royalfan

Yeah seems like we would want Indiana for sure the way I see it.

Played great today. Good matchup for him to cause havoc against awful ball handling team with no point guard. Still think we are very limited with a guy out there they dont have to worry about. Very fine line Miles needs to walk with him. Some games where we get killed with him in there not being respected.

When teams pressure Nebraska, they just carefully make their way down the court and rarely look to take advantage. Is Northwestern the same way? Yes, I believe that is the case for the most part. They haven't been pressured a ton in games I have seen though. But I do not think they would present a big problem attacking us if we pressured, so long as the spacing defensively is at least decent. If we were to pressure and they get a couple easy ones, then pry time to quit. We don't want this team getting very many easy ones since they struggle to score.

One thing about NW is that they don't appear to play good defense because of a slow tempo. They actually do play good defense. Better than good actually. It is excellent. They won't really pressure the ball a tremendous amount. You won't necessarily feel uncomfortable handling against them that much. And you can even get looks against them. What they excel in is not letting the wrong guys get efficient shots. That is what we have to be careful of. Every possession means a little more in this one. We have to know what is a good and bad shot. And we are simply going to have to make them. NW does an amazing job rebounding for how small they are. Tip the ball well to each other on boards too. They are a bad offensive team obviously, but seem to be making a few more shots lately. It is going to take a very smart game by us to win. I am not sure I can say I think we are going to play smart. A couple things I would do if coaching. I would implement some pressure(I know Miles not that comfortable with it). Do it anyway. If it shows no signs of working then quit. Just letting NW dictate the pace of play is not a recipe for success IMO. They won't look to be aggressive in beating the pressure either to make us pay. That is why I feel it is a must to pressure them. I doubt we will though. I would also go without a point a good chunk in this game if it can allow for one more shooter or something else that is needed in the game. They don't cause a ton of problems handling the ball. We don't have to play Tai or Parker necessarily. If someone like Hawkins is playing well then go with him. He is bigger and matches up better with Demps and Crawford also since NW doesn't use a small point guard that much.

When they lose they lose big don't they? Since the Illinois game, when the 'Cats first debuted their new game philosophy, the 14-point loss against Michigan State was closer than the score indicated. I wasn't able to get to the Iowa game in Evanston, but from what I heard, Northwestern was simply outclassed in all aspects in that game. Iowa seemed simply too big for them. And NW couldn't throw a three in the ocean from the beach that day. I still have no clue how they found a way to win that Purdue game with a decimated team in overtime.

Penn St. and NW are actually nowhere near each other in terms of pace. We played good defense against Penn St and they played as bad as they could play offensively that night. Thus the low scoring game that ended up having a little slower pace. But Penn St. did not go into that game thinking they needed to slow it down at home. We slowed down that ballgame IMO.

When we go on the road we have to have a proud defense. A warriors mentality on defense. Not quite sure if superior tough mindedness is in Miles DNA. That is the one concern I have with him. You have to be extremely tough minded to win on the road in this league. Miles needs to improve on this front and needs to keep this in mind when recruiting as well. Will to win is something that needs to be evaluated when recruiting a little bit as well.

He probably wouldn't care for Richard Sherman.

Funny how we've gone from "he's a selfish player, coach needs to sit him" to "what are we going to do if he leaves early for the NBA?" We need more games to watch/dissect. Off days are brutal for our psyche. My thoughts are that I don't remember anyone ever saying sit him. I think that is a technique referred to as a straw man argument. He had shown terrible shot selection and there were times early it was really hurting his team and it needed to improve. Coach Miles addressed this issue (partly by giving him a quick hook at times) and for the most part his selection has gotten much better. I think almost everyone saw right away he was going to be key to our success this year. I think Coach Miles addressing this issue as soon as he did was crucial and it says something about Petteway's character in the positive way he has responded. Many were overblowing the situation back then. Petteway was taking the same types of shots then as he is now, yet people thought he sucked for some reason. He was good then, and he is good now.

Michigan moved to 13.5 favorites now. Vegas giving Nebraska about a 1 in 11 chance to win this game.

Doesn't that seem odd to you...that some draft site would think he's a first round draft pick before the people who watch him the most? Not at all considering for years this site has been dedicated to scouting and projecting players to the NBA draft. Oh, and their scouting report of Petteway appears to be pretty solid also. This isn't one guy running a garbage site...this is a site that pays scouts and a site that has direct contacts to NBA scouts. Next update Terran could fall out of the first round...or not even be on the board. I just thought it was interesting his name is picking up steam. http://www.nbadraft.net/players/terran-petteway Who do they pay to scout? And who are they in tune with in the NBA? I can tell you now that Petteway is not a first round pick right now. Curious who they have scouting that think he is. They are getting paid for that?

One of Tai and Hawkins turning it on and making a big impact shooting the ball. We need one more good shooter badly.

Disagree. If we beat Michigan, then yes, it is a bad result for us. However, there is a good chance we don't beat Michigan. In that case, a Michigan win over Indiana does nothing for us. But an Indiana win over Michigan makes our win over Indiana look better.Simple math. We play Indiana once and Michigan twice. Not sure how it could even be debated. We play Indiana twice. Second to last game of the season is in Bloomington Whoops, not sure what in the world I was thinking. Then I am with you. Doesn't matter much either way, and like you said may be better since we are not likely to beat Michigan.

Disagree. If we beat Michigan, then yes, it is a bad result for us. However, there is a good chance we don't beat Michigan. In that case, a Michigan win over Indiana does nothing for us. But an Indiana win over Michigan makes our win over Indiana look better. Simple math. We play Indiana once and Michigan twice. Not sure how it could even be debated.

Horrible result for us.

Petteway boatracing Frazier at this point so you can cross him off your list. Frazier not even the best player on his own team so far. Harris Marble and Stauskus would seem to be very deserving players at this point. Beyond that, not sure on how much they feel obligated to stick to the positions. If they just do it by 5 best guys, I think Petteway would be right in the hunt. Lot of basketball left though.

I think that has certainly happened. I don't expect it to anymore though. But they can frustrate the hell out of teams that are not mentally tough. And they can frustrate the hell out of an opposing crowd as well. But you play well, you can handle them easily. I am glad they are doing well since we play them twice.

Yeah and not at the easiest of locations either. I still don't think they are very good, but that is an amazing accomplishment. They do have a game that can go on the road I suppose with slow pace and good defense. But incredible nonetheless.

NW is 5-5, outscored by 90 in the league and may not be favored in a single home game. That is flat out crazy. They have a week to digest and it is likely to be a hostile building we will be walking into next Saturday. We are going to have to be sharp on offense as they do have sensational defense rotations.

Yep, and Vegas agrees. Not close. No team I would rather play if we could choose a team to play and have to win. It is smoke and mirrors but a hell of a win nonetheless. If that is the case what does that make Nebraska's wins? The truth is the Big 10 is probably more down than people realize. Outside of Michigan and Michigan State I haven't seen a whole lot. The Big 10 is probably the 3rd or 4th best conference. Not understanding your question exactly, but given that Nebraska is regarded to be a hell of a lot better than NW and we were favored in the last couple, it is not even a remotely sensible comparison. Perhaps you are one of the people that do not prefer to be proactive but reactive? If so, then you probably would think NW is good and would be badly mistaken. That is the only reason I could see you asking such a question.

It really is interesting. Not sure I have ever seen anything quite like it. Team is 5-5 and outscored by a mind boggling 90 points in league play. Bad club that is defying any sort of logic.

Yep, and Vegas agrees. Not close. No team I would rather play if we could choose a team to play and have to win. It is smoke and mirrors but a hell of a win nonetheless.

Yeah I would like to see it once myself.

He is happier when there are things to be pissed about.

We certainly started the 2nd half in zone. I was getting so pissed off we kept staying in it. I gotta watch this one back. I am surprised I am in disagreement with multiple smart people on the issue. I completely understand the logic behind the zone. These guys cannot shoot. But they were getting easy shots to start the 2nd half against the zone. I don't think I lost my mind at least, but starting to wonder.