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The final margin is disappointing, but there has been some change compared to previous trips to OSU. We were very competitive for most of the first half, which we haven't been in the last two visits to Columbus. The talent is improving (needs to improve even more), but we still lack experience. OSU started 3 seniors and 2 juniors.

well, at least this year's annual sacrifice in columbus is out of the way. we have 8 home games to 6 road games! so there's that, right?

Have you been to a lot of practices, Coz? Have you tracked Rivers' production from earlier in the season when he was getting minutes? I know you're in a better position to address playing time than the coaches, but I just thought I would throw out some questions.

Here's what Jeff Walz, Sanderford's top assistant at the time told me on the recruitment of Wecker. Nebraska had 3 scholarships to give that year. Jina Johansen committed early in the spring leaving two more. Sanderford spent a lot of time that summer in South Sioux playing golf with Robinettes dad. So basically he knew he would get her. They thought for sure the third scholarship would go to Wecker as they thought they had her in their back pocket. Here's what Walz told me about Wecker. She decided she wanted to play volleyball also and wouldn't come to NU unless she could play volleyball too. Sanderford tried to set it up with John Cook to where she could play both sports. Only thing was Cook said the only way she could play volleyball for him was to only play volleyball and not basketball. In other words he didn't want her as a volleyball player. Hence she chose KState. Jordan Hooper's recruitment schools came down to Nebraska, Colorado St, Wyoming, K-State and Colorado. She visited Stanford and they offered her a scholarship but she didn't like the idea of being that far away from home. She was very close to picking either Colorado St or Wyoming as they were closer to Alliance than Lincoln. In the end Nebraska's constant recruitment of her caused her to commit to the Huskers. If you can remember her senior year when they played Seward in the second round of the state tourney Yori and the Nebraska team delayed the plane they were supposed to catch to OK State to see the end of that game. The reason being Kristin Holt the Colorado St head coach was at every game Jordan played that year in the state tourney. But Yori's biggest competion for Hooper came from Husker volleyball coach John Cook.

There have been a few discussions throughout the season pertaining to the "2-for-1" method of ending a half. For those who are curious, here is a statistical approach to analyze the impact that a 2-for-1 has in a basketball game. Assumptions: 1) The inputs for 2pt% and 3pt% come from Nebraska and our most recent opponent, Ohio State. 2) Petteway was used for 2pt (41.7%) and 3pt (43.2%) attempts, as he has the highest percentage in these categories. 3) Smith Jr. was used for a 3pt attempt (41.0%); Craft was used for a 2pt attempt (47.2%). 4) There is an equal chance that the team may attempt a 2pt and a 3pt attempt. 5) 2-for-1 means that Nebraska has the ball, attempts a 2pt or 3pt play, Ohio State attempts a 2pt or 3 pt play, and then Nebraska attempts a 2pt or 3pt play (no FT or any other outcome is analyzed). To save headaches for most of you, I won't dive into the meat of the statistics, but here are the possible outcomes by %: 2-for-1 Outcomes: (+ means NU increased lead by x amount after 1. NU, 2. Opponent, 3. NU possession) +6: 2.52% +5: 5.13% +4: 3.67% +3: 16.66% +2: 16.79% +1: 6.69% 0: 29.08% -1: 5.06% -2: 7.71% -3: 6.70% 1-for-1 Outcomes: (+ means NU increased lead by x amount after 1. NU, 2. Opponent possession) +3: 12.07% +2: 12.07% +1: 5.10% 0: 41.28% -1: 4.43% -2: 13.40% -3: 11.64% To put these into laymen's terms: 2-for-1: Increased lead/shrunk deficit: 51.44% No change: 29.08% Decreased lead/increased deficit: 19.48% 1-for-1: Increased lead/shrunk deficit: 29.25% No change: 41.28% Decreased lead/increased deficit: 29.48% Therefore, by utilizing the 2-for-1 method at the end of the half, you give your team a 51.44% chance to increase the lead/shrink the deficit. By utilizing the 1-for-1 method at the end of the half, you only give yourself a 29.25% chance to increase the lead/shrink the deficit. If appears that you should, statistically, only utilize the 1-for-1 method if you are looking to come out even at half. I was curious when the question of 2-for-1 was asked, so I decided to take a look at the impact based on the numbers. Just thought I'd share this with the HHC family. Hopefully someone finds this useful.

No doubt that it's true, but I don't think I like Miles saying it out loud. He's essentially saying he's coaching well enough but the guys he already has recruited simply aren't good enough to compete with the B1G boys.

Several little crap, phantom calls on us when the game was in the balance. I get really tired of the good teams getting the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully our team keeps fighting and growing. Lots of season left and lots of room for growth for this bunch. Coach 'em up coach !

Oh man, you have not heard about the winners prize...yikes. My mom says I'm a winner regardless of the outcome.

I'll be curious to see how long it takes for Hammond to assert himself.

If we can recruit another leslee smith for next year combined with the experience gained from this year, I think things will get better.

Has a lot to do with why we struggle on offense, guys are unwilling to work hard to get open. Just watch closely, we get guys trapped with the basketball more than any team I've seen. Usually ends with a 50/50 lob pass to a guy far away or a bounce pass into traffic. No one moves with any sort of urgency to get open.

A 31 point loss at Ohio State is no better progress than the last 2 trips to OSU. When will things change? I didn't expect to win, but we need to start doing some unexpected things to turn the program around. Very disappointing effort in the last 25 minutes.

Shields has been a disappointment this year. No other way to say it

Their guys are a little harder to shoot hook shots on than Surge

Heh, Mike Peltz is looking at Della Valle like he wants to just punch him in the mouth.

How can some body have more teeth than mouth? "Dork Chatelain" I laughed out loud on that one and everybody wanted to know why. Good one Dimes! OR JULIUS IRVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Got to love a drunk announcer.

How can some body have more teeth than mouth? "Dork Chatelain" I laughed out loud on that one and everybody wanted to know why. Good one Dimes! OR JULIUS ERVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, down 20. It's Biggs time.

How can some body have more teeth than mouth? "Dork Chatelain"

How can some body have more teeth than mouth? Chip monk is what I'm calling that Della dude.

How can some body have more teeth than mouth? That's the way! Get that hate started early Silverbacked! I like your moxie!

How can some body have more teeth than mouth?

Because Ohio State was in the triple bonus

Ohio State gets that bucket counted and no one even questions it. Such is the world of being a nobody on the road at the Big Ten's premier team.

It's hard to stay with a good team when you struggle doing simple things like inbound the ball. And when the good team is allowed to play Craftball and you have to play regular basketball. Speaking of Craftball, what did Biggs do to commit a foul that caused Nebraska to lose the ball on that late inbounds play? Those of us watching BTN didn't get to see because they were busy showing a graphic of how many wins the Rosy-Cheeked Hacker has amassed in his seemingly 9 year Ohio State career.

not on the game thread, please.

If it was Craft it would have been.

Not to shabby... Just need to stay with it...

Well, we lost that four minutes segment again...but hey, we are hanging in there...

OH MY GOODNESS TERRAN!!!

No touch but yet another foul I call bullsheets on that

Not a good foul on Tai...we lost that four minute segment. That is going to happen on occasion. We simply need to keep our composure and make plays. Hopefully we will have players left at the end of the game -- shoot I hope we have everyone at the end of the half.

TAI! Ties the game up...

Pinnacle Bank > Value City

Good first eight minutes...can we sustain this as Ohio starts picking up their intensity?

So far nice board work by the boys

another game where we have good starting energy. this is really good to see. now let's just go on a 30-2 run

Refs calling garbage calls

SHIELDS IS AARON CRAFTY

Ray!

RAY!!!

Do high school games have a shot clock now? If not then this doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

I was pretty young but I do remember the catch phrase. I don't know about in a couple of weeks, but it can be done. You do need to rep until there is no thought process, just reaction. I like What Roy Williams does with post moves. You need to be able to drop step both baseline & to the middle. If that is taken away get a favorite move and a counter move from each block. So you look to drop step if not you go straight to your favorite move, if that is taken away then counter, at that point if you haven't created a shot kick it out. I'm sure Pitch is working on the moves. The main issue I have is he doesn't seem to want to do the work that is needed to get open in a post position. Just like the post moves themselves, there is a progression that can be learned of how to get open in the post. You have to have your homework done before you can be in position to score in the post and just like school homework isn't all that exciting but it is necessary to be successful.

He's not.coming back to the state right now. If he does come back at some point in the future he'll be a husker. Somebody brought up Creighton, but I dont think there is inyerest by either side in that. I wouldnt hold out much hope for a transfer back here anytime soon tho.

Dean, I love ya. Love your insight and contributions. And this is just a sterling example of the great stuff you add to the board. OK, so we agree Petteway is getting better, shaking off some rust, making better decisions, maturing a bit, maybe, and not forcing shots so much. Think he'll be pretty good. Shields is a solid kid. Solid from the word go. He's having some rough spots trying to find his role when you add Petteway to the mix, which is a dynamic that didn't exist last year or for the first couple of games this year. Shavon will get it figured out. I have no doubt. Walter needs you. I am absolutely convinced these skills can be learned and mastered by someone motivated to learn and master them. From my personal experience as an undersized, underquick guy who had no ups but occasionally had to play the post, I strongly believe this stuff can be learned. As important as anything else, IMO, when you are playing post is DECISIVENESS. It makes up for lack of quickness, but Walt should have quickness in spades, right? Plus his leaping ability? And he has good touch. And decisiveness comes from practice. And repetition. Work on 3 or so moves or combinations of moves from each side of the lane until you have those moves down by rote. Ingrained. So that you can feel it without even thinking about it. Then, when you get your inside position and the ball comes your way, you simply FEEL where the defense is and automatically respond with the moved called for by the situation. Visualization helps in this process. Walt should take some time and watch a video of someone who's really good, like Andrew Bynum in the video below and see how he executes each move. Almost 100% of the time, there's a head-and-shoulder fake the opposite way. It helps him feel and see where the defender is, then going the other way, he creates space to get the shot off. This absolutely can be learned and Walt just needs your help, or Kenya Hunter's help, to learn it. And think where we'd be with a Petteway who continues to hone his game, a Shields who just needs to feel how the pieces are fitting together, a Tai Webster once he settles into the college game, and a Walt Pichford executing post moves like the ones below. Git-r-done, Walt. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPhM1Y8EUdw

During Hooper's freshman year when Alliance won state, she had pretty good talented teammates (all seniors but one). The point guard played for Doane College and another girl went to Chadron St. but I don't believe she stayed with it. That said, her next 3 years she had basically no help. The others girls, except maybe one player with maybe average talent, were way below average. She carried her team to state the next 3 years. I think Hooper would of won 3 more state titles if she only had a couple of average players on her teams.

Interesting discussion, Norm. Certainly Ivy had a WAY better supporting cast, as you mention. Hooper had nobody. I mean nobody. And still, she got her team to State, and her senior year they actually won two games (the second one being the 3rd place game). And Hooper faced every bit as many triple teams and junk defenses as Shepard does. So, I won't concede that Ivy was a better high school player than JHoop, but obviously she was very good. I lean (1) Hooper-Shepard, (2) Ivy, (3) Stephens-Robinette. Although based just on high school play, Steph Jones was pretty impressive as well.

HB, what you say is true. As far as how she's turned out, Hooper is just a terrific, terrific player. Best yet based on college. I was speaking more of what they did in HS, though. I was going to say something about Katie Robinette being in that category. Obviously, Katie's college career left a little to be desired. But as a HS kid, Katie was in that stratosphere. But, for what they've done post-HS, yes, JHoop has to be on the top of the list right now. She deserves to have her jersey hanging from the rafters at PBA when all is said and done. Based on college career, JHoop absolutely at the top. Based on HS, though, Maurtice was in a separate category. And I'd have said Maurtice was probably the best girls HS player ever in Nebraska until you get a load of what Jess Shepard is doing as the primary option on a Fremont team that some say wouldn't be any good without her. I'm blown away. More blown away than I was watching 9th grader Katie Robinette lope up the floor like a gazelle while playing for South Sioux. Ivey wasn't alone on her Central team. Her teammate Jessica Haynes was also a terrific player who, I believe, ended up at Arizona for college. Robinette similarly was surrounded by D1 talent her 4 years at South Sioux. Neither of them faced double- and triple-teams and still managed to put up Shepard's numbers against quality opponents. Wow. Just ... wow.

Me neither. Although she did score 14 of Pius' 26 points. Also, I should have mentioned in Natalie Romeo's first 3 games she recorded 2 triple doubles. Wow. Impact player.