Teams are packing the lane against us and our offense is struggling.

[bkamler]

Petteway looks to me like he is having lower back issues. His shoot has been coming up way short which is probably the result of not being able to jump as high as he usually does.

 

So, if Petteway is unable to hit the outside shots, he is relegated to drivingl..

 

Shields is primarily a driver with an occasional jump shot.

 

Webster is primarily a driver with a brick or two from the outside. His backup Parker might hit an occasional 10 footer or a layup but he and Webster are basically unguarded unless they drive.

 

Rivers is primarily a jump shooter but his range is about 12 feet in. Rivers is basically unguarded when he more than ten feet from the rim.

 

Pitchford is a good outside jump shooter but doesn't create his shot but does drive once or twice a game now.

 

This means the defense is packing the lane to stop our primary offensive weapons Petteway and Shields. This also means that Pitchford must be "on" for us to have a chance to score enough to win.

 

Gallegos "is" being guarded outside but I don't know why as he is as cold as the weather for the last 8 games or so. His shoots are so far off it isn't funny.

 

Hawkins is making about one out of four threes and doesn't drive, so no need to guard him.

 

Smith is down low and doing pretty well shooting two footers lately.

 

Bottom line is that the defense only needs to guard two or three of our offensive players past the 15 foot area depending on who's on the floor. The result is that they can sag back and provide help for whoever is guarding Petteway, Shields or Pitchford.

 

We desparately need Petteway to heal up and get his game back. We also need Gallegos or Hawkins to hit 4 to 5 threes between them and Pitchford needs to score 14 or more for us to have a chance to win our next two games.

 

Finally, we need about 10 to 12 points between Rivers, Smith and Parker. This would give us around 65 points and our defense is good enough to make that stand up for a win.

 

 

[colhusker]

We still need THAT guy who can create his own shot and knock down the jump night in and night out.  (See Brown at Missouri)

[doc1394]

Petteway's back is one of the main reason why a 4 seed would be great. I don't think he can play back to back to back days on that back, so if we could get another day's rest, that would significantly help out our quarterfinals or even semifinal chances

[GoBigRed]

We still need THAT guy who can create his own shot and knock down the jump night in and night out. (See Brown at Missouri)

Uh is that not Terran Petteway? The guy has been lights out for all but a couple Big Ten games.

[hhcdave]

Where are people hearing that Petteway's back is all of a sudden so bad that he couldn't play back to back games on it? I haven't heard anything credible about back issues - did I miss it?

[PimpMario]

When they announced Cary Cochran I started dreaming of the next long range assassin to wear the scarlet and cream.

 

Can you imagine Cochran playing with Petteway and Shields.  The drive and dish opportunities.  

 

I HATE it when teams get open 3s in the corner because we never seem to, and if we do certainly can't knock them down.

 

Then when they announced Talley I wanted him to suit up because he was always good for 30+% of his 3s.

 

----------

 

But lets be honest, we didn't start winning games because of our offense, it was all about the defense.

[1sdpad2]

This is why I don't share the same enthusiasm about getting to the big dance as everyone else.  We are beat up right now.  It took a lot out of us to pull out that win in Northwestern game at the end.  We have played out tails off to get to this point and we still have some more games we need to win.  We are going to be around 6 pt dogs to both of the remaining regular season teams.  Anything can happen, but it is going to be real tough to go to Indiana and pick up a win.  Indy is rolling right now.  You'd have to argue that it would be our second biggest win of the year.  We are still really bad away from home right now.  I have a little more faith in winning at home against Wisconsin with the extra energy the arena and the crowd can give the team.    Obviously winning the last two regular season games would be huge, but it is very unlikely.  Hopefully we can somehow find out how to get a win in these next two games and let the cards fall where they may.  I'm hoping we finish with that 5 seed and get a date with Iowa in the second round.  I think that is the best recipe to get two wins in the tournament and be a lock for the real tournament at the end.  I'd also take a back door 4 seed, but that is highly unlikely in my opinion.  I also share the same fear someone else mentioned about playing back to back days.  Once again we are real beat up and not deep.  It will be hard to string together more than two wins at the Big 10 tournament.

[lanigan123]

Nebraska really needs to win Wednesday without a win, it will be really hard to stay on the bubble.

[hhcmatt]

If you have a bad back, how is it easier to take the ball to the rim than it is to shoot a 3?

 

We haven't consistently shot well from outside the entire year.

We've shot 33.5% for the year and 32% in conference from 3pt range.

If your defensive game plan hasn't been to sag into the lane in conference to stop the Huskers, what are you doing?

 

We're probably not going to suddenly get better at 3 point shooting.  Thus, we need to keep with what poor shooting teams use to score: make it to the FT line.

 

When the Huskers shoot 18 FT or less per game: They're 3-9

When the Huskers shoot 19 FT or more per game: They're 14-2

 

Currently our two best guys at drawing fouls are Petteway and Shavon.

Earlier in the season it was Webster but he's essentially stopped driving.  You sure can worry about his shot but I'm a lot more concerned about his lack of aggression.  Parker has been great on defense and has been better with his shot but doesn't use his quickness to run into slower defenders.

 

As far as outside shooting goes, Pitch is one of our best.  Would love to see him pull the trigger a bit more.

[Norm Peterson]

I'm with Dave.  Where is this stuff coming from about Petteway being so beat up and having such bad back problems that he wouldn't be able to play 3 consecutive conference tourney games? 

 

Teams have ups and downs.  We've been down the last few games but have still been competitive, even on the road at Illinois.

 

When we're on, we've proven we can beat anyone in the league. 

 

I think the issue of whether we get into the NCAA or not depends on whether we get back to being on and get there quick.  If Petteway and Shields are stroking it from deep at Indiana and Walter is his usual self (and no one goes particularly cold) we'll beat Indiana.  And we'll beat Wisconsin under the same circumstances. 

 

Although we might need a little help from Wisconsin -- especially Kaminski -- going cold.   Kaminski is a beast.  Be nice to get him in foul trouble.

[nebrasketball10]

I'm with Dave. Where is this stuff coming from about Petteway being so beat up and having such bad back problems that he wouldn't be able to play 3 consecutive conference tourney games?

Teams have ups and downs. We've been down the last few games but have still been competitive, even on the road at Illinois.

When we're on, we've proven we can beat anyone in the league.

I think the issue of whether we get into the NCAA or not depends on whether we get back to being on and get there quick. If Petteway and Shields are stroking it from deep at Indiana and Walter is his usual self (and no one goes particularly cold) we'll beat Indiana. And we'll beat Wisconsin under the same circumstances.

Although we might need a little help from Wisconsin -- especially Kaminski -- going cold. Kaminski is a beast. Be nice to get him in foul trouble.

Was at practice Friday and he looked pretty gimpy, but was a full participant.

[bkamler]

Where are people hearing that Petteway's back is all of a sudden so bad that he couldn't play back to back games on it? I haven't heard anything credible about back issues - did I miss it?

 

I believe it was the Illinois game that Petteway didn't even warm up for second because he was being treated for back spasms.

[Norm Peterson]

OK.  Good to know.  Hopefully Terran can get back in the game with some chiropractic so he can make it through the end of the season playing reasonably well.

[colhusker]

 

We still need THAT guy who can create his own shot and knock down the jump night in and night out. (See Brown at Missouri)

Uh is that not Terran Petteway? The guy has been lights out for all but a couple Big Ten games.

 

He is close, yes he has hit some key shots but I want a Brown like player is on all the dang time.

[49r]

OK.  Good to know.  Hopefully Terran can get back in the game with some chiropractic so he can make it through the end of the season playing reasonably well.

 

I thought it was "stay in the game" and get a prostate exam or something like that?

 

Or was it a colon cancer screening?

[Norm Peterson]

I guess it's "get your life back with chiropractic."  I thought it was "get back in the game."  "Stay in the game" is the colon cancer get checked slogan.  I must have had chiropractors and butt doctors mixed up.  It's an easy thing to do, of course, since my back stops at my butt.

[hhcdave]

I like that we have a nice long time between games this week. Saturday-Wednesday-Sunday. Three full days off between games. That's only happened maybe two other times during the conference so its a nice time.

 

Terran is going to be fine. They have world class doctors/trainers/equipment at UNL and let's remember these kids are 20 and 21, not old and decripid like us.

[Silverbacked1]

I guess it's "get your life back with chiropractic." I thought it was "get back in the game." "Stay in the game" is the colon cancer get checked slogan. I must have had chiropractors and butt doctors mixed up. It's an easy thing to do, of course, since my back stops at my butt.

Wait your's does? I don't know about mine, I can't see it.

[lanigan123]

I believe it to be more exhaustive than anything else!

[49r]

One could also say that one's back starts at the butt, too!

 

Either way, it's a good idea to get a colon cancer screening.

 

And a prostate exam, too.

[leonidas]

I think another thing to keep in mind is that we just played two teams who have been excellent defensively as of late. Things may not be as bad as some are making them out to be.

[Silverbacked1]

One could also say that one's back starts at the butt, too!

 

Either way, it's a good idea to get a colon cancer screening.

 

And a prostate exam, too.

Had 3 colonoscopy in a week once. The tumor ended up being on the outside of the colon.

[49r]

 

One could also say that one's back starts at the butt, too!

 

Either way, it's a good idea to get a colon cancer screening.

 

And a prostate exam, too.

Had 3 colonoscopy in a week once. The tumor ended up being on the outside of the colon.

 

 

 

Talk about packing the lane!!!  

[Silverbacked1]

Yeah didn't get to eat much that week. and drank the "stuff" twice. A CTA would have found what they were looking for right away.

[49r]

Not to make too much light of the subject though, colon cancer is no joke.  My grandmother lived with it for 30 years.  (was given 6 months to live when they first found it)

 

She was a heavy smoker and drinker, too.  Tough old bird.  Finally succumbed to lung cancer at 92 years old.

 

Point is...stay in the game folks.  Get that colon cancer screen!  I've done it, and like Kent says, "it's no big deal".

 

Best wishes to you Silver!  Your strength in the face of difficulties is actually an inspiration to me.