Leaderboard

This thread isn't about Nebraska Basketball, but, maybe there are some parallels. I want to give an update on my son Seth's health. For you new to the board, he has a condition called MDS--basically it's a form of leukemia. His body has an inability to produce red blood cells. This disease normally attacks the body's ability to produce white cells, but not in Seth's case. He's an anomaly there. Let me cut to the chase: A new drug was approved for the treatment of MDS and Seth has been on it for the last 9 weeks. We didn't know if insurance would cover the cost ---$2000 or more a month. They did. Since his last transfusion two weeks ago, his red blood cell count has actually risen. That's never happened in the last seven years! Thanks for all your support and prayers! As for Nebraska Basketball? They'll be fine. The mountain of low performance is a one year deal. I can't wait for next year, and the rest of the years in the Hoiberg tenure!

So I don't post nearly as much as I used to (duh) but believe me, I watch EVERY game and sometimes, kind of miss the old report cards I used to do from 2004-2015. I also regularly read this awesome website that Matt does a GREAT job with. Anyway, I've been absolutely BLOWN AWAY by how good of a FLOOR COACH (especially situationally) Fred Hoiberg is. Sure, we all know he can recruit... we all know he played in the NBA 10 years... we all know he was in the T-Wolves front office... We all know he built ISU into a winner, regularly put guys into the NBA and coached the Bulls... we also all know he can recruit. But nobody really seems to comment on his floor coaching much. Here are six instances I've noticed that I've been yearning for out of a Nebrasketball coach for YEARS and YEARS and NEVER SEEN. These are little things that will make a HUGE difference when we upgrade the talent and are competing for postseason. They are as important as free throws. 1. TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE RUNNING CLOCK INSIDE 1:00 LEFT AT THE END OF THE FIRST HALF The first time I noticed this was against Southern Utah, and it ALSO manifested itself the very next game. It hasn't presented an opportunity since then, but two straight games, I saw Hoiberg do the following. In the first half, our bench is right in front of us on defense, obviously. The opposing team made a shot with around 36 seconds left and our guys were running out of bounds and about to pass it in with 36 seconds left. He YELLED and told them to WAIT - the clock is running - run it down to at least 32 before you in bound (you get 5 seconds, after all). This completely eliminates one possession (which can be huge) and it's something NO COACHES EVER DO. EVER. He did it twice in a row. I've never seen anyone mention this. How many one possession games are there in conference when you are where you need to be? Why do no other coaches do this? (I promise you, they don't) 2. BRINGING IN PLAYERS WHO DON'T PLAY TO FOUL AT THE END He's done this in one game for sure, but it seems like two. Maybe at Indiana? I don't know how many times I see dumbass coaches leave their starters with 3 and 4 fouls in there to foul at the end. ESPECIALLY OUT OF A TIMEOUT. Drives me insane. I get that you want a steal and keep your best guys in, but when there's a 5% chance of that, it makes more sense to bring in Arop or Charlie or Kavas or whomever to use their fouls and then bring back in your key players with 3 and 4 fouls during the free throws. This might sound ho hum but name me one other college coach who does this. 3. WILLINGNESS/LACK OF STUBBORNNESS TO MIX UP DEFENSES AND EVEN PLAY (GASP) A LOT OF ZONE We haven't had a coach willing to play semi consistent zone since...... well I go back to Danny Nee and I don't remember it (outside of some of Danny's teams). I don't believe Doc ever did much when he was here - ditto on Miles (outside of small stretches). Same with Barry. I can't tell you how many times I yelled at the TV "switch out of the damn man" and my good friend Dustin who also watches every game would say, "He doesn't believe in it. We don't play zone." Hoiberg has shown that he will adapt defenses based on opponent and game situation MUCH MORE than any of our coaches throughout the last 25 years. He has his team prepared for EVERYTHING. 4. CALLED PLAYS/SETS OUT OF TIMEOUTS GETTING EASY SHOTS I'm willing to bet if you went back out of a timeout when we had possession, we run a set or play that gets us a good look 4 out of 5 times. And that's with (no knock on our guys) semi inferior talent. 5. ADJUSTING AT HALFTIME A coach who actually (Gasps) adjusts at halftime??? We've seen this many times this year. 6. LITERALLY NOBODY EXCEPT FRED AND THOR’S FAMILY THOUGHT THOR WAS A BIG TEN PLAYER. I don’t think this gets brought up enough. Fred was literally the only one who spotted Thor’s strength and upside to want to keep him around. None of us saw upside or ability with Thor. Fred did and we see Thor becoming a better player each game. The shooting ability from three point land out of Thor from last year to this year is one of the most remarkable year to year improvements I’ve ever seen at the college level. These are just six of many examples - #1 and #2 and #6 are the ones I REALLY wanted to point out because I haven't seen anyone ever talk about them. These are HUGE THINGS that coaches just don't do and that will win us games down the line. Fred is a freaking winner. He's all class. He's a name. He's a recruiter. He's a "wow" factor. But let's not forget he's a HELL. OF. A. FLOOR. COACH. If he can't get it done here, we literally are screwed.

I like beating Iowa. - Night and day different from the Rutgers game. - It's fun beating Iowa - Thor has turned into a difference maker. Don't think I would have predicted that one. - It's wonderful beating Iowa - We seem to play better when Green isn't playing much. I wouldn't have predicted that one, either. - It's good to beat Iowa - I thought Yvan and Kevin did pretty well against Iowa's trees. - I think beating Iowa something everyone can get behind. - Defense did a good job across the board. - Who doesn't think beating Iowa is a good idea? - Easley needs to be in the rotation. There's an open scholarship for next year. Maybe he should get it? - Lol. Iowa hates PBA. That's cool. - I thought it was interesting that right after Fran got T'd up, Iowa got a bunch of calls in a row... - Any night you beat Iowa is a good night. - Crowd was into it all night. - I enjoy beating Iowa

In the worst case, we will still be light years ahead next year in terms of returning production. Last year's returning production: Thorir Thorbjarnarson, 2.0 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.2 apg Next year's returning production: Thorir Thorbjarnarson, 8.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.3 apg

I appreciate Green. I will try to remember him by cheering his ass of for his teammates with a towel in hand when he was out of the rotation against Iowa. Wasn't sulking, didn't quit and gave us some decent minutes down the stretch. Wish him well.

This year has not gotten off to a great start. Given how big-time of a coach we secured, I don't think anyone assumed we'd start off 0-2 against some pretty poor teams. However, it took me about 2 minutes into the scrimmage to know that this was going to be a team who would struggle. We're skinny, inexperienced as a team, young in most places, have zero height or post players. JUCOs typically struggle to translate in their first year. We start a 17 year old. I guessed 16 total wins this year, and I'm even starting to doubt that. But guess what... it doesn't matter. Fred Hoiberg is a special coach. I have seen some things thus far that have me incredibly excited for the future of this program. Thought I would lay a few out for you all. 1. We run. Make or miss we run. It has been something I have been screaming about for years now. Wings... Must... Run. Bigs who don't get rebounds... Must... Run. Running doesn't mean you have to play fast or take bad, early shots. But it exhausts the defense and always pays off eventually. If you guys have noticed, our wings run straight to the corner and get wide early, right off the break - make or miss. Our bigs are attempting to rim run every time. I love it. It's literally the most important thing to an effective offense getting off to a good start on a possession. It sucks the defense in, then forces them to boomerang back out to close-out, which creates dribble drives and eventual shots. The biggest misconception of our offense and of an offense like Creighton's is that you can't be efficient or get shots late while running. It's just not true. You can run, and drag possessions out. They are not mutually exclusive. 2. The Xs and Os are there. You just can't see it yet. Timing isn't there, fluidity hasn't been achieved, and they're still thinking. I love the free-flowing, ball-screen, dribble drive motion that Hoiberg runs. Also, his sets so far are fantastic (we just can't execute them yet). They're simple, but get you moving. They emphasize spacing and match-ups. He really puts you in a "choose your own death" position on each set. Once the guys pick these up, you'll see. Watch for when Hoiberg holds up a 5 and does a "slice" motion. I believe they literally call this 5-Slice. When I am able to see it again, I will attempt to draw it up. It starts with some purposeful cutting that forces defenders to stick to their man, then hits you with a well timed ball screen that help just can't get to. We've ran it a couple times, but with poor execution and timing. He's also ran some really simple, effective sets against zone that we haven't executed. 3. He Demands respect. One of the toughest things about coaching these days is that you don't know how much you can lean on players and keep them around. Unlike Miles (and I don't fault him for this), Hoiberg just seems to demand respect from his players. His resume and career speak for themselves, so when he says something, you have to listen. It's probably one of the more unfortunate and toughest things about coaching - sometimes you can't get what you want until you've had some success and the players just don't second guess you. For what it is worth, I'm not trying to criticize Miles, as I believe I had this issue as a coach too. It's just something natural about a person that commands respect, and it's hard to cultivate out of nothing. You have to earn it, and often times it's earned by things that really weren't and aren't in your control. God made some men 6'5", square-jawed, and athletic. Some men (myself), he did not. Unfortunately sometimes those things command respect and you can't control it. When things get tough, and players are looking for excuses, having a coach who might be inexperienced/unsuccessful/didn't play pro/etc... can be an easy outlet. But when your coach is Fred Hoiberg, who's had success everywhere, played in the NBA, all the ladies want him and guys want to be him - you don't fall for those easy excuse traps. 4. I just love seeing Doc on the sideline. That's it, just that.

I know it's funny to attack Boehm when nobody outside the athletic department knows what it is that he does, for sure. But I think we should give some credit where credit is due: None of the coaches he took part in hiring and none of the programs under his supervision were caught up in any NCAA infractions. The players graduated on time. Our APR scores were good. We haven't been penalized, sanctioned or placed on NCAA probation. We haven't had scholarships pulled or been banned from post-season play. You can joke and say things like "we banned ourselves from post-season play" or "with our win-loss record, we don't warrant an investigation." Haha. I get the humor. But, in all seriousness, there is intense pressure to win when you're at the helm of a revenue sport in a major conference. A lot of people out there glance sideways at the rules that govern things like recruiting, and white lies and pushing the ethical envelope are rationalized if it leads to a better caliber of recruits. And FBI investigations into neighboring programs have cast a pall over those schools' athletic programs, so pushing the ethical envelope is not unheard of or without precedence even nearby. So far as I know, WE have not been implicated. I would rather struggle to achieve mediocrity while preserving my honor and integrity than win dishonestly. Make fun of Marc Boehm if you want. Talk about the lack of basketball success during his tenure. But don't, then, forget to mention we've run clean programs while he's been here.

BREAKING: Creighton University President Daniel Hendrickson announced Wednesday a plan to move CU's official mailing address — and its basketball program — to La Habra, California. The move comes in the wake of California Gov. Gavin Newsom signing into law a bill that would allow student-athletes at California colleges and universities to receive compensation. Currently, NCAA rules forbid student-athletes to receive "extra benefits" beyond the cost of attendance, which includes scholarships and other related expenses to attending a university. Hendrickson said California's new law fits perfectly with CU's current basketball recruiting philosophy. "We've really looked for ways for Coach (Greg) McDermott to be more directly involved in the payment process," Hendrickson said Wednesday in a press conference at the La Habra Holiday Inn. "This will remove all the secrecy and second-parties from our ability to land the best players available." Hendrickson also noted that the university will undertake a fund-raising campaign in order to meet the demands of the nation's top players, and to compete against California programs such as UCLA, USC, Stanford, Cal-Berkeley and St. Mary's. "We've always capped our offers at $100,000," Hendrickson said. "We really want to be competitive in this market, though, so we hope our alumni can step up. Every little bit helps. Instead of buying another BMW for their own children, maybe a few donors could do the same for our prospective basketball players." CU students will continue to take classes at Creighton's "satellite campus" in Omaha, but all expressed no worries about attending 'Jays home games in California. "Daddy's jet fits 25 people, so that's pretty much my entire fraternity," said Leighton "Biff" Stonehenge, a junior wealth management major from Glencoe, Illinois. The move will create a dilemma, however, for the local "We Hate Nebraska Basketball Club," whose members proudly identify as "Jayskers." "We'll still root for Frosty and the boys on autumn Saturdays," said Hugh Jass, the group's president. "As for the winters, well, I guess you can now call me a 'Mavsker.' "

Here are two guys who sacrificed a comfortable senior season in a backwater Division I league to take a chance on Hoiball. They've been rewarded with humiliation on the court, and in Matej Kavas' case, a season-ending injury. This could be the least emotional Senior Day in a long time, but it doesn't mean we don't appreciate what these men gave up to become Huskers. A Toast!

Thor has one of the highest basketball IQs of any player we've ever had here. Examples abound. Some stand out: he knew we had 4 team fouls in the half with a minute or so to play and could force Iowa to waste time inbounding the ball rather than getting a shot at the hoop. Just made sure the foul was on the floor. And you could tell he knew exactly what he was doing when he did it. Thor has made the absolute most of the opportunities he's had to see the floor his entire career here. And he has manufactured a jump shot where there was none, which had to take a lot of work and perseverance. Love seeing that kid have success.

Do you own a ski mask and have a sense of adventure?

OK, listen guys, the Rawlinsons sat in front of me at Devaney. Unlike me, she put her real name to her opinions and had them published in the Journal Star. I don't agree with her, but I do not question her integrity or her support for the program. Her family runs a prominent local business, OK? They support the athletic department just fine. You can disagree with her without invective. I think she's blowing things out of proportion, but I can respect that fact that she sees this differently and not get my nose all bent out of joint about it (which I would be far more likely to do with someone who was posting anonymously.)

I haven't seen turnover like this since Tanner Lee was here.

I can live with that choice but I would have preferred this:

Hoiberg hiring a coach that helped him win 28 games and get to a Sweet 16. What an idiot!

Dear "Jennifer Rawlinson": We know it's you, Jean Peck. Just 'fess up. Signed, Jayschool (Not my real name, either)

I’ve been a Dead Red NU basketball fan since 1958 and this has me thinking the unthinkable...NCAA tourney win, Sweet 16, Elite 8, Final 4 and National Championship. I need to take better care of myself so I am around to see it. I’m off to walk two more miles to add to my first two miles so I can keep my blood pressure down.

Hey, guys, sorry to worry everyone. I'm not doing any sort of protest, nor am I disillusioned or anything. I was invited to participated in a sort of "observance" that asks men to give up certain things starting 90 days before Easter. Non-essential internet use is one of those things you're asked to give up. I figured if there was ever a year for me to do this program, this was the year. You get one of your sacrifices back on Sundays and I want you all to know I chose you all over taking a hot shower today. You're welcome.

We lacked energy yesterday, but I fail to see how/why Green is responsible for that. Feels like people are looking for a scapegoat. I sat in the student section yesterday. I saw Green lamenting on the sideline late in the game, but it just appeared to be general frustration, which we ALL were feeling. Am I missing something?

Thanks to a fan, that’s a mom and I was screenshot some of the comments made in regards to Cam and I. No one knows our story but I would prefer you not bash Cam. He loves it here and he admitted he lost track of time on Saturday And felt so bad but he also didn’t let me know he had a bacterial infection from the Caymans. I am a lion with her cubs... No one wants to see people just bashing their child for no reason. I didn’t bash the team as a whole. I basically stated they don’t complete his assists which is an issue as well as Cam not sinking free throws.. I am Cams #1 cheerleader and also his #1 one critic... Cam hates me on social media but as a mom you can feel when your kids are having a rough moment. These players read these blogs and that hurts them. I am battling breast cancer which I ask for no sympathy, just prayer but that does not stop me from protecting my children. Cam worries, he doesn’t know if one day he picks up the phone and I don’t answer. i did that one day because my phone was in the car, I missed 10 calls and texts, You okay mom.. I will fight for them until my last breath.. When coaches recruit kids, they are not honest such as SFA... Cam said one year playing because he doesn’t know how long I have on this earth, no one does but he has had dreams of going pro since he was a kid. Don’t punish or talk about Cam because of my actions.. I said #staytuned because Cam is just getting started.. He is not the savior but he plays a major part in the success of this team because he is gifted and talented... Understand these kids have real life situations and it’s bigger than basketball. Its not easy to lose and your fans are bashing you... He wants to win, he texts me everyday and my advice to him is , trust God , you got this. He didn’t bring you this far to not complete what he started in you as a 2 year old little boy. We have big games this week, be positive and support your team I will not be back on social media because sometimes it takes me to thoughts that are not holy...and actions that are not nice

You may be on to something. Let's see if this works.

And then, one day, they made computers so easy to use that even the simplest members of the population could give voice to their opinions on the magic that is the internet. And then, the world went to shit.

Coach Hoiberg on last night - had some highlights from Italy trip, as well as him breaking down each player who's eligible this season. Here are some quick paraphrased notes with only one semicolon: Mack – As fast anyone with ball in his hands, team speed is our advantage and he leads the way, can get downhill as a great play maker, great feel for the game, he’s key to us playing up tempo Green – Very versatile player, with Mack & Green both can play off the ball or with ball in their hands, need good spacing to allow them to play downhill and take advantage of speed, Green is good defender, strong, explosive & athletic Burke – Every time he steps on floor he leaves it all out there, plays with passion, good defender who will disrupt offenses, one thing on his mind is scoring the ball and we need that, improved his shot form, we worked a lot on his footwork stepping into his shot, also can go downhill well Curtis – Can play with ball in his hands or off the ball, one of our better shooters, fortunate to have gotten him, can really score, he has a learning curve especially on defense, but he’s constantly improving Thor – I love Thor, has as high of an IQ as anyone on our team, on our offense all spots are interchangeable and Thor can play any of those spots, great cutter, worked very hard on his shot this offseason and it’s paying off, sees the floor well, going to have a great year Cheatham – Rock solid, fits nicely with interchangeable parts of our offense, has been well coached in his career, most capable leader of the group, a lot of versatility Kavas – Can really shoot it, been one of the top 3-pt shooters in country last couple of seasons, been through a lot, so we’ll rely on him for leadership Yvan – World-class kid, very young and should be in the 2020 recruiting class, fortunate to have him, great size and strength even though never really has done strength conditioning, we’re going to need his big body in league play, going to continue to improve Cross – Great versatility, which attracted us to him, can shoot it, good pick and pop guy, great passer and it's his most impressive skill, getting in better shape with 15 pounds lost already Arop – Great kid, as good an athlete as we have on the roster, as a frosh he must adjust, but he’s making steady progress, shooting it better, improving constantly Stevenson – When you look at bodies in Big Ten ("and that’s one thing that scared me when I went to the Media Day in Chicago") we need bodies that can compete with that size and strength and physicality, Stevenson has that type of body at 6-6/245, very athletic, can knock down shots (no talk of whether they think he’ll be eligible earlier than semester; Sharpe mentioned he might be eligible early, but coach did not take the bait and just ignored the comment) Easley – Played great in Italy, can just shoot it, but also good footwork defensively, finds the open spot, always has great spacing, can make a play with the ball in his hands Piatkowski & Porter – Been great for us, just know how to play, how to fill a role No talk of Walker or Banton ITALY TRIP Liked seeing the guys get more comfortable with each other during Italy trip, getting to know each other, great benefit. So many cool experiences off the floor for these guys Whole experience was unforgettable Good learning opportunity on the court, some good moments, some teaching moments Just to have the teachable moments we did was good, was able to use the film to do some corrections once we got back Great trip from bonding side and learned a lot about our team FRIDAY EVENT A lot of fun Important for players to get in front of the fans in the building, good for fans to be able to put faces to the names Scrimmage was more like an all-star game Ross was only 1.5 hours late, but he put on a good show I had go back underneath because it was so loud, thought my pacemaker might explode Really needed to get out there and feel the energy in the building with the fans there, so that was good Closed door scrimmage coming up is a good opportunity too, as you can set your own rules, but nothing quite the same as having the fans there Our guys are tired of going against each other, so looking forward to exhibitions Season opener vs UC-Riverside, has good shooters, skilled 7-footer We know we're going to be undersized all year, even in the first game, so it'll be a good challenge out of the box

This is by far the best time for Husker Basketball there has ever been. Yet upon reflection, I've been a dick on this board to people who don't deserve it. No excuses. Just wanted to apologize to people who I consider family. Except Massengill, from the filling out the staff thread. Everyone have a fabulous weekend and a Blessed Easter!

in honor of the newest CH. CH-JR and wife made me a grandfather for the 3rd time two days ago. Thumbs up for all here from CH!

Good luck in the future Haanif!! Thank you from a grateful Husker Nation.

Saturday will be a special game for me, and let me explain why. But before I do that, six quick thoughts on tonight. 1. Tonight will absolutely be rock bottom. Losing by double figures to a sub .500 Big West team without their best player at home was miserable. Cal Riverside will be lucky to hit 13 wins this year. We had no energy, couldn't hit the broad side of a barn and didn't look anything like a team on offense. It was individual play. We are young and don't have defined roles or defined leaders/letter winners yet. This will come with time. 2. We will get a LOT better as the season goes on. Because: 3. We have the right guy at the helm with a terrific coaching staff. 4. There are 4 guys on this roster who will be a big part of our NCAA Tournamen team in year #3. That's good news for the future but not good news for this year. Because: 5. The rest are mostly place holders and guys who wouldn't see the floor by then. 6. I love this team and program, and I hope negative energy Husker fans from football will stay the hell away. I heard a few boo's after a possession where we missed a few layups late in the second half. I heard mock Bronx cheers on made free throws. I get it, I get it. It's frustrating. It was brutal. But come the hell on. It's season one, game one and this has nothing to do with football. Next, let's talk about Southern Utah. I'm sure I made this same post a decade ago when we last played them, but here's the info. From 1988-1990, I was 8-10 years old. My Dad was the Music Department Chair at Southern Utah University (SUU) in Cedar City, Utah. He directed the pep band and we went to ALL the football and basketball games. This is where I fell in love with basketball as a kid. I became a ball boy for SUU. 1988-1989 was their first Division I season (as an Independent) and they struggled. Our second year there, 1989-1990, they won AT Xavier, who was in the Top 25. I'll never forget being 9 years old and listening on the radio. They also played Stacy King and OU and KSU and lost those by about 45 points each. Even lost to a D2 team at home that year. Go figure. They had pretty good basketball teams for several years after that. Their coach at the time (Neil Roberts) got arrested for stealing a $15 tie during a road game at Idaho State and was fired. He was the coach when I was there. Bill Evans took over (now at Idaho State) for many years and took SUU to the NCAA Tournament in 2000-2001 where they almost beat Boston College as a 14 seed in their one and only NCAA Tourney. Football wise, they've been REAL good in FCS. Several guys have gone into the NFL. Basketball, they've never had an NBA player. They're a Big Sky team. The Thunderbirds. This is a legendary Native American bird that didn't exist but in their tales, were "canyon birds." Pretty sweet mascot and the only Thunderbirds (or T-Birds) in existence. Southern Utah University is in Cedar City and is 45 minutes from Zion National Park, 2.5 hours from Las Vegas. It's BEAUTIFUL and they play in a small arena that the Utah Jazz used for training camp a few times. I have quite the cool connection to this small D1 school. I've always followed them from afar. From their times in the Mid Continent Conference to Summit League, to nowadays, the Big Sky. They are much better than Cal Riverside and are expected to compete in the Big Sky this year. 3rd or 4th pre-season. I believe they'd beat Riverside by 10-12 points head to head.Their head coach is a very nice guy named Todd Simon who for a brief time was interim coach at UNLV. He's a great recruiter with a Big 10 background (he grew up in Michigan as a Big 10 fan). That's way more info than you ever wanted to know about the Thunderbirds of Southern Utah. I'll be driving from KC for this game. Definitely going for the Huskers, but if one school has to beat us and have it help them (which their program could really use a shot in the arm), I'd much rather it be them than Cal Riverside. Go Big Red but if not, let this be our last loss of the season. Hoping the Hoiberg era sees its first win against Southern Utah. 38 year old me, 30 years after my first year of ball boy in Cedar City, thinks it would be quite ironic and quite the small world if that happened.

Practice thoughts: 1) Dachon looked like the best player on the team as of now. So stinkin' quick and hard to guard/or have him guard you. Jervay, Haanif, and Derrick Walker impressed me as well and Samari and Thor fit right in. 2) We are about to experience an offensive efficiency and movement we've never seen here before. The way the ball flies around with constant cuts and screens and movement is really a joy to watch. The whole time we were there we only saw 1 mid range jumper, the rest were threes and layups/dunks. 3) Cam and Dalano weren't practicing today. 4) Kevin has some skill, just really needs to get in shape. 5) Shamiel did not impress me as much as I thought he would, seemed too have a bit of an attitude. 6) Doc is the man

Feeling like we're casting some bad juju on Cam by turning this into a Jaron Boone nostalgia thread. Cam's in town this weekend. Jaron isn't.

I mean, in fairness, so does almost every other team in the country, so...

Hey, folks, I am ELATED that our Huskers won today! What a great victory! However, we had a fender bender on the way home from church this morning. We were going to the game anyway but then heard I-80 was closed from Gretna to Waverly (we live in Omaha) so we decided to stay home. I cried....still a bit shook up from the accident & then not getting to go to watch my team, it was too much for this old lady. But I cheered as if I had gone: Husker Power when Purdue was introduced, stood until the first basket, _______ for 3, etc. Next time there is a chance of snow on game day, I’m going down to Lincoln the night before! Missed the Purdue game last year because of the roads, too. Actually, I’m ready to move to the Hay Market! Ha! GBR!

Is it still called BJU, I thought it got renamed Glory Hole Underground.

When Yvan is your age, do you think he will regret his decision to play for his country? Or will he look back fondly on that decision? Personally, I don't think it really matters in the grand scheme of things. I understand your point, but look at it from the perspective of a 17 year-old kid getting ready to move to America for at least four years. Playing for France may have been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Somewhere, a Big Ten official was watching that from his couch and T-eeing up JPJ for looking at the opponent.

Allow me. I visited "France" at EPCOT: "I ate Navy beans like a boss, during a trip to Frappucino. When I got to Omaha, I was offered many dollars by a tall basketball coach. I'm getting out of here and back to Chicago."

Probably not. But for you, I bet he adds douche stations.

Nebraska should issue a statement that it will be declining all postseason opportunities out of health concern for their players.

Thank you so much. I've enjoyed all of you Husker faithful for the love and support. You guys are the reason we chose Nebraska 4 years ago [emoji1488][emoji173] Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Unless there is some god awful thing Cam did, a fender bender and being late to some team functions isn't enough for me not to want him here next year. There is absolutely no risk with having him return to a roster full of talent and a 6'8" PG who would be more than happy to run the show. I haven't seen any wavering whatsoever with Fred and his team rules. If he decides Cam's behavior is too egregious to be corrected, I trust him, but from the outside looking in, I just see a rascal that needs to get his act together, not some criminal or deviant. He's not the first goofball to attend college.

Fellas, I tried. I tried to tell you. I said temper your expectations. I told people in person this was going to be a bad team. I received death threats, my children were banished from their school, bricks were thrown through my windows, I lost my job, and someone killed my dog. MY DOG! .....Ok none of that happened.... but I did receive some annoying messages, tweets, social media messages, texts, etc... And I was laughed at in person by my buddies who I told my initial thoughts on this season. "It's Fred friction Hoiberg bro!!!" "Cam Mack is the #1 Juco kid in the nation!" "Jervay Green averaged 20+!" "Kavas is a 1000 point scorer!" "Cheatham was a 4-star!" "You're an idiot and your wife thinks you're an ineffective man!" etc... etc... etc.... Anyways, chill out. I saw from the first time I watched this team scrimmage that there were going to be some serious issues with this team, especially during B1G play. Too skinny. Short. In-experienced. A couple of the players were not as billed. 2 of the 3 best players were sitting on the bench redshirting along with the most effective big (who's also the biggest). But again, chill out. I have seen more this year to be excited about from a coaching stand point than I can ever remember as a Nebrasketball fan. Do you guys realize what kind of accomplishment it is that Coach Hoiberg has even managed to be in some games that we've been in? His 5-out style puts dudes on ice-skates and forces your hand from a line-up perspective. Have I had some huge disagreements with our defensive philosophy at times? Absolutely. But they're not wrong in what they do, it's all sound reasoning, I just disagree. If we're able to keep Coach Hoiberg around, and these guys (recruits included) all stay around - there's some special stuff brewing in Lincoln. The name, and the stigma it caries, on the front of our jersey will be the only thing stopping us from success. So, chill out - GREAT things are coming. Have some patience.

We are going to be shuffling guys in and out of this program every single year and often playing with a rotation of 7-9 guys which means you will have anywhere from 4-6 potentially unhappy guys every single year. I would have to think that staff will try and do anything to keep a guy like this who is a plus-plus as far as actually caring he plays for Nebraska and by all accounts is a very high character guy who also happens to have B1G athleticism. I'd be pretty surprised if he wasn't on the team next year.

Justin Patton and "cash consideration." Sounds like the Creighton recruiting pitch.

Sek was one of my favorite players on that team, and I will also never forget this moment. Maybe I'm too uptight, but I was enraged at this sign. If I was closer to those two, I definitely would have told them to have some respect for someone who had just given four years of hard work.

Iowa fans be like: How much longer before Thor graduates? Seems like he's been there forever.

Cheatham gets down the floor on the break like no one else. He's getting a lot of points from easy looks when we get out and run. That's a skill of knowing when to be ahead of the other team in transition. And he's doing it. We'll miss him next year.

Happy Thanksgiving to the people of HHC. Hope you have a good holiday with your loved ones.

You're looking at it the wrong way. College recruits base a large part of their decisions based on their recruiter/position coach. Basketball players probably base 70% of their decisions on that alone - if not more. As they care less about location, academics and atmosphere as they don't plan on being there as long as football players do. And while recruits generally don't look at a coaches contract when making their decisions, those assistant coaches absolutely do. College basketball assistants for some reason seem to be way more sensitive to how many years their boss has on his contract than football assistants do, are quicker to bail on an iffy contract situation and college basketball players are far more likely to bail with them. Miles' contract situation 100% cost us Kenya Hunter and losing Hunter lost us at minimum 2-3 recruits who would have been actual depth last season.(including Xavier Johnson who looks like he's going to be a star) And losing Hunter is a big reason Allen decided to transfer (and in part Tshmanga last july). It's a pretty simple chain reaction for any program that doesn't reload purely off the name on the front of the jersey: When there isn't security for the head coach the top recruiter leaves. When the recruiter leaves the recruits leave. When the recruits leave the roster is weak and the coach gets fired. Look at what just happened to St. John's when we hired Abdelmessih. The same thing happened here when we lost Hunter, it just took longer because we had 4 upperclassmen who we stuck with for the year hoping for a lot of luck, but the contract issue created the chain reaction that crippled our depth and led to the same outcome - a weak roster and a fired coach.

If you don't get The Athletic online, Mitch Sherman also wrote a piece yesterday about the roster. He interviewed Matt Abdelmassih, who commented on the players. Without disrespecting The Athletic's paywall too much, here are some of Matt's observations: “He’ll be a huge part of what we’re doing,” Abdelmassih said of Burke. Of Cheatham and Kavas: “They fit the way we want to play,” Abdelmassih said. “They could be leaders that we need.” Cheatham: “He brings experience and a Big Ten body,” the coach said. “Defensively, he’ll be able to hold his ground. He’s a load going to the basket. That’s his strongest attribute, being able to finish over length and finish through contact.” Kavas: “Really skilled,” he said. “He’s a tough kid. He’s able to put the ball on the floor. We’re looking for him to be an all-around offensive player. He’s clearly gifted at shooting the basketball. But if he’s playing at the 4, we’re really going to bring those opposing bigs out, where we feel like we can expose some mismatches.” Mack: “The quickest guard that I’ve ever come across,” Abdelmassih said. ‘It’s elite-level quickness and elite-level athleticism — both things that translate to where he could play anywhere in the country.” Green: “Immediately, he’s going to bring a presence,” Abdelmassih said. “He’s able to score the ball multiple ways, an ultra-talented kid who, if he fine-tunes some stuff, can be special.” Stevenson: “He’ll be a huge piece,” Abdelmassih said, “certainly an impact guy. He can be special here.” Banton and Walker: “Ultimately, two really talented kids,” Abdelmassih said. “When you take sit-out kids, you need to really be confident that the following year, they have a chance to be huge impact players. Banton is as special of a talent as you’re going to find at his size. If they follow the plan and do their part, we will do ours.” Cross: “He’s a mismatch nightmare.” Ouedraogo: “He could play in a Big Ten game tomorrow,” Abdelmassih said. “He’s strong, athletic, able to move.” Curtis: “He’s oozing with potential, oozing with talent. He brings more of a dynamic all-around game because he’s bigger. From a style-of-play standpoint, I don’t think there’s a guard who fits better.”