bkamler

I am loving our freshman, even the walk ons. However, as a team there is no evidence that our players have been coached on how to break a press. If I'm coaching against the Huskers I would press and press some more. As a general rule we take forever to in bound the ball which allows the D to set up. Then we throw in to one side or the other and make lateral passes back and forth slowing advancing the ball while giving the D chances to steal it and running time off the thirty second clock. On occasion I have even seen the ball laying under the basket after the opponent scores before we even pick it up to in bound it. It might be ugly folks if the coaches don't coach them up on the press. It isn't rocket science...you in bound as fast as possible and if the guy who receives the pass on the move can't fly by the D before it sets up then he passes it right back to the in bounder who should be darting by at full speed to receive the pass. Then you should have a numbers advantage and you make them pay for pressing! I am afraid that if we stay with our previous press approach we are doomed against about any athletic team with size. But no matter what Go Big Red!

I didn't intend to call anyone out nor did I post anything that anyone should reasonably take as being "called out". Perhaps my post could be considered one of those "micro aggressions" that I have heard about. If so, I send you my micro apology..

I understand that Tai hasn't lived up to what we had hoped to this point. But at the same time, if you are going to call us out for getting excited about Tai after 2 exhibition games, couldn't the same be said about calling him out after one bad game vs Nova? I know that the last 2 years haven't gone as we have hoped for Tai. BUT, this season is early. Tai is actually a very good defender, and with his length can give teams fits. Where we need Tai is slashing to the rim and then making good decisions. Will he ever do this? Who knows. My hope is the coaching staff can get him to understand that when he does attack the rim, he has the option to kick the ball out. Tai actually is pretty darn good getting to the rim....the problem is he doesn't always finish well. As I stated in my first post, he has to learn when to get to the rim, and when to kick it out (reading the defense). As far as starting Morrow/Watson to this point, I disagree with most on this board. I have ZERO problems bringing those two off the bench. Here is why. Say you just go ahead and start them. Did they truly "earn" that position, or do you just give that to them because Tai and Benny struggled in a few games? Make these guys earn that spot. Plus, you are then telling Benny/Tai that their hard work for the past 2-3 years has moved them to the bench. Does this cause friction with the team? I would say no, but that is only because I think Benny/Tai are really good teammates. Not only that, but I think starters in a basketball game are the most overrated things in sports. Who really cares who starts the game? I want my best 5 on the court at the end of the game. I know some will say "Well we don't want to dig ourselves into a hole." But from what I remember last night, we got out to a 23-16 lead with that starting core on the court?

Getting the ball in ASAP minimizes the effectiveness of a press big time. Whoever gets the ball gets out of bounds and gets it in to whoever is open. Then that person passes it back to the in bounds person as he runs full speed to attach the D.

Family members were getting high on Webster after the exhibition and first game. I cautioned them that Webster may once again not be able to finish on his drives when we play legit D1 teams. Wish I had been wrong. He and Parker shoot about 35% or so on lay ups and their TO's in this game were simply embarrassing when they are in leadership positions. I say bring them off the bench for defensive purposes as needed. Otherwise unless they improve greatly they need to sit for the most part.

Parker and Webster are non-scoring turnover machines. Sad really.

Here's the Rivals 2016 top 150 players that NU is listed as being "n the hunt" for: Marques Bolden 6/10/240 Five Star Schnider Herald 6/10/255 Four Star James Banks 6/10/230 Four Star Isaiah Roby 6'6/185 Four Star - Committed to Huskers Mitch Lightfoot 6'8/210 Three Star Jeriah Horn 6'6/220 Three Star Brison Gresham 6'7/210 Three Star Kevin Marfo 6'8/235 Three Star At least we are running with the big dogs on the recruiting trail...need to land one or two of the 6'10 kids!

Could it be that the suite owners whose continuing donations are needed are pushing for alcohol sales to enhance the atmosphere in their boxes for their corporate guests?

Played 18 with youngest son at Woodland Hills. Then ate T-bone steaks, with taters and salad and watermelon. Gave second oldest son, who has failing kidneys and Crohn's disease, a long good bye hug...they live in Chicago. Other son and daughter called me. Great day.

Pains me to say it but New Mexico has had and still has a much better BB program than NU. Don't know about the money being paid to Harriman.

Calling Pitchford a "quitter" is a bit harsh even though I was tempted to do so when I first heard he was leaving the team. Here's how I look at it. God gave Walter many gifts with some of the obvious ones being intelligence, height and coordination. It seems to me that he has utilized his intelligence on and off the court and he has utilized his coordination to shoot the ball although the accuracy was certainly missing this season. On the negative side, I have never seen a 6'10 basketball player who has played any "shorter" than he did over the last two seasons both on offense and on defense and in rebounding on both ends of the floor. Anyone who has played basketball knows that rebounding results are positively affected by "effort" and "tenancity" as evidenced by the many 6'4 players around the country that are accomplished rebounders. I suppose you could say that Walter was forced to play out of position and that's not fair....blah, blah, blah. How many of us wouldn't have loved to be "forced" to play "out of position" in a D1 sport, while getting a full ride, having chicks chasing you, enjoying the best athletic facilities and the best fans in the world world. I could go on and on. Most, if not all of us would say: "Where do I sign up?" So, I will refrain from calling Walter a "quitter". However, unless there is more to the story and there may be, it looks like he did "quit" on his teammates by not getting over the "I" part and by working harder than he did to do what he was asked to do to help them and Coach Miles to win games. I wish him well. And, by the way, he is showing good judgment in getting a masters in business, as his ethnic studies major is pretty worthless in my opinion. I know I probably violated some PC rule by saying that but practically speaking I am quite confident that there are many more people majoring in it then there are professorship openings to teach it. I wish Walter nothing but good luck in his business career.

I hope we can pick up a JC player who can rebound and play some D with intensity. Also he needs to be able to catch passes in the post for the kick out on three's. If he can pass and score a little it will be a bonus. As for Pitchford I really do not have patience for anyone who has gifts and does not use them but I sincerely wish him well and thank him for opening up space for someone else.

Petteway IMO can only play point guard in the NBA and after leading the Big Ten in turnovers it would be incredibly surprising if he was even drafted by the NBA. If he wants to have a better chance of playing in the NBA It would be in his best interest to come back and work on cutting down on his TO's and hitting a much higher percentage on his three's and getting some control of his emotions. He's a hard worker and I wish him the best on and off the court.

I remember watching Matzke turn down six or seven ten foot shots in the first half of a game at the Devaney Center and I couldn't take if any more. I stood up and yelled: "If you can't hit that shot then buy a damn ticket and sit next to me!" Someone who knew me came down a couple of rows and whispered in my ear: "His parents are sitting right behind you and he is not allowed to shoot by Iba only in to pass to Hoppen and play D." I was so embarrassed that I moved elsewhere. Matzke did play a big role in the upset of #1 Missouri on the road that year.

Michael Jacobson wonders what he did to piss you off... And McVeigh...

Well said.

Unfortunately, this game was so typical of the entire season. We had huge droughts, sometimes looked like the scout team playing the starters and then we fight and claw our way back and almost get r doneat the end. At times this year I felt like I was a "lemming marching to the sea" as I would arrange my life around attending or watching every minute of every game even though after about the sixth or seventh game it seemed like something was seriously wrong with this team.I hate to say this but over the last six games I never felt that we would win even though I knew it was possible in most of the games. I have followed the Husker basketball team since 1958 and I don't ever remember being as embarrassed as I was when we had ten shots blocked in the first half. And these were not deflections, they were stuff it in your face, out and out blocked shots that never even got rim high! I guess if you are a positive person you could say that we only had four blocked shots in the second half. It reminded me of our Class B high school team scrimmaging the local Class D team and we must of blocked 15 of their shots because they were shorter and less athletic and basically were not prepared for that. That's what it looked like yesterday. Question for our team: HAS ANYONE ON OUR TEAM HEARD OF A PUMP FAKE? Guess not. Next, this year it became apparent that our players seem to lack the most basic elements of basketball common sense when it comes to knowing when to help out a trapped player or when to shoot into the gap in middle for a pass and an easy bucket or how to properly space each other on offense. Is this from playing too much AAU ball and not practicing enough? I absolutely love Shields as a player but as a player who is shooting his 3's in the teens, percentage-wise, it is joke when he pump fakes five or six times a game in three point territory. As if that's going to be an effective move...you just had to laugh. Finally, congratulations to PSU for the way they broke our press. Unfortunely, they made us look like 6th graders as they threw the long pass entry pass to the their bigs who then passed to a cutting ball handler who then crossed the center line within three seconds or even less from when the ball was passed in bounds. I sadly compare that to us against the press who all year threw the ball into the corner where we fought against the double team time after time. I hope Miles learned something about breaking the press in this game. I am sure he knows this stuff but he has apparently forgot it. Questions: Why in the last two games did we not have Fuller in when we needed a three to tie. I believe we had Benny Parker in at the end of both games when we needed a three. And why didn't we throw the ball into Petteway and just have him speed his way up the court and launch a three? It was our best hope. When Shields got the ball again for the possible tying three point shot, I believe that most of Husker nation probably let out a huge groan of dispair but hoped for a miracle. I so wanted him to somehow hit that shot and get the monkey off his back. On to next year. I am a self-confessed Red kool aid drinker so I think (hope) next year will be much better but we need to get a "big" because not getting the ball into the post just killed our offense this year. I believe there will be an opening or two on our roster and I hope we can get a JC big that will give us a chance in the middle next year.

This game is embarrassing! Seven blocked shots and o for ten from non Petteway /Shields teammates!

I did make some presumptions but I also asked if anyone had any insight into how Patton ended at up at Creighton. I got some intelligent answers to that question from some of you guys and I thank you. To others if I caused your panties to bunch up it was not intentional and I am sorry. GBR!

What is that incredible for Class A? Would it be incredible for Class C1? D2?

I saw the other night where Patton had about 25 points and 22 rebounds for Omaha North. Those are incredible numbers for Classs A. He's listed at 6'11 and is ranked as a four star by Profile, Scout, Rivals and ESPN. I presume Miles offered him and recruited him hard but obviously he would rather be a Bluejay than a Husker. Anybody have any insight into his recruitment and how he ended up at Creighton? So, next year looks like another year of no "bigs" for the Huskers unless someone tranfers out. And the most likely transfer would be a "big" by the name of Hammond that Miles has shown little regard for. We have desparately needed a "big" all year and even though Hammond burned his red shirt he only played a few meaningless minutes. Fuller would likely transfer if he hadn't already used his red shirt year but his only option is to go small school to get immediate playing time without sitting out again, so he may stay which I would like. So we'll maybe have Hammond at 6'10 with no experience at all and we'll have Pitchford at 6'10 who plays like he's 6'4 or so, and Morrow, who is not really a "big" at 6'7 or 6'8. However, he does reportedly likes to bang, rebound and block shots but he will be a freshman. To summarize, unless someone transfers and Miles can find a servicable JC "big", it will be hard to watch Patton play against us next season knowing he was right in our back yard and rejected us.

Fuller look good his four minutes or so, lots of energy then benched until minute something left.