Donkey

If memory serves correct, it was reported that Miles did encourage Benny to leave after Benny's freshmen season. Benny chose to stay, and Miles did not punish Benny for staying. I think the better way to put it is that Miles does encourage players to leave but does not threaten to pull scholarships. It would not surprise me if Evelyn and Fuller were both encouraged to leave as well but have chosen to stay. I personally like Fuller, but the only way he plays (outside of garbage time) is if Miles completely whiffs on all possible options.

Evelyn?

I think that may be. I posted some info about Morrow about a week ago and can now post more. It does sound like things are in line for Ed to return thank goodness. He's definitely got his share of things to work on, the first being to get healthy, but his athletic ability and raw potential are sky high. Robin Washut basically put to bed the Ed Morrow transfer rumors with a tweet at the end of last week but with some information I knew, it wasn't a completely dead issue. I would feel incredibly stupid if a transfer announcement came tomorrow so as of right now, family and those in Ed's camp have him convinced that he should stay here in school and return to the team as he has been checking into summer classes. That's as of now and I would be completely shocked to hear an announcement of Ed transferring. Did people honestly think Ed was going to leave? Seems like a lot of rumors with little to no meat behind them. But if he was thinking about it, I question Ed's toughness a bit... Get healthy and you will get your minutes. It is unnecessary to question Ed's toughness.

Borchardt originally came here for school so I doubt he transfers. I bet Trueblood shops around to see what is available and makes a decision based on that. I would be surprised if Borchardt left UNL. Trueblood, however . . .

I think people are quick to forget (or ignore) that Jacobson was an 18/19 year old true frosh who was hurt at the beginning of the season. People are clamoring for Karl Towns and do not want to wait for the Ryan Spangler's to develop.

We have to retain him or it won't matter. This concerns me right now with some rumblings I heard over the weekend I would like to see Watson get this three point % up to mid 30's next year. If he can become a threat from deep he will be very tough to stop. Care to elaborate? Any reason why he wouldn't stay? I have heard the same "rumblings" and am not concerned.

Not if it's a grad transfer. If it's a grad transfer, there better not need to be any development, or what's the point? I hopy you're right about Jordy. And I hope you're right about a grad transfer. And, truth be told, I wouldn't mind another Anton Gill sitting out a year on our bench next season in addition to the above. I was with a few of my UK friends in Boston this weekend. Supposedly (and mind you these are people connected with UK) Louisville is legitimately concerned its self imposed sanctions were not sufficient, and the NCAA may impose at least another year of sanctions. If that is the case, the mysterious Louisville transfer may be available to play immediately as the NCAA has waived the transfer rules in similar instances in the past. BTW, I keep hearing rave reviews of Gill next year.

Fuller's minutes increased when Miles went to zone. When Miles went to man defense, Webster/Parker came in. I liked how well the guys played zone defense. Rutgers didn't have the outside shooters to break the zone. I was running when I saw Shields go down and had to stop. That was probably one of the hardest moments I have experienced watching Nebrasketball. I hope he makes a full recovery.

Hammond can live in the gym and weight room from here to eternity and it will mean little if he does not improve his mental toughness. It would not surprise me if Hammond transfers at the end of the season. Morrow has gone through growing pains no doubt, but he really is a 4 playing the 5. Miles really has no other choice except to play Morrow at the 5 unless Shields is out for a breather.

I agree in theory; however, your suggestion assumes Tai stays on the floor all game. Unless White spends more time at the 2, the current depth leaves us with heavy doses of Parker. Doesn't assume that. Tai will sit at times and Parker will still play...just 8-10 minutes rather than 25. And White can play the two in small doses. I for the life of me don't understand why we can't occasionally put Parker/Webster/White/Shields on the floor at the same time. Or give Morrow a chance at the 4 alongside Jacobson/Hammond at the 5. Let's say Parker plays 10 minutes; White plays 5 minutes a game at the 2; which leaves Watson/Webster with 32-33 minutes a game. Webster could handle that, but I am not sure Watson is there yet. If either Webster or Watson get into foul trouble though, we would see lots of Parker. Just curious. Could you see Roby playing the 2 next year? I would love to see Morrow come off the bench for Shields (or have Shields sometimes slide over to the 3 and play Morrow).

I remember a different team in 13-14 than you do. There was the same angst going on that year at this time for their early season failures. I thought the offense was just as ugly then as it was in 14-15 but then in conference play Petteway made a higher percentage of his tough shots, Pitchford got hot down the stretch and the ball going in the hoop covers a lot of ugly. I thought at times this year have been the best the offense has looked in his tenure, but certainly not consistently. I remember your posts two years ago discussing those issues and appreciate your perspective. What do you think needs to be done to make this team better? Sorry if I am asking you to re-post your thoughts. I do not always have time to read all threads.

I agree with you on a number of items. The Nebraska program before Miles was, at best, unremarkable. Yes sometimes Nebraska would upset a top 10 team. But they had not made the tournament since 1998 and still have never won a tournament game. Of all P5 schools, only Northwestern shares that honor. Worse yet, Nebraska was rarely on the bubble to get into the tournament during that time. Miles has brought life to a moribund program. However, something changed after beating Wisconsin in March 2014. Of all games, that should have been a spring board for the next two seasons. It just has not happened, and I cannot put my finger on it. The coaching Miles did in 2012-2013 was incredible. Miles had 6.5 players and coached great games. The blowouts were usually a result of other teams running Nebraska off the court and/or foul trouble issues.

I am pretty impressed with what Scott Padgett is doing at Samford. Those kids are probably getting the same training Padgett endured while playing at Kentucky under Pitino and Tubby Smith. Samford exploited Nebraska's weakness against the press and clogged the lanes. Nebraska's offensive rebounding at times just disappeared.

NBA starters routinely play 30+ minutes per game over an 82-game season, and many of those guys are in their 30s. How could playing 30 MPG over 31 games grind down an 18-year-old? Glynn needs to play a lot more. The entire team benefits when he's on the court. I love Benny's team-first attitude, but his court vision, ball handling, passing and offensive ability are not on Watson's level. 1. Sorry I am late to this party, but I wanted to address the comparison of NBA/college minutes. I have frequently argued that college freshmen must battle fatigue during their first year playing college ball. Its usually a combination of their bodies still developing and acclimating to the new playing environment. If you disagree, look no further than the minute averages for the current flock of NBA rookies.http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/player/_/stat/scoring-per-game/sort/avgMinutes/position/rookies Only one rookie, Jahlil Okafor is averaging more than 30 minutes a game, and ten (10) are playing more than 20 minutes a game. Of those ten, three, Mudiay, Porzingis, and Bjelica, played internationally prior to coming into the NBA. Watson needs that time to develop, both physically and emotionally, and limiting his minutes is a standard method many coaches use ease the development. Give Watson time to develop. He has grown up a lot in 10 games. I just do not want him to be burned out in February/March. As for Watson starting, I would rather have Watson in the game when it matters most. If that is at the beginning of a game, great. However, I would rather have Watson on the floor at the end of games, especially the close ones. If that means he starts the game on the bench, so be it. The more we see of Watson in there for crunch time now, the better this team will be come tournament time. 2. Discussing the starting lineup, I feel Miles needs to reshuffle a few things. It seems Miles has played Parker, Webster, Watson exclusively at the 1 and 2. There have been a few times I noticed McVeigh and White sliding up to the 2; however, the focus seems to be 3 guys holding down 2 spots. At the 5, Miles lately seems to be focusing upon Hammonds, Jacobson, and, less and less, Morrow. The remaining 3 and 4 spots are left for McVeigh, Shields, White, and Fuller. This strategy limits the development of Morrow (who is getting fewer and fewer minutes). I would like to see Morrow slide to the 4 and White slide to the 2. If this is true then wouldn't the best way to help your freshman stay fit for the end of the game be to space out his minutes. That would mean starting your freshman and giving him breaks in the middle of the game. Even if he's playing the same amount of minutes! If this is true then it does matter who's starting and not just the amount of playing time they get. Right? Your logic does not add up. Spacing out minutes does not mean a specific player must start. There are a lot of arguments in favor of starting Watson. My focus is balancing Watson's development while keeping him from burnout in February and March when we will really need him. If that means starting Watson, I am good with it. Miles seems to believe bringing in Watson once it is clear what the other team is doing is more valuable.

I agree in theory; however, your suggestion assumes Tai stays on the floor all game. Unless White spends more time at the 2, the current depth leaves us with heavy doses of Parker.

2. Discussing the starting lineup, I feel Miles needs to reshuffle a few things. It seems Miles has played Parker, Webster, Watson exclusively at the 1 and 2. There have been a few times I noticed McVeigh and White sliding up to the 2; however, the focus seems to be 3 guys holding down 2 spots. At the 5, Miles lately seems to be focusing upon Hammonds, Jacobson, and, less and less, Morrow. The remaining 3 and 4 spots are left for McVeigh, Shields, White, and Fuller. This strategy limits the development of Morrow (who is getting fewer and fewer minutes). I would like to see Morrow slide to the 4 and White slide to the 2. Any idea how much foul trouble is leading to the cut in Morrow's minutes? Just my opinion (this specific question has never come up in my conversations), Morrow's foul troubles are from playing out of position. There have been a few games where Morrow has played solid defense at the 5. However, a number of the 5's he has matched up against are 5th year seniors or 4th year juniors. These guys are more physically mature with at least 2 years of conditioning over Morrow. After a while the kid is going to wear down. When that happens, Morrow fouls. Moving Morrow to the 4 would probably see a reduction in fouls as there would be a more favorable match up. Further, just my opinion, starting Jacobson at the 5 makes sense as he seems to have more physical endurance to guard the position. Same with Hammond (although, I still am concerned with his mental toughness). Morrow definitely has a better offensive skill set though, but Jacobson/Hammod are just better suited (from a physical standpoint) to play the 5. With Shields entrenched at the 4, Morrow basically has to wait until Jacobson/Hammond or Shields needs a breather to come in. Even then, Miles still can decide to send in Fuller (more experience and physical development) or McVeigh (3pt shooting stretch defenses).

NBA starters routinely play 30+ minutes per game over an 82-game season, and many of those guys are in their 30s. How could playing 30 MPG over 31 games grind down an 18-year-old? Glynn needs to play a lot more. The entire team benefits when he's on the court. I love Benny's team-first attitude, but his court vision, ball handling, passing and offensive ability are not on Watson's level. 1. Sorry I am late to this party, but I wanted to address the comparison of NBA/college minutes. I have frequently argued that college freshmen must battle fatigue during their first year playing college ball. Its usually a combination of their bodies still developing and acclimating to the new playing environment. If you disagree, look no further than the minute averages for the current flock of NBA rookies. http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/player/_/stat/scoring-per-game/sort/avgMinutes/position/rookies Only one rookie, Jahlil Okafor is averaging more than 30 minutes a game, and ten (10) are playing more than 20 minutes a game. Of those ten, three, Mudiay, Porzingis, and Bjelica, played internationally prior to coming into the NBA. Watson needs that time to develop, both physically and emotionally, and limiting his minutes is a standard method many coaches use ease the development. Give Watson time to develop. He has grown up a lot in 10 games. I just do not want him to be burned out in February/March. As for Watson starting, I would rather have Watson in the game when it matters most. If that is at the beginning of a game, great. However, I would rather have Watson on the floor at the end of games, especially the close ones. If that means he starts the game on the bench, so be it. The more we see of Watson in there for crunch time now, the better this team will be come tournament time. 2. Discussing the starting lineup, I feel Miles needs to reshuffle a few things. It seems Miles has played Parker, Webster, Watson exclusively at the 1 and 2. There have been a few times I noticed McVeigh and White sliding up to the 2; however, the focus seems to be 3 guys holding down 2 spots. At the 5, Miles lately seems to be focusing upon Hammonds, Jacobson, and, less and less, Morrow. The remaining 3 and 4 spots are left for McVeigh, Shields, White, and Fuller. This strategy limits the development of Morrow (who is getting fewer and fewer minutes). I would like to see Morrow slide to the 4 and White slide to the 2.

Cincinnati is not really a pressing team like Villanova.

1. Villanova was probably one of the toughest match ups for Nebraska. Normally, they are really a guard heavy team with one, often undersized, big guy down low. I have seen them run and shoot so many top teams off the floor over the past 10-15 years. If there is any team Nebraska should emulate this year, its Villanova from the past 10-15 years but not this Villanova team. Unlike previous years, Villanova has more than 1-2 big men on its roster, and they are not undersized. When Nebraska started matching Villanova's typical style of play, the Huskers were in the game. However . . . 2. Villanova exposed a weakness on this team. Villanova's pressing was probably the main reason why Benny and Tai had so many minutes. I feel Watson is our best PG; however, Watson needs to calm down and keep his composure. No doubt Watson made some great plays, but the press seemed to rattle him a little (and in all honesty Watson seemed a bit too amped up all game without the pressing). Until Watson is ready, we will see Benny and Tai out there when other teams are pressing. While it is good to protect the ball, Tai and Benny are nowhere near Watson in the ability to initiate the offense. The offense will stall without Watson on the floor to initiate things. Down the road, if we could see a primary rotation with the 1/2 being Tai, Benny, and Watson with Shavon and Andrew sliding to the 2 when needed, I think the offense may not be too bad. 3. There is a void at the 5. I have read on this board and other boards that Hammond needs to get stronger and he will get better. While there is merit to that argument, a number of Hammond's problems are not strength related. For over a year now, I have heard critiques of Hammond's mental toughness, and last night's performance offered nothing to dispute those opinions. The one steal where he practically handed the ball to Villanova was a boneheaded move, and I am glad Miles yanked him immediately thereafter. Fuller seems to be regressing almost. I wonder if Hammond is rubbing off on Fuller. 4. From what I have heard about Borchardt, he needs conditioning and time in the system. The guy has only been on the team for 1-2 months. If he had been on the team all summer, I think the 5 would not be as bleak. 5. The freshmen look like freshmen. Please do not get me wrong here. I feel the freshmen are extremely talented and was pleased with how they played last night. However, Morrow was our best player at the 5. He defended #23 well at times, but Morrow wore down playing against a guy who was 3-4 years older and had a 30 lb weight advantage. McVeigh needs to get more comfortable in the system and get better picking his spots. Jacobson needs to get healthier. Watson needs to calm down a bit. And all of them need a year of strength and conditioning. I am a bit concerned these guys may wear down as the season goes. 6. Andrew White is a great #2 guy. Watching him, I felt White could play with Villanova. However, I just do not see him carrying Nebraska in games. 7. The on-court leadership was lacking. I am a huge Shavon fan. However, it did not seem like Shavon was rallying the guys. When the other team goes on a run, you need that on-court presence to rally everyone. It may just be me, but I felt like the team had a deer-in-the-headlight look when Villanova was pulling ahead. This kind of stuff cannot happen when we get to BIG play or it will be a long year.

From what I hear, S&C is the biggest issue for Borchardt. He is three months behind the other freshmen unfortunately. His PT will come out of Hammond's minutes.

Swap Tai for Benny and Fuller for Hammond based upon what I have been told. I get the impression the staff really likes Benny coming off the bench. Tai would have the tougher guard assignment.

People seem to forget that "short" players, e.g. 6'7" and below, does not mean the team is playing small ball. Long wingspans can be very effective against a traditional "big" lineup. Look at 2010 WV v. UK in the Elite 8. Kentucky had a clear size advantage in DeMarcus Cousins and Daniel Orton. However, WV had 1 player at 6'9", two others 6'7", and everyone else was smaller.

Norm; FWIW I have heard very good things about Tai and his defensive intensity. Nothing about his offensive game though, but it sounds like Tai is playing confidently this year.

For some time now, I have not heard great things about Hammond's toughness. It would not surprise me to see Fuller play down in the post over Hammond. Putting White at PF would make sense based upon what I have been told from an offensive standpoint. I could see McVeigh stretching the floor allowing White to make plays.

Considering the complete lack of depth, I feel the 2012-2013 season was incredible. Shields was hurt at the beginning of the season and needed time to recover (not to mention he was a 17 year old true frosh). Parker was a true frosh without an offensive game. Almeida, at times, was a space filler and not much else. Rivers was, and always was, an offensively limited roll player. Gallegos was a volume spot shooter who was able to keep defenses honest. Had Talley not been on this team, Nebraska's offense would have been remarkably worse. Thank god for Ubel, but, honestly, he was not a player who could take over games and carry a team. It was widely known that the best players - Biggs, Pitchford, and Pettaway - were sitting out redshirt or transfer years. While the 2013-2014 team had an incredible march to the tournament, Miles best best coaching job was 2012-2013.