Norm Peterson

We drop from 37 to 38 in NET without playing and with a team we beat on the road picking up a Quad 1 neutral court win.

Hey, that guy from Louisville is on the market. Y'know, in case anyone needs a coach or something.

That actually makes a lot of sense. You win first place often enough and the coach deserves some credit.

I don't remember it. I certainly don't remember people being upset about it. So I looked it up and I don't think people were upset about it.

I don't remember that. Who'd he share it with?

So, here's where it gets ridiculous for me: Conference POTY: Purdue Conference 6th man: Purdue 1st team All Conf: Purdue 2; Nebraska 0 2nd team All Conf: Purdue 0; Nebraska 1 3rd team All Conf: Purdue 0; Nebraska 1 Honorable Mention All Conf: Purdue 3; Nebraska 0 So, Purdue has 5 guys get All-Conf recognition including two first-teamers and the overall POTY. So how much credit does their coach *really* deserve? Schools with more all-conference honorees than Nebraska: Purdue; Illinois; Iowa; Maryland; Michigan State; Penn State; Wisconsin. And, if you include freshman honorees, then add Indiana in there as well. So, we're adjudged by conference coaches to have maybe 8th or 9th best talent. We finish 3rd. Purdue has far-and-away the most talent and they finish 1st. And Fred and Matt are co-coaches of the year? https://bigten.org/news/2024/3/12/general-big-ten-announces-2024-mens-basketball-postseason-honors.aspx

I get the argument for Painter. His team was supposed to be the best; they were the best. You shouldn't diminish the accomplishment by saying he merely met expectations when the expectation was for them to be the very best. And that argument would hold sway with me had it not been for the fact that another coach's team so vastly exceeded expectations that the comparison between expectations and outcome is almost off the charts. ESPECIALLY when the coach who exceeded expectations did so without any star players. As determined by the coaches and media who voted on Coach of the Year. I mean, if Painter's team had won the regular season title without an all-conference first-teamer, let alone the 2-time defending conference player of the year, then I'd say his coaching honor is justifiable. One of the coaches honored had a roster that was adjudged to be commensurate with their conference finish. The other did not. The better coaching job was clearly accomplished by Team Hoiberg.

Rivals out with their list. Keisei is third team; Rienk and Brice are honorable mention. Fred is COTY. 2023-24 Rivals All-big Ten Basketball Teams - Boilerupload

I was thinking about going up to Minneapolis for the tournament and dropping however much for tickets and hotel. But then I thought I could spend the same amount of money on new golf clubs and just watch the game on TV. Anyway. Did I tell you about my new Scotty Cameron putter?

And this is where I go that if the people who vote on conference awards don't think we have *players* deserving of high recognition, then our league standing DEMANDS they give some credit to our *coaches*. BECAUSE WE SURE AS HELL DIDN'T GAIN ANY ADVANTAGE FROM THAT GREAT BIG TEN OFFICIATING! Ooops, sorry, was that out loud?

Yeah, her commentary diminishing this season because it wasn't perfect when it's the best season we've had in YEARS and has us on a trajectory for even better things to come has the feel of her taking a poop in our punch bowl.

I don't even know quite what to say to this other than to say I'm not going to spend time worrying about what we're not. Instead, I'm going to celebrate what we are. Because there's a lot to be happy for and we're in a lot better place as a program now than we've been in years. But go ahead and bitch about not being Purdue if that's what floats your boat.

And since we finished with a better overall record in league standings, I'm beginning to think margin of victory/loss is maybe an over-rated criterion for determining which is the better team. I mean, for example, Nebraska football under Frost losing 9 games by a combined total of 56 points was still just a 3-win team at the end of the season. At some point, you have to account for the fact that some teams are able to do what needs to be done to get more dubs. Great that Michigan St had half as many blowout losses. But they also had fewer wins and, at the end of the day, that seems like a more important metric.

Yeah, and I dug into the facts a bit after this conversation started and it looks like the accusation is sketchy at best. She claims the assault occurred in a public area of the bar that would have been visible to the CCTV cameras. But the police reviewed the camera footage and didn't see any video of her and him together at any point before he left. That tidbit didn't come out, though, until he sued the university to be reinstated. Which a judge then ordered. I'm guessing these charges aren't going to go anywhere.

Buck Joyner is now available for any programs in the 300+ strata of Kenpom. Serious inquiries only.

In order to win the Big Ten tournament, we'd have to best a Sweet 16-caliber team and a national top 4 seed. I would MUCH rather get that first NCAA tourney dub. And I've been saying for awhile now that if we manage to get into the round of 32, we are a TOUGH team to prepare for in 2 days. We play a different brand of defense than what anyone will have seen all year, and we have a lot of offensive weapons you'd have to account for. Let's get that NCAA tourney dub because I think we've got a good shot of reaching the Sweet 16.

Now up to #37 in NET. That's a really good sign. 4-6 in Quad 1 games; 4-3 in Quad 2. Undefeated in Quads 3 and 4. Michigan State still in the top 25 but barely hanging on at 25th. Cheer for them to win one in the BTT. Michigan drops 5 spots due to the loss to us but manages to remain a Quad 2 at #132.

I'd rather lose to Illinois and then have a few days to rest. We've been a very good team this year bouncing back after losses.

No, that's true. The thing that stands out maybe the most about this group is that it's a team. It's a group where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. They've got just enough talent that they have the ability to win some games. And this year, we won't be overmatched against a Baylor team that's just way better than us. This year, we'll face a team in the 1st round that we can beat. And we'll face a team in the 2nd round that will have a hard time getting ready for us because they won't have seen anyone like us all year long. Prediction: Next year, you're going to see teams try to copy our defense.

Will I happily take the Michigan/Penn State vs. Indiana winner?

Shout out to our friend @tcp: You're going to fucking live to see a Husker NCAA tourney win. (Sorry for the swear word. It felt appropriate.)

Nick is watching our games and thinking to himself, "boy, did I choose right or what?"

I'm just saying. Maybe there will be a #30 jersey hanging in the rafters after all. Usually it's reserved for NBA lottery picks. They didn't even do it for Venson Hamilton, who was conference POTY. But they gotta do something to honor the guy who leads this program to its first NCAA tourney win. And we aren't the team we are without him. So ... I'm just so freaking geeked and I wanted to share in the feeling of being geeked with the few hundred people on earth who would understand.