. The offense operated the most efficiently today when he was on the bench in foul trouble and look at the end of the game again. He does hit a bad three but then misses on three consecutive trips and UAB got much easier looks at the other end of the floor and pulls away.

 

We know what Mello is.  Sample size a little bit too small on Petteway to make that comparison comfortably.  It could be that he is being told to do that.  It will become more clear as time goes on.  I don't think the Mello comparison will end up being valid, but I can at least understand the thought at this point. 

[royalfan]

 

Disagree on Petteway costing us the ball games. Disagree in a big way. He was easily our best player. Not close.

Remember when you called my comment the dumbest you have read on this board? Seems like we have a lot of dumb people on this board because people are starting to agree with me.

I have yet to be impressed with one game of petteways.

 

Yeah I do and I still think it was dumb.  We are not better without him.  It is even more absurd now than it was when I said it in early stages of game Thursday.  He was very productive after that. 

[Dean Smith]

 

 

Disagree on Petteway costing us the ball games. Disagree in a big way. He was easily our best player. Not close.

Remember when you called my comment the dumbest you have read on this board? Seems like we have a lot of dumb people on this board because people are starting to agree with me.

I have yet to be impressed with one game of petteways.

 

Yeah I do and I still think it was dumb.  We are not better without him.  It is even more absurd now than it was when I said it in early stages of game Thursday.  He was very productive after that. 

 

I do not think we are better without him, but for four of the first five games his style of play has hurt the overall offensive effectiveness regardless of how many points he personally has put up. As a teammate you roll your eyes on those shots if they go in but you get mad and frustrated when they don't and you watch the other team pull away.

 

I am not saying that Petteway=Melo. I'm saying the effect he definitely had on the Huskers this tournament is the effect Melo has had on the Knicks over his career there. If he has the attitude to learn and get better we can avoid this going forward.

 

When I said crossroads it seems everyone is focusing on the "what if" we continue down this current trajectory. A crossroads means you can go either way. It is just as possible that the coaches, players and team as a whole learn from the experience and get better. That is, I think why we signed up for this tournament in the first place. To push ourselves against better competition and see where we are. I think it drastically pointed out issues that need addressed. 

 

We have a group of players that have a strong set of individual skills. If we can fit into a system as a team that takes those individual strengths and combines them into a cohesive unit we're set. Most really good teams are better than the sum of their parts, (even when they have really great parts). 

[hhcmatt]

 

Dean, I think you make some well thought out and valid points in your argument.  

"We are at a Crossroads"...seems a little hyperbolic at this point in the young season.

 

Doesn't seem hyperbolic to me.  I see a bunch of basketball talent on this Nebraska squad, but a team is nowhere to be found - offensively or defensively.  Miles has his work cut out for him. 

 

Feel like I'm watching a replay of Doc's final season.  The team had some talent.  Bo Spencer and Toney McCray were black holes offensively and rarely played defense.  Neither made their teammates better.  Team chemistry was nonexistant and the season was a disaster.

 

This year NU has far more talent than that team, but the problematic signs are there.

 

I'm still hopeful.  Chemistry issues can be fixed quickly if the guys buy in.  Hopefully they will, and soon.    

 

 

I'm taking a very long view of this.

This core of players are going to be together for two years and they've just played their first couple of games against legit teams.

We don't have an offensive identity after 5 games and this may or may not be affecting our effort on our already shorthanded interior defense.

 

I didn't think this was a NCAA tournament team this year so these early growing pains don't really eat at me and their nothing like the issues we've had for the last 4+ years.  Are we having the same problem(s) at the start of Big 10 play?  Do we not at all competitive in the Big 10?  Do we not have player(s) coming in next year that can add to our interior play right away?  If we don't like these answers in January and February then we're at a crossroads because this is mostly your team until 2015.