Gophers enter the Vault as 7.5 underdog
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Imagine thinking a cowardly noncon is at all defensible
It does zero good and fools exactly nobody
St Mary’s isn’t a traditional power. Just so happens this year they are decent. Many don’t consider the big east a power conference (I do) so it could be viewed as no games against a power conference team. Big ten schedule is tough and we needed to rack up wins in non-con against cup cakes. And we did. Where it has gone wrong is losing to teams in the bottom of big ten. Don’t lose to Minnesota Penn State or Iowa and everything would be fine.
Compare to Creighton, the Big East has what, 10 teams? They have to load up non-con and they do: Nebraska, San Diego State, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Kansas, and Alabama just this year.
How dare he criticize the non-conference schedule!
Would be much better to squeal at Fred for not ordering his team to foul when up by one point. That would show some real basketball knowledge.
Fred’s teams here seem to fail most times it comes down to final possession to determine the outcome. Before anyone jumps on my back about it I say most times not everytime. Fred is who he is….no better than Tim Miles at this point. Miles didn’t have the pathetic first 3 years that Fred did but he was fired for not doing enough. So do we take the chance again and start over or just live with Fred let him coach another 15 years here and hope maybe some year it’s a great season?
I'm not calling for Fred to be fired. I think he's an overrated coach, but I wouldn't be quick to can him and eat his very formidable contract.
But if Nebraska wants to get better as a program and actually join the 21st century when it comes to building an NCAA tournament resume, they need to challenge themselves in the non-conference.
Fred should have been fired after the worst 3 years in the program’s history. Horrible decision not to.
Since the B1G has went to 18 new lose a game against the ACC conference which was played earlier in the non conference season.
It’s not as if we haven’t played KU and Oklahoma St in past years, but go ahead and rub top kong nuts.
Yes the AD set the expectations and if you survive a pair of 7 win and a 10 win season then he is set for life.
play Kansas, Texas, Arizona, or someone like that. Couple of them a year. Win and it’s a big boost to NCAA chances. Lose and is it any different than a win over Southern U is worth?
I see no evidence that Fred will have a team that can play consistently at a high level.
This seems to be the part fans do not understand. Scheduling easy wins does nothing for you and if you do lose one of the easy games, it kills you.
Wouldn’t a win against a weak opponent build more confidence and momentum in a team than a loss against a strong opponent?
Same with football
We can be 9-0 having beaten nobody and lose to Illinois or Minnesota or one of the other 10 B1G teams we usually lose to and it’s welcome to the Who Cares Citrus Bowl (NIT)
Yes! And that confidence and momentum lasts until you actually have to play somebody.
Case in point, Nebraska started 12-2 with a few wins over several weak teams. Did it create confidence? Sure but it all ended up deflating. Now look at Creighton they has another very challenging non-con and they struggled through it. But later on they went on a 9 game win streak in the Big East. I think you often times discover more when you lose to good opposition than beating a cupcake.
Our best win in basketball last year was beating the #1 team in the country amidst the toughest stretch of the schedule
Iron sharpens iron
I can actually see his point but it’s just an opinion that apparently the AD or coach don’t share.
Might as well give it a shot. What they’re doing now isn’t working and the coach isn’t accountable.
It also helps to have a dominant leader amongst the players. Last year we had Ninja, and Reink Mast to a lesser degree. The team had good chemistry because they were leaders. I would argue that we have similar "talent" this year compared to last year, although maybe not quite as much this year. However, we are lacking that dominant player that elevates the culture of the entire team - through either actions or words. This year's team does not have a vocal leader. Williams and Gary just don't seem to have that type of personality. Having that edge has been the difference in all of our close losses this year, IMHO.
Last year's roster was way better. KT, Mast, Allick, and Lawrence are better players than Rollie, Essegian, and Morgan/Berke/Meah.
I am also willing to give fred/dannen the benefit of the doubt when it comes to non con hoops schedule
There is no benefit for good teams to schedule us because we likely won’t help them and an L could hurt bad
We still should be making everyone possible say “no”, and maybe we are. I just don’t hear a peep about it.
Which is why I’m a proponent of crossover sport scheduling and weaponizing our second to none fanbase as a force for good:
We will fill any football stadium in exchange for a home and home with elite bball schools
I totally get the idea of gaining some confidence and momentum but you probably get more confidence losing a close game to say...Houston (in basketball) as opposed to beating Our Lady of the Worthless Miracle by 20.
You just contradicted yourself in your post . “There is no benefit for a good school to schedule us” . But those same schools would schedule us if we played their football team and filled their stadium.? That makes zero sense.
I guess as an example we can look at the Illini and their non-conference schedule
Bama: L
Arkansas: W
Mizzo: W
Tennessee: L
Duke: Beat down of epic proportions
But going 2-3 in those games doesn't hurt, all it does is give them two more "good" wins.
Bama: L
Arkansas: W
Mizzo: W
Tennessee: L
Duke: Beat down of epic proportions
But going 2-3 in those games doesn't hurt, all it does is give them two more "good" wins.
Very accurate post, in my opinion. Josiah was the heart of last year’s team. I remember seeing him being interviewed after a road loss. The pain in his voice was inspiring. He bled Husker red. We don’t have that this year. The lack of three point shooting has killed this team. We often have lineups on the court that will have 3 players that are absolutely no threat to score. You can’t win that way.
Forgot CJ too. He had his faults but he surely was a guy who might put up 10 or 12 pts when you really need it in a game like Michigan.
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