Nebrasketball Turnaround

[Zeke2005]

I had modest expectations of the transfers - didn’t love any of them, but thought they could all be good role players. Meah and Morgan are about what I expected and Berk still has plenty of upside. But Worster was better than this at Utah and I would say the same about Essegian. Was hoping for better from them.

What happened to the early season version of Essegian? Big ten opponents know how to shut him down I think.

 

[Zeke2005]

I agree. And there is a disturbing trend of bad defense on the road as of late. Even though Purdue couldn't have started any hotter, our last 3 road losses have come after giving up 90+ on average. That's inexcusable.

Perhaps we need to be thrilled finishing in the top half of the conference if we can do it every year it would be nice. No more cellar dwelling.

 

[cavalot]

Perhaps we need to be thrilled finishing in the top half of the conference if we can do it every year it would be nice. No more cellar dwelling.

That would be a start. Considering where we typically finish. Then from there we can continue to build. Now If Fred goes backwards from last season then we should look for change.

It's not a difficult concept. Build from the bottom, seek improvement, create a consistency, win winnable games, finish at or better than previous season. If that can't be done? Then look for the next White Whale.

We aren't there yet.

 

[dinglefritz]

I had modest expectations of the transfers - didn’t love any of them, but thought they could all be good role players. Meah and Morgan are about what I expected and Berk still has plenty of upside. But Worster was better than this at Utah and I would say the same about Essegian. Was hoping for better from them.

Hopefully MSU and this last one end up being out outliers. Can’t have Gary and Williams both struggle.

 

[dinglefritz]

What happened to the early season version of Essegian? Big ten opponents know how to shut him down I think.

Struggling to shoot on the road is pretty common. It’s partly sight lines which affects your confidence. With Williams and Gary struggling no doubt Essegian was forcing shots. Pressure was on him.

 

[mgbreis]

I don't have enough basketball knowledge to put my finger on it, but something is way off compared to last year. The offense doesn't look anything like, well, an offense. It's back to the bad old days of dribbling at the perimeter with not enough passes. Obviously there's no one that can run a high post offense like Mast did. I'm not sure how bad our guards really are because we simply don't get good shots against anyone with a pulse on defense. Someone with the supposed offensive brilliance of Hoiberg should be able to make his team run offense to get a guy like Essegian shots.

 

[IM4NUalways]

How we doing this year?

Groundhog day is Feb 1st but we get it every year all season.

 

[GBRforLife1]

Joke all you want. We just accept losing in Basketball. Yes, we are getting better, and I hope Fred takes us to the final 4 this year. Then we don't have to go through the whole process again.

But just accepting what Nebraska BB has been for years as an excuse for not wanting better is just stupid.

Many schools with 1% of the facilities and way less assets can do it Nebraska has no excuses.

I wish I could be this naive and ignorant.

 

[IM4NUalways]

I wish I could be this naive and ignorant.

So just accept the average teams we see, or below average mostly until last year?

Its ok because we have always been that way right?

 

[cavalot]

How we doing this year?

Groundhog day is Feb 1st but we get it every year all season.

The last several games have been a let down for sure. Last night, the only hope in beating them was our home court advantage and we let that slip through our fingers.

I hope Fred is here to stay, because the next flavor of the year hasn't worked very well for us in any of the men's sports. But he really can't afford to not win 20 games this season.

I honestly have no idea where we would turn next or how to get better talent to nebraska.

 

[king_kong_]

The last several games have been a let down for sure. Last night, the only hope in beating them was our home court advantage and we let that slip through our fingers.

We were 8.5 point favorites over a .500 team last night

“Only hope”

Clueless

 

[schuele]

But he really can't afford to not win 20 games this season.

Wishing for 20 wins is like trying to build a following for your MySpace page.

If that's the benchmark for NU basketball coaches, the non-conference schedule will never get better.

 

[Harry Caray]

This season has the potential to unravel very quickly, especially if we don't beat USC at home next week. Because after that we have a really tough stretch of likely losses:

@ #24 Wisconsin
vs #19 Illinois
@ #13 Oregon
@ Washington

 

[king_kong_]

This season has the potential to unravel very quickly, especially if we don't beat USC at home next week. Because after that we have a really tough stretch of likely losses:

@ #24 Wisconsin
vs #19 Illinois
@ #13 Oregon
@ Washington

@maryland this weekend looked gettable back in November

Now looks like very tough sledding

Such is life in the 3rd best P5 bball conference

 

[cavalot]

Wishing for 20 wins is like trying to build a following for your MySpace page.

If that's the benchmark for NU basketball coaches, the non-conference schedule will never get better.

Well to do that they will have to win 8 of the next 14 which would put them 20-11 and 10-10 in the Big 10 I believe. Not great but it would end on a pretty good run.

Im not sure why we would think that the benchmark should be any higher when we look at our last 20 years of Basketball. I certainly don't think it should be what we are shooting for in the end....but at a minimum it should be the expectation for now.

 

[Harry Caray]

@maryland this weekend looked gettable back in November

Now looks like very tough sledding

Such is life in the 3rd best P5 bball conference

Yeah Maryland has only lost one home game so far this year and it was to #7 Marquette. They've won all 3 of their Big Ten home games so far by an average margin of 16. Meanwhile we have lost all 3 of our Big Ten road games by an average margin of 27 points.