NUdiehard

Wow. Have you seen most of these guys shoot? And your answer is to fire away? Interesting theory. Just curious: Who exactly are "most of these guys"? And your solution is?

This is Miles 4th year now and there are some frustrating tendencies of his teams that now seem to be trends: 1. His teams do not attack the press. In 4 years I can't remember a single time his team has aggressively attacked a press. I would love for the some of the coaching minds (Dean, Jones, etc) to pitch in on this, but I just don't get it. Isn't the greatest risk of the press (and the reason most teams don't press) is it is susceptible to giving up easy baskets by teams that attack it. But Miles teams never get easy baskets off the press because he never attacks it. THIS ALLOWS THE OPPONENT TO GET ALL OF THE BENEFIT/REWARD WITH NONE OF THE RISK of the press. That simply can't happen. the press can help the pressing team in multiple ways, including creating turnovers and, even if it doesn't create a turnover, it can slow the opposing team down so that it is fighting the shot clock each possession. If you don't attack the press, you allow the opposing team to press with total and complete impunity. You allow the opposing team to get all the benefit with absolutely no risk. Blows my mind. 2. When things get tight, Miles takes complete control. Miles says each year that he wants his teams to "just play" and he touts his motion offense with movement, passing, etc. And at times in the non-conference we see some of this. But as soon as things get tight, Miles gets tight and tries to control every aspect of the game. He starts calling sets every single possession. This sometimes works, but as Miles himself has said, sets are easy to scout and therefore easy to defend because the other team knows the plays too. Running sets also allows the opposing defense to always set up its defense (see #1). For instance, one of the reason Miles' teams rarely attack the press is because Miles is calling a set play as soon as we inbound the ball,, this means the guards are not focused on trying to attack the press but rather just get it across half court so they can set up the set play. Usually the set play is for Shields or White, and of course the other team knows that, so they simply guard White and put the other 4 guys in the paint and wait for Shavon to come plowing into them. 3. Players get tight because Miles is tight. Watch Miles in big games. He is super uptight from the opening tipoff. I know that many, many other (often great) coaches are exactly the same way, so I can't say it is wrong. But it just seems to me that when Miles is so worked up and tight, his players often play that way, especially the young players. Yesterday, after Fuller missed a free throw, Miles was screaming at Fuller "Make your free throws Nick!" while he was at the line getting ready to shoot his next one. Isn't this in the duh category. As if Fuller didn't know he was supposed to make his FT or as if he wasn't trying to make them. Fuller was missing those free throws because he was too tight, not too loose. Miles yelling at him for the obvious was not going to help that situation IMO, but I understand other will feel that is perfectly appropriate and Fuller should be called out. I am just looking at player and circumstance and results and seeing the trend. 4. The role players are scared to shoot down the stretch. We have seen this for 4 years now and even though the players have changed, the result has not. The role players are too tight and too nervous to shoot or make something happen late in tight games. Is this just the players or is it the players response to Miles and his coaching? I don't know, but when it happens for 4 years Miles is the one constant. 5. Rotation issues. Just for the record, whenever I discuss players I don't think should be playing as much, it is never intended to be slight towards that player. I appreciate every player that puts on the scarlet and cream and gives his all for the team. But it is impossible to discuss Miles' rotation and minutes distribution and personnel decisions without mentioning the player. I would hope we are all able to understand the difference between the two. With that said, BP simply cannot continue to play the minutes he has been playing. He absolutely stifles the offense. His man simply plays off him, stands in the paint, and waits for Shavon to plow into him. Game after game I look up late in the 2nd half and his line reads 0 points, 0 rebounds 1 assist. This cannot happen at this level. I also don't think he is as good on the defensive end as Miles and many others do, but that is another discussion for another day. BTW, our best rotation last night was with Tai at the point and both Watson and BP on the bench. The team went on an immediate 8-0 run and scored on 4 straight possessions in the first half, but Miles never went back to it. I am still a Miles supporter and still think he is the one for the job. I still think he has upgraded the recruiting (albeit leaving some big holes like center and SG), I think he has marketed the program well and is grinding. He definitely deserves (considerably?) more time to develop this team and program. My point is not to suggest he should be gone or anything. I do think losing coach Smith was a bigger hit than most wanted to believe or acknowledge when it happened. But mainly I am just pointing out some concerning traits of his teams that I have noticed, but I also know many will disagree with some or all of these points, and I am open to this as well. For me, these are things I am hoping to see him grow and improve on during his coaching tenure here.

No. You obviously totally missed the point. (Sigh. Do I even attempt an explanation?) Tony said it really irks him (my paraphrase) that these terrific Omaha players are on someone else's bench. See the OP. My response was (paraphrasing): were you on these guys back at the time, saying we should offer them? Especially Thomas? The only one I remember saying he was that good was me, sticking my neck out. No one saw this kid coming in and doing what he's done. No one. And if you say you did, I say bullshit, show me the post. And if you weren't saying it then, don't tell me you're irked about it now. **** Now, you come in and say "It's Miles' job to scout these high school kids and bring in good players and he should have known that Khyri Thomas was going to be such a stud." (Paraphrasing.) And my responses to YOU are: 1. Not a single D1 coach in the entire country, no matter how much they're being paid, saw this happening. Aside from the Creighton offer -- which came relatively late, after Thomas's senior year of HS -- he only had offers from UMKC, UNO and Portland State. 2. We had Watson, Jacobson and Morrow in the fold. We had room for 1 more guy at that point without oversigning and we needed a big man (still do.) At the END of the season, Petteway, Pitchford and Smith left, opening three additional spots but, by that time, Thomas was already a Creighton commit. When was Miles supposed to get involved with him? 3. Recruiting is not an exact science, no matter how much a coach is paid. Name the D1 coaches who saw Scottie Pippen getting into the NBA Hall of Fame. Name them. Nolan Richardson was paid a lot of money. How come he didn't recruit a kid from within the state of Arkansas? 4. If Miles had offered a scholarship to Johnny Trueblood and we'd passed on Khyri Thomas, I'd have a big problem with it. Then, I could see people saying Miles can't ID talent. But which of the freshmen that we brought in instead of going after Thomas do you think don't belong on a D1 roster? 5. Did you know Thomas was having academic issues at Benson, which resulted in him going to prep school and reclassifying as a 2015 recruit? Did you know that? Should Miles routinely spend scholarships on guys who are potential academic casualties? Like I said, I don't follow HS basketball. But there are lots of people who do (like Chuck Taylor) who could see Thomas' potential. Heck, even you did, so kudos to you. But that begs the questions, why didn't Miles. Yes, there are 350 other coaches who didn't offer, but how many of them are located within 50 miles of Omaha? Hmmmm. And yes, Thomas had some academic questions, but that didn't seem to impede McD from scouting him, seeing his value, and offering him. And yes, Miles still had one open scholarship in the early signing period, and WE ALL know that at least 1 or 2 players leave every year, right? And it wasn't too hard to know that Petteway was going to leave. And even if no one left, you can always make room, that is the way it works. But instead, Miles didn't offer, Thomas got scooped up by McD, and then 3 players did leave, and we scoured the nation to find Bakari out of Arizona (via Michigan or something like that) and we still had (and still have) an open scholarship being unused. Oh, and then Patton got snagged up as well, did Miles even offer? Why was McD able to see his potential way before MIles was? Look, we can explain away why it happened all day and again tomorrow, but in the end it is Miles job to get these things right. Does that hold him to a high standard. Absolutely. But that is what is required when you earn $2M/year in your job. High salary and B1G HC job = high expectations. Maybe Miles will sign 2 more 5* guys this spring and all of this will be moot. I hope so. But right now I am left shaking my head. With all that said, I am happy to see him get in early on some of the younger Omaha prospects. Like I said, I don't follow HS hoops, but that boy Chang sure looks the part. Have we offered him? I don't think so. Do any of you HS hoops experts have more info on him? Is he legit? Hate to let another one get away while we are pondering whether or not to offer.

Not sure where you're coming from here, Tony, to be honest. Your post makes it sound like you think the one guy we actually tried to get wasn't worth the effort, but it sure would have been nice to have a 6'9", 240# center on the floor for us last night. The one at UNO that leads the nation in steals/game: You think he should be a Husker? You fault Miles for not offering? Now, Patton and Thomas. Let's take Patton. Who offered besides Creighton? He blew up the summer AFTER they offered and wound up something like a 5-star per Scout.com. But 5-star players don't need a developmental year as a redshirt. Players who need to take redshirt years weren't worthy of being considered 5-star players. Period. Thomas. You think Miles missed on him? Miles and 350 other D1 coaches? I agree. Here's what I said about Thomas, in the "In state kids" thread on the recruiting page on February 12, 2015: It's very easy to look at last night's box score and say we shoulda. Or to look at Creighton's season stats and see what this kid ended up doing. But what did you have to say about him BEFORE he stepped foot on a college campus? The point isn't that anonymous message board posters didn't spot Thomas, it's that the coaching staff didn't. I don't come on this board bitching about the coaches all the time, but this is a legitimate question. And while maybe Thomas saying he wasn't recruited is a stretch, Miles saying they were on him might be as well. The fact is there's no evidence he was offered. Last night wasn't a one-shot thing, he's averaging 11 points and shooting 63.8%. And he shut down our best player. But I'll look up his stats at the end of the season and let you know how it turns out. You don't have to come back at the end of the season to prove to me how good Thomas is. I'm the one who said, nearly a year ago before any of these kids played a college game, that I thought he was Creighton's best recruit -- including that "5-star" Patton kid. So you don't have to prove me right on him. But where was the groundswell of people back then saying, man, we need to offer him? Sometimes I think I am living in the Twilight Zone. What does it matter if random Nebraska fans on a message board clamored for a local recruit? I don't know about you all, but I haven't watched a single high school game in 20+ year. Maybe you spend your whole life watching every single high school game and scouting the next great player, but man, I don't get it. Last time I checked Miles is the HC of a Div. 1 BIG team in the state of Nebraska and he gets paid $2M to evaluate, recruit and sign qualify players who can elevate our program. Why are we even having this discussion? Are you seriously suggesting that its not a miss by Miles because anonymous fans on a message board didn't call for it before it happened? smh

The scouting was so huge in this game. CU had us pegged to a T and we looked like we had not watched a single minute of film on those guys. One of three things is happening: 1. Miles and his staff are poor at scouting, or 2. Miles and his staff are poor at teaching the scouting report to the players, or 3. The players Miles recruited have such low BB IQs that they can't comprehend the scouting report. Not sure which it is but none of them are a good.

Yes. If Ed is going to play, then there has to be a heavy dose of pick n roll. Problem is that you can't pick n roll with BP because the opponent will not guard BP b/c they know he can't finish or they can block his shot. BP gives his all and we all love him for that but he absolutely stifles this offense in almost every way, especially against a team that scouts us like CU and every team in B1G.

He was looking ahead to his long NBA career. Maybe Miles will be his coach when he is snatched up front the college ranks.

Man I desperately want Morrow to be great but I am struggling. I just don't see how you can play him at the 4. He can't shoot, can't dribble, can't pass and often struggles even catching the ball. What is he going to bring at the 4 other than rebounding? Plus, whoever is guarding him will just sit in the paint which means the opposing team's 4 and 5 will both be allowed to camp in the lane the entire game with complete impunity. He is going to have to develop a jumper or I just don't see where he fits in, especially in today's game where stretch 4s are so valuable. He is a throwback that just doesn't quite fit right now. And yes, I know, he is young and I am not giving up on him. Just being honest but I know I will be accused of drastically over-reacting.

This actually pisses me off way more than the game, especially considering Miles had the self-imposed scholarship sanction again this year. Miles said McD got on him before Miles had a chance to look at "just like Patton". WTH is he talking about!?!

The disparity in scouting for that game was shocking

Because Miami doesn't scout us like McD does. McD knows the Husker players better than Miles does. Owns Miles in scouting

Doesn't surprise me...he is a tough SOB. He may be tough, but up to this point he has been very lost out on the court. Runs around like a chicken with his head cut off at times. Hope he's figured out in the last few days.

The problem is miles has to sub at some point and Morrow is a foul machine right now. Need at least 8 players to make a rotation. With that said definitely would like to see some of the younger guys get more minutes so may as well start them so they can get a rest and then come back in to maximize their time on the floor.

I am fully aware of Tai's talent level. But even a third-grader can play without traveling every time he touches the ball. Doesn't take all-league talent to not travel. Johnny Trueblood doesn't travel every time he touches the ball.

Tai takes two steps before he dribbles every single time he touches the ball. Every time. He's been doing it for 3 years now and every time he gets called for traveling he looks stunned as if he can't fathom why they would make that call. This is simply unbelievable in two respects. First, it is unfathomable that a div 1 college player still doesn't know what traveling is. But second, it is unacceptable that this hasn't been corrected by now. This is a coaching issue. There is simply no way that he isn't doing the exact same thing in practice every single day. There is no way he just "starts" unexpectedly traveling every time he touches the ball only on game days. He is in his third year in this program. What are they coaching? From day 1 it was apparent this is a huge issue for Tai, and not only has it not been corrected, it is now even worse. This means he must be allowed to do it in practice over and over without repercussion. From day 1 as a freshman, he should have been running gassers every time he travels until he stops. Have to address these things in practice or they will not suddenly correct themselves in games. When Doc was here I used to go to a lot of his open practices. I was stunned at how much he allowed fundamental errors and violations go completely uncorrected. The players who constantly shuffled their feet in games constantly shuffled their feet in practice and nothing was said, nothing was done. Players who would catch the ball standing on the line in games would catch the ball standing on the line in practice, over and over, and nothing was said or done about it. And so on and so on. It was like it didn't even happen. They were too busy focusing on the set play or whatnot. Miles said they have been using refs in practice this year. Well, they must not call traveling because Tai has not learned a thing in 3 years. Blows my mind really.

Bump

It will be interesting to see McVeigh's role tonight. This is a game where his outside shooting and length will be very valuable, but his lack of quickness and athleticism could become a problem on defense. Can he guard one of their athletic wings? it will be a tough match up for him tonight? Curious whether and how much Miles will double in the post. Nova's center sounds like a quite a load and will be a significant challenge for Hammond, Morrow or anyone else to guard 1 on 1. Yet, if we help, susceptible to 3 ball which is their specialty. Will Nebraska try to play uptempo or slow it down in the half court? If we play fast, it may allow us to get some quick and easy buckets. But it may also play right into Nova's hands and we could be down 20 before we know it.

Hearing that Villanova uses a 3/4 press and half court trap. Curious to see how Miles and NU handle this. Last year Benny really struggled against press and traps and got so bad that Terran started bringing ball up the floor against pressure. Who will handle this role this year? BP cannot allow himself to get trapped against sideline, with his limited height he cannot pass over the trap and is susceptible to turnovers.

One thing to watch in the early season games is how well the offense runs with Watson in as PG vs. BP as PG. Last year I felt that when Tarin Smith was running the point, the whole offense just seemed to run much smoother. It was never a well-oiled machine, but it was definitely more refined with Tarin than with BP at the helm. Tarin was no Tyronne Lue, but he was much closer to being a true PG than anything I have ever seen from BP. Simply because Benny is 5'6" doesn't automatically make him a natural PG, there is so much more involved. This year we have Watson. Watson is a far better PG than Tarin Smith will ever be. I have already seen enough from him to feel confident in that assessment. So the question begs, who should be running our offense from day 1? IMO, there is no question it should be Watson. This is not a bash BP thread. Not at all. I love BP's grit, defense, intensity and activity level as much as everyone. There is no doubt he has a role and plays an important part on this team. But it should not be as the starting PG. And I'm not really even talking about just making shots. I just have never seen any indication that BP has a natural feel and ability and skill for playing the PG position. Truly gifted point guards can change the whole "feel" for the offense. They can make things run smoother and their playmaking ability can create easy shots for their teammates. Easy shots creates easy buckets, which creates confidence, which creates energy, etc. I fully realize that Watson's defensive ability is no where near Benny's. But this is one instance where Miles should put offense before defense, and IMO, do it from day 1 to get this machine up and running smoothly from the very start.

Relatively slow, can't dribble, can't play guard, can't play power forward. Sounds like we should bring him in off the bench in garbage time. He can take the place of Trevor Menke, maybe. Or we could play him at shooting forward since he is, well. . . . a really good shooter With that said, the more I think about it, maybe PF is a good spot for Drew this year. Someone has to play PF, and if Hammond is not going to play much, then that means Morrow and Jacobson at center, which pretty much leaves PF to either Shavon or Drew. Take your pick. Shavon is 9 lbs heavier on the roster, but White certainly has upper body strength and I agree he appears to be a good rebounder for his size. Seems to be a good leaper off of 2 feet. His lack of lateral quickness also might make him more conducive to guarding the opponents PF rather than chasing a wing around. It certainly would work on offense, that is not a concern at all as he could stretch the floor and force the opposing 4 to guard him at the 3 point line. The concern is when the opposing 4 backs him down in the paint, can he hold up or will it require an immediately double team. But, Rivers played the 4 last year and weighed only 200#, so White is considerably bigger than him and probably a better leaper, so why not. Let's go for it. My starting lineup: Watson Tai Shields White Morrow

I am one who hopes Miles just goes with Watson as starting PG from the get go. Live through the ups and downs of having a freshman point guard and get Benny back to his come off the bench spark plug/stabilizer role. We know what Benny's ceiling is. Watson's is obviously much higher. We've heard that Watson's defense may be lacking some but that's when you bring in Energizer Benny to crank up the defense or to stabilize things if Watson starts turning the ball over. We don't gain anything by starting Benny. Not a knock on Benny, he's earned his, but he's just better off the bench. I agree 100%, but I won't believe it until I see it. Miles has almost always chosen defense over offense in these types of situations in his past 3 years here.

I've never understood why White is listed as a guard. He's 6'7", relatively slow and can't dribble. Almost nothing about him says guard to me. Not sure about PF either though. Sure it can work on offense, but defense is always the issue in these small ball arrangements. Pace of play is also a huge question this year. Small ball is usually predicated on a fast pace, but there has been no indication that Miles wants to play with pace, and we all know Molinari's philosophy (he had the slowest pace of play in all of basketball before he came here). My guess would be that Miles will come out early in the season experimenting with a faster pace but after a few transition defense breakdowns and high scoring games (losses?), we will see things slow down as the year progresses.

Another interesting article on the officiating and points of emphasis in the game and why they are being implemented. http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2015-10-30/college-basketball-why-game-could-be-faster-season

I still think Morrow is our version of Tristan Thompson.

Could someone who is more tech savvy than me post a link for the periscope viewing in this thread when it becomes available. Also, does anyone know if you have to watch it live or can it be viewed later this evening if we have a conflict.