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Nebraska 68 NC State 79

Yup. My subscription ended today. Perfect timing. I had to go to the actual website to cancel (not the app). Bling Blough and Yaka Dunka to you all!

That wasn’t a bad team we played today, glad we handled our business. I mentioned this the other day, but if Verge has NBA aspirations, he needs to facilitate and distribute. That’s the only thing that’s going to get him there, or at least an opportunity to get him there. The NBA isn’t interested in him being a volume scoring point guard. There are a lot of players far better than Verge that can do that. The crazy thing is that he’s capable of dishing out 8+ assists a game if he wants to. He will go drop 3 dimes to appease Fred and then look for his points. That’s why his minutes were cut today. He needs to figure that out pretty quick. For this team to reach potential, Lat needs to be a factor. It would be nice if Keon started to become a factor offensively, but he doesn’t necessarily have to. But he has to rebound. If he wants minutes come Big 10 play, he’s going to have to play defense and rebound. Not worried about the defense part. We need him to do both. Walker is not going to pull down a ton of rebounds in Big 10 play. We need Bryce, Lat, and Keon to hit them boards.

Nebraska 77 South Dakota 62

I thought for sure we were going to be pretty salty after the Colorado game. I’ve seen nothing to suggest that since then. Eventually some of these shots are going to start falling, we will get some issues corrected, and I truly believe this will be Fred’s best team at Nebraska. There’s too much talent (compared to his other teams here) not to be. But we still aren’t going to be good and I don’t see us making any post-season again this year. I realize that Nebraska basketball, in theory, should have less expectations and require more patience than football. At least that used to be the case. It appears that Trev doesn’t have any real expectations at all by extending the monstrosity that is Nebraska football for another year. If he’s willing to let a 15-28 football coach have another losing season, I can only expect Hoiberg’s seat not to be even remotely warm. Not that I want to run Fred, but he’s 18-47, he has to start winning games here. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect at least an NIT bid next year.

Nebraska 77 Tennessee State 59

Badgett touched on Keon starting and I think it’s spot on. Chemistry - it keeps that second unit together and cohesive. He also stabilizes things defensively for us from the start with his length and athleticism. We need more production out of some players on this team. Specifically Lat and CJ. For us to be successful against good teams, they need to combine for 15-17 points. Their production against Southern and Sam Houston State isn’t going to get it done on a bigger stage.

Nebraska 76 Southern 62 4 players with 10+

Goggles and Wilcher could be a core of stability to build around for Hoiberg. Key cogs for a few years. I liked how this team handled business tonight. They crashed the boards harder than normal. Bryce may have only scored six points, but he made a large impact on the game. If Verge wants a crack at the NBA, he needs to show that he can distribute. Exactly what he was brought here to do. He could still throw up 15 ppg taking what the defense gives him while dropping 6+ dimes a game. He’ll have a solid Euro-career regardless. It’s in his (and the team’s) best interest to do this. I can only imagine how difficult of time Hoiberg is having internally trying to explain this to AVJ.

Nebraska 78 Bengals 61

Nebraska 72 Creighton 67

Nebraska 79 SHS 64

NEB- 82 WIU- 63 Non-con= 10 Total= 21

Bryce is going to have to adjust just like every other non-lottery pick college freshman. There will be an adjustment in non-con and there will be an even bigger adjustment in conference play. He’s not walking into Nebraska 10 years ago where he would immediately be the best player on the roster. We got some dudes now. It’s undeniable though, he has the highest ceiling on the team. Body types and athleticism like that doesn’t grow on trees. I was at the game today. We are deep with shooters everywhere. We will have 5 minute stretches where we will hang 20 points on teams. Our wings are going to have to help us more on the boards if we are going to reach our potential. Verge was a crazy good get so late in the game. I’ve seen enough Greek tragedies from Nebrasketball to never count our proverbial chickens before they hatch. But I’m going to go ahead and call it. We are dancing this year, boys. Clear your schedule that week in March and say a prayer we aren’t going to Portland of Buffalo.

I’d take a flyer on a 6’10” 220 lb athletic big man any day. Yeah, he’s not super explosive, but you don’t have to be in order to be effective at this level, at least not with that frame. I mean how many have had that body type and athleticism for us over the years? Not many. Most of our guys were either shorter or were slow-twitch. Pitchford? Friend? Hamilton? Ubel was a decent athlete but this kid pops out as more athletic than BU (although perhaps not the skill). But then again, we need a different kind of skill, post moves don’t matter near as much. Get him in our program, get his nutrition right, and get him in the weight room. Give him a year practicing against some fairly physical dudes at a high level and let’s see what we got.

If Cross works hard on development (weights, shot, defense, confidence, etc.), he will be taking minutes from people, not the other way around. Cross has a high ceiling. Is the work ethic there?

As far as Teddy Allen goes, I have to tell you, I was 100% against this. He’s N though so I am not going to even dive into the reasoning behind why. He’s a Husker and I am fully supporting him. No doubt the kid can ball, let’s get him here and let’s see what he can do. We need buckets, he can help with that.

Agreed. With much greater potential. He’s got a long ways to go but I see it in him.

I was really impressed today. It’s the holidays and the team was coming off a bad loss and shots were not falling. A lot of reasons to get down but they ramped up the defense. I realize the opponent was bad, but this was the third most impressive game of the season for this team all things considered. It was nice to see Green bounce back. He really showed some intensity on both ends of the floor. I was a little worried when watching him against North Dakota, I wasn’t sure where his head was at. Adversity is going to hit every student athlete in college, you can choose to let it take you down or you can fight. It appears Jervay has chosen to fight. Good job by Hoiberg and Jervay. Basketball aside, that’s a good life lesson. Some kids would have shut down. I think Mack, Burke, and Jervay are a heck of a backcourt next year. This year will be tough, but their development will be something to watch. Yvan will struggle in Big 10 play, it will be interesting to see him adjust. I think Cross is the most important post to develop for next year though. That kid could be the matchup nightmare that we have been waiting for. It’s going to take a lot of work to get him there though, I hope he has it in him.

Nebraska - 83 UCR - 63 non-con wins - 7 regular season wins - 15

This would be a awesome! Perfect 4 for FH. Big-body, shot 37.5% from behind the arc. If he’s ready to work and his head is on straight, he will be someone who creates matchup problems.

Kavas will start. Hoiberg is going to get him a ton of open shots, especially in transition.

Boom!

If he wants to come here, you take him 100 times out of 100.

As they should. Tim Miles is going to be fired, I get it, but he’s done nothing in his 7 years of service to deserve this kind of treatment. It takes 5 minutes to fire someone when all of the paperwork is complete, which I’m sure it is. Make time.