throwback

*Offensively we fell in love with the jump shot too much and weren't aggressive enough against the zone. With Olah out we needed to be more aggressive going to the rim, and I thought could've gotten Pardon in foul trouble. An inexperienced player like him can have success just going to the rim again and again offensively early in his career, but playing good defense without fouling is a lot tougher to learn at this level. So it was disappointing we didn't do more of that until late. *As far as our defense, Pardon had the numbers and obviously killed us, but it was mostly because of McIntosh & Demps and the way they ran the pick & roll. I swear they got to the point in the final 10-12 minutes where if the pick & roll lob wasn't immediately there that they were just throwing the ball up toward the rim, almost like a pass, knowing Pardon would go get it if they missed, because they knew we were going to be out of position defensively after defending the pick & roll. I felt like those two really wore down Tai & Benny with their constant movement on the offensive end, and NW did a great job setting screens for those two right at the edge of what's legal. I don't think a single illegal screen was called in the game on either side - have we had a game like that this season? So a credit to NW for understanding how the game was being called & adjusting to it better than we did. *And the above is why Watson didn't play more. His defense was atrocious when he was in there. And also probably why Hammond didn't play - the coaches didn't think he could move well enough to defend the pick & roll. Although I thought going with Fuller & McVeigh at the 5 late when Jacobson was in foul trouble was a huge mistake. And what we probably needed to do was almost match up "lines" like hockey - immediately insert Watson whenever McIntosh or Demps went to the bench and keep him from having to guard either guy, so he could give us a bit of an offensive punch in the 2nd half. *Now the scary part is we're using our supposed best defensive group (no Watson, no Hammond) during most of NW's big 2nd half run and we were still beyond horrible. That is not encouraging with a team like Indiana on the horizon. I know Coach Miles & Mo are man to man guys, but throwing in some zone as a change-up would've been worth a shot, just to get away from the pick & roll and maybe slow NW's offensive momentum. I'm sure they're concerned about how we'd rebound in zone, but I mean we couldn't have rebounded any worse than we did in the second half. I could've sworn I looked on the ribbon boards and the rebounding was something like 17-17 at one point. So to finish minus-15 at 40-25 is almost unfathomable.

Yeah, it's nice to have some home games to start the conference schedule - seemed like we always were on the road to start in the Big XII. But the downside is not having the students on campus for those games. I'm going to save up my voice over Xmas time just to make sure I'm ready to compensate for the lack of students. Need plenty of positive energy in the building for NW & Indy.

Considering our road record of late, and that we have Purdue and Maryland on the home slate, even 9-9 would be a really strong accomplishment in my eyes. There are potentially winnable games on the road, but we have to be much better away from home than we've been the past calendar year plus to collect any of them, which is not easy to do when playing as many true freshmen as we are. Just hoping we can get off to a reasonably good start in the first 6 games, survive the very difficult middle portion of the schedule without losing confidence, and hopefully finish strong. And maybe hope that AJ Hammons and Isaac Haas both decide to turn pro effective immediately on Feb. 29.

Good point on our early B1G schedule - this is the softest 6-game start to a conference schedule in a long time, hopefully we can take advantage of it. It'll be the first time we haven't had a Top 10 ranked team in our first 6 scheduled games since 2006-07.

Love that generator Michigan was the toughest one to figure out for me - they have a ton of toss-up games 1. Michigan State (15 - 3) 2. Purdue (14 - 4) Defeated Maryland based on record against #1 teams. 3. Maryland (14 - 4) Lost to Purdue based on record against #1 teams. 4. Iowa (11 - 7) 5. Indiana (10 - 8) 6. Michigan (9 - 9) Defeated Northwestern based on head-to-head record. 7. Northwestern (9 - 9) Lost to Michigan based on head-to-head record. 8. Wisconsin (8 - 10) Defeated Nebraska, Penn State, and Ohio State based on round-robin record. 9. Penn State (8 - 10) With Nebraska, defeated Ohio State and lost to Wisconsin based on round-robin record. Defeated Nebraska based on record against #4 teams. 10. Nebraska (8 - 10) With Penn State, defeated Ohio State and lost to Wisconsin based on round-robin record. Lost to Penn State based on record against #4 teams. 11. Ohio State (8 - 10) Lost to Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Penn State based on round-robin record. 12. Minnesota (6 - 12) 13. Illinois (4 - 14) 14. Rutgers (2 - 16)

Real NU 57 NW 55 8 wins

Sad news

Neb 81 PV 60

NU 65 Sam 53

I like the idea of going a bit bigger too, let a guy like Morrow be more at his natural position. However with Shields or White at the 2, would we need to play more zone? Can either of those guys handle a B1G level shooting guard in man? If we go bigger, I wouldn't mind seeing some 1-3-1 as a change up, do some trapping. Coach Miles & staff don't seem to like zone much, so it probably doesn't happen. And with the added difficulty of defensive rebounding out of a zone, it might not work well for us. But if you go really big and put Webster at the top of the 1-3-1 instead of Parker or Watson, you could create some problems with all that length I'd think. Couldn't play it as a base defense, but I think it'd work well as a change up for a few minutes a half. Of course then you run into the problem of how much time in practice do you devote to zone defensive work if you're going to only use it a little bit. There's a lot of moving parts in there that all have to be in sync or it doesn't work.

3-0 - Wins (Miss Val St, Dela St, Ab Xian) 2-0 - Wins (Tenn, Rh Island) 2-1 - Wins (SE La, Ark PB); Loss (Miami) 0-3 - Losses ('Nova, Cincy, bluebirds) Pretty clear that as long as we don't wear red, we're fine. Perhaps we can petition the B1G to allow us to wear white at home and on the road, kind of like the Dallas Cowboys. Nebrasketball = America's Team

Huskers 77 URI 65

OWH says today it'll be game time decision, but he won't practice today. It's their Super Bowl, so I'd guess he plays. But will those few days of missed practice mean he's out of rhythm in their system and no longer a perfect fit for it?

NU 73 Sweater Vests 68 7 3s

B1G takes it, 8-6. Although I think Coach Crean is a bit more red than orange after last night. B1G went just 3-4 at home, but came up with 5 road wins with Wisky & PSU winning outright as 'dogs. Those were the only 2 point spread underdogs to win outright, and the B1G won the 2 pick'em games as well (NW & Purdue both winning on the road). Despite Coach Fran's heroics those were the 4 key games. And it appears the Big East lost its challenge series with the Pac-12, 0-1. Tough break for the BE. Wednesday (B1G wins 8-6) at Michigan State 71, Louisville 67 (MSU favored by 6) Wisconsin 66, at Syracuse 58 (OT) (Cuse favored by 5) Penn State 67, at Boston College 58 (BC favored by 1) at Duke 94, Indiana 74 (Duke favored by 10) Notre Dame 84, at Illinois 79 (Domers favored by 2 1/2) at Iowa 78, Florida State 75 (OT) (Iowa favored by 5 1/2) Monday (Tied 1-1) Wake Forest 69, at Rutgers 68 (Wake favored by 6) at Minnesota 89, Clemson 83 (Minn favored by 1) Tuesday (tied 4-4) Michigan 66, at NC State 59 (Mich favored by 1) Northwestern 81, at Virginia Tech 79 (OT) (Pick'em) Virginia 64, at Ohio State 58 (UVa favored by 8) Purdue 72, at Pittsburgh 59 (Pick'em) Miami-Fla 77, at Nebraska 72 (OT) (Miami favored by 6) at North Carolina 89, Maryland 81 (UNC favored by 6)

B1G sweeps the early Wednesday games to take a 7-4 lead and clinches at least a series tie, which means B1G clinches the "championship" - very impressive collective set of performances by the league against some tough competition

I thought Hammond & Morrow were really strong against Miami's big dude - they really battled him all night and didn't let him go crazy on us, which I feared could happen. Miami did a nice job face guarding White, and it was obvious he didn't really want to force many shots - it seemed they rotated help on the penetration a little differently than many teams do, so they didn't have to leave him. Miami's coach had some interesting quotes about White, said he knew White's game well since he had recruited White at George Mason & White's sister played at GMU, so he was around their program a lot as a high school player. Miami is really good and has nice depth, looks like a team that could be in the hunt for the ACC title. We forced them to take - and unfortunately make - a lot of tough shots. Repeating that kind of effort will give NU a chance in nearly every B1G game. A disappointing loss, but certainly not a discouraging one.

NU 90 ACU 62

Not much success for the home teams yet, just 2-6. The B1G is 7-1 against the number, which makes gamblers happy. Tuesday (tied 4-4) Michigan 66, at NC State 59 (Mich favored by 1) Northwestern 81, at Virginia Tech 79 (OT) (Pick'em) Virginia 64, at Ohio State 58 (UVa favored by 8) Purdue 72, at Pittsburgh 59 (Pick'em) Miami-Fla 77, at Nebraska 72 (OT) (Miami favored by 6) at North Carolina 89, Maryland 81 (UNC favored by 6) Wednesday 6:15 pm – Louisville at Michigan State – ESPN (MSU favored by 6) 6:15 pm – Wisconsin at Syracuse – ESPN2 (Cuse favored by 5) 6:15 pm – Penn State at Boston College – ESPNU (BC favored by 1) 8:15 pm – Indiana at Duke – ESPN (Duke favored by 10) 8:15 pm – Notre Dame at Illinois – ESPN2 (Domers favored by 2 1/2) 8:15 pm – Florida State at Iowa – ESPNU (Iowa favored by 5 1/2) Monday (Tied 1-1) Wake Forest 69, at Rutgers 68 (Wake favored by 6) at Minnesota 89, Clemson 83 (Minn favored by 1)

Nice 2nd half comeback by Minny to split the opening day Monday (Tied 1-1) Wake Forest 69, at Rutgers 68 (Wake favored by 6) at Minnesota 89, Clemson 83 (Minn favored by 1) Tuesday 6 pm – Michigan at NC State – ESPN2 (Mich favored by 1) 6 pm – Northwestern at Virginia Tech – ESPNU (Pick'em) 6:30 pm – Virginia at Ohio State – ESPN (UVa favored by 8) 8 pm – Purdue at Pittsburgh – ESPN2 (Pick'em) 8 pm – Miami-Fla at Nebraska – ESPNU (Miami favored by 6) 8:30 pm – Maryland at North Carolina – ESPN (UNC favored by 6) Wednesday 6:15 pm – Louisville at Michigan State – ESPN 6:15 pm – Wisconsin at Syracuse – ESPN2 6:15 pm – Penn State at Boston College – ESPNU 8:15 pm – Indiana at Duke – ESPN 8:15 pm – Notre Dame at Illinois – ESPN2 8:15 pm – Florida State at Iowa – ESPNU

Wake 29, RU 24 at half I think whatever arena Rutgers plays in might be quieter than the BDSC Library was at any point. RU's 1/2 court offense is painful to watch. And Wake doesn't really act like it wants to be there. Good matchup on that level.

Some great match-ups here - some really tough home games for B1G teams - I'm thinking the ACC might take it this year Monday 6 pm – Wake Forest at Rutgers – ESPN2 8 pm – Clemson at Minnesota – ESPN2 Tuesday 6 pm – Michigan at NC State – ESPN2 6 pm – Northwestern at Virginia Tech – ESPNU 6:30 pm – Virginia at Ohio State – ESPN 8 pm – Purdue at Pittsburgh – ESPN2 8 pm – Miami-Fla at Nebraska – ESPNU 8:30 pm – Maryland at North Carolina – ESPN Wednesday 6:15 pm – Louisville at Michigan State – ESPN 6:15 pm – Wisconsin at Syracuse – ESPN2 6:15 pm – Penn State at Boston College – ESPNU 8:15 pm – Indiana at Duke – ESPN 8:15 pm – Notre Dame at Illinois – ESPN2 8:15 pm – Florida State at Iowa – ESPNU NU History (3-1) 2014 – Nebraska 70, at Florida State 65 2013 – at Nebraska 60, Miami-Fla 49 2012 – Nebraska 79, at Wake Forest 63 2011 – Wake Forest 55, at Nebraska 53 Recent History 2014 – B1G 8, ACC 6 2013 – (tie) B1G 6, ACC 6 2012 – (tie) B1G 6, ACC 6 2011 – B1G 8, ACC 4 2010 – B1G 6, ACC 5 2009 – B1G 6, ACC 5 2008 – ACC 6, B1G 5 *ACC leads all-time 10-4-2

Neb 68 Miami 67

Saturday 11/28 3rd - Nebraska 82, Tennessee 71 1st - Cincinnati 61, George Washington 56 Consolation - SE Louisiana vs Ark-Pine Bluff at West Point, 3 pm Championship - Gardner-Webb at Army, 5:30 pm Sunday 11/22 Cincinnati 99, Ark-Pine Bluff 50 Tennessee 89, Gardner-Webb 64 Nebraska 92, SE Louisiana 65 George Washington 92, Army 81 Tuesday 11/24 George Washington 94, Gardner-Webb 65 Cincinnati 64, SE Louisiana 49 Tennessee 95, Army 80 Nebraska 67, Ark-Pine Bluff 44 Friday 11/27 Cincinnati 65, Nebraska 61 George Washington 73, Tennessee 70 Gardner-Webb 77, SE Louisiana 68 Army 81, Ark-Pine Bluff 60

Really liked what NU did this weekend, they exceeded my expectations by an impressive amount. Nice step-up by guys like Webster & Hammond. Good step forward for the team this weekend! Tuesday night should be a lot of fun