Inspiration, Maryland and beyond

[HolyBobpilgrimage]

I really don't know what the problem was this season with the guys; do we need turnover, did they have motivation problems, or are they lazy? I love our guys don't get me wrong, but even when it gets hard you can't just lay down. Take this--as inspiration--what Washington, a team in many ways in the same position as us did to a highly ranked Utah squad on their home court tonight:

Hope it inspires them to a higher level. We could use momentum going into the offseason. Any ideas on how tim should be handling this attitude problem now going forward? I know we like to be couchcoaches who think we know everything but I could use a pickmeup because this season made me really sad lol. Reminded me too much of the doc years particularly the one a few years before he was fired. http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400593347

[HB]

I really don't know what the problem was this season with the guys; do we need turnover, did they have motivation problems, or are they lazy? I love our guys don't get me wrong, but even when it gets hard you can't just lay down. Take this--as inspiration--what Washington, a team in many ways in the same position as us did to a highly ranked Utah squad on their home court tonight:

Hope it inspires them to a higher level. We could use momentum going into the offseason. Any ideas on how tim should be handling this attitude problem now going forward? I know we like to be couchcoaches who think we know everything but I could use a pickmeup because this season made me really sad lol. Reminded me too much of the doc years particularly the one a few years before he was fired. http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400593347

 

Our guys are definitely not lazy.  I would love to have you follow them around, go to some practices and see how hard they work.

 

And you state that they have an "attitude problem" as if it is fact.  Read Menke's comments in today's OWH.  Learn what makes TP tick.  It is more likely that these guys wanted to win more than anyone else, they worked their tails off in the offseason, and the weight of expectations and self-imposed pressure affected the results more than being lazy, laying down, or having an attitude problem.  Having said that, I continue to believe the results are primarily basketball related, vs. effort, attitude, motivation, and mental approach .

[lang]

Agree HB. Thanks for continuing to express this line of thought.

[HolyBobpilgrimage]

Ok, so what's the problem? Is tim'so system not working, or like you said, was the pressure just too much? I don't want to put the guys down either and I'm sure it's not easy as I'm a student as well about to graduate. So of course I understand what they go thru day in and out to work hard. I just mean that in game it seems they give up or don't work together through hardship effectively...though in several games this year I've been very impressed with their effort; take for example the two Maryland games.

Another thing that may have effected us besides the expectations was the charge rule change. The refereeing was sub par this year as we all know, though most of that may have been due to the rule changes themselves...we just don't get to the line as much as last year's, which gave us a lot of close wins, and I'm still not sure if that is a style of play problem, adjustment problem or simply the way it's being called now.

Sorry if it seemed like I was disparaging the guys; but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't extremely disappointed in how they worked this season.

[Red Rum]

I think you need to temper you're disappointment a little bit. Just like people shouldn't have gotten too high after last season, people shouldn't get too low after this one.

 

It's not the system it's the players in the system. No one could consistently hit 3 pointers and they really missed the handful of points per game from Leslie. While I think the rule changes did affect them a little, not having a 3 point shooter or a low post presence to open up driving lanes was a bigger factor.

 

The reason why Nebraska looks better against teams like Illinois and Maryland than teams like Iowa and Wisconsin isn't effort, it's matchups. It's easier to get to the rim, which is our bread and butter, against teams that aren't long like Iowa and Wisconsin.

 

So in summation, I don't think there is a "problem" as much as crap happens. Things went south and they wanted to win so bad they couldn't dig themselves out of the quick sand.

[lang]

Solid red rum, solid.

Here's another simple way to look at things. Let's divide this season and last into 6 equal parts. We played really high level ball in 1 of those 6 parts. That's reality. The run last year was simply amazing ( NOW especially looking back with some context). I thought we were off the ground and sailing as a program. Miles tried to issue some cautionary things before the season (noting how we were in the bottom third of the conf in nearly every statistical category for example). Leslee's loss was huge too, I think we'd all agree.

Steven Bardo said a time or two in the broadcast last night something that has been one of my little saying for years. Something like "the difference between a good team and a bad team or the difference between winning and losing ....isn't that much". We just never got it going this year and there's a handful of things that explain that ( among the reasons...pressure, shooting, injuries, ref calls, tough losses and I think the biggest of all--just not having enough players who can do more offensively). I firmly believe these guys gave us their all and cared very much. It has to be very humbling for them.