uneblinstu’s postgame chatter: vol 11, ed 8 - Illinois

• I have to give the fellas credit - I predicted a closer game and while NU certainly had some challenges on the offensive end, they did score 75. 
• I will watch again but it seemed like the back cuts were there a lot today and NU rarely took advantage. Way too much dribbling and standing around.
• Man, that was a difficult game to watch. Illinois plays a style that makes you want to poke your eyes out. 
• NU’s defense was solid all day - something I hope this team continues to bring each night.
• I’m not sure we won’t see Harris as the #2 PG fairly soon - he played well today and I don’t know how comfortable I am with TA playing extended minutes at point.
• I know Borchardt doesn’t offer a lot of firepower offensively, but he was open in the post several times today and NU didn’t even look his way.
• A common theme unfortunately: the officiating was awful once again. The inconsistency makes watching college basketball a chore at times.
• All in all, a good performance under the circumstances and a good start to conference season.

Like I posted on the other thread, a rather uninspired, workmanlike performance, but this game was NEVER in doubt. Take the W and it’s on to MN then you-know-who.

1 minute ago, demone said:

A few thoughts:

• Illinois plays a style that makes you want to poke your eyes out. 

Sometimes, the Illini will do it for you.

Real quick one,

Couldn't be happier with my HHCC prediction. Best of my career: 76-60. Actual: 75-60. I'm over the moon, but especially with the huskers and the toughness we showed

Illinois REALLY tries to disrupt your flow on offense.  They contest every pass, every handoff, play ball deny.  Results in an ugly type of game, but sometimes we just made one on one plays and were able to keep them at arms length.

Other than some sloppy missed opportunities in transition, it was a needed W.

Having a veteran team and a few extra days to prep made a big difference on the defensive end. That 1-3-1 zone today was as good as it's been for that long of a stretch since probably last year at Penn St. With our foul trouble, having the zone work was important to force Illinois to burn clock on offense and to protect our guys.

Plenty of chances to wilt today -- Roby has foul trouble and gets poked in the eye, Watson having to sit out for a lot of minutes, long scoring drought in the first half, freakin' Kipper Nichols hitting 2 threes and banking home another jumper -- but we just didn't wilt - that's where having so much experience is paying off. 

I know every analyst keeps questioning our bench, but those guys are playing solidly. None will be huge scorers this season - nor do they need to be - but they're making solid plays and there's not a huge drop off defensively when they enter the game.

Great start to league play. Let's go 2-0 next week!

So freaking cool they had KP break the team down after the game. Miles has always been so good about that part of being the head man. KP deserved every second of that.

My thoughts...

- Great job by the team and university in honoring Kent.  Wonderful to see.  I really loved when the team all came over after the game to congratulate him.  Nice!

- Great job getting to the line and making free throws.

- Good job with the selection and shooting of three's.  

- Illinois plays a squirrelly defense.  It worried me going into the game, but we did a decent job offensively.

- Somebody should give Tom Allen a game ball.  The dude had a great defensive game.

- Turnovers turned my stomach a bit.  Gotta improve in that area.

- As a part B to the previous comment, we sometimes hesitated or passed up on open looks, and then turned the ball over.  I believe I saw that happen six or seven times.

- We persevered when Glynn was out of the game, but we need him.  He is definitely the engine.

- I would like to further explore the substitution thought process involving Isaiah.  I don't believe I had a problem with it, because it seemed to have worked, but did anyone else notice the change?

Overall. we did what was necessary to easily win that game.  We jumped up early, and then did a good job keeping them at arms length the remainder of the game.  Are all these European players pyscho?  The house was 90% full, but pretty quiet.  Where were the students?

Great point on Allen's defense - that was an area of concern for me going into the season, but he's been nails. 

that game was like trying to have a picnic near a massive wasp nest. 

Illinois will probably win a few games after just annoying another team to death to the point where they just quit and say, "here, take the damned ball! But stop slapping me like Wayne Brady!" (Is Brad Underwood gonna have to choke a b*tch?)

Should be more flow to the gopher game. Of course, much of the will depend on the volatility of the officiating crew. I really do't blame them. I'd hate to have to ref with the intricacy of these rules and all the legalistic nuances that are getting attached to them these days ("It's a charge here, unless a player does the hokey pokey 13 or fewer feet out, then it's a block, unless the player is wearing blue on Tuesday, in which case it's just a technical foul which can be waved off if the accused player eats a waffle covered in toxic waste"

)

Weird. Outside of the first 3 minutes and final 5 minutes, it was a pretty ugly game, but I think Illinois' style had something to do with it. 

A few things...

* Thomas Allen needs to fire away. He's too passive at the 3 point line. As someone said earlier, he doesn't seem to be solid enough to get many backup PG minutes.

* We were way too soft with the ball. I lost count of how many times Illinois got a hand on our drives, dribbles and passes.

* Astute observation from the color guy saying Roby needs to face the basket when he gets the ball in the high post. Be a threat. You're too good not to.

* I continue to like what I see from Nana. Just a solid backup.

* Nice efforts all around from the seniors.

1 hour ago, demone said:

 

• I’m not sure we won’t see Harris as the #2 PG fairly soon - he played well today and I don’t know how comfortable I am with TA playing extended minutes at point.

Harris needs to prove he’s a threat to do something on offense first. Allen probably had his best game of the year today too. Some of that was due to having the ball in his hands 

Generally, when Glynn was not in the game, James was running the offense as the PG or Point off-guard, or point wing.

3 minutes ago, Huskerpapa said:

Generally, when Glynn was not in the game, James was running the offense as the PG or Point off-guard, or point wing.

Yup our back up PG is basically Palmer or at times roby 

1 hour ago, jayschool said:

• They fouled a lot.
• We made a lot of free throws.
• We won.

Feel free to send all Analyst-of-the-Year Awards to my home address.

But not All of 'Em were called!  

New

25 minutes ago, tcp said:

that game was like trying to have a picnic near a massive wasp nest.

Best analogy I’ve ever heard? 

1 hour ago, throwback said:

Having a veteran team and a few extra days to prep made a big difference on the defensive end. That 1-3-1 zone today was as good as it's been for that long of a stretch since probably last year at Penn St. With our foul trouble, having the zone work was important to force Illinois to burn clock on offense and to protect our guys.

 

Plenty of chances to wilt today -- Roby has foul trouble and gets poked in the eye, Watson having to sit out for a lot of minutes, long scoring drought in the first half, freakin' Kipper Nichols hitting 2 threes and banking home another jumper -- but we just didn't wilt - that's where having so much experience is paying off. 

 

I know every analyst keeps questioning our bench, but those guys are playing solidly. None will be huge scorers this season - nor do they need to be - but they're making solid plays and there's not a huge drop off defensively when they enter the game.

 

Great start to league play. Let's go 2-0 next week!

 

I saw this from a knowledgeable poster on another site"

Quote

On the radio during the pregame, they were saying that Illinois did not respect our bench and felt they would be in good shape if we got in foul trouble. Well, we got in foul trouble, but the subs who came in did a pretty good job of keeping the lead.

12 minutes ago, 49r said:

 

 

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
 

 

Actual highlights 

2 hours ago, jayschool said:

• They fouled a lot.
• We made a lot of free throws.
• We won.

Feel free to send all Analyst-of-the-Year Awards to my home address.

Iowa City wouldn't win anything otherwise. So good call on taking your trophy up there, jayschool. 

I thought our offensive flow really struggled with Harris in the game.  Think Nana fits better at the moment.

We seemed to get 'bored' or careless at times with our offensive decision making, defensive rebounding, and rotations.  That was not fun to watch but at least we have something to work on in practice now!

Nebraska Postgame Notes
*-The Huskers are now 7-1 on the season after tonight's win, giving NU its best start since the 2003-04 campaign.
*-Nebraska has won 16 straight home games dating back to Dec. 20, 2017. It is the longest streak since a 16-game streak spanning the 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons. Nebraska is 21-1 at home over the last two season.
*-Nebraska has won 10 straight Big Ten home games, its longest home conference win streak since a 12-stretch spanning the 1965-66 and 1966-67 seasons. 
*-Glynn Watson Jr. moved into sole possession of 20^th place on Nebraska’s scoring list, as he passed Brian Banks (1,150) and now has 1,158 career points.
*-James Palmer Jr. now has three 20-point games this season and 11 for his career with today’s 23-point effort.  
*-NU made 25 of its 30 free throws tonight (83%), the second time this year the Huskers have shot 80% or better from the charity stripe (Nov, 26 at Clemson).
*-Nebraska started the game on a 15-5 run, bolstered by a perfect 4-of-4 shooting performance from the field and 6-of-6 shooting from the line. 
*-Isaac Copeland Jr. shot over 50% from the field and scored in double figures for the seventh time in eight games. (16 points, 67% FG).     
*-Glynn Watson Jr. had 14 points tonight, marking the seventh time in eight games this year he's scored in double figures.
*-Nebraska improves to 6-7 against Illinois under Tim Miles, winning five of its six home matchups against the Illini since they joined the Big Ten.