HuskerBB

I do agree with the point about Miles backing off a little bit on the screaming at the kids during the games. Generally that is not something that bothers me but it does seem like we have too many guys that play like they are too scared to make a mistake. Tai is one that seems to go into a funk at times when Miles blows up at him. That was what happened at the Samford game and I think there was some carryover to this one - but in the second half Tai made a really good pass to Andrew and all the sudden he was energized and was the one that really keyed the blowout in the 2nd half. Lots of people criticize Tai and he does deserve it at times - but when he is playing well he is clearly our 3rd best player overall in my view. We need the "good Tai" to be there more often and that happens when he plays aggressively and takes chances. We can't have him playing like he is afraid to make mistakes because then he is simply not effective. With one large exception I do like the quotes from Miles about the rotations going forward. We need to focus on a 3 man rotation at the 2 guard spots with Benny, Glynn and Tai. Personally I would start Glynn and Tai and give them the bulk of the minutes with Benny being the sparkplug off the bench he was two years ago. Miles says he plans to keep starting Benny and Glynn which I don't understand because I think Benny is so much more effective coming off the bench and Tai is the most mentally fragile of the three. At the 5 spot you rotate Jacobson and Morrow using Hammond only in emergencies. We are not going to get great production out of that spot but as we saw for FAR too long against Samford we are simply awful without at least one of the post players on the floor. Morrow is another kid that seems to play as if he is scared to make a mistake - we need to get him enough minutes to get more comfortable on the floor and give him some confidence. At the other two spots you get as many minutes as you possible can from Shields and White and then fill in with McVeigh and maybe Fuller a little bit. McVeigh hit a 3 toward the end of the game which might get him some confidence back in his shot I hope. Fuller drives me kind of crazy. He seems to always be around the ball and involved in plays when he is in the game. Sometimes can't finish but last night had a couple nice finishes with his off hand in the 2nd half. But then you have things like him having a wide open look in the 1st half and throwing up an airball that really was not even close to the basket. Kid is supposed to be a shooter but that was one that you knew was not going to draw iron as soon as it left his hand. All in all the nonconference was pretty much as expected except for the Samford game. Big 10 will be a challenge for this team although in relative terms we have an easier schedule than most with just single games against MSU and Maryland. I said at the beginning of the season that I would be delighted if we went .500 in the conference. That is certainly still true although at this point I am not as optimistic that we could actually finish that high. Would be really nice though to do well enough to at least stay above .500 overall and get an NIT bid so Shavon's senior season has at least some positiveness to it. I think that is possible (maybe not likely but clearly possible). But for it to happen we need to have guys like Tai and Morrow step up and play aggressively and with confidence.

Agreed - but we had 15 turnovers with 15 minutes left to play. At that time I commented that we had a turnover and a missed free throw for every minute of the first 25 minutes of play. Turnovers were not the problem from the 15 minute point on. The game was still very winnable at the point but our lineup selection in the last 15 minutes was horrible.

Wrong game dimes. OK see you fixed it now. Thanks.

Samford is not terrible and we shot horribly - but I still view this as an even worse loss than the Incarnate Word disaster of last year. No way this should have happened. I am a big Tim Miles fan but I did think he got outcoached by a mile tonight. Samford came out of halftime with a few set plays that we were not prepared at all to handle and a press that seemed to have us completely baffled (press in first half did not really bother us at all). Most inexplicable thing though was the crazy lineups we were trying to play. Waiting on the box score to see the numbers but I have no idea what Jack McVeigh did to earn all the minutes he got to night. We are not going to beat anybody playing McVeigh at the 5 with Benny on the floor at the same time. That in itself is a recipe for disaster. I understand Hammond was awful when he was in the game and Jacobson got a couple silly fouls including his 3rd early in the 2nd half. But then we decided to play without a big at all and kept Jacobson on the bench FAR FAR too long. Then when we finally put him back in the game he got 3 rebounds and a blocked shot in 2 minutes as we started to make a comeback - so we pulled him out and sat him the rest of the game. McVeigh has no confidence in his shot right now and does not really even look to score - but shooting is really the only thing he does at this level. He is week defensively, questionable handling the ball and tonight he did not rebound at all. We were really trying to play this game 3 on 5 (I will give Glynn and Tai credit for at least participating when they were on the floor in the 2nd half). Shields and White were by far the two best players on the floor -but they have to have some help from others. Tonight we spent far too long with the guys who would at least try to help a little on the bench. There are going to be games when you don't play well - but really no excuse for losing to a team like Samford on your home floor.

We do have very short memories. Like most freshman with Watson you get lots of extremes both ways. He was very good yesterday - unconscious shooting really. But he has also had some very weak moments this year as well. That said, I agree that I would like to see him starting. He has a lot of talent and needs time on the floor to gain experience and work through the inconsistency. Sometimes you just have to put up with that with young players. Plus I do think Benny is more valuable coming off the bench as a sparkplug.

Losing Tai on a fluke foul was a killer. Not only is he by far our best defender (HUGE difference between him and Watson on the defensive side) but also Tai was the only guy besides Shavon being aggressive on offense. When it got close to crunch time we reverted to bad habits - primarily just relying on dribble drives from Shavon while everyone else just watched. Looked too much like last year on offense. We need Andrew White to challenge himself to be a complement of a challenger to Shavon. Don't let Shavon take all the big shots - be aggressive yourself. Not saying Andrew played poorly tonight - but we do need him to have a little more of a take charge and be a leader on the offensive end. We got opposite kinds of freshman nights from Watson and McVeigh. Jack was a deer staring into headlights in the 2nd half. The game was just to big for him and he played without confidence. He will learn from that and get comfortable in those moments eventually. Watson on the other hand plays with absolutely no fear - sometimes to his detriment. The bad shots he hit in the first half came back to haunt us a little bit when he missed the same kinds of shots in the second half. That said he stepped up and hit a huge double pump shot at the end of regulation. He just needs to do a little better job of picking his spots - which again is something that gets learned from experience. I do just wish he focused more on creating shots for others and not so much on creating shots for himself. He also has a lot of learning to do on defense but that will come over time also. All in all a disappointing finish but not a bad effort overall. I do think Miami is a very legitimate team who should have a good season. Would have been a good win to get - but if we come back and win out the rest of the non-conference games we will be looking good.

Obviously I couldn't watch this one but I would take exception to your "not the style per se" comment. I don't know what style you prefer but I would say this team is 100 x's better to watch than last year's team and from strictly a style perspective for me, more enjoyable than two years ago. I know we made the dance but stylistically, too much standing around and 1 on 1 for my taste. This team runs more and shares more in the half court, back cuts and assists, things if beauty for me. Agree completely Dean. This team will struggle at times - but "style" we are playing so far is much more appealing than the way we played last year. Really like to see an offense with some ball movement and at least some elements of motion.

Ignore this post now. I got it handled for them.

Does anyone on here have a parking pass to the Red Garage that they would be willing to trade/sell for a Green Garage pass + some cash? My parents have had NU season tickets going back to the 1960's. Originally they got a Red garage pass but they got moved to the Green garage last year. We tried to make that work but they are in their mid-80's and that extra walk is difficult for them. They don't get to all the games anymore - but want them to keep going as much as they can - and this was something that kept them from going to more games last year. We tried to get UNL to accommodate them but with no luck. I know that the city sold some Red garage spots also - but I saw that too late and was not able to get one there by the time I checked.

He lost me on the first sentence about the tenure of Tim Miles and the "several underwhelming years". Sounds like he thinks Miles has been here for a long time. I don't know how many are in a "several" but I am pretty sure most people would think it means more than one.

Those look fine. I just wish they would wear the same ones every game and not have those stupid special uniform versions they pull out for certain games.

I think the Runza on the 65th point is really unique and adds something. I know the guy who does it now and he is a nice guy and I think he does a good job. Has done state tournament games for years also. Overall though I don't think the PA announcer really has much impact on my enjoyment of the game either way.

They must have just been setting up the whole thing...there's a lot more than 2 seats in the lower bowl available when I looked. I'd say about a 1/3 to a 1/4 of the lower bowl is green colored. But to be clear the green colored portions just means there are seats available in those sections - usually just a couple in scattered locations. There are more than the 2 indicated earlier - but not a large amount.

I'll be the first to say it... those shorts look hideous without the tops (but maybe that's just me?). Does that mean I get to be the first to say those shorts look hideous even with those tops.

Name one person from our Men's basketball program who has gone from DOBO, video, or OPs who has been promoted to assistant coach here because I can't. No disputing the point really - but FWIW MIke Broughton was the Dir of Basketball Ops for Collier initially and then became a regular assistant (switched jobs at the time with Soupy Campbell who went from being an assistant to the operations job).

Would be interested if anyone can confirm Eaton and Owens leaving. That frankly would bother me more than Harriman as to me it is more indicative of some underlying behind the scenes problem. Harriman leaving can be explained as career advancement. Harder to buy that if you have wholesale changes in staff like this.

Sad to see what should have been an epic game completely decided by one-sided horrible officiating.

I had both these teams in brackets but Duke should be embarrassed by how they have been given this game.

Koenig gets hit much harder every time Duke sets a pick for Jones.

Should have been a charge on Winslow. Coach K has the officials seeing things his way Absolutely - refs are doing everything possible to keep Duke in this game. And then the flop. If you are Dugan how can you know how to play after those 2 charge/block calls.

Should have been a charge on Winslow. Coach K has the officials seeing things his way Absolutely - refs are doing everything possible to keep Duke in this game.

How can you review that and not make a call !!!!

I am guessing that Gino Auriema would agree that this game is "watchable".

I was disappointed with Pitchford's decision for sure, but this one is even worse. Really thought Tarin had a bright future here on the court and he seemed like a really good kid as well. This has been a really bad week for the program.

Really tough to be a college coach these days. I did not follow them closely this year not being in the same conference and know they struggled at times. That said they made the NCAA tournament this season - and Barnes has been by far the most successful basketball coach they have ever had at Texas over the long term. You would think his record of success would mean something but instead I guess he is a victim of his own success as it apparently just created higher expectations.