basketballjones

Speechless. I’ve been without words all day regarding this news. I’m an expecting father, and the vision in my head of him grasping for his daughter in their last seconds, knowing the helicopter was going down, is destroying me. I grew up as a huge MJ fan, but admittedly only caught the tail end of his career. I was in love with the “MJ attitude,” and never thought we’d see that again. But Kobe man.... dude was so fun to watch. And just a ruthless killer. I’m gonna stop cause I can’t do the man justice... RIP Kobe, his daughter, and the other humans on the helicopter. Thoughts and prayers to all the families involved.

This is going to be a battle! I think he is ours in the end.

The gameplan is fine. When it's not working and they've met their season total on a thing that hurts you worse than a post player getting a lay-up, and you stick with it, then it's not fine.

NU 70 RU 66 14

That was a pretty frustrating game and honestly the first game I’m going to squarely put on Coach Hoiberg’s shoulders. There were many things that we were doing that Wisconsin was not stopping, and somehow we managed to go away from all of them. Burke could not be stopped. Nothing was done to get him more touches. That down-screen/curl action on the wing into different actions could not be stopped, and he went away from it. Whenever we just iso’ed a side on one of their poor defenders, it always worked, and we didn’t stick with it. Instead we pussyfooted around the perimeter trying to run different things. Last, when do you go away from your defensive game plan when it’s clearly not working? Did they even try to force a post player to make a great play? Once Wisconsin got going from 3 there was no stopping them. At the rate they were making their 3’s, why not just give up post touches and see if he can score or not? Frustrating game. I wanted that one.

These guys can’t guard us one on one. Space it out and go by these cement shoes. If you can’t tell I really don’t like Wisconsin and I want this one.

Gosh dangit I wish Jervay coulda finished that!!!!! Ugh, he’s trying so hard. He NEEDED that. You could see how defeated he was walking back to the bench. I feel for him.

Have I ever discussed how much I hate trapping the post...?

STINKING BADGERS 78 Huskers 59

I share your optimism in theory, but will not be holding my breath.

I’ve been asking this question for years, but, why can we not ever have a serviceable guy like #50 for Indiana? Second question - we’ve got to be the only team that, year in, year out, has massive roster holes and noticeable deficiencies. There’s always a position we don’t have. Every year.

To add to this - it's going to be a weird year for a lot of guys next year. Could definitely see some chemistry issues based off of how much Burke and Thor have played and lead us, and then other, more talented guys playing.

NU 69 IU 83

Part of me agrees with that. Part of me sees two young men observing next year's roster and concluding those opportunities will not even remotely be the same.

My only concern about YO is if he stays around. Was having a conversation with two of my highly successful and intelligent friends this weekend, and it’s so disappointing to me how easily it has become for smart people to lose sight of the fact that it is entirely possible for basketball players to get better. YO can’t finish right now. That’s why he can’t play as much and why his numbers are so bad. That’s a skill. That’s a thing you can learn how to do and get better at. We once lived in a world where you could expect people to stay around to their junior years and eventually watch them flourish. Can Hoiberg and co keep guys like Cross and YO around? That’s my biggest question with these two. These guys are great pieces on a really good team as juniors and seniors.