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Wow. Couldn't disagree more. It wasn't tough, it was selfish and stupid.

Walt's "biggest problem" in the past is that he lets himself get bullied? I would say it's more that he either hasn't or won't play interior defense (he might have gotten abused by that 6'5" Incarnate Word guy, but he wasn't bullied), doesn't want to rebound consistently, and wants to be a 6'10" perimeter 3 point shooting specialist. He also commits a lot of dumb, undisciplined fouls. And talks a bunch of junk, which I believe has resulted in a T. Rather than praise the cheap shots he put on the MSU guy, we should implore Walt to be a smarter and better player and teammate. Stuff goes on all the time like the MSU guy was doing. Not what Gibbs did.

Checked today and Nebraska hasn't moved. So, for other entertainment in the Kenpom rankings today, we have ... Memphis one spot ahead of Tennessee; Columbia one spot ahead of Missouri; and Brown one spot ahead of Rice. So, if you were looking through the rankings, you'd see ... Memphis, Tennessee ... Columbia, Missouri ... and Brown, Rice. OK, it was entertaining to me.

i think this is the correct mindset as well, the results hopefully continue, Tai stepping up to be a consistent 3rd or 4th scorer changes the dynamic of this team,

Yes...lets give up on Fuller the way we many gave up on Tai.

Plus 1, HB. Walt's tweets after the NCAA loss last year exposed some chinks in his armor. I'd assumed he'd have learned and grown from them over the summer, but then came back this fall with perhaps an even more fragile ego (how else do you go from knocking down 16-25 treys in the public scrimmage and only 1-16 of your first real treys when the ball goes live?) Seeing Walt getting consistently out-muscled by inferior opponents in the OOC was disappointing to say the least. I will say he rebounded well (no pun intended) with a good defensive performance against the Minnesota behemoth. But, having said that, Walt had 6 points and 10 boards at half and finished with 6 points and 11 boards in that game. So, did he sustain the effort for an entire game? I don't know. As hopeful as I was that he'd maybe turned a corner in the Minnesota game, it made me just as worried that he hadn't when he got tossed from Michigan State. Dude, figure it out! You're in your 4th season of college ball. Toughen the hell up! And by "toughen" I don't mean "elbow some guy who clamped your arm with his." I mean don't be such a pussy about someone clamping your arm. Get after his arse.

You know, I've always sort of liked the old Miss. Valley going back to the days when Cincinnati won two NCAA championships as a member. Wichita was my favorite team the year they had Dave Stallworth and Nate Bowman and were a final four team. Drake, Bradley, and the Billikens have also had their moments, and both Walt Frazier and Jerry Sloan came from the league. In fact, the Jays should probably petition to get readmitted.

A few things for clarification: 1. He was correctly ejected. 2. He had to do something to defend himself and get his arm back. 3. He should've forearm shivered the dude's body--he aimed too high. A review of that wouldn't have resulted in an ejection and would've shed a fair light on what was happening. 4. I don't think Miles was that upset about it because Walt didn't let himself get bullied, which has been Walt's biggest problem in the past. Remember he's been telling Walt to "play like Rodman"... well? 5. I pretty much share what I perceive to be Miles' sentiment... getting ejected wasn't the best decision, but I understand what Walt did. Was it smart for Petteway to escalate a fight with Gibbs? To punch the KU kid when he was at Tech? No, but I understand those decisions. 6. I thought it was mature of Walt to holler at the official while it was happening, and immature to aim high with the forearm.

Had a casual talk in the Railyard with a guy before the game on Saturday. The subject of Tai came up, and I said that after watching him against Minnesota, he looked like a different, confident player. This guy was not having it and said Tai is for sure leaving after this year. I shook my head, told him Tai would have a great game, and then I walked away. I would've loved to seen the dude after the game to buy him a beer. I do think Tai is somewhat understanding it more. His confidence and ball handling have improved so much since the beginning of the season, and I really thought that he started to show signs of digging himself from the proverbial grave against Minnesota. Keep it rolling.

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

I've heard tell that Tai likes it here. Except getting benched. He didn't like that. But Miles threw down the gauntlet and Tai didn't shrink away but instead picked up the gauntlet and threw it back. The fact Tai rose to the occasion instead of collapsing in a puddle of self-pity gives me some optimism about the kid. Keep rising to the occasion, Tai. Keep rising to the occasion.

Plus maybe some points off the bench doesn't hurt either.

Not sure if this line by Dirk is necessary, nor am I sure it is even true. Dirk has to have his dig at UNL even when he is writing an up beat piece. I guess I'm too stupid to see what you guys think Dirk is implying with that statement. My take on it is this. At the beginning of the year when Tai was pulled from the starting lineup, Miles' explanation was that he hoped it would give Tai some confidence on the offensive end by allowing him more opportunity. Miles was quoted saying something like Tai was the 4th option on offense with the starting rotation but if he came off the bench he could be maybe the 1st or 2nd option depending on who was in. The hope was that this would get him going. I thought it was kind of the same scenario here. Being on the scout team he could just play, let things fly, and get some confidence going in his game. Not stupid, very few, in any of us who post here regularly are stupid. Dirk rarely writes an article that doesn't involve some sort of dig, and this was just par for the course. Dirk is, in essence, is blaming TP and SS for his, Tai's, struggles up until the last few games. TP and SS have absolutely nothing to do with why TW had been struggling. Miles said he had tried everything with Tai, meaning that what was holding Tai back was himself, and Tai admitted to as much. Tai was having trouble getting out of his own way. He had to stop thinking so much and just play. Spending time on the scout team, where there is no pressure, allowed him to get back to that place mentally where he could just play and stop thinking so much. He has all the tools which is why it was frustrating for fans to watch him play. I believe he is past that now and that absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with TP and SS. One implication that can be easily drawn by that statement from Dirk is that TP and SS are ball hogs. What Dirk should have said, and would have more accurately portrayed what had been going on with Tai, is that Tai needed to get back to that place mentally where he was just playing basketball.

right now nick is a match-up rotational player, plus whose minutes do we take away? games like Wisconsin, Minnesota, maybe Purdue he will see some more mins.

I like the fact Miles said he's keeping Tai on the Scout team. He said he won't be quite as familiar with what we're trying to run, but he'll come in and play his butt off. Being on the Scout team has allowed Tai freedom to fail. You're not so worried about making mistakes when making mistakes doesn't have such huge ramifications. What we've needed is another player besides Shavon or Terran who is willing to take the spot-up treys. Too many times, the guy getting the kick-out look from three would pass up the shot and pass the ball back to Terran and then Terran has to come up with some freelance kinda thing because, by that point, the shot clock is running down. If Tai can come in now and be relaxed about taking the shot, it increases his chances of hitting it. But hit it or not, we need him to take it. We need someone willing to pull that trigger. I think being on Scout team lets Tai relax a bit. He's now supposed to be a volume shooter in practice. Gets his rhythm back a little bit, builds his confidence. And, if Michigan State is any prelude to the rest of the season, he's going to step up and hit his fair share of those looks now. Wouldn't recommend this approach for everyone, but leaving Tai on the Scout team makes a certain amount of sense.

All of these people giving up on Tai and thinking he should transfer is typical for this fan base. Anybody who has watched him play could see that ability is not an issue with him. It has been all mental. Seems he has gotten over that hump and I expect great things from him going forward.

The bottom line on Walt is that we need him. Next year it may be even more imperative. So let's hope that he get's it and continues to raise the level of his play. He has a great skill set if he can draw it out game in and game out.

You know, speaking strictly from a technical perspective, that was a pretty sweet move he put on Costello. Snapped that elbow right upside his head, tout quick! Wonder if he's been studying the master....(see 0:08)

I don't know beans about Basketball, but we don't seem to play very 'smart' sometimes (and it's not just Walt). Crazy fouls at critical times, missed easy lay-ups (& dunks), jacking up shots early in the shot-clock. It seems to me when we miss a 'hail-mary' or easy shot, more often than not we go on a scoring drought. Given the psychological complexities of the team, I'd call it emotional, if not fragile, I think it might be more on the players than it is on 'coaching.' It is not just a matter of 'Telling' them; Some things just don't seem to get through. From what I've read, Miles style seems to be more of a I'll tell you like it is and when you want it bad enough you'll do what takes to win,' rather than jam it down their throats. It does seem that we are slowly getting back to near season-ending form (a full complement of players, starting to get healthy helps) and we may very well be seeing the start of another run at the 'Dance.' Whether we make it there this year or not, do not despair. Help is on the way in the recruits and the future of Husker Hoops is bright.

Not sure if this line by Dirk is necessary, nor am I sure it is even true. Dirk has to have his dig at UNL even when he is writing an up beat piece. I guess I'm too stupid to see what you guys think Dirk is implying with that statement. My take on it is this. At the beginning of the year when Tai was pulled from the starting lineup, Miles' explanation was that he hoped it would give Tai some confidence on the offensive end by allowing him more opportunity. Miles was quoted saying something like Tai was the 4th option on offense with the starting rotation but if he came off the bench he could be maybe the 1st or 2nd option depending on who was in. The hope was that this would get him going. I thought it was kind of the same scenario here. Being on the scout team he could just play, let things fly, and get some confidence going in his game.

I don't know who praised him throwing the forearm, but I said understand it, and don't have much of a problem with it. It wasn't his best decision, however. As for getting bullied, we're playing semantics. Maybe I should've said playing "soft". I'm in agreement with you there. Getting owned in the post and on the boards is what I consider allowing yourself to be bullied. Forearm shivers go on all the time too, just not to the head. As for trash talking, it's not my thing, but I'm not sure you can find many great players from the past 40 years who didn't do it. MJ? Bird? Magic? Kareem? Kobe? Lebron? Malone? Pippen? Barkley? Garnett? All of them are/were notorious trash talkers. It's part of the game (and most major sports), fortunately or unfortunately.

Hopefully we will not be perceived as a group of leering voyeurs applying crude clown makeup in our dingy basements while speculating to each other about what a middle aged man might wear to the next basketball game. Nothing wrong about that picture? Right guys? Am I right?

No look dunk off the inbounds

That is Coach Miles' approach. "I live in 3 day increments".

As a program you cannot condone what Walt did. It was a move/act with nothing but negativity attached to it. I imagine that while sitting in the locker room during the game he may have come to terms with that conclusion...or at least I hope he would. We were down one big man (Rivers) and we had two others (Moses and Leslee) in various stages of injury recovery. Throwing an elbow to the head had only one possible result. Postgame, Coach Miles spoke volumns with his comment...he deserved to be tossed. Now that said, if Walt could put selfish actions to the side and play quality team ball (see Tai) and if he plays aggressive but not stupid, then this team can really cash in on the results for the remainder of this year and next!!!

Not sure if this line by Dirk is necessary, nor am I sure it is even true.

Creighton has always P'rioritized high character P'layers. It's a culture thing. Yes. That, and literacy. High character and the ability to read. They set the bar high up in Omaha.

Creighton has always P'rioritized high character P'layers. It's a culture thing.

Northwestern was up 11 against Maryland on the road. Maryland won by 1. You'll want to see how that happened. http://www.snappytv.com/snaps/457820

Head-Knockin' Pitch-Man

Just wondering why Shavon would opt out of his schollie and walk on?

Does this work on the front page?

Captain America 65, Wolverine 63

i am hoping this game turns into a defensive battle rather than offensive. i hope jeffrey is ready to go, but, i wouldn't push her. getting her healthy for the rest of the season is the most important thing.

Auroran: Why Wesley Snipes? Doesn't he pay his taxes?

Pitchford is playing Tuesday, per Barfknecht

but he's never beaten nebraska.

Finally had a chance to watch Trueblood in person last week - agree with most everything listed here thus far. Very good court awareness, does a nice job getting everyone on the team involved. Elk South loves to run, and Trueblood leads the charge, good in the open court. Most impressive is his quick/explosive first step, allows him to get around most HS players. While his game/style does remind me a bit of Gesell in HS, he's certainly not as strong as Gesell was in HS, and not as quick. Of course that's to be expected as Gesell had multiple Power 5 scholarship offers. And Gesell dominated the ball a lot more at the HS level. I'd say Trueblood has plenty of room to get better too. Scored in the mid-20s in the game I saw, but easily could've been in the mid-30s. Left several points at the FT line and didn't finish a few chances deep in the lane. Would like to see the FT stroke improve, releases it too low for my liking, making it tough to be consistent. A higher release point would help his outside shooting consistency too I think. He hit a couple of really nice pull-up jumpers from the FT line in the middle of the game, but when he shot another one a few minutes later, it barely grazed the side of the rim. With his quick first step, that pull-up jumper game can be his bread and butter against bigger players in college if it was a little more consistent. Didn't really want to shoot 3s in the game I saw. I think he was 0-for-1 from out there. Overall a nice addition as a walk-on and should be able to give the guys a good look in practice. Now we'll have to see if he can beat out Tai on the scout team. Should add that he seemed coach-able. Had a few frustrating plays during the game, but he didn't seem to let it bother him much, other than the occasional frustrated hand clap , and didn't show a bad attitude at any point with coaches or teammates, like you'll sometimes see out of the kid who's the best player on the floor. Elk South didn't play particularly well the night I saw them, so there certainly could've been some frustration boiling over. Didn't see anything that would indicate even a hint of a red flag from the point of view of him working inside the team concept.

Tai looked excellent tonight...he is playing with a focus and purpose. I love it!!!

Cocaine's a hell of a drug, huh?

I don't know whether to make the "we could corner the market on dudes named Tai in college basketball" or a "Wynyrd Skynyrd" joke here.