Go Big Fred

No I don't see Fred on the hot seat. Should get 2 more seasons.

A couple of Verge observations from sitting pretty close to the Nebraska bench.
 
Early in the second half, Verge had the ball at the top of the key and was just dribbling aimlessly.  Kobe was yelling from the bench "MOVE IT".  Verge eventually passed and yelled back at Kobe to "chill man".  
 
Kobe came in shortly thereafter.  On one possession Kobe was standing open on the wing with his hands ready to shoot.  Verge drove in and threw up a wild shot.  Kobe throws his arms in the air in exasperation and visibly frustrated.  Hoiberg pulled Verge out barked something into his ear and I don't believe returned again.
 
It might mean nothing but it was still interesting to see those interactions.

Wasn't able to watch the game last night, so watching it now. 
1st half:
-First 4 minutes were the best we've played all year. If Keon's minute allotment in the rotation is 8-12 minutes, I'm good with him getting those minutes at the start of each half. In the first 3 minutes, he forced two turnovers, had a rebound on a good block out and had a nice contest on a shot (I actually thought he tipped it but wasn't credited with a block). I felt like he set the tone defensively from the tip, the bench players just didn't keep it up. He's going to be a great 3 and D player eventually. 
- Bryce had a George Gervin finger roll. That was sweet.
- Agree with what someone said earlier. Derrick needs to give the same effort on the boards and defensively as he did last year. He's not doing that right now. But playing well offensively.
- The offense itself seems fine. We've gotten wide open threes within the offense from Keisei (2), Bryce (2-3), Keon (2), Wilhelm (1), CJ (2), Lat (several). Just missed almost all of them. 
- CJ's defense is poor, but I appreciate his effort blocking out. We need his shooting and he's the best on the team at moving without the ball right now.
- There are only two ball stoppers on the team at this point. Verge (it's just going to happen with him, but he's playing pretty darn good now) and Lat, who of all people should not be a ball stopper. The turnovers and missed wide open threes are bad enough. But when he catches and just holds the ball and jab steps for 8 seconds, it's frustrating and a possession killer. My old high school coach would not allow that from anyone, let alone a guy who's not a threat to create. 
 
2nd half:
-Another solid first 4 minutes defensively. Only gave up 3 points before the first sub came in. I like Keon. You don't have to worry about effort or dumb mistakes with him. He's shooting the ball with confidence and they'll start falling.
- Bryce and Verge playing very well. And EFFICIENT.
- Wilhelm and Ed both really bad in this one. Is Wilhelm not being coached? It's kinda embarrassing how confused he is after laying someone out and getting called for a foul. 
- A positive: Our guards are doing a much better job of finishing at the rim. Overall the team was 22/28 on 2FG's.
- Bryce, CJ, Verge and Walker played as well as you could ask them to, offensively. Tenn St. stayed in the game because almost everyone else played just poorly enough, and about 5-6 of their made threes were prayers they just threw up there that went in.
- People might not remember, but our three point shooting improved dramatically over the course of each of the past two seasons. Everything will look different if/when that happens. Free throws and 2P% have been substantially better this year. We're 71% on "close 2's" this year, compared to 55% and 54% in the previous two years. 73% from FT's compared to 64% and 61%. 
 
I feel like I'm the only one who still has hope for a fun year. To the people who think we're not running an offense or sharing the ball, we really are. Turn on a college basketball game any given night and you'll see stagnant offense. We're getting shots at the rim, free throw line and wide open threes. It's going to turn around. Maybe lower your W/L expectations. My preseason hope was that we'd go around .500 this year. I had no tourney expectations. We won 7 freaking games each of the last two years. 

Cohesion/Chemistry seem like antiquated notions in the era of NIL money & Social Media.

Yeah, between Robin Washut's question to Fred in the post-game press conference and today's follow-up question and answer, I'm hopeful we'll see progress from their film review and opportunities for growth.  I probably made some gut reaction assumptions based on what I've seen on Husker teams in the past and automatically applied them to Verge when it very well could just be an awareness/instinct issue that need to be trained/retrained rather than an attitude issue that needs to be overcome.  I guess I could learn some of that too.  

Just saying...
After the first exhibition game most people were saying Alonzo had to be in the starting line up.  Now many people are questioning his play.  Hmm.  The dude is good.  If we trust the coaching staff, we should expect the staff to coach the expectations and we will see good growth. 
I am much more concerned with shooters rushing shots; shooters missing open looks; missed lay ups and lack of rebounding. 
To focus on one player as the issue seems a bit biased.  Can he get better, yes.  But goodness, so can everyone else.

After rewatching the game I didn’t think Verge was as bad as I thought at the arena. He actually started out looking to pass and could have had at least 3-4 more assists if guys (Lat specifically was bad) hit open shots. Then he got to the rim at will but couldn’t make a layup and they were good shots he should make. I think that got him frustrated and out of sorts. I saw about 4-5 bad shots and he made one of them.  
 
Hopefully he calms down and gets back into what we saw vs Colo. We will need it Tuesday night 
 
 

People were saying the same things about Petteway two games in.  We are lucky to have verge and will win several more games with him than without.  

Walker and Ed should not be on the court at the same time.  Ever. 

Our season opener taught me to appreciate the wins this season. So with that:
 

Great...now I'm hearing Oliver Queen going "You have failed this city".  sorry the nerd in me just appeared. 

to think we've got maybe 30 of these to go still! the drama's gonna be off the charts!
 
i just assumed hoiberg knows his team and figured the best way to teach a point is to let them totally fail on their own. 
 
every team's different in personality, and maybe that's just this team's. 
 
he's not stupid. i do suspect there's a bit of a buy in or role issue with a couple of players who've been swearing up and down their way will work, and if you've got hard heads, sometimes the best thing to do is just watch them completely face plant. 
 
 

I know everyone's unhappy with the loss, but it seems like people are too eager to label certain players as selfish, me-first or whatever. This is the third straight year we've put together a team with a lot of roster turnover (we're 8th in returning minutes in the BIG), and it only makes sense that there would be chemistry issues at the outset.
 

Took a few days off from any thinking about this team and honestly reading through this thread has been a little cathartic, Tuesday sucked but our issues are fixable, excited to see how we play friday

I'd have to assume that after a combination of getting killed on the boards and foul trouble that rolling out Lakes and not Andre is an indication that Andre is either not practicing well and/or perhaps just pouting about his role.  Seems like a guy that needs to learn to be a star in his role and that he's not buying into what the staff is telling him is that role.
 
I get the frustration with Verge and it's deserved. I will however point out that he put in enough effort to grab 13 rebounds.  The last I checked he clocks in at 6'3" 165 or so.  But really all the size in the world doesn't matter when guys are just watching the ball.

A couple Positives and a Lotta Negatives on this night.
Still glad I was there, maybe I'm a glutton for punishment, maybe I'm conditioned to it. It now feels comfortable and normal to me to lose like this (which is bad... And shows how long you've been a nebrask(etball) fan, by how unsurprised you are when these Heartbreakers happen)
Positives: ✅
+ we know we have scorers on the team as a fact, and that Bryce is natural at it too. Need that to come at the end of 6-10 other passes, not from hero ball. That pissed me off.
+ our very own Japanese wunderkind
+ LOTS of game tape for fred on how NOT to play team basketball. 😑
 
Negatives: ❌
- rebounding. But with Fred's style I kind of expect this deficit every night, and Imo it's a calucated loss,  not a huge deal if you can run an offense
- without trey and Zo playing pure point and not giving a sh** about scoring, we're toast. We need distribution. Dedicated point gawd.
- as I mentioned, 90% of the problem tonight was no passing and instead playing hero ball. It's disgusting. It's the opposite of what Fred builds and preaches, space and pace and passing.
- we failed the gut check,  the "how do you respond to adversity" when you get smacked in the mouth Test. Teams ain't gonna just lay down for you,  guys. Grow a pair and pull together. It was clear as day from a mile away, they weren't working together. I can't question effort, but they weren't going with a game plan,  that's for sure. They were going with improv, just trying things.
Fix a few things and I still have a lot of hope for these guys. Still love the team and hope they improve,  GBR.

For everyone talking about their podcast and how they have to stop that and get focused, maybe listen to the pod or something first, because they announced after the last pod before the games started that they'd slow the pod pace down and only do it once a month or so whenever they can fit it in. Calm down.

feels like benching everyone isn't the answer to winning games

I feel like there is a lot of piling on Verge here. Maybe because of the last possession.
 
Was Verge guilty of hero ball? Yes. Did he also lead the team in assists and rebounds (as the shortest player)? Yes.  Was there someone else who took 18 shots and had 0 assists? Yes.
 
Plenty of room for improvement from plenty of players. 
 
Coaches too. I used to think that Timmy could be too quick to pull players for a single bad play or mistake. But maybe Fred could use that strategy to break some habits and make some guys figure out they need to play within what they’re coached to do.

Got a christmas morning giddy feeling going on right now, Counting down the hours until the game, so excited

Got a christmas morning giddy feeling going on right now, Counting down the hours until the game, so excited

Santa's coming, man. Santa is COMING!

Got a christmas morning giddy feeling going on right now, Counting down the hours until the game, so excited

Got a christmas morning giddy feeling going on right now, Counting down the hours until the game, so excited

If I read correctly, he also had completed his Sr year and was doing one of those extra Prep years so that's an easier situation for moving on.    I think it's a win-win.