Huskerpapa

The next game is going to be important from here on out. Meaning, we simply need to prepare and beat Iowa. We cannot look ahead or take anyone or any team for granted.

Aggressive to the basket and around the basket...love it. Despite allowing a dude to go off at the 3-point line, what a great job on defense. Despite struggling shooting the ball, including at the FT line, we did enough to win...on the flippin road. Despite bad halves by a few players, we overcame and won...on the flippin road. We actually had a Jack sighting...but Isaiah and Jeriah came hard off the bench and played exceptionally well. MJ earned some respect by the announcers...and hopefully from the Husker "fans" that have been doubters. Ed was sort of called out for not kicking the ball out more often...I believe the comment was that he only has five assists. But oh man, he still is a beast. Tai and Glynn continue to play well enough that they should be in the discussion for one of the better back courts...at least in the Big Ten. Decent win

The second half was tough to watch UNTIL we went on our 14-0 run. Wow, that was another significant win! Keep it up men!

We seem to be rotating through three home uniforms and now two visitors uniforms. I can honestly say that I like all of them. That said, the black uni's are pretty darn cool.

After many of our earlier losses, there were many individuals who acknowledged that despite those losses, we could see exponential growth within the program. Also acknowledged was going to be the propensity of an early season roller coaster. At this point, I no longer see freshmen as freshmen. They have gained enough experience to get beyond that early season inconsistency. The only remaining concerns I have for our freshmen are (1) what happens when the league starts to adjust scouting reports; can the freshmen adjust their games as necessary. And (2) there tends to be a wall that freshmen can hit as the season nears the end. The constant pressure and pounding can take a toll on players that haven't been thru that grind. We shall see. Good things are happening at this point.

Maybe this was mentioned elsewhere, but in his post-game Coach Miles specifically gave credit to Coach Chris Mack from Xavier for his 1-3-1 philosophy. And in a subliminal message he provided credit to posters on Husker Hoops Central for their very valuable input

I tend to agree Normy...Coach Miles is currently at the top of my short list.

I would guess that the hauka is a pretty special event for a native New Zealander. If so, rather than a dude like me doing it, the University should bring in "professionals" and senior night would be the right time I am going to pat myself on the back on Tai. There are a few others as well that should receive similar pats. The "abuse" Tai took in his early years had to be difficult on him. Think about it, he had no parental support around him, no family whatsoever and he was getting hammered. Then, the individual he bonded with and was his main recruiter, left the scene. The kid has kept working hard and his respect to UNL is finally being appreciated and returned to him. Also, a special shout out to TP. I believe Petteway was a big influence on Tai, as was Shavon. I still believe Melo is a special player, but Tia has grown significantly while Melo has continued to be a steady Eddie.

I personally would not be an advocate of having the 1-3-1 as our primary defense. Instead I would leverage it as a change of pace defense. I also am a huge fan of an occasional press, and I believe we have the athletes this year to do it.

They are out there, I am just not sure how we get them. We used to be able to, but landing those players continue to be difficult.

...or how about this one.

The good news is that we haven't quit. Barnett is a playa!

I believe I counted 18 missed tackles in the first half. The offense looks vanilla. There was a lot of talk about us being ready to play --- but we were not. Certainly missing our leaders on both offense and defense. ughh. Looks like we were/are playing to keep the game close rather than to win. Tennessee's talent is markedly better than ours today.

In college basketball, a flagrant foul is a serious personal foul. A foul is considered flagrant when it involves excessive or violent contact that could injure the fouled player. A flagrant foul may be unintentional or purposeful; the latter type is simultaneously known as an "intentional foul" in the NCAA. I can understand why this was called a flagrant, but I can also see inconsistency with the call as I could argue this was not an excessive or violent act. Jordy's back was to the player, he didn't swing at him. The foul ended in injury and wasn't intentional or purposeful. As said, I personally did not think it was excessive or violent; however, the injury likely was the reason the foul was deemed flagrant in nature.

Just thinking a bit out loud, I think our football/basketball program is similar to USC.

It was not a dirty play; in fact, I do not believe Jordy even know he was committing a foul. We have all seen much worse, especially in the paint. It was no more flagrant than the poke in the eye that Evan suffered.

I remember Cookie Belcher up top of our 1-3-1 zone. He caused havoc up top. I also believe he is one of the Husker all-time leaders in steals. It is great to have length up top where it creates issues to rotate the ball.

Isn't that what I said???

My expectations really are the same every year. Post season, preferably NCAA and then wins in the post season. Certainly if we get to that level, then my high expectations will get even higher. There are "only" 13 players on a team. We should be able to recruit players capable of being All-Conference, and eventually All-American. We should be in the hunt for a Big Ten and NCAA championships. Cip was indeed close on occasion. Nee was certainly close and did in fact win a Big 8 tournament championship and NIT championship. So we have been close...but never over that hump.

A day after...a few additional observations, or perhaps emphasized observations: We are a good offensive team when we push tempo. The word aggressive is often heard. Why do we make a decision to walk the ball up the court? Don't know the answer, but the observation seems to have legs. Our freshmen are needed for us to be successful. Being a freshman is no longer an excuse. The difference in each remaining game will come down to just a few good/bad possessions. Sounds sophomoric. Last night seemed to have ebbs and flows, but in this game, we didn't let a few physical mistakes manifest into a number of mental mistakes. We had a few, but not a significant number which seemed to show that we are maturing as a team. We have played in two very venerable venues this year, and in both cases, were not intimidated. That again tells me that we are maturing as a team. One remaining question (Perhaps there are many, many more) but the concern is that this team tends to play to the level of its competition. We need to continue to play well against high level teams, but we also need to play at a high level against less talented teams. In addition, we have struggled more on our home court, then on the road. We need to play at a high level on the road, but it is imperative that we take care of our home court. By the way, by playing well at home, we will win the band wagon riders back.

I will likely never have reasonable expectations, I will always have high expectations. Those high expectations haven't been met. Nee came close at times. Coach Miles had us close one year. Even Doc had us close a couple times. But that doesn't mean changes have to be made. Progress towards those high expectations is being made.

I believe you are going to see Isaiah playing three, perhaps four positions throughout the year. In fact, and this would not be shocking, he may see playing time at all five positions against certain teams and matchups.

Huskers 72 MaryLand 77

Hahaha....many of us had similar predictions.

From the LJS: