uneblinstu's postgame chatter : vol 17; ed 15-IOWA

6 hours ago, AGHANSEN said:

4. Gary was really bad tonight. I think he was expecting to get fouled most of the time.

 

I love Juwan but he was doing a fantastic Angel Reese impression last night.  Easiest way to a double double is to miss a point blank layup, grab your own rebound, and repeat for 40 minutes.

8 hours ago, kldm64 said:

We missed free throws and refs were bad.......all true.  However, you have a team down by 15 in the 2nd half and their body language is bad, you have to go into killer instinct mode and we didn't.  We started chucking up bad shots instead of playing the way that got you the lead in the first place.  It is glaring that we need other scoring options beside Brice. Teams are starting to double team him and we don't have any other consistent option.  

 

The other thing I noticed is we are back to playing alot of 1-on-1 basketball and creating your own shot.  There are times due to matchup this is fine but we seem to like to create our own shot instead of ball movement and get kids an open look.  Bottom line is this as a very winnable game and we let it slip away.  It hurts as we could be 3-1 in conference play and looking at a very good seed in NCAA tournament.  Instead, we drop to .500 in conference and miss opportunity for a conference road win.  Now you have a tough road game ahead of you and if you lose that one, you are under .500 and on a 2 game losing streak.  Amazing how one game can change the whole outlook.

Right on target with the 1 on 1 assessment. I know there are times when we want to exploit matchups and run isos, but I really thought that if we moved the ball side to side and forced them to play defense for 20 seconds per possession, they would have folded and we would have ended up with some nice looks in the lane or layups. This one stung. 

20 hours ago, hhcmatt said:

 

Some of that was Brice having foul trouble. Some of that was playing in a 45 minute game. Otherwise, Berke only played 19 minutes so someone had to pick those up. Playing Ulis and Worster at the same time is dicey because they don't make 3s. Could have really used Gavin or Cale, assuming Cale played better in the second half. 

 

 

They guy who needs to get his head out of his ass is Gavin Griffiths. 

1 hour ago, basketballjones said:

They guy who needs to get his head out of his ass is Gavin Griffiths. 

I'm starting to see why Rutgers fans never seemed too upset when he transferred. He's got all the talent, but the game seems to move too fast for him. They keep saying he shoots great in practice, but practice speed ain't game speed. Seems like he can't shoot when he's rushed. 

5 minutes ago, HuscurAdam said:

 

I'm starting to see why Rutgers fans never seemed too upset when he transferred. He's got all the talent, but the game seems to move too fast for him. They keep saying he shoots great in practice, but practice speed ain't game speed. Seems like he can't shoot when he's rushed. 

Yeah I was very excited when we got his commitment.  I only watched him play twice last year, both times against Nebraska, and I really liked the potential that I saw in him.  I couldn’t have been more wrong in my assessment of him up to this point.

Best thing about the portal now is that you can cut kids faster and easier than ever

To be fair to GG, we’ve seen him just once since early December and he had his best minutes in a Husker uniform by a long shot.  
 

Now is that because he’s played his way out of the main rotation? Is there still issues in practice? None of that we know for sure.

However, his most recent game action was his best in a Husker uniform. So, I back in a wait and see how this shakes out mode with him. 
 

I still believe we can turn him into a really good player if he sticks around. However, most don’t do that anymore if they aren’t getting PT. Stay the course GG! Thor, Tominaga, and the list goes on for Huskers who struggled their first year here and broke out years 2-3+.

7 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

To be fair to GG, we’ve seen him just once since early December and he had his best minutes in a Husker uniform by a long shot.  

In scrub minutes against Southern. 

1 hour ago, HuscurAdam said:

 

I'm starting to see why Rutgers fans never seemed too upset when he transferred. He's got all the talent, but the game seems to move too fast for him. They keep saying he shoots great in practice, but practice speed ain't game speed. Seems like he can't shoot when he's rushed. 

In my experience... Kids who the game moves too fast for are either:

1. Bad

2. Young

3. Not bought in and more focused on themselves, so they're not doing what they're asked to do before they do what they can do. 

I don't think he's bad. You can't call him young anymore. So while I don't think he's a selfish kid or a bad teammate, my guess is he's more focused on himself and what he's doing, and not how he fits and moves in the big picture to create opportunities for himself and others. 

In my personal opinion, and clearly I am not there, he needs a fire lit under his ass and needs to be challenged. "Low confidence" is such a cop-out. Playing with fire, violence, and toughness is a choice. 

7 minutes ago, basketballjones said:

In my experience... Kids who the game moves too fast for are either:

1. Bad

2. Young

3. Not bought in and more focused on themselves, so they're not doing what they're asked to do before they do what they can do. 

 

I don't think he's bad. You can't call him young anymore. So while I don't think he's a selfish kid or a bad teammate, my guess is he's more focused on himself and what he's doing, and not how he fits and moves in the big picture to create opportunities for himself and others. 

 

In my personal opinion, and clearly I am not there, he needs a fire lit under his ass and needs to be challenged. "Low confidence" is such a cop-out. Playing with fire, violence, and toughness is a choice. 

I don't disagree with you but going to play devil's advocate a bit. 

Tai Webster's sophomore year. I don't think I've ever seen a rotation guard more in over his head. The game moved way too fast for him at that point. I actually remember feeling bad for him. 

Tai wasn't bad or selfish. He did play with fire and toughness imo. He just needed reps, experience and, maybe most of all, confidence. 

1 hour ago, basketballjones said:

In my experience... Kids who the game moves too fast for are either:

1. Bad

2. Young

3. Not bought in and more focused on themselves, so they're not doing what they're asked to do before they do what they can do. 

 

I don't think he's bad. You can't call him young anymore. So while I don't think he's a selfish kid or a bad teammate, my guess is he's more focused on himself and what he's doing, and not how he fits and moves in the big picture to create opportunities for himself and others. 

 

In my personal opinion, and clearly I am not there, he needs a fire lit under his ass and needs to be challenged. "Low confidence" is such a cop-out. Playing with fire, violence, and toughness is a choice. 

You see the talent in flashes, so he's definitely not bad. And I don't think he's selfish; he's seems engaged even when he's not playing. A true sophomore is still pretty young in my eyes.

Mostly, I think it just hasn't "clicked" for him yet...and I'm not sure if it will. I think it's possible he might just be a slow processor or info, which he could get away with in HS because he was just better than the competition and the offenses/defenses aren't as complex. I will keep my fingers crossed that it clicks because I can't watch him just get the ball taken from him one more time.   

1 hour ago, basketballjones said:

In my experience... Kids who the game moves too fast for are either:

1. Bad

2. Young

3. Not bought in and more focused on themselves, so they're not doing what they're asked to do before they do what they can do. 

 

I don't think he's bad. You can't call him young anymore. So while I don't think he's a selfish kid or a bad teammate, my guess is he's more focused on himself and what he's doing, and not how he fits and moves in the big picture to create opportunities for himself and others. 

 

In my personal opinion, and clearly I am not there, he needs a fire lit under his ass and needs to be challenged. "Low confidence" is such a cop-out. Playing with fire, violence, and toughness is a choice. 

If you re-watch the final 3 minutes of the Southern game, Gavin did everything right. He was trying hard, he was active, his head was on a swivel on defense, he was trying to box out but Southern wasn't even trying for offensive boards at that time in the game so he was blocking air. He got to his spots on offense. 

Honestly I just think it boils down to a couple simple things: 

1) Gavin isn't very strong. He's the same height as Brice but weighs 20 pounds less. He's the same height as Braden Frager but weighs about 30 pounds less. He's 3 inches taller than Connor Essegian and essentially weighs the same. He's not quick enough to guard Big Ten guards and he's not strong enough to guard Big Ten wings. I can't remember what game it was but he had a turnover early on where an opponent basically just took the ball out of his hands as he was holding it. I think he struggles with physicality and gets pushed around easily. 

2) He's not a good shooter when the lights are on. Fred and players said he could light it up at practice in the offseason. Well no one is watching then. He's now a 27.5% career 3pt shooter in college with 131 attempts of sample size. Some guys just get nervous when it's game time. 

2 hours ago, basketballjones said:

In scrub minutes against Southern. 

Of course-- he didn't light up a top 25 team. But it's at least something.

23 minutes ago, GhostOfJoeMcCray said:

1) Gavin isn't very strong. He's the same height as Brice but weighs 20 pounds less. He's the same height as Braden Frager but weighs about 30 pounds less. He's 3 inches taller than Connor Essegian and essentially weighs the same. He's not quick enough to guard Big Ten guards and he's not strong enough to guard Big Ten wings. I can't remember what game it was but he had a turnover early on where an opponent basically just took the ball out of his hands as he was holding it. I think he struggles with physicality and gets pushed around easily. 

 

Meh.............. that sounds like a lot of excuses. At a certain point, your weight and weight room strength has nothing to do with if you can handle the ball with toughness. 

On a happier note, I was reminded today that Fred’s First & one of only two Wins that B1G Conference season was against Iowa. Almost brought a tear to my eye when I pulled out my autographed Cam Mack hat…! (he of the Triple/Double) 

1 hour ago, basketballjones said:

Meh.............. that sounds like a lot of excuses. At a certain point, your weight and weight room strength has nothing to do with if you can handle the ball with toughness. 

I wouldn’t say they’re excuses. I’m giving reasons why I think he hasn’t been good at DI basketball. He has to shoot better and he has to be physically and mentally tougher. Not everyone can do it. It’s hard. Maybe he doesn’t have it in him. Maybe he does. Whatever the case, I’m sure Fred has had talks with him about what he needs to be doing if he wants to see the court. 

25 minutes ago, Handy Johnson said:

On a happier note, I was reminded today that Fred’s First & one of only two Wins that B1G Conference season was against Iowa. Almost brought a tear to my eye when I pulled out my autographed Cam Mack hat…! (he of the Triple/Double) 

Fred's system at ISU and the first couple of years at NU was perfectly suited to beat Iowa...but not much else in our case.

Fred's system currently is perfectly suited to win a lot more games...but not against Iowa.  It's a decent trade-off if you ask me.

Radio

https://huskerhoopscentral.com/2024-25/RadioBroadcasts/2025-01-07 Nebraska at Iowa.mp3

On a final note that I forgot to put in my previous post. I can't wait until Fran loses it in some game this year and methhead fans are bitching about the poor reffing.

We'll just have to see what happens with Gavin, but the sports (and real) world is filled with people who tried and tried and failed and failed but persisted and eventually succeeded. One example is Gene Hackman who was told many times he did not have the looks or ability to become an actor but kept trying to get a break and eventually morphed into... Coach Norman Dale.

Looking at that box score and those Free Throws just kills me.  We have shot it well from FT line all year and the game we needed it most we laid an egg.  Rollie really stands out, starting pg needs to make his FT's.  Looked up his season stats and his first 3 years he shot over 80% from the FT line.  Last year was 70% and this year is 66%.  Not a good trend there.  His assist per game has really dropped off from what he put up at Utah as well, not sure if thats due to the system or what but man I was expecting more from him this year.

2 hours ago, jimmykc said:

We'll just have to see what happens with Gavin, but the sports (and real) world is filled with people who tried and tried and failed and failed but persisted and eventually succeeded. One example is Gene Hackman who was told many times he did not have the looks or ability to become an actor but kept trying to get a break and eventually morphed into... Coach Norman Dale.

This is "The Conversation" erasure and I will not stand for it!

--also "The Poseidon Adventure", "The French Connection", "Bonnie and Clyde", "Superman" (1 and 2), "Young Frankenstein", "French Connection II", "Night Moves", "Reds"...and a couple of dozen other movies all starring Hackman before "Hoosiers".

38 minutes ago, 49r said:

 

This is "The Conversation" erasure and I will not stand for it!

 

--also "The Poseidon Adventure", "The French Connection", "Bonnie and Clyde", "Superman" (1 and 2), "Young Frankenstein", "French Connection II", "Night Moves", "Reds"...and a couple of dozen other movies all starring Hackman before "Hoosiers".

My dad looked like Gene, back in the day when they both had hair and a moustache.

Don't forget Little Bill Daggett in " Unforgiven", one of my favorites. It is interesting that he reportedly thought "Hoosiers" would be a huge flop, proving he is a much better actor than judge of movies.  Also, according to a report I happened upon this morning, his friend Dustin Hoffman persuaded him to persist after he couldn't find work after acting school.