WBB: Game #12 vs Iowa

[Row6Seat10]

Can't stress enough how much we needed this game for our post season chances. Could start out o-fer a while, if we're not careful. The Huskers have to go to Northwestern now and they're coming off a loss to Penn St this afternoon so they're going to be really hungry to get a "w" in the win column. Then it's at Maryland! Be really nice to come away with a win in Evanston.

[redsteve]

Not sure I've ever seen a team lose when the turnover margin is 23-9 in its favor.  Fascinating stat.  Obviously the huge rebounding disparity and poor field goal percentage more than offset it. 

 

Yes, very unusual....shows we could/should have won with that kind of stat.

 

Decent shooting...rebounding.....just average numbers would have been enough. We missed so many open shots in first half...could have been up 10 pretty easily.

 

Penn State beat Northwestern pretty well I think. It's going to be an interesting year.

[Bugeaters1]

We got out-hustled like I've never seen in a long time. I think we need to have Natalie and Rachel change positions and have Natalie bring the ball up. When she brings it up, she hustles up the court with it and Rachel walks it up. Got to rebound the ball better than that or it'll be a long season. 51-29 deficit in rebounding won't cut it in many leagues if any. Missed way too many bunnies underneath the bucket, had we hit a couple of them it may have been a different story. Very disappointing loss to say the least.

 

Hated to see them gloat on our court after the game. Let's hope the Huskers never let that happen again!

By the same token had the Huskers boxed out a little better Iowa would have gotten uncontested put backs that would have changed the out come as well.

[Bugeaters1]

 

To me it looked like Havers was hurting today. She wasn't trying for rebounds what so ever

 

It didn't just seem to be only Havers. It's kind of apparent your 6-5'er should get rebounds...but no one else was consistently going after rebounds either...several times I was shouting at the computer screen... to get the loose ball...just no hustle.

 

Seemed like the team just wasn't into the game...not competitive. Almost like we're lost out there because of the missing bench players.....who knows ?

 

If you watched Iowa, when a shot went up, they all collapsed into the key....so they all rebound....we as a team we just don't do that. Sorry, but that's just coaching.

 

 

 

To me it looked like Havers was hurting today. She wasn't trying for rebounds what so ever

 

It didn't just seem to be only Havers. It's kind of apparent your 6-5'er should get rebounds...but no one else was consistently going after rebounds either...several times I was shouting at the computer screen... to get the loose ball...just no hustle.

 

Seemed like the team just wasn't into the game...not competitive. Almost like we're lost out there because of the missing bench players.....who knows ?

 

If you watched Iowa, when a shot went up, they all collapsed into the key....so they all rebound....we as a team we just don't do that. Sorry, but that's just coaching.

 

 From where I sat.What I think had a lot to do with the rebounding problem today was thaat the Huskers were selling out on stopping Iowas running game as soon a shot went up everyone released except for Jess just my 2 cents worth.

[Bugeaters1]

Can't stress enough how much we needed this game for our post season chances. Could start out o-fer a while, if we're not careful. The Huskers have to go to Northwestern now and they're coming off a loss to Penn St this afternoon so they're going to be really hungry to get a "w" in the win column. Then it's at Maryland! Be really nice to come away with a win in Evanston.

I think the last year the we were in the bob we started 0-3 ended up second or third i think. so it isn't impossible to do.

[redsteve]

Nobody's mentioned, but Jess actually had a pretty good game. Was more mobile, and away from the basket, and mixed up her shots pretty well. Used her spin move several times...pretty much unstoppable...but needs to finish more...it will come.

 

They must have worked on her movement this week.

 

A bit better at free throws too. Looks less and less like a freshman each game. Played lots more minutes today, and didn't really appear to suffer from it.

 

Iowa really had no answer for her. She did get hacked with regularity......but didn't get to the free throw line often enough with all the no calls.

[Bugeaters1]

http://www.huskers.com/pdf9/4307109.pdf

[redsteve]

Watched Yori's presser tonight.

 

Not exact words, but...."We got out hustled"...about the worst in years"

 

Found one thing she said very interesting. Something like .....This team isn't a good practice team.

 

On Washington...don't recall exact words, but in general Yori hinted that Washington's problem might be..... not working in practice.

 

http://www.huskers.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&SPID=25&SPSID=29&DB_OEM_ID=100

[HUD]

Maybe it's youth or injuries or something else but for whatever reason the team chemistry just doesn't seam good enough right now.

[huskerchode]

It seemed like early in the season the chemistry was there. Looked like something special was brewing. But today we looked bad, just like something was really off. And it wasn't just one player. What happened?

[whoopdeedoo]

another thing i took notice of----right now there is no emotional leader on the floor. she is sidelined---and that's a huge hit to this team. geez, most of them look like they should be wearing a suit and tie to the games---or, pantsuit, whatever. 

 

if simon comes back and looks like she did before the accident, i seriously consider having her in the lineup with rachel and nat. clark had a couple of nice steals, but, i don't think you would have gotten any less out of simon. let her run with it and see what she can provide.

 

also, i believe i heard matt say havers is "toughening it out" with a tweaked knee. guess it happened in practice. 

 

huskers just look soft------really soft. 

 

watching football most of the day. really surprised to hear penn st knocked off nw.

[redsteve]

It seemed like early in the season the chemistry was there. Looked like something special was brewing. But today we looked bad, just like something was really off. And it wasn't just one player. What happened?

 

Makes you wonder if many of the early wins were too easy. Then we beat Creighton by coming back, so in the players mind..."we can do anything"  Don't need to worry...or work hard...or be intense for games.

 

Plus we're pretty dinged up now.....more so than I realized, I guess.  Even many of the ones still able to play... are not fully healthy.

 

Have we been injury prone for last couple of years ?....seems like it.

 

Maybe Connie has some rebounding drills where you basically have to maul the other player to get rebounds. There are lots of them. Some drills are a little like last man standing....to toughen them up. Hustle and blocking out is everything.  It works with guys anyway.

..........Probably would just put more on the "injured reserve list".   ....

 

Anyway.......was just so surprising we would play a game the way we did today.

 

OK...on to Northwestern. Hopefully 43 will be back and help light a fire under the team.

[HB]

I guess I'm surprised that so many seem so surprised.  It makes perfect sense that we would struggle this year.  There is no way you lose 4 senior starters, 3 of whom had over 100 starts, and not have it make a big impact.  Fans tend to love the unseen, unproven new talent, and think you can just plug them in without any hitches.  That's not how it works.  There was going to be some rebuilding going on, but early season triumphs against horrible teams, and, IMO, some extra hype from the  radio broadcasts, made some think reality was suspended.  

 

We lost more than skill from the graduates.  We lost a ton of leadership, experience, knowing what it takes to succeed at this level, and tough-mindedness.   Cady and Sample backed down from no one. They played so hard, all the time.  Connie was quoted as saying she couldn't remember Cady ever having a bad practice.  

 

We had gaping holes trying to replace 4 starters.  Losing Chandler Smith has hurt more than people realized; we miss another shooter and her size on the wing.   We were going to hit some rough patches with all the new players, and the injuries/illness have made it even tougher.  

 

The hole in day to day practice leadership had to be great after losing 4 seniors.  While Rachel is a great player, I doubt she has the communication./leadership skills of Cady and Sample.  Havers isn't an in your face type of communicator either.  After those 2, no one else playing has more than 1 season in the program under her belt.  And Blackburn seems to clearly be the most Cady/Sample like in terms of attitude, and she has been out.

 

 Connie's defense is said to be complex and take a while to learn.  Rebounding is hurt by Blackburn's absence, and frankly, some by Shepherd being in less than great shape. 

 

So, I think many were way out over their skis with this team.   But this isn't meant to be a negative post; actually, the opposite.  No reason to be too demoralized over recent games.  This rough patch makes a bunch of sense  and should have been expected.  I still like where the program is, and think we have a chance to play our best ball in February and March.  We'll need some help on the injury/illness front (not only those not playing, but some who are playing, like Theriot), but with some good fortune there, we can still make some noise.  

[whoopdeedoo]

good post, HB. i really figured 'T' and jeffries athleticism/quickness would be missed sooner or later. allowed them to get the balls the huskers just can't reel in now. i think it just didn't appear so obvious because of the mostly "easy" ooc. i had been fairly critical of smith's offensive game, but, we pretty much found out what was ailing her. i always did love her court presence. that one hurt.

[Row6Seat10]

Good post HB. I think a lot of us tend to put a little bit more emphasis on this particular game more than any other because it's Iowa. I know I do, I just can't help it. I want so much for the Huskers to be playing at the top of their game when they meet. You're so right when you say the Huskers will be a lot better in late Feb. & March.

[HB]

good post, HB. i really figured 'T' and jeffries athleticism/quickness would be missed sooner or later. allowed them to get the balls the huskers just can't reel in now. i think it just didn't appear so obvious because of the mostly "easy" ooc.

 

Good point, Whoop.   There were a couple of glaring examples of some loose balls yesterday which those 2 would have gotten.  There was one in particular near our radio guys involving Theriot, which is part of what leads me to think she is not full speed.  

 

On another front, there were several examples of Clark having really good/quick hands defensively.  

[HB]

Good post HB. I think a lot of us tend to put a little bit more emphasis on this particular game more than any other because it's Iowa. I know I do, I just can't help it. I want so much for the Huskers to be playing at the top of their game when they meet. You're so right when you say the Huskers will be a lot better in late Feb. & March.

 

I share your sentiments about Iowa, Row.  I wish we played them twice this year; I would like our chances of going into Iowa City for a rematch and coming out with a victory.  Perhaps we will see them in the tournament.  

[dlrrk]

Up Front:  I’m obviously biased toward RB43… 

 

I didn’t watch yesterday’s game, so I have no frame of reference on how players played.  I did look at the stats.  Like you all, I see that we didn’t rebound well (Iowa 51, Huskers 29).  Shooting:  We were 26 of 71 in Field Goals.  Rachel T was unusually cold… shooting 7 of 25.

 

The ability to make plays is a function of skill, talent, and experience.  Jess had a heck of a game.  28 points in her first Big 10 game is incredible.  I’m looking forward to seeing Jess in the next few years.  She should keep growing and growing as a player.  Her play as a senior should be so much fun to watch. 

 

Leadership, on the other hand, is not as much dependent upon what year you are in school.  American military history is replete with great leaders who didn’t have a tremendous amount of military experience (Joshua Chamberlain, Audie Murphy, U.S Grant, Lincoln…). 

 

I’d argue that sports has many similarities to warfare… minus the obvious one of killing your opponent.  There are eight elements of combat power: Leadership, Movement & Maneuver, Protection, Intelligence, Mission Command, Sustainment, Fires, & Info.  Of those elements the one that encompasses all is leadership.  I urge you to never downplay the role leaders have in influencing the action or outcome. 

 

Bottom Line:  This team took Cal (at the time ranked #22) to overtime.  We were one shot away from winning.  As far as yesterday…  I’d argue that had RB43 been there and had Rachel T hit around 50% of her FGs the game’s outcome would have been different.  But, I’m biased, and I could be wrong. 

 

We’ll see how Sunday goes.  I don’t know how Rachel’s knee is doing.  It was hurt during the 26 Dec practice.  She’ll let us know after practice today. 

 

As someone posted earlier, it would have been better had NW beaten Penn State, but… Let’s get it on.