unelinstu's postgame chatter: vol 15, ed 14: vs. Iowa

Starting to get some 2008-09 mighty mites vibes from this group except this team rolls out more guys and everyone is taller

I couldn't tell from tv but were there many Iowa fans attending last night? And did any of them put paper bags over their heads and stalk out early? There didn't seem to be many "crowd reaction" shots on the broadcast. It would have been a long and dismal trip back to Iowa City if anyone had planned not to stay overnight. 

24 minutes ago, jimmykc said:

I couldn't tell from tv but were there many Iowa fans attending last night? And did any of them put paper bags over their heads and stalk out early? There didn't seem to be many "crowd reaction" shots on the broadcast. It would have been a long and dismal trip back to Iowa City if anyone had planned not to stay overnight. 

Not that many (considering the proximity of their school); I was surprised.

The DENIAL by Denim Dawson pic.twitter.com/TsJTdM8N1Z

— ESPN (@espn) December 30, 2022

26 minutes ago, jimmykc said:

I couldn't tell from tv but were there many Iowa fans attending last night? And did any of them put paper bags over their heads and stalk out early? There didn't seem to be many "crowd reaction" shots on the broadcast. It would have been a long and dismal trip back to Iowa City if anyone had planned not to stay overnight. 

Yeah, not many Iowa fans. It was a bunch of Nebraska people who decided that they wanted to see a basketball game at 6pm during the holidays.

Had a group of Iowa fans leave with 8 minutes to go.  Seeing the odds weren't in their favor at that point.

11 hours ago, huskerbill85 said:

8-6 probably puts us somewhere near the bubble for now right? This hasn't exactly been an easy schedule so if you told me 8-6 going into new years I would have told you pass the pipe

With our schedule and quality wins we’ll have, getting to 16-17 wins is potentially a tourney team.

chances of me thinking about that and getting my hopes up - 0%

5 minutes ago, basketballjones said:

With our schedule and quality wins we’ll have, getting to 16-17 wins is potentially a tourney team.

 

chances of me thinking about that and getting my hopes up - 0%

We'd probably need to get to 19 wins to get on the good side of the bubble, TBH.

54 rebounds got me poking around the record books but we weren't even close. Somehow had 77 against K State in 1957. That might be the most Huskery season ever. Bad all year then beat Wilt's #4 KU team and Bob Boozer's #1 K State team back to back before dropping the season finale to 8-14 Colorado. 

This team really gets after their asses.

Hmmm.

I think I just came up with a great idea for a team slogan.

9 minutes ago, Tallbaby21 said:

54 rebounds got me poking around the record books but we weren't even close. Somehow had 77 against K State in 1957. That might be the most Huskery season ever. Bad all year then beat Wilt's #4 KU team and Bob Boozer's #1 K State team back to back before dropping the season finale to 8-14 Colorado. 

That was an era full of guys hucking it up.  Paul Silas AVERAGED over 20 rebounds a game during his career at Creighton in '62-'64.

2 hours ago, Tallbaby21 said:

That might be the most Huskery season ever. Bad all year then beat Wilt's #4 KU team and Bob Boozer's #1 K State team back to back before dropping the season finale to 8-14 Colorado. 

Glad to see my grandfathers grandfather endured the same things I do.

Head coach Fran McCaffery was critical of his team’s shooting effort in the loss, but he also gave credit where it was due to the Huskers’ defense. 

McCaffery said Iowa learned what the rest of the Big Ten would likely find out soon enough – this Nebraska team is nothing like what the league had seen the past three seasons.

“It’s a completely different team,” McCaffery said of NU. “These guys, they’re playing like a team; they’re playing for each other. Like I said, nobody is going for themselves. They’re playing for each other, and I think it’s obvious.

“When you see that many guys in double figures, there’s no selfishness there that I see – first of all, here (tonight), but I’m talking about the tape I’ve watched, too. I’ve watched pretty much all their games.”
 

Can't believe I'm going to agree with him...but this is so true.  

1 hour ago, hugh42 said:

Just because

The whole bench gave them good minutes last night, but I was really impressed with Denim. That's more like what I thought he'd bring to the table this season. Seemed like he was trying to do things outside his current skill set and what the team currently needs for a handful of games before the break (and before his "benching"). Nice to see him get back to playing the hits after the Xmas break.

Not sure if he's responding to the "benching" and/or he did some soul searching over the break, but a really nice effort from him. Kind of showcases the chemistry and team-first mentality these guys have. 

One more thing - not sure who went out and found Bandoumel and Gary in the portal, but wow. These two are perfect fits for this style of play.

A lot of P5 teams wouldn't go after those two because they're a bit undersized and because they aren't great on offense. They aren't NBA players. But they are perfect for this team. Their tenacity sets the tone. What Gary does at his size on the glass ... just wow. And Bandoumel never tires, despite giving max effort all the time.

Two guys that opposing fans love to hate. Nice to have a couple guys like that on our team.

Whoever found those two had a vision for what the team should look like. Recruiting guys from the portal with a plan in mind is a refreshing change.

I think what I am enjoying the most about this is we have a clear identity. I know, EXACTLY, how we’re gonna look from game to game from a strategic standpoint. Win or lose, here’s what we’re gonna do and you either stop it or you don’t, type of stuff… 

You can also pretty much tell what kind of game it will be by the 12min mark. 

53 minutes ago, basketballjones said:

With our schedule and quality wins we’ll have, getting to 16-17 wins is potentially a tourney team.

 

chances of me thinking about that and getting my hopes up - 0%

That would put us at 16-16 or 17-15 going into selection sunday. I think the most losses ever for an at-large team is 14, but that's pretty rare. Michigan had 14 losses going into the tourney last year, but they are Michigan. The name on the front of the jersey matters at that point. If you're .500 or a game or two above, you're on the NIT bubble even if your NET ranking is high. Still gotta win games. But, sometimes there's not much difference between being an NIT 5 seed or being in the big dance. 17 wins and we might not get an NIT home game. 18 wins and we're on the bubble. 19 wins and we're in.  In 2014, we did everything just right from a resume standpoint. Lost the games we could lose and won the games we had to win (both to avoid bad losses and to pick up some quality wins). I believe the Purdue game a couple weeks ago was one we had to win. 

Appreciation post for Ernie Zeigler. I watch the bench pretty intently during games. One of the main things that triggered me most the last three years was the apparent lack of in-game accountability and instruction over the little things. If a player did something ridiculous that you never saw other teams' players do (which happened a lot), they'd either stay in the game or be subbed out and go sulk on the bench. Sometimes Matt would console them, but I don't think much coaching was going on there. Doc didn't seem to care much. Loenser is great for player development and energy. I don't really blame Hoiberg for this. I want him to keep being the offensive coordinator and overall calming presence. They obviously talked about the little things in the film room, but I like that accountability and coaching to occur in the moment. It sure does with Tom Izzo and Bill Self. They'll replace a 5-star with a 3-star in a heartbeat if the buy-in isn't there. Coach Zeigler gets on Keisei, CJ, Wilhelm, etc as soon as they come to the bench. They seem to respond to him and don't hang their head. I do believe this translates to them being more crisp/sharper on the court. He seems to be a "how you do anything is how you do everything" type of coach. That's how I was coached growing up, so I really appreciate it when I see it. 

All the players and coaches deserve credit for the vast and quick culture improvement, but the jobs Zeigler and Howard are doing in such a short amount of time has amazed me.

There were a few Iowa fans but not like Creighton blue level….just a spattering. Overall a really good crowd. Concourse was packed the entire time since PBA must be on a worker shortage thing, lots of concession stands weren’t open. I went up at halftime and the line for the beer was about 150 deep…

Been a rough year for getting chatter's started. Thanks y'all for picking up the slack!

How great was last night! Creighton and Iowa in the same month!

8 minutes ago, Faux Mike Peltz said:

There were a few Iowa fans but not like Creighton blue level….just a spattering. Overall a really good crowd. Concourse was packed the entire time since PBA must be on a worker shortage thing, lots of concession stands weren’t open. I went up at halftime and the line for the beer was about 150 deep…

There were more consession stands open last night then there have been since the start of the season.  the Beer stands haven't even been open most of the season. Yeah I think they have a worker shortage and in the past they had volunteers. Must not be allowed to do that anymore? First game of the season where I didn't even get a bottle water due to lines. I'm betting there were more beer sales last night than the Creighton game. 

Great to see CJ get his shot back!  Here's to hoping Fred can get this turned around..  I believe he now has the staff he needs.  With the additions of Rice and hopefully Baye Ndongo things look good as far as recruiting.  Add a couple in the portal and we might have something.   GO BIG RED

42 minutes ago, Nighthawk said:

There were more consession stands open last night then there have been since the start of the season.  the Beer stands haven't even been open most of the season. Yeah I think they have a worker shortage and in the past they had volunteers. Must not be allowed to do that anymore? First game of the season where I didn't even get a bottle water due to lines. I'm betting there were more beer sales last night than the Creighton game. 

I’m up in the 200 level, the ones usually open by 214 were closed, and I went a bit further down and another one was closed as well. Only a couple were open for the Queens game but justified as about 1500 people showed up…

I agree with that this staff is by far the best that Fred has had.  It is a joy to watch how the players have gotten better and have bought into what they are teaching.  I like what I see in the young ones when they come in to play their small but meaningful minutes.

Hope everybody gets to stay for a long time.

1 hour ago, Nighthawk said:

There were more consession stands open last night then there have been since the start of the season.  the Beer stands haven't even been open most of the season. Yeah I think they have a worker shortage and in the past they had volunteers. Must not be allowed to do that anymore? First game of the season where I didn't even get a bottle water due to lines. I'm betting there were more beer sales last night than the Creighton game. 

I know various groups are working the concession stands as a fund raiser. Not sure how that works. 

42 minutes ago, Faux Mike Peltz said:

I’m up in the 200 level, the ones usually open by 214 were closed, and I went a bit further down and another one was closed as well. Only a couple were open for the Queens game but justified as about 1500 people showed up…

Yup I'm in the 100 level and same issues.