Body language

[Norm Peterson]

This is OT for the recruiting board but I am putting it here because I don't really want it on a public area of the forum.  Members only stuff.  You'll understand why in the next paragraph.

 

There's been a lot of talk about bad body language.  Even recently, a lot of the talk about what Terran needs to do to improve for next year included discussion of improving his body language, which was premised on the idea that he seems to pout a bit when things don't go his way.  I think Terran is very hard on himself.  I don't think his pouting is about being selfish and being angry when he doesn't get his touches.  I think it's more about having high expectations for himself.  The thread on the Hardwood that wandered into a discussion of whether Tai Webster might not start next year got me thinking:  As between Tai and Walt, who has the better attitude? 

 

Terran might get down on himself, but I've never heard anything about him having the kinds of "poor me" meltdowns I've heard about Pitchford, most recently after our NCAA tourney loss when he got a little bit butthurt about his teammates not getting him the ball.  Does Tai have that problem?  Or is Tai more about team than he is about Tai?  I don't know.  Just honestly asking the question.  Because I suspect the answer to that question could go a long way to determining which of those two players might be seeing more time on the bench next year.

[Silverbacked1]

I think they are all 20 somethings that play a game at a high level in an arena that adds to the excitement.

I don't worry about it because it is the way it is. Like this much better than the "my bad" guy.

[TheKamdyMan]

There's guys that have bad body language that can still be a team leader.  You can count on them in the clutch when you need them.  Terran wears his emotions on his sleeves but hes the hardest working player on the team.  So you cant always take what you see as face value.  Factor in what you see with Tai, you dont necessarily see "bad body language" but you could easily see as the year went on he went in a downward spiral.  Thats why I try to give coaches every benefit of the doubt when said player isnt playing as much, or why is so in so in for a certain match-up etc.  They are around them and can see what a lot of us cannot behind closed doors and also know said players personality and can tell when things arent right.

[Silverbacked1]

There's guys that have bad body language that can still be a team leader.  You can count on them in the clutch when you need them.  Terran wears his emotions on his sleeves but hes the hardest working player on the team.  So you cant always take what you see as face value.  Factor in what you see with Tai, you dont necessarily see "bad body language" but you could easily see as the year went on he went in a downward spiral.  Thats why I try to give coaches every benefit of the doubt when said player isnt playing as much, or why is so in so in for a certain match-up etc.  They are around them and can see what a lot of us cannot behind closed doors and also know said players personality and can tell when things arent right.

Oh boy are you wrong there Kamdy, don't you know we as a collective on this and many other websites know soooooooo much more than somebody who right there.

[bobcat402]

There's guys that have bad body language that can still be a team leader.  You can count on them in the clutch when you need them.  Terran wears his emotions on his sleeves but hes the hardest working player on the team.  So you cant always take what you see as face value.  Factor in what you see with Tai, you dont necessarily see "bad body language" but you could easily see as the year went on he went in a downward spiral.  Thats why I try to give coaches every benefit of the doubt when said player isnt playing as much, or why is so in so in for a certain match-up etc.  They are around them and can see what a lot of us cannot behind closed doors and also know said players personality and can tell when things arent right.

id agree, i don't think Tai had bad body language, you could just read it on his face, he was frustrated, with his lack of confidence. Just some lip reading between Miles and Tai, would show all season he was telling him to stop pressing, and towards the end of the season has we started winning, and Benny stepped up, i think Tai's patience, and presence on the court improved, i would of liked him to shoot more, but i understand when you dont believe you can hit the broad side of a barn, your not going to shoot, your more inclined to facilitate to Terran, Walt, and Shavon. I think it will improve this year,

[GATA]

There's guys that have bad body language that can still be a team leader. You can count on them in the clutch when you need them. Terran wears his emotions on his sleeves but hes the hardest working player on the team. So you cant always take what you see as face value. Factor in what you see with Tai, you dont necessarily see "bad body language" but you could easily see as the year went on he went in a downward spiral. Thats why I try to give coaches every benefit of the doubt when said player isnt playing as much, or why is so in so in for a certain match-up etc. They are around them and can see what a lot of us cannot behind closed doors and also know said players personality and can tell when things arent right.

id agree, i don't think Tai had bad body language, you could just read it on his face, he was frustrated, with his lack of confidence. Just some lip reading between Miles and Tai, would show all season he was telling him to stop pressing, and towards the end of the season has we started winning, and Benny stepped up, i think Tai's patience, and presence on the court improved, i would of liked him to shoot more, but i understand when you dont believe you can hit the broad side of a barn, your not going to shoot, your more inclined to facilitate to Terran, Walt, and Shavon. I think it will improve this year,

I wouldn't say Tai's presence on the court improved down the stretch. Heck, it was hard to notice he was even on the court at all. He regressed badly down the stretch and failed to make any kind of impact over our final 10 games or so. That leads me to the patience part of it. I don't think it was patience as much as it was passivity.

I know that sounds harsh, but I believe it's completely true. And that doesn't mean Tai can't or won't improve. I'm just making my observations based on what I saw last year, particularly down the stretch when you think he would have been flashing a little bit more.

[Minnesota_Husker]

Great topic and an area that I hope will improve with winning.

 

When shots werent falling or we werent getting calls, the body language wasnt what we need.. It wasnt finger-pointing but it was negative and almost felt like they were giving up.

 

I think this comes with them all being pretty young and inexperienced but your leaders need to lead by example. Cant hang your head.

 

I think this will improve with Mol joining.

[GATA]

Great topic and an area that I hope will improve with winning.

 

When shots werent falling or we werent getting calls, the body language wasnt what we need.. It wasnt finger-pointing but it was negative and almost felt like they were giving up.

 

I think this comes with them all being pretty young and inexperienced but your leaders need to lead by example. Cant hang your head.

 

I think this will improve with Mol joining.

 

Petteway got himself 1 or 2 frustration fouls a game. It was frustrating enough for me that I wanted to commit a couple of frustration fouls to my TV remote.

[Donkey]

It is interesting this entire discussion focuses upon the play of a freshman and the sophomores of the team. Had there been more of a senior presence I wonder if this topic would have even popped up. Had, for instance, Ubel still been on this team as the senior captain there may have been fewer losses and more consistency earlier in the season. Do not get me wrong, Shavon really has impressed me in a leadership role, but it is very hard to lead from such an inexperienced position.

I guess this is just one more area where Miles needs to see growth next year.

[Huskerpapa]

I am pretty sure body language has been, and will continue to be a topic that Terran himself would like to alter.  I also tend to agree that his body language is a byproduct of his own internal drive, not due to outward influences.  He sooo much wants to be perfect that he is tremendously hard on himself.  That internal whip is what likely drives him to success.  That drive simply needs to be channeled and he likely will be fine.  The issue is with the message he sends to his teammates, coaches and the opponents when his shoulders slump and he appears to pout. 

 

At the beginning of the year, I and many others likely misinterpreted his body language.  I thought it was selfish...I do not not think that way now. 

 

As far as Tai...the kid has talent.  At the beginning of the year I believe he thought he could step onto the floor and that talent would flow just as it did back home.  As the year wore on, I believe it struck him that talent alone would not get it done on the floor.  That realization then triggered frustration.  I do believe he is going to be fine.  I believe our staff will work with him and develop the talent and get his head focused on the American game.  I hope (and believe) we will see a different Tai next year.

 

Pitch is perhaps more "unique."  There were a few issues in the last few games.  Where Shavon and Terran can create their own shots, Pitch needs the ball fed to him when he breaks free.  Perhaps Walter will work on his creative moves in the off season, but last year he was dependant on others.  When he is feeling it, and does not get the ball, he likely is getting more and more frustrated...especially when we are losing.  Part of that is on the coaches, part of that is on Walter and part of that is on his teammates.  Meaning, plays sometimes need to be called in order to share the ball, Walter perhaps needs to understand the game flow and his teammates have to understand, and get him his shots. 

 

Young team with talent and some maturity yet to come.  The sky is still the limit.

[Hooper]

I feel that Tai had a great attitude last season, honestly. He even told Miles when pressed to be more aggressive on the court that he felt he was the "fifth scoring option," and didn't feel as though it was his place to try to score a lot on that team. That shows maturity to me, as well as the way he responded in general to the transition from NZ, where he was king of the hill, to Nebraska, where he was outclassed by most of his teammates and opponents and was low man on the totem pole. That type of "demotion" is hard to accept, but he seemed to handle it with a lot of maturity.

 

Walter is just an emotional guy who may be more prone to reacting emotionally to adversity than some others. Last year when a girl dumped him, he took it really hard, deleted his Twitter account and seemed to handle it really poorly. My suspicion is that Walt has a bit of a fragile psyche. Just my take, and I could be wrong. It doesn't seem like a major issue regardless.

 

As for Terran, I'd like to see him stop the overt pouting when things don't go his way. Everyone gets frustrated, but it's how you handle that frustration that matters, and Terran has to understand that he's the team leader out there. The other guys, and especially the younger guys, look to him for guidance. He needs to set the tone, and the hyper-frustration and "woe is me" stuff impacts his ability to lead the team in the face of adversity.

 

I'd like to see a bit more of an even-keeled temperament from Terran when things go south. I love the excitement on the other side when things are going great, but would like to see better body language from Terran for the reasons I just stated, and I feel it would benefit his professional future in the game as well.

 

Unfortunately for Terran, it's not just a leadership issue, as it's actually impeded his ability to rush back on defense after a bad offensive play. He's sometimes too busy thinking about a mistake and not busy enough getting back on defense.