jayschool

Spartans 78 Huskers 60

How many minutes a game would Yvan or Eduardo be getting at Tennessee today? We're not in the same league, so even if Derrick isn't great, he's got to be at least as good — and certainly older and more experienced — than an 18-year-old Frenchman and a 19-year-old freshman.

Sounds like my college intramural team. We sucked too.

Here's the story from the Daily Nebraskan. Here are a few graphs: Dburkearchives is made to be “one of a kind,” with pieces designed by Burke and others being sold at his shop. He considers himself a very fashionable person, and believes his brand can truly become something special. “I love vintage,” Burke said. “That's a part of my closet, so like I’m combining old school with new school, you know, just keeping it balanced.” The kicker quote: “Why not go all in and put it in Nebraska? I went to school here, I still love the fans, I still love the state, and to have graduated from here too, I love Nebraska man,” Burke said.

Here's hoping that the nearly two years off have improved his FT stroke — 15-of-44 career. That's 34 percent, or slightly lower than the current team average, but better than our percentage versus Northwestern last year.

That's why I wrote this post. These next 18+ games will give us a better understanding of what we will see next year, when our expectations should rise. I'd love to win half of those games, but realistically, I'm just hoping to spot three or four guys — aside from T. McGowens, Teddy and Dalano — who can compete in the Big Ten. We know they can compete in the Summit.

Well done.

Ohio 84 Nebraska 75 9 made 3-pointers.

I was thinking of two analogies to draw up for 2020-21 Nebrasketball. EXPANSION The first had to do with an NBA expansion team in the not-so-distant past. That comparison is all about getting a bunch of guys through different manners of acquisition: the expansion draft would net a bunch of guys who were the eighth and ninth players on other NBA rosters, good guys, but not game-changers; combing through European and developmental league rosters for a few guys who could contribute, though if they were really good, they'd be on an established team; and the first college draft, where you're picking in the middle of the first round or later, might get you a decent rookie or two to build around. The first year is a struggle, no matter how hard the team may play or well they're coached. They're going against established teams that have played together for years, so wins are nearly impossible to come by. But the real payoff comes at the end of that first year, when you've likely finished at or very near the bottom of the league. That's when you get that first lottery draft choice and you're able to build a team that can compete almost every night and start to inch toward .500 and playoff contention. That's what we are right now — an expansion team. So we shouldn't be too disappointed that winning in the Big Ten has become a seemingly impossible proposition, at least this early in the season. If this team isn't starting to win a few games here and there by late January and into February, then it might be that bad. Still, there's that lottery pick and another high draft choice already in the fold for next year. AUDITIONS The second analogy has to do with theater, comparing this season to a continuing round of auditions in front of no audiences, just the producer, the director, and the nutty assistant director. We're slated to open on Broadway in about a year, at the beginning of the Big Ten season. We'll go on tour, sure, before then, performing in front of audiences in various venues before the 2021-22 conference season, and that will be the final weeding out process of determining if we have a cast that will start to compete on a more-or-less even court with the rest of the Big Ten. We've signed our top billing, our biggest name ever, to star, but right now we're still in the first round of auditions, looking for a few strong supporting cast members to fill out the cast. There are eight parts to fill, with a couple of stand-ins available if we need then. So how are the auditions going? The Stars (2) Bryce McGowens may not immediately be the best actor on stage when he arrives for the touring version of the show, but he's what we're counting on to improve everyone's performance. Dalano Banton will play the other star role, balancing his skills with Bryce's to lead the production. The Other Leads (2) Teddy Allen and Trey McGowens seem to have the other two spots in hand if you think of the work having four main characters. They'll need to make sure they understand that when the leads are on stage, their roles are supporting ones, and they can take the lead and shine when one of the stars isn't on stage. They've proven they can help a mid-level Big Ten team succeed. The Supporting Cast (4) This is where the auditions over the next two-and-a-half months will show who's going to be stepping out on stage for us when we hit the Great White Way (otherwise known as Wisconsin and Iowa). Lat Mayen is struggling to prove he can "act" at this level. Early reviews are mediocre at best. Will he even get a callback? Kobe Webster and Thor have shown some talent, but it's not sure if either will even stick through the touring stage as they might have offers to do summerstock in Europe. Yvan Ouedraogo and Eduardo Andre have shown some intriguing talents, but neither is a lock to make the supporting cast. Derrick Walker, Wilhelm Breidenbach and Elijah Wood haven't been given much of a chance to show what they can do, though we'll learn about Walker soon. Trevor Lakes and Keisei Tominaga have similar range, but different skills, though there may be room for only one of them in the regular cast. Shamiel Stevenson right now appears to be on the no-callback list. On edit: Oh, and Akol Arop. So that's 12 "actors" for four spots as regular cast members. Who are the four you'd go with at this point to complement B. McGowens, Banton, Allen and T. McGowens? In other words, who's acing the auditions at this point? And do we have enough quality actors auditioning for the parts to last a whole season on Broadway?

How about this? When Wisconsin comes to Lincoln, steal their uniforms. Then offer to let them wear our home uniforms that say "Nebraska" on them, while we wear the uniforms we told them were stolen. We'll get all the calls for once, and we'll make all our free throws and a higher percentage of field goals. It's that simple.

Huskers 66 Wolverines 65

Don't forget that Teddy is a 90 percenter at the line.

Expansion club versus defending champs with zero roster turnover. Predictable. Hope we can cover.

Davison to himself: "WHAT HAVE I BECOME!?!?!?!?!"

I think Thor was the sixth man (spelling Trey for a short time) and Trevor seventh, with Kobe eight and Shamiel ninth. Still waiting for Eduardo "My Dinner With" Andre to make an appearance.

Deep down, nobody hates Brad Davison more than Brad Davison hates Brad Davison. You know that's true.

Look at the play before, with Davison pushing off.

Teddy with the Jimmy Chitwood set shot there.

Just as everyone predicted: Yvan has all the points at the under 16.

Unlike Davison, this is a Bad Brad I can watch and root for:

Indeed. I lived in Lawrence and was on faculty at KU (gasp!) for four years. Still trying to wash off that stench.

First off, congratulations on your grasp of usage and mechanics, as well as the proper spelling of "Dalano." Your homework will be on the proper use of the em dash. (We have at least two too many English and journalism instructors on the board.) The rest: Hoiberg's use of transfers was unique a decade ago when he built ISU into an instant contender. It's not now, so he's using transfers now as a way to build Nebraska into something that isn't a regional embarrassment. Last year, when we were a regional embarrassment, his transfer-heavy roster was compiled in literally two weeks, so there were a ton of misses. This year, the sit-out and instant transfers will make us more competitive, and though we're favored in exactly zero conference games, we should be able to steal more than a couple. He's obviously now more amenable to a balanced recruiting approach, witness the signing of five-star recruit Bryce McGowens and four-star Wilhelm Breidenbach for the 2021-22 season, though we also have a JC transfer as part of that top-rated — for Nebraska — group. We thought we might have a few consistent scorers on the squad this year, but Trey McGowens has been inconsistent, leaving us with only Banton and Allen as guys we can count on to at least threaten double-figures every night, simply because of their ability to get to the basket. Kobe Webster's OR is higher than Allen's, but Allen is more likely to be able to get off a variety of shots, and we need Kobe off the bench. Yvan's OR is also higher than Allen's, but that's an anomaly based on a sterling game against an NAIA opponent. Lakes and Andre have played just one game, and that was also against said NAIA opponent, though we hope that their efficiency translates to something like mid-100s off the bench. Yes, though his long ball needs a lot of work. Slower teams have usually been able to keep us from running. We'll still chuck threes early in the shot clock, but I assume Wisconsin, with five seniors starting, will be able to dictate the tempo. We had a coach in the 1980s named Moe Iba, who was christened "Slow Moe" because of his deliberate style of play, so we know what slow ball is like, just without the championships. Bottom line, this Nebraska team has played exactly one game together with the 10-man rotation you'll likely see tonight. Wisconsin has been working and succeeding together as a team for the last four years. If we come within 10, I'll consider it a major sign of progress. We also have a big man sitting out an NCAA penalty that he incurred while playing at Tennessee under Rick Barnes, who is still coaching. Meanwhile, Walker will be available Jan. 5, and we'll probably have a different rotation at that point. The next four games will determine how different. We're still feeling our way around the court. GBR

Except Missouri. Maybe for retirement, eh?

Nebraska to New Jersey to Florida to Colorado to Kansas to Colorado to Iowa.

Let me help. The man in my avatar is Jerry Fort, the Huskers' leading scorer from its mid-70s teams. Oh, if only the three-point line existed back in the day. In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, Nebraska often had teams that would, in today's 68-team NCAA Tournament, have won at least a game or two. Unfortunately, before 1975, the NCAA invited only conference champions to the dance, and we were in the same conference as f***ing Kansas. Between 1966 and 1987, we had only three losing conference seasons, but made the NCAA only in 1986, when the tournament expanded to 64 for the first time. We lost to Western Kentucky that year, the first of our seven first-round losses in the tournament. We've lost as a three seed and a six seed. We've lost as an 11 seed and a 10 seed. Name a seed between three and 11, and we've probably lost a tournament game as that seed. In 2018, Nebraska finished 13-5, fourth place in the Big Ten Conference, 22-10 overall. We weren't anywhere near the bubble that year. We were given a No. 5 seed in the NIT and sent on the road to Starkpatch, Mississippi. We lost, of course. The most painful loss that year? A last-second, one-pointer at home to, yep, Kansas. F***ers. With that win, we're probably a mid-level NCAA seed. We did win the 1996 NIT, however; it was probably our crowning achievement as a program. Needless to say, we're jealous of just about everybody. And just as you may despise the Jesuit school an hour to your east, we despise the Jesuit school an hour to our east. (Love the Jesuits, just not the basketball team.) As you likely know, we're the only Power 5/6 program without a tournament win. So if you secretly cheered for Northwestern (NW, not NU) a few years ago in their first tournament game and win ever, we expect full-throated rooting when we're in the dance next year. Besides Jerry Fort, Google these names: Stu Lantz Nate Branch Jack Moore Dave Hoppen Eric Piatkowski Erick Strickland Mikki Moore Isaiah Roby No-Sit Sunday That ought to keep you busy til Tuesday night. Be well, take care, and #GBR.