Norm Peterson

First rule of holes.

On a Tuesday? Man, we can't even get Friday news dumps right.

In a season like this, that's one thing that might actually drive interest.

Bump. Good gawd we were nowhere close to rock bottom on December 23, 2014. Would it were that we could be as rock bottomy now as we were back then.

I meant that as a joke. Jimmy's always asking if wherever we are is rock bottom. It's an inside joke that goes back to another poster -- I believe @huskerbill85 -- suggesting that a moment far more rosy than our current situation was "rock bottom." Ah, to get back to the days when "rock bottom" was a mere flesh wound.

And, no, @jimmykc, I don't think we're at rock bottom yet.

Not saying I'm running out of steam, but I'm reminded of a comment from a social worker I used to know who used to lose sleep worrying about things other people repeatedly kept doing to themselves, and finally resolved, "I'm not going to care more about their problems than they care about them themselves."

The opposite of love is indifference. That’s it. That’s the post. Cheers, Norm

The Trev hire seems like the Frost hire or the Hoiberg hire did at the time. It seems like a can't-miss. And yet ... I absolutely do not fault Moos for thinking that Frost and Hoiberg would not only be excellent coaches but that they would lead their programs to sustained success over a long-haul period of time because they had some connection to the University that would inspire them to call this place home for the duration of their careers. Hell, it's exactly what I thought at the time. We had every reason to believe Scott and his staff could coach the game of football. We had every reason to believe that we were just a few short years from winning an NCAA tournament game with Fred. And we have every reason to look at Trev's hire with the same kind of giddy optimism that we embraced the hiring of those two coaches. Let's hope this one turns out a little better. The early returns on those other two are not so promising.

It's also a problem at the entrances. You're trying to get your mask on, get your coat unzipped so they can see inside, get your phone out so they can scan your QR code, and it takes a good minute to get through the line and through the doors even if there's not a long line.

The problems go much deeper than that, but that is certainly also a problem. You give a guy ~$400,000.00 per year to handle recruiting. He has no coaching responsibilities to take up his time. He doesn't do any opponent scouts, he doesn't do any floor coaching, he's not even really an active participant in practices or film sessions. He has ONE JOB and that is to fill the roster. And what we see is a hodgepodge of parts that don't really fit well together. It's like Johnny Cash's old Cadillac that he stole from the factory one piece at a time. I think one of the problems may be that, to the extent they have trusted his eye for talent, that trust was misplaced. It's one thing to hand him the rod after the fish has been hooked and tell him to reel it in; it's another thing entirely to put him in charge of deciding which fish to catch.

Whoa whoa whoa wait a sec. You and I have had this discussion before during the Miles era and YOU said the guy with the open shot should still take it even if he's not a good shooter. And I went along with you on that. Seems like this comment contradicts your position from a few years ago. Am I misremembering?

I was on a team once with one absolutely superb player (it wasn't me) and we lost a lot of games because, by himself, he couldn't outscore a team of mediocre-to-decent players who played together as a team. That's what I see when I see Verge handle the ball for an entire possession. Even though he might be efficient, he's never going to be able to outscore the other team. We'd be far better off to get the other players involved by actually running an offense. But it looks like we'll ride the Verge train all year and he's going to put up a lot of points and we're going to lose a lot of games and I guess that's just the way it's gonna be.

You ppl can defend Verge all you want, but I am just going by what I'm seeing with my own 2 eyes. Last year, the problem on offense supposedly was that the ball stopped in (Teddy Allen's) hands. This year, it almost never leaves Alonzo's. I know how team ball works. I never played at a high level and I never coached at a high level but I experienced what happens when one guy tries to be THAT guy on every possession. Everyone else goes to shit waiting for him to do his thing. You're not shooting your best because you start to take shots whenever the ball comes your way because you start to think if you don't take that shot, you're never going to see the ball again on that possession. That's why a team full of decent to good shooters can't shoot for shit. This group of players is not functioning as a team, as a unit. There's not a lot of ball movement. Very little making the kind of extra pass that Michigan did last night to find open shooters. Not a lot of movement without the ball. But there's a lot of Alonzo Verge essentially going 1-on-5 to the rim. And, yeah, a lot of the time he makes the shot. But his teammates are just standing around with not a lot to do. And Verge will NEVER score enough points to beat another team by himself.

I thought the same thing. I saw it happen, saw him try to hobble afterwards. And visions of Dave Hoppen flashed through my mind.

Note to self: Implied permission to swear in game threads. This could be fun.

They have a special on Johnny Walker scotch at Costco right now. Normally, a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue is about $200. If you've never tried it, it's some smooth shit. But if you don't want to plunk down $200 for a bottle, here's the alternative: They have a gift pack of four 200ml bottles including Johnny Walker Black (normally $30 for 750ml), Johnny Walker Gold (normally $50), Johnny Walker 18 yr (normally $80), and Johnny Walker Blue for just under $70 for the whole package. So, you get a little more than 1/3 of a normal size bottle of JWBlue for a little more than 1/3 of the price of a bottle of Blue, PLUS you get basically the 3 other 200ml bottles throw in for free. I call that a deal. And right now, I have this sudden urge to imbibe a bunch of scotch. Not quite sure why. If you feel that way too, now might be a good time to try JW Blue.

Verge gets you 30. Michigan scores 102. Pretty sure Verge can't score 102. Teddy Allen wasn't good enough to carry a good team; Alonzo Verge isn't good enough to BE a good team. And for gawd's sake, someone please play defense.

I'm tired of Verge-on-5 offense. Can we try some of that 4-out stuff?

Most talented Nebraska basketball team since the Nee days in the mid-90s.

If you want to diagnose what ails this team right now, and you're going to the game, I'd encourage you to watch pre-game warmups and the warmups at halftime. Do they look like they're taking seriously the business at hand or no? Does there appear to be a sense of purpose or no? It's one thing to ham it up in warmups when you're winning all the time, but if you're horsing around in warmups and lay an egg in the first 5-10 minutes of the game ...

Sure. He doesn’t have a serious medical illness. And I’m not sure there’s any big rush for him to get back.

Nothing *medically* serious. And there's no rush.

I've ordered the Exorcism. They'll be at your place at 8. It would be nice if you had some snacks to put out, but not entirely necessary. I would just arm yourself with some garlic. And lamb's blood if you have any. Have fun!

It's not Covid.