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Coach Miles and staff did have a clinic for high school coaches Friday night/Saturday. I was able to go and watch practice for awhile Saturday in Devaney. Take my impressions for what they are worth, I only was able to watch for a little over an hour. -Coach Miles runs a well organized practice that is uptempo, which is to be expected. What I didn't expect is how physical the practice was, lots of contact, and the hits they were delivering during a take a charge drill were harder than any I saw Saturday afternoon in the football game. They did a lot of drill work, I didn't see them get up and down the court too much but from what I could tell about individual players. -Biggs has a very quick first step, and can elevate. Not a consistent outside shooter from what I saw but has some range. -Parker looks smooth, has a ways to go to pick up the system and things but has talent -I thought Ray, Menke, and Talley looked like our best shooters, and shooting was emphasized a lot throughout the practice. -Sergei is all of 7-1, skilled, and lanky, but needs some time in the weight-room before he's ready for the big time -Pitchford looks the part of a legit power forward, Coach was on his case quite a bit about effort and attitude, I think he expects a lot out of him. -Shields is going to be a good one, he's somewhat raw but athletic enough to get to the basket. I would expect him to play a ton this year. I saw a lot of teaching going on during the practice. You can tell it's early and a new system for the kids, but they were working hard. Miles did a nice job of using his assistants who were very involved in the practice.

I'm sure Tim brought over a lot of the stuff he had his players do at Colorado State. I'm sure you've seen and heard him use the expression GATA. It's more than just a slogan or a word on a t-shirt. It is a style of play that is honed through a lot of hard work and very physical practices. I had the opportunity to attend practices in Fort Collins and I believe that the average high school player wouldn't survive 30 seconds doing the drills where they draw charges and dive for loose balls. I would encourage you to try to take in a Coach Miles practice. You will not only get to see how his personality translates to the way the team is built but you will also develop a profound respect for the players and their commitment. First and foremost, Tim Miles knows how to build winning college basketball teams.

I watched a number of Doc's practices over the last few years and they were usually very intense. I would say he backed off a little the last couple of years because of injury issues. After only seeing one of Coach Miles' practices I can't necessarily make a great comparison yet. However, like I said in my other post, it was very physical. Guys were really hitting each other in some of the loose ball drills they were working on, it was a point of emphasis. Did Doc do this too, yes, and I think physical toughness is something you have to develop with the way basketball is played today. You have to remember these guys have only had a few chances to catch the new coach's eye so far, so most guys were really selling out. A couple of times I noticed guys tweak their ankles or something similar and not want to leave drills. As for breaking down players mentally, yes I saw some of the same tactics Doc used. Saturday David Rivers was the target, Miles really got after him a few times, but he also did the same to Walter Pitchford and Benny Parker. Much like the Doc regime, the assistants and teammates would then try and play good cop, and build the guys back up. It has been mentioned already, but Coach Miles really used his assistants and did more breaking into groups to work on individual skill development. I didn't notice any difference in the length of practices or breaks.

I was at practice yesterday and thought that the biggest thing is the change in systems and how difficult it is going to be for the current players to switch gears. You can tell that they are being asked to play more of a freelance motion now and it looks like they can't believe its ok to fire away and create on their own. I thought that three of the best players on the team won't play in a game until next year in Petteway, Biggs, and Pitchford. That's a good thing for us though as you can see they have solid abilities. Ubel is working his butt off as is Kye Kurkowski....Sergei has a long ways to go to be physical enough to contribute as they had him at the 5 when they did do some team things. Love the effort and the intensity and the fact that you can tell there is a relationship built...also thought the assistant coaches worked their butts off throughout practice. It will be interesting to see the defense as Coach Miles said they are starting over and many things are opposite of what was taught with the previous staff. It's a hard working group....but I still am trying to figure out who's gonna score???

As I watched practice I was somewhat impressed with how physical we were, especially the post drills. There are no easy reps in the drills. Coach Miles is intense as well! I love what they are doing in terms of taking the time and building the system as it is clearly not the same as anything our guys have seen in recent years. Defensively, without giving away exactly what they are trying to do, is similar in scheme but very different in how they approach different situations or scenarios. I really expect us to get alot better as the year goes on as alot of habits that were formed, both good and bad, need to be changed. It's all going to take time! I mentioned how Coach Miles is intense...but he also has the ability to break up practice with a joke or a jab at a player that gets a smile on everyone's faces. The kids seem to really want to work hard for him and the entire staff. He has them doing pushups for turnovers, bobbles, mistakes..etc. The kids drop to the ground and do them on their own for every turnover. Funniest moment of practice was when Coach Miles asked Dylan Talley if he had made anything yet today...Dylan said no and Coach Miles told him to give him 20 pushups cause he wasn't on scholarship to miss. Talley seems to have bought in big time...always talking to coach and trying to get things right, especially on the defensive end of the floor. Love what they are doing....just need to be really patient!

I would be curious to hear from someone who has watched both coaches run practice and can compare the physical differences between styles regarding the potential for wearing players out. I thought Doc was always inordinately proud of the intensity of his practices which also seemed to generate an inordinate number of injuries. Does coach Tim Miles seem to like to "break down" players mentally?, are practices longer?, are breaks more frequent?, Compare and contrast styles if possible. (looks like I hit the italic button-Darn wide mouse!)

This should help recruiting!

Well.... so much for an outdoor stadium.

Although this isn't Big Ten related it's most likely somewhat interesting for Husker fans. Kansas St: Ex-Husker Kayta Lieck will miss the entire season for K St as she tore her acl this summer in preseason workouts. I suspect Katya's days are numbered down there as she is so injury prone. And the Kansas St coach likes what she see's out of Brianna Craig. Katya Lieck: on her talking about the injury On the disappointment of her ACL injury… “I was really looking forward to this season and us as a team. We were really working hard this summer to work on improvements so it was a disappointment for me and the team. I think they have been working so hard and still are working hard to go hard against all of our opponents and we’ll still be a great team.” On how it happened… “We were doing preseason individual workouts, the basic drills that we do every day and it gave out on me.” On being out for the season… “I plan to play next season. I plan to come back strong, work real hard and have a good summer. I know as a team we are going to be getting some freshmen coming in and losing some people. But, we are still going to be that K-State Wildcat team that can take anyone on.” The coach said Lincoln NE grad Brianna Craig, a guard, "comes to mind first among the freshmen, and said she will see major minutes early on in the season." “I think she has the potential to be one of the finest guards that we’ve ever had in our program if she really grabs a hold and works extensively hard through the course of her career” http://www.kstatecollegian.com/2012/10/16/womens-basketball-team-going-to-have-to-be-more-creative-coach-says/

Except that KState paid Hill over $500,000 a year which made him the highest paid assistant in the nation. Don't think Nebraska has that kind of money to offer a basketball assistant.

I also got the call. I assumed it was because I wasn't renewing my season tickets. But I was naive and thought it was actually him. Stupid me.

I was told that it wouldn't get filled till after the season.

Tyrance was a guy that I really enjoyed watching play in high school. But probably wasn't more than a DII player, but had some potential. I was pretty happy when I found out he walked on, because he would be a guy that worked hard and could maybe have some role on the team as an upperclassman.

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