hhcdave

With likely road losses at Michigan and MSU looming... we may have to run the table at home and make sure we win that road game at Illinois to get in. Anything less and we are going to be sweating bullets or less on Selection Sunday barring a last day of Big 10 tournament run. I thought we were passed this garbage.

If we haven’t learned how to win games like this by now. As some suggest above. When we have two 5th year seniors, two 4th year seniors and a junior in our rotation - PLUS a 7th year coach - then we never will. You don’t learn how to win on the road against bottom level teams you’re favored by 10 against this late in the game. You have it or you don’t.

Pathetic. No fire and no heart. Consistent bad shots when going gets tough. This team panics way too easily. Down 5 with 5 left and we are having players hock up prayers with 17 on the shot clock. Welcome to the last four in.

Nice to see Miles give up by not calling one of two timeouts with 20 seconds left to bring in someone with less then 4 fouls. Guess those two timeouts will be useful next game.

Appears it’s not our night. Couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean. Refs were fine. Our defense and rebounding were fine. Just got shut down and couldn’t hit from deep.

A win tonight obviously will put us firmly in the Top 25 come Monday (likely #20 or 21). But I'll take it one step further. A win tonight will put us in the Top 25 for the remainder of the season when you consider our favorable schedule the next few weeks and the fact that once you hit #20 or so, the only thing that takes you out is an 0-2 week. Win tonight and we could finish out the year entirely in the Top 25!!!!!!!!!!!!

Matt you do a GREAT job with these. Thanks for doing them.

GREAT to see Nebraska respond tonight on both the defensive end and glass. The EFFORT we didn't see the last couple of games was clearly there - especially from the start. This team came out hungry, with fire and READY TO GO on the defensive end. Of course, starting 3-3 helps bring energy on defense, but I think it was more than that. This team look VERY prepared. Miles and staff deserve a lot of credit here. Palmer played like a man possessed on the glass and distributing the basketball. Still takes dumb three pointers in second halves of games when we are up with 15+ on the shot clock when he is chasing points, but his positives WAY outweight his negatives. Borchardt was nails. Watson the same. Allen some big shots. I think watson is my POTG tonight. I said the other day that some of our defensive woes from downtown were bound to even out. They did with a good team missing shots. I also said we'd finish 10-10 in league but more likely 11-9. This win all but guarantees 10-10 (barring injury) and a win over MSU all but guarantees 11-9 (if not 12-8). GBR!!!

Hello All, and Happy New Year!!! I was a student at Dear Old Nebraska U from '99-'03, and I used to love at football games when they would call our D the "Husker Nation Defense." So that's the reason for the title of this thread, except this is about BASKETBALL defense. Lately, it has really, REALLY worried me. As in... it's been really bad. I don't want to point any fingers, because we lose as a team and win as a team. With that said, one of the bigger challenges (in my opinion) has been overcoming the defense of Copeland. It has... left a lot to be desired in recent days. It seems as though we are constantly having to help off because of him getting blown by via penetration, which is honestly hard to do as a big man. But taking this a step further, the BIGGEST challenge is that our energy (and focus) appear to recently be lacking at times. YES, we're going to get outrebounded by most Big 10 teams, because we are starting a 3/4 at the "5" and have more of an offensive player at "the 4." BUT, there is absolutely no reason we should be allowing multiple rebounds in 6 of 8 straight possessions like last night, or any number of times in recent days/weeks. If you WANT IT and play with INTENSITY, PLUS BOX OUT, you might get outrebounded because of size, but you won't have the efforts we have recently seen. Maybe I'm just seeing things, but these appear to be our two biggest issues right now on the defensive end of the floor and the glass. Of course, teams are shooting out of their mind from downtown, which won't keep up, but we also probably aren't (weren't) as good as our three point "D" was early on. The answer is always somewhere in between. All that said... I see no way this team doesn't get to 10-10. If they go 10-10, they are an 8/9 seed. 11-9 with one, and we are talking 6, which is my realistic goal for this club. STAY HEALTHY will be #1 - but the Husker Nation defense (and rebounding) MUST improve to get there, too. Thoughts?

"The Fuskers" are pretty good, huh? "The employees beat the employers." Some of my favorite holier than thou language from the Creighton Blue Jays (space intentional) message board. Also discovered from reading that "Creighton wins on a neutral floor many more times than not." The all-time series is back to tied, and in the moment, WE have the bragging rights. If CU would like to cherry pick the last 15 years, that's understandable. We'll just cherry pick the 50 years before that and tonight. Go Fuskers and look forward to seeing the employers at Memorial Stadium in the fall cheering on the employees!!!

I'm happy to say that I hate Creighton and always will. Still mad at their Sports Information Director being the only school on our 2006 schedule to not mail me a media guide for this website. Literally every other team on the schedule would. They were also one of only two schools to not offer a player interview. And their SID corrected me when I typed in "Blue Jays" instead of "Bluejays" in an e-mail explaining why I didn't deserve access to their program. This is just the icing on the cake to the school (and a large part of its fanbase) that sees itself "superior to Nebraska" in every single way and makes sure to always talk down as such. I've never much cared for people who sit around and sniff their own farts.

Since I was quoted in this post, let’s make this clear. I NEVER said tonight was must win and the season was over. I assumed this a loss and said if so, we HAD to beat Creighton and OSU. Which was true. I don’t think any rational person would disagree.

WOW!!! Just WOW!!! So many thoughts... this is going to be "stream of conscious" so get ready for ADHD City. 1. Since I posted at length after a hugely disappointing loss, I figured I need to come on here after an equally impressive win!! 2. When we got down 4-0 and looked completely outclassed the first minute, was anyone else muttering "here we go again" under your breath? 3. This team was the better team tonight. Athletically and skillfully. It was pretty obvious from watching. And we didn't even shoot the ball that well - at least in the first half (and especially from downtown). 4. Offensively, after watching us play twice in person in KC, I can tell you with 100% certainty that this was NIGHT AND DAY different. It looked like two completely different teams. There were back cuts... action away from the ball... PASSING around the floor with multiple swings on top... Everything had a purpose. Cuts were nice. Guys were playing as a TEAM with much less SELFISH and UNPRODUCTIVE ISO action that we saw in KC. 5. I'm not kidding, I was shocked to see the offense look how it did. With our effort on the defensive end and athleticism, this can't be emphasized enough. You have to believe this team is at least a little better from downtown than they've been shooting, too. 6. Nana is a baller. I was impressed with him tonight and have been each time I've seen him. 7. I've seen nothing from Harris. Too bad he couldn't redshirt. He certainly has potential. 8. Kudos to Palmer for some UNBELIEVABLE drives and for playing to his strengths. Less outside shots, more action toward the hoop and some BIG TIME strong moves. Two into traffic that made me say "Wow" out loud. 9. Miles deserves an enormous amount of credit, as do his assistants. They were well prepared today. They weren't again Texas Tech. For now (based on sample), I'll say that Tech is a legit Top 15 team and we caught them on a bad night. Perhaps we didn't get prepared as we should because of short turn around. We were 100% unprepared for that game, but the exact opposite was true tonight. 10. On the other side, we had THREE TIMEOUTS when your PF (Copeland) is bringing the ball up the court and about to get trapped. It was 100% obvious what was about to happen (turnover) - where's the time out? Right after that, next position, exact same thing almost happens. No timeout? Then, no action (one of few offensive possessions all night where we stand around) and an obvious shot clock violation or bad shot with around 7 left on shot clock. No timeout there? We had THREE left!!! 11. I said at the time we lost to Tech that we would likely lose to Clemson (Happy to be WRONG) and that we'd have to win BOTH Creighton and OSU to get quality wins. I said we only had one more loss left in our nonconference. I still agree with that - we ESPECIALLY need that win at home against Creighton. Both for Tournament implications but for Miles to slowly win back some of the bandwagoners and recruiting battles within the state. If we go 2-0 in those two games, we are a 2 game over .500 Big 10 season from dancing. Period. 12. I'd much rather be wondering what seed we're getting on Selection Sunday, NOT if we're going to make it. So let's just win both of the two damn nonconference games, split the first two Big 10 and head into January with only 2 losses on the record and a #18 or so ranking. 13. When will the Athletic Department or retailers start selling some of the cool Husker basketball jerseys/shirts of retro stuff we keep seeing? And when can I finally get a Nebraska Basketball Window sticker with the old school script logo that has the basketball behind it? I had them for years but the prick at Jiffy Lube took it off years ago to put a "next oil change" sticker in its place and I haven't been able to find one on sale in a decade. 14. This win is ENORMOUS for this program. Just HUGE. 15. They had less than 7,000 people there. Pretty pathetic for their recent basketball pedigree. A nice reminder for those who constantly bitch about our fans. Feel free to make this its own topic if you think its good enough. These are different writings than my old school report cards from the first 10 years of the site. GBR!!!

I appreciate your work, 49r, and passion for Husker Hoops. I know 99% of those here do. Many years ago, before most people on this site found it, I and a staff of several others (including several former players and even radio PBP announcers of both men and women) wrote articles on this site daily from November-March. I did interviews with every opponents head coach and a weekly chat with a Husker. We once did the entire Big Red Report magazine basketball preview. Jay Bilas was on this site. Paul Splittorff. Reid Gettys. Major NCAA Division I referees. Many future NBA players. Etc etc. Then somewhere along the way, 4 years into it, I let the hatred of some people burn me out - the non appreciation most showed of all the hard work I was putting in and the several hundred dollars a year loss I was eating. i semi regret it - don't do the same thing as me and walk away. Thank God HHCMatt saved this site and made it better than ever. It makes me happy knowing that a little blog I started in 2005 to deal with a breakup in Charlotte, NC. has morphed into what it has. It's all because of the people here.

Roby is nowhere near ready for the NBA. That "lottery pick" article made me chuckle at the time it came out. That's not to be a jerk - he WILL likely play in the NBA. But it won't be after this year. Think of all the GREAT college players we've seen come and go that didn't even sniff the NBA. Even guys at Nebraska alone. Cookie Belcher... Aleks Maric... Lance Jeter... Nate Johnson... Now, do we really think an inconsistent rising junior is going to be a lottery pick who is playing out of his natural position? Granted, he has MUCH better athleticism than the majority of the above names, but he's nowhere near as accomplished of a college player. And those are just random Nebraska players.

I agree. They came out guns ablazin', and by the 3 minute mark of the first half, they looked gassed and uninterested. They DID play hard on the defensive end (outside of various spurts in the second half) but the offense was so stagnant, selfish and rigid, it cancelled that out. Its possible playing two games in two days found them extremely fatigued/not well enough conditioned. Any way you spin it, this game was not a good look for Miles. He 100% HAS to beat 2 of the 3 between Clemson, Creighton and OSU. Drop two of these and regardless of Big 10 finish, we will be (at the best) on the bubble Selection Sunday.

Texas Tech throttles #24 Huskers Copeland the lone bright spot as Tech proves to be the better team Hello All, Longtime lurker, first time poster. The first part is true, at least. I thought I would chime in with my thoughts on tonights game since I was able to attend in person (last night as well). We will break this down as "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly" THE GOOD: -Our starting five is scary talented. The athleticism and INDIVIDUAL players are there. -We have better depth than I anticipated. I have been pleasantly surprised by Nana, Tanner and Brady (though we didn't see him tonight). Amir hasn't shown me much yet but that's to be expected by a true freshman. -Isaac Copeland is off to a great start. -Glynn Watson shows the energy and glue you need. -The defense has been pretty dawgone good. THE BAD: -We have NO ACTION OFFENSIVELY. AT ALL. It's all iso. -Our in bounds plays leave........ a lot to be desired. -We will struggle rebounding against bigger teams (though we won that battle last night and we already knew this fact going into the season). -We are very selfish and there's very little fluidity to the offense. -James Palmer has looked brutal in all but one game, really. Is he banged up more than we know? THE UGLY: -This game. Look...... We could afford ONE game like this in the nonconference. ONE. The problem is, we now have used it up, and have no margin for error until Big 10. We literally CAN'T lose more than one more nonconference game if we want to get to the NCAA Tournament. I really believe that. Think about it, if we lose to Clemson AND either Creighton or Oklahoma State, we have the exact same problem as last year - we lost to the good teams in nonconference, and picked up 1-2 marginally good wins. AKA, its doubtful Seton Hall is a signature win. So losing to Clemson, Texas Tech and either Creighto nor OSU would give us nothing impressive in the noncon. GRANTED, the Big 10 is much stronger this year and finishing in the Top 5 would mean more. BUT if we can't beat OSU on a neutral court and Creighton at home - after already getting TROUNCED by Texas Tech - we likely aren't going to finish Top 5 in the Big 10 anyways, especially since we aren't likely to see an experienced team get a whole lot better at this point in the process. I was EXTREMELY frustrated tonight at the game... Can honestly say I cussed out loud for the first time ever as a Husker fan in public toward Coach... and I'm not proud of myself for that. I love Tim Miles. I really do. I love James Palmer. I love Isaac Copeland. I love Roby. Etc. I want all these guys to have the pro careers they want, too. There is a LOT invested in this team, program and INDIVIDUALS future. That's one thing I'm really worried about, is how individual'ized this team looked the last two days. I have yet to read any other posts on the board so I might be in left field with these thoughts, or maybe I'm dead on. I just wanted to get my thoughts on "paper" before reading others and while they were fresh in my mind. Tonight certainly felt like any number of nights throughout the last 20 years, didn't it? It could have been any coach or any team we've had with high expectations - and there's been more than we realize. The good news is the season is VERY young and its quite possible we just had an off night. It's also possible Texas Tech is a Top 15 team and this ends up not hurting us in the least. BUT at some point, we have to start beating good and great teams if we plan on A. Making the NCAA Tournament and B. Winning a couple of games. And anything less this year would be a massive failure. View full article

If only Coach Miles would have played Palmer in OT at PSU. If only Gill’s shot goes down against KU. If only we hadn’t laid an egg at Illinois. Unfortunately that’s one too many “if only’s.” But I hope the Vault is rockin’ en route to a deep NIT run gBr

Dirk, I would DEFINITELY buy a few copies of the book if you guys could print it. Could you please consider this?

I would say odds are 70% that Palmer is back, 50% that Copeland is back and 30% that Jordy is back. Likely wouldn't have made an ounce of difference, but I was pretty shocked at how little Jordy played today. Seems like a good game to have had a rim protector/inside presence.

About making the Dance. Normally, I'd say "we control our own destiny" with 8-4 and 6 games left including the conference tournament. However, I'm starting to think we DON'T control our own destiny because of jack asses like Joe Lunardi and Bracket Geeks. They're SO OBSESSED with the B1G being down, and us not playing two games against the Top 3, that they're almost saying even winning out won't do it unless we also win 1-2 in the B1G Tournament. How much bullshit is that? You're telling me 14-4 in the Big 10, with 23 wins, and an RPI inside 50, isn't going to get us in? I apologize to the posted ten days ago who I called out for saying "we have to run the table to get in." I'm starting to sadly think they're correct. And even that might not do it. Please tell me to calm down and help me ease my anxiety. There are much more important things in the world but I'm legitimately uptight, anxious and angry about this. Are we REALLY going to get left out if we go 14-4 but lose to Michigan/Maryland/Indiana in the B1G Tournament? Furthermore, if we lose one more game (let's say maryland) but then beat Michigan before losing the next game, does that get us in? Pretty ridicolous.

Is the man, the myth, the legend. We all know that. But does anyone else see Cookie Belcher every time he gets the ball? Their games are different - I'm not comparing games. But how they look? Exact same build. Exact same skin tone. Similar handles. Am I the only one who sees Cookie Belcher every single night when I see James Palmer? By the way, Cookie is my favorite Husker basketball player of all time.

I would agree that it's 40-60 on NU getting in the dance. However, saying they have to go 9-0 to get in is borderline testable for drugs. If NU goes 7-2 plus one, they will be dancing.

Long shot but looking for three 100 level tickets for Saturday against Iowa. Taking my girlfriend to her first game with Mom. Will pay fair price. Can anyone help? Dave