KZRider

When you think about it, how impressive has it been for Tai Webster to play as much as he has this year? Agreed. I still have very high hopes for Tai. He shows flashes that are very exciting. Just not as many of them as I'd like. Also, I don't think he is by nature a point guard either and that is what he's being asked to be.

I'm sure the drills will be useful to him but how much of it just comes from confidence that you know what you are doing? I would expect as a true freshman coming off the bench he is overthinking what he is doing a lot of the time. Especially if he is a more natural offensive talent than defensive it would make sense that his speed would be less on defense. As he gets increasingly comfortable playing at this level, his decisions will become more instinctive and his feet will follow.

Three things strike me: 1) Gotta play good D. We have been really good of late and I see no reason for this to change. Never know when the offense just isn't there but D is about effort. All are playing well but a nod to Parker, Rivers and Ray. 2) Get to the line. Illinois will bruise Petteway and Shields for driving in so they could live at the charity stripe. Keep attacking the rim and earn points shooting free throws. It will also make some of their players sit down. 3) IMO, Rivers is a wildcard in this game. He has always played well without the ball but he is starting to show up a bit more on the offensive end of things. He gets to the line and he wins those inevitable possessions that end up in a tussle for the ball. Illinois seems to me to like to play a street ball kind of game and Rivers is well suited for it. Not saying he's going to go for 20 pts but if he is in the neighborhood of 10 points, we win.

A lot of teams have tried to keep those two from getting to the rim. They have still been able to do it. That said, it will be important for either/both Pitchford and Gallegos to shoot well from outside. Pitchford has shown a consistent ability. Ray's shooting absence lately is a mystery.

I remember when I had to wait until the next morning to read the newspaper and find out the scores from the game that were on CBS, NBC, ABC, et al. Those times were rough You must have had a great paper! Our hometown paper only published weekly and usually only covered social visits and the menu at the nursing home. We got in both, kind of, by visiting Grandma every Sunday at the home. Just publicity hounds

Shields was indeed a worthy candidate but I would humbly submit that Benny was the player of the game. I know other guys scored more but we expect them to. Parker came in under duress because of Webster's fouls and lit a fuse. He ran point effectively -- not brilliantly -- and kept sticking his nose in on D and totally disrupted any offense Purdue might have started. What a game the young man had!

Nothing is going to take the luster off the MSU road win. That will be looked at as a marquee win by the selection committee as it should be.

Speaking from the therapist's point of view, you get what you pay for, friend! With some, you would do much better with a box of cookies and a half gallon of ice cream. Neither really solve your problems but at least one of them is fun for awhile.

After this season. I think we alread turned a corner. It is just that we have a couple more corners to turn than some other places.

One of the B1G announcers, don't remember which, commented several times that home court was worth 10 points but he didn't elaborate as to why he thought that was so. Don't know if that is a generally accepted notion or not.

Is there a buffet line somewhere? I need to get grab a plate, too! COULDN'T BE HAPPIER TO DO SO!

Honestly, I'm picturing the start of Rocky III. My prediction? PAYNE. Nicely done!

MSU is good. Very good. But they are made of steel. I'm picturing Rocky Balboa smacking Drago in the kisser and hearing Duke yell: "Ok, you've hurt him, now he's nervous, it hurt!! You see Rocky, he's NOT a machine!! He's a man!"

I'm imposing an observation from working with families on a basketball team. Since I am not a coach and never played the game at this level maybe that observation doesn't hold. The struggling marriages/families I work with are almost always lacking in laughter. It is not that laughter makes the relationship work but the thing that makes the relationship work leads to laughter. People only go so far in any aspect of life because they are yelled at. It takes something more to get them to run through a brick wall for you. I believe we see it in Tim Miles more than any other Husker BB coach in my lifetime. I know there are times when a coach has to yell but it would surprise me if the team and Miles don't also have a lot of times when they laugh together.

If anyone thinks I am speaking unkindly about Doc, I apologize. I had and have great admiration for him as a person and as someone who knows the game of basketball. There are few things I would rather do that sit down with him over a Diet Mountain Dew and one of the last things on earth I would want to do would be to cause him pain.

Hmmm. That's a very interesting observation. I defer because you're obviously the expert in such matters and you would see things that would escape the normal person's attention. But, do you think it might have been different in Doc's first couple of seasons? Like when we beat KSU and Mrs. Beasley? Seemed like there was a lot of believing going on that year and the following one. My recollection is that Doc had a knack for getting into KSU's heads but that didn't translate into other teams. He did have Maric the first year while riding the high of a new "era" and that did help the few couple of years but after Maric he lost a lot of games he should have won and won precious few he should have lost. Did you, or others, attend practices much while Doc was coaching. If so, did they laugh together very much? I would be surprised if they did. I'm sure Miles works them hard but I would venture to guess they laugh more. I don't know Miles but I knew Doc -- not well but well enough -- to think I had a read on him. There was always something that made me think players feared screwing up and losing with Doc more than they wanted to win for him. I'm guessing it is the other way round with Miles. I'd love the feedback on this diagnosis from afar from others who see things closer up.

I don't think it has much to do with the players. The difference is Doc HOPED the Huskers might steal a win and Miles BELIEVES we can take one away. It pains me to say this because I loved Doc as a person but, IMO, if Doc were coaching this same squad of players we would have lost against ILL and Indy and Minnesota and @ NW and probably Georgia and Miami to boot. It has very little to do with the players' talent. It has a lot to do with the heart and mind of the coach.

I would like to drink the Kool-Aid on a regular season 19-11 / 18-12 season. Games @ MSU, @ Ind and @ ILL along with a home game with Wisc are all tough. Well, they are ALL tough! Since we have to go 6-1 / 5-2 it means we have to at least split those four AND win out otherwise at home. It would be the stuff of legends to beat MSU and a mighty feat to take IND. Best chance is to win @ILL and WIsc without stubbing our toe at home. If that happens TIm Miles should be B1G Coach of the Year. More realistically, I think we could hold serve at home, end the season 17-13, win two in B1G tourney and watch the selection process as a bubble team. The end of season game with Wisc is looming as a monumental game! House ought to be rocking that night!

+1 Not a fan of black because that not a school color. Black accent of some kind on a red uni would be good. Anything that helps 'em win!

And notice just how close the ref is to Rice. I think he took almost as many steps himself. Crazy!

Petteway Pitchford Shields Rivers: Don't recall seeing Pitchford and Smith on the floor at the same time this year so and Smith appears to be playing hurt. To add energy and defense and grabbing a key board, I want Rivers on the court Gallegos/Webster: Depends on situation. If we are tied or leading, I would choose Webster to run point and free Petteway up to create. If we trail and need a shooter, I would choose Gallegos.

I kind of miss "kidney"

+1 on the big man. IMO, though, what we are missing most is that true point guard that can penetrate and dish or take it to the rim. I really hope Tai is still going to be that guard -- he shows flashes but not consistency. I confess I had hoped for more from him this season. Maybe my expectations were unfair. As far as someone to stroke it, what are the chances of that being Fuller or Wagner next season?

It's only weird if it doesn't work. So it was weird.

Going with my heart: Huskers -- 76 Bluejays -- 69