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good lord, silverbacked! good thing I wasn't eating dinner....

That's what makes it fun, cwg! It is arguable! I still can't concede more than 2/3 of the talent, because talent is a marker that ignores injuries. a healthy diaz is worth quite a bit more than any player we have this season. that 11-12 roster had three guys on it more talented in terms of ability than any of hte guys we have now: diaz, spencer, and mcCray. 2 of those three had issues that had them playing below what we knew they could do, and the other one had a similar situation to talley this season by probably trying to do too much and playing out of position (Spencer). another way of putting it would be this: if everything else were equal--health, motivation, leadership, coaching--I'd take that 11-12 roster in a direct matchup with 12-13 most of the time.

You're right. That was me regurgitating the post-season stuff on how unhappy he was last season, and presuming it showed up in his play regardless of the state of his injury, which was the in-season explanation for everything. It wasn't actually meant to be a cheap shot at Diaz, just a glib reference about how much talent the guy had compared to what actually made it out on the court last season. I accept the rebuke, but I hope the point was still made, arguable as it is.

Last year's team underperformed considerably. their sum was less than their parts. Maybe I could be talked into 2/3 of the talent, but not much more. A Diaz that gave a crap alone would've stuck out as the best player on this year's squad by far. Spencer was really talented as well, except maybe in the head. Walker was as good one his game as one of our two freshmen, although their careers will eventually dwarf his. But ultimately the point is these guys have done pretty well this season, though granted, it's turning out that the Frazier injury was not only big for PSU, but also for us. We have 3 wins and might have one less with him around.

I won't be so bold to say we have half the talent as last year. I would.

it's win #3. we're actually in a reasonable position to win as many games as last season with half the talent and depth. that's impressive, given that the conference is about as strong as last season.

seriously. what are the odds?

yay! another win!!we exceeded my expectations!

Kent has a connection with the basketball gods. at least someone does, because I sure as heck don't. how ya doing, cip? Life is good, my friend. And, you? doing okay. even better with a third win almost in the pocket.

Kent has a connection with the basketball gods. at least someone does, because I sure as heck don't. how ya doing, cip?

You are hereby banished from ever watching another Husker game on TV! I know! (sniff) I need to do this against IU, just to be sure.

hi all. looks like we might be 3-0 when I'm listening to radio, 0-8 on tv.

That was fun. Brandon's going to be getting some real mic time when he's out in the world. Nice job by everyone.

tough choices, even for NU. Hoppen Pike Lue Maric Hamilton

NU-64 PSU-55

never understood any sport not named hockey trying to use a +/- stat. Unless the system is really advanced and accounts for all the different lineups used. it's good in hockey because entire lines change off. When it's a sub of one person here, one person there, it's utility is minimal.

Because he passed a kidney stone? He's getting ready for swimsuit season? He has a tendency to misplace things? A football player was taking his lunch money? Weight Watchers was running a special? He's on a hunger strike until O-zone cuts another Numa Numa song? They forgot to tell him he doesn't have to eat in the dorms? He has a tape worm? He can't find a restaurant in Lincoln that serves good borscht? He's been skipping dinners to work on his cross-over dribble? Because he had a gastric bypass? Am I warm? norm, can't you at least put this in poll form so I can vote for the tape worms?

turn it into a game show. first person to score, get a block or steal, or draw a foul gets a 100 bucks if it occurs in the first two minutes. or if the cash thing poses a problem, you could always have them chased onto the court by hungry lions. that'll get the adrenaline going!

Interesting question. I think Tony had more talent, at least offensively. Toney was also a headcase, and he remained so his entire career. Shavon's personality and approach to the game is just radically different. He's also going to be better on the defensive end. I think Shavon's realistic upside is much higher than Toney's because of that. Shavon drives funny. It seems like he's putting much more air under the ball when he takes those scoop and runner shots he likes and it's causing him to miss a lot of them. An offseason of work on the finish should improve both of those shots. He has a nose for holes that you can't teach, and is able to patiently go between defenders in control which is, in my opinion, a premium skill. I love Shavon's maturity and how he engages the game.

I think you're on to something. Do something post game that would encourage the fans to stick around. Entertainment or freebies of some sort. I know that Kansas State plays their coaches' post game show over the PA system in the arena. It couldn't be all that hard to do something. Free post game hot dogs for folks who stay...something like that. retractable stripper poles beneath each basket. close to the student section. and a beer cart that rolls around. oh wait, no beer. so another kind of cart. a crash cart?

Rivers has the stat line, but I think Andre was the guy who turned this from an early rout into a contest. In short, I think he was. Yeah, but Rivers was a key part to coming back after we got down 15 in the 2nd half. He had 9 of his 13 during that stretch. I have no problem with that, either.

Rivers has the stat line, but I think Andre was the guy who turned this from an early rout into a contest. In short, I think he was.

Yeah. I mean, I get that we are a step slow to these guys and I get that we need to do whatever necessary to disrupt the flow of their game, and I get that they are just going to get the benefit of the doubt... But this is egregious. Happened against Wisconsin and it happened against Minnesota. We never went inside the first half, so there's no way we should have shot a free throw. Until we have guys that attack the basket, we'll be on the short end of the freethrow stick. i think we get blocked so much going inside that refs don't call the body contact for us as much as the do for our opponents. some of that's deserved. so even when we attack, we're not getting very many calls. OSU had 6 credited blocks tonight, and it felt like about 12.

looking at the box score, fouls were definitely the difference. we we whistled for 7 more fouls, and most of our total (17) were shooting fouls. really impressed with how we stormed back on the boards after that horrifying start.

you can't win 33 minutes if you aren't ahead certainly you can get the point. we were two points better since the 12-3 start.