uneblinstu's postgame chatter: vol 14; ed 5 - vs. Southern

.272 3 point FG percentage for our “good” shooting team.  This has to get better before taking on NC State.  Don’t know much about Tennessee St or South Dakota but will hope we improve before taking on the Wolfpack.

I just had a few thoughts:

- I think this offense runs better with Breidenbach at the 4 and either Andre or Walker at the 5 at the same time.

- What is the point of starting Keon, playing him for 4 minutes, and then sitting him the rest of the half?

- We need to find a way to get Tominaga good looks some way other than pull up transition 3s. Tominaga needs to find a way to get space off the ball.

- If the goal is to get down to an 8 man rotation I think Lat needs to seriously pick it up in order to be one of those 8. 

A few takes:

- headed into the season, we were all talking about how we had all this talent from our guards and wings.  But up to this point I think the trio of Walker, Breidenbach and Andre is good - runs our offense so much better and also benefits us on defense.  I agree with the comment above that we need to play 2 bigs.

- if you needed a clutch 3 right now, who do you draw up a play for?  That hesitation you are feeling is the problem.  Right now my answers would be (in order): Wilcher, Tominaga, Webster.  The fact that I wouldn’t have any of our starters in the top 3 is an issue.  Maybe Bryce.  But this offense cannot run when we can’t make outside shots.

- we are going to waste our brief time with Bryce if we don’t play better defense. 
 

- I like this team, and think they can get a lot better….but they need to 

Badgett touched on Keon starting and I think it’s spot on. Chemistry - it keeps that second unit together and cohesive. He also stabilizes things defensively for us from the start with his length and athleticism. 
 

We need more production out of some players on this team. Specifically Lat and CJ. For us to be successful against good teams, they need to combine for 15-17 points. Their production against Southern and Sam Houston State isn’t going to get it done on a bigger stage. 

More good than bad today.  I did walk away thinking about the rotation.  

CJ

Wilhelm

Alonzo

Walker

Bryce

Andre

Tominaga

Webster

The above is my rotation.  Fighting for time is Keon and Lat.

I'm not convinced we need to shorten our rotation at this point; yet all around production is necessary. 

So . . . the team is more of a work in progress than we’d hoped.

But consider this: after last season, we expected to have four starters back.  We now have only two.  One of those four is doing well the pros, and another is out with an injury.  So, our earlier expectations must adjust to a mostly-new-and-young team that is learning to play together. 
A rough start is teaching some lessons that will, hopefully, pay off down the road.  And the three-point struggles are likely to improve (see, e.g., Tominaga last season).

There is a lot of basketball yet to be played, with lots of improvement yet to be made.

Here’s looking forward to the ride.

Ugly win. I can’t figure this team out at all.

I am regaining some of my earlier optimism about this season. 
 

We are making progress in:

moving without the ball

setting screens

pick and roll

looking for a teammate who has a better chance of scoring then you do with hero ball

rebounding

our 3 point shooting was bad but we controlled the above things which over time will lead to better 3 point shooting.

Regarding Edwards I am perplexed as to why he is starting…he may and hopefully he will improve but starting him right now handicaps us.

Go Huskers!

- I like using goggles and Andre together. Could Andre and walker play together?  I felt like when walker was in southern got a lot more points in the paint compared to when we had Andre in there.  Walker just doesn’t have the height to be a rim protector like Andre. I sure wish Andre would of played in that first game. No doubt we prolly win that game.

-Verge played very good today. Really looked to distribute the ball first.  

-first half we were taking some really bad 3 point shots besides Lat’s wide open looks he couldn’t hit. After that we started to work inside out and that helped dramatically.
 

-I’m done with Lat. sorry just feel like we got better options right now.

-Bryce. Wow he is getting better and better each game. He was locked in on rebounding and drawing fouls today. He had a couple open 3s he passed on but can’t fault him for driving considering he couldn’t really be stopped today!
 

We can win with the Verge that played today.  He was very good and got us a million wide open threes.  If we shoot at a normal clip, he was looking at a double double.  
 

Walker had a ton of great finishes and smart plays down low.  
 

I like Wilhelm over Lat now.  Way more skilled and a bigger body.  He also more than makes up for his lack of perimeter D with excellent help positioning.  Leave two bigs on the court most of the time if possible.  

We’re shooting 27.2% from 3 five games in. Obviously it’s early and law of averages should correct itself. Otherwise that’s our worst percentage since at least 2000 (as far back as Huskers.com stats go). So yeah we sure as hell better start hitting some soon. Bryce (23.8%), Keisei (23.5%) and Lat (25%) in particular are the three that either need to start hitting or perhaps stop shooting (particularly Bryce with a team-high 21 attempts). Sorry love ya Bryce but you’re not a shooter and a lot of those attempts are pull-ups with a man in the face. But Lat is incredibly disappointing. He was wide the F open so many times today. He had time to set up a picnic for himself before shooting some of those. Still missed.

Good self-awareness by Verge. Just need him to internalize that and show it when playing against the Creightons of the world.

So-- 5 games in, this is where I am at.

1.  My five players who should be getting the majority of the minutes are...... Kobe, Bryce, Wilcher, Wilhelm, Walker

2.  My three players who should be getting the majority of the backup minutes are....... Andre (at the post) and Keisei/Verge at the guard position.

3.  I just don't know what to think about Lat.  He hasn't shot well at all in basically every game he's ever played here.  He also doesn't do well enough in other areas for me to justify him playing a ton of minutes.  He must show out really well in practice.  I'm not a coach, I don't see what happens every day in practice, however his production in games does not justify his minutes played.  JMO from watching games only.

4.  We're getting better, but have a long long ways to go.  Unfortunately, it's looking like Year 3 is going to be the same in that we have a huge growth curve to overcome to start the season.

5.  With that being said, the talent upgrade is starting to show.  Bryce is looking really good for a true frosh.  Boy I wish we could have gotten one more year with him.  I really like the idea of Wilhelm being on the floor for more minutes BUT he's going to have to learn not to foul.  Wilcher looks good, even if he had a rougher outing.  

6.  Interesting seeing Keon continue to start.  I don't think we can sustain BOTH Keon and Lat continue to start.  Too little production on the floor to start games.  Keon and Lat should probably be fighting for who is the 9th many.

7.  Absolutely have to win these next two.  Even with winning these next two, there's a real chance we'd be welcoming Kansas State at 5-6.

One more thing... the Verge that was 4-5, 0 threes taken, 6-6 at the line, 6 boards, and 4 assists is the Verge that we can reallllllly use every game.

He still tends to dribble himself into a little too much trouble at times, but he's getting a lot better.

6 hours ago, basketballjones said:

Ugly win. I can’t figure this team out at all.

Hopefully the opponents can't either.

4 hours ago, Shawn Eichorst's Toupee said:

 

Good self-awareness by Verge. Just need him to internalize that and show it when playing against the Creightons of the world.

I wish he would have had this wake up call prior to Creighton!  Another year before we get another shot, and another two years before we get a shot at home. 

I would be interested seeing Lakes in Lat’s spot for a game in the non con.  Like everyone else has already said, Lat has been a serious disappointment.  I bet Lakes would do better on the wide open threes, and it isn’t like Lat is a dominant defender or rebounder.  And he is a human turnover when he handles the ball.  Couldn’t hurt to see what the kid has IMO

9 hours ago, hskr4life said:

One more thing... the Verge that was 4-5, 0 threes taken, 6-6 at the line, 6 boards, and 4 assists is the Verge that we can reallllllly use every game.

 

He still tends to dribble himself into a little too much trouble at times, but he's getting a lot better.

This.  If he plays this unselfish, he’s easily our best option at point.  He played great on both ends and really let the game come to him on O.  

10 hours ago, hskr4life said:

So-- 5 games in, this is where I am at.

 

1.  My five players who should be getting the majority of the minutes are...... Kobe, Bryce, Wilcher, Wilhelm, Walker

 

2.  My three players who should be getting the majority of the backup minutes are....... Andre (at the post) and Keisei/Verge at the guard position.

 

3.  I just don't know what to think about Lat.  He hasn't shot well at all in basically every game he's ever played here.  He also doesn't do well enough in other areas for me to justify him playing a ton of minutes.  He must show out really well in practice.  I'm not a coach, I don't see what happens every day in practice, however his production in games does not justify his minutes played.  JMO from watching games only.

 

4.  We're getting better, but have a long long ways to go.  Unfortunately, it's looking like Year 3 is going to be the same in that we have a huge growth curve to overcome to start the season.

 

5.  With that being said, the talent upgrade is starting to show.  Bryce is looking really good for a true frosh.  Boy I wish we could have gotten one more year with him.  I really like the idea of Wilhelm being on the floor for more minutes BUT he's going to have to learn not to foul.  Wilcher looks good, even if he had a rougher outing.  

 

6.  Interesting seeing Keon continue to start.  I don't think we can sustain BOTH Keon and Lat continue to start.  Too little production on the floor to start games.  Keon and Lat should probably be fighting for who is the 9th many.

 

7.  Absolutely have to win these next two.  Even with winning these next two, there's a real chance we'd be welcoming Kansas State at 5-6.

 

 

I think Keon starting is just Hoiberg wanting to keep the rotation pretty much the same. NBA teams do it all the time. When a starter is out, they'll insert the last guy in the rotation, or someone not in the rotation, into the starting lineup. I'm sure Hoiberg likes how the bench rotation is looking. But the real issue is how it seems our five bench players (Kobe, Keisei, CJ, Wilhelm, Andre) give us more energy (and efficiency) than our starters as a whole do to begin the game. I'd rather have those 5 starting, if I had to choose between the two groups. I agree with your point #1 - Kobe, Bryce, CJ, Wilhelm, Walker would be my preferred starting lineup at this point. 

As a Celtics fan I've watched a lot of games with a lot of 3s and very few FTs. Loved the adjustment tonight to attack the rim against an undersized team when the 3s weren't falling. Getting to the line with a good FT shooting team (double crosses fingers) can make up for some deficiencies elsewhere. 

On 11/21/2021 at 4:56 PM, 49r said:

I'll keep doing these until @uneblinstu tells me he's back in the saddle.

 

I got nothing.  That was the ugliest 23 point win ever.  Bryce is sneaky good.

 

Here's the 93.7 postgame livestream:

 

 

thanks for holding down the fort! Probably one more game. Not sure about South Dakota just yet.

On 11/21/2021 at 4:56 PM, 49r said:

I got nothing.  That was the ugliest 23 point win ever.  Bryce is sneaky good.

From observation, the formula is to take actual notes during the game.

You jot them down in approximately 4 minute chunks that correspond with the TV timeouts.

On 11/22/2021 at 10:34 AM, Tallbaby21 said:

As a Celtics fan I've watched a lot of games with a lot of 3s and very few FTs. Loved the adjustment tonight to attack the rim against an undersized team when the 3s weren't falling. Getting to the line with a good FT shooting team (double crosses fingers) can make up for some deficiencies elsewhere. 

It's smart of Hoiberg to get his team to attack. He knows how to coach the game, now the team needs to be able to execute at a high level.