hhcdave

Agree to disagree then. Now don't mind me, I'm going to go put my Creighton shirt on and see how much longer I can fool people into believing I care about Nebraska basketball.

I'm wondering after today how rare it is for a team at the NCAA level (in the modern era) to shoot over 80% from the field for a half. Off the top of my head, I don't think I've ever seen it, and I watch more college basketball than one should be allowed to do. I wish ELIAS could answer this - but does anyone out there EVER remember a Nebraska team either shooting or allowing 80% from the field in a half? I have this weird feeling that it probably happens once a year in all of college basketball. Not trying to overharp on today, just trying to understand exactly how amazing it was that UAB was allowed to do that, because I still can't comprehend it.

Hey,this is no time for perspective! Instead, the sky is falling, even though another way to look at it is a 6 point loss at a neutral site to a veteran, talented team, with a bunch of inexperienced youngsters is actually sign of progress. But no, it's better to not give UMass credit, and announce that the coaching sucked, a terrible decision was made to not re-recruit some dude named Fahro, and that we really struck out by not getting all those great players that were available in April last year. I apologize for having expectations and believing we should do better than three stops in an entire half against an NIT caliber team that we will see 18 times in the Big 10. I refuse to do what we've done the last ten years - give ourselves credit for moral victories based on "good teams we played." I also think if we had Fahro, we'd be close to an NCAA Tournament team this year. Miles decided we didn't want him, and took Serg in his place. He wasn't going to recruit two "marginal" Bigs in the same class that late in the game. He chose Serg. Sure, we had one other scholly open, but he's not going to clog them on two "projects." He chose the wrong one - it happens. Nobody hits 100%. But I think its relevant for me to bring this up for the first time ever (I NEVER have) the day we play the guy and he lights us up. Correct me if I'm wrong on that being relevant or not.

I'm confused as to why this is overreacting? The report card is about this game only - not the grand scheme of the program. With that said, I DID say we'd compete for 8th and make the NIT, which is more optimistic than any "expert." But I'm confused as to what I wrote about this particular game (which is what the report card is about - one game only) is incorrect? UAB is a solid team but we will see them 18 games in the Big 10, and name a game (other than yesterday) where you've seen a WORSE defensive effort in the last 20 years? Thanks. I'll hang up and listen off the air.

Wasn't referring to "we" as in us. Was referring to the "we" as in the program/coaching staff. He still wanted to come here after the coaching change and thought he was going to get to. I'll just leave it at that. I also have no problem with his tweet. That's the kind of kid I want playing in my program - one that's want to win and be a proud member.

OFFENSE: D+ Nebraska shot just 43% from the field and 66% from the line. More than that, they had no offensive structure or identity, outside of let Terran Petteway shoot whenever he wants and for small stretches, remember to try and run some stuff for Shavon Shields. Seriously, this "motion offense" is going to be more fun to watch than in years pass because of the athletes we have. However, at the moment, it looks like there is no structure and no offensive identity outside of Petteway. That's not good. A strength of this team should be that it has plenty of potential scorers and that anyone could carry you on any given night. But it looks like we have no clue what we want to do most of the time and no semblance or structure. A lot of that is that guys are just playing their third game together as a full team and the last two against superior competition. That's hard to accept - but true. UAB and UMass are better than us right now, and it's not really close. I expect this team to get better as the year progresses and think we'll score our fair share of points, but between bad decisions, bad shots leading to early offense the other way (and transition points), bad free throw shooting and no semblance of strategy, this is not good at the moment, 74 points or not. DEFENSE: F Three stops in the second half. Against UAB. Not Michigan. Not Indiana. Not Michigan State. UAB. I'm not joking when I say this - I would put GOOD MONEY that Nebraska Wesleyan could get three stops in a half against UAB. Being serious. Not trying to mock anyone. That's how mind blowing that stat is. UAB shot 54% for the game and 83% from the field in the second half. 83%. Scoring 56 points. And that was all legitimate - no fouls at the end to drag it out. Nebraska played even more careless on defense (hard to imagine) than it did on offense. Gamble here, gamble there. Dumb mistake here, dumb mistake there. And on the once in five possessions UAB missed a shot, they got the damn rebound and scored or were fouled. I don't claim to know the answers, I'm just telling you what is obvious - Nebraska is the worst looking defense team (right now) that I have ever seen out of the 20 years I've been following this program inside and out. Even Danny Nee's "bad" teams played much better defense than this. REBOUNDING: F Walter Pitchford needs to become a guard. He's softer than Charmin. 6 rebounds? Not awful on the stat sheet. But good lord, how many times did he not box out? Or when he did, get shoved four feet? Some of the offensive boards UAB got off of missed free throws were insane. And it's not just Pitchford - its probably not fair of me to single him out that much. He's a good kid and I expect he'll become a solid player by the time he's done here. I know he's certainly capable of much better on the boards. Leslee Smith with ONE rebound? Totals - UAB 41 (14 offensive), Nebraska 28 (11 offensive). BALL HANDLING: D Nebraska only turned it over six times. Good thing. Bad thing? The GOD AWFUL inbounds pass by Petteway that took us from down 2 to down 4 in the blink of an eye (literally). That was the beginning of the stretch of the game where things got away. Nebraska struggled with spacing and once again, had virtually no assists (seven). But that's what happens when you have no semblance of offensive structure. COACHING: F Eye test, as far as athleticism and improvement? No doubt - very solid. Eye test, as far as team concept (offense and defense)? No doubt - completely inept. Coach Miles is seeing virtually no passion from his team, especially on the defensive end. No structure. His team looks lost. This crap is unacceptable, rebuilding year or not. Three stops in a half? Huck and chuck offense? Don't box out? Once again, I love Coach Miles and this is a bump on the road. But I'm embarrassed as a Nebraska basketball fanatic right now, based on these two games, than any time in recent history. I can take losing when its hard fought and a lot of effort, and when their is competence on at least one side of the floor. But this? I'd rather watch CSPAN. BTW, are we still glad we didn't want Fahro Alihodzic in favor of Serg? Didn't think so. OVERALL GRADE: F I may as well have just copy and pasted yesterday's report card. Nebraska played truly pathetic. I can't think of any other way to put it. Especially in the second half - NO INTENSITY ON DEFENSE. Ever. No fire. Ever. Notice how yesterday, UMass slapped the floor on "D" and would get excited to play it? Their sidelines were really into it. Today, UAB looked aggressive and like they enjoyed playing defense. Our guys look like they are getting their wisdom teeth taken out when they try to play "defense." They don't want to do it. They hate it. We have so many offensive minded and selfish players right now that it needs to be pounded into their heads that they can actually GET POINTS off of defense. If we told them that, maybe they'd start caring. No fire. No passion. Lackluster. Maddening. I'm fully aware its game five and we are young. This is a long season. I still expect Nebraska to compete for the NIT and 8th place in the Big 10. But if this is how we're going to play defense and rebound, and if our offensive philosophy is going to be to just jack up shots and play like we're at the Rec Center, then the pre-season pollsters know a hell of a lot more about this team and its future fortune than any of us around here did. PLAYER OF THE GAME: TERRAN PETTEWAY 2013-2014 PLAYER OF THE GAME TOTALS: Terran Petteway - 3 Tai Webster - 1 Shavon Shields - 1 This post has been promoted to an article

NU 76 UAB 71

*** NOTE *** I watched the game, in entirety, this morning, but had to leave for work right when it ended. Thus, me just now getting around to this. Also, haven't had a chance to read anything else on the board yet, so sorry if I repeat stuff already discussed. OFFENSE: A For some reason, it feels dirty to give the Huskers an "A" on offense, even though the RESULTS are 90 points against a very good basketball team and obviously, that's "A" material. It just felt like there were some bad shots taken, especially in the first half, and shots that the majority of nights, aren't going to go down. The Huskers also struggled on FREE THROWS FREE THROWS and FREE THROWS in the first half (66%, leaving six points at the line) but in the second half, recovered well (17-21, or 81%). That put NU at 74% for the night, but still, the Huskers left a total of ten points at the line (29-39). That was easily the difference in the game (amongst many other things, too). Our Player of the Game started off in very inauspicious form, forcing some bad shots and playing questionable defense, but finished strong after the initial few minutes. Congratulations to Terran Pettaway on scoring a career high 28 points, including 11-12 from the line. DEFENSE: F Completely horrendous defense. God awful. I don't care if we had half of our team out of the game on B.S. foul calls (and there were a lot). For the first ten minutes of the second half, it was the same play, over and over, with the same result - layup or on the rare miss, layup off of the miss. AWFUL defense. The zone was a complete train wreck and I have never understood why Nebraska's last several coaches refuse to even work on it much, based on the lack of athleticism/talent NU has had in the last decade compared to other clubs. Think back to the last three coaches - all hated zone and their teams were AWFUL when they did play it. Why not practice it and be more competent at it when you know you're going to need it? Especially with Miles continually saying "We are one big short." If you know this, WORK ON IT. This part could go in coaching, but that frustrated me. Bad officiating or not, Nebraska's defense was embarrassing. Without re-watching, I believe NU got exactly THREE stops in the first ten minutes of the second half. That's truly pathetic. 96 points allowed. 50% from the field allowed. And 43 foul shot attempts allowed. Just to note my obsession with foul shots - had UMass not shot 77%, and instead, shot 70%, NU wins this game. Such an important stat. REBOUNDING: D The only reason this isn't an "F" is because Nebraska did grab 18 offensive boards of their own (while UMass had 17). Overall, the Minuteman out boarded the 'Skers 42-37 (though NU missed many more shots than UMass). BIG SHOUT to Leslee Smith for doing a really nice job today - he's the runner up for Player of the Game, as he finished with 10 boards (to go along with 12 points). That was nice to see. Walter Pitchford was a complete nonfactor, bad foul calls or no. We need a lot more out of him. 5 points and 2 rebounds in 13 minutes aint gonna win us any big games this year. BALL HANDLING: D+ 13 turnovers versus 6 assists is not good, but not as bad as it sounds, since Petteway scored so many points and pretty much all of them came off of individual takes. Also, NU had several points off of the offensive glass. Still, that's not a great stat, though 13 turnovers isn't awful. COACHING: F I saw no adjustments defensively. I saw a team shot the "last shot of the half" way too damn early and cost themselves two key points off of a foul by Mike Peltz as a result (foul on the rebound). I saw no discipline in the team early and questionable energy the first five minutes. I also noted above about the zone. Am I being too hard on Coach? Probably. But am I too high on him sometimes, too? Probably. So it evens out. Miles is still my man crush and hero, but today was not one of his finer moments. OVERALL GRADE: C Nebraska played badly for the majority of this game - though to their credit, they came back admirably and just about damn near won. Were they screwed by the refs? Absolutely. I have no idea how Coach Miles didn't blow a gasket. But they played AWFUL defense. They didn't rebound well. They fouled way too much and were in foul trouble all night. And they missed open layups down the stretch and free throws early in the game. I was overall pleased with how this game ended - had they been blown out or lost by 10+, I wouldn't be near as kind. I liked the resiliency and how they competed. Let's get a win tomorrow - can't afford to drop the first two. P.S. Did anyone else get annoyed as hell with the main announcer for this one? The play by play guy? And how he'd say "UMass?" He said it so damn annoying. It wasn't "YOU-MASS". It was like "YU-MASS". He emphasized it wrong. Was it just me? PLAYER OF THE GAME: TERRAN PETTEWAY 2013-2014 PLAYER OF THE GAME TOTALS: Terran Petteway - 2 Tai Webster - 1 Shavon Shields - 1 This post has been promoted to an article

Nebraska 72 Umass 71

I thought about Biggs a lot. Gallegos briefly. Even Leslee Smith got strong consideration. I went with Webster just based on his improvements today from the stripe, getting there so often and playing so even keeled while not turning the ball over. Biggs would have been my second choice, followed by Smith and Gallegos. I also wanted to reward Webster for his play so far and give him his first "POTG" before giving it to a guy who had been suspended.

OFFENSE: B+ It's weird to score 83 points and see five players in double digit scoring for the first time in nearly two years, and not feel completely satisfied. But for some reason, that's how I felt offensively after this one, maybe because Nebraska seemed kind of sluggish at times and continued to take some questionable shots. Overall though, 46% from the field and 72% from the free throw line are pretty good marks, as well as (obviously) the 83 points (albeit against SCSU). How about the 2013-2014 debuts for Ray Gallegos and Deverell Biggs? Gallegos put in 18 points on six three's, while Deverell Biggs scored 17 (though again, our PG's have to start making free throws - 6-10 from Biggs ain't gonna get it done this year). 7-11 from the line for Tai Webster was an improvement - that's one big thing to take away from this game - the point guard play. As in, Nebraska will be really solid this year with two terrific distributors who can also get to the basket and free throw line. Combined, 13-21 from the two - make that 17 or 18 of 21 and we've really got something. Do I need to see a psychologist for as obsessed with harping on free throws as I am?!? DEFENSE: C That team should not have scored 31 points in the first half - that's just unacceptable. Also, even 57 for the game is too high. With the above mentioned, let's get to why the point total was a bit bloated (hint: it wasn't all on the defense). REBOUNDING: F Nebraska allowed the MEAC's South Carolina State to gather SEVENTEEN offensive rebounds. Let me repeat - seventeen. SCSU also out boarded the Huskers overall (42-36) which should never happen, even if NU shot over 10% better from the field. Leslee Smith had a pretty nice game and brought down seven boards (including five on the offensive end). BALL HANDLING: A 11 assists to 5 turnovers - pretty damn good. Funny quote from Coach Miles after the game: "Our turnover count is so low because we take bad shots before we have a chance to turn it over." Touche - let's hope they keep going in. COACHING: A This is really a hard game to assess coaching on. The two teams were on completely different levels and the game was a snooze fest. Nebraska won the game handily in the end, which is all that mattered, and finally played at full strength (minus Mr. Hawkins). In other words, this almost feels like an "N/A" for this particular game. OVERALL GRADE: B- I didn't think Nebraska was particularly good in this game, but they still won by almost 30. Offense and defense were shoddy at times, and the rebounding was putrid. But everyone played and NU goes into the Charleston Classic at 3-0 with its roster at full strength and a chance to win at least 2 games. Do that, and you're looking really good heading into the last few tough non-conference games. PLAYER OF THE GAME: TAI WEBSTER 2013-2014 PLAYER OF THE GAME TOTALS: Tai Webster - 1 Terran Petteway - 1 Shavon Shields - 1

What do you like best about Tim Miles and what kind of salesman is he for the program? What did you know about Nebraska and/or Nebraska basketball before they started recruiting you? Which current players on the team are you closest to? Do you have access to BTN so you can watch a lot of games this year?

Nebraska 81 SCSU 49

P.S. Did it look to anyone else on a couple of defensive possessions that Nebraska was playing some sort of "matchup" D? More man to man than zone? It's hard to explain it and maybe guys were in the wrong place, but I swore I saw a couple of possessions of a different "D" in the early stages of the second.

OFFENSE: C DEFENSE: B REBOUNDING: B COACHING: B- OVERALL GRADE: B- PLAYER OF THE GAME: Terran PettewayOFFENSE: C Free throws. Free throws. Free throws. Nothing is more maddening than seeing the Huskers miss free throws! And they did that a very high rate tonight, finishing at just 59% from the charity stripe (13-22). Tai Webster in particular needs to improve because as I mentioned after game one, he will get to the line A LOT this year with his ability to break down a defense and with how officials are calling the games. And, let's face it, he'll get there EVEN MORE if he can't make them! Webster finished a very Dave Brandon at the gym'ish tonight (3-8). Overall, NU shot 44% (38% from downtown) and reached 62 points. There were some very questionable shots, particularly by our Player of the Game (Terran Petteway), but you take the streakiness of this team because you know there will be nights they light the nets on fire (see Gulf Coast, Florida). But again - Free throws. Free throws. Free throws. Make them and win games. Miss them and lose games while missing post-season. DEFENSE: B Nebraska looked pretty good in this one, sans the last ten minutes, as the Huskers held the Leathernecks to just 17 first half points. For the game, WIU shot just 38% (21% from downtown) and only one Leatherneck (Tate Stensgaard, who made his Free Throws, Free Throws, Free Throws) finished in double figures. I like how Nebraska plays defense and I think they can do a lot of different things if they want to. I'm interested to see two things as the season goes on, with this length and athleticism. 1. Will Nebraska play full court and implement traps from time to time? 2. Will Nebraska implement or at least work on a zone with all these fouls and their ability to interrupt passing lanes? I was watching tapes of the 1990-1991 team the other day and this is one thing I'd like to see these team throw in a flavor of, because I think they have the athletes and the length to do similar stuff to that team. REBOUNDING: B 34-30, Huskers win on the boards. They also win 8-5 on the offensive glass. Petteway scored 13 points (behind only the game leader, Walter Pitchford) and grabbed NINE rebounds, leading the Big Red. I give him Player of the Game for attacking the glass like a man. BALL HANDLING: A For a second straight contest, Nebraska achieved single digits in turnovers (9). They're averaging just seven turnovers a game as a team through two contests. Nice nights for both Webster and Shavon Shields, as both Huskers finished with 3 assists and 1 turnover. COACHING: B- Found it interesting that Coach Miles didn't take some of his timeouts to attack the way his team performed over the last ten minutes of the game. Not saying the game was ever in question - it wasn't. And not saying it would have made a huge difference. But I saw a few VERY sloppy possessions on BOTH ENDS of the floor and was not happy at all with how this team finished the game. Just thought a couple timeouts to send the message and help the team not develop bad habits in terms of focus could have been a good thing. But that's probably being pretty ticky tack even pointing that out. OVERALL GRADE: B- Nebraska played very sloppy for the majority of the second half and while it really didn't matter in the grand scheme of tonight's outcome, it was still a bit concerning. Still, the Huskers played without two of their best guards and still handled a team that made the post-season last year by double digits, so you can't be too upset. Hopefully the Huskers completely wax South Carolina State on Sunday and can head to Charleston with a good chance to win a minimum of two games. PLAYER OF THE GAME: Terran Petteway 2013-2014 PLAYER OF THE GAME RESULTS: Shavon Shields - 1 Terran Petteway - 1 Click here to view the article

Coach Miles... is that you???

Nebraska 75 WIU 61

OFFENSE: A+ What can you say negative about the offense in the game? Answer: nothing. I don't even know where to start - should it be Shavon Shields and his game high 28 points? Or should it be Terran Petteway's 17? Or how about some big props for Benny "no love from HHC" Parker's 9 points? Or even TRUE FRESHMAN Tai Webster and his 9 points (and one assist??? I swear it was like 7).Yes, let's start there, where the offense did - off of the successful screen and rolls designed for Webster, who really (in this game) didn't even need them, based on his ability to penetrate and break down the defense, almost at will. That's why I have a hard time believing he had only one assist. Maybe that's technically right, but the offense started with him, and I firmly believe he got the team relaxed and started by playing even keel. Walter Pitchford hit some big three's early and for the game, NU shot a remarkable 52% from the field, 50% from downtown and 77% from the line. Oh and most importantly? 79 points! DEFENSE: A Nebraska held "Dunk City" to ZERO slams. Now with that said, Dunk City was DEFINITELY in the building tonight, but they performed at halftime. To be serious, 55 points allowed (27 and 28 each half, respectively) and 44% from the field is AWESOME "D" for NU against a much more experienced group. Now, did FCGU lose some players? Sure. Did FCGU have some players banged up? Sure. But Nebraska had (arguably) it's best player suspended and another (most likely) key contributor, too. So I don't want to hear excuses. Nebraska was the far superior team on the floor and the athleticism comparison wasn't even that. REBOUNDING: A Nebraska held FCGU to just THREE offensive rebounds - and I believe two were in the first half (one on a Mickey Mouse box out by Leslee Smith, which led to a fiery Tim Miles during the timeout). For the night, NU out boarded the Eagles by ten (33 to 23) and were led by (who else?) Shields with six. BALL HANDLING: A Let's talk more about Webster and let's look beyond the stat line (and BTW, one negative, make your free throws! With your penetration ability and the way they call the games these days, you'll be shooting a TON this year. Gotta make 'em). But back on track - I was SO IMPRESSED with how cool he played. He had ice water in his veins from the start. Nothing phased him. And some big time moves, while also showing some seasoned decisions on when to push and when not to. Nebraska turned the ball over just nine times. COACHING: A+ Talent is NIGHT AND DAY over what it was last year - or at least what it was in the games (we had some ballers at practice). Many players looked VASTLY improved - that move David Rivers made toward the end of the first half with a drop step and ball fake was a big time move. I have never seen that from him. Benny Parker pushed and finished better than ever. He looked great. Shields continues to improve. We are seeing upgrade in talent, guys improving and defeating the most toasted team in America last March by 24 points, all in one night. Oh, and a BEAUTIFUL building christened in the right way. Coach Miles deserves a lot of praise. OVERALL GRADE: A 15,119 was the largest home crowd in school history and boy, oh boy, were they (we) treated to a once in a lifetime type of night. Tommy Lee, Karmin, the entire marching band, "Dunk City" (at halftime) and Nebraska raising eye brows all over the country with a "behind the woodshed" beating of FCGU. NOBODY expected this - NOBODY. Everything went perfect - let's hope we have at least 11,000 on Tuesday and we get a solid double digit win against a better than many realize Western Illinois club. EXCITING NIGHT!!! BONUS GRADE: ARENA GRADE: A- Food I had was great - a big hot dog at the State Fair stand. Nachos at the stand behind section 103. Popcorn, Valentino's. All great. Sound was phenomenal - maybe tone down the volume a bit, however, pre-game. It's hard to even talk with how loud the music is (and I work with music so I'm no sound prude). Scoreboard AMAZING. Stats AMAZING. Video AMAZING. Scrolling stats and info around stadium AMAZING. Best intro I've ever seen (the Bon Jovi - loved it). Only negative? Horrible job by the ticket office for fans who are handicapped (like my Mom tonight). We were told once this week we could come in early and exchange her season tickets for handicap seats (she wasn't handicapped at time of purchase). Then told we couldn't. Then told we could. Then told we couldn't. (Depending who we talked to when we called). We were told to be there by Will Call at 6:30. We got there at 5:45 because we were told there are "limited handicapped seats"? (Huh? Is that even legal?) After we attempted to park in two garages that the ticket office told us would allow free handicap parking, we were scolded by both and I had to drop Mom off all by herself on the middle of a street. Eventually found Lot 4 thanks to a nice fan who overheard. The handicap button on the door into the will call/ticket office area on SW corner of arena didn't work. Then there was no bench or place for Mom to sit. So she sat on the floor for an hour. We were fourth in line and 10 minutes before, people started cutting to Will Call. Etc etc. But I still rate everything an "A-" on this "bonus section." Was definitely hot and steaming mad for quite awhile though. Why would you make a handicap person "get there early to guarantee a seat?" and then have nowhere for them to sit or have their door working and tell them incorrect info on where to park? My only gripe. PLAYER OF THE GAME: Shavon Shields 2013-2014 PLAYER OF THE GAME TOTALS: Shavon Shields - 1 Click here to view the article

Yes. And there's only six home games, not upwards of 20.

$10 is effing ridiculous. It's not like the taxpayers helped fund that area or anything.