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Someone needs to rein in Petteway. The guy is averaging 7 three pointers a game shooting 31% from deep. And that's trending down...not up. I know he wants to impress the NBA scouts proving he can be a jump shooter but he is only doing more damage to his stock and the team by settling for so many long range jumpers. Some contested...some rushed. Somebody needs to let him know there is such a thing as a mid range jumper. If you think Petteway is the problem, you're not watching carefully. Petteway is not the problem. Petteway is not taking shots away from other players. Other players are turning down shots until we have no choice but to put the ball back in Petteway's hands and see if he can do something with it. That's Petteway's fault?

I didn't know your wife's name was Dawn.....

Thanks All-American... I served, and went to war, in the All American division... The 82nd Airborne Division, America's Guard of Honor. I told Rachel's mom this morning that Rachel is almost , as we say in the Army, a "Two Digit Midget." Meaning... She has less than 100 days until she leaves home and arrives in Lincoln. In the Army if you're about to move to a different post, you're getting "short"... hence midget... Rachel is fired up about being a Husker... Her season has three more weeks (assuming they make it to the state championship tournament). Immediately following the season she is going to begin a tough weigh lifting, running, and basketball shooting program. The HS has one of those machines that shoots the ball back to the shooter (We bought half of it). She mentioned yesterday about doing more squats in preparation for Lincoln. She has our guidance regarding arriving in Lincoln prepared to learn the college game and compete. She fully understands that there will be a learning curve. Here is an example of what you can expect... Back on/about 5 Jan Leavenworth played Rock Bridge, MO. Rock Bridge was ranked #10 HS in the nation. Leavenworth won 46-39. Rock Bridge's star is Mizzou-commit Sophie Cunningham. Rachel was tasked to guard her. It was Rachel's first game back due to a broken hand. Cunningham had previously averaged ~25 points per game. Against Leavenworth she scored 10. Cunningham was recently voted a McDonald's HS All-American. My point... Cunningham is real division one competition who Rachel shut down. Obviously, Minnesota's Zowie (spelling) is a different player, and we'll see how that plays out. However, Dolittle and many of the others can be handled. We know that she has flown under the radar of most Nebraska fans, and that's ok with her. I can sit here all day and tell you how good she is, but it means nothing. Talk is cheap. The only thing that matters is how she does upon arrival in Lincoln. Coach Yori will be the one who decides how she measures up.

I trust everyone realizes that if we get both of these guys on the same crew in our Big 10 tourney game that we would have to beware the Eades of March?

You say it could help carry over for next year, but it could also be a cloud that lingers over the entire offseason. Do I think it's likely? No. But what if this ends up costing us Petteway to the pros (NBA or NBDL or Europe), Pitchford to leaving as a graduate senior (assuming he graduates), etc. I think this is more likely to help light a fire than the cause the players to shut it down even more, but you're kidding yourself if you think there's no downside. If Petteway goes, it isn't going to be cause he can't handle some tough love from Miles. Get serious.

Some good points in this thread. Made me take a closer look at the actual numbers. Overall our shot percentage is down from last year - but really not all that much (42.7% to 42.0%). Three point shooting percentage is off much more dramatically - 33.3% to 28.7%. Petteway's shooting % from 3 is about the same (32.7% to 31.7%) - but Pitchford (41.0% to 30.5%) and Shields (31.6% to 19.5%) are WAY down in their 3 point shooting percentage. I was surprised that everyone in the regular rotation (TP, Shields, Pitchford, Parker, Webster, Rivers) is averaging more shots per game than last season. Obviously part of that is the loss of Gallegos you took 6.7 shots per game - and also Biggs who averaged over 7.5 shots per game while he was on the team. The primary "new" guy is Tarin Smith who is just at 3.7 shots per game. So the other guys have to pick up some slack (also getting fewer shots from the Leslie/Moses combination than we got from just Leslie last year). Still I would have expected that Webster shot more last year (he certainly played more minutes last year) but that is not the case - close but still slightly more shots/game this year (Tai's shooting %'s are also better than last year, but the improvement is from dismal to just bad). Overall we are taking just over 1 less shot per game compared to last year - but attempting not quite 1 more 3Pt shot per game on average. Not a positive difference given the shooting percentages but the changes don't seem that signfiicant either. But then you look at the individual players and realize that last year Gallegos took more 3 pt shots than anyone on the team and that over 75% of Rey's shots were 3's. So with Rey not in the rotation we have TP going from having 34% of his shots being 3 pt attempts last year to having him take over 47% of his shots as 3's this year. Despite their dramatic reductions in 3 pt shooting % - Shields has gone from having 19% of his shots be 3's last year to 25% this year. Walt took 52% of his shots from 3 last year - that is up to 60% this year. Even without looking at the numbers if you just compare the two teams you would expect the team with Gallegos to take more 3's overall than the team without him - or at least that is what you would want. That team had a guy who was purely a 3 pt shooter, a guy you definitely wanted to take most of his shots from outside the arc. This one doesn't have that kind of player - but for some reason we are taking more 3's than last year - individually dramatically more 3's - and perhaps not surprisingly we are not shooting them as well. I will say that some of this can be do that teams are simply doing a better job of defending us this year. Part of that is them figuring out how to deal with the TP / Shields combination. Part of it is also do to the fact that we are an easier team to defend without a pure shooter like Gallegos. I also think there is an element of this team just not finding a way to get quality shots - which to some extent is offensive system - but I think is just as much a reflection of the lack of confidence that the players have in their shooting ability right now - a reflection of the "hot potato" title to this thread. One example from yesterday that I think illustrates the "hot potato" mentality is a possessionin the 2nd half. TP has the ball on the wing and was trying to beat his guy off the dribble or get it to someone inside - both without success. The entire time Benny was standing in the corner on that side all by himself - I don't think there was an Iowa player within 15 feet of him - and he was right there for TP to throw the ball to for a wide open shot. But TP had no inclination to throw him the ball and Benny did not seem to want or expect TP to throw him the ball. On the one level that illustrates why we are an easier team to defend - and why it is more difficult for TP to get better shots because he has to also beat the guy helping off of Benny. At the same time when I looked at the stats this morning I realized that Benny has the best percentage on the team from 3 point range - 33.3%. That is not a "great" percentage by any means, particularly when you realize he only takes them if he is wide open. But still you have to wonder about being in a situation where your best % 3 pt shooter is standing alone outside the arc and he doesn't want the ball and the player with the ball doesn't really even consider throwing it to him.

Walter O'Malley...nice!

Well, that was a pleasant thread to start the morning! I hope someone fed the Silverback last night. Anyway, the positive about yesterday is that now the team no longer has to deal with the pressure of keeping the greater-than-twenty-point-blowout streak alive.

Not being sarcastic here, but the answer to the first question is because we have a lot of people playing who can't shoot very well. Lots of over analysis on here. The answer to the second question is because we play teams with good coaches and they guard us in a way that we have to shoot a lot of 3s. Because that's what they want us to do.

That's Kenny Bell in 50 years.

I'm tempted to stop supporting any teams and just attend every sporting event just to criticize the officiating. While I don't believe the officials are out to get Nebraska, I do believe they are terrible. I watched UCLA @ Arizona the other night and Alford for UCLA dodged around a post hedge, awkwardly, but no contact was made, and a foul was called. The announcers pointed it out, in fact Jay Bilas was pretty critical the officiating in much of the game. I think D1 basketball is like an anecdote about the F-16 I once heard, that it could maneuver faster than pilots could handle. I think insurance agents and high school principals are hopelessly overmatched officiating 21st century basketball. I saw an article awhile back about the NBA trying to encourage former players into officiating as they had greater sense of the action on the court and the nature of playing the game. I'd like to see the B1G and the NCAA promote a similar initiative.

I used to think that HHC was home to the "basketball-intelligent" Nebrasketball fans. Did last year's run change that or something? The. Refs. Are. Not. Out. To. Get. Us. Downvote away!

Just happened to be up at the crack of dawn. Didn't fully comprehend how news worthy something like this might be. The guys were generally in agreement with this and were surprised at how nice our facilities are

As we wind down on what has been a rather disappointing season in Lincoln one has to wonder how this will affect season ticket sales for next season. Let me say right here I will be renewing my season tickets. There are many who feel that with the talent level coming in next year things should be better but is that enough to get people to renew their tickets and sell out the entire season ticket block as has been done these first two seasons at Pinnacle Bank Arena? Our Big Ten at home schedule is pretty good with attractive games and we will have Rhode Island and the ACC/Big Ten Challenge game in Lincoln next season, beyond that I have no idea who we'll be playing in the non-conference at home. So the question for the group is - Are you going to renew your season tickets for 2015-2016, or has the bloom fallen off of the rose (or better stated has the novelty of the new arena worn off)?

I've surveyed the threads on here since yesterday and there's a lot of angst and worry about our offense. Which is certainly understandable. Our offense is pretty bad right now. Some are blaming Petteway. Others think it must be the loss of Craig Smith. Some say talent. Some say bad match ups. Here's what I think: Right now, our offensive flow could best be described as a game of hot potato. No one wants the ball. Terran doesn't want the ball because everyone calls him a ball hog. He generally passes it off until it comes back to him with about 10 seconds left and he has to do something with it. Walter doesn't want the ball because he's not feeling it most of the time. Benny sure as shit doesn't want the ball except to dribble up court and pass it off. Shavon doesn't want it. David Rivers? He's like, wha'd you pass this thing to me for? For a coach who says like the three but love the rim, all of our offense is going away from the rim. We get very little action going toward the rim. We get very little coordinated movement. Dean Smith warned us a year ago about the lack of assists. You can say, well, we rely on dribbling off of screens, and the assist for us is when someone sets a really good screen. OK, so where are the baskets? Anyone rolling off those screens? Seeing any pick-and-pops? We have virtually no low-post offense. No high-low game. And we can't shoot for crap from outside. So, if a team is trying to prevent dribble penetration, we don't have anything to counter that. Our current offense revolves around trying NOT to be the last person with the ball when the shot clock is running out. Except for Petteway. Who at least is willing to take shots. Petteway is not the problem.

- Disgusting. Feel bad for our fans. Need to find a way to owe them back for this one. - (On 21-2 run): Lack of competitive spirit was most disappointing part - we never fought back - (On potential chemistry issues): Could be. Probably not though. We mix up different lineups in practice; that's not unusual. But there is no reason not to come out and play. COMMERCIAL BREAK - First time in 36-38 Big Ten games we've given up more than 50% shooting. - Before 21-2 run, Iowa was in mid-30s from the field, Iowa's mentality was to get after it. Our body language was heads down, slouched shoulders 12 minutes into the game. - Usually can find a spark. Thought it would have turned with Benny early in the game when he got after a lose ball steal tie-up around 21-14. Then on from there was bad news bears on offense. COMMERCIAL BREAK - (On last game at home): Good, we get to empty our own gym. That's just me being bitter. - Go back to fundamentals & get better at the things we can get better at. - Tough one today, we have to find out our resolve, what we can do better, and figure out how to do it. - Tough day. Special day. Good weekend to honor [alumni]. Wish we could have responded better. *EDIT - (dimes, apparently I can't even spell Miles' name right in the title... a little help?)

I was 3-for-18 yesterday at the Y.

It kind of galls me to say this, but did anyone see what happens when Gesell took it to the basket. He has great...errrr...court vision. He looks to score, but also is quick to dish if somebody slides to provide help. As a result, Iowa had a number of open looks and they banged them down. The problem when TSmith or TP or any other player penetrated and passed the ball to the open man one of three things seemed to happen: (1) missed the open shot; (2) fumbled the ball away; (3) hesitated and passed the ball rather than take the open look.

The throwback uniforms looked real nice though.

One game, Handy. We may have sucked in other games, but to the extent we "quit", I can't think of any others. We played hard. We're just not a good team this year.

I just don't see much urgency within possessions. No competition to create urgency. Guys who weren't recruited to be scorers are playing major minutes. We have guys playing out of position. The list goes on. Talent infusion is needed.

I just don't get where people think this is so "dangerous". What's the downside? We're not going anywhere where it stands. A bunch of folks thought there was a decent chance we would lose our last 9 games (which we're on track to do). Maybe this will shake things up enough to do something. If not, we're no worse off. And it could help with any carry over for next year. Need to try something.

I agree. This feels like a dangerous move that could go either way. But, I do trust in Miles and this staff to do whatever is necessary to get his point across to the kids. Hey, look at that, "Coach Carter" is available on Netflix's. I'm hitting play........NOW!

By the time I got on the floor as part of the 30-30 club, we definitely played the give and go offense, give me the ball and go to hell.

I also agree, TP is not the problem. I think he is working overtime to be the solution, and that is too BIG of a load to carry. Execution, effort.....these are things that the players are in direct control of. I didn't see either yesterday. These guys need to start wanting that "hot potato". I looks like they are scared of the ball. It doesn't seem like for the first 10-15 seconds we are even running anything to get a quality shot. Everything is like 23 to 25 feet from the basket.

I understand why Miles is doing taking action. He must do something as it appears he is on the verge of losing the team. However, this type of action may be extreme enough to completely lose the team. On the flip side, it could refocus and bring them all together. I really hope it works. The last thing Nebraska needs is to replace Miles. After watching the team live at Maryland, I feel this team could beat any BIG team on a neutral court except for Wisconsin. Fuller gained confidence as the game wore on. Once he becomes involved in the offense, I think his PT will skyrocket. Pitchford looked really good when he got looks at the top of the key. The defense is tournament worthy. I have personally witnessed less talented teams advance in the NCAA's. A part of me is really hoping the light will come on within the next week or so and the team will make a magical run through the BIG tourney and into the NCAA. Yes, that sounds crazy, but I really think the talent is there to do it.

Someone needs to rein in Petteway. The guy is averaging 7 three pointers a game shooting 31% from deep. And that's trending down...not up. I know he wants to impress the NBA scouts proving he can be a jump shooter but he is only doing more damage to his stock and the team by settling for so many long range jumpers. Some contested...some rushed. Somebody needs to let him know there is such a thing as a mid range jumper. If you think Petteway is the problem, you're not watching carefully. Petteway is not the problem. Petteway is not taking shots away from other players. Other players are turning down shots until we have no choice but to put the ball back in Petteway's hands and see if he can do something with it. That's Petteway's fault? I agree 100%. It is frustrating to watch a player pass up an open shot at the elbow...over and over again. I am not sure why this occurs so often, but that is perhaps my number one frustration. If you have a clear shot in the flow of the offense, you have to shoot the ball...

This.

I just realized that this thread dates back to Christmas. How appropriate since it takes me back to that Christmas morning long ago when I anticipated a gleaming new Schwinn bike under the tree and got a lump of coal instead.

There will be some drop-off from the casual fans. We have nearly double the number of season ticket holders that we did at Devaney. Of those who are new, some will decide that they can buy a few games individually rather than signing up for the season. Last year the AD made it a point that they would not increase donations or ticket prices to season ticket holders (because they did have the choice to after such a strong season). This year, our results on the court have prevented them from having that choice.

Who is the head case and who is the volume shooter? I kid, I kid!!!!

Wow 13 you are the man, hope that arm doesn't get hurt patting yourself on the back. I have seen the light, we suck, our players should just fucking quit for real because they have already given up on us the hard working fans. We shouldn't go again this year to jaut show,them how much we are over them. Those a$$holes have heard my last good job. I am gone and done.

You want to trade a hard worker whose stuck it out with this program for a guy with a bad attitude and probably a head case as well? Nah... I will keep Benny.

That's Kenny Bell in 50 years. My favorite part of Husker Legend day is seeing that Wilson Fitzpatrick is still around.

First off - nobody is making excuses here. NU is 13-14 which is the record earned. I don't think anyone has The Answer, but, I do question if the injuries to Leslee, and to a lesser extend Moses, affected the team early on...which may have carried further into the season. What if Leslee is healthy and Moses is available just to add a few minutes to the rotation? Let's be reasonable here. I say NU with Leslee beats Rhode Island, that we don't need overtime and he gives us +4 points and we win. I say the same for Incarnate Word (still am not used to how that sounds much like UM-BC did). Creighton Hawaii Indiana and Iowa were our next losses (Incarnate Word was after Creighton but the point remains the same). All fairly close losses. Not nailbiters, but not blowouts. Leslee would have no doubt helped in some of those games. No question. Would we have won all of them? Likely no. A couple? Probably safe to say a couple. Would that have helped the teams psyche to be, say, 10-2 instead of 8-4? Would our rotation have been more settled? Would NU have been up enough to try other players and see if they fit? I'm not blaming the season on any one thing, because none of us know. But, this is one of my biggest "what if's" of the whole season. I'm not suggesting NU would have gone on some big, 2014esque run, or been ranked, or been going to the Tournament, or anything like that. But I do question if there was an impact from the early adversity to the end result.

As a Noob, I'm sure I can't add all that much, but TS seems to sum it up pretty well to me. Last year we over-achieved under-expectations by a wide margin!. Now this year we're equally under-achieving over-expectations. (I remember reading a comment attributed to Shavon, after watching some game films Miles had given him to review: 'Coach, how did we ever win those games?' - or something to that effect.) It seems to me this season has been one of slow regression (maybe starting with blowing the 18 pt lead over Ohio State in last year's B1G Tournament). I'm sure many of you can dissect the specific reason(s) much better than I, but maybe the lack of having an outside shooter has resulted in foes being able to clog the lanes, making it hard for us to go to the rim (no outside game taking away our inside game). Or maybe our opponents have simply learned our weaknesses and how to exploit them. One positive is our stout defense that is good (and getting better) that has been keeping us in most of the games. I think our influx of talented players should make next season an entirely different matter, but we won't be as hobbled by unrealistic 'Over-Expectations' like we were this season.

Of course I'm renewing, for the 37th consecutive year. Without one second of thought. It's what we do. I've seen this season before, and we will persevere.

I follow Nebraska and Arizona every game and others as I can find time, and every game I watch it is more than just human error, it's anticipating fouls that don't happen, it's calling negligible contact and ignoring significant contact. I think the game moves too fast for the referees. Maybe it's always been this awful and it is only noticeable now because there are more cameras, all confirming their ineptitude in dazzling 1080 HD.

Way too early to answer. Plus, it basically depends on talent. I'm not a huge believer in "running an offense" in baseball, or that coaching makes a ton of difference with regard to offensive production. Recruit hitters. Not a lot of speed in this lineup.

Over the past several years, I have closely read message boards for 3 teams in 3 different conferences. (This board is by far the best, by the way, primarily because of the civility of the members towards each other.) One thing that I have noticed is that the fans of all 3 teams are convinced that the referees in their particular conference are the worst in college basketball. I think it's just a fan thing.

Well, OK, if you insist. BTW, Strawman Argument Alert! If you've ever wondered what a strawman argument was, just look at the above-quoted post. Nobody, but nobody, said the refs were out to get us. I did say Mark Whitehead sucks, though. I've seen him officiate at least a dozen Husker games over the years and I always cringe when I see he's one of the refs on the crew officiating one of our games. His crews always seem (to me) to be among the most inconsistent at calling fouls. That was my point in the OP. I've seen him. I've always thought he sucked. It's easy for me to anticipate him sucking again.

I feel bad for the team that have to put up with crap comments like this. Its comments like these that are crap... they really are. I can deal with your negativity, but this comment is absolute crap. They pay money because they want to be there to watch or cheer on the team. If they don't want to be there, don't go. You don't want to be a fan, don't go. Give me an emptier arena full of real fans over a full arena full of negative neds any day. Wait for it, He's gonna say I call em as I see em. wait for it.Waiiiit for it. In the post game Miles said he wishes he could put the players to work to pay back the fans that bought tickets. I call it like I see it. [emoji1] [emoji1] [emoji1] [emoji1]

I wouldn't worry about it. Some on here have a tough time dealing with criticism of the team or player. Even when it's warranted. And they hold it against other posters. We all want this team to be the best they can at the end of the day.

+1,000,000. Although I'd much prefer to read whining about the refs over ripping on players. One has to wonder if the people that rip the players have had kids play sports. Or have played any sports? Yes, I have played sports. No one ever would have ripped me for my effort. Now my shooting...

Miles just said that he felt the players should do something to repay the fans after giving a terrible effort. Huh, Miles isn't afraid to call it like many of us saw it, today. But, then again we can't question Miles because this team had huge expectations, and have been a huge disappointment.

To add to that, this is the same Iowa team that loss to Northwestern!!! We get blown out by them AT HOME!!! That is unacceptable.

First of all, let's beat the Hawks!!! Wanted to give us all some food for thought as we finish up the season, and even as we head into next year regarding social media. A former player from last year's team who is in Lincoln for Legends weekend came up to Omaha this morning to watch my 8 year old son play his youth basketball game. Absolutely made my son's season by surprising him. Anyway, we went out to lunch and I had a chance to talk to him about a number of different subjects regarding this year's team and life as a Division I basketball player. We specifically talked about the pressure the players feel, and talked about Walt and Tai. He said nobody feels worse for missing a shot, turning the ball over, or making a mistake than the player's themselves. They'll hear about it at film review, from student's in class, rehash it at night, and lose sleep over it. But Walt and Tai have both been harassed on Social Media outlets this year that I think has gone to the extreme. After the Maryland game, some "fans" actually tagged Tai's Instagram account in the official Instagram account of Nebraska Basketball (Husker Hoops) and blamed him solely for the loss. One comment tagged him and said "thx for costing us the game" He also received direct messages asking "why u suck so bad?" so he temporarily shut down his account. Walt's been called out on social media as well for his play. I know that the people who are doing this aren't truly fans, and I would be absolutely surprised if any of them were on this board. This post isn't calling anyone out on this board, specifically, but it was eye opening for me to hear first hand from a former player that these young men we cheer for at PBA get subjected to some fairly harsh comments and even heckled by our own so called "fans" I think this puts Coach Miles in a tough spot. He loves him some Twitter and embraces the power of Social Media. Unfortunately, that power can be challenging for a 19 year old kid to deal with if he's getting harassed on Facebook and Twitter. I'm sure some will reply that the players should just stay off social media or simply "ignore" comments, but that's kind of unrealistic for a college student, and hard to ignore when they are getting private messages sent to them. I like social media, and it's not going away. I would urge the "good" fans, if we see instances of players specifically getting called out, to support the player and try to nip the negativity in the bud. GBR!

Any "fan" who sends something negative directly to a player = LOSER. No need for ambiguity. Nothing gray. Nothing to discuss or explain. Very simple: You do it, you're a loser.

Whatever you say, Stinky.

Actually, for this Board, it's "Brian Rosenthal confirms Nick Fuller will make his first start against Iowa"....