NUdiehard

I have seen this notion that Fred "lack's passion" because of his sideline demeanor often on this board and I completely disagree. Fred is an intense competitor. He didn't get to where he is as a player and a coach without being incredibly competitive. He just has a certain style on game days. It is more in line with the NBA where coaches don't flap their arms and jump up and down. Look at Brad Stevens, he never changes expression. Same with Erik Spoelstra of Miami Heat--one of the most fiercely competitive teams in NBA year in and year out. I could go on and on. I am close enough to the floor to see veins bulging in Fred's forehead, even though his overall "demeanor" would never show it (especially from upper levels). I have seen Fred throw his clip board on the floor and at the bench in disgust. I guarantee you he is boiling inside. Personally, I wish he would get on players more during games. But I do know there are many coaches who believe you do the "yelling" all week during practice, and not during the games. If that is his philosophy, that is fine. It certainly isn't what is keeping this team from winning.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe Fred is the only Nebraska coach who has ever had NCAA success (tournament wins) while coaching in a power 5 conference. In fact, he may the only coach in NU history that won a NCAA tourney game (is this right?), including before, during or after coaching at NU. My memory may be off, but I am pretty sure that neither Doc nor Collier ever won a single NCAA tourney game while coaching UTEP and Butler (both non power 5 schools BTW). Hoiberg coached at ISU for 5 seasons and went to the NCAA tourney 4 straight years, winning 4 NCAA tourney games (tied all time for most by ISU coaches). From Huskers.com: Hoiberg led a resurgence at his alma mater, leaving a lasting legacy in five seasons. He guided Iowa State to a 115-56 record – including a 99-40 mark in his final four seasons – to post the top winning percentage (.673) in Cyclone history. Hoiberg led Iowa State to a program-record four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, while tying the school record with four NCAA Tournament coaching victories. Hoiberg also posted the top conference winning percentage (.557) in ISU history and guided Iowa State to back-to-back Big 12 Tournament titles in 2014 and 2015. His 115 wins were the most by any coach in a five-year span in Iowa State history. After a 16-16 debut season, Hoiberg led the Cyclones to a 23-11 record and the third round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament. ISU went 12-6 in Big 12 play in Hoiberg’s second season, winning nine more conference games than the previous season to post the biggest one-year turnaround in Big 12 history. Hoiberg was named the Big 12 Co-Coach of the Year for his efforts. Hoiberg guided the Cyclones to another 23-win season in his third year, when Iowa State advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. In his fourth season, the Cyclones finished 28-8, won the 2014 Big 12 Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16. In Hoiberg’s final season, Iowa State defended its Big 12 Tournament title and earned a No. 3 seed for the NCAA Tournament. I have been going to games for 45 years and yes, these past 3 years have been rough. And this year has been brutal. But get a grip! I said this when Fred was hired and I will keep saying it--If Fred can't get it done here, NOBODY can! At least nobody that would ever be stupid enough to come coach at this moribund coach-killer program. I said in February of last year that Fred needed to bring in some additional "recruiters" as assistant coaches. I said this because I did not believe the players he was bringing in for this season were of sufficient quality to win in the B1G. I took a ton of crap for it at the time, but it was clear to me then and now it is clear that Fred has been too reliant on Matt A. for all the recruiting. Fred needs to become more personally involved in the scouting and evaluation of recruits, and he needs to get in one or two more ace recruiters to supplement the recruiting efforts. Fred should have 5 years minimum. And I personally would give him 7 years minimum. Call me crazy. But even with as bad as things are now, I will roll the dice with Fred at the helm over any unknown coach that would follow him. No proven coach is going to come here, especially not after a very well respected coach like Fred gets fired after just 3 years.

Verge was very good on offense last night, about as well as we can expect him to run the point. His defense is still way too undisciplined, needs to shore that up. I was rooting for every single TSU 3 pointer to go in because that is the only way this coaching staff is going to realize you can't leave the opponent WIDE OPEN from 3 time and time and time again. I think Fred answered his own question as to why his team shoots well in practice--it's because they are playing against themselves. Almost any college player can shoot well from 3 when left wide open. As many have mentioned, the PF spot is a problem right now. I don't know if Lakes is the answer (in his limited minutes so far he has not been any better) but I would like to see him start and get 25+ minutes vs. SD just to see what he can do when getting consistent minutes. Hard to imagine he could do any worse, and a one game experiment is warranted at this point. Walker has been great in these past few games. I just really question whether he will be able to do that in conference. He is too short and those "easy" looks he is getting now may be swatted into the 3rd row in conference. I hope I am wrong, but I just don't see that being sustainable. And his lack of size will be exposed on defense and rebounding. Andre has his deficiencies, no doubt about it, but I think Fred is going to regret not getting him more experience against these lower level team when he discovers how important his rim protection is in conference. Time will tell. Keisei is showing there is a huge difference shooting in juco than in Div 1, and we are even in conference play yet. With that said, I still think there are going to be a few games where he catches fire and knocks down 3, 4 or 5 threes in a row to give a spark. This team does not play hard. They have no idea how to bust tail every second of every game. Not sure if they can "learn" this skill or they just don't have it in them, but it is disappointing to watch game after game.

My post was meant to be a bit humorous but also probably was a bit harsh to Doc (and whoever else is coaching the defense). I agree that we have some poor one-on-one defenders. We also have a couple defenders (hate to pick on Verge and Bryce) who are terribly undisciplined. And I agree that Walker is undersized in the post. This will never be a great defensive team because of our personnel. But I challenge anyone to go back and watch the Creighton game and the Idaho St. games and not be appalled at the wide open looks they got from 3. Andre is raw, has poor body language and tries to do too much on offense. BUT, he is 6'11" and has long arms and it a true legit rim protector. If Doc (or Fred) or whoever, could convince him to just play his role, and defend and rebound and not try to be an offensive focal point, he can be a disruptor in the paint. Starting him at 6'11" (and long) and Lat at 6'9" and Bryce at 6'7" and Edwards at 6'7" is hardly what I would call a small team. They just need to be more disciplined, and need to run the opponent off the 3 and trust Andre to be a disruptor in the paint. I would at least like to try it. My primary frustration is I have seen this movie before with this coaching staff. I can't remember if it was last year or 2 years ago, but I distinctly remember teams constantly going off from 3 on us early in the season, and then I distinctly remember Hoiberg acknowledging they changed the defense to take away more 3s--AND IT WORKED. The defense got much better. After that, I assumed (hoped?) that would solve this for good. But here we are, right back where we started with Doc's over-packed defense. I am not saying a packline defense can't ever work, but whatever version this is is too pack line. It is too much commitment to the paint and not enough to the 3. Good teams will destroy us from 3 if we keep this up (Look at Creighton, and they aren't even that good a shooting team). I want Fred to make the adjustment now so the players can adjust and Doc can tinker against these lower level teams.

Dear Doc, We here in Nebraska think you are a great guy. You are funny, witty, goofy and look and walk like a penguin. And for the most part, you're a pretty good coach too. But we also know that growing up in the south you probably spent more time in the gym than in math class, so we want to help you out a bit. This piece of knowledge could radically change your life, and possibly even extend your coaching career 10-20 years (if you want to keep going that long anyway). So, this is a bit complex, involving numbers and all, but here it is: Three is greater than two. I realize this may not click all at once. It is a lot to take in. But let it simmer for a while. Let it ruminate in your mind. Draw the numbers on the chalkboard and see if starts to clarify in your mind. It will take a while, but I believe with perseverance, you can get it. Okay, now I am going one step farther. We are going to advanced mathematics here, and you may never fully being able to grasp this, but it still has to be explained: Not only is 3 > 2, but it is 50% greater than 2. Let me put it another way since you didn't pay enough attention in math class: 3 is 1.5 times as much as 2. This means it take three 2s to equal two 3s. Whoa! Mind blown, right? But it's true. So this means, when the opposing team makes those WIDE OPEN 3s that your defense gives them, they are getting 50% more points than if they would otherwise have made a difficult contested 2 in the paint. Crazy thought, isn't it? So here a couple little small helpful tips we here in Nebraska would like to offer: (1) When the opponent parks one of their best shooters on the weak side corner, rather than having the Nebraska player who is guarding that shooter go ALL THE WAY TO THE MIDDLE OF THE PAINT, maybe, just maybe, keep him a little closer to the shooter, so that when the opponent swings the ball to the weak side (or drives and kicks, or throws a skip pass, or uses their big man to block the defender from getting back out to his man), the Nebraska player will actually be able to get back to his man and contest the shot. Because remember, the 3 is worth 50% more than a 2. And the corner 3 is a shorter shot than the top of the key 3. (2) Just because the opponent may occasionally drive the ball into the paint, or throw and entry pass into the paint, doesn't mean you have to send ALL 5 NEBRASKA DEFENDERS into the paint as well. In fact, you don't even need to ALWAYS double team that post entry. Believe it or not, sometimes your players can man up and defend one-on-one. You should let them try it sometime and see how it works. Especially when the opponent's big catches the ball 10 feel from the hoop, you don't really need to send a hard double thereby leaving his man WIDE OPEN for a 3 (which remember, is worth 50% more than the 2 point shot). (3) I know that when you were growing up in the south in the 1970s, you and many other of your friends couldn't make shots farther than 10 feet from the basket. But I have to share a revelation with you. The game has changed. Players today grew up watching Steph Curry, and they like to shoot from 22 feet and beyond. It is all they did all day growing up. Even the big fat plodders on the other team like to shoot that long shot. And believe it or not, they can make it--especially when THEY ARE WIDE OPEN. (4) You don't need to have 4 defenders in the paint AT ALL TIMES. You can actually let some of your off ball defenders guard their guys as well. I know this is radical, but it is true. There is no law that says you must have at least 4 defenders in the paint at ALL TIMES. So, there it is. Life changing knowledge for you to contemplate. If it still isn't clicking, maybe you could ask one of the team tutor's to sit down with you and help you figure it out. I hear some of them are pretty good at advanced mathematics. We believe you can do it, but you have to believe in yourself. It is within you. I know you have not been able to grasp this concept for the entirely of your 40 year coaching career, but we believe even old penguins like you can learn new tricks--even new math tricks. So dig deep, meditate if necessary, and try to pull it out of your inner being. If you can do it, it will change your life---AND change the lives of all of us Nebraska fans who have been pulling out our hair year after year after year watching our opponents shoot WIDE OPEN 3s time and time again. Sincerely, All Nebraska Hoops Fans cc: Fred Hoiberg

We are a poor defensive team this year. But this is the same coaching staff as last year, which had a good defensive team. And as we all know, Doc is the one coaching the defense. We have some slow footed guys like Wilcher, Tominaga and Wilhelm. We have some skinny guys in Verge, Bryce, Edwards. And we have an undersized center in Walker. We also have some guys who simply don't understand the effort it takes every second on the court to be a good defender, and this includes our 5* freshman. As i mentioned in an earlier post, we can't have both guys getting beat on the perimeter and lack a rim protector. Need either one or the other, at a minimum. I don't have a lot of confidence that the perimeter defense will ever be great, so I think we need the rim protection Ed brings just to try and mitigate the easy layups.

Good thoughts. As for the game last night, in that early Creighton run, Verge and Bryce and others tried to attack the rim and Creighton's 7 footer altered all their shots. It took us too long to realize this and adjust. Regarding Walker, I agree he tries hard, but that isn't enough. His problem is that he is only 6'8" (not really tall enough to be a power 5 center) but the only reason he plays center is because he is not skilled enough to play PF. He can't dribble, he can't shoot and he's not even an explosive leaper. So all he can do on offense is pass and make an occasional layup. But the much bigger problem with him is that on defense he isn't a rim protector. Whenever he was in the game, Creighton would just keep attacking the basket and getting easy layups because Walker can't rim protect. And I was even more disappointed to see Creighton's rather gangly big man get such low post position on him multiple times for easy lay-ins. If nothing else, Walker needs to use his strength to keep that guy out of the paint. We were already a poor defensive team going into that game, and now that Trey is out, we are a very poor defensive team. Our guards and wings get beat and the only possible mitigation is having a rim protector to prevent the layup line. Andre is has his flaws. He is very raw and a bit out of control and sometimes try to do too much. But if Fred could get in his head and tell him to just play extremely hard on defense and protect the rim at all costs, rebound and then kick the ball out, he could be effective in his role. At least then teams would not get easy layups all game long. Plus, we may be at the point of punting on this season and just trying to develop guys for the proverbial "next year". Walker is a 5th year senior. Ed is still a freshman. Give the minutes to Ed and let him grow and develop, this season is already lost anyway. I don't have much to add about the PG spot and I don't know what to do about Verge. The most disappointing thing by far is that we are in year 3 with Fred and he failed to get a true PG.

Andre came in and changed the game. His points were nice, but we all realize he won’t score that much most nights. But he altered so many shots in his limited minutes. I know he is raw and I am sure he does things that frustrate Fred, but he has to be a part of the rotation. I know people love Walker, and he is a good leader and plays hard. But he is a very below average center in the B1G. He is a 6’8” center who can’t shoot, can’t dribble and isn’t particularly skilled at anything. Has decent hands, but that’s not enough at this level. He definitely is not a rim protector. With that said, Ed has to do his part to help Fred have more confidence in him. Whatever he is or isn’t doing in practice needs to get sorted out so he can get more PT going forward. Disappointing thing is that if Andre played in the first game NU most likely wins. What was Fred thinking (or not thinking)?

Walker and Ed should not be on the court at the same time. Ever.

I hope I am wrong, but I am already sensing dissension in the ranks. I have been to the practice scrimmage, both exhibitions and the first game, but let's back up even farther. After last season, there was a lot of talk about Trey being the PG this year. In his initial podcasts, he talked about how hard he has been working at PG and how excited he is to take that next step. Then, enters Verge. And suddenly Verge is getting all the hype. And Trey is suddenly seen as more of "role" guy playing the SG. Then the practice scrimmage, where Verge played one-on-one hero ball almost the entire game (much like last night). Trey only shot 1 or 2 shots all night if i recall. Then the first 2 exhibitions. Verge played well and I thought distributed pretty well too. But there were "looks" and "body language" from (and between) Verge, Trey and Bryce that I started to notice. Instances where one of them would call for the ball, and the other would ignore or dismiss it. I distinctly remember late in Colorado game (after Verge had been playing well and getting a lot of attention) that Trey was bringing the ball up and Verge was clapping and yelling for him to pass the ball to him. Trey looked at him and just kept going. I've seen the similar things in reverse, where Verge had the ball and didn't pass to Trey. And let's remember, if Trey is a bit sour that Verge "stole" his PG spot, then that is surely going to rub off on Bryce. And Trey is close to Lat and the other returning players, so if Verge keeps up the "hero ball hog" role, I could see the dissension escalate dramatically. With all this said, I must be clear I don't have any inside or direct info on any of this. This could all be in my imagination. All of this is just reading "tea leaves" and "body language", but it is definitely something to keep an eye on. Clearly the guys did not play as a team last night, and maybe some of this dissension that had been brewing finally came out. Time will tell if they can get it corrected and back on track.

Something to keep in mind. NBA looking to change rules to allow players to go straight to NBA out of high school starting in 2022 or 2023. If Omaha is truly a top 5 recruit unlikely he plays college ball for anyone.

Fred didn’t make make a single defensive substitution on that last defensive possession. How can you leave Webster in on defense with Banton on the bench?

What is the rule regarding loss (or lack thereof) of a year of eligibility for players for this season. I thought ALL players would NOT lose any year of eligibility from this season. In other words, Andre would still be a freshman next year, Yvan would still be a soph, Walker would still be a junior, etc. or is this not correct? Is it only current seniors that don't lose a year? If so, what about a player like Walker who is in his fourth (senior) year of school, but is considered a junior for eligibility because of his redshirt year?

Trey is shooting 33% on 2-point shots in conference. He also has more turnovers (42) than assists (37) for the season. The concern before the season was his inefficiency and that has borne out this season.

This is why I specifically qualified my statement by saying "Danny Nee lock up the state at a time of great Nebraska talent" Almost all those players were during the early 90s , and Nee got them all. After them, the state went through a stretch where there was very little talent. Collier tried to take some Nebraska kids, but they were not very talented and it backfired. I am not interested in taking every mid-major Nebraska kid, but when we have multiple 4* and 5* and guys who are going to Wisconsin, Creighton, Oklahoma State and various blue bloods, all around the same few years, Fred needs to make some inroads on those guys. Whatever it takes. One has to wonder whether taking Teddy hurt his chances with the others. Is Fred courting the Nebraska HS coaches, getting in their good graces? Every action has a reaction. Every decision must be made with the longest view in the room. How does it advantage us and disadvantage us going forward. With all this said, for whatever it is worth, I am still 100% all-aboard the Hoiberg train. I am not in any way, shape or form wanting to move on from him. He is the "golden boy" hire and I am prepared to sink or swim with him 100%. Even after losing 25 straight, If I could force him to sign a 10-year contract in which he couldn't leave and couldn't be fired (meaning he would have to be here the next 10 years no matter what his record), i would do it in a second. Honestly, if Fred can't pull this off here, then it may just be time to pack it in. Some of us have been doing this groundhog day for far too long. I believe Fred can do it, I am just commenting on my observations on the current roster, the current recruits and his current staff. And again, I hope I am wrong about Keisei and Breidenbach, I really do. But if not, then there are going to have to be a few more spots open up and Fred is going to have to bring in a few legit difference maker transfers (ie, Point Guard) if Nebraska is going to compete next year in the B1G.

The B1G is a grind. So many top level teams. What we are all learning is that to compete in the B1G, you can't have a roster full of one-dimensional players. We have some players that our good/great athletes, but not great shooters (Banton, Trey, Shamiel). We have others that our good shooters, but not good athletes (Webster, Lakes). And then we have a guy like Lat who is a decent shooter and a decent athletes (but not great by any means), but otherwise lacks all basic basketball skills. And Teddy, well, he is just Teddy (not a great athlete and really struggles with the mental game). I really hoped a guy like Lakes could add that shooting dimension, but the B1G is proving you have to have a certain level of athleticism or you become unplayable. Without that athleticism, Lakes can't defend sufficient, and can't even get open long enough to get his shot off. Kobe is similar, he is just outmatched athletically in this league. He is not a B1G caliber player. This is not to knock him, I like his grit and effort, but he is not legit B1G talent (too small, not quick enough, not a good passer, not a great shooter, etc). Shamiel is a wrecking ball and is actually pretty good finishing at the rim. But any shot more than 3 feet from the hoop is an abomination, not sure I've ever seen a wing with less touch from the outside. Other teams know this. Watch them, they don't guard him at all when he is on the perimeter. And every time Shamiel catches it, he pump fakes (to no one), and then shuffles his feet (called for traveling half the time) and bulls his way into the crowded paint area. Rinse and repeat. This is the one-dimensional play that won't work. Can't have a guy who simply cannot and will not shoot on the perimeter, the defense will simply ignore him. Yvonne. Seems like a great kid, works incredibly hard. But he looks like a kid who never, and I mean never, played any sport of any kind growing up. At least not with his hands. Maybe he played soccer, i don't know. But he has absolutely no feel and touch with this fingertips. We all know he shoots from his palm, he passes from his palm, he shotputs his shots. He is shooting 2-16 on free throws in conference! 2-16!!!! What baffles me is I watched 5 minutes of his highlight film when he was recruited and this was painfully obvious. How does someone like Hoiberg watch his film and not see this. This lack of feel with the hands/fingers is simply not something that can be changed/improved very often, and it does not appear Yvonne has even tried. Due to misses like this, it does make one start to question this staff's ability to evaluate talent. Banton is a skilled player for his size, but he can't shoot. He hit a few early in the season, but now is shooting 24% from 3 overall and just 19% in conference. He is a good player and a solid core piece, but I don't think we have to worry about him going to the NBA anytime soon. He also isn't a PG. This team desperately needs a true PG who can distribute and shoot. I love Trey, love his grit, hustle, effort, and even his gamesmanship (drawing fouls, etc). Great athlete, but unfortunately, he is just not a naturally skilled basketball player. He is an athlete playing basketball. He can get incrementally better, and he definitely is a keeper, but he mostly is what he is--an inefficient grinder who will never be a great passer or shooter. Although his 3-point percentage is good, it is on low volume, especially in conference where he has shot only 13 threes in 8 games, and you can see he is hesitant to pull the trigger, resulting in him constantly driving the lane. So many people say all we have to do is "love the rim". Well, I think we all saw what can happen when a bunch of players who can't shoot just "love the rim" all game. It wasn't pretty. Andre. Although he hasn't done much this year, I really like Andre. He is a definite bright spot in my book. He already has much better feel, touch and skill than either Yvonne or Walker. And he hasn't even been playing the game that long. Great length and very good athleticism. Good timing. He could eventually be the big man we need, but he needs to put on weight. That will be the determining factor, can he bulk up enough. As to next year, Bryce McGowens is exactly the type of player we need. A three dimensional player, a three level scorer, passer defender. He has the whole package. But, he is slender and will just be a freshman. I don't think it is fair to expect him to come in as a skinny freshman and tear up the B1G. I hope upon hope I am wrong, but I don't see much contribution next year coming from either Keisei or Breidenbach. I have already posted my thoughts about Breidenbach, and his lack of size and athleticism, so I won't repeat here other than to say this goes back to my initial point. He appears to me to be a one-dimensional player--very skilled, but poor athlete. I just don't see it working in the B1G, especially not his first couple of years (and who knows if he will last all 4 years, does anyone?). Keisie is the same things--very skilled shooter, but lacks athleticism and size. Yet another one-dimensional player. I don't think he will be able to get his shot off consistently in the B1G, and he will get destroyed on the defensive end. I recently checked his juco stats and they have only played a couple games but his numbers were very pedestrian and he didn't even start at least one of the games. Fred made a mistake in thinking he could bring in 2 coaches that only coach and don't recruit. He has relied almost exclusively on Matt A. to do all the recruiting. This simply isn't working. Fred is going to have to make some tough decisions in the offseason and most likely have to bring in 1 or 2 more ace recruiters to up the talent. It is that simple. Nebraska has a talent problem. Upgrade the talent, and upgrade the wins. With that said, it is so disappointing seeing his complete inability to recruit the talent right here in our own state. As someone who watched Danny Nee lock up the state at a time of great Nebraska talent, it is a shame to see player after player in our home state go to other schools when if they simply all cam together here at NU, along with Bryce, Banton, Andre and Trey, could have a great, and I mean great, team. Danny did it. Why can't Fred?

Why in the world are they playing man the man defense on the inbounds with one second left? And watch Teddy guarding the inbound are standing flat-footed with his arms down. Pathetic.

You crack me up. For five years I suspected you are either related to Tim Miles or his secret lover. Now I know it must be true. For five years if Miles, no matter how bad, you never once criticized him or said anything that in any way could be interpreted as negative about him and defended Miles at every single opportunity. You’ve said more negative about Fred and this team in this thread alone than against Miles in 5 years. Lol.

If you can’t guard the pick and roll, you can’t play center in the NBA. At least not big minutes or as a key player.

This didn’t age well

I subscribed to Big 10 Network+ for this game. Does anyone know how to watch on my TV using a Roku or other device?

We’re playing with great effort but making too many stupid decisions and mistakes.

Lat does the same stupid stuff game after game, time after time

Starters shooting 6-24 Bad Teddy is really bad. They are locking up Mayen and daring Banton to shoot. Nice to see Webster get get his stroke back, but Still looks like this team is full of chuckers not shooters.

Losing Walker and Andre probably has already cost us one game. None of us has seen Andre play, but with his height, length and athleticism, I would hope he can give us more than Yvan from day 1. Hoping he gets immediate playing time upon his return. Until then, Fred might have to go with Stevenson at center. They utilized him some yesterday, and it worked okay. Fred parked Stevenson in the dunker spot (short baseline) and then when Delano or Trey or whoever would penetrate and draw the defender they could just dump off to Stevenson for the easy dunk. These are plays that Yvan just can't seem to convert because his stone hands don't allow him to catch it cleanly and his slow jump doesn't allow him to get off the floor quick enough.