NIT NIT splat

[schuele]

In my opinion, Miles's seat got appropriately hot when he posted his third straight losing season last year. He didn't get fired, but 2017-18 truly became a produce-results-or-GTFO season for him. And to his credit, he has produced results. They're not over-the-top, wow-let's-give-this-guy-a-10-year-contract results, but certainly good enough to settle the issue of whether he should be back next year.

And yes I know the Big Ten is down this season. But even when accounting for that, the team has bounced back significantly from last year's meltdown.

 

[NorthWillRiseAgain]

In my opinion, Miles's seat got appropriately hot when he posted his third straight losing season last year. He didn't get fired, but 2017-18 truly became a produce-results-or-GTFO season for him. And to his credit, he has produced results. They're not over-the-top, wow-let's-give-this-guy-a-10-year-contract results, but certainly good enough to settle the issue of whether he should be back next year.

And yes I know the Big Ten is down this season. But even when accounting for that, the team has bounced back significantly from last year's meltdown.

I’d tell you, I would not have been upset last season if they made a change. Those were a few horrible endings to seasons the last few years.

You are right, now is not even close to when this discussion should happen. This has been a successful season, by any remotely reasonable standard.

 

[scarletred]

Tim Miles has earned another year and hopefully the majority of the team will be back next year,that said there won’t be an excuse to not make the NCAA tournament.

Just so happens this year the B1G schedule makers didn’t give us Ohio St, Sparty and Purdue a return visit to the Vault...

KU game is still a thorn in our side.

 

[jlb321]

I don't want to put words in your mouth, but it sounds like you're saying throw in the towel and don't worry about competing. Is that correct? No knock if that's the case, I just hadn't thought about it that way. And I understand your point about baseball, but basketball is certainly different. a) it earns revenue and b) the Big Ten has certainly experienced success nationally.

For clarity I fully support Miles being back next year regardless of tourney bid or not - there has been some indication of progress - I think in the coming years the expectation is NCAA tourney bids at least every other year -- that is not amazing but clearly a huge step up. I would not say 2 decent years in 6 is competing at a sufficient level. So I fully support him being back next year with clear expectations of being in the tourney more often or at least as often as you are not. As I have stated - we have a very, very, very weak schedule - one of the softest of any team in a major conference - the last I looked we had the softest schedule in the BIG. So I am taking these 20+ wins with a grain of salt - but feel he should get the chance to prove whether this year is more the norm or an outlier.

I maintain in this conference we are throwing money away investing in baseball.

 

[davecisar]

Baseball is losing just 752,000 per year
This state loves baseball and it has a very strong fan following

That’s peanuts

If we don’t care enough to enforce mike Riley’s $400,000 per year payback that he is clearly violating- over half this loss - then we must have enough money to leave baseball alone Jmo

 

[shine003]

When you are trying to take one of the worst basketball programs in the sport to new levels, results won’t be linear. Miles having two successful seasons out of 6 is clearly progress compared to anyone not named Lee. Let him continue to build and see where it goes. This “results now” mindset around Nebraska athletics does nothing other than damage our programs. Everyone is committed to NU athletics in general, but we live in a low population state and there are challenges to producing a national winner that mean coaches need more time. Winner can be built but it’s tough to convince the best high school athletes to come half way across the country to Nebraska and play for a losing program. Success must be incremental. And the more competitive you become, the easier it is to sell Nebraska. Patience.

 

[Harry Caray]

I think we should wait and see how the FBI investigation into college basketball turns out. We may end up one of the few major-conference programs that doesn't get implicated, so we might have a shot at the Final Four next year!

 

[chicolby]

The other thing that's been emerging with Miles at Nebraska is a track record of taking blue-chip recruits who don't sign with Nebraska out of high school but end up here via the transfer. In an era where the number of transfers is increasing each year, this is not a bad plan to entice these players to transfer here instead of somewhere else. Petteway averaged around 2 points per game before he came here. James Palmer was a 3 point guy. This is a creative way to get 4 star talent on your team when you don't quite have the tradition of landing these types of players out of high school.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

I think calling Nebraska basketball one of the worst programs in the sport a bit of an exaggeration.

5 of the last 6 coaches have had .500 records or above as Nebraska head coach. Only Collier wasn’t and he was 89-91 when he left.

At some point you have to make a jump from mediocre. Or you can resign yourself to being mediocre.

 

[chicolby]

I think calling Nebraska basketball one of the worst programs in the sport a bit of an exaggeration.

5 of the last 6 coaches have had .500 records or above as Nebraska head coach. Only Collier wasn’t and he was 89-91 when he left.

At some point you have to make a jump from mediocre. Or you can resign yourself to being mediocre.

Same sentiment, Tuco. Nebraska basketball is mediocre. Miles is not a good coach for Nebraska. You have recycled the same post several times. What is your proposed solution?

 

[dinglefritz]

Baseball is losing just 752,000 per year
This state loves baseball and it has a very strong fan following

That’s peanuts

If we don’t care enough to enforce mike Riley’s $400,000 per year payback that he is clearly violating- over half this loss - then we must have enough money to leave baseball alone Jmo

When you say that baseball is losing 752,000 per year, it might be a little misleading because baseball is part of the revenue package from the B1G ten which includes TV contracts I would think. Do you know what the break down is for TV and radio revenue for baseball and how that's accounted for? I'm also assuming that baseball probably generates some licensed product sales which may not be reflected in that general revenue figure.

 

[MichHusker]

When you are trying to take one of the worst basketball programs in the sport to new levels, results won’t be linear. Miles having two successful seasons out of 6 is clearly progress compared to anyone not named Lee. Let him continue to build and see where it goes. This “results now” mindset around Nebraska athletics does nothing other than damage our programs. Everyone is committed to NU athletics in general, but we live in a low population state and there are challenges to producing a national winner that mean coaches need more time. Winner can be built but it’s tough to convince the best high school athletes to come half way across the country to Nebraska and play for a losing program. Success must be incremental. And the more competitive you become, the easier it is to sell Nebraska. Patience.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

Same sentiment, Tuco. Nebraska basketball is mediocre. Miles is not a good coach for Nebraska. You have recycled the same post several times. What is your proposed solution?

Not my job to hire basketball coaches. So my proposed solution is irrelevant.

But this season is exactly why you can’t keep a mediocre coach around. I equate it to how upsets happen. You let a team stick around long enough and they will win. Miles has had 2 winning seasons in 6. After 4 losing seasons in a row he needed to be let go, the AD let him stick around long and he took a team with enough talent and a favorable schedule and has won enough games to keep his job. Then next year, odds are the league will be stronger, schedule tougher, players will transfer and wins be reduced. At that point people will be calling for his head.

 

[MichHusker]

When you are trying to take one of the worst basketball programs in the sport to new levels, results won’t be linear. Miles having two successful seasons out of 6 is clearly progress compared to anyone not named Lee. Let him continue to build and see where it goes. This “results now” mindset around Nebraska athletics does nothing other than damage our programs. Everyone is committed to NU athletics in general, but we live in a low population state and there are challenges to producing a national winner that mean coaches need more time. Winner can be built but it’s tough to convince the best high school athletes to come half way across the country to Nebraska and play for a losing program. Success must be incremental. And the more competitive you become, the easier it is to sell Nebraska. Patience.

Well, I suspect the people at K State felt the same way before Bill Snyder was hired. "How can we ever get a good coach at K State with our horrid football record and history of losing." I disagree --- especially in basketball --- that NU could not get overnight results with a good hire. The facilities are there. The fans are there. The money is there - just need to spend a little more on a good coach (which will pay back dividends with success). We hold ourselves out at one of the best athletic programs in the Big 10 ... lets start acting like it. We can do better!

 

[chicolby]

Not my job to hire basketball coaches. So my proposed solution is irrelevant.

But this season is exactly why you can’t keep a mediocre coach around. I equate it to how upsets happen. You let a team stick around long enough and they will win. Miles has had 2 winning seasons in 6. After 4 losing seasons in a row he needed to be let go, the AD let him stick around long and he took a team with enough talent and a favorable schedule and has won enough games to keep his job. Then next year, odds are the league will be stronger, schedule tougher, players will transfer and wins be reduced. At that point people will be calling for his head.

But it's your job to post about how bad of a coach he is? You're disappointed that he won enough games to keep his job. As if winning is a bad thing. Man, sometimes when people are so hell bent on sticking to their original impression, they literally twist things to where you don't even know what they want.

Let's start with the basics. Do you want Nebraska to be successful at basketball?

Assuming the answer is yes, then you should be happy to have a team with 21 wins, staring at 22, a legit dangerous team that others don't want to face. But instead, somehow you've twisted this into a shame that we won games, simply to prove your point that Miles is the wrong guy.

Must be tiring to convince yourself (and others) that this 21 win season is a bad thing.

 

[GeauxBigRed]

Most teams would consider firing a coach that at best makes the NIT. Miles will probably get an extension. He has top 64 talent but can’t coach for crap.

Most schools have also won a NCAA tournament game.

 

[scarletred]

I think calling Nebraska basketball one of the worst programs in the sport a bit of an exaggeration.

5 of the last 6 coaches have had .500 records or above as Nebraska head coach. Only Collier wasn’t and he was 89-91 when he left.

At some point you have to make a jump from mediocre. Or you can resign yourself to being mediocre.

Of course there are other programs that do have a worse All-Time record in Basketball then Nebraska.
But since they have expanded the tournment we have to worse record in the history of NCAA tournment.

The B1G usually is one of the top two or three conferences in the country and in most cases not like this year, half the conference should make it to the Dance.

I agree eventually we need to get rid of the being mediocre but that has been very difficult finding the Head Coach that can consistently get the job done on a yearly basis....
I don't expect to finish in the top 4 of the B1G every year but in no way should we be in the bottom 4 just about every year either.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

But it's your job to post about how bad of a coach he is? You're disappointed that he won enough games to keep his job. As if winning is a bad thing. Man, sometimes when people are so hell bent on sticking to their original impression, they literally twist things to where you don't even know what they want.

Let's start with the basics. Do you want Nebraska to be successful at basketball?

Assuming the answer is yes, then you should be happy to have a team with 21 wins, staring at 22, a legit dangerous team that others don't want to face. But instead, somehow you've twisted this into a shame that we won games, simply to prove your point that Miles is the wrong guy.

Must be tiring to convince yourself (and others) that this 21 win season is a bad thing.

So I should just be happy Nebraska won 20 games 1 out of 6 years under Miles. I am disappointed he won enough games to keep his job because I believe it’s fools gold. I think the program deserves better.

 

[NorthWillRiseAgain]

So I should just be happy Nebraska won 20 games 1 out of 6 years under Miles. I am disappointed he won enough games to keep his job because I believe it’s fools gold. I think the program deserves better.

You are disappointed he won 20 games. /thread.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

You are disappointed he won 20 games. /thread.

No I am disappointed we are stuck with a mediocre coach because he won 20 games.

 

[NorthWillRiseAgain]

No I am disappointed we are stuck with a mediocre coach because he won 20 games.

Nebraska has always had mediocre coaches.

If a mediocre coach has 2 winning seasons in conference his first 6 years, by Nebraska standards that is a pretty good number.

Take what you want from it, fan support overall has been much better under Miles, they are back in the Black after many years below with what is considered a more talented, more fun product.

 

[NorthWillRiseAgain]

No I am disappointed we are stuck with a mediocre coach because he won 20 games.

I’m not saying he’s been phenomenal, far from it. It’s been a fun product. What he lacks has been in game adjustments. I’ve seen a big shift in that this year.

 

[shine003]

I think calling Nebraska basketball one of the worst programs in the sport a bit of an exaggeration.

5 of the last 6 coaches have had .500 records or above as Nebraska head coach. Only Collier wasn’t and he was 89-91 when he left.

At some point you have to make a jump from mediocre. Or you can resign yourself to being mediocre.

We are the only power 5 program to never win an NCAA tournament game. That’s one of the historically worst programs IMO.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

Nebraska has always had mediocre coaches.

If a mediocre coach has 2 winning seasons in conference his first 6 years, by Nebraska standards that is a pretty good number.

Take what you want from it, fan support overall has been much better under Miles, they are back in the Black after many years below with what is considered a more talented, more fun product.

Support him if you want. I am not going to resort to calling you names or anything because you choose to support him. I simply don’t think he will ever be consistently good.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

We are the only power 5 program to never win an NCAA tournament game. That’s one of the historically worst programs IMO.

That makes the team historically bad in the post season

The Cleveland Browns part 2, since they came back to the NFL, are historically bad team. The Minnesota Vikings and the Buffalo Bills are historically bad Super Bowl teams. See the difference?

 

[chicolby]

So I should just be happy Nebraska won 20 games 1 out of 6 years under Miles. I am disappointed he won enough games to keep his job because I believe it’s fools gold. I think the program deserves better.

No. Be pissed like always.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

No. Be pissed like always.

Cool. I shall

 

[shine003]

That makes the team historically bad in the post season

The Cleveland Browns part 2, since they came back to the NFL, are historically bad team. The Minnesota Vikings and the Buffalo Bills are historically bad Super Bowl teams. See the difference?

0-7 in almost 70 years. One conference tournament title. No shared conference titles since 1950 and no outright since 1916. Sugar coat that any way you want, but it’s god awful. Worst, least successful, historically bad postseason...whatever. Doesn’t matter. You want Miles fired for lack of success, but now don’t want to use post season results to measure program success. What’s your bar for measuring the success for a coach at Nebraska now that you just said you don’t want to measure program success with post season results?

Also it’s not like Nebraska is 0-7 in the final 4 or even sweet sixteen (which is more equivalent to the bills), it’s 0-7 in the round of 64. Only 7 berths. No wins. 7 births in 70 years means bad regular seasons, see how the two are connected?

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

0-7 in almost 70 years. One conference tournament title. No shared conference titles since 1950 and no outright since 1916. Sugar coat that any way you want, but it’s god awful. Worst, least successful, historically bad postseason...whatever. Doesn’t matter. You want Miles fired for lack of success, but now don’t want to use post season results to measure program success. What’s your bar for measuring the success for a coach at Nebraska now that you just said you don’t want to measure program success with post season results?

Also it’s not like Nebraska is 0-7 in the final 4 or even sweet sixteen (which is more equivalent to the bills), it’s 0-7 in the round of 64. Only 7 berths. No wins. 7 births in 70 years means bad regular seasons, see how the two are connected?

No because for the many of the 70 years there weren't 64 teams,

• 1951–1952: 16 teams
• 1953–1974: varied between 22 and 25 teams
• 1975–1978: 32 teams
• 1979: 40 teams
• 1980–1982: 48 teams
• 1983: 52 teams (four play-in games before the tournament)
• 1984: 53 teams (five play-in games before the tournament)

Since the expansion to 64+ in 1985, Nebraska has made the tournament 7 times. So that is 7 times in 32 years.

Since 1986 Nebraska is 540-465, with 17 post season berths. A post season NIT championship and a few deep runs in the NIT.

So what you have is a program that has had some success in the regular season and some success in the post season, but have not had a coach that could take them from the relative success of the NIT to NCAA success.

In order to make your argument sound better, you have to make the actual results seem worse than they were.

They are a historically bad NCAA tournament team and a very average NCAA basketball team, that has had enough success to have hired a coach that could capitalize on that relative success.

The fact that you are working so hard to defend a coach that needed a 21-9 season just to get above .500 after 6 years of coaching Nebraska. And unless he wins 2 of the next 3 games, he will be back below .500.

If all you want to do is maintain the status quo, past coaches have been let go after having more success than Miles. Why does he get a longer rope?

 

[shine003]

No because for the many of the 70 years there weren't 64 teams,

• 1951–1952: 16 teams
• 1953–1974: varied between 22 and 25 teams
• 1975–1978: 32 teams
• 1979: 40 teams
• 1980–1982: 48 teams
• 1983: 52 teams (four play-in games before the tournament)
• 1984: 53 teams (five play-in games before the tournament)

Since the expansion to 64+ in 1985, Nebraska has made the tournament 7 times. So that is 7 times in 32 years.

Since 1986 Nebraska is 540-465, with 17 post season berths. A post season NIT championship and a few deep runs in the NIT.

So what you have is a program that has had some success in the regular season and some success in the post season, but have not had a coach that could take them from the relative success of the NIT to NCAA success.

In order to make your argument sound better, you have to make the actual results seem worse than they were.

They are a historically bad NCAA tournament team and a very average NCAA basketball team, that has had enough success to have hired a coach that could capitalize on that relative success.

The fact that you are working so hard to defend a coach that needed a 21-9 season just to get above .500 after 6 years of coaching Nebraska. And unless he wins 2 of the next 3 games, he will be back below .500.

If all you want to do is maintain the status quo, past coaches have been let go after having more success than Miles. Why does he get a longer rope?

I’m defending him because it’s painful watch nebraska Fire coach after coach and get the same results. The thing we haven’t tried is to give a guy that has had a little success (which miles has) a chance to keep building. You’re not going to change the history of the program in a few years. There’s no local talent and the Nebraska name doesn’t sell well to kids that can step in and make an immediate impact in the big 10. No one cares about a NIT title in the mid-90’s on the AAU circuit

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

I’m defending him because it’s painful watch nebraska Fire coach after coach and get the same results. The thing we haven’t tried is to give a guy that has had a little success (which miles has) a chance to keep building. You’re not going to change the history of the program in a few years. There’s no local talent and the Nebraska name doesn’t sell well to kids that can step in and make an immediate impact in the big 10. No one cares about a NIT title in the mid-90’s on the AAU circuit

4 losing seasons in 6 years is not success. Danny Nee was the coach for 14 seasons. Barry Collier left on his own to become an AD, Doc Sadler is the only one that even remotely fits your description of painfully watching Nebraska fire coach after coach. Sadler again the only one that fits the definition of having a little success and a chance to keep building.

So what you are doing is hoping. You sound like you would rather hope that Miles can have 2 winning seasons in a row rather than take a chance that someone else will. That is playing not to lose. More power to you.

For the record, the only thing I disputed in your take is that Nebraska is one of the worst NCAA basketball teams ever. Now you are changing the argument.

 

[shine003]

Not at all. It’s the same argument. If Nebraska had more history of success, then you could justify not keeping a struggling coach. My argument isn’t that you hope Miles can have two winning seasons, it’s that with Nebraska’s history you can’t fire a 20 win coach that has a NCAA tournament appearance, especially with everyone coming back next year (on paper).... And Barry Collier took the AD job to keep from being fired. Don’t rewrite that history.

 

[hddude55]

Hate to let a good thread go to waste. Any bets on the NIT?