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The guy could have very easily packed it in when he got benched and went from a starter to not seeing more than 2-3 minutes per game. Many of us on this board predicted he was going to go back home after the season, and some openly hoped he would transfer or decide to leave on his own. I like Tai's potential. He has the body, he has the quickness and athleticism. He didn't always have it in the mental game. I'm not sure he has completely gotten over some of his lack of confidence, but I think we will all agree, a confident Tai is a productive Tai, which will help us out immensely.

Quite a few guys stepped up for NU yesterday but #21 was huge too, recording his best numbers in more than a calendar year. Not bad for a guy not quite 7 months off an ACL injury: 7 pts was his highest pt total since 1/12/14 at Purdue 7 reb was his highest reb total since 1/5/14 at Ohio St 30 min was the most he has ever played as a D-1 player, either as a Husker or at SMU For this season in total he had played 34 min with 9 pts & 7 reb before the MSU game, so he basically doubled his season numbers in one game Tai's play came out of nowhere yesterday, but so did Smith's. We're going to miss Rivers' steady play for this week's road games, but it's really nice to have another senior to plug into the starting lineup.

Andre Almeida's Performance Enhancing Donuts

The last time Michigan St beat us in basketball, the PBA didn't exist

I have not seen Rosetnthal speak on the Pitchford issue yet, so no.

I am very proud of Tai too! I loved the sequence when Tai was stripped in the backcourt (didn't like that part so much) but went back after the ball and scrapped until he got it back. That scrappy Tai Webster deserves more minutes!

The two steak dinner is never far from Silverback's mind.

I posted it before Rosenthal, but I realize it's official when it's by him.

David Rivers 2.0

Amen. Tai has grown up over night so to speak. For the naysayers who had him packing and going home, I hope that you are now seeing a glimpse of the talent...the kid is going to be a good one.

I was going to say something, but didn't want to sound like I was whining. It was a foul on the MSU player that started it. Walt does have to keep his cool, and maybe poke him in the eye. That's how Iowa does it.

http://www.snappytv.com/snaps/avery_says_thanks_t2mnqv

I should have made it more clear. Guess I had a thought in my head that Parker should be breaking presses instead of Leslie, and neglected to consider that there was another Smith who certainly belonged in there for press break since he was in there.

I liked Leslee's play a lot. Losing David was a silent blow. True fans know what he brings to the table...and quite frankly, Leslee minutes made up for David's absence and that was great to see. But, to me, Tai is the one that was absolutely great to see. The kid plays great defense on the toughest guards, he made some fantastic moves and passes (he should have had three or four more assists if we knock down the open looks, he has good handles, he rebounds well and he scores double figure points. We have needed him and I hope and pray he keeps the mojo going.

We are playing very physical, which I kind of like. But our body language, and perhaps our mouths appear to be growing old to the officials. Perhaps word is out there in the referee's corner...perhaps the Big Ten has said something to the crews...I don't know, but methinks we may be on a short leash with the officials at this point in time.

While I agree that he could be ready to contribute, it is probably only limited minutes next year. He needs to build strength and bulk to play significant minutes. While he will put on good muscle mass over the summer 30 lbs sounds like too much to expect without PEDs. 15 lbs is probably more reasonable. Considering that he started the season at 230 he should be able to achieve something above 240 for next season. Jacob hasn't looked like a real contributor in the making yet, but I still have high hopes for him. Typically bigs just take longer to develop.

If memory serves me well, I think Nebraska's student section at Pinnacle Bank Arena was patterned after Michigan & others with a similar layout as well as dropping seating so that the student standing wouldn't affect those behind them...

Just not Izzo's preferred method of coaching style is the answer I think. Miles uncomfortable with it also. Bugs me a little bit. I think having it in the package to occassionally try to crank up the energy level would be a good thing. Annoyance pressure also should not result in leak outs. This is one thing I disagree with both coaches on to an extent.

maybe Kenny Bell can let him borrow his blue scout team jersey to remember the struggles.

The foul on Trice at the end was total BS. It looked like nothing in person and watching the replay on TV this morning it was clear Tai didn't touch him. Don't know about anyone else but I'm tired of watching us get bad calls on three point fouls at home.

Jacob Hammond

And, the same seems to go for Tim Miles as he stepped beyond the coaches box & was immediately warned while Tom Izzo ran all the way onto the free throw line at one point with no push back from the refs. Tom's 20 years in the Big Ten trump Timmy's 2-1/2, I guess...

I watched the Pitchford incident again. He was being held by Costello and looking back at the ref. At that point he then whacks Costello in the head. Luckily it didn't seem to be a damaging/painful blow. As a lot of people stated at the time it was an extremely dumb play. Walt was yelling at the ref and wacks a guy 3 seconds later? I suppose he could have been trying to elbow him in the chest the moment that Costello let go, but that's still an elbow. The only reason they might suspend him would be that this is the second game in a row with a technical. That Costello wasn't hurt/injured is probably Walt's saving grace. I understand the frustration but saying that he needs to play smarter would be an understatement. He's also not going to get the benefit of the doubt in the future on close calls.

Coach Miles continues to show an ability to find the right buttons to push with each individual player. He seems to be an expert at the "come to Jesus" meetings. First Parker, then Rivers, now Webster. Hopefully Tai can keep it rolling, especially on the defensive end and/or with hustle plays.

That cross-over step back 3 was so out of left field but it shows you what he is capable of when he has confidence. It's almost like his success on the defensive end (save for rushing out at 3 point shooters a little too aggressively) the last couple of games has given him more confidence on offense.

Have been trying unsuccessfully to find any Big 10 rules on the issue. I have not yet seen anything that suggests there is even the possibility of a suspension, let alone a guaranteed one. No news could potentially be good news as it doesn't seem to be an easy find on the internet regarding a guaranteed suspension, but I am admittedly probably just a 6 or 7 out of ten on interenet searching.

We really shouldn't play leslee that much repeatedly if we expect him to be playing at the end of the season

http://nooooooooooooooo.com/nooo.mp3

If Tai's vert is 38" and Walt's is 40", I want to see that explosion on the floor. Walt must be the most unathletic 6'10" dude with a 40" vert who's ever lived.

Great segway back into the original topic. Hey, how about that Tarin Smith. Just continues to impress, huh? Major, major, plus plus athleticism. For once I wasn't trying to bring this back online...this thing is off the rails. Tarin didn't have the best game but finally made some FTs. Came into the game shooting 60% and went 4-5 with some big ones at the end.

His father. He's LouRawls Jr.

Think Wisconsin win is better in grand scheme of things. We play them twice and Michigan once so seems RPI benefits dictate Wisconsin win.

I like this Tarin kid...

At the risk of Norm's glasses not working, check this out: https://twitter.com/swan888/status/559105809561702400 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have no problem with Pitchford's ejection, but how can the official look at the replay, see the blatant hold and not call a foul or a technical on the player holding him? Pitchford shouldn't hit the guy, but if guys get away with holding and nothing gets called, then frustration is going to boil over. Hitting is wrong, but so is blatant, uncalled holding. College basketball referees are terrible

ummm no

Ha! Someone holding up a "I miss Karl Hess" sign.

Michigan State isn't going to know what hit them. Just like last year, we're going to steal another 'W': Izzo, are you okay?

And the Tony Farmer fiasco and the late frickin' tip-off....

I feel for Pat Chambers a little bit. He seems like a pretty decent fella. But man, if you think *we* used to be negligent towards the hoops program during the Collier/Sadler years, you should see just how pathetic the PSU support for hoops is: Penn State basketball has enough problems without bumbling management of Jordan Center http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/01/penn_state_basketball_has_enou.html

He just doesn't fit with this group.. especially with the two chuckers going Kobe.. He was an aggressive gun scoring guard before Nebraska.. now Miles has turned him into a very average point guard..