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Cope- “It was hard to say no to going home,” he said. “But I had to do what was best for me. I thought Nebraska had the edge. The facilities they have out there you don’t see too many places.” Palmer- “When I came on a visit here, it just blew me away — facilities, coaching staff, what they told me I needed to work on" Roby- “When you like the school and the coaches and the facilities, I don’t know what else more there is to wait for.” "Roby cited the 2-year-old Hendricks Training Complex and the 1-year old Pinnacle Bank Arena as two of the best facilities in the country, and said he felt “at home” in Lincoln from the first minute he set foot on campus." Miles is a fantastic recruiter, but lets not act facilities in college sports don't matter. They do. That goes for attracting players and coaches. Hell I don't think Miles is here if we don't have PBA and Hendricks.

Ummm I think that is called a brothel

Top third of the big 10 if we combine those - that's pretty special....Look i'm not expecting us to compete for national titles. But if you are in the top third of the big 10 in facilities and resources, and sell out a 15,000 person arena - the bar should be set higher than making the tournament once in a blue moon and never winning a game once we get there. If Iowa St can do it, KState can do it, Iowa can do it, Missouri can do it, then we most definitely can do it.

From the same article you pulled the quote from: History/Tradition-12 Media Exposure-11 Game Atmosphere-6 Budget/Resources-7 Recruiting Base-13 Facilities-2 Selling Pros-12 Admission Requirement-3 Overall-9 So combining budget and facilities were aren't anything too special. Combine that with the other rankings, as I mentioned in my other comments, and there really isn't much reason to expect to be a winning program in the Big Ten. I'm guessing most high level players would rather play for a winning, historic program than one with a nice practice gym and locker room.

Interesting you should bring up Doc. Funny thing about that is that a lot of the complaints I've heard levelled against Miles were also levelled against Doc and Barry and Danny and Moe and ... And a lot of it by, I think, the same people. Nobody ever develops. Except when they do. But in those cases, you can't give credit to the coach because those players would have developed anyway. But other than those players who do develop, nobody ever develops, and that's the coach's fault. Our offense is sluggish. We run the weave. Can we please not run the weave anymore? That's so middle school. We need to be up-tempo. No one wants to play slow-it-down ball. You want recruits? We need to increase the tempo. Oh, but now we're giving up more offensive rebounds. Can't we slow it down? I'd rather win 45-40 than lose 90-88. And maybe run the weave once in awhile (kidding, no one ever said that.) People who think Tim Miles runs a middle school offense aren't going to suddenly think he's running a sophisticated NBA-style offense next year if he happens to be retained. I just don't want to hear the same shit a year from now, that's all.

Norm, this is a really good question and a lot more complex than it seems on the surface. It's easy to say that he should be rewarded with an extension if he gets to the tourney and wins, which is what will likely happen. I like Tim Miles. I've had the good fortune to meet and talk with him a couple of times and I want him to succeed here. The track record over nearly 7 years, however, is not trending in the right direction. We can debate Xs & Os if we want. We can debate the physical development of the players, the apparent lack of offensive identity, the complete disregard for the concept of boxing out. But, my greater concern is the overall psychology of the players within this program. An article in the OWH tonight recapping his comments on his radio show is the epitome of concerning. He called his team "soft" and "unprepared". Tell me how that can possibly happen when you are 3-4 in league play and start 3 seniors and a junior, all of whom have been in the program at least 3 years? We know basketball can be a rollercoaster ride. But the ups and downs should be much less severe when you are putting that much experience on the court. The ups are great (Creighton & Indiana) but the downs are big drops (Minnesota, Maryland, Rutgers). In my opinion, the blown leads, the hero ball, the lack of consistent focus & effort are symptoms of ineffective leadership and a faulty culture within the program. The lack of a bench shines a brighter spotlight on these things because there are simply no consequences for those unwilling to do what is required to be successful. I don't have the answer - if Tim gets to the tourney and wins, he will remain at Nebraska. And I do hope that is the case. But I'm more than a little concerned that the foundational issues of leadership & culture will remain.

I think too much was made of our seniors and their "experience", and that jacked up expectations too high. The reality is that all of these players had lags in their earlier career--from Palmer riding bench and Cope losing time to a serious injury. The reality is that *this* team is only in their second season playing together, and that two of the three seniors spent a lot of their first two years riding pine or on a physical therapy table. Only Watson gets the credit for 4 years of on court regular experience (and I wish he'd assert it more). It's not like these guy have been playing together as a unit for 4 seasons or even on the same team. That's the hazard with transfers. They may still carry the class designation of an upperclassman, but they're often starting over in a new program.

...and this is why it is important to drink beer; as explained to Norm by his buddy Cliff: To extend this theory a bit further, we know many of our friends and foes or perhaps fellow Husker followers who simply do not drink enough beer in order to provide lucid opinions.

THIS. In fact, if you look at the articles from when we signed any of our starting five, IIRC facilities never really come up, or if they do it's as a secondary thing. (I think we had this conversation back when Kenya Hunter left? I could be making that up but I seem tor recall it.) Having nice facilities might help (admittedly no one WANTS to practice at Mabel Lee) but if we're looking at factors in recruiting, I think we can probably agree that not everything weighs equally, and from the mouths of those who did commit here, having a nice locker room didn't really have much bearing in their decision. Another thing to keep in mind: it's been joked about, but in all seriousness, with all the corruption in men's basketball recruiting, Nebraska has never come up. I'm not saying everyone cheats, but there is enough cheating going on that we don't exactly have a level playing field (which adds yet another hurdle to overcome). If we want to go down that road, maybe we'd pull in some better recruits and have quicker success -- but it seems to me that we can either have a longer road to success OR resort to some less-than-legal ways to speed up the process. I know which way I prefer.

If we have the best facilities and this is a huge part of recruiting why don't we have any 5 star players?

You're probably right. But it happens fast. Not that long ago the football facilities were top of the line. Now they are probably towards the bottom of the conference.

I often see comments like this. I think it's important to remember that every school in the conference (and country) has bigger budgets and better facilities than ever before.

Sure, coaches evolve. Not sure why a coach would change with greater success. Success is usually an indication that what you're doing is working. Failure is what usually provokes someone to make changes. But my issue is that we have this same discussion every single year. And every year, the people who want to see Miles gone make the same complaints. We lose 4 senior contributors off this team, including a couple of the best players we've ever had. We might have some decent recruits coming in but you have to figure we're going to backslide a bit next year. Who knows? We might not make the dance this year, in which case this discussion is academic. On the other hand, we might not only make the dance but also win a game there for the first time in program history. But, if we do have NCAA tourney success this year, are we just putting off the annual "fire Miles" discussion for a year? I honestly want to know: If he's the same Tim Miles you wanted fired a year or two years ago, why would anything change just because he wins a game in the dance?

I am not necessarily in the Camp of win a game I want a long extension. 32 coaches do it every year. Just because we have never done it before, doesn’t make it some incredible accomplishment. If he isn’t a guy that can consistently get us there, consistently show an ability to elevate us in close ones, consistently show an ability to develop players(which is critical here), etc. we ought to move on if there is a hire we are confident could to better and confident we can get. This is is a very tricky situation. While I wish I was in the position to make the decision, I don’t envy those that are.

Simon, Blackburn Earn Spots in WBCA Program http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=211787521

Nebraska needs to look at themselves, and what they want to be. Football: we need to be playing for west crowns every year. Basketball : NCAA/NIT every year. Maybe a hiccup, every once in awhile after a rebuild. I think Mile's can do that for us. It was supremely shitty what the NIT. I truly believe we get a rightful 2 seed, we win it. Baseball : no excuse for not winning a big 10 crown every year.

If we win 20, we are in.

What's really frustrating is that last year's team was as good, if not better. It's too bad the B1G got no respect and, in turn, we didn't either. When you think about what we lost, you had to figure we could possibly struggle. We basically lost an entire lineup that was as good as most Doc Sadler starting lineups: Jordy, Duby, Jack, Anton, and Evan. We replaced those guys essentially with Tanner (played some last year), Nana (hardly played at all last year), Amir (been sick, true freshman), and Brady (undersized weight-wise, true freshman, hasn't done much since 9-5 at Minnesota). I think last year's squad would beat this team more times than not. Now, Watson, Copeland, and Allen are playing better than last year, but I'm not so sure about Roby or Palmer (at least not Palmer as of late)

I would not want him fired... but I wouldn’t be upset if he left on his own. He’s not a good in-game coach. Those that point out he’s gotten better talent here than ever before are correct... but he’s had more resources than we’ve ever had before, so he should. I realize we’ve never won a tourney game before, and that’s a “cure all” for some... but with our budget and facilities, we should be competing for that every year.

I thought we had an identity last year as a small ball team which would create mismatches and attack the rim, and on defense, as a team which would lock in a take away other teams' primary options. This year, I don't think we have that identity. We have to figure out what we're gonna do with our post defense. Neither Roby or Cope is a true post defender. It appears to me that they worry about picking up fouls and that inhibits their aggressiveness (and they end up picking up fouls anyway). Tanner plays his butt off, but Jordy's absence has been a factor. The mere presence of a 7'0", 275 pound guy off of the bench is significant. We miss Taylor's toughness on defense (probably Gill's as well). That said, you have to adjust, whether it be more on-ball pressure and attempts to create turnovers, aggressive hedges and double-teams, or multiple zone looks (don't know if we're equipped to do that, but we're getting killed in the lane). Regardless, in the homestretch, I hope we see a team that attacks on offense and gets its 3's coming inside-out. There's still time to get the ship going in the right direction, but not much.

The Reverse Moe Iba

That's fine, and thanks for the offer to save my time. But it you start a conversation by calling people "cowardly" and 'trolls" for having the audacity to have an opinion different than yours and actually being concerned that the team is underachieving at 3-5 , it's a little disingenuous to suddenly claim the high road.

Moos decision is looking pretty good about now. It is really this simple...Miles wins, he stays, losses and he is gone....Period. There is no in between. Get in the NCAA Tournament and win a game and nobody remembers the Rutgers game, which btw is currently a Q2 game. 6 of our next 9 games are at home. Lots of opportunities still in front of us. Couldn't say that last season. Bad losses tend to bring out a lot of dormant trolls. Pretty cowardly if you ask me. The self loathing of Husker fans is never more evident than when we diminish wins against good teams and elevate losses by "bad teams".

We are starting to get into the "what exactly does Marc Boehm do" part of the season.

Nebraska fans have been "spoiled" with great coaches in many of their programs. Devaney/Osborne in football, Petit/Cook in volleyball, Pepin in track, Van Horn in baseball, Yori and the hot chick back in the 80's women's hoops, wrestling, sorry names escape me--don't follow the sport, Revelle in softball, Francis Allen in gymnastics and whoever coaches women's bowling--that person is really good! Missing from the list is men's basketball. Haven't had one in my lifetime, probably not in the history of the program. Sigh....

Jay certainly has his fingers on the pulse of college basketball. Hopefully the Huskers team re-starts their motor and can put a positive streak together...starting Saturday.

Touche. If you ask Cope why he came here facilities are either lower or not on the list. Quite certain there is an article that already has this answer floating around. Having good facilities is a reason for guys to not cross Nebraska off the list.

We clearly haven't shaken enough couch cushions to find the $100K necessary to get them here.

If were being technical, wasn't Cope one? and I don't think the resources and facilities make us more attractive to guys that have offers from Duke, NC, KU - but those aren't who we are competing with. Those facilities have gotten us 4 stars and given us the talent to compete with Iowa, Wisconsin, KState, ect.

i expect Mershon and Cain to be in the starting lineup. completely agree Cain's defensive presence is very important. husker's success revolves around everyone knowing their role and playing well when called on. if Mershon and Cain start, i was just curious on opinions of who gets PK-A? i have been impressed with Mershon's movement around the basket and how she will fight for position. also, was just looking at freshman POW awards---i see Shakira Austin of Maryland has 5 and Naz Hillmon from Michigan has 4 (with the two sharing the award one week). 4 others (including husker's Brown) have 1 award. unless others really step it up, Hillmon and Austin are most likely going to battle for FOY.

Not saying we can't expect more out of the program. My original points was we need to stop saying we should be a better program simply because we have a nice practice gym and arena.

Everyone has to play well for us to be successful. We usually get decent games from two girls each time out. Kate is still a defensive presence so I don’t see her being moved out of the lineup.

Winning cures all ills... no one ever bitched about the Devaney when we went to 4 straight NCAA Tourneys. Conversely, if you think facilities/money translate directly to success, well the examples to the contrary are too numerous to mention. Let's sign Tim up long term, and quit wetting our finger to see which way the wind blows.

“The facilities are ridiculous. You can make a case that they are the best in the league. Fans also show up – because there’s nothing else to do in Lincoln.” – Big Ten head coach B1G basketball coaches ranked our facilities #2 in the league this past fall.

I think fans tend to only see their own team's improvements and assume we have top of the line facilities. I don't know where they would honestly rank. But let's just say we are on par with every team in the B1G. We should also be relatively even when it comes to budgets due to revenue sharing. Now factor everything else: history, location, fan support, etc...Why should Nebrasketball be any higher than 10 or 11 in the Big Ten pecking order? Our average finish under Miles is a shade better than 9th. So while we may want the program to be better, I don't know what really tells us it should be better.

The answer is probably that a lot of people don't want to look bad by firing a coach who just won. ESPN's clowns would jump on us, and a lot of people can't deal with it. I have higher expectations than what I think Miles can deliver. As to the question "do coaches not evolve?", I think he has a pretty long track record of underperformance, under .500 in 12 years of D-1 coaching. I guess maybe a slug can evolve into a cheetah, but I'm not sure I can wait long enough to find out. And while the logic may be poor, I'd be very happy to keep him if we won an NCAA game because at least we would no longer have to live with that. That means enough to me to be able to wait a couple more seasons to see if the slug evolves.

Thursday's games: Michigan State at Iowa, 6 p.m., FS1 UCSB at Fullerton State, 9 p.m. Wang Chung vs. The Cars, Forever and Always, YouTube

Ha, that was my first concert as well. I was 15 and also had my first beer, attended my first bachelor party / dancer the same night.

"Everybody Wang Chung tonight" Opened for the Cars at Civic in the summer of 1984. My first major concert. Good concert but my ears were ringing for days.

For me I would hope that a win and another NCAA appearance will just continue to propel our program in recruiting. I don't care if our offense looks like Kansas St as long as we win. So for me, if Miles wins a game this year he deserves an extension. I don't believe it means he deserves a lifetime contract but with a NCAA win this year he has earned some breathing room and to not be worried every year about being let go.

congrats and good luck to both simon and blackburn. getting glimpses of rb on the sidelines, not to mention her passion for the game when she was a player, it does not surprise me to see rb receive a spot in the program.

Phone booths are extremely hard for anyone to find any more.

IMO, getting to the dance and winning a game is validation that his style works/can work and he can be successful here, because he just accomplished something. So, yes, I would be just fine in him getting an extension under those circumstances. And I'm a guy who wanted him fired after his 5th year. Do I like his offense or a lot of the things he does? No. But that doesn't mean I don't want him to be successful or find success. There's always the small portion that just want to watch it burn. I don't want that to occur. I'd rather be wrong and have Miles be successful. But what I want and what I believe aren't always walking hand in hand.

Might it be more about the rest of the team not looking to him to be this player? How many open 3s are Tom and Isaiah going to pass up because they don't have the confidence to take them? Glynn and Copeland are usually there shooting-wise though Cope doesn't have a lot of confidence in his drive so he's not nearly as aggressive at the end.

Yes, based on what i see on the floor and 54 years of misery, , yeah, I'm worried.

I'd heard rumors, but I still doubt Miles is among the top 25 laid coaches.

I'm still processing that this is for the top 25 "laid" coaches. If they're getting that much action, they probably don't need as much money, right?

He's been on the radio a few more times in the last week to specifically talk about so it seems like he's working on it, but I agree his lack of attendance kind of show the way he's leaning maybe? I don't have stupendous sources, but have heard Miles needs to win a game in the tourney this year to keep his job. Obviously a lot more goes into the decision than that, but ... It's tough because I think we will not be very good next year regardless, but what does it say to a potential coach when one fires a coach that gets them to the tourney two times for the first time since what feels like eternity? Still I think we'll just keep having this discussion about Miles next year regardless of what happens this year. That's why I think there's a good chance Miles tries to find another job even if we make the tourney or win a game this year.

Personally I'd prefer to avoid hiring someone from a dirty program.