Norm Peterson

So, it doesn't look like "talent" was the issue.

Dare I say “signature win“?

Senior year Nate Johnson was money.

I did?

If he goes there will be trouble; if he stays it will be double.

How about that time I suggested we pass on Terran Petteway?

Sorry, guys. My bad.

If I'm not mistaken -- and I don't want to jinx it, but what the hell -- if we beat Wisconsin and Minnesota loses AT Maryland and AT Northwestern, we own the tie-breaker over Minnesota and would finish ... NOT in last place!!! If that doesn't make you hate Brad Davidson and hope we smoosh his face into the floor on his senior night, I don't know what to tell you. In fact, I think the entire conference will be cheering for us.

When was the last time we had more conference road wins than home wins?

Dare I say? Signature win!

He sure does run like it hurts. Reminds me of an old man. I assume he's still on the mend and just needs to recover further.

Matt A took a 2-week leave of absence in December to deal with "health issues" that had nothing to do with his health. About that time, it was rumored that USA Today was doing an expose on Nebraska basketball. We were lead to believe the two things -- Matt A's sudden health issue and the USA Today article -- were related. I'm not sure that's the case.

Yes, and it's not remotely the same. Our warmups are routinely disorganized and players cutting up. Opposing teams are nearly always more disciplined, structured and organized in their warmups. The biggest difference was the Iowa game when our guys came out of halftime a little early and ran some defensive drills. Otherwise, the differences are readily apparent. It's embarrassing sometimes. OK, most of the time.

Actually, yes. Yes I do. I do blame him for the pregame warm-ups. And I'm not just saying that to attack Matt. In fact, I'm only saying it because you asked. Fred only wants to coach. He's turned the responsibility of assembling a roster to Matt A. In terms of culture and discipline, Fred stays out of it and has left that to Matt A as well. None of the other assistants has any authority, really, to step in, because these are Matt's guys. I will not tell you how I came by this information, and if you choose not to believe it, I don't care. Matt A is not a good dude. Off the floor, Matt A is not a good dude. The sooner he departs this program, the better for Nebrasketball. And, let me just add for those who continue to want to blame Doc for this year's defense: Last year, Doc Sadler was an assistant coach with actual coaching responsibilities. There's even film of him running practices. Last year, we had a top 40 defense. This year, Doc no longer has an assistant coaching role, has zero coaching responsibilities, and our defense sucks. This is NOT a coincidence and I wish people would quit blaming Doc Sadler for our defensive woes this year. It's remarkable to me that the people who want to hold Doc Sadler responsible for something he doesn't really have anything to do with are so willing to forgive Matt A's failures for things he is directly responsible for.

Just out of curiosity, but do you mind my asking where you're hearing this from?

Seems like a reasonable conclusion based on what we've been able to observe, @hhcmatt.

From my vantage point, it seemed more business-like than usual. And more specific, like Loenser had implemented a drill to address a specific issue or set of issues. And 2 games later, we see that extra pass and the shooting drills come precisely into play.

I showed up about an hour beforehand. Senior night kind of messed with the schedule a bit, but Loenser was there with a few of the guards and they were doing solid work on passing, catching and shooting. He'd space 3 guards around the perimeter, one on each wing and one in the corner and he'd initiate the drill by passing to the wing opposite the corner guard and they would reverse the ball until each guard had a ball, at which point each would shoot a three. And then they would rotate so that each would catch the "kick-out" and then make the extra pass into the corner.

I'm not sure if a new thread is the right place for this or whether it should go to the PSU post-game chatter. It seems more of a broader kind of topic, so I'm starting a new thread. In any event, what was different about last night? Was it just that we were making shots or was there something more? I think there was something more. I listened a bit to Jack Mitchell interview Dirk Chatelain on the radio this morning and they were trying to diagnose things as well. I'll be honest, I listened to the game on the radio but due to various circumstances, I wasn't able to watch it live. But I did watch extended highlights last night and was immediately struck by the level of effort. Guys were literally sprinting back on defense. They were grabbing PSU made baskets to rapidly inbound the ball. They weren't just making the extra pass; they were making the first pass. So, instead of just going 1-on-5 and trying to attack the glass, you had Verge and the McGowens and Kobe drive but then kick to shooters on the wing. We were hitting the offensive glass in a way I haven't seen in the Hoiberg era. The difference in effort was substantial and obvious. So, how did this new-found intensity come about? I have a theory. At the beginning of the season I shared privately and, over time, began to hint publicly about my frustration with warmups, which tended to look like a disorganized mass of guys lobbing themselves balls to dunk, horsing around, not seeming to take seriously the task at hand. At first, I was a little annoyed that the players were horsing around during warmups instead of seeming focused and businesslike. And then the Ls started piling up, and it made me think there was a correlation between which team was winning (not us) and which team was taking their warmups more seriously (again, not us.) However, something happened at halftime of the Iowa game that I have literally never seen before. The players came out of the locker room early and started running defensive drills. Coordinated, specific, intentional, deliberate defensive drills. Everyone had a role and everyone played that role. The practice players were simulating an opposing offense and the rotation players were drilling on moving their feet on defense. Did anyone else notice that? And, sure, we went on to lose. But it indicated to me a renewed commitment to buckle down and get serious. And one game later, we blew the doors off PSU.

Let's face it: If that team had given that kind of effort, and committed itself to that kind of ball movement all season long, they'd be playing in the post-season somewhere. On the one hand, it's great to see, but on the other hand, it's a big source of aggravation that it took them nearly all season to finally pull their heads out of their butts and play like a team. Better late than never. Will be interesting to see if they can do it again.

The team that won tonight is not the same team we've seen basically at any point this season prior to tonight. I don't know where this team has been, but the differences were astounding. They hustled. They sprinted. There was so much more effort. Then, there was cohesion. They continued to make the extra pass. There was so much less selfishness. That led to great ball movement and so much better looks than we're used to. Why -- WHY -- did it take almost a full season for this team to finally figure this stuff out?

I can't change the poll but seems to me this is the frontrunner for signature win. So far.

The last 7 guys on the floor for the Huskers: Lat Mayen (senior night) Bryce McGowens (NBA) Trey McGowens (senior night) Alonzo Verge (senior night) Derrick Walker (senior night) CJ Wilcher (probable returning player) Kobe Webster (senior night) Only Kobe Webster and Alonzo Verge are out of eligibility. Everyone else *could* return. But, after going through senior night recognition, it seems unlikely the other "seniors" intend to return. So ... rebuilding year? Go Big Red!

My solution has been that I haven't glanced at the recruiting board more than a handful of times all year. I don't care if we're involved with a 5-star or not. The Iowa players who kicked our ass the most last night were all sophomores and none of them were nationally ranked coming out of HS. So, I don't care what the star ranking was for any of the players who show up in the fall. I only care what they play like on the floor. And I won't know that for sure until they actually get here and put on a Husker game-day uniform.

And here’s our typical second half collapse.