Blackshirt83

20 wins and we have four games more games for sure. This is the kind of season I hoped we’d be having when we hired Fred. I hope like hell we get over our big hump the second half of March, but this has already been one of the most fun seasons I’ve known. Can’t wait to watch the rest play out.
 
GO BIG RED!

Drove from KC. Sat front row behind the Purdue bench. My voice is gone.  Most fun I have had at a husker basketball game. 

My favorite play of that game was with ~:50 left and the game entirely in hand, JL jumps a passing lane and gets a tip, then dives for the loose ball. 
 
When players can eliminate having context determine their habits and effort you end up with a good team. 

This isn't necessarily a starting lineup or rotation prediction. Just wanted to kind of compare the roles/rotation of our last 8 regular season games to what it could look like next year. During that stretch, we went 6-2 with three wins over NCAA tournament teams and 2 over NIT teams. 
 
Lead guard – Sam Griesel > Ahron Ulis
Sam is going down as an all-time fan favorite and for good reason. He did have his flaws at the position. If he were Iowa’s starting pg last year, his numbers wouldn’t have been as impressive. Ulis fits better with Nebraska than he did with Iowa. He might actually be the only likeable player in Iowa basketball history. Guard – Keisei Tominaga < himself next year
I don’t expect him to average 20 ppg like he did the last however many games. But I do think he can average 15-17 over the course of a season. And he will definitely have the same gravity and demand the same attention he did from defenses during his hot streak. Guard – Jamarques Lawrence < himself next year
Huge fan of Lawrence. I think very highly of his game. He will again benefit from having a point guard who is pass first. I don’t think he would’ve fit well with Wrightsell. Wing – CJ Wilcher << Brice Williams
Post – Derrick Walker > Rienk Mast
Mast is solid, though.  
Bench:
Backup guard – Sam Hoiberg < Ramel Lloyd
I think.  And if Ramel is good enough to earn a starting spot, that’d be great. He's undoubtedly a better player than Sam. Sam just kind of did everything correct on both ends of the court. That's important. The good news is, if there are talented guards in the rotation who aren't doing things the right way... we still have Sam.  Wing forward – Denim Dawson << Juwan Gary
Same exact player archetype. Juwan is just better in every aspect. Backup 5/occasional 4 – Wilhelm Breidenbach << Josiah Allick
This would really be a big deal. Post depth – Blaise Keita/Oleg Kojenets < Blaise Keita/Wilhelm Breidenbach 
-           
 
More guard and wing depth with Hoiberg, CJ, Rice, Jacobson

Scheduling needs to be smarter. We were 11-4 at home and 4-9 on the road. That's 13 road games. Meanwhile no other Big Ten team played more than 11 road games all season except Indiana with 12. We have no buisness leading the conference in road trips. 
 

Scheduling needs to be smarter. We were 11-4 at home and 4-9 on the road. That's 13 road games. Meanwhile no other Big Ten team played more than 11 road games all season except Indiana with 12. We have no buisness leading the conference in road trips. 
 

Scheduling needs to be smarter. We were 11-4 at home and 4-9 on the road. That's 13 road games. Meanwhile no other Big Ten team played more than 11 road games all season except Indiana with 12. We have no buisness leading the conference in road trips. 
 

Scheduling needs to be smarter. We were 11-4 at home and 4-9 on the road. That's 13 road games. Meanwhile no other Big Ten team played more than 11 road games all season except Indiana with 12. We have no buisness leading the conference in road trips. 
 

Scheduling needs to be smarter. We were 11-4 at home and 4-9 on the road. That's 13 road games. Meanwhile no other Big Ten team played more than 11 road games all season except Indiana with 12. We have no buisness leading the conference in road trips. 
 

Keisei Tominaga is my spirit animal.

Interesting comments from Rapheal Davis after the game. (I did text to speech) “This is the day that made me realize why they call him the Japanese Steph Curry because it goes beyond His shooting ability from the logo - he’s gonna make shots all over the floor but his ability to move without the basketball is big time, his game play is better live - guys not really seeing him, the cuts-he found ways to affect the game outside of the three-trying to get him looks and to 30 points in this game. And I don’t think Penn State respected him. I’ve been in this league, Ive played against guys in this league. And Tominaga doesn’t pass the look test for some guys and they treated him like a scrub and he made them pay every single play down the court”
 
 

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/page/bracketology/ncaa-bracketology-2023-march-madness-men-field-predictions
 
We might not be that far out.
 
But this has to improve.

The St. John's loss, Oklahoma, and Memphis you can maybe explain away as not having DW.  I would say had we beat Purdue and been 9-5 right now, we were firmly on the bubble.  The PU loss stings, the IU loss is explainable being a road game.  We also looked like dog doo doo against KSU on a neutral floor.
 
This team is completely different with DW on the floor and in the starting lineup.  The confidence of the entire team has revolved around DW.  It's amazing really.  However, I don't think we're on any radars just yet.  We're still a "tough out in Lincoln" team on a lot of radars.  Not a true bubble contender yet.
 
Want to be on the bubble?  Win @ MSU and @Minny and then come and talk to me.  That's not too tall of a task this year and a right side of the bubble team needs to take advantage of those two games.

I don't know if anyone has said it yet - but major kudos to our Assistant Coaches for their energy and gameplan last night, and especially our new Assistant Coach Howard on the defensive effort/philosophy. Nate Loesner is all over the place helping dudes and talking. Huge upgrade. 

Well, I hope your pure speculation is wrong and that it's something more like a nagging hamstring or something like that.
 
Because: 1) this dude got PAID to play this year; 2) his coach is CLEARLY on the hot seat; 3) he is one of the most important players on the team who we need to have do well if there's any hope for this season and, frankly, any hope for this staff.
 
If your speculation turns out right, then this guy didn't just let down his team. His absence could result in losses that become the nail in the coffin of the Hoiberg tenure. If he jeopardized the coach's job for THAT, I would be righteously pissed if I was a member of this staff.
 
There's a lot at stake for a lot of people so I sure hope he wasn't ... y'know ... doing what you said.

Congrats on becoming an US citizen
 
 

1. Keita. 6'11" 😐 230 lbs. 😯 #1 Juco in Kansas Averaged 50.3% from the field, 72.8 from the line with 17 points 12.8 REB 2.7 BLK and 1 STL per game/40 🤩
 We need him to be able to get within the ballpark of what he did in JUCO if this team is going to be successful. Not only is he going to need to help out on offense but in order for this team to be close to the defense it will take for this roster to win games he will need to be even better at defending the rim.
 
2. Lloyd He will actually be a better player than Keita but Keita is more critical to winning in the Big Ten. And the big man can't put the ball in the basket unless someone passes him the ball. Besides our last long armed pg turned out pretty good.
 
3. Juwan Gary This guy was a star in high school and then he tore his acl. After rehabbing he played pretty well off the bench for a real good Alabama team. He is a very efficient scorer and he is also a good rebounder. Honestly he could easily be #1 but I'm not gonna lie, I would love to have this guy off the bench giving short bursts of efficient scoring, forcing his way to rebounds and being the guy making sure we don't have no multiple minute scoring droughts.
 
4. McPherson If you're gonna count him I will use him. He is a very talented player who had some serious offers coming out. He redshirted last year so he knows the playbook ,has got his college body and is ready to go. The reason he's not higher is that he is at the position with the most depth and so he may not have the pt to match the others.
 
 
5. Kojenets This is the tough one. Griesel, Bandoumel or Kojenets? It could have easily be any of the three but I will go Kojenets just because he has something the other two don't and there is less competition at his spot. Expecially considering fouls can pile up in this league. If he redshirts then Griesel is the next option. I know he's not redshirting. 😄

1. Keita. 6'11" 😐 230 lbs. 😯 #1 Juco in Kansas Averaged 50.3% from the field, 72.8 from the line with 17 points 12.8 REB 2.7 BLK and 1 STL per game/40 🤩
 We need him to be able to get within the ballpark of what he did in JUCO if this team is going to be successful. Not only is he going to need to help out on offense but in order for this team to be close to the defense it will take for this roster to win games he will need to be even better at defending the rim.
 
2. Lloyd He will actually be a better player than Keita but Keita is more critical to winning in the Big Ten. And the big man can't put the ball in the basket unless someone passes him the ball. Besides our last long armed pg turned out pretty good.
 
3. Juwan Gary This guy was a star in high school and then he tore his acl. After rehabbing he played pretty well off the bench for a real good Alabama team. He is a very efficient scorer and he is also a good rebounder. Honestly he could easily be #1 but I'm not gonna lie, I would love to have this guy off the bench giving short bursts of efficient scoring, forcing his way to rebounds and being the guy making sure we don't have no multiple minute scoring droughts.
 
4. McPherson If you're gonna count him I will use him. He is a very talented player who had some serious offers coming out. He redshirted last year so he knows the playbook ,has got his college body and is ready to go. The reason he's not higher is that he is at the position with the most depth and so he may not have the pt to match the others.
 
 
5. Kojenets This is the tough one. Griesel, Bandoumel or Kojenets? It could have easily be any of the three but I will go Kojenets just because he has something the other two don't and there is less competition at his spot. Expecially considering fouls can pile up in this league. If he redshirts then Griesel is the next option. I know he's not redshirting. 😄

1. Keita. 6'11" 😐 230 lbs. 😯 #1 Juco in Kansas Averaged 50.3% from the field, 72.8 from the line with 17 points 12.8 REB 2.7 BLK and 1 STL per game/40 🤩
 We need him to be able to get within the ballpark of what he did in JUCO if this team is going to be successful. Not only is he going to need to help out on offense but in order for this team to be close to the defense it will take for this roster to win games he will need to be even better at defending the rim.
 
2. Lloyd He will actually be a better player than Keita but Keita is more critical to winning in the Big Ten. And the big man can't put the ball in the basket unless someone passes him the ball. Besides our last long armed pg turned out pretty good.
 
3. Juwan Gary This guy was a star in high school and then he tore his acl. After rehabbing he played pretty well off the bench for a real good Alabama team. He is a very efficient scorer and he is also a good rebounder. Honestly he could easily be #1 but I'm not gonna lie, I would love to have this guy off the bench giving short bursts of efficient scoring, forcing his way to rebounds and being the guy making sure we don't have no multiple minute scoring droughts.
 
4. McPherson If you're gonna count him I will use him. He is a very talented player who had some serious offers coming out. He redshirted last year so he knows the playbook ,has got his college body and is ready to go. The reason he's not higher is that he is at the position with the most depth and so he may not have the pt to match the others.
 
 
5. Kojenets This is the tough one. Griesel, Bandoumel or Kojenets? It could have easily be any of the three but I will go Kojenets just because he has something the other two don't and there is less competition at his spot. Expecially considering fouls can pile up in this league. If he redshirts then Griesel is the next option. I know he's not redshirting. 😄

We averaged 73.3 ppg last year. 4th in the Big Ten. The 3 teams ahead of us won 20+ games. We also had the worst defense by a huge margin. We were-5.3 giving up an average of 78.5 ppg. Other than Nebraska, only Maryland (70.7) and Iowa (71.2) gave up more than 70.
 
If we average 70 ppg on offense that would have been good enough for 11th last year in offensive output. So if we average 70, to have the kind of season we hope for we would have to go from giving up 78.5 ppg to at least 68ppg and really to be safe, about 66. That's a switch from -5.3 to +4.0.
 
I'm not saying it's impossible or that it won't happen. I hope to God it does because it would be amazing.. but in order to do that we would basically have to go from what we were last year to being Wisconsin. We really need someone or a couple of guys to get together and get us an extra 4ppg over your 70. If we can get to 74ppg getting the defense to 71-72 is at least a legitimately good chance. Though again +4 is the dream so giving up 70 and putting up 74 would likely be getting everything out of this roster in this league.
 
BTW not enough credit is given to Rutgers coaches. Last year was a  masterclass of getting the absolute most out of a team. They were only +2 giving up 66.5ppg while scoring 68.5. Yet somehow won 18 games and were 2 games over. 500..  If Fred and his staff could do that kind of work here, they would have statues.

A lot of people will be happy to see him go, but be careful what you wish for. Lot of guys on the roster have ties to him. 

A very disappointing end to an even more disappointing season. Sorry, this is a bit long! 😁
 
1. There were some questionable calls in the game but Verge and Trey we’re out of control at the end of the game. It’s hard to call a foul for a guy who’s out of control. (Side note: What did Hoiberg call for the last play? I can’t think it was give it to Trey to go the length of the court.) Verge was mostly good but had some killer TOs. Hope McPherson is a strong PG. He seems like such a good leader on the bench. 
 
2. Walker was excellent tonight. I know he’s older, but it would solidify our post play if he came back with Blaise, Andre, Wilhelm, etc. Would also be nice if Denim could play the 3 and 4. 
 
3. Lat needs to go. I don’t want to beat up on the guy. He puts forth effort, but he can’t catch the ball, lacks confidence shooting, and needs to be stronger at the rim. 
 
4. Trey was so good on defense, especially in the first half. Will miss that defensive play and playing with an edge. Would be great to have back but I doubt it will happen. 
 
5. Bryce was very disappointing tonight. His defense was poor and seemed disinterested at times on offense. That said, he should’ve received more foul calls in the first half. If he would commit to playing defense, he would be such a dynamic player. He would be better than Jaden Ivy because he can score more easily and with more variety. Hope he comes back but I highly doubt it. 
 
6. Fred can’t control stupid TOs, but he can control when he calls timeouts. Gotta call one sooner against the zone. And please make some changes with the coaching staff so that we have a complete roster, not just some athletes. 
 
7. Finally, thanks for all of you on this board with such great insights, humor, and also kindness. Most boards get a little too rude and obnoxious. But you guys are great! Thanks and here’s to hoping for better days ahead! 

No one is making that case about Gates because it would require a fundamental misunderstanding of the issues and/or how a basketball team works in general.

Really easy. I defend Matt because he's the one getting all the blame. Unless you count Doc getting some of it. Which should tell you everything you need to know. 

If the other assistants were getting the blame I would be defending those guys. Maybe not as staunchly, because I think Matt is the most important assistant we have and aren't going to get anywhere close to being better going without him bringing in the talent he has. You could replace either of the others, and it would have to be a big upgrade downgrade to make a huge difference. And I don't expect it would be either. But I would be against making any staff changes. 
 
If you want Nebraska to be a legitimately good basketball program, we need to be quiet, ignore the media and let these guys have 5 years of freedom to make and fix mistakes. This will be a top 20 program at the end of it.
 
If we don't ignore the media and the bad parts of this process, and continue to call on the athletic department to make stupid decisions that handicap or flat out chop the legs out of the coaches (like forcing the firings of key assistants and forced schematic changes) Then Nebraska will continue to be a terrible athletic program.
 
* The term we isn't necessarily us here it's colloquially the ones who have a role in affecting the decisions being made in the athletic department.
 

Really easy. I defend Matt because he's the one getting all the blame. Unless you count Doc getting some of it. Which should tell you everything you need to know. 

If the other assistants were getting the blame I would be defending those guys. Maybe not as staunchly, because I think Matt is the most important assistant we have and aren't going to get anywhere close to being better going without him bringing in the talent he has. You could replace either of the others, and it would have to be a big upgrade downgrade to make a huge difference. And I don't expect it would be either. But I would be against making any staff changes. 
 
If you want Nebraska to be a legitimately good basketball program, we need to be quiet, ignore the media and let these guys have 5 years of freedom to make and fix mistakes. This will be a top 20 program at the end of it.
 
If we don't ignore the media and the bad parts of this process, and continue to call on the athletic department to make stupid decisions that handicap or flat out chop the legs out of the coaches (like forcing the firings of key assistants and forced schematic changes) Then Nebraska will continue to be a terrible athletic program.
 
* The term we isn't necessarily us here it's colloquially the ones who have a role in affecting the decisions being made in the athletic department.