Norm Peterson

@hhcmatt Your stills don't change my mind about what Haarms was trying to do here. He's jumping into contact. In a path that intersects the offensive player (Easley.) Haarms might not have been called for the foul -- there might have been an earlier foul that would moot Haarms getting called -- but he's clearly, in my opinion, trying to make hard body contact with Easley.

First, let me just say I hope Haarms is OK. Second, let me just say, as you watch this clip, it's pretty apparent Haarms got what he was trying to give. That's not the approach and body angle you'd take if you're just trying to block a shot. Maybe Haarms was still pissed about something that happened earlier in the game? Like, oh, I don't know ...

Yeah, I'd be shocked if we get a post-season bid this year. As far as optimism for next year, I think we're still a couple of pieces away. We need some shooters at the guard position. And some big guys who can wipe the defensive glass. Bonus if they can score a bit more than the occasional put-back or dump-down (i.e., have some offensive tools.) Double bonus if they're a shot-blocking threat. You're not going to win a lot of games being outrebounded by double figures. And you're not going to be able to consistently rely on two of your guards pulling down a combined 17 boards. I think one of the reasons we were able to pull out a victory last night is that we rebounded EXTREMELY WELL at the guard position. But that's not going to happen every game. We need a guy who can compete with the other team's bigs to get rebounds. I think we could be decent next year, but I would be surprised to hear our name get called on Selection Sunday unless we add a couple of those tools to our kit.

I agree with @millerhusker. Not only from his film, but also from seeing him talking with Abdelmassih last night, Teddy has a much bigger body than a guy who just weighs 200#. I'm thinking 225-230#.

I'd encourage caution on drawing conclusions about Green. Correlation is not causation. We've been better perhaps for other reasons than being without him. We've been better because of the intense film session following the Creighton loss, for one thing. As far as being a tournament team next year, I'd still like to have another legit big, a defensive shot-blocker who wipes the glass on both ends. Added bonus if he can score more than putbacks and dumps.

Teddy Allen is more than 200#, is he not? Gotta be. He looks like he weighs as much as Shamiel Stevenson.

I see Donovan being more of a backcourt player and Teddy being more of a frontcourt guy who can step out and hit the three. I've heard scuttlebutt that Xavier Betts might not sign an LOI because, if he does and then becomes an academic casualty, his clock starts running and he counts against our numbers even if he's out. It makes me wonder -- given that Donovan was in the house last night -- if something similar might be going on with him. Just wondering.

Speaking of Arop: At halftime, Gates was feeding him and Kevin Cross for 3-point jumpers. Akol has a very good looking jump shot. His technique is sound and he was hitting a solid percentage of his attempts. I didn't count, but it looked like well over half went in. One stretch, I think he made at least 4 in a row and drew very little iron. If Akol is the only player not redshirting that has elite B1G athleticism, what is keeping him off the floor? I wish he would have redshirted. I think he has the potential to be a splendid player in year 5.

P.S. Has Teddy Allen committed yet?

Really good recruiting class? Who does he have in mind? We have room for 3 guys. We had two committed. One decommitted and then signed with Lousiville and the other is waiting until spring to sign his LOI (but was at the game today.) If Donovan doesn't end up signing (with us) in the spring, then, as of this moment, we have zero commits for 2020. So where's this "really good recruiting class" going to come from. I mean, I hope he's right. He certainly knows more about what's up than I do.

Timing was terrible for us to try to go after Max Murrell. When he blew up, we had a new coach who had scrambled to fill a roster that ended up with only two seniors and two guys who were already committed for the 2020 class. We had no room. This year's Millard North team might not be the best in state history, but they certainly have more high-level talent than any team has ever had. The '80 or '81 or '82 (too lazy to look it up) Creighton Prep team with Kerry Trotter and Vic Lazeretti had some top notch talent. But Max Murrell is a Rivals 4-star top 100 recruit, Hunter is set to be a 5-star, and Jasen Green is at least a Rivals 150 kid, if not a top 100 talent himself. That's more top-tier talent than any Nebraska HS team has EVER had. Would have loved to have all three. Didn't get Murrell. Would be over the moon to get both of the other two. And get off of @basketballjones lawn.

That last rebound was impressive in its own right. He grabs it going out of bounds and has to find someone to pass to while he's in mid-air. If he lands out of bounds with the ball, it's not a rebound.

Cam's mom, you don't see much bashing of Cam on this site. He's not perfect, but we've said a lot of good things about him. Having said that, it's true he needs to watch his body language. I'm sure the coaches have said that to him. It's just we all have stuff we can improve on and that's one of his. Basketballwise, he needs to get his right elbow in when he shoots. It's tough to be consistently on line when your right elbow wings out like his does. He has a ton of talent. He has NBA-level athleticism and court vision. But NBA guards can shoot the rock. And they hit their free throws. And Cam can get there if he follows what Coach Hoiberg shows him. If he improves his shooting this off-season (don't try to change much this year) he could potentially be an early entrant in the NBA draft after next year. He has the ability to have a great career here. He has the ability to have his jersey hanging from the rafters. But he has to trust the process. And he has to understand you're playing with a very inexperienced roster. It's not going to happen over night. But the results of the Purdue game should show you it WILL happen. But everyone has to buy in and work hard to accomplish these team goals. God bless you and you are in our prayers. I and several people on this board know that cancer sucks, and our thoughts are with you. Stay strong.

He and Abdelmassih were hugging each other like long-time BFFs at halftime. There's some clear mutual good feelings there.

Make that a zero percent chance.

Given the limitations of our roster (which includes it being so new), it was a remarkable weekend. Great news is we're middle of the pack in the Big 10!

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.

Cam Mack triple-double watch. He needs only 3 rebounds in the last 12 minutes.

Mack needs 2 pts, 4 assists and 5 bds for a triple double.

Can Mack is half way to a triple double

Donovan Williams sitting where recruits usually hang out, taking in the game.

He's got a little of that dawg in him, huh? Little bit of dawg. Hella range. Similar in size to Shavon Shields (a bit shorter) but much better shooter. Hmm.

Let's see what happens with the guys sitting out. One of our biggest, most glaring weaknesses is rebounding. My guess is three of the best rebounders on the team are sitting out as transfers. Another glaring weakness is shooting and, well … we have three of our best rebounders sitting out as transfers.

So you're telling me we have more wood to chop. OK. Get after it, boys.

I just want us to win 2 more games. You know how, in baseball, you have the Mendoza line? For me, in basketball, it's the Rick Johnson line. I want to be able to say, as bad as it ever was for us, it was never as bad as those guys.