Main differences I see: Complete Team and Identity.

[Fullbacksympathy]

CU doesn't have any stars this year, but they have two main things we don't, and I really don't blame Miles entirely for this yet:

 

1.  They are a complete team.

2.  They have an identity.

 

If you are adding up talent points, I suppose we are better, but certainly not by much.  

 

If you are factoring in positions, they win in a land slide.  They have a true center, pf, wing, sg, and pg.  You can also tell they specifically recruited 3-point shooters (tps) for positions 1-3 (sometimes 4).  That is a huge difference when comparing Benny (who has worked hard to become a serviceable tps), Tai (who clearly can't shoot the ball), and Shavon (only a sometimes serviceable tps).  

 

If Pitchford doesn't rebound, he doesn't count as a 4 or 5.  He becomes a glorified 2.  I've been happy with Moses' effort, but he is our only true 5, and he's not all that talented.  Rivers has the heart and toughness of a 4, but the body of a 3.  

 

Like I said, I have patience for Miles in this regard.  He's bringing in two true, highly rated PFs next year.  We will be completely different with their identities.  Additionally, we'll have a shooting pg and and very legitimate tps in AWIII.  If Terran stays, we could potentially have 4 tps on the floor (Watson, Petteway, AWIII, Jacobson) in the same lineup.  Think about how much that would space the floor for driving lanes.  

 

From a personnel standpoint, the future is bright.  We'll be a complete team next season.  

 

Regarding identity, I would really like to understand, with the tremendous transition finishers we have in Terran, Benny, Shavon, Tai, Rivers, and Smith, why in the hell we wouldn't push tempo against a team of interior athletes like CU.  I understand that's the tempo they want, but that doesn't mean they are the best at it.  There's no way they had the players to keep up with us in a transition game, at home, especially since they were rolling out a bigger, slower lineup.  Instead, we slowed down every possession, as if to give them a breather.  That was really baffling to me.  

 

I would like to see this team run like hell and get to the rim.  We don't have a Gallegos to run around the perimeter as a tps this year.  That threat is gone and it was exposed in the game last night.  

 

It's tricky.  Miles clearly knows what he wants his system to be, but he doesn't necessarily have the personnel to execute entirely yet.  I wonder if he'll make any special adjustments to cater more to this year's roster, or if he's trying to implement a culture and identity that will solidify/identify future teams.  

[HuskerBB]

I agree about pushing tempo.  When we were not able to get to the hoop in the half-court you would think maybe we try to do that more in transition.   That said - you have to rebound to push tempo and we were not rebounding that well either.  But when we did have the opportunity to play faster in transitiion it did not seem like we wanted to do so.

 

[hhcmatt]

I agree about pushing tempo.  When we were not able to get to the hoop in the half-court you would think maybe we try to do that more in transition.   That said - you have to rebound to push tempo and we were not rebounding that well either.  But when we did have the opportunity to play faster in transitiion it did not seem like we wanted to do so.

 

If teams are going to pack the lanes against the Huskers, it would be advantageous to try and arrive there before they're set.  It's not like we have to wait around for a big man to get down there. 

 

Here's hoping we have an "oh yeah" moment like last year's removal of Biggs that doesn't involve losing a player and comes sooner in the season.

[FredsSlacks]

There was a time in last night's game where shavon got the rebound and dribbled full court for an easy lay up before Creightons 2 big guys even passed half court.

 

I feel like we could have done this all game, but we kept walking the ball upcourt and let creightons big guys set up in the lane.

[ajb5856]

It seems like when we really got it going at times last year it was because our defense led to a transition game and then we were relentless in pushing it up the floor. A lot of times Benny or Petteway got to the rim and either got a bucket or drew a foul. Shields would often catch an outlet pass on the sideline and roar down the wing.

[PeltzFan12]

Very good point TimSmiles, we rarely scored easy baskets in transition, I even commented to the guys next to me, we just weren't getting some of those baskets in transition like we usually do.  

[Chuck Taylor]

I wonder if our tempo is due to having Jim Molinari  on staff. His teams have always played a slow, defensive grinder style.

[jimmykc]

This would have never happened if we still had David Anwar on the staff.

[bball23]

CU doesn't have any stars this year, but they have two main things we don't, and I really don't blame Miles entirely for this yet:

 

1.  They are a complete team.

2.  They have an identity.

 

If you are adding up talent points, I suppose we are better, but certainly not by much.  

 

If you are factoring in positions, they win in a land slide.  They have a true center, pf, wing, sg, and pg.  You can also tell they specifically recruited 3-point shooters (tps) for positions 1-3 (sometimes 4).  That is a huge difference when comparing Benny (who has worked hard to become a serviceable tps), Tai (who clearly can't shoot the ball), and Shavon (only a sometimes serviceable tps).  

 

If Pitchford doesn't rebound, he doesn't count as a 4 or 5.  He becomes a glorified 2.  I've been happy with Moses' effort, but he is our only true 5, and he's not all that talented.  Rivers has the heart and toughness of a 4, but the body of a 3.  

 

Like I said, I have patience for Miles in this regard.  He's bringing in two true, highly rated PFs next year.  We will be completely different with their identities.  Additionally, we'll have a shooting pg and and very legitimate tps in AWIII.  If Terran stays, we could potentially have 4 tps on the floor (Watson, Petteway, AWIII, Jacobson) in the same lineup.  Think about how much that would space the floor for driving lanes.  

 

From a personnel standpoint, the future is bright.  We'll be a complete team next season.  

 

Regarding identity, I would really like to understand, with the tremendous transition finishers we have in Terran, Benny, Shavon, Tai, Rivers, and Smith, why in the hell we wouldn't push tempo against a team of interior athletes like CU.  I understand that's the tempo they want, but that doesn't mean they are the best at it.  There's no way they had the players to keep up with us in a transition game, at home, especially since they were rolling out a bigger, slower lineup.  Instead, we slowed down every possession, as if to give them a breather.  That was really baffling to me.  

 

I would like to see this team run like hell and get to the rim.  We don't have a Gallegos to run around the perimeter as a tps this year.  That threat is gone and it was exposed in the game last night.  

 

It's tricky.  Miles clearly knows what he wants his system to be, but he doesn't necessarily have the personnel to execute entirely yet.  I wonder if he'll make any special adjustments to cater more to this year's roster, or if he's trying to implement a culture and identity that will solidify/identify future teams.  

Kind of funny you make the comment about them having all these "shooters" on the team.  CU is shooting 35% on the year from 3 and we are at 32%.  So it's not like they are this "great shooting team" this year.  They were hot vs us, we were awful.  That's basketball sometimes. 

 

I like our team more than I like their team.  Most of their fans even assumed we would roll in that game, they played better than us on that particular night.  Doesn't mean we won't end up the better team as the year goes on, and in fact I would venture to guess we will be.  Kudos to them for beating us on Sunday night.  I still like our team better than their's.  Do you think NJIT is better than Michigan?  Not at all, but they were on the night they played.  Upsets happen in basketball ALL the time.  Its why I love it so much!  Were we better than Wisconsin last year?  Not even close.  But on that last game of the year, on that particular day we were. 

[Fullbacksympathy]

 

CU doesn't have any stars this year, but they have two main things we don't, and I really don't blame Miles entirely for this yet:

 

1.  They are a complete team.

2.  They have an identity.

 

If you are adding up talent points, I suppose we are better, but certainly not by much.  

 

If you are factoring in positions, they win in a land slide.  They have a true center, pf, wing, sg, and pg.  You can also tell they specifically recruited 3-point shooters (tps) for positions 1-3 (sometimes 4).  That is a huge difference when comparing Benny (who has worked hard to become a serviceable tps), Tai (who clearly can't shoot the ball), and Shavon (only a sometimes serviceable tps).  

 

If Pitchford doesn't rebound, he doesn't count as a 4 or 5.  He becomes a glorified 2.  I've been happy with Moses' effort, but he is our only true 5, and he's not all that talented.  Rivers has the heart and toughness of a 4, but the body of a 3.  

 

Like I said, I have patience for Miles in this regard.  He's bringing in two true, highly rated PFs next year.  We will be completely different with their identities.  Additionally, we'll have a shooting pg and and very legitimate tps in AWIII.  If Terran stays, we could potentially have 4 tps on the floor (Watson, Petteway, AWIII, Jacobson) in the same lineup.  Think about how much that would space the floor for driving lanes.  

 

From a personnel standpoint, the future is bright.  We'll be a complete team next season.  

 

Regarding identity, I would really like to understand, with the tremendous transition finishers we have in Terran, Benny, Shavon, Tai, Rivers, and Smith, why in the hell we wouldn't push tempo against a team of interior athletes like CU.  I understand that's the tempo they want, but that doesn't mean they are the best at it.  There's no way they had the players to keep up with us in a transition game, at home, especially since they were rolling out a bigger, slower lineup.  Instead, we slowed down every possession, as if to give them a breather.  That was really baffling to me.  

 

I would like to see this team run like hell and get to the rim.  We don't have a Gallegos to run around the perimeter as a tps this year.  That threat is gone and it was exposed in the game last night.  

 

It's tricky.  Miles clearly knows what he wants his system to be, but he doesn't necessarily have the personnel to execute entirely yet.  I wonder if he'll make any special adjustments to cater more to this year's roster, or if he's trying to implement a culture and identity that will solidify/identify future teams.  

Kind of funny you make the comment about them having all these "shooters" on the team.  CU is shooting 35% on the year from 3 and we are at 32%.  So it's not like they are this "great shooting team" this year.  They were hot vs us, we were awful.  That's basketball sometimes. 

 

I like our team more than I like their team.  Most of their fans even assumed we would roll in that game, they played better than us on that particular night.  Doesn't mean we won't end up the better team as the year goes on, and in fact I would venture to guess we will be.  Kudos to them for beating us on Sunday night.  I still like our team better than their's.  Do you think NJIT is better than Michigan?  Not at all, but they were on the night they played.  Upsets happen in basketball ALL the time.  Its why I love it so much!  Were we better than Wisconsin last year?  Not even close.  But on that last game of the year, on that particular day we were. 

 

 

They have more players capable of making 3s than we do, which is what I wrote if you read it more closely.  They've made 74 threes.  We've made 45.  That's a pretty significant total difference this early in the season, and the result is much higher scoring.  

 

I don't think they have the better team this year, and I agree it was an upset.  We were outcoached.  That doesn't change the fact that they have a more complete team and, at least at this point in the year, a more clear identity.  

[hhcmatt]

They have more players capable of making 3s than we do, which is what I wrote if you read it more closely.  They've made 74 threes.  We've made 45.  That's a pretty significant total difference this early in the season, and the result is much higher scoring.  

 

I don't think they have the better team this year, and I agree it was an upset.  We were outcoached.  That doesn't change the fact that they have a more complete team and, at least at this point in the year, a more clear identity.  

 

 

We definitely have an identity. We're a (pack) defense first, half court offense that penetrates to the rim.

If anything, we stubbornly stuck to that identity in this game and that is where the outcoaching comment comes into play.

We know these guys don't foul and if the refs are calling charges we're in trouble. Less than 10 FT attempts from a slashing half court offense? We're going to lose every single game when that happens.

[Fullbacksympathy]

Defensively, I have very few complaints with what I've seen this year.  I could've been more clear with that aspect of identity.  

 

Our offensive identity should have a plan B when teams pack the lane.  Otherwise, it's obvious our identity is incomplete.  

[hhcmatt]

Defensively, I have very few complaints with what I've seen this year.  I could've been more clear with that aspect of identity.  

 

Our offensive identity should have a plan B when teams pack the lane.  Otherwise, it's obvious our identity is incomplete.  

 

Is our defensive identity dictating our offense? With the exception of Moses, we have a roster built to run.  Are we not running more because we believe that at the end of the day our best option is to run our set offense or because we don't want to potentially hurt our defense? 

[Vinny]

 

Defensively, I have very few complaints with what I've seen this year.  I could've been more clear with that aspect of identity.  

 

Our offensive identity should have a plan B when teams pack the lane.  Otherwise, it's obvious our identity is incomplete.  

 

Is our defensive identity dictating our offense? With the exception of Moses, we have a roster built to run.  Are we not running more because we believe that at the end of the day our best option is to run our set offense or because we don't want to potentially hurt our defense? 

 

Half of our set offense at this point is Petteway shooting from where ever he can get to that possession.  Love the guy, but damn do we need to figure something else out.  If Shields and Rivers weren't so efficient with their offensive games as this point we might be under .500.  Miles tweets about defense seemingly every halftime, but we look so lost on offense.  Holding Creighton to 65 is good, but not great. Scoring 55 is bad, and to me our defense isn't our problem at this point.

[HB]

 

Defensively, I have very few complaints with what I've seen this year.  I could've been more clear with that aspect of identity.  

 

Our offensive identity should have a plan B when teams pack the lane.  Otherwise, it's obvious our identity is incomplete.  

 

Is our defensive identity dictating our offense? With the exception of Moses, we have a roster built to run.  Are we not running more because we believe that at the end of the day our best option is to run our set offense or because we don't want to potentially hurt our defense? 

 

 

Rebounding is more likely dictating our offense.  Hard to run when you can't rebound.