unelinstu's postgame chatter: vol 15, ed 15: vs. Mich St

Hoiberg's roller coaster season hanging by a wicker basket.

I expected us to make a “Statement” tonight, and we did…

6 minutes ago, Handy Johnson said:

I expected us to make a “Statement” tonight, and we did…

The statement is "Can you guess which Huskers team shows up tonight?"

Game in a nutshell 3 pt line (-18 points), FT (12 misses for us to 2 for MSU), and 2nd chance points (-13)

The fact that we are offensively challenged is unconscionable.  These players were all rated high enough to indicate they should be able to knock down open looks consistently.   Oh well, we are what we are.

Felt like we were really anxious and sped up tonight from the opening tap, even when it was still close. Then, of course, it got worse as MSU put the game away with that first half run.

Seemed to overhelp a bit too much on D - left way to many open guys at the 3 pt line from over-rotating. Can get away with it against Iowa when they're banging every 3rd three pointer off the top or side of the backboard. Can't get away with that against a good 3-pt shooting team like MSU.

We were forcing things on O, too. Once MSU started hitting every shot, we seemed to force things even more and played tighter. DW really forced it - not sure if he didn't feel like anyone else was going and he had to take on more scoring or what was going on. He wasn't alone, though. Guys just weren't letting the game come to them - they were forcing it most of that first half. 

Bottom line, though, is when teams are hitting shots against us, it's going to be ugly. We aren't good enough on offense to allow an opponent to hit 50% on FGs and 42% on 3s in the first half and expect to be in the game.

Have to give MSU & Izzo credit - they were ready for our scrambling D and really got us off our game.

Flush it and get ready for Minny. That's a must-win game now if we want to carry any hope of getting into the postseason into February.

Hoped for a closer score but I would have been shocked it we had won this game.   We needed Michigan State to have a really off shooting night while we shot well and neither happened.   MSU is obviously very well coached and they pass extremely well which exposes the aggressive switching defense that we play.    I love our defensive effort this year but if the opponent is adept at making the extra pass and finding the open perimeter shooter they are going to get open looks eventually - and if they knock down those open looks we are going to have problems.   It is a gamble that pays off against alot of teams - but we are going to have nights where it doesn't work.    We also really struggled shooting which obviously is an area where we have been at best inconsistent.   We needed CJ and Kesei to find open shots and make them - and the opposite happened.   We also need to find our touch at the free throw line - again the opposite happened tonight.   Not sure what has happened to Walker at the line.  Last year he was actually a good free throw shooter.  This season he has struggled a bit all year and was obviously horrible tonight.  

I have always viewed conference road games against quality teams as "no lose" situations - just a chance to pick up an unexpected win if things went really well.   The key is defending your home floor and just trying to pick up a road win when you have a chance.   Should have at least a better chance of that Saturday if we keep our heads up.   Either way main thing is holding serve at home.

12 minutes ago, brfrad said:

Game in a nutshell 3 pt line (-18 points), FT (12 misses for us to 2 for MSU), and 2nd chance points (-13)

In a nutshell, they're just way more talented than we are.

I didn't think we played that poorly. Especially the first 12 minutes of the 2nd half. But their guys were hitting shots our guys just can't hit. They exposed where we're weak. Only a couple of guys of ours that you even have to guard on the perimeter.

Hat's off to MSU. I definitely think this game was more about them being good than us being bad. Disagree if you want but that's my view.

I feel we are not going to be consistent until we keep players in our system.  We have 1 player in his 3rd season (Walker) with us.  Compare to this to MSU who has 4 (Hauser, Hoggard, Sissoko, and Hall) such players.

MSU looked like a top 10 team tonight.  Their defense was suffocating.  They wouldn’t lose to very many teams the way they played tonight.  
 

I don’t expect this team to win a lot on the road, especially against good teams.  We need to do our damage at home.  This is a game you toss out and forget about it.  Focus on the next game.

Notes from UNL

*-Nebraska falls to 8-7 (1-3 Big Ten) on the season with tonight’s loss
*-Michigan State is the first Husker opponent in the last five games to shoot better than 40 percent from the field, as MSU shot 48.4 percent from the field.
*-Derrick Walker finished in double figures for the ninth time this season and the 11^th time in the last 12 games dating back to last season.
*-Derrick Walker finished with a team-high 15 points along with nine rebounds and three assists, pacing NU in all three categories.
*-Wilhelm Breidenbach reached double figures for the third time this season with 10 points off the bench. He has reached double figures in each of NU’s last two road games.
*-Nebraska shot 57.7 percent in the second half after shooting 27.6 percent in the opening 20 minutes
*-The Huskers have lost 10 straight to Michigan State dating back to Nebraska’s win in East Lansing in 2016

48 minutes ago, cornfed24-7 said:

The statement is "Can you guess which Huskers team shows up tonight?"

That statement is we’re a Team that can punch over our weight class once in awhile, but we don’t need to be taken seriously in the B1G Conference. 

We are a formidable team at home this year.  Away from the Vault, it’s been a mixed bag.  I’m not worried too much about how many wins we get on the road as long as we can hold serve at home.

1 hour ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

In a nutshell, they're just way more talented than we are.

 

I didn't think we played that poorly. Especially the first 12 minutes of the 2nd half. But their guys were hitting shots our guys just can't hit. They exposed where we're weak. Only a couple of guys of ours that you even have to guard on the perimeter.

 

Hat's off to MSU. I definitely think this game was more about them being good than us being bad. Disagree if you want but that's my view.

I agree.  Let's say we make two more threes and five more free throws, which is still not very good for either, we play a good team on the road to single digits.  The team played hard after falling down big early.  

Michigan state is going to end up being a very good team.

KState is turning out to be a very good team.

Learn from this and move on. If you asked anyone before the year if they thought we had any shot to win at MSU they would have thought you were crazy.

Win the winnable games and hopefully make this a fun rest of year where the games actually matter for something.

We’ve said it many times but I’ll say it again.  This team is probably what a 1st or 2nd year team should look like.  This is a team and system that you could really get behind and think “we might have something here moving forward”.

But this isn’t year 1… or 2… or even 3.  That makes it all the more frustrating and all the more disappointing to be “hopeful to get to 14-16 wins”.

25 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

We’ve said it many times but I’ll say it again.  This team is probably what a 1st or 2nd year team should look like.  This is a team and system that you could really get behind and think “we might have something here moving forward”.

 

But this isn’t year 1… or 2… or even 3.  That makes it all the more frustrating and all the more disappointing to be “hopeful to get to 14-16 wins”.

Especially when arguably your three BEST players are gone next year…

The force them to take midrange jumpers defense doesn’t work well when your opponent seemingly makes EVERY midrange jumper. 

Been hoping for a game when both Treysei and 3J wilcher go off the same game, right now would just settle for one. 
 

Jaxon (yikes) Kohler has a very punchable face. Will be annoying us for four years. 

10 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

In a nutshell, they're just way more talented than we are.

 

I didn't think we played that poorly. Especially the first 12 minutes of the 2nd half. But their guys were hitting shots our guys just can't hit. They exposed where we're weak. Only a couple of guys of ours that you even have to guard on the perimeter.

 

Hat's off to MSU. I definitely think this game was more about them being good than us being bad. Disagree if you want but that's my view.

This. Not sure why some people expected us to handle Michigan State on the road. The Spartans have talent, they’re healthy now and they have momentum. We still made them work. They just happened to work their stuff to darn near perfection. Izzo was downright thrilled with how they executed, and that’s not a normal reaction from him. They executed and hit almost all of their midrange shots (which are the shots we want them to take). In the first half, we seemed to miss everything in the paint. We shot well below our average from the line and arc. Aside from shooting, we looked the same we have all year to me. Still played hard on both ends, shared the ball on offense and flew around on defense. We looked like what I think we are - a solid, middle of the pack team. Playing against a good conference opponent in a tough environment. You’re going to lose some of those by 18 points. It happens. It’s normal. We’re going to struggle more against teams who can match our toughness. You’re not going to out-tough Michigan State or Indiana. You can always out-tough Iowa and creighton, regardless of year. 
 

13 hours ago, throwback said:

Bottom line, though, is when teams are hitting shots against us, it's going to be ugly. We aren't good enough on offense to allow an opponent to hit 50% on FGs and 42% on 3s in the first half and expect to be in the game.

I think this pretty much sums up every game for us, which will continue to be the case all year. We are what we are offensively. Our defensive philosophy is to not let anything inside and crash the defensive boards hard at the expense of leaving wide open looks from deep. If the opposing team hits those open looks, the game can get outa hand quick. 

14 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

Hat's off to MSU. I definitely think this game was more about them being good than us being bad. Disagree if you want but that's my view.

The BIG pregame show agreed with you, Norm.  According to them, Michigan State returned a couple injured players for our game and, with those players, (i) is an exceptionally strong defensive team, and (ii) will be at the top of the league.

P.S. But no one on that pregame show mentioned anything about Michigan State being particularly good at preventing free throw shots from going in.

2 hours ago, Swan88 said:

The BIG pregame show agreed with you, Norm.  According to them, Michigan State returned a couple injured players for our game and, with those players, (i) is an exceptionally strong defensive team, and (ii) will be at the top of the league.

P.S. But no one on that pregame show mentioned anything about Michigan State being particularly good at preventing free throw shots from going in.

 

Yeah, we would have needed to play exceptional offense to have won this game. Mich St came ready to play and then they shot well.  As Hoiberg said post-game, this game is not going to hurt us long term. There are half a dozen league games on the road where we could potentially "steal" a win. Starting on Saturday.

Right now, I would be happy IF we can get to 14-16 wins.  It’s a tough grind to win any game.

14 hours ago, hskr4life said:

We’ve said it many times but I’ll say it again.  This team is probably what a 1st or 2nd year team should look like.  This is a team and system that you could really get behind and think “we might have something here moving forward”.

 

But this isn’t year 1… or 2… or even 3.  That makes it all the more frustrating and all the more disappointing to be “hopeful to get to 14-16 wins”.

To be honest, does it rally matter if it's year 1, 2, 5, or 10?  We aren't changing years 1, 2, or 3.  Do we tear it down, hoping we catch lightning in a bottle like Kansas State?  Or, basically call this year 1 for Fred, hoping he figured out the right formula with the right coaches in place, and the type of player needed.

2 very important areas in the offseason to find are a point guard with 2 + years of eligibility remaining.  And, a consistently good shooter (Aka a more consistent CJ Wilcher)

Optimism for future seasons under Hoiberg seems well-founded these days:

1. Hoiberg had prior success as a College coach;

2. While his original vision/strategy at NU failed, Hoiberg has adjusted with a different staff and a new identity;

3.  The new identity has succeeded--far beyond everyone's expectations--in the Creighton, Purdue and Iowa games, and the inexplicable failures of the past have not materialized this season (yet);

4.  The new identity is enabled by a repurposing of the old (Walker) and an infusion of well-seasoned new (Griesel, Bandoumel and Gary); and

5.  If the staff could get the right players in the door after the failures of last season, they surely can do even better after the successes (thus far) of today.