HHC Report Card: 2012 Indiana Hoosiers Home

Explaining The Grades:

Near Flawless	Poor
Good	Awful
Average

OFFENSE:

Nebraska earns a "B+" tonight offensively, because of a phrase I often like to say - "the numbers don't lie."

In this case, I am referring to 70 points scored by Nebraska, NOT the 38% from the field the Huskers shot or the 33% from downtown. Neither of those numbers were particularly impressive, nor was the 2 points Nebraska scored in the first five minutes of the second half.

I liked how the Huskers played offensively, however. They attacked early and were able to get to the free throw line. They used penetration to open up makeable three's, and they did a fair job of connecting when they were open. There were only about six poor possessions in this game, with two of them coming right out of the chute in the second half.

Wow, Dylan Talley sure is making my comment of him being, "good but not a difference maker" look incorrect. The last two games, he has CLEARLY made a GIGANTIC difference. I had said Jorge Brian Diaz was a HUGE LOSS while he was out and for this team, a difference maker. I had not given Talley the level of respect he deserves, obviously. He continues to play like a kid who could be pretty damn good if he stays healthy. He has more offensive upside than him, but his overall game, toughness and rebounding ability reminds me a bit of Ade Dagunduro. He's not quite the player Ade was yet, but he could get there by next season.

Diaz is my Player of the Game because his balls were bigger than jingle bells when he calmly knocked down those two free throws with 11.0 seconds left. For the night, Diaz hit 4-5 from the line en route to 10 points and 4 boards in 26 minutes. This is after he didn't practice AT ALL the last two days. Doc says it's likely he won't practice much the rest of the year.

Bo Spencer deserves praise as well, for not only his 23 points, but also for involving teammates and playing exceptionally hard.

DEFENSE:

In the first half, Nebraska played "C" level defense. Going back to my initial quote, "the numbers don't lie." That quote doesn't work here because Nebraska gave up 41 points and allowed IU to shoot 62% from the field in the opening half. So, obviously the numbers said Nebraska sucked and should have an "F", right?

Wrong. I just thought Indiana was that good with the ball in the first half, and the fact that Nebraska was running and scoring at will in the early stages of the game made NU a lot more lax on defense. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I didn't think NU played bad defense in the first half, just average. I did, however, think the Huskers played "A" level defense a good portion of the second half, when they held IU to 28 points on 40% shooting.

Was a concern, however, to AGAIN see a guard easily dribble down the court and get to the rim in a final possession of a game. How many times have we seen that this year?!??!

REBOUNDING:

Nebraska held the Hoosiers to just FIVE offensive rebounds. That is terrific.

For the night, the Huskers were out boarded by just two (34 to 32) and big props to Talley, who grabbed nine boards, including four on the offensive end (one HUGE at the end).

BALL HANDLING:

Nebraska had 15 assists versus 10 turnovers. That WILL get the job done.

The biggest complaint I had about "ball handling"/offense was the five second call Bo Spencer got with 5 minutes left in the game. At the time, it looked like it could be a back breaker. That was one of the poor possessions of the game, along with obviously being told to milk the shot clock the first two possessions, which in turn lead to very robotic and unorganized possessions.

COACHING:

This is the kind of game that turns seasons around AND saves job....... at other places besides Nebraska.

Now, that's not to say this WONT turn things around. It very well COULD. After Ohio State, Nebraska is in good shape to get another 5-6 Big 10 wins.

However, us Husker Hoops diehards have learned the hard way that a win like this usually means a letdown and bad home loss soon after. That would NOT be on Saturday, as NU should not be expected to win. Though, if they could, obviously we'd be right back in the thick of things again.

Tonight means a LOT if Nebraska can take care of their home court against Minnesota, Northwestern, Iowa and Michigan, and steal wins at Northwestern, Penn State and Iowa. Heck, even if Nebraska gets four of those six wins, they end up having a so-so season, which still isn't great, but it's not a horrible year.

But tonight means little if the Huskers don't build on it.

As for Doc, his team NEVER gave up. When they were down 13, I thought it was done. Probably anyone reading this did, unless they are completely delusional or into heavy drugs.

Doc's teams never give up - that is something that I HATE hearing when we lose, but when we win, its clear as day, also.

Doc drew up some nice plays out of timeouts again, he used his timeouts well and he did a nice job with rotating players.

The last play with the guard wing entry off of the moving screen was tremendous.

One complaint I have that I meant to mention in the last report card is, and it didn't hurt NU tonight, but it did hurt big against Wisconsin. Diaz needs to be coming into some games at the 17 or 18 minute mark of the second half. In that Wisconsin game, the game got away with Diaz sitting on the bench in the early stages. I'd like to have the flexibility of putting him in before the under 16 timeout.

GREAT win for Doc and again, a great opportunity to build on it. Will they? Stay tuned.

OVERALL GRADE:

Great night to be a Nebraska basketball fan!

I'll leave you with a nice quote that Tom Creen had about NU. I've always liked him.

"I think they’re a lot more than that (Bo Spencer). Now, he’s quick and athletic off the dribble and he got hot, but we knew McCray was ready to break out, there’s no doubt about that. We know Talley’s getting healthier. We know Diaz is an incredibly hard matchup because he can score over either shoulder. I think they’ve got a lot of pieces. I think that speed and quickness starts with him, with Bo Spencer. I’ll give him credit, I don’t know the young man but he did a phenomenal job tonight of really using his teammates. They’ve got some veterans and they played like that at the end. They made some tough plays."

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jorge Brian Diaz

SEASON TOTALS:

Bo Spencer - 5

Toney McCray - 4

Brandon Richardson - 4

Jorge Brian Diaz - 3

Brandon Ubel - 1

Dylan Talley - 1