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I don’t know if any of you read this board but I just wanted to say... Players- I am thankful for you today. The amount of work and time that you put in for me to scream at my TV with only my wife in the room is amazing. Thank you for leaving your families, thank you for spending the holidays away from your families, and thank you for all you do for our University. You all are going to be great young men and I have enjoyed every minute so far this year. Keep up the good work, but also enjoy the ride. It’ll be over before you know it. Enjoy today and know that many Husker fans appreciate all you do. You all play a game for our entertainment and I can’t thank you enough for all you do for the Big Red and state of Nebraska. Coaches- Thank you for the amount of work that you put in. Sometimes it’s hard to imagine the amount of time that you spend away from your families. From recruiting to game planning and practices to scouting, you all are some of the most dedicated people that I know. I hope you all get some family time today before it’s back to the office. Kent and Jake and formerly Matt- Thank you for providing me with the opportunity to hear passionate Husker basketball announcers every game. I don’t live in state and most of my games are on TV. I will purposefully sync the radio broadcast with a live stream. The amount of work that you all put in can’t be thanked enough. Lastly, thank everyone that is involved in running this machine we call a basketball program. This has been the most fun through 5 games that I think I have ever had. I know we couldn’t do it without everyone being involved and doing their part. I hope all of the Nebrasketball family has a Happy Thanksgiving!

I appreciate your work, 49r, and passion for Husker Hoops. I know 99% of those here do. Many years ago, before most people on this site found it, I and a staff of several others (including several former players and even radio PBP announcers of both men and women) wrote articles on this site daily from November-March. I did interviews with every opponents head coach and a weekly chat with a Husker. We once did the entire Big Red Report magazine basketball preview. Jay Bilas was on this site. Paul Splittorff. Reid Gettys. Major NCAA Division I referees. Many future NBA players. Etc etc. Then somewhere along the way, 4 years into it, I let the hatred of some people burn me out - the non appreciation most showed of all the hard work I was putting in and the several hundred dollars a year loss I was eating. i semi regret it - don't do the same thing as me and walk away. Thank God HHCMatt saved this site and made it better than ever. It makes me happy knowing that a little blog I started in 2005 to deal with a breakup in Charlotte, NC. has morphed into what it has. It's all because of the people here.

Todays letter... Dear Casey, Recently I went through a rough patch with a dear friend Nebraska Basketball. We've been through a lot together and yesterday we got into a fight and we both did some things that were really hurtful to each other. Casey, I know we can get through this and I was writing to you because I wanted to reach out to my friend. "Could you play KenPom rankings as of 11-22-18" by the @49r? It would mean a lot. Thanks...here's your request and dedication ------------------------ KenPom rankings as of 11-22-18 ========================== B1G (0-0): 7. Michigan 11. Michigan State 13. Purdue 14. Wisconsin 20. Indiana 28. Ohio State 31. Nebraska 32. Iowa 36. Penn State 37. Maryland 45. Minnesota 48. Northwestern 93. Illinois 109. Rutgers Non-Conference (3-0): 346. Mississippi Valley State - W 297. Southeastern Louisiana - W ---Gavitt Tip-Off--- 59. Seton Hall - W ---Hall of Fame Classic--- 184. Missouri State 12. Texas Tech 233. Western Illinois ---B1G/ACC Challenge---  25. @Clemson 33. Creighton ---Sanford Pentagon-- 61. Oklahoma State 141. Cal State Fullerton n/a. Southwest Minnesota State

I can’t argue with any of that, but I for one am sick to death of “humble pie” & “teachable moments.” I’m ready to be the hammer and not the nail...

I"m watching Creighton vs Clemson on a facebook feed with Doug Gottlieb and would rather listen to 3 straight hours of shot tracker ads

I like Harris but we could have really used X. Shooting 40% from 3 so far (I know it’s way early still) and had 20 today. This is going to bum me out for a few years, really liked him.

Stupid basketball. I blame James Naismith. Should never have invented the stupid game. Would have saved me 56 years of heartache. That written: Beat Western Illinois! Beat Clemson! Beat Illinois! Beat Minnesota! And for dog's sake, BEAT THE CRETINS!

Texas Tech throttles #24 Huskers Copeland the lone bright spot as Tech proves to be the better team Hello All, Longtime lurker, first time poster. The first part is true, at least. I thought I would chime in with my thoughts on tonights game since I was able to attend in person (last night as well). We will break this down as "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly" THE GOOD: -Our starting five is scary talented. The athleticism and INDIVIDUAL players are there. -We have better depth than I anticipated. I have been pleasantly surprised by Nana, Tanner and Brady (though we didn't see him tonight). Amir hasn't shown me much yet but that's to be expected by a true freshman. -Isaac Copeland is off to a great start. -Glynn Watson shows the energy and glue you need. -The defense has been pretty dawgone good. THE BAD: -We have NO ACTION OFFENSIVELY. AT ALL. It's all iso. -Our in bounds plays leave........ a lot to be desired. -We will struggle rebounding against bigger teams (though we won that battle last night and we already knew this fact going into the season). -We are very selfish and there's very little fluidity to the offense. -James Palmer has looked brutal in all but one game, really. Is he banged up more than we know? THE UGLY: -This game. Look...... We could afford ONE game like this in the nonconference. ONE. The problem is, we now have used it up, and have no margin for error until Big 10. We literally CAN'T lose more than one more nonconference game if we want to get to the NCAA Tournament. I really believe that. Think about it, if we lose to Clemson AND either Creighton or Oklahoma State, we have the exact same problem as last year - we lost to the good teams in nonconference, and picked up 1-2 marginally good wins. AKA, its doubtful Seton Hall is a signature win. So losing to Clemson, Texas Tech and either Creighto nor OSU would give us nothing impressive in the noncon. GRANTED, the Big 10 is much stronger this year and finishing in the Top 5 would mean more. BUT if we can't beat OSU on a neutral court and Creighton at home - after already getting TROUNCED by Texas Tech - we likely aren't going to finish Top 5 in the Big 10 anyways, especially since we aren't likely to see an experienced team get a whole lot better at this point in the process. I was EXTREMELY frustrated tonight at the game... Can honestly say I cussed out loud for the first time ever as a Husker fan in public toward Coach... and I'm not proud of myself for that. I love Tim Miles. I really do. I love James Palmer. I love Isaac Copeland. I love Roby. Etc. I want all these guys to have the pro careers they want, too. There is a LOT invested in this team, program and INDIVIDUALS future. That's one thing I'm really worried about, is how individual'ized this team looked the last two days. I have yet to read any other posts on the board so I might be in left field with these thoughts, or maybe I'm dead on. I just wanted to get my thoughts on "paper" before reading others and while they were fresh in my mind. Tonight certainly felt like any number of nights throughout the last 20 years, didn't it? It could have been any coach or any team we've had with high expectations - and there's been more than we realize. The good news is the season is VERY young and its quite possible we just had an off night. It's also possible Texas Tech is a Top 15 team and this ends up not hurting us in the least. BUT at some point, we have to start beating good and great teams if we plan on A. Making the NCAA Tournament and B. Winning a couple of games. And anything less this year would be a massive failure. View full article

Nebraska doesn’t cheat. Other teams do.

Yes we tried this with Roby and it did not work. Jordy would've equalled turnovers in this game. Now that I've seen Brady contribute I'm totally over Jordy. I wouldn't take this year Jordy over this year Brady and in the future its not even close.

Thanksgiv For Nothing Happy Thanksgiving! Listen to make sure you win your family's Nebrasketball holiday argument. Today Caleb and Jake analyze what went wrong on Tuesday night and how our tournament chances are effected by the loss to Texas Tech. Don't not listen because we lost we will bring hope to those who are despairing. Not to be on the refs again but we were up 14-5 when James got one or both of his charges then they didn't call it on the other end a few possessions later and it was all downhill after that. But yeah Thomas Allen played the 2nd least minutes of the starters at 36 minutes on a back to back. The zone did not work especially in the half court.

If you want to see what a difference confidence and an aggressive mindset makes watch Hachimura for Gonzaga. Similar body type and skill set as Roby (more polished in post). He is a flat stud and went toe to toe with the Duke phenoms. I wish Roby could get to that mental confidence and killer attitude. Hopefully he figures it out soon for his team.

You can't win your cookies on a sea cruise, but you sure as heck can lose them. Same thing? Kinda?

OR to use a baseball analogy, “You can’t win a Pennant in April, but you can sure lose one.”

If I know coach Miles like I know coach Miles (I don't know coach miles at all). The Big turning point in that game was a moment he should be kicking himself for, and that toasting his guys in that press in the first half. The guys looked super tired and gassed and we kept with that press - which is when Tech got their juice going and made a nice little run towards the end of the half. We didn’t bounce back after that. My old golf coach used to say, “you can’t win the tournament on the front 9 - but you can lose it.”

Might as we throw Trueblood and Costello in there for shits and gigs too

80 B.C.? Or 80 A.D.?

I’d like to see us be more creative with Roby offensively. By that I mean a pick and roll situation with he and Cope. There are plenty of opposing 5s that have a good ability to guard laterally but would have no clue what to do if they were the ones being picked. A pick and pop game with those two could be terrifying, and Roby is tall enough/heady enough to make good perimeter passes if he drew help. I really think Roby could play a Lebron/Simmons role for us in the half court which would help us get into sets faster when he brings the ball up.

I love the sentiments being made known, I couldn't agree more myself. this board is an invaluable resource for hoop heads such as us, and what I hate seeing in the past few years is this horrible habit people have of using WILD HYPERBOLE for everything; commonly being: Loss: the sky is falling, fire everyone, this is unacceptable, lets blame such and such player, etc Win: this is the best team in the world (you can tell that the negative hyperbole imo seems to be the more prevalent and leaned upon, maybe due to the beaten down husker fan spirit?) This has to stop. I hate to see negativity, personal attacks and general toxicity ruin what is one of my few happy places in life, here on the internet. Of course I expect some craziness, due to the nature of the internet and the influx of new people to this board. (a very exciting thing!) But we can do better, continue to set a high standard. Love ya guys. Lets keep it rolling.

I agree with this sentiment- especially since Plamer was out for so much of the game. Our team is too talented offensively to go scoreless without JPJ on the court. Yes, JPJ is an important part of our offense. However, we have great offensive talents in Roby, Copeland, and Watson. I think most people here understand we didn't move enough on offense the other night. That has to be on Miles. We just need to put our offensive talents in the best position possible. For example, Cope is automatic when he comes off curls at the free throw line. Saw almost none of that against tech. Roby/Watson pick and rolls should be able to put a lot of pressure on defenses. Didn't see that either. Last night, Roby set 2 downscreens and then sealed his defender in the post. Both times either Allen or Watson passed it into him and he would've gotten an easy layup if Tech didn't foul. I understand why we're trying to take more threes. But these are some simple things we should try to initiate more often in the half court. The sky isn't falling. A lot of 50-50 balls went Tech's way last night. But our offensive performance was abysmal.

Don't talk about your wife that way!

It does seem like the conference has bounced back and we're now playing 20 games instead of 18. If you compare our schedule to last year, this year we've taken Marist and Stetson and replaced them with Rutgers on the road and Illinois on the road...the two teams that looks like the worst in the league. We're really looking like a team that should have a top 25 SOS and the sort of head-scratching margin of error you saw with Big 12 and SEC teams with a lot of losses making the tourney. Also, you should keep calling in ?

I wasn't going to chime in and I love the discussion overall. I personally am not going to panic one bit. Not at all. Yes, we struggled last night and we looked stagnant at times. But I truly believe this team will be fine. I personally get sick and tired of the "jumping off the cliff" approach most people have after a game. Its basketball!!! Its going to happen, and let me warn you....it will happen again this year. We have such a football mentality in this State where all is doom and gloom with a loss. In basketball you get 30 games....we ain't winning em' all. TCU lost at home to Lipscomb last night...Nova lost at home to Furman...I could give you 10 more example just this year where the "better" team didn't win. Our history I think is what frustrates the fans the most. But I have seen so many people say "Welp, same as last year." We finished 4th in the B10 last year. Last I checked...not too shabby. Yes, ultimately we didn't make the goal of the NCAA tourney due to a "down" B10 season, but it shouldn't take away the fact that we had a pretty darn year last year and if not for that last 3 pointer that Kansas made against us, who knows, maybe last year we dance? I personally get so sick though of people throwing the team under the bus after a single game. We have 25 more games to prove ourselves and hopefully get better. Hell, had we shot decent from the 3 point line (a ton WIDE open) then we are right in that game last night. Unfortunately we went 5-23 and that isn't gonna get it done. I for one still think this team is going to do great this year. The key will be to steal a few tough wins and not drop games to teams we should lose too.

I didn't see a new uneblinstu thread for this last game, so I'm starting one. If there was one and I just missed it, someone please combine and tack this to the end. Anyway, I tend to avoid the board after disappointing losses. There tends to be a lot of kvetching and fatalism that I prefer to avoid. But I wanted to offer a different perspective than what I've been seeing from other posters. I think Texas Tech was the better team last night, but not 18 points better. They padded their stats toward the end of the game when we just couldn't get anything going and they just started rolling. Some nights, you just get those banked 3 pointers to drop; other nights, shots that look like they're going down pop out instead. They had one of those nights last night; we had one of those other nights. Last night, though, the game turned when James Palmer picked up his 2nd foul on an absolute bullshit charge call with 12:13 left to play in the first half and us with a decent 15-8 lead. From that moment, Palmer goes out of the game and Tech goes on a 10-0 run, takes the lead, and basically never looks back. From that point forward, JPJ was effectively hamstrung on the offensive end. The refs took him completely out of his game. And it affected our whole offense, our whole game plan. Say whatever else you want to say, but the officials decided the outcome of the game when they whistled Palmer for that soft charge 8 minutes into the game. It was not the same game from there on out.

I SO BADLY want to agree with you and I hope it was "just one game". But, unfortunately, our history of an inability to adjust in-game is still very worrisome to me. I fear Texas Tech discovered a formula to beat us and I'm not all that confident we can fix it. The issues that plagued us last night were the same issues that have plagued us for several years (stagnant offense, poor shots, etc.). And I have yet to see a game plan or coaching adjustment that addresses those issues. It really felt like we were watching the same team we had two years ago. And I don't understand how fans can continuously defend that. How is this not frustrating to all of us? I just want to win. Tired of getting kicked in the dick in big games.

Thank you for the above and the work that HHCMatt does on the site. It was a good reminder. I went from reading it right to the main page and made a donation. We didn't play well last night and were a little exposed as far as our inside toughness and depth (Nana and Amir weren't ready for that and I wish we could have seen a bit of Heimann) but it is a long season. We are essentially last year's team with a tougher schedule. While that means we should improve and will at times give people fits, it also means we might go 19-12 and end up on the bubble. I don't think we vastly out-talented Tech and we certainly did not out-depth them. I think the ceiling for this team is the Sweet 16 and the floor is the NIT and under either scenario we might see a coaching change. I hope not because I like having a team this good and having a team that is starting to land the best in state recruits. I look forward to watching it play out and enjoying it as a fan and thank you guys who keep the board, the KenPom thread and all of the other things up to date for us mostly lurkers.

Yes, repeatedly. Look, I'm as down this morning as anyone about the game last night. I saw things I hoped we wouldn't see this year. That said, I'm hoping it was a bad night combined with a really good night by Tech. They were locked in, played the best defense I've seen in a long time and played great fundamental basketball on offense (good picks, hard cuts, etc.). Hopefully the guys learn from it and come out stronger for it. If not, maybe Beard would like to move to Lincoln next year...

1. Palmer 2. Copeland 3. Watson That's why. Is he deciding he's no. 4 option or is the coaching staff? Regardless, Palmer's an all BIG player, Glynn's the point guard, Cope's the most efficient scorer. That guarantees the ball's going to be in their hands a lot. What's Roby? The best NBA prospect.

Roby is nowhere near ready for the NBA. That "lottery pick" article made me chuckle at the time it came out. That's not to be a jerk - he WILL likely play in the NBA. But it won't be after this year. Think of all the GREAT college players we've seen come and go that didn't even sniff the NBA. Even guys at Nebraska alone. Cookie Belcher... Aleks Maric... Lance Jeter... Nate Johnson... Now, do we really think an inconsistent rising junior is going to be a lottery pick who is playing out of his natural position? Granted, he has MUCH better athleticism than the majority of the above names, but he's nowhere near as accomplished of a college player. And those are just random Nebraska players.

...by the way, we're 31st now. Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

He’s really really good