HUD

For me personally I get a lot more upset when we have unforced turnovers versus one caused by a great defensive play. For example in the last couple of games we had non starters at least twice throw long cross court passes that ended up in the 3rd row of the bleachers. Some times our subs try to throw Shelly type passes instead of playing within themselves.

We haven't been given a lot of love lately. Like when we play really good it's a surprise. Mich. St. and Illinois both were overrated last year and continue to be this year. Both made the NCAA "bunny bracket as last four in" and lost first game. I love it when we significantly beat them at their places as we did each of the last time we played them.

From Wyatt Crosher at Hoopla Nebraska 80, Michigan State 74 Nebraska, you’ve won me back. The Cornhuskers earned a massive road win to open up Big Ten play, taking down NET Rankings darling Michigan State with a big win that could have been more lopsided than the final score represents. It was a close game for much of the contest, with Nebraska taking a 43-39 halftime lead, but, after an even third, the Cornhuskers began to pull away at the start of the fourth quarter. The lead ballooned to 17 and stayed around there for awhile, with Nebraska up 77-60 with 2:17 to play. To Michigan State’s credit, they kept battling and got the deficit all the way down to 4 late, but it was the Cornhuskers who ultimately held on. Maybe most impressively, Nebraska did this without a massive scoring effort from star Jaz Shelley, who finished with 11 points on 2-of-10 shooting. Shelley also had 7 rebounds and 9 assists because she is Jaz Shelley, but Nebraska needed other scoring threats and found them. Alexis Markowski (13 points) and a pair of freshmen: Jessica Petrie (11 points) and Natalie Potts (10), also finished in double figures, while three others also finished with at least 8 points. Markowski was also huge on the glass, hauling in 17 rebounds and adding 3 steals. She has been great to start this season, making that leap that seemed evident after her stellar freshman campaign in 2021-22. Michigan State has lost some key depth pieces to injury already this season, so to see the Spartans showing this much fight is promising. Moira Joiner (18 points) and Theryn Hallock (17) had 35 of the team’s points in the contest, as both led a dominant interior scoring game for the Spartans. Michigan State shot 57.5 percent inside the arc, but hit only 4 of its 27 threes.

One thing that a lot of people forget about is that our net is affected by not only what we do going forward but also what the teams we have played do going forward. What may look like a good win earlier in the season can lose some of its luster if that team struggles some later. Also the reverse can be true where a win looks better over time. There is a lot to it and pretty soon we will be evaluating quadrant 1,2,3and 4 wins and losses. Doesn't mean a lot until we get to seasons end but still fun to watch.

I would hope that with the return of a healthy Anika S. and Maggie M. joining soon we will see Kendall Coley at the 3 for her playing time. We certainly need more scoring there as both Maddie K. and Kendall M. have not shown much potential to do so. Rebounding by them is also almost non existent as well. With the excellent play of Alexis M. and Natalie P. and emergence of Jess P. the minutes available at the 2 post positions are going to be limited.

It's OK to play tough but needs to be under control. Coley has to control her temper a bit. Her technical in the TCU game hurt us in a close game. In M.S. game it was just a foul/turnover after review but it could have been a technical if her swing had connected more.

Staying healthy is the key but unfortunately mostly outside of our control.

Iowa State looked to me like they are not near as good since Joens is finally gone, they lost 5 players to the portal and their great 5th year point guard Emily Ryan due to an unspecified medical issue is out. She was the one that almost came to NU.

We are now at #20 before even playing #7 Mich. St. Another nice boost available if we win.

Amy did say that Alexis has worked very hard during the off season including conditioning which allows her to play well in extra minutes. I don't know if I have seen anyone go after rebounds as hard as she does. So far she also has cut down on silly fouls. We don't have a great shot blocker yet but that is something that Maggie M. will bring to the table with aded strength and experience. She has the frame for it. Potts has the ability but can get into foul trouble as a result.

Darian White for some reason has been struggling a bit at the free throw line where she gets to a lot. She shot better from there her previous 4 seasons. Also I think we could give credit for Alexis Markowki"s improvement to her attitude and new post coach.

We can move up a lot from #35 if we beat # 7 Mich. St. team at there place this weekend. Which NU team will show up? 1st half or 2nd half team from Georgia Tech game.

There are many ways to measure player efficiency ratings. One used by the NBA is (points + rebounds + assists + steals + blocks - missed FT - missed FG - turnovers)/ games. After 8 games the following shows our players: Alexis M. 19.0 Natalie P. 15.6 Jaz S. 12.9 Darian W. 12.8 Callin H. 8.1 (trending up as she works to be a more complete player) Annika S. 7.5 (2 games because of injury) Kendall C. 5.1 (trending up as she is looking more for her shot) Jessica P. 5.0 (trending up as she is learning to play 2 positions) Logan N. 4.8 (trending up as she gains confidence) Maddie K. 2.8 (5 games coming off of injury starting 4) Kendall M. 2.6 (started 4 games) Granted these stats favor offense a little more then defense and not all contributions are in the stats that we see. For comparison Michael Jordan had a career efficiency of 28 in the NBA which is a lot tougher then college. Last year for 13 games Allison W. was at 14.1. Last year Caitlin Clark was at 30 for 38 games and is at about the same level for 9 games this year. If we can get our 5th starter playing at or above an efficiency of 10 we will be in good shape. If not then after Stewart is healthy and Mendelson joins the team take a look at Potts playing the 3 position some.

We have had 4 starters consistently in the 15 to 20 range for efficiency for the first 8 games. Efficiency is defined by (pts+rebounds+assists+steals+blocked shots-to-ft missed-fg missed) / # games. We finally had another player in Logan N. at least for this game join the double digit efficiency with an 11. Could ultimately be our missing 3 player.

We can't beat a team like Georgia Tech without getting a whole lot better play from our three position. Maybe today it will happen. It has already cost us two games don't need this to be the third. Net ratings come out on Monday. GBR.

Time to bring TCU down to earth. GBR.

After the results of this game Natalie Potts should be #1 in FG efficiency in the big ten at 78%. Not bad for a freshman.

I totally agree on the need for a 5th player to step up. Moriarity and Krull have been given opportunities but so far haven't. Maybe it's time to give Nisseley a shot at starting at the 3 position.

For any of you lucky people that actually get to see these next two games you will have to give the rest of us an update to balance or validate what we hear from Matt C. We need two wins. GBR

They also had 5 healthy seniors that for the most part have played together for years. We had 8 healthy players that haven't played together much including 3 freshmen. We just all need to relax. We will be OK.

A lot better than last years blow out loss with good learning opportunities for all including the coaches.

The first qtr technical on Coley was a big plus for Creighton. We had possession in a close game and as a result we lost that, Maly hit two free throws and they maintained possession. They then took their lead to 9 but we gradually clawed back as we did the rest of the game whenever Creighton made a run. I wouldn't put too much negative at this point on Jaz and Maddie as both were playing hurt but still gutted it out. If you noticed both Moriarity and Hake didn't play much in the 2nd half and especially towards the end when the game was on the line. I still feel good about the team but we need to get everybody healed up. In my mind the 3 position is still up for grabs.

Nebraska by starting Hake and Moriarity contributed to Creighton's fast start.

WE REALL That's where we really miss Allison W. with her speed, athleticism and desire to play defense. Although not tall I will take Darian White on defense anytime.

Still looking for someone who can start at the 3 position and contribute on offense and defense. Maybe a healthy Krull.