Tim Miles and this program

[Chuck Taylor]

It's a young team and the returning veterans are not a talented group. So we're about where you'd expect. If you bought into the recruiting ratings and thought that translated to instant success, you were mistaken. You build a team. This freshman class might be ready for some serious success when they're juniors. Not this year and probably not next year either. Frankly, Glynn is the only one of the five capable of contributing serious minutes this year. The others would have redshirted for a good team, but we are not a good team. And just because they're highly ranked and needed a redshirt year doesn't mean they're flops.

 

I think the worst thing right now is to put heat on the coaching staff. Frankly, I'm not impressed with Miles' ability to handle pressure. His reaction to the difficulties last year contributed to the dumpster fire, imo.

[NUdiehard]

'13-'14 we had back to back Neutral Court losses to UMASS and UAB, a loss to Creighton and a loss to Cincy.  We ended the NON CON 8-4.  Many were upset at the time that we didn't play that extra game I remember.  Our best win was probably Miami at home and a neutral court vs a bad Georgia team.  

 

I do not think anyone is comparing us to OSU, MSU, Wisco or even Purdue.  We all know that the committee wouldn't do us any favors if we were right there.  We have to earn our ticket in.  You are right in that every game counts.  Much like the bad loss could hurt later on and our 8-5 record... so too could a few nice wins really help us out if we want to do something with this season.

 

I do remember though that the home games in '13-'14 were amazing in terms of crowds.  The crowd really gave us the push to the tourney.  I feel that this year could be the same.  We can have a tough home court if we want to... we the fans just have to show up on a nightly basis.

bball23 did compare our situation to MSU.  That was the initial post that I responded to.  And as for '13-14, that kind of proves my point.  We lost 4 games to name teams and won ALL of our cupcake games.  Imagine if we had lost to just one of our non-conf cupcakes.  We would not have made the NCAA (or similarly if we had played that 13th game vs. a cupcake and lost it).  We just don't have room to lose cupcake games like many other powerhouse teams do.  And even if we all know we don't have a great team this year, it is much more fun going into conf. with at least the hope that we could make a run and maybe land on the bubble.  Losing to teams like Samford (without any really good upset wins to counter it) almost dashes any hope before the conf. season even starts, and that is a downer and, frankly, is unnecessary.

 

Look, I also did not have grand expectations this year.  I knew this was most likely not a tourney team coming into this season.  Heck, I was talking about this after the end of last year when we lost Tarin Smith and Pitchford in addition to Petteway.  Many on here were claiming we would be even better this year without those guys and I predicted their losses would hurt more than we know. 

 

I am not a "sky is falling" person in regards to Miles or even this season.  I do not think Miles is on the hot seat nor do I think he should be on the hot seat. Not even close really.  I am still a Miles supporter and I really like Roby and have hopes for Horne.  Have also heard good things about Gill, but I also think we desperately need a big man, maybe this TAM transfer. 

 

As said above, I had pretty low expectations for this year and I am fully aware of our 5 freshman.  For me personally, the biggest frustration with the past few weeks has been seeing issues that have seemingly plagued us for the last 2 years, or even last 4 years.   Like our press break, or zone offense, the lack of confidence of our role players, etc.  I think our quality and style of play has gone down since Craig Smith left, so that is a concern.  Many other people have pointed these things out as well, but then they are told they are overreacting to 1 single game.  No, its not.  If we had been a dominate press breaking team the past 4 years and just had one bad game, then it would be disappointing, but not a big deal.  For many frustrated fans, its not about just one game, its about issues that have plagued Miles' teams for the past 2 years or longer.  And I guess I think those are fair points to discuss.  I disagree with those who couch it in "Miles needs to get it together or else", but I can at least respect their right to feel that way if they want.  I certainly won't tell them they are making rash and childish posts based on just 1 game.  We are in year 4 and right now Miles has a worse win/loss record that Doc Sadler had at this point, so I think it is just as rash to say people are overreacting to 1 game and compare us to MSU.  That is my main point. 

[hhcmatt]

In addition to the Samford game we really looked in a funk the entire game against Abilene Christian, the sort of funk that last year's team never woke up from.  Thus, the response in the second half of last night's game was a nice way to tie up the non-con because while we should beat a team like that by 20+ points we just as easily could have funked our way to a 10-15 point win. 

 

This is probably so very obvious it's almost dumb to say but to me whether or not we are going to compete or struggle in a game comes down to whether or not someone besides Shields and White is going to do their part on offense.

[basketballjones]

Just a bit of journalistic hyperbole, Lee. Samford has an equally talented team? UNO has three players who could start at NU? I suppose Lee is theoretically correct, but then I could write a column for the OWH, but I am not.

UNO has one starter, maybe two that could start for NU, hyperbole is OWH strong suit.

Thurman, Patterson and White could, in theory, all start, though Thurman plays Shields' position, in a sense. That may not be true a few years, but it is right this minute.

And Hollins would play some minutes, too.

Remember, Hollins and Thurman were part of the greatest HS team in state history. None of them ended up at Nebraska.

Or Creighton. Or anywhere else good.

Pretty sure Agau's at Georgetown. He was on that team, too.

Thurman wasn't any better or worse a HS player than Shields. Maybe they'll shake out differently in college. Thus far, they're about equal.

But there's Edward Chang, and we'll see where he goes in a few years.

I have 0% doubt in my mind - from all my basketball experience - that Treshawn Thurman and Tradeon Hollins would start for Nebraska. Treshawn is better than Morrow, better than Jacobsen, better than any 4/5 we have on our roster. Tradeon would be an upgrade of Benny's defense, on and off ball, and he can finish at the rim. Our line up of:

1. Hollins

2. White

3. Shields

4. Thurman

5. Whatever crap 5 you put in

Would be better than any line-up we currently have.

These "Central Superstars" have lost to UC Santa Barbara, Eastern Michigan, a BAD Missouri team and a pretty awful Wyoming team. Took powerhouse UMKC to OT at home to win the game. Squeaked out a win over Montana State. OT vs Grand Canyon.

Look, maybe individually you can look at a guy and think he is pretty good. But they are losing to a lot of cupcakes. It humors me how many on here will compare these guys when in reality, how good are they really? They may look "decent" vs LOWER level competition, but how the hell do we know they can go night in an night out in the B10? We lost a game we shouldn't have and all hell breaks lose. Oakland just took Michigan State to OT tonight! OAKLAND! Maybe Izzo has lost it? The point is, teams lose games they shouldn't, teams have great nights, teams have awful nights....THAT'S BASKETBALL!! Again, this is NOT football! Its a 32 game marathon, not a 10 game sprint! One team gets hot in basketball and can beat anybody on any given night!

Every night I could literally give you an upset of a team that shouldn't have won. Its what makes basketball great! Anything can happen!

The key is to try and not get too excited for great wins, and not too down after bad losses.

You're not wrong at all and I totally see what you're saying - but I fully believe that we would be a better team with those two specifically, and Khyri on the team. And the first two were in different classes than the people I think they could start over. So I'm not saying we shouldn't have gone after Jacobsen/Morrow.

[FredsSlacks]

i believe nobody recruited thurman because of grades, so i don't think you can blame miles there.

 

and hollins was a juco. i'd much rather have glynn watson for 4 years than hollins for 2.

 

uno plays a very fast uptempo style, so their stats are always going to look good, but they have no legitimate D1 wins.

[hhcmatt]

and hollins was a juco. i'd much rather have glynn watson for 4 years than hollins for 2.

 

I forgot about Hollins being a Junior...he's listed as a freshman on the site I visit.

 

Also this from the OWH

 

He transferred to Chipola (Florida) prior to this season and was averaging 13.6 points, 6.6 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 4.6 steals through nine games before he was dismissed for disciplinary reasons.

 

 

Sure, we could have offered this guy instead of Bakari. How are you offering another Omaha Central JUCO kid with disciplinary problems when you just had to get rid of one? Good on him for his success at UNO but Miles would have to be either dumb or naive to bring that kid in.

[basketballjones]

Sure, we could have offered this guy instead of Bakari. How are you offering another Omaha Central JUCO kid with disciplinary problems when you just had to get rid of one? Good on him for his success at UNO but Miles would have to be either dumb or naive to bring that kid in.

Great point dimes! Didn't think of that correlation. But I love me some Tradeon. Have you gotten the chance to see him play recently? I gotta watch him a lot this summer... Just love the way he plays.

[bball23]

Let me clarify. I am NOT at all comparing NU to MSU. I was simply pointing out that a GREAT team like MSU has off nights as all College teams do.

And to the person who said "I was waiting for the football fan comment." If you are going to be so quick to judge after a bad loss, can't you also say that we have looked pretty good at times as well? (Miami, Cinci, Rhode Island). My point was this. I try really hard not to get too pumped for any win, or too low after any loss. There are way too many games in a season to do that. As soon as one game is done you hope to learn from it (win or lose) and get back to work.

[Chuck Taylor]

i believe nobody recruited thurman because of grades, so i don't think you can blame miles there.

 

That is not the case. It's been thrown out repeatedly by apologists for NU and CU for not offering him. Think what you want about his abilities, but grades are not an excuse. He has been eligible from the get go. Academics were an issue with several of his Central teammates, including Hollins. There were definitely questions about Thurman's "motor" but I think they were related to him deferring too much to his Central teammates, who liked the ball in their own hands. The questions about his motor seem to have been answered.

 

And for the record, I don't think he would be starting this year since Shields would be ahead of him. But he'd be playing a lot and contributing.

 

The thing that gets me is that we make up excuses not to take local kids who are just as good or better than some of the kids we bring in. Not gonna start naming names, but go down the list of recruits we took when Thurman was available and tell me Thurman isn't as good or better. As for Khyri Thomas and Patton, it's not that we didn't get them, it's that we didn't really make an effort to get them. Rant over and I think Miles' eyes have been opened to the fact that there are players available here. You can't build a roster around Nebraska kids, but you can sure as hell help fill out your roster with a few.