uneblinstu's postgame chatter: vol 13; ed 25 - @ iowa

Flush this one and get ready for a better than their record Northwestern. 

Good: 8-10 from the line... 80%!!!
 

Bad: Everything Else

If both teams play “good” we probably lose by 20. Iowa played great, and we played bad. Bad games happen, and it’s easier for them to happen against teams that good. Burn the tape, move on, and do not let one bad game affect anything moving forward. There was nothing record wise that mattered this year and this is just one game against a top 5 team.

I wish I could just flush it. But a disturbing observation was a general lack of fight, many players looked disinterested, especially when it came to taking care of the ball. We need a true point guard. We don’t have one on the roster right now. 

Reminded me of the Ohio State, and not in a good way.... oh well, move on to the regular season finale.

This one was decided when walker got his 2nd foul four minutes into the game

This is a better one to remember for Thor's heroics to preserve the 93-91 win on Senior Night in 2019.

Hey, at least we get to utter the magic words now. I think most will agree that last night we reached ROCK BOTTOM. Yet somehow I think we might squeeze out another victory this year.

9 hours ago, Bugeaters1 said:

 

The fact we got beat by THIRTY eight points & it doesn’t even come close to cracking the Top 10 for defeats, tells you everything you need to know...

1 minute ago, Handy Johnson said:

The fact we got beat by THIRTY eight points & it doesn’t even come close to cracking the Top 10 for defeats, tells you everything you need to know...

...that it turns out the game wasn't as bad as it could've been? 

44 minutes ago, jimmykc said:

Hey, at least we get to utter the magic words now. I think most will agree that last night we reached ROCK BOTTOM. Yet somehow I think we might squeeze out another victory this year.

We hit Ames?

With all of the emotional ups and downs the past week, we probably should've seen this one coming. (Hindsight is always so clear.) We simply weren't ready to play mentally. Getting outscored 33-2 on fast break points and second chance points combined clearly shows that.

Once our shots weren't falling and we started feeling sorry for ourselves, the physical toll of the past month left us with heavy legs.

Hopefully we learned our lesson about prep and focus and will be ready for Sunday. I think we will.

Good news is I was able to get a few honey-do list items checked off during the final 25 minutes of the game. That earned me some brownie points ... that I'll be giving back with all the hoops I'll be watching for the rest of March. Always seem to have a negative balance in the brownie points column this time of the year. 

Didn't watch the second half, but skimming the game thread and seeing the final score sounds like the mental, and effort, issues drug out into the second half.  Its like we didn't think we had a chance when we stepped on the court.  This program needs to get to a point where we believe we can beat anyone.  A ways to go apparently.

Learn from it, move on.  Fred knows whats up, we'll get there.

Yes.  Iowa has a good team.  But...I did not think we played hard.  Our mindset appeared negative, like it was an unwinnable game from the onset.  Our defense was in slow motion.  Our offensive spacing and execution was bad.  We were clanging open looks...sheesh.  otherwise no problem.

Now let's win the next two games and take it from there.

Iowa always has a pretty elite offense loaded with shooters and phenomenal ball movement.

This season, they are good because they have the athletes to guard almost every position.  They're a legit problem in the NCAA tournament this season.

10 hours ago, Bugeaters1 said:

 

So you're saying it could have been worse

22 minutes ago, Huskerpapa said:

Yes.  Iowa has a good team.  But...I did not think we played hard.  Our mindset appeared negative, like it was an unwinnable game from the onset.  Our defense was in slow motion.  Our offensive spacing and execution was bad.  We were clanging open looks...sheesh.  otherwise no problem.

 

Now let's win the next two games and take it from there.

Wonder if the legs are going

1 minute ago, colhusker said:

Wonder if the legs are going

I still counted 10 total legs on the court for Nebraska last night.

I think that Walker, Andre, and Ouedraogo put a lot of effort into defending Garza, but it is really hard to stop the presumptive national player of the year when the fouls pile up.

I like Garza as a player, I think he combines new and old school post play skills in a package that will serve him well at the next level. I'm pretty certain though he was getting some star treatment on the fouls...on one pump fake I heard the whistle on Andre's jump, not on the contact. I dream of the day when a Nebraska post player doesn't have 2 dubious fouls called on him before the first media timeout.

Stats from UNL

*-Lat Mayen posted his first career double-double with 14 points and career-high 13 rebounds. The 13 rebounds was not only a career high (previous high was 12 against South Dakota), but tied for the most by a Husker this season (Yvan Ouedraogo vs. Doane on Dec. 17).
*-Kobe Webster scored 17 points, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range. It was his highest Big Ten total of the season and most since he had 20 against Georgia Tech on Dec. 9
*-Iowa became the first time to shoot 50 percent against NU since the Huskers returned from its pause on Feb. 6
*-Thorir Thorbjarnarson tied his season and career high with five assists. He has had 10 assists in the Huskers’ last two contests.
*-Nebraska falls to 0-9 this season against ranked teams, including 0-5 against top-10 teams

If there was a game to roll in with a couple of flat tires, this was the one. Unlikely we beat Iowa even with a good effort. 

I'd rather save our better punches (if I were forced to choose) for the beatable teams we have left. And getting embarrassed like this will help in that effort.