uneblinstu's post game chatter: ed 6, vol 19 - @ Penn St.

[jimmykc]

I watched the game on my postage stamp sized ESPNU last night and here are some thoughts. 1. The anonymous, fourth string announcers were a good choice for this game. The best part of the commentary was the "Free Beiber" sign a student held up behind them. 2. This pretty well puts to rest the long thread about standing, screaming fans having a lot to do with the team's motivation to win. It is pretty hard for an empty seat to do either and somehow the PSU team was able to fuel an impressive comeback. 3. Mediocre teams have difficulty building momentum. Like the stock market, fans have to ignore the peaks and valleys and look at the big picture. 4. Right now, if we put the these coaches' names in a hat and drew them out, who would we like to draw , Chambers, Pitino, Collins, or Miles? And what will be the correct answer in 5 years?? 5. Can we burn the black uniforms now?

[Husker4theSpurs]

No one looked like they wanted to step up last night. We played solid D in the first half and rebounded well with everyone going for boards in a team approach. This changed especially down the stretch. I think the most disconcerting thing was you would think we would have some confidence and momentum ... The arena is empty and quiet ... Penn State was not playing well ... And we didn't keep the hammer down. We looked a bit content at that point and it ended up leading to panic mode and a complete collapse. And these things aren't strange I suppose with a young, inexperienced team but we folded after you'd think we'd have a bit more "want to" and energy after a decent win this week.

I know Petteway is new here but this is his 3rd year around D1 hoops ... Biggs is new to D1 but is older - these two especially need to get on more of an even keel. It can be good to wear your emotions on your sleeve but the body language and emotional overreaction is damaging to the entire team especially when we are inexperienced and young. If, Petteway especially, you want to be a leader you have to find an emotional center and be a bit more stable, especially when the going gets tough.

I try not to overreact to these losses but this one was REALLY there for the picking ... to have a fairly decent lead with PSU playing poorly and zero energy in the arena, this is especially problematic. On to the next game ... We tend to play well at home but we are going to be dealing with a tempo we don't always handle so well.

I would feel a bit better about our future prospects if we had a few more scholarships to give ... We could have some transfers I suppose (Benny, Sergei?) but Miles seems to like Benny as an insurance policy at guard and Sergei seems pretty content here. Is Miles the type of guy to say "you know I like you guys, buuuuut ..."?

GO B1G RED!

[basketballjones]

Play Rivers and we win. In crunch time we needed a scrappy play/defensive stop. I'm confident Rivers would have got a rebound, steal or block just like the Ohio State game.

I hate our roster management. It sucks.

Roster management is a complete joke. Right now in this program we're all talk and no results.

FWIW - I support Miles 100% and love me some Nebrasketball (more than football, always have always will) - but crap, show some results please. Terrible loss.

[hhcmatt]

No one looked like they wanted to step up last night. We played solid D in the first half and rebounded well with everyone going for boards in a team approach. This changed especially down the stretch. I think the most disconcerting thing was you would think we would have some confidence and momentum ... The arena is empty and quiet ... Penn State was not playing well ... And we didn't keep the hammer down. We looked a bit content at that point and it ended up leading to panic mode and a complete collapse. And these things aren't strange I suppose with a young, inexperienced team but we folded after you'd think we'd have a bit more "want to" and energy after a decent win this week.

I know Petteway is new here but this is his 3rd year around D1 hoops ... Biggs is new to D1 but is older - these two especially need to get on more of an even keel. It can be good to wear your emotions on your sleeve but the body language and emotional overreaction is damaging to the entire team especially when we are inexperienced and young. If, Petteway especially, you want to be a leader you have to find an emotional center and be a bit more stable, especially when the going gets tough.

I try not to overreact to these losses but this one was REALLY there for the picking ... to have a fairly decent lead with PSU playing poorly and zero energy in the arena, this is especially problematic. On to the next game ... We tend to play well at home but we are going to be dealing with a tempo we don't always handle so well.

I would feel a bit better about our future prospects if we had a few more scholarships to give ... We could have some transfers I suppose (Benny, Sergei?) but Miles seems to like Benny as an insurance policy at guard and Sergei seems pretty content here. Is Miles the type of guy to say "you know I like you guys, buuuuut ..."?

GO B1G RED!

 

Great post.

To tack on to it, we have the same core group of guys coming back next year.  Will they figure out how to close games by the start of B1G season next year?

[huskerbaseball13]

Play Benny less also would help

Miles love affair for Parker needs to stop. As long as guys with the talent level of Parker are getting meaningful minutes we should get use to Miles struggling in the Big ten.

Caught Davison and Pavelka talking about how he received the ball in the corner twice and didn't shoot both times.

If he's making them in practice, he should shot. We have plenty of guys who miss shots...if he's not going to take it he's simply a liability on this team.

When he was in PSU didn't even bother to guard him. They dared him to shoot it and he was afraid to. That's fine if he's our best on ball defender. But his defense is not so great to where it makes up for him being a complete no show on offense. It appears we are "one big" and one point guard away. Hopefully we can land a solid JUCO point guard as I'm not confident Webter will ever be the man and we know what we are getting with Parker.

[uneblinstu]

Hopefully we can land a solid JUCO point guard as I'm not confident Webter will ever be the man and we know what we are getting with Parker.

Uh-oh...pet peeve alert...

 

Don't write off the freshman half way through his freshman season...

[49r]

 

Hopefully we can land a solid JUCO point guard as I'm not confident Webter will ever be the man and we know what we are getting with Parker.

Uh-oh...pet peeve alert...

 

Don't write off the freshman half way through his freshman season...

 

 

Yeah, really.

 

Webster is the best freshman PG we've seen around here in a LOOOOONG time.

[bobcat402]

 

 

Hopefully we can land a solid JUCO point guard as I'm not confident Webter will ever be the man and we know what we are getting with Parker.

Uh-oh...pet peeve alert...

 

Don't write off the freshman half way through his freshman season...

 

 

Yeah, really.

 

Webster is the best freshman PG we've seen around here in a LOOOOONG time.

 

.Webster will be just fine, sorry he isnt wiggins, or ennis, or parker and is just dropping 20 every night (even though they are  not even doing that) im willing to bet Lue had his struggles, good luck find a juco guard who is 6'4 204 and has better potential than Tai that will come to NU.

[uneblinstu]

 

 

 

Hopefully we can land a solid JUCO point guard as I'm not confident Webter will ever be the man and we know what we are getting with Parker.

Uh-oh...pet peeve alert...

 

Don't write off the freshman half way through his freshman season...

 

 

Yeah, really.

 

Webster is the best freshman PG we've seen around here in a LOOOOONG time.

 

.Webster will be just fine, sorry he isnt wiggins, or ennis, or parker and is just dropping 20 every night (even though they are  not even doing that) im willing to bet Lue had his struggles, good luck find a juco guard who is 6'4 204 and has better potential than Tai that will come to NU.

 

Lue averaged 8.5 PPG, 3 RPG, 4.1 APG, shot 68.8% from the line. His shooting percentages on FG and 3's stayed fairly constant through his career, but his FT% jumped big time from his FR to SO years.

 

So far Tai's averaging 5.7/2.2/2.3, shooting 60% from the line. He's also playing about 3 minutes less per game than Lue did.

[Ron Mexico]

 

Hopefully we can land a solid JUCO point guard as I'm not confident Webter will ever be the man and we know what we are getting with Parker.

Webster has played for about half a season and you're ready to throw him out? He had a bad game as is typical for a freshman

[huskerbaseball13]

Throw him out? Um no, I'm hoping he stays all four years but I'm not anywhere near confident that he will turn into the player we were hoping he would be. We absolutely need another point guard in this program. Someone who can come in and play right away.

Hopefully we can land a solid JUCO point guard as I'm not confident Webter will ever be the man and we know what we are getting with Parker.

Webster has played for about half a season and you're ready to throw him out? He had a bad game as is typical for a freshman

[Cazzie22]

I'm not sold on Biggs playing.  Too many bad plays overcome the good plays he can make.  Parker must take open shots or their is no reason for him to be in the game.  Team seems to be rudderless with no on court leadership.

[huskerbaseball13]

Hopefully we can land a solid JUCO point guard as I'm not confident Webter will ever be the man and we know what we are getting with Parker.

Webster has played for about half a season and you're ready to throw him out? He had a bad game as is typical for a freshman

Throw him out? Not at all. I'm hoping he sticks around all four years. I'm just not anywhere near confident he will turn out to be the player we were hoping he would be. We absolutely need another PG in this program. Someone that can play right away.

[HoiBall]

 

 

 

 

Hopefully we can land a solid JUCO point guard as I'm not confident Webter will ever be the man and we know what we are getting with Parker.

Uh-oh...pet peeve alert...

 

Don't write off the freshman half way through his freshman season...

 

 

Yeah, really.

 

Webster is the best freshman PG we've seen around here in a LOOOOONG time.

 

.Webster will be just fine, sorry he isnt wiggins, or ennis, or parker and is just dropping 20 every night (even though they are  not even doing that) im willing to bet Lue had his struggles, good luck find a juco guard who is 6'4 204 and has better potential than Tai that will come to NU.

 

Lue averaged 8.5 PPG, 3 RPG, 4.1 APG, shot 68.8% from the line. His shooting percentages on FG and 3's stayed fairly constant through his career, but his FT% jumped big time from his FR to SO years.

 

So far Tai's averaging 5.7/2.2/2.3, shooting 60% from the line. He's also playing about 3 minutes less per game than Lue did.

 

So many variables to Tai's situation. Coming from overseas, being away from home for the first time, not family. I think sometimes we forget the human element to these kids and expect them to be robots that are programmed exactly how we think they should be. He's talented and he will get better! Anyone who has ever played Division 1 athletics will understand the growth that takes place.

[huskerbaseball13]

Hopefully we can land a solid JUCO point guard as I'm not confident Webter will ever be the man and we know what we are getting with Parker.

Uh-oh...pet peeve alert...

Don't write off the freshman half way through his freshman season...

Yeah, really.

Webster is the best freshman PG we've seen around here in a LOOOOONG time.

Based on what exactly? Tai Webster or our previous coaches crappy recruiting? He has good size for a PG but it appears he lack quickness at that position and he currently has zero to no outside game. And, he struggles at the charity stripe. He is solid at finishing when he decides to get into the lane but his handles right now are sub par IMO. He has lots of room for improvement but does he have the making of the top 50 recruit we were told he was? I'm not seeing it. He can be a solid contributor down the road but signing a solid JUCO pg will go a long ways for this team right now.

[uneblinstu]

 

 

 

 

 

Hopefully we can land a solid JUCO point guard as I'm not confident Webter will ever be the man and we know what we are getting with Parker.

Uh-oh...pet peeve alert...

 

Don't write off the freshman half way through his freshman season...

 

 

Yeah, really.

 

Webster is the best freshman PG we've seen around here in a LOOOOONG time.

 

.Webster will be just fine, sorry he isnt wiggins, or ennis, or parker and is just dropping 20 every night (even though they are  not even doing that) im willing to bet Lue had his struggles, good luck find a juco guard who is 6'4 204 and has better potential than Tai that will come to NU.

 

Lue averaged 8.5 PPG, 3 RPG, 4.1 APG, shot 68.8% from the line. His shooting percentages on FG and 3's stayed fairly constant through his career, but his FT% jumped big time from his FR to SO years.

 

So far Tai's averaging 5.7/2.2/2.3, shooting 60% from the line. He's also playing about 3 minutes less per game than Lue did.

 

So many variables to Tai's situation. Coming from overseas, being away from home for the first time, not family. I think sometimes we forget the human element to these kids and expect them to be robots that are programmed exactly how we think they should be. He's talented and he will get better! Anyone who has ever played Division 1 athletics will understand the growth that takes place.

 

Oh, no doubt and it's not necessarilly a parallel progression with Lue either. I think it's too early to even hint at a verdict on the kid.

[TheGov21]

Count me in for the group that is questioning roster management.  Rivers finally gets some action against OSU and is in there at crunch time for the win.  Disappears again against Penn State and Pichford is at the end not giving them any rebounding or defense.  What did Rivers do?

 

I know a lot of people want to put the loss on Biggs and with his two big turnovers at the end of the game and mental lapse on defense and I can see why.  But in my opinion if the Huskes control the boards down the stretch and not give up so many offensive rebounds, the game is a win.

 

I did want to point this out and I don't think I saw it anywhere else (forgive me if somebody else said it). But did anybody else noticed after the game when the players were walking to shake hands they showed Biggs and Nate Hawkins.  Biggs was clearly upset with himself for his mistakes.  But I saw Hawkins put his arm around Biggs and was talking to him clearly trying to pick his spirits up.  This team doesn't seem to have a lot of leadership, so it was nice to see one of the freshman displaying some.

[hhcmatt]

I know a lot of people want to put the loss on Biggs and with his two big turnovers at the end of the game and mental lapse on defense and I can see why.  But in my opinion if the Huskes control the boards down the stretch and not give up so many offensive rebounds, the game is a win.

 

..and turnovers.  Penn St would have had a hard time cracking 50 without us giving them breakaways off of turnovers.

Agreed though...we shouldn't have needed to go down to crunch time in the first place.

[Husker4theSpurs]

When he was in PSU didn't even bother to guard him. They dared him to shoot it and he was afraid to. That's fine if he's our best on ball defender. But his defense is not so great to where it makes up for him being a complete no show on offense. It appears we are "one big" and one point guard away. Hopefully we can land a solid JUCO point guard as I'm not confident Webter will ever be the man and we know what we are getting with Parker.

The staff seems to have concern too with the amount of effort they appear to be putting toward JUCO point guards. I'm with you on concern about Webster. I think he is quicker and more athletic than he is showing right now. Most of his problems I think can be attributable to inexperience and thus confidence. Hopefully he learns how better to get his shot off in traffic as he can get to the hole when he commits to doing so. He tends to hold the ball on his drive/lay-ins to release at the apex rather than releasing the ball more quickly and experience should help with this. The blocks he has experienced have him a bit hesitant to try to score when driving (he already has improved this year however). I'm confident he can improve and get a better feel for this level of basketball leading to improved play over time if he is willing to stick it out here. I fear frustration, confidence issues, homesickness, ability to get paid ASAP may cause him to leave ... I fear this will happen, not that I believe it will happen. I think he can develop into an all conference player with some patience and work on his part.

I have to be honest off the bat ... I dislike Biggs a great deal and am probably overly tough on him. Just not sure he's ever going to get it attitude wise. It's feast or famine with him but I won't argue that we don't need his scoring ability. The overall flow of offense with him at point is very poor. He tends to waste his dribble and puts others in poor positions with his passes at times (I.e. Corners of the court). He is not quite confident in his ability to not get picked so he's apt to make a poor pass or play OR force the issue himself. On defense he tries to look like he's playing hard but it feels like a veiled attempt to me ... He makes quick movements with his extremities but when it comes to getting over a screen or calling out for help he is lacking. His 90% effort on defense makes all the difference. He is the classic egomaniac with an inferiority complex. All about him and unwilling to truly listen ... Makes it difficult to improve in my experience. But, we do need him, I won't deny that.

Petteway does well when he lets the game naturally come to him. He is kind of an enigma to me right now. I am withholding judgement for now.

Gallegos is such a wildcard ... I also think he could use some work on esteem.

Pitchford - I struggle to see what he DOES bring besides height and the occasional 3.

About the only player I feel pretty solid about right now is Smith ... I know I'm not likely alone in that respect.

Just my opinions! Either way should be a fun game Sunday!

[Ron Mexico]

 

 

Hopefully we can land a solid JUCO point guard as I'm not confident Webter will ever be the man and we know what we are getting with Parker.

Webster has played for about half a season and you're ready to throw him out? He had a bad game as is typical for a freshman

Throw him out? Not at all. I'm hoping he sticks around all four years. I'm just not anywhere near confident he will turn out to be the player we were hoping he would be. We absolutely need another PG in this program. Someone that can play right away.

 

You can make that statement with confidence after a half season...for a freshman?

[huskerbaseball13]

Hopefully we can land a solid JUCO point guard as I'm not confident Webter will ever be the man and we know what we are getting with Parker.

Webster has played for about half a season and you're ready to throw him out? He had a bad game as is typical for a freshman

Throw him out? Not at all. I'm hoping he sticks around all four years. I'm just not anywhere near confident he will turn out to be the player we were hoping he would be. We absolutely need another PG in this program. Someone that can play right away.

You can make that statement with confidence after a half season...for a freshman?

Yes I can, I can say I'm not confident that Webster will be the player we all expected him to be. AKA a top 25-50 recruit. By all means, counter my argument. I think he has some very good potential but when I think top 25-50 recruit I think of a prospect that should eventually be all Big Ten. Tai has quite of bit of work to do to get to that level If you are being honest. Like I said I love his size at that position but you can't teach quickness. He needs to live in the gym this summer and work on his jump shot and ball handling.

[uneblinstu]

You don't think he has the potential to be All-B1G in a couple years?

[huskerbaseball13]

You don't think he has the potential to be All-B1G in a couple years?

. You are reading what you want to read. I never said this. I did say I'm not confident he will ever be that type of player. 1. Will he be here in a few years? 2. Just driving the lane is not going to get it done. He has to develop a jump shot. Do that and his game will improve dramatically.

[uneblinstu]

You can parse the semantics however you'd like, but that's the start of the journey to writing the kid off.

[HB]

Tai's a combo guard, and Miles would like to play him more at the 2. Unfortunately, that's hard to do this year, since Biggs also isn't a pure point.  I like Tai a lot, but he will need to improve a lot on his outside shot in order to be an upper level 2 guard.