uneblinstu's postgame chatter: Vol: 10; ed: 18 - Wisconsin

Without Jordy we don't win this game.  That's all.

JORDY!!!

TWELVE WINS AND WE STILL HAVE AT LEAST FOURTEEN MORE GAMES TO IMPROVE ON THAT!

Jordy deserves a lot of props tonight, especially after all the "why is that guy still starting" stuff.

No one else could body up to Ethan Happ.  And, on the offensive side, he was looking more like the player we ended last year with.That's a good thing. 

Probably won't miss 3's like we did tonight.  2 - 14 from 3.  Thank goodness we went 21 - 28 from the line, and only sent Wisconsin to the line 10 times, making 4.  Big difference in the game.  Need to do better on offense, and keep up the intensity on defense.

Davison has one heck of a basketball actumen.

Can't believe I'm typing this: We looked bad, downright awful at times, offensively. Yet, we still beat Wisconsin! I'll take that anyday!

Glad to see Jordy have a solid game. These are the types of games why  it’s inportant to keep him engaged VS writing him (or anyone for that matter) off.

Starting backcourt gives us like five points total and we still win. We need ET as a defender though.

Love the flashes we saw from Thomas tonight. He’s a gamer.

Thought our Defense was really solid tonight. Good communication.

Some of the mental things perplexed me, those late turnovers...wow

Refs had a tough first and second half. Not consistent.

Good win for us, but we will need to play much better Friday to get the W.

Before the season if you told me Watson would be held scoreless for 38 minutes in a game, I would say that's a guaranteed loss against a SWAC team. But that happened tonight and we beat Wisconsin! The worst Wiskey team in 2 decades, but still

They just put on ESPN top plays of the day.   Roby's rebound on the keester then pass to Gill for the 3 pointer  #8 play of the day.

- That was one very ugly game...

- Happ is a very good player

- That was one very fugly game...oh wait, I sort of repeated myself.

- We did play a good defensive game.

- We were somewhere between bad and awful on the offensive end.  I will give some credit to Wisconsin, who sort of plays like we did over the past twenty years or so sans our NCAA team.  That is, play ugly, hold the ball and try to win it at the end.  Did I say it was an ugly game?

- Glynn...please find your shot...perhaps a bit of air under the ball would help a bit.  I am afraid it is in his head a bit.  We need you dude!

- Evan...very yucky game.  He has sort of struggled the past two games.

- Isaiah...a few bursts, but we need you to be more aggressive, but again, there were a few bright spots.

- Tanner...not the best match ups out there for him tonight...so I will give him a pass

- Duby...see the comments about Tanner.

- Thomas, glad to see you are back after a couple of weeks MIA. 

- Anton...so-so game.  Hit a couple of shots, but missed his share of open looks.  It was a cool play when Isaiah skied to butt level to get that rebound and then kick it to Anton for a three.

- James and Isaac...very solid nights.  Isaac did a great job on double teams, then hustling back to defend his man. 

- Jordy, welcome back my man.  Not a 100% back, but much better.

Hey, it was a W.  Win and move on.  (But we need to get a whole lot better.

8 minutes ago, hhcdimes said:

 

Not to pick on Roby but he was -10 tonight whereas Jordy was +16 (thought it's not quite that simple). The lineup of death was killing us.

Happ could blow through Roby whereas he had to work around Jordy in addition to beating a double team.  It simply wasn't a great matchup for Roby.

 

That's one of the nice things about this team: We have enough different options where we can match up against different teams

One thing that I noticed about Roby tonight was it didn't feel like he wanted to finish at the rim and was more interested in kicking it back out. If the 3s are falling it's not bad cause it creates spacing in the defense but I felt he missed some opportunities for some finishes at the rim. Glad Jordy played well you could tell the crowd wants to see this kid succeed.

1 minute ago, rwhiston said:

One thing that I noticed about Roby tonight was it didn't feel like he wanted to finish at the rim and was more interested in kicking it back out. If the 3s are falling it's not bad cause it creates spacing in the defense but I felt he missed some opportunities for some finishes at the rim. 

Yeah, he was real trigger shy tonight. 

Notes from UNL

Notes:
*-Nebraska's win was its first regular-season win over the Badgers since 2014 (NU downed Wisconsin in the 2016 Big Ten Tournament). NU improves to 3-8 against UW since joining the Big Ten.

*-Nebraska won for the first time this season when scoring fewer than 70 points. The Huskers had been 0-5 when scoring less than 70 points.

*-Nebraska failed to score 70 points for the first time in 10 home games this season. The Huskers’ streak of scoring 70 or more points in nine consecutive home games was the program’s longest since the 1993-94 team scored at least 70 points in all 16 home games.

*-The 22 points allowed in the first half was Nebraska’s best defensive first half of the season. The previous best was 24 against Stetson on Dec. 29.

*-Nebraska trailed only once in the game by one point for a total of 57 seconds.

*-Thirteen of Nebraska’s final 15 points came at the free throw line , as the Huskers made only one field goal over the final 7:50. During that time, NU made 13-of-18 from the charity stripe, and the Huskers were 18-of-24 from the free throw line in the game. It marks the third straight game NU has shot .750 or better from the foul line.

*-Jordy Tshimanga finished with a season-high nine points, topping his previous best of six on three occasions, most recently against Stetson on Dec. 29.

*- With 18 points, James Palmer Jr. finished in double figures for the 16th time in 17 games and for the 14th straight game.

*-Freshman guard Thomas Allen had eight points on 3-of-5 shooting. In his first four career Big Ten Conference games, Allen combined for five points on 2-of-6 shooting. Nebraska's bench outscored Wisconsin's 20-3. 

Nebraska Head Coach Tim Miles
On Jordy Tshimanga’s season-high performance 
“I thought Jordy (Tshimanga) did a really nice job the second half. He defended well. He was good for us on offense and on the glass. It was good to see and should give him a shot of confidence.“

On Nebraska’s mentality and crediting Wisconsin 
“We need to tighten up. First of all, give credit to Wisconsin. Greg (Gard) is doing a great job. I just told him it’s like playing Jim Molinari’s teams. They just do a great job of making it difficult to score. You can’t extend on the lead and any mistake, they’re going to take advantage of and you can see that on points off turnovers. Right now, those younger guys aren’t quite ready to score the way he needs them to and that’s probably because he’s short handed and he’s lost a whole bunch of real talent two out of the last three years. But they’ll be back soon. There’s no doubt about it. I thought they did a good job later in the game of taking advantage of our small lineup, especially getting (Ethan) Happ on top down (plays) as opposed to the swing. They got out of the swing and made us adjust again. It was good. I thought he did a really good job managing the game. I don’t think our mentality is where it needed to be either and you can see it in the amount of assists and the poor shooting percentage from three and then just some of the guys and they’re performances.“

On what Wisconsin scoring against NU's small lineup
“We didn’t guard. They just took advantage of us, especially inside.“

On Wisconsin’s defense 
“They’re a strong defensive team. I thought they did a good job of switching and then I thought we made bad decisions on the switches. We had Ethan Happ out there and the only guy that really drove him hard was Thomas (Allen). Thomas played a really good game and the rest of the guys settled for jumpers."

Nebraska Player Quotes
Isaac Copeland, James Palmer Jr., Jordy Tshimanga
On the importance of getting to the free throw line given the choppy nature of the game: 
Palmer: “Definitely. I think that’s what we wanted to do in the second half since they’re a slow- paced team so we want to try to do something, instead of a high-paced game. We want to try to get to the free throw line. I think we did that.”

On Tshimanga’s performance in the game after some struggles in previous games: 
Tshimanga: “Like [Coach Miles] probably told you guys, he told me just stick with it and my teammates here have been great with me, been patient, and I’ve just been sticking with it. Getting in the gym, getting extra reps and just working.”

On the team’s performance against Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ: 
Copeland: “First half we did a good job. Second half, he got going a little bit. When you play with a team where they go through one person almost every play, he’s going to get his baskets. So our job is to make it as tough as we can and win the game, so we did that.”

On guarding Happ in the second half specifically:
Palmer: “He saw a couple baskets fall through, and once a good scorer sees a couple baskets fall through they start feeling good.  He got a couple layups to go and started getting to the free throw line.”

Notes:
*-With the win, Nebraska improved to 12-6 on the season, matching last year’s win total (12-19). It is Nebraska's best 18-game mark since 2010-11.

*-Nebraska's win was its first regular-season win over the Badgers since 2014 (NU downed Wisconsin in the 2016 Big Ten Tournament). NU improves to 3-8 against UW since joining the Big Ten.

*-Nebraska won for the first time this season when scoring fewer than 70 points. The Huskers had been 0-5 when scoring less than 70 points.

*-Nebraska failed to score 70 points for the first time in 10 home games this season. The Huskers’ streak of scoring 70 or more points in nine consecutive home games was the program’s longest since the 1993-94 team scored at least 70 points in all 16 home games.

*-The 22 points allowed in the first half was Nebraska’s best defensive first half of the season. The previous best was 24 against Stetson on Dec. 29.

*-Nebraska trailed only once in the game by one point for a total of 57 seconds.

*-Thirteen of Nebraska’s final 15 points came at the free throw line , as the Huskers made only one field goal over the final 7:50. During that time, NU made 13-of-18 from the charity stripe, and the Huskers were 18-of-24 from the free throw line in the game. It marks the third straight game NU has shot .750 or better from the foul line.

*-Jordy Tshimanga finished with a season-high nine points, topping his previous best of six on three occasions, most recently against Stetson on Dec. 29.

*- With 18 points, James Palmer Jr. finished in double figures for the 16th time in 17 games and for the 14th straight game.

*-Freshman guard Thomas Allen had eight points on 3-of-5 shooting. In his first four career Big Ten Conference games, Allen combined for five points on 2-of-6 shooting. Nebraska's bench outscored Wisconsin's 20-3. 

Nebraska Head Coach Tim Miles
On Jordy Tshimanga’s season-high performance 
“I thought Jordy (Tshimanga) did a really nice job the second half. He defended well. He was good for us on offense and on the glass. It was good to see and should give him a shot of confidence.“

On Nebraska’s mentality and crediting Wisconsin 
“We need to tighten up. First of all, give credit to Wisconsin. Greg (Gard) is doing a great job. I just told him it’s like playing Jim Molinari’s teams. They just do a great job of making it difficult to score. You can’t extend on the lead and any mistake, they’re going to take advantage of and you can see that on points off turnovers. Right now, those younger guys aren’t quite ready to score the way he needs them to and that’s probably because he’s short handed and he’s lost a whole bunch of real talent two out of the last three years. But they’ll be back soon. There’s no doubt about it. I thought they did a good job later in the game of taking advantage of our small lineup, especially getting (Ethan) Happ on top down (plays) as opposed to the swing. They got out of the swing and made us adjust again. It was good. I thought he did a really good job managing the game. I don’t think our mentality is where it needed to be either and you can see it in the amount of assists and the poor shooting percentage from three and then just some of the guys and they’re performances.“

On what Wisconsin scoring against NU's small lineup
“We didn’t guard. They just took advantage of us, especially inside.“

On Wisconsin’s defense 
“They’re a strong defensive team. I thought they did a good job of switching and then I thought we made bad decisions on the switches. We had Ethan Happ out there and the only guy that really drove him hard was Thomas (Allen). Thomas played a really good game and the rest of the guys settled for jumpers."

Nebraska Player Quotes
Isaac Copeland, James Palmer Jr., Jordy Tshimanga
On the importance of getting to the free throw line given the choppy nature of the game: 
Palmer: “Definitely. I think that’s what we wanted to do in the second half since they’re a slow- paced team so we want to try to do something, instead of a high-paced game. We want to try to get to the free throw line. I think we did that.”

On Tshimanga’s performance in the game after some struggles in previous games: 
Tshimanga: “Like [Coach Miles] probably told you guys, he told me just stick with it and my teammates here have been great with me, been patient, and I’ve just been sticking with it. Getting in the gym, getting extra reps and just working.”

On the team’s performance against Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ: 
Copeland: “First half we did a good job. Second half, he got going a little bit. When you play with a team where they go through one person almost every play, he’s going to get his baskets. So our job is to make it as tough as we can and win the game, so we did that.”

On guarding Happ in the second half specifically:
Palmer: “He saw a couple baskets fall through, and once a good scorer sees a couple baskets fall through they start feeling good.  He got a couple layups to go and started getting to the free throw line.”

Wisconsin Head Coach Greg Gard

Opening statement
"Obviously disappointed in the outcome. I can't fault the effort of guys, and there's areas we've got to continue to improve upon, but we know that our margin for error is extremely slim, and it shows in areas that we struggle at times, whether it's depth or whether it's scoring. But again the effort, in terms of continuing to battle and fight back and claw, I'm proud of, and now we've got to continue to improve in some areas and continue to try to manufacture ways to compete, as we have, and continue to battle and improve."

On whether Wisconsin had the three-point shooting it wanted
"We have some limitations but I thought we did a decent job, specifically the second half, of playing through [Ethan Happ] as much as we could. We went to him a lot from different angles and different ways. We had some decent looks from three, made two [three pointers] there at the end, like to have some more go down earlier in the game and be able to get to the free throw line more, convert at the free throw line. I thought for the most part, we had the pace set where we wanted it in terms of the number of possessions and be able to make it a grinder type of game, and we did that but we have to be able to put the ball in the basket and score more consistently. "

 On finishing shots
"I don't know what we were. I haven't seen a shot chart yet, postgame, but I know we were 5-for-12 in the paint in the first half, and we had several where we could've done a better job of finishing through contact, finishing altogether, adding a pump fake, getting under control, so there was opportunities there. I don't know what the final numbers were, what the second-half numbers were."

On junior Nebraska guard James Palmer Jr.
"He adds a dimension, with his ability to put the ball on the floor, and I know he shot a lot of free throws, he shot nine tonight, he's, by 50-something. I think he's led them on the year, so he has a different dimension, a wing they can attack, that you have to go play on the perimeter. He's a handful when he comes downhill, on those lane lines, on the hand-offs and ball screen, so he does a good job of taking advantage of what his skill set is and making the most of it. But I think their team, in watching in preparation for this, I think their team does a pretty good job of, all have different strengths, and they all do a pretty good job of staying in their lane and understanding what their strengths are."

A couple have mentioned it, but it's a real testament to the talent and depth of this team that we can go out, play so poorly, and still notch the win against a Wisconsin. 

It wasnt long long ago where if we didn't bring our best against a conference opponent it was lights out, no chance, even against the leagues worst.

2 minutes ago, ajb5856 said:

A couple have mentioned it, but it's a real testament to the talent and depth of this team that we can go out, play so poorly, and still notch the win against a Wisconsin. 

 

It wasnt long long ago where if we didn't bring our best against a conference opponent it was lights out, no chance, even against the leagues worst.

Wisky with their injuries/lack of depth basically is a 6 man team. The other 4 guys they trotted out there combined for 0 points, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 11 minutes.

39 minutes ago, hhcdimes said:

Not to pick on Roby but he was -10 tonight whereas Jordy was +16 (thought it's not quite that simple).

He also had 8 rebounds 2 assists and a block.

Tanner and Dube combined for 11 mostly empty minutes with just 2 of them in the 2nd half.

No we didn’t shoot well but the close game was self-inflicted. Our biggest problem was shot selection.  Pull ahead by 10. Jack up 4 to 5 bad shots and fall to a 3 point lead - repeat. Palmer was the best player on the floor. Unfortunately he was only Nebraska’s best player half the time and was Wisconsin’s best player the other. Going to need all of the “big three” as BTN calls them to make better decisions. Good to see Jordy have a good game. 

9 hours ago, brfrad said:

Probably won't miss 3's like we did tonight.  2 - 14 from 3.  Thank goodness we went 21 - 28 from the line, and only sent Wisconsin to the line 10 times, making 4.  Big difference in the game.  Need to do better on offense, and keep up the intensity on defense.

Free throw disparity was a huge factor since they are normally a team that doesn't foul much, or to put it more accurately, have many of their obvious fouls called.

It boggles my mind how a good scorer like Happ can be so atrociously bad at shooting free throws.

7 hours ago, Dean Smith said:

No we didn’t shoot well but the close game was self-inflicted. Our biggest problem was shot selection.  Pull ahead by 10. Jack up 4 to 5 bad shots and fall to a 3 point lead - repeat. Palmer was the best player on the floor. Unfortunately he was only Nebraska’s best player half the time and was Wisconsin’s best player the other. Going to need all of the “big three” as BTN calls them to make better decisions. Good to see Jordy have a good game. 

Spot on Dean.  There were multiple occasions where I thought an offensive run was going to occur, and then we would either have costly turnovers or we would throw up ill advised shots.  I guess if they go in, the crowd picks up and everyone is happy.  But as we saw, bad shots typically provide bad results. 

It was hard to build consistency on offense when two of our three starting guards are held scoreless until the intentional fouls start occurring; and our three point shooting was sort of abysmal.  I walked away from the game last night somewhat shocked that we could play (what I perceived as) poorly on the offensive end, yet still win.  In fact, I never thought the game was really in doubt.  Our talent was so much better than Wisky.  Again, sort of surprising.  That said, if and when we hit on all cylinders, we will be in a very good position to provide the shock and awe that many of us anticipate.

With the win our RPI went up three spots.  Just illustrates that with a down Big Ten it's probably going to be a tough hill to climb in terms of SOS and RPI.  With that said, if we can put enough wins on the board I think it will take care of itself.  Winning @PSU would be a nice start in getting us into the bubble discussion.

One Miles decision last night really irked me.

I get that Watson has been in a major funk, not scoring-- maybe even struggling on D a bit so we went with the big guard line-up (Taylor, Gill, and Palmer)

But.... we are up SEVEN W/ 1:14 left after getting a stop and a defensive rebound. We have THREE timeouts left and we bring the ball up the court--- I was pleading with Miles to call a timeout as Taylor was getting pressured up the court. 

Call a time-out, put in your best ball handler-- and run 30 seconds off the clock or shoot FT's... but Taylor makes a jumping overhead pass to JPJ who turns it over for an easy bucket and Miles goes bananas cussing them out.

I totally get it-- those guys have played a ton of basketball, they need to be stronger with the ball but... Glynn is a 3 year starter at point guard. Get him back in the game and let him control the ball there.

9 minutes ago, Section_316 said:

One Miles decision last night really irked me.

 

I get that Watson has been in a major funk, not scoring-- maybe even struggling on D a bit so we went with the big guard line-up (Taylor, Gill, and Palmer)

 

But.... we are up SEVEN W/ 1:14 left after getting a stop and a defensive rebound. We have THREE timeouts left and we bring the ball up the court--- I was pleading with Miles to call a timeout as Taylor was getting pressured up the court. 

 

Call a time-out, put in your best ball handler-- and run 30 seconds off the clock or shoot FT's... but Taylor makes a jumping overhead pass to JPJ who turns it over for an easy bucket and Miles goes bananas cussing them out.

 

I totally get it-- those guys have played a ton of basketball, they need to be stronger with the ball but... Glynn is a 3 year starter at point guard. Get him back in the game and let him control the ball there.

I also couldn't believe that Watson wasn't in the game there. That was Palmer who tried to make the jump pass over two guys though.

Also, was Taylor trying to go to the FT line that one time so he could put some points on the board?