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01/26/2014 - Minnesota Report Card


hhcdave

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OFFENSE: A

 

Nebraska did a fantastic job getting the shot they wanted nearly every single possession today and it was no coincidence that they scored their career high in the Big 10 (82 points) on 50% shooting from both the field and downtown.

 

It was refreshing to see them handle the zone with ease and only get turned over once (Tai Webster late in the second) against the zone press they saw almost the entire game.

 

What more can you say about Terran Petteway other than he played his best game as a Husker, scoring a career-high 35 points (and the most since Aleks Maric in 2007) on 10-15 shooting to go along with six rebounds, three assists and two turnovers. The scary thing is that this kid still has a lot of ceiling left, too. Love seeing an NBA player at Nebraska again.

 

I have to call Shavon Shields the most underrated factor in this contest, as he scored some VERY KEY baskets while Petteway was on the bench with four fouls late in the second and NU was in dire need of baskets during a Golden Gopher run. Shields only scored 10 but they were a key 10 (how big was the three before the half)?

 

All I can say is that it was truly fun to watch Petteway today.

 

DEFENSE: A

 

Nebraska was TRE-MENDOUS today!!! Best defensive game of the Tim Miles era.

 

The doubling of guards with our Bigs completely ceased dribble drives for a good portion of this game and helped force 13 key turnovers and several late shock clock contested three's.

 

Nebraska was active with its feet AND hands for once, stealing the ball EIGHT TIMES (I'm sure a season high) and swatting away three key shots.

 

David Rivers, Benny Parker and Ray Gallegos deserve special mention for the work they did on the defensive end.

And, maybe there's something to the talk of NU's W-L record with Rivers getting significant minutes.

 

REBOUNDING: A

 

Nebraska and Minnesota finished dead even on the boards (32-32) and NU held the Gophers to a very quiet eight offensive boards.

 

Once again, Petteway and Shields led the way with six boards each.

 

BALL HANDLING: A+

 

19 assists to 11 turnovers. FANTASTIC - THIS is what good teams do!

 

One completely unfair and pointless question I'd like to throw out - what happens in this game, both offensively and defensively, if Deverell Biggs had played? Do we play as good of defense knowing his well publicized deficiencies? Do we share the ball as well and break the press all day? Just sayin'.

 

COACHING: A+

 

Coach showed guts in disciplining Biggs, first of all, just before the game today.

 

Second of all, coach had an awesome defensive game plan that his players completely bought into.

 

He did a marvelous job with substitutions, especially at the end going offense-defense when the foul-a-thon ensued.

 

His team got good shots 95% of its possessions today and its defense created offense (10 fast break points and 14 off of turnovers).

 

This was the best game of the season.

 

OVERALL GRADE: A

 

Nebraska played well in every facet of its game today. Would like to see more stops, less fouling and more made free throws in the last 90 seconds of games in which we have leads, but that's a symptom of being a young basketball team.

 

I can't say enough about how impressed I was with this victory against a very good NCAA Tournament team (8-9 seed).

 

PLAYER OF THE GAME: TERRAN PETTEWAY

 

2013-2014 PLAYER OF THE GAME RESULTS:

 

TERRAN PETTEWAY - 10

 

TAI WEBSTER - 2

 

WALTER PITCHFORD - 2

 

LESLEE SMITH - 2

 

SHAVON SHIELDS - 2

 

DEVERELL BIGGS - 1



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Rivers needs to play a lot more, and these wins prove it.  Despite the heart he has (which is a legitimate thing to bring to the table), he has B1G athleticism and is an excellent defender.  Our toughness improves quite a bit when he is in the game.  I think he and Pitch should split minutes at the 4.  They bring entirely different things to the court.

 

Speaking of Pitch, I was glad to see him shotfake and draw a foul.  Dude is athletic.  His ability to shoot the three should make him a legitimate threat to take it to the rim and draw some fouls (even if they're on the floor) on some opposing bigs.

 

Petteway is turning into one of my all time favorites.  I'm not sure I ever remember a sophomore so fearless.  The guy is a warrior out there.

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Liked a lot about this game and don't want to be a downer but they really missed Dre Hollins, he probably would have been checking Terran. But injuries happen and definitely took advantage. 

 

Mini-quibble, why have Tai coming back to get the ball against the press in an obvious foul situation? I want Rey and Terran to catch that inbounds. 

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Liked a lot about this game and don't want to be a downer but they really missed Dre Hollins, he probably would have been checking Terran. But injuries happen and definitely took advantage. 

 

Mini-quibble, why have Tai coming back to get the ball against the press in an obvious foul situation? I want Rey and Terran to catch that inbounds. 

 

With Maliek Smith going off for 29, I wouldn't say they exactly missed Dre all that much...

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Liked a lot about this game and don't want to be a downer but they really missed Dre Hollins, he probably would have been checking Terran. But injuries happen and definitely took advantage. 

 

Mini-quibble, why have Tai coming back to get the ball against the press in an obvious foul situation? I want Rey and Terran to catch that inbounds. 

 

With Maliek Smith going off for 29, I wouldn't say they exactly missed Dre all that much...

 

Yes they did. He's the leader of that team on both ends of the court. With as much as Minnesota struggled defensively, he would have made a pretty big difference for them.

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I think we played well on defense.  Having said that it is easy to find some things to improve upon, thus lowering our grade.

For starters a guy went off for 30.  Smith had several wide open looks in the 2nd half after Miles tweeted about containing him at halftime.  

 

Also, we fouled several times in the last 2 minutes which stopped the game and allowed Minnesota to score points without taking time off the clock.  Not good defense.

 

I would rate our defense at B.

 

It seems like these grades are on a scale where the worst possible grade is a C+.  It also seems like if we win then everything automatically starts a letter grade higher.

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Believe me, the worst possible grade isn't a "C+." You can ask longtime readers about that!! Haha.

 

I thought Nebraska played the best game of the year yesterday and all "A's" were warranted. The "A" on defense might not be applicable for a good defensive team but for this team, which is NOT good defensively, I thought it was warranted based on their ability level.

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Believe me, the worst possible grade isn't a "C+." You can ask longtime readers about that!! Haha.

 

I thought Nebraska played the best game of the year yesterday and all "A's" were warranted. The "A" on defense might not be applicable for a good defensive team but for this team, which is NOT good defensively, I thought it was warranted based on their ability level.

 

I meant in a win.  You can win the game and still play like crap in one or all aspect of a game (see OSU and PSU for good examples).  

 

Your argument of judging the defense relative to our past performances is interesting, but I certainly wouldn't look at it that way.

 

Eventually we have to start raising our expectations if we actually want this program to start being relevant.  

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Liked a lot about this game and don't want to be a downer but they really missed Dre Hollins, he probably would have been checking Terran. But injuries happen and definitely took advantage. 

 

Mini-quibble, why have Tai coming back to get the ball against the press in an obvious foul situation? I want Rey and Terran to catch that inbounds. 

Well, we were missing Deverell and a true post man :)

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Believe me, the worst possible grade isn't a "C+." You can ask longtime readers about that!! Haha.

 

I thought Nebraska played the best game of the year yesterday and all "A's" were warranted. The "A" on defense might not be applicable for a good defensive team but for this team, which is NOT good defensively, I thought it was warranted based on their ability level.

 

I meant in a win.  You can win the game and still play like crap in one or all aspect of a game (see OSU and PSU for good examples).  

 

I can guarantee that there would have been a D or worse in the report card had we beaten Penn St.

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