Chuck Taylor

Maine up by 5 with 4 minutes left. Molinari on the bench for BC.

Just saw Frankie Fidler followed up his weak game against us with 28 and 11 in a win over Idaho.

That got me thinking: are we taking better shots so far this year? We're ranked 190 in offensive shot quality (according to ShotQuality.com), compared to 205 last years, so there is some improvement. We were 248 in 2020-21 (lot of chuckers on that team, although Teddy, Delano and Trey could make tough shots). If you want to pick one reason why Fred's teams have been so bad, shot selection might be the one. The real difference so far this year is that our defense is 45th in forcing our opponents to take bad shots, so our shot quality differential is ranked 90. Rebounding is much improved too. https://shotquality.com/team-standings

That's the closest I've ever come to being right!

Forgot about Chucky and Hunter, intentionally didn't include the other 2.

Years of expecting the worst have left me to conclude that Lloyd will transfer, possibly in December. Everybody came here expecting to play a lot, because the team is bad. When you don't play, then you're ready to move on. In what world would Lloyd have thought, "I'm going to go to this 10-22 team so I can develop"? Hope I'm wrong.

A quick look at Nebraska kids on opening night: DW finished with 17, Max Murrell with 2 for Stanford. Tonje with 16 for CSU. Allick started for New Mexico, scoreless in 19 minutes, but only took 1 shot and had 8 rebounds. A. Arop had 2 for San Diego St. Fidler with 11 against KU, freshman Luke Jungers (Prep) with 12 and 6. Please don't look for my state tournament post where I was unimpressed by Jungers. Easley with 11 for SDS. Good for him.

Socrates said a lot of important things.

Game day! I'm so excited I can barely sit still or hold a single thought in my head ...

https://www.si.com/college/2022/11/02/ranking-every-team-in-college-basketball-unc-gonzaga SI ranks all D-1 teams for the upcoming season. 138. Nebraska (14th in Big Ten) Hopefully that's the last forecast of the preseason.

tbh, when I read he was "unavailable for healthcare reasons," the first thing I thought was that he did something hazardous to his health. Seemed like FH would have just said injury if that was it. But I had absolutely nothing to base that on.

I rewatched the game this morning (I know), trying to take the emotion out of it. Things that struck me of offense: 1. Our "offense" is really just a bunch of action that does nothing until the ball ends up in the hands of someone who decides to do it on his own. We only had 6 assists. I realize we ran "vanilla" offense, but everybody does in exhibitions. Our vanilla offense didn't generate anything, just one on one play. 2. Our shooting is mostly a result of poor shot selection. Wilcher and Tominaga can shoot, but they force shots when the team shows a mindset of "better shoot because I won't see the ball again." 3. Gary and Bandoumel suffer from the chronic P5 transfer to Nebraska syndrome. "If I transfer to NU, then I'll be the man." Palmer and Petteway forced shots but made it work. However, they were young players when they came here. Gary and Bando played a lot at their former schools, and they're not budding stars. 4. This is stuff we've seen over and over since Fred got here. Either his system doesn't work any more, or he doesn't have the talent to make it work, or he's not a good enough coach to enforce the discipline needed to make it work. Defense and rebounding: 1. As mentioned by others, we guard poorly on the perimeter, almost as if we're funneling people toward our rim protector. Except we don't have one. 2. We should be solid inside this year. Walker is good, and Oleg has really improved. Didn't see much from Keita but he might be ok too. 3. As for our improved "effort" on defense this year, it would improve more if we had our hands up. That's the first thing I notice on defense in terms of effort: Are the hands active. Ours aren't. Too early to give up, but I didn't really see the things we supposedly improved on during the offseason. The 6 assists and poor shot selection don't say much about a "team first" philosophy.

Buffering while a shot is in the air is really a nice feature of streaming. The suspense is almost unbearable.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/college-basketball-coaching-hot-seat-five-coaches-who-may-need-a-good-season-in-2022-23-to-save-their-job/ Five coaches on the hot seat. Fred's not one of them, but Chris Collins is. Not sure what that means.

Announcing decision today, supposedly "has heard" from us: https://twitter.com/jeffborzello/status/1585088956072271872

My thought on the points is that we need to keep scores absurdly low to have our best chance to win. His team with 40 KenPom D finished 7-20.

Maybe this has been reported before, but startling nevertheless.

It was like that for Loyola's run in 2020 too. Those are the obvious ones. TV ratings for the first two rounds of 2021 show Loyola's win over Illinois ranked 3rd and Oral Roberts' win over Purdue 5th. My research dept. is shutting down now.

Data: Also: From Loyola's run:

Honestly, if 128 would get us in and get us a win, I don't care whether it's a good format or not.

KenPom's algos don't take into account the change in defensive philosophy we're expecting. A true commitment to defense, with the talent on this roster, is going to result in an AdjD better than the 107th predicted here. I won't argue with the KenPom offensive rating of 115 based on the current talent, except to say an improved defense might lead to more easier baskets. Not saying we're suddenly a top 25 team, just that we can be better than 108th.

Also:

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/kansas-basketball-recruiting-four-star-pg-elmarko-jackson-commits-to-jayhawks/

CBS Sports BIG preview: https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/big-ten-expert-picks-2022-23-bold-predictions-most-overrated-and-underrated-teams-top-players/

To get to .500 or so, we need at least 1 player to be all-BIG level, not necessarily 1st team, but at least second or third. The only 2 I can see capable of that level are Wilcher and Bando, with the idea that somebody has to do the scoring and those 2 are the best bets. Walker can have a solid year, but this league has some outstanding posts.