OFFENSE: C+
One common dominator that you'll find throughout this report card is that Nebraska came out tight and a bit sluggish, just like 95% of teams in America do on November 7th.
However, as the game progressed, and most notably in the second half, the Huskers looked much more comfortable and were able to do whatever they wanted with Midland.
Offensively, its a bit of a change seeing less structure and more motion. With that said, I'm not implying Nebraska doesn't have a plan offensively, because they most certainly do. But, I think players are allowed more creative freedom and on some nights, that will be a very, very good thing.
One reason I feel like it won't is because the Huskers solely lack shooters that they need to win against most competition, let alone the Big 10. Its hard to see where the long distance success is going to come from, outside of Dylan Talley, on a consistent basis. Ray Gallegos looked a little more smooth tonight shooting, and we know Brandon Ubel will have nights where he goes Robbie Hummel on us and lights it up from mid range on out, but those will likely be the exceptions more than the norms.
For the game, Nebraska shot 40% (47% in the second half) but way too many three's for a team that isn't good at shooting from downtown (22 attempts, only 6 connections).
Nebraska was awful at the free throw line, going 12-22.
DEFENSE: B+
The Huskers were able to defend Midland at an acceptable level, but it was a bit disconcerning seeing James Parrott break the Big Red down as often as he did. Of course, he's a good player, but probably no more than a role player at the upper Division I level.
The Huskers were very vanilla tonight on defense and I'm sure a lot of that is taking baby steps with the fact in mind that this is a marathon, not a sprint.
I was impressed by Nebraska's perimeter defense, especially Benny Parker. I think he will give quite a few point guards fits this year fits.
Parker had a team high 4 (of 12) steals tonight, which helped spearhead NU in forcing 24 turnovers. Plus, 40 points is really good, even against NAIA competition.
REBOUNDING: C
A bit disconcerning was Midland's work on the boards, especially the 12 offensive rebounds garnered.
Much of that was due to Ubel being in foul trouble and the aforementioned fact that NU was a bit timid in the first half.
But its pretty clear that the Huskers are going to be a bad rebounding team this year, between little depth down low, a freshman that makes Brian Conklin look like a body builder and an oft-injured redshirt senior.
Oh, and the fact that David Rivers will likely play quite a bit of "4".
BALL HANDLING: B
14 turnovers, 13 assists. Not great but not awful, especially considering that Nebraska mainly had two players making their college debut handling the rock.
COACHING: B
A solid job by coach tonight in working everybody in the game and trying several different combinations.
I like the offense having more freedom and I think with time, and on nights that NU knocks down some perimeter shots, it will be able to score more than we think.
Defensively, the Huskers looked really good - probably a bit better than I thought. The stats backed that.
Miles has officially gone on record (after the game) as saying Deverell Biggs will redshirt. That's a bit of a blow for this year, but not for year three of this program. Biggs was probably the best player on the floor tonight.
OVERALL GRADE: B
A solid victory over a solid NAIA school.
Nebraska won by 28, which is right in the range that we would have hoped for.
More importantly, an exciting era of Nebraska basketball kicked off tonight! And things get going "for real" on Sunday!
PLAYER OF THE GAME:
DYLAN TALLEY
2012-2013 TOTALS:
DYLAN TALLEY
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