twister31

Would like us to go after players that will push our starters for their spot. Much like Cook does in VB. With Williams ACL and Logan's surgery I think we need to pickup a 3 point shooting guard if one is available. 

First and foremost, nothing that is discussed in this topic is a *personal* attack on anyone. Simply, these are observations and thoughts that I and friends/family have had over the last several years (so it's not a knee-jerk reaction to the end of the season).
 
With that, please feel free to add and share what your observations and thoughts are. I'm generally interested to see what the consensus is on the board. These are my rambling thoughts. 
 
First, in terms of the future success of the program, I think it’s been shown that Nebraska needs to get much bigger, stronger/physical, and more athletic. We can beat teams of similar talent and athleticism, and we occasionally beat teams who are higher than us in those elements. But we can’t/don’t *consistently* beat those teams that are in the upper echelon and where I’d like to see Nebraska get to, at least off and on. We need guards who can get to the basket and who can create for themselves as well as others. I've heard several close friends/family members mention that the NCAA tournament has shown that the B1G doesn't have the athletic guards across the league (not like the SEC, PAC-12, etc.). Post play I’ll discuss later on.
 
One way to shore up *some* of these deficiencies is through the portal. In my opinion, we simply don’t utilize it well or enough. It might seem cutthroat, but a coach's job (among others, obviously) is to win, and to do that you need to consistently bring in players who threaten to put your current starters on the bench. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you will always accomplish that, but if you aren’t actively trying to do that, then I think that’s where you get programs that stall out or decline because what you bring in isn’t better than what you have. It's one of the main reasons why volleyball is so successful. Sure, Cook recruits at an extremely high level, bringing in recruits that put multiple-year starters on the bench, but he also uses the portal to accomplish that too (or to fill glaring holes where we don't stack up). Back to basketball, take this year’s team for example. Realistically, out of our starting lineup, we had 2, maybe 3, players who would be considered bona fide starters. The rest were borderline starters/role players elevated to starters or much bigger roles than they might have somewhere else. And to the player’s credit, they played hard and did the most with the situation that they could.
 
I know it’s Williams’ philosophy, but I don’t like, or maybe it's the fact that I don't understand, our sub-patterns. Too many times we get players that just start getting into a groove and then they are subbed out. That can mess with your offensive rhythm, both individually and team-wise, which we saw periodically throughout the year. Either we need to be better conditioned so that players can play longer, or we need to recruit players who can do that. You need to be able to keep your difference makers in the game for as long as possible. One exception that I can think of is the 2009-10 team, they often subbed in five at a time, but they were also a very aggressive in-your-face defensive team; we currently aren’t. I’d be ok with the subs if we pressed a lot and played an in-your-face style, but we don’t and that’s probably because we don’t have the athleticism to do so effectively.
 
Breaking presses, I won't discuss that much. We seemingly have always struggled with it. Does anyone with expert knowledge in that area have any opinions? 
 
Now, let's switch gears to immediate success, starting next year. This *assumes* that the four seniors who walked on senior day are done (looks like it), we don’t have any players transfer out, and that Weidner returns and is at least close to her previous level of play (which is going to be difficult but I’m rooting for her).
 
There is no magic formula to dramatically increase our current collection of guards' athleticism to get by quicker, longer defenders. However, every one of them can improve their ball-handling abilities which would certainly help negate those disadvantages a bit. From observations, we cross over in front of defenders a lot and I’m surprised we don’t have the ball stolen more. Being able to dribble between the legs at a high proficiency would also help. I have also noticed that sometimes when our guards drive, we don’t see who’s open, which, appears to be because of tunnel vision. I think confidence in ball-handling ability would help alleviate that.  I also see a lot of guards from other teams that can drive in and then use a quick spin move and get to the bucket rather easily. I hardly see our players do that (maybe Jaz a couple times?).
 
As far as post-play is concerned, it’s not *that* far off but certainly areas for improvement. One thing that I’m genuinely jealous of is Iowa’s ability to develop posts that have terrific footwork, use quick moves, and know how to use angles and touch to score in the post. I’ve felt too many times that we take very poor angles and/or rocket the ball off the backboard and those shots generally don’t have a chance. Now, the caveat that I will add here is that there was some improvement in this area between last year and this year so I’m leaving that on a wait-and-see mode. However, our defense in the post is....suspect. There are many times you can see the opposing team's post dribbling to one side of the lane and you *know* they're going to drop step back to the other side and it works quite often. I don't know if that's a philosophy thing or if we don't anticipate that move coming, but sometimes it's really obvious. Also, it really annoys me when the posts stop with their hands straight up in the air watching the ball after some contact that may be called a foul. I could put together a small movie of this happening and we lose the rebound because the offensive player simply goes and gets the ball. Like I said earlier, I don't think the post play is off *that* much and it seemed improved this year.
 
In terms of general play, I hope we focus on defense in the offseason. If we could improve it even a bit to the degree we improved our rebounding that would help eliminate some of those losses that we can’t afford (like Rutgers/Illinois). I also hope, that with Prince and a hopefully fully recovered Weidner, we push the issue more on transition. I believe in both of their abilities to get the ball and immediately go. They both have great vision. There may be some growing pains early in turnovers, but I think it's crucial going forward, especially because I think that’s a real strength of both of them. Getting easy baskets in transition would help out immensely. Essentially, what I’m saying is I don't want us to waste opportunities where we have the ability.
 
Last but not least, I think hosting the NCAA tournament is within reach and should be a legitimate goal for next year.
 
This got long, but as I mentioned, these are observations from multiple people that I talked to. Now, rip this apart lol. 
 
 

They also play a very aggressive style of defense so naturally you're going to have to sub more

Actually when we beat UCLA those games were in Minneapolis 

When Anni is in you HAVE to pick and pop with her if Beers is on her. Coaching malpractice not to.

When Anni is in you HAVE to pick and pop with her if Beers is on her. Coaching malpractice not to.

Washington has posted tons of old games from various sports on their UW Video YouTube page. Why can't we do this

Yep, he knows how to get to the hole.

I do think our doubling down low is part of our problem on the road.  We do start some comebacks in even the bad games but then they get those 3’s when we double down low and you give far too many opportunities for the crowds to get back into it. Especially when you have a team that spaces you out.

Cady, Theriot or Romeo

Sorry, but the defense is poor

As I predicted, Van Lith to LSU

Van Lith has a do not contact meaning she highly likely knows where she's going (my money is on LSU)

Yeah no. I hate it when they swallow the whistle at the end. It rewards bad play. 

Did anyone ever hear anything on these potential big portal pickups? Man, need some good news to chew on while I probably have to suffer for the next week+ (come on SDSU!).
 
Let me throw out my own "not even in your wildest dreams" scenario lol. We get Jack Nunge. He decides he's done what he can at Xavier and to make his wife happy they move to Lincoln for a year so she can watch her sister- Kennedi Orr. 

Also, that would have to be a pretty significant pickup to make us pretty close

Small caveat, have him for OU and we win that we don't play Memphis.

The first years in the conference we absolutely owned Iowa. Fun times.

The first years in the conference we absolutely owned Iowa. Fun times.

The portal approach should be the same as vb. You bring in someone to either desperately fill a need, or, to sit a current starter on bench.

The portal approach should be the same as vb. You bring in someone to either desperately fill a need, or, to sit a current starter on bench.

The thing I like most about Alexis and Maggie in at the same time is that if you go into the post, be prepared. Neither take *&^% from anyone.

The thing I like most about Alexis and Maggie in at the same time is that if you go into the post, be prepared. Neither take *&^% from anyone.

The thing I like most about Alexis and Maggie in at the same time is that if you go into the post, be prepared. Neither take *&^% from anyone.

You can relax, she's back!