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I just gotta know, why do you do that? Well the real answer is because it was 1 AM! Perhaps I entered Wayne's World and I was subconsciously thinking of Tia Carrere. It was unintentional. My bad!

On the last play -- it was a missed assignment, but let's face it: That's the last player anybody thought was getting it. Whatever diehard Iowa women's hoops fans there are lights up the coaching staff if it doesn't work. It was a risk, and it worked because a ref blew the whistle. It was, from pure play standpoint, unsuccessful. Theriot blocked it clean.

I feel your pain. The guy behind me usually brings a really annoyingly loud, completely clueless lady with him, and I swear, they spend 95% of the time moaning and whining about Nebraska vs. cheering for them. Meanwhile, my 7 year old son who asks me why they use such bad language throughout the game. I guess some people don't mind dropping numerous F-bomb's in front of kids. Classy. During the MSU game, every time Petteway took a three pointer, they yelled as loudly as they could saying "What the hell are you doing?" the first three times. The man yelled "stop shooting threes Terran, don't take anymore the rest of the game!" They also yelled at him on attempts 4 and 5, which he drained back to back. Of course, both started cheering when they went in. I was really tempted to turn around and say, "I'm sure glad Mr. Petteway didn't listen to your crappy advice about not shooting anymore threes...." SMH.

With less than 4 hrs to tip-off, I haven't seen Dimes' 'Game Essentials' or 'Scouting' page yet! Just thought I'd post an (admittedly poorer) substitute & links that I sometimes post elsewhere. _____________________________________________________ ALL Games are Important from Here on Out for the Huskers if we are to stay in the Hunt for post-season. #89 Huskers (12-7) vs #93 Michigan (12-8) Tough, but winnable, game with the Huskers’ vaunted Defense and ability to ‘Up’ their offensive ‘MoJo’ but need to get more Rebounds and Put-Backs and convert scoring opportunities into points. Return of the ‘BIGs’ helps. Walter Pitchford is expected to Play. Whether David Rivers (injured) will play will be a Game-time decision. Leslee Smith may be starting in his place. Link to Game Page on Huskers.com - Pre-Game Notes, Audio/Visual links, and Live Game Stats Game Page: (More than you’ll ever want to know) http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.d...&DB_OEM_ID=100 Huskers.com - Live Stats: (after game starts) http://www.huskers.com//liveStats/liveStats.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&DB_OEM_ID=100 ESPN live game Stats: (click game ‘Box Score’ after tip-off) http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/scoreb...0127&confId=50 Audio Link: http://www.huskers.com/liveEvents/li...&DB_OEM_ID=100 Satellite Radio: Sirius (93), XM (195) Announcers (ESPN): Mike Tirico & Dan Dakich (Sam Ponder – Sideline) Radio: Kent Pavelka & Matt Davison Game Officials: To Be Announced Quick Run-Down: Probable Starters Nebraska 2014-15 stats No. Name ****** Yr. Ht. Wt. G/GS PPG RPG Other 3 Benny Parker G Jr. 5-9 172 19/16 5.5 2.1 2.1 apg 5 Terran Petteway G Jr. 6-6 215 19/19 19.6 5.1 2.5 apg 21 Leslee Smith F Sr 6-8 255 5/1 3.2 2.8 0.8 apg 31 Shavon Shields G/F Jr. 6-7 221 19/19 16.7 6.7 2.2 apg 35 Walter Pitchford F Jr. 6-10 237 19/19 7.2 4.9 0.6 bpg Michigan 2014-15 stats No. Name ****** Yr. Ht. Wt. G/GS PPG RPG Other 2 Spike Albrecht G Jr 5-11 175 19/6 4.7 2.3 3.2 apg 10 Derrick Walton, Jr G So 6-0 185 19/19 10.7 4.7 3.0 apg 21 Zak Irvin G/F So 6-6 215 20/20 13.6 3.9 49, 3-ptrs 24 Aubrey Dawkins G/F Fr 6-6 190 18/2 3.5 1.8 13, 3-ptrs 32 Ricky Doyle F Fr 6-9 245 20/10 6.8 3.0 65.4%-FG Players to Watch: After the season-ending injury to 6-7 Guard Caris LeVert, Zak Irvin (#21), and (#10) Derrick Walton, Jr., key Michigan’s offense. Irvin averages 13.6 ppg and has a team-high 49, 3-pointers while Walton averages 10.7 pts and 4.7 rebounds per game. Michigan lost 3 starters from its 2014 Elite 8 team (plus Star Jr. Guard Caris LeVert to injury), and is now 5-3 in conference play. Michigan is a solid 3-point shooting team (35%) and averages less than 10 turnovers a game. Last time out, Michigan played Wisconsin down to the wire, losing 69-64 in OT. With our highly-rated Defense and more productive offense vs Michigan State, Huskers have an opportunity to get a much needed ‘Road’ Win against Michigan. Opening line show the Huskers as 3 pt ‘under_dogs’. GBR!

"Going ... going ... and SOLD! to the diminutive gentleman in the front row with the Amos Gregory jersey."

Multiply this type fan by 100 if the Vault ever decides to serve alcohol at games. Unless you sit at courtside, this sort of behavior is just another way of saying look at me, my real life is really a mess.

I share some of the concerns, but in fairness (not exactly the point of message boards, I realize), it is hard to develop a bench when they haven't had many reps throughout the year. Most of these kids were in boots and not practicing for 6 weeks or more. You can't just roll them out of the boots and have them be ready. Now that they are apparently ready health-size, the learning curve experience-wise has to increase rapidly, and that is for the coaches to deal with now. But it's not as simple as some of the posts suggest. The coaches didn't make those lazy passes. Were they caused by physical or mental fatigue? I understand that is the suggestion. A couple of things have caused the lack of a developed bench this year: One is recruiting breakdowns or choices the past few years, for which criticism is fair. For those long-timers on here, I mentioned this at the time, and was critical of the staff then (so I'm not just a knee-jerk supporter of the coaches). When we signed the likes of Tvrdy, Ramacieri, and Murren, I was on it then, and caught hell for it. You can't have that many wash-outs without having it affect depth. The second thing is an extraordinary injury situation. That is more the issue this year than last year with regard to the bench. Last year we just had too many players who just weren't able to play at this level. This year I believe it is more due to being young and injured. So, at this point in the year, it's less of a game coaching issue, then a recruiting issue in the past. Our bench was going to be very young this year. And then, when practice and game reps get wiped out for weeks for several players, not just for a couple, it's going to have an ongoing impact. We're not at practice, and not seeing some of the defensive mistakes in the games as more casual fans. It's easy to sit at home and say play more players or develop them. But the coaches can't be miracle workers. The players have to earn the coaches' trust to play in critical situations. I was calling for minutes for Chandler in the second half last night, but I have to think the coaches know more about it then me. I think the coaches are just trying to survive the game and get a W, rather than use it as a platform for developing the bench. That is going to have to come from practice reps now that the kids can get them, and games in which each possession isn't critical, like a road game at Iowa.

I just gotta know, why do you do that? You just gotta read between the lines, sometimes.

Too many silly passing mistakes when we had the lead. Logic stole several sloppy passes. Iowa had the crowd and the energy the 2nd half. Need to regroup, rest and win the two upcoming home games. Because the Rutgers/Maryland trip will likely result in two L's.

It will be WAR in Lincoln. I hate Iowa almost as much as I hate Creighton. I will be ready when they show up. BRW, an absolutely disgraceful call on Rachel at the end of regulation. No guts by that ref. Not sure I have seen a call with no contact at the end like that since I was playing Y ball in the 60s.

Well, they finally got us. Lost to a good team at their place. The worst part is we didn't win with one of the most epic performances in history. Emily Cady had a game for the ages. Absolute toughness. Tried to win it by herself. Some good things out of Tee and Brandi, and Rachel when it counted. Disterhoff and Logic did it for them. Emily must have the most points-rebound combo numbers in the modern era. Great job, Em.

Iowegians scored every possession in OT. No defense whatsoever. Just too worn out.

is Logic like Aaron Craft and can women be douchbags?

Disterhoff schooling Theriot in the second half. I have to think the 40 minutes a game thing is taking a toll

Oh NO! The sky is falling! They are selling beer at the PBA during a Husker game! I guess it is safe if the team is not there...I know it is sure cheaper than if the team was there.

Go back and watch the game from last year where Morrow played against Okafor. He hit a couple threes and made numerous mid range jump shots. I was surprised how well he shot in that game. I think he scored 22.

9r, I do believe you're even more enamored with Ms. Ponder than you are of that Shields kid. Can't say as I blame you....

Sam Ponder's gonna be in Ann Arbor tonight!!! And LMAO at Coach Miles workin' it!

Just for fun, I'm going back to Emily's 18 boards. 18! That's a few for an undersized post player. She is a warrior. I don't even want to think about not having her on our team. #indenialshe'sasenior

Spanish!?!? I am having a hard enough time learning English slang! Thank god for Urban Dictionary.

Great segway back into the original topic.Hey, how about that Tarin Smith. Just continues to impress, huh? Major, major, plus plus athleticism. Imagine being Tarin Smith and stumbling upon this cool thread about how you're on the up and up and how your playing time has steadily increased only to realize it has deteriorated into discussion of a game that happened several years before you were born. Then you click on the YouTube link and wonder what everyone was wearing.

This is just a snapshot of the past weekend's games. I used the current AP top 25 to look back at each team's # players and # of bench minutes. Average # players used was 10.04 with a range from 7 to 14. Average number of minutes from bench was 60.32 with a range from 27 to 106. Would be interesting to go back into the season and look at trends. Rank Team # players used Minutes from bench 1 South Carolina 9 39 2 Uconn 11 106 3 Baylor 11 74 4 Notre Dame 11 82 5 Maryland 10 43 6 Tennessee 10 71 7 Oregon State 9 53 8 Louisville 9 74 9 Florida State 12 90 10 Kentucky 10 77 11 Arizona State 9 54 12 Stanford 10 61 12 Texas A&M 11 49 14 Texas 11 80 15 Nebraska 8 27 16 North Carolina 10 54 17 Duke 9 51 18 Mississippi State 11 51 19 Princeton 14 58 20 Iowa 10 50 21 Georgia 9 64 22 Rutgers 9 67 23 Syracuse 9 39 24 Oklahoma 12 60 25 Chattanooga 7 34

http://www.livewellnebraska.com/news/metro/avery-s-strong-thanks-to-mom-cheryl-harriman/article_55656d81-805b-5029-a510-c0a7e7b15265.html My wife has been following her on facebook as she documents her joys and struggles. To say that Cherly is an amazingly strong women would be an understatement.

Great article by Dirk C. in the OWH this morning on Avery. Actually mainly on Cheryl Harriman and all she deals with. Hopefully someone can link. IMO, I think Dirk excels at articles like this, vs. his opinion columns. He is a very good feature story writer.

Farmers - 64 Glorified weasels not even native to the State of Michigan - 58

that's evident by having to reduce ticket prices to a buck to get the crowd that they got last night.

I think the best comparison is Dejuan Blair with more vertical ability.

I hate it when we get all optimistic and pumped up as a fan base. We are just setting ourselves up for laying the proverbial egg. I much prefer the cynical wise ass approach which allows a momentary afterglow when we improbably get a victory. With that in mind, I'll expect Michigan to win by thirty and Spike Albrecht to burn us with at least seven three pointers.

I did not see DC's article as any kind of indictment of TP or SS...Rather I saw it as a realization by Tia that those 2 are better options on offense...and we all know, they certainly are. Tia slowly lost confidence when his shots and moves were not working...so, he figures, why not capitulate to the better players? Well, in the long run...this attitude does not benefit the team...if you are a reasonable option on offense you need them to guard you not sag. When demoted, Tia wisely asked to play with the scout team where he was the best (or one of) option for scoring...suddenly he did not have to concern himself with whether the ball should move along the perimeter. Now...he was supposed to be a scorer rather than a guy who knew there were better options than he was. He was to duplicate the other teams leading scorer! As a result, on scout team he got into a rhythm...hitting shots...regaining his confidence. While DC may be an occassional sceptic of NU's ability to succeed...in this instance (and some others) he deserves a pass...I think he actually grew up an NU fan...forced to praise the jay...so give him some leeway.

As Greisch said Iowa likes to flop like they are an NBA team playing in May. Yeah, how could the officials not have that figured out yet. And that push in the back call against Emily was huge. All the contact we faced all night, and they call THAT?? Didn't affect play at all. The crowd was getting to that crew down the stretch.

Gotta give Theriot props as well for getting there.

Give Iowa credit for the last play in regulation. Everyone that Logic was going to sprint up the court with the ball.

Interesting that both our road losses this year have been decided by questionable calls late.(cough, cough, flop, flop, cough)

BAD CALL BULL you make the call.

BAD CALL BULL

Back to the lazy passes

Damn. Iowa takes first lead of the game.

If I remember right, Walt was pretty emotional against Costello and Payne last year in East Lansing. Maybe there's some bad blood between him and Costello.

Logic has at least 3-4 blatant, uncalled fouls already. Must be nice to hack with impunity.

Ha ha Jeff! "Halie Sample looks like a sleeping bag out there!"

I feel like we should be up 20, but we aren't.

Speaking of bubble teams, when are we going to start the annual bubble watch that we did last year. I mean I know its a little early to start it now because there are SO MANY teams but it wouldn't hurt to start a thread and do Nebraska and the most common bubble teams from say bracket matrix.

John Cook in the market for a setter?

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.

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.

Favorite quote from the Chatelain article above: “Never once did I think I was gonna quit,” Webster said. “If I was gonna be off the team, it was because he was gonna throw me off the team.”

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

Marques Bolden says, hey, listen, Coach Miles, I need to know that you're going after a top-shelf shooting guard so that I'll have some other good players around me if I go there. Tim calls back and says, hey, how about Kwe Parker? Would that be top shelf enough for you? Marques pauses and says Oh. Yeah, that'd be good. Go big or go home, right?* * The above conversation came from the imagination of Norm Peterson.