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So we just need to be ranked higher!

Yet another possible 2015 recruit. We are showing interest, but no offer. http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/tahjai-teague http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recruiting/player-Tahjai-Teague-140802

- Pretty frustrating start to this one. The Citadel was clearly the aggressor and NU gave them every reason to believe the first 15 minutes or so. - That said, after NU went on that run to end the half, hey controlled the action for basically the rest of the way. - Petteway doesn't seem to me to be forcing the issue as much. I like how he's fitting into the flow right now and I like that every time on the break he's looking to take it to the rim. We haven't had a guy do what he can do in transition in a long time. - Webster's in his own head right now. Exhibit A: The kickout with a wide open layup (or maybe dunk...) available to him. I'm betting this is the first time in his life he's ever struggled or not been the best player on the court or team. He'll get it figured out, but he's fighting it right now. - Ray didn't score much tonight, but I thought he did pretty well in a variety of other areas tonight. Looked to take the ball of the dribble more and finished with, I think, 3 assists. - Shields got overshadowed by Petteway, but his play in the first half of the second half might have been the difference in the game. - Solid night from Smith that could have been a huge night if not for a few turnovers and missed opportunities at the rim. Double double from the big man. - Big crowd tonight, which I was pleasantly surprised by, but not much energy (except when the guy hit the half court shot and at halftime). - Not Pitchford's best night. It happens. - Huskers had 9 turnovers at half time and 13 for the game. Just not much was good in the first half. Played, I think, pretty well in the second. - Liked that they brought back the press in the second half. - They did a better job of attacking the rim tonight, as evidenced by shooting 52% from the floor despite going 5-17 from 3 and the 34 free throw attempts, but they've got to do better 65%. Honestly, I was shocked they shot that high a percentage because they were hovering between 50% and 55% most of the night. They hit them down the stretch, which, is good, sometimes it's when you get them as much as anything. - Also, we've said it before, but rebounding...oof... That's all for now. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Yep, and as you know, two Ed's are better than one...

Plus, I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but Walter was definitely not 100% yesterday. He spent much of the 2nd half on the bike, and that may be part of the reason he only got 12 minutes

A possible SF for 2015, we appear to be sniffing around him. http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/e-torrion-wilridge http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikorDam9nIg

We're not very good, and how that could be a big surprise to anyone is mind boggling. This is the time of year I'll start spending less time on here, as it's not that fun to live in the moment, and those moments will include a lot of losses. With this young and inexperienced group, that will include some really bad losses. Let the meltdowns begin. The nature of the message board beast is that there must be BLAME. Someone is always at fault and deserves blame. As opposed to things being a natural result of a program hitting rock bottom and finishing dead last in our league 2 of 3 years, and then needing to start over and begin a gradual, rather than immediate, ascent. This will take time, and there will be some one step forward two steps back moments. Mainly, we will just need it to be next year, to develop the callouses this young group will need to figure things out. We can analyze the hell out everything, but getting experience and maturation, not to mention a post defender, is what will be needed.

What bothered me most about the game was when a Tshirt went off my fingertips and landed a row in front of me. I didn't realize they could shoot them that high.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming. Here are today's KenPom Rankings: Kenpom rankings as of 12-22-13. ============================== B1G (0-0): 2. Ohio State 7. Wisconsin 11. Michigan State 14. Iowa 23. Michigan 34. Minnesota 46. Indiana 51. Illinois 74. Penn State 88. Purdue 92. Nebraska 116. Northwestern Non-Conference (8-3): 210. Florida Gulf Coast - W 266. Western Illinois - W 345. South Carolina State - W ---Charleston Classic--- 22. UMass - L 91. UAB - L 150. Georgia - W 288. Northern Illinois - W ---B1G/ACC Challenge--- 102. Miami - W 18. @Creighton - L 197. Arkansas State - W 339. The Citadel - W 39. @Cincinnati Other teams of interest: 64. Maryland (7-5) 173. Omaha (8-4) 199. Rutgers (5-7)

Holy cow, did we lose by 10 or something? Sounds like the sky is falling. We're probably not gonna beat Cincinnati, but I don't think we can already call this team and season a wash. When the team is on, they can still compete with most of the big ten. May not beat them, but they have the talent to compete. Not going to hold a fifteen point win against anyone. Especially when you know the team wasn't exactly juiced up to play a far inferior opponent when they are the only ones on campus and would just like to go home.

I thinking that for us part of the issue as fans is coming off of 6 years of a coach that couldn't be more different than this one is. I keep catching myself watching NU through the lens of Sadler--looking for discipline, ferocious defense, a sense that no game can be taken for granted from a team that knew it wasn't good enough for swagger. In short, a more humble crew. It's as if for the first time in years, we have to return to the Nee days--a coach far more similar to Miles--where the tradeoff of getting better athletes is that you lose some of the blue collar charm of a lesser talented team that knows it has to bust its ass to win against anyone. Maybe I'm alone in that thought, and that's cool. But I'm finding it hard to like this team at all; not because they're bad kids, but because their approach to playing the game is so different than what I've been conditioned to and also the way they're coached is so different than what I was used to.

I think the talk and "rankings" people proclaimed about him were all about his potential. If you look at the majority of foreign players that come over they have a big learning curve, especially if they didnt play any basketball over here before college. I think thats the reason why you see guys like Bolden, Simmons, Pinder etc coming over a year or two early to get acclimated to the style of play in the US so they dont have such a dramatic acclimation process to overcome. That was kind of the point I was making. We hear all these things then it might be what we think will happen.Benny came in with good cred, but showed to be behind a little bit last year. However if we would have dumped him last year like many wanted, we might not be as good as we are right now. Many, myself included, kind of bought into the hype, which I tried not to, becuase of what we read or heard from others. Mean while we should have known that he was going to struggle some. As I wrote a while back, he is just 18, in a new land and a looooooong way from mom and dad. He will get better, but while he does, isn't nice to have somebody to fall back on who has been throughout it? Guess it was kind of sharp answer to people wanting to get "rid" of players like this is the pros. Just kind of hits a hot button with me. I like Tai a lot, but he will need to get more consistent to help us in the future.

A possible SF recruit for 2015. We are showing interest, but no offer as of yet. http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/nate-grimes http://www.ihigh.com/westcoasthoops/video_921773.html

To be honest I don't like that attitude at all. I don't think you can encourage 18-23 year old guys to look ahead or past teams. I could be way off here too, and maybe I'm just a negative thinker but it rubs me the wrong way that Miles can make jokes after we lose games. I'm not saying it's right or wrong or that it's a big deal, it just rubs me the wrong way. I guess it's because I go into a little depression every time we lose.