hhcdave

Hence my talk about this affecting recruiting in direct and indirect ways we haven't even seen yet. Leading off Sports Center is not a good thing - every basketball fan in the country knows about this game now. This is far worse than one loss and one blow to our Tournament resume, but maybe I'm the outcast on that belief. Ok, really going to quit posting now. I'm about to beat my head into the wall.

You're right GATA, I'm an idiot. Losing to the team that everyone is trying to turn into this great low-major team because they won at Pre-Season #8 Ivy League school Princeton. Other than that, D2 wins. They lost to the mighty UTEP by 18. We were picked in the Top 25 and lost ONE game at home last year with a less experienced team. We've now lost TWO in a row - one against a mediocre team, one against a god awful transition team that isn't even in a true conference for another year (the Southland). But you're right, teams who lose at home to Incarnate Word make the Tournament all the time. No big deal. Especially after Creighton. And especially with Cincinatti coming in next. We've got them right where we want them and people across the country are NOT chuckling at us right now. This one WON'T kill our RPI (even though ICW finishes in the 250's), nor will the loss to a Creighton team that finishes in the 80's. And this is the calm before the storm. How are we going to handle Cincy, Hawaii on their home court or the Big 10 slate? If I'm an idiot for being a realist and not accepting this crap, then I guess I'm an idiot. If you think this game is no big deal, you're way off base. Again, you think this will help recruiting, too, especially if it's the thing that guarantees us NIT versus NCAA, assuming we get things back on track?

But Norm, those losses came in years we were picked middle to low end Big 12. NOT when we started the year in the Top 25, picked 4th in the Big 10 and with 4.5 starters back. Not even comparable.

Last panicked post of the night ( because I AM panicked - I'm livid). Two-three more non conference losses will make it very challenging to even make the NIT, since you need a winning record. Time to go grab a couple of beers - I'm out.

That may be true, Norm, but at the end of the day, it shows a LOSS to Incarnate Word, a school that approximately 23 people outside of the state of Texas have heard of, its a second loss in a row at home and it ends any NCAA talk, barring a Top 4 Big 10 finish. At least Michigan will also be joining us on the outside, if we're looking for silver linings.

You aren't just a little upset, frustrated and let down that you are talking about NEXT YEAR on December 10th of THIS YEAR?

Losing tonight was effing embarrassing and unacceptable. I'm serious - this is absolutely P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C

Its definitely time to panic. The odds of us losing TWO more nonconference games are extremely good. Let's just steady the ship and make the NIT. That's crap talk to have in early December of "Our Year" but its time we damper expectations and be more fair to these kids.

Bye Bye Tournament. Let's hope we can still recover and steady the ship to give us the NIT. Or else we completely lose ALL recruiting momentum.

Most embarrassing loss in recent program history? Because of expectations, no doubt about it. Absolutely. Also the fact that this is a second year transition school. This is completely awful. Pathetic. Embarassing. I am EMBARASSED to be a Nebraska basketball fan. People I haven't heard from in months are texting me and laughing. And the game has been over five minutes. We deserve better than this crap. Injury to Abraham? I don't care if we were playing without Petteway and Shields. An NCAA Tournament caliber Big 10 school NEVER loses to Incarnate Word. Spare me the Michigan talk. At least EMU and NJIT are much more established programs. But worst part about tonight? Have fun trying to recruit with this debacle, as people like Fran McCaffrey will use it against you all day, as will Greg McDermott after they own us and we drop this. Also, the fact that this all but guarantees the NIT is our ceiling - and at this point, that's pushing it. This is NOT a good basketball team right now. And that's putting it kindly.

At some point, do we start considering that perhaps Ray Gallegos (whom we didn't think would be much of a loss at the time) was a bigger loss than we ever thought? He was disappointing offensively and from the field in his senior season. However, he played terrific (and at times) lockdown defense, and had a sense of calm about him. To this point, last year's team ( at least at the end of the year) is MUCH better than this one. Yes, its early in the season - HOWEVER, its almost the exact same team so in theory, they have more experience and shouldn't take until B1G play to "turn it up." So yes, we're without Leslee Smith... but one thing nobody has discussed... are we missing Rey Gallegos?

Also needs to improve his left hand a bit, obviously.

Petteway will get drafted. Its just a matter of whether he wants to roll the dice on dropping to the early 2nd round. His game plays well to the NBA and plays like the blocked shot tonight show you that he can really play and do more than just score.

One other thing. Has anyone ever seen Benny Parker get blown away on drive after drive before? Chatman was quite impressive. Parker couldn't handle him down the stretch.

No report cards this year, but I'll chime in from time to time with some thoughts. Yes, its probably convenient my first at length post game post comes after a bitter loss. No, it won't always be this way. I'll post after plenty of good moments to come, too. Where do we start with tonight? First of all, the prevailing talk with the coaches, players and fans of Husker Nation is that "in the grand scheme, this doesn't really matter. It's like our 19th or 20th most important game." Touche - you can make that argument. Certainly this game does NOT rank in the most important of the year. HOWEVER, if we lose the technical stuff and look at the big picture, this one stings very badly. And its disturbing. First of all, I don't believe I have really ever said anything bad about Coach Miles. Here and there, I may have given him bad grades on report cards the last two years but overall, I would say I have a man crush on him. I love the guy. With that said, he STUNK tonight. Was COMPLETELY out classed by Greg McDermott, who I DON'T (or at least DIDN'T) consider to be a very good coach. Boy, was I wrong (at least tonight)... Nebraska did whatever they wanted the first ten minutes and its true that had the players made a few more shots, this one could have been different. Give Miles credit for taking Creighton out of their game the first ten minutes. However, from that point forward, Creighton outscored us by approximately 20 points, as they made adjustments (especially on offense) and we didn't. We remained stagnant. Had no answers or different strategies. It was sink or swim with what we had done the first ten minutes. Now, let's give McDermott a lot of credit. It's not ALL on MIles, certainly. Greg coached a hell of a game. And his players hit shots that maybe some nights, they don't normally hit. They took away driving lanes and packed it in, making Webster, Smith, Parker and Rivers beat them. They didn't and couldn't. Defensively, the screens drove us nuts, as did the double teams, and we were unable to keep with CU guys in the last 25 minutes. It was sad. As much as I hate Creighton (as much as anyone)- they are our daddy and that isn't changing anytime soon. McDermott's bunch will be better next year and we will be without (most likely) Petteway, on the road. I don't see this series changing much in the next couple of years. Simply put, if you can't beat (what I would call a) rag tag CU team (yes, I'm aware they beat OU at home), AT the PBA, in "your year," where you have the TWO BEST PLAYERS ON THE COURT... and you lose by double figures... at home... you ain't beating them anytime soon. Its pathetic. We are their step sons. Let's quit the tough talk and finally admit it. Other notes that WEREN'T Miles fault (and there's plenty - it really was out coached and out classed). 1. Can't make free throws. 2. Forced some jump shots, especially in the second half. They were calling touch fouls all of a sudden the last 12 minutes. So what do we mainly do? Shoot jumpers. 3. Parker needs to stop stepping out of bounds. 4. Webster has been a complete bust. The "he's young" talk can stop pretty soon, as he's 1/3 of the way through is eligibility at Nebraska and marginally better than he was at 0%. 5. Pitchford will decide if we go to the NCAA or NIT. If he can't shoot the rock (and fall away 20 footers after starting 1-5 aint gonna get it done), and if he can't get more than 2.5 rebounds per game, we are going nowhere. 6. This loss, coupled with two more non conference, almost assures us an NIT berth barring a Top 5 Big 10 finish. And if we can't beat 2 of the 3 of Cincy, Hawaii and Wichita, we probably don't deserve to go. Then again, Purdue lost to UNF at home, Michigan at home to NJIT, Indiana to EWU, so who knows. 7. I have attended 14 of the last 16 CU/NU games. 6 of them I flew home from Florida and NC just for the games. Tonight I dropped $500 on primo seats and took time off tomorrow. No more. They. Are. Our. Daddies. Pathetic. And one last thing - if our coach is going to openly mock their fanbase before the game, you better win the damn thing. This one is embarrassing and hurts more than most of the last 15 years.

I actually thought we played quite well tonight. I'd give us a "B+" or "A-" on the old report card. Everyone but Webster impressed me tonight. Walt can't rebound, as pointed out, but him hitting a couple of three's early, including the first one of the game, was huge. He also played with 4 fouls (as did Moses) for a LONG TIME without fouling out. Speaking of Moses, he was one of the key players of the game. Easily. Two biggest shots? Corner three's from Benny and Tarin. Shields a baller. I thought Petteway played well. Rivers the third biggest play of the game battling for that offensive rebound with us up just 2 points late. Led to a bucket. This was a TOTAL TEAM EFFORT and we showed guts and moxxy tonight. I'm VERY encouraged by this effort and think with a "W" on Sunday, we'll find ourselves back at #24 or #25. DAve

I also posted this in the "I post here because..." thread but since that topic is several days old, and perhaps missed by some, I thought I'd post it in a brand new thread, too. A little background on the site to add to many who never knew this or have long ago forgotten. I was living in Charlotte, NC. from 2004-2006 for my radio career and had just graduated from UNL. I had a ton of connections within the program at that point - both current players who were friends, and connections to the coaching staff - and I had a huge passion for Husker Hoops, with a journalism and radio background. I went through a particularly tough breakup in the spring of 05 and needed something to throw myself into. I've always been passion and work oriented. In my one bedroom apartment in Charlotte, depressed as all being, missing home and not knowing a soul because my ex was my ENTIRE social life, I somehow decided to start a Husker basketball blog. My love of the program had kept growing in the months since I left Nebraska - absence always makes the heart grow fonder. Heck, I took that same ex to Knoxville, TN (3.5 hours away) and spent New Years Eve there just a few months earlier to see NU pull off the road win after Marcus Neal knocked down free throws at the end of regulation. Anyway, within 3 days or so of starting that blog, maybe a week, I found out I could (with the help of HHCGarrett/AKA Garrett Wright) launch an actual website by using Microsoft Front Page. We bought the "Front Page For Dummies" book at Barnes & Nobel and I bought the software and mailed it all to Garrett. He was working with Husker Vision at the time so he completely separated himself from any articles. He published, I wrote and researched. And wrote. And researched. (Anyone remember when Garrett took video of EVERY SINGLE DUNK from the slam dunk contest and had them ALL on-line after 6 hours of overnight work?). Anyway, content - articles - that's right - HHC once had DAILY ARTICLES YEAR 'ROUND. Maybe some of the real old posters remember that or Dimes or someone who knows how can go back and pull off screen shots from years passed. I interviewed, for this site (just a few): Jay Bilas Paul Splittorff Fred White Danny Nee Barry Collier Stu Lantz Doc Sadler Eric Piatkowski Erick Strickland Greg Doyel Ricardo Patton Mike Anderson Quin Snyder Paul Millsap Scott Drew Richard Roby And around 100 other players and coaches. Articles were done for three seasons. We had weekly "Then & Now" features with former Huskers. I once found a guy who was homeless living in New York (Gerard Myrhtill). I once single handedly found Jose Ramos for the 90-91 Reunion. Nobody else could find him from the basketball offices. I called him on the phone and he was blown away I located him. Kind of cold at first but soon opened up. He went to the Rebounders Club banquet that night and publicly complained that I wasn't given an invite to attend the banquet since I had been the one to get him to come to Lincoln. Beau Reid once wrote for this site. John Turek. Cary Cochran. Randy Lee. Andrew Drevo. Bruce Chubick. Matt Coatney. This site was MY LIFE for 3 years. Literally. 20-30 hours a week. Thousands of dollars of debt for lots of stuff I later found out I didn't need. I should also give a shout out in the early days to Jerry Trickie of NU SID for working with us and giving us media access, as well as to Scott Cunningham for moderating and the graphics work. By 2008, maybe 2009, the site went from interviews and features and post game STORIES (with quotes and interviews) to just report cards. Then by 2010 or so, to just a message board with report cards. So at one point, this was a full service site - message board was secondary. I eventually couldn't afford to keep buying every media guide known to man to research interviews, as many road trips to see games, as much hosting space and paying photographers, but more than that, I was both jaded by a few incidents from the university that I won't ever publicly mention (because that's not my style) and I just flat out ran out of time. My career has taken over further and not allowed me to do what I once did. Nowadays, Dimes is the one who runs this site. Its essentially 100% his. He does EVERYTHING. He has SAVED THIS SITE. SINGLE HANDEDLY. Scott and I help occasionally but anymore, its Dimes (as you know) and several others who have stepped up and kept this site going. I hope that no matter what happens to me in the future, or Dimes, that you posters will ALWAYS promise to keep the site going. I don't want to see this site ever go away. It's nothing I can take credit for anymore - the last 3 years are all Matt (Dimes). He occasionally asks my opinion but I defer to him 9 times out of 10. But it's sure cool to read all of your memories of HHC, how you found it, etc. Hard to believe a heartbreak in Charlotte nearly ten years ago, in a small one bedroom apartment, and a random 1 AM idea to start a blog, led to a site that once broke three steps of the Barry Collier leaving for Butler process, once got quoted in the KC Star, Lawrence Journal World and The Sporting News, and now is going on ten years strong. I love you all, even if I am a "has been" in the world of HHC. Go Huskers, Dave

A little background on the site to add to many who never knew this or have long ago forgotten. I was living in Charlotte, NC. from 2004-2006 for my radio career and had just graduated from UNL. I had a ton of connections within the program at that point - both current players who were friends, and connections to the coaching staff - and I had a huge passion for Husker Hoops, with a journalism and radio background. I went through a particularly tough breakup in the spring of 05 and needed something to throw myself into. I've always been passion and work oriented. In my one bedroom apartment in Charlotte, depressed as all being, missing home and not knowing a soul because my ex was my ENTIRE social life, I somehow decided to start a Husker basketball blog. My love of the program had kept growing in the months since I left Nebraska - absence always makes the heart grow fonder. Heck, I took that same ex to Knoxville, TN (3.5 hours away) and spent New Years Eve there just a few months earlier to see NU pull off the road win after Marcus Neal knocked down free throws at the end of regulation. Anyway, within 3 days or so of starting that blog, maybe a week, I found out I could (with the help of HHCGarrett/AKA Garrett Wright) launch an actual website by using Microsoft Front Page. We bought the "Front Page For Dummies" book at Barnes & Nobel and I bought the software and mailed it all to Garrett. He was working with Husker Vision at the time so he completely separated himself from any articles. He published, I wrote and researched. And wrote. And researched. (Anyone remember when Garrett took video of EVERY SINGLE DUNK from the slam dunk contest and had them ALL on-line after 6 hours of overnight work?). Anyway, content - articles - that's right - HHC once had DAILY ARTICLES YEAR 'ROUND. Maybe some of the real old posters remember that or Dimes or someone who knows how can go back and pull off screen shots from years passed. I interviewed, for this site (just a few): Jay Bilas Paul Splittorff Fred White Danny Nee Barry Collier Stu Lantz Doc Sadler Eric Piatkowski Erick Strickland Greg Doyel Ricardo Patton Mike Anderson Quin Snyder Paul Millsap Scott Drew Richard Roby And around 100 other players and coaches. Articles were done for three seasons. We had weekly "Then & Now" features with former Huskers. I once found a guy who was homeless living in New York (Gerard Myrhtill). I once single handedly found Jose Ramos for the 90-91 Reunion. Nobody else could find him from the basketball offices. I called him on the phone and he was blown away I located him. Kind of cold at first but soon opened up. He went to the Rebounders Club banquet that night and publicly complained that I wasn't given an invite to attend the banquet since I had been the one to get him to come to Lincoln. Beau Reid once wrote for this site. John Turek. Cary Cochran. Randy Lee. Andrew Drevo. Bruce Chubick. Matt Coatney. This site was MY LIFE for 3 years. Literally. 20-30 hours a week. Thousands of dollars of debt for lots of stuff I later found out I didn't need. I should also give a shout out in the early days to Jerry Trickie of NU SID for working with us and giving us media access, as well as to Scott Cunningham for moderating and the graphics work. By 2008, maybe 2009, the site went from interviews and features and post game STORIES (with quotes and interviews) to just report cards. Then by 2010 or so, to just a message board with report cards. So at one point, this was a full service site - message board was secondary. I eventually couldn't afford to keep buying every media guide known to man to research interviews, as many road trips to see games, as much hosting space and paying photographers, but more than that, I was both jaded by a few incidents from the university that I won't ever publicly mention (because that's not my style) and I just flat out ran out of time. My career has taken over further and not allowed me to do what I once did. Nowadays, Dimes is the one who runs this site. Its essentially 100% his. He does EVERYTHING. He has SAVED THIS SITE. SINGLE HANDEDLY. Scott and I help occasionally but anymore, its Dimes (as you know) and several others who have stepped up and kept this site going. I hope that no matter what happens to me in the future, or Dimes, that you posters will ALWAYS promise to keep the site going. I don't want to see this site ever go away. It's nothing I can take credit for anymore - the last 3 years are all Matt (Dimes). He occasionally asks my opinion but I defer to him 9 times out of 10. But it's sure cool to read all of your memories of HHC, how you found it, etc. Hard to believe a heartbreak in Charlotte nearly ten years ago, in a small one bedroom apartment, and a random 1 AM idea to start a blog, led to a site that once broke three steps of the Barry Collier leaving for Butler process, once got quoted in the KC Star, Lawrence Journal World and The Sporting News, and now is going on ten years strong. I love you all, even if I am a "has been" in the world of HHC. Go Huskers, Dave

MilesDavis NAILED this one on $cott Drew and the option$ he give$ recruit$.

I'm assuming you meant keeping Miles for a minimum of 1-2 more years, right Norm? Or do you think we will lose him in 1-2 more years? I see no way he isn't here for 5 years. My gut says we have a BIG season next year and we lock him up to an even bigger deal. That buys us through year five - after that, anything is possible.

When this post was started, it wasn't OT - Creighton was in our bracket and a very possible second round game. Thus, why it wasn't in OT.

I LOVED watching this game tonight. So funny on so many levels. All I've gotta say is one word: Losers.

I just spent around $150 on Nebraska basketball gear and I blame you for posting this! #SorryNotSorry

The fact that he was considering transferring at semester to be with his girlfriend and that Texas A&M has (supposedly) had an open offer to him. Of course that was also a few months ago and a lot changes in that period of time, especially for an 18 year old kid.

I'm wondering the following this off-season: 1. Will Serj be back? 2. Will Hawkins be back? 3. What transfer(s) will we get? 4. We will get Deng Deng? 5. How good will Nick Fuller be? Remember, he's essentially a newcomer next year to go along with Hammond and Smith, too.