throwback

And I have no insider knowledge, so you & HB probably are correct. I still dislike the wording, considering recent history and considering how Verge is a lightning rod for fans. Fred carries himself as a players' coach - it's just not good wording from that standpoint. Sigh. I don't know if all of this off-court drama comes with losing at historic levels or the other way around, but I've had enough the past 2 2/3 years to last a lifetime. Now excuse me while I go peruse the NU football roster to see which players we can borrow for our one and done appearance in the B1G Tournament because it's probably 50/50 we're going to need someone.

Terrible news for Verge - certainly understandable why he wouldn't have been in the right frame of mind to play. So why does Fred say it's a "coaches decision not related to Covid"? Especially considering what has ended up happening to players the past couple of years who did not play because of a "coaches decision", as they eventually leave the team before the final few games. Just say he is going though a family issue and is unavailable. Make up an injury. Whatever. Anything but how he worded it. Is no one on that coaching staff aware enough of how a segment of the fan base views Verge to realize that wording is going to create significant speculation? Yikes.

Mich 72 NU 59

That certainly is a valid way to look at it. I can't imagine NU is paying that buyout amount. But the tone with which the local newspapers are covering this train wreck is certainly atypical.

Sipple threw down the gauntlet this morning. Two or three wins in the next four or .... And I'll just leave this here from the OWH's Wisconsin game story: https://omaha.com/sports/huskers/mens-basketball/we-can-t-be-static-familiar-mistakes-sink-huskers-in-a-loss-to-no-11/article_fd305704-7fc7-11ec-bd64-778f51e52e3f.html When the two newspapers are discussing these types of things regularly before February, the seat is beyond hot.

You know apathy has set in when the Hot Seat thread doesn't even get bumped in the aftermath of a home loss.

NU 76 RU 69

I think you misspelled sweep.

You're probably right. I can guarantee I've typed the exact same sentence about being glad to never have to watch him play again in the Wis-Neb game thread for the last 17 years.

Yup, you know Hepburn is going to light us up. And Davison always hits a million 3s against us. Can't wait to never have to watch that #@#$! play again.

Easy. Colorado. Posting our best win by a mile in a game that doesn't count is soooo 2021-22 Huskers.

W 68 N 56 9

There's certainly some merit to this point of view. It certainly could make things worse in the locker room. Maybe the adults could've handled it better. But it also could shine a public light on some things that coaches are choosing to ignore. Maybe having some attention on the frustration of the situation forces coaches to address it and demand change. I don't know that it works, but maybe it's a last ditch effort to salvage something out of this season. Clearly, what they've been doing isn't working, so having some people squirm in their seats a bit could be healthy. There's nothing wrong with tension on a team, as long as the coaches are able to steer it in the right direction.

Kobe and other players have been regular guests on 93.7 since NIL became a thing this summer. I'm guessing they feel very comfortable talking with DP and other former Husker athletes that often participate in the discussions. I'm not saying they coerced him into saying something like this or anything. He knew what he was saying, and he made an effort to be as PC as possible. However, it just shows, 1, the level of frustration he must be feeling, and 2, the level of comfort he has with DP and the other guys around 93.7. That's not something you'd hear in a traditional press conference setting where he didn't know the interviewers as well.

If there's one thing that Trev is known for around UNO, other than being fiscally responsible within the athletic department, it's that he does not tolerate nonsense inside programs from his coaches. There's a reason certain people were suddenly no longer around the football program this fall. I'm guessing this would fit under the type of nonsense Trev cannot stand. However, I also don't think they want to pay the buyout at this point. So, unless he just steps down, I imagine Fred will get a chance to retool his staff and attempt to weed out the problems. I hope he takes advantage of it. However, as Mr. Barfknect was always fond of saying, booster money to pay buyouts just seems to materialize when it's needed. If attendance continues to plummet and they go 0-for-Jan/Feb/March, who knows? It may be fiscally responsible to pay the buyout, start over, and begin selling hope to season ticket holders again, rather than return to the diehard 4000-5000 from the last days at the Bob. You have to be able to sell hope for the future or winning. Right now, we have neither, and we're a long way from either one. And that's depressing as hell.

Disappointing for sure. But certainly not surprising that coaches aren't holding players accountable, seeing what we see on the floor. If coaches were holding players accountable in practice, we wouldn't see the mistakes we're seeing. It's a little better than it was at the start of the season, but if the coaches were grinding, they'd have seen these mistakes in October and earlier, rather than quoting how many 3s we're hitting in shooting "drills". They wouldn't have needed to lose to Western Illinois and get smoked by Michigan and Auburn to figure it out. I am surprised Kobe said it, but I'm not surprised it's happening. A couple coaches looked checked out through the first several games, and the team looked like it spent all summer and fall holding half-assed scrimmages instead of grinding in practice or taking care of the little things that lead to winning. Not holding players accountable in practice fits right in with all of that. This is a league where the coaches and players grind, maybe more than any other league. If we have coaches who aren't interested in that, they should step out of the way and let someone else take a crack at it. Players and fans deserve better.

OSU 87 NU 66 10

Appreciated the fight tonight - guessing a lot of that was Trey's influence. He worked hard on the finish of his jump shot during his time injured; really like the way it looked tonight. Still think we'll win 2 or 3 in the back half of the conference schedule. About the best we can hope for at this point.

I think you're on to something here - I did not see Sip's column, but Shatel also had a column about Fred this week. I was surprised 1) that Shatel bothered to write solely about NU hoops without throwing in tons of horsesh*t about the bluebirds and 2) that it was somewhat critical of Fred, which was interesting. He gave Fred a significant chance to answer some questions about the direction of the program, and then basically dismissed his answers with this closing line. https://omaha.com/sports/huskers/mens-basketball/shatel-fred-hoiberg-is-1-000-motivated-to-turn-nebraska-around-but-can-he-get/article_d0d96d5c-74d8-11ec-8ee6-dbe0164d5c63.html The first 1/3 of the column was devoted to Moos' penchant for spending cash and the nasty "surprises" Trev is finding as he digs into the various contracts and financial details. Almost read like the "sources" were Trev and no one else. When both Sip and Shatel are on the same page regarding NU hoops in the same week, and considering neither of them typically care all that much about NU hoops until after February football signing day, it's not out of the question to think something is going on.

I wonder if PU would send us a draft pick next season for Keisei to help them during the stretch run? Keisei reminds me of the off-the-bench role player that thrives on that roster.

NU 70 IU 64

We had one of our better 3-pt shooting nights, Purdue didn't shoot it very well from 3 ... and PU still won by almost 30. They could've named the score.

Why not? It's year zero somewhere.

Finally getting to the point in the game where it starts to look like a half-assed scrimmage. Judging from results, I assume this is normally how we practice, so we should excel the rest of the way.

Wow. Purdue may just want to run a black/gold scrimmage in the 2nd half to get more of a workout. We are utterly helpless.