Reflections on Coach Miles

[HuskerTimOmaha]

I like Jacobsen and Morrow alot. But it is my belief that they should not be constantly guarding a 5. If we could get a 6'10" guy with a big frame (to defend the 5 and rebound) I think it would take alot of pressure off Michael and Ed. And they don't need to play a ton of minutes. Maybe 8 minutes a half so the other 2 can defend their natural match-ups. I still think we are going to continue to struggle unless that, and 2 legit shooters are added.

Neither are legit 6'8", probably closer to 6'6"-ish (on second thought, maybe Jacobson is close), you'll get no disagreement from me though. They've struggled against legit big guys, which a lot of teams do, and held their own in plenty of games - most notable of late. I'll take a 6'8"/6'9" guy that cleans the glass (McVeigh at Iowa State) over a 6'10"/6'11" space eater unless we can buy time to develop a big.

Two slashers, with 1 being able to knock it down from deep along with a spot up guy is ideal for what Miles prefers, or it seems that way. We had that in 2014 with Petteway/Shields slashing (Pett could get hot deep in a blink of an eye) with Gallegos as the spot up guy.

I believe we have a damn good mix next season...

Watson, Webster, Gill, White, McVeigh, Morrow, Jacobson, Roby and Horne. That's 9 guys we haven't had on a roster, available in the same season, in a very long time. So many options, with tons of athletic ability.

 

[artguy68]

People keep mentioning Roby as someone who will help us next season. From the video I have seen, it looks like a stiff breeze could knock him down, and is therefore a prime redshirt candidate. Am I wrong?

 

[kaz36]

People keep mentioning Roby as someone who will help us next season. From the video I have seen, it looks like a stiff breeze could knock him down, and is therefore a prime redshirt candidate. Am I wrong?

If Roby redshirts next year, it will be a major disappointment. He will be expected to come in and contribute early. He may be 6'8", but he is not an inside player. He is a shooter/slasher type of player.

 

[HuskerTimOmaha]

People keep mentioning Roby as someone who will help us next season. From the video I have seen, it looks like a stiff breeze could knock him down, and is therefore a prime redshirt candidate. Am I wrong?

Yes.

 

[Husker.Wed.]

A few years back a team like Butler made it to the final four. Smallish to medium private schools like Xavier, Marquette, Villanova, Creighton and Georgetown, routinely field respectable to excellent teams. Small schools like to invest in basketball because it only takes a roster of 10-11 good players to compete at the highest levels. We now have top tier facilities and a coach making a big salary. I am sick, sick, sick of hearing BS excuses about how we are "on the verge" and "just need time". All it takes to go from being crap to being good in basketball are three or four difference maker players and a serviceable big man at center. Miles has now had four years and has not moved the needle of NU basketball an inch from its history of awfulness. He has recruited better than recent past coaches but not well enough. And don't give me any BS about how he needs time to develop his new recruits. Frick! Top notch high school bball players come in and make a huge difference right away at schools that recruit well. Hell, the truly great ones go pro right out of high school. So sorry, I am not buying the "these new guys need two more years to develop" smokescreen. This is not football. Recruit well and you should be seeing improvement in year four.

I don't pretend to know much about basketball (never played) and I have never followed it that closely, so I am not qualified to add anything intelligent to this thread. However, it does mystify me that the small schools you mention seem to be able to field good teams and Nebraska with all our money, facilities and fan support can't.

 

[jflores]

Miles is a nice guy. Willing to be very patient on Husker hoops.

 

[HuskerTimOmaha]

I don't pretend to know much about basketball (never played) and I have never followed it that closely, so I am not qualified to add anything intelligent to this thread. However, it does mystify me that the small schools you mention seem to be able to field good teams and Nebraska with all our money, facilities and fan support can't.

No idea who you're responding to so I'm not sure what smaller schools you're referencing. I will assume it's schools that either have good or better than good hoops history or in talent rich areas.

Facilities for hoops are important, for a program like Nebraska. Winning is what matters most, and that's where Nebrasketball has struggled for a long period of time. There was so much (big time positive) buzz around our program in 2014, that's why it sucked so bad to have the season we did in 2015. It basically killed all momentum Miles built and he's forced to start the buzz all over again. Heck, even a "missed the dance as a legit bubble team" last season but got a high NIT seed would've kept a lot of the momentum going but it didn't happen.

If facilities were as important as some think, then Jalil Okafor would've committed during his visit instead of passing (not that we ever had a chance) and committing to Duke 7 months later. Same goes for Dusan Ristic who visited but ended up at Arizona and to a lesser extent Elbert Robinson who also visited but ended up at LSU, claiming he wants to be the next Shaq. There's more examples too...

 

[Husker.Wed.]

No idea who you're responding to so I'm not sure what smaller schools you're referencing. I will assume it's schools that either have good or better than good hoops history or in talent rich areas.

Facilities for hoops are important, for a program like Nebraska. Winning is what matters most, and that's where Nebrasketball has struggled for a long period of time. There was so much (big time positive) buzz around our program in 2014, that's why it sucked so bad to have the season we did in 2015. It basically killed all momentum Miles built and he's forced to start the buzz all over again. Heck, even a "missed the dance as a legit bubble team" last season but got a high NIT seed would've kept a lot of the momentum going but it didn't happen.

If facilities were as important as some think, then Jalil Okafor would've committed during his visit instead of passing (not that we ever had a chance) and committing to Duke 7 months later. Same goes for Dusan Ristic who visited but ended up at Arizona and to a lesser extent Elbert Robinson who also visited but ended up at LSU, claiming he wants to be the next Shaq. There's more examples too...

I was responding to Pennsyhusker's post about Butler, Xavier, Marquette, Villanova, Creighton and Georgetown. Seems like a tough spot if you can't recruit unless you win, and you can't win unless you recruit.

 

[Dean Pope]

Fun personality, good with the media, upbeat, and swings for the fences when it comes to recruiting. NU took a chance on him, hiring him instead of a proven commodity, and that was the kind of chance we needed to take after two straight safe and unremarkable tenures.

First season, some flashes of hope before a poor finish with a team that had next to no experienced talent.
Second season, 19-13, 4th in the Big 10, and the NCAA tournament. A miraculous turnaround after losing the first 4 games of conference play.
Third season, some early season promise and excitement with so much returning talent. Total collapse at the end of the season, losing 11 of its final 12 games. Players leave the program, but a very promising recruiting class comes in.
Fourth season seems to be repeating the previous season. Like the previous season, line ups shuffle and players fall in and out of favor rapidly. Key individual players like White and Webster regress. Young players who looked promising are not improving or playing much.

We are losing Shields and Parker to graduation. Like nearly every season, it seems likely there will be additional departures. I'm beginning to wonder what is happening within the team and with Miles' leadership.

Anyone with insights?

Good recruiter. Upbeat and confident individual-- that rubs off on the players. Great personality. Kids love that. Tends to prefer smaller lineups and doesn't have a post position coach on the staff. He's very impatient with his post players-- quick to pull them. But the interior defense technique is laughable at times. Miles' offense is one dimensional-- no low post game, no inside out game. Too much drive and kick and on the ball screening for my taste. Offense is predictable and easy to guard. Consequently it is too reliant on individual effort and creativity. That's not all bad.

Miles' teams struggle vs. half court pressure. He tends to bunch players up and not try to stretch the defense by putting kids in the deep corners. His guards will cross half court and pick in up in the corners and get trapped (especially Parker). He also doesn't appear to have a plan for attacking full court pressure that traps the sideline. They will often pass the ball inbounds to the short (ball side corner) which is open and of course exactly what the defense wants you to do.

Defensively, I'm not a fan of the sagging man to man since it doesn't match their personnel.

On the positive side, kids have shown improvement in his program-- Shields, Petteway, Ubel. While I don't like the offense or the slow tempo, scoring points has not usually been a problem.

A lot of my qualms with Miles are X & O oriented things that are correctable. Getting a Big Man coach would help a ton. They've got good young post talent-- good enough to hold their own most any night if they develop.

 

[HuskerTimOmaha]

I was responding to Pennsyhusker's post about Butler, Xavier, Marquette, Villanova, Creighton and Georgetown. Seems like a tough spot if you can't recruit unless you win, and you can't win unless you recruit.

Ah, he's on ignore. Regardless, all fit within my response on multiple levels...

Never said one can't recruit, it's pretty obvious Miles has upgraded the talent significantly, now (2016-2017) it's time to do something with that talent. One can win without recruiting, see Butler, a program with history and a carried over (successful) system with atrocious facilities.

 

[HuskerTimOmaha]

Good recruiter. Upbeat and confident individual-- that rubs off on the players. Great personality. Kids love that. Tends to prefer smaller lineups and doesn't have a post position coach on the staff. He's very impatient with his post players-- quick to pull them. But the interior defense technique is laughable at times. Miles' offense is one dimensional-- no low post game, no inside out game. Too much drive and kick and on the ball screening for my taste. Offense is predictable and easy to guard. Consequently it is too reliant on individual effort and creativity. That's not all bad.

Miles' teams struggle vs. half court pressure. He tends to bunch players up and not try to stretch the defense by putting kids in the deep corners. His guards will cross half court and pick in up in the corners and get trapped (especially Parker). He also doesn't appear to have a plan for attacking full court pressure that traps the sideline. They will often pass the ball inbounds to the short (ball side corner) which is open and of course exactly what the defense wants you to do.

Defensively, I'm not a fan of the sagging man to man since it doesn't match their personnel.

On the positive side, kids have shown improvement in his program-- Shields, Petteway, Ubel. While I don't like the offense or the slow tempo, scoring points has not usually been a problem.

A lot of my qualms with Miles are X & O oriented things that are correctable. Getting a Big Man coach would help a ton. They've got good young post talent-- good enough to hold their own most any night if they develop.

Solid response, agree with everything except the press. That was an issue the first 3 seasons and some early on this season but we've been real good at breaking the press with sound fundamentals. Best thing he did was get Shavon and Benny out of handling anything while letting Glynn, Tai and even Jack control it. It'll be even better next season with not only Anton but Isaiah as well, a 6'8" dude that can handle the rock will be a huge blessing.

I've become a huge fan of coach Beckner and expect his role to increase next season.

 

[newAD]

No idea who you're responding to so I'm not sure what smaller schools you're referencing. I will assume it's schools that either have good or better than good hoops history or in talent rich areas.

Facilities for hoops are important, for a program like Nebraska. Winning is what matters most, and that's where Nebrasketball has struggled for a long period of time. There was so much (big time positive) buzz around our program in 2014, that's why it sucked so bad to have the season we did in 2015. It basically killed all momentum Miles built and he's forced to start the buzz all over again. Heck, even a "missed the dance as a legit bubble team" last season but got a high NIT seed would've kept a lot of the momentum going but it didn't happen.

If facilities were as important as some think, then Jalil Okafor would've committed during his visit instead of passing (not that we ever had a chance) and committing to Duke 7 months later. Same goes for Dusan Ristic who visited but ended up at Arizona and to a lesser extent Elbert Robinson who also visited but ended up at LSU, claiming he wants to be the next Shaq. There's more examples too...

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Nebraska's facilities will at best be a tie breaker for a recruit. It won't be the number 1 reason for a top recruit to come here.

 

[newAD]

People keep mentioning Roby as someone who will help us next season. From the video I have seen, it looks like a stiff breeze could knock him down, and is therefore a prime redshirt candidate. Am I wrong?

If Mikki Moore could play in the NBA for what...8 years or something line that, I want Roby on the floor next year. He won't be playing the 4 or 5, and thus is something Nebraska hasn't had in a long time. A match up problem.

 

[newAD]

I was responding to Pennsyhusker's post about Butler, Xavier, Marquette, Villanova, Creighton and Georgetown. Seems like a tough spot if you can't recruit unless you win, and you can't win unless you recruit.

All of those schools have tradition.

All of those schools have more tournament wins than Nebraska has appearances.

3 of those schools have national at least 1 national championship.

If you add Madison to Milwaukee, all of those schools (except CU) are in metros roughly equal to, larger to much larger than the entire state of Nebraska (Indianapolis, Philly, DC, Cincinnati).

Imo Omaha and Lincoln have not produced basketball talent (in proportion to population) comparable to those areas.

High school basketball in Nebraska historically, has not even been in the same galaxy as those states/metros...but about 10 years ago, youth basketball in Omaha seems to make a concerted effort to improve, and I think we are starting to see the results of that. Hopefully it continues, and Nebraska maybe gets a player or two from Omaha almost every year.

If Nebraska has to year after year get all recruits from out of the state, the program will struggle. I'm not saying Nebraska has to get stars from Omaha, but they've got to be able to get at least some role players out of here.

Jmho.

 

[huskerbaseball13]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Nebraska's facilities will at best be a tie breaker for a recruit. It won't be the number 1 reason for a top recruit to come here.

I don't think anybody believes a recruit is going to pick Nebrasketball solely because we now have great facilities. It's just added ammo to our arsenal. Is Glynn Watson picking Nebraska if we are still in the Bob with no practice facility? Probably not. According to Miles he probably would not have given us the light of day had we not made the NCAA run...and that's why it's crucial for Miles the next few years we make the dance as if not recruiting is going to get harder and harder for him as he churns out below .500 years.

 

[RealHusker]

I suppose it is fair to point out that Nebraska's best ever run in hoops began in Danny Nee's 5th season. Nee had a better than expected run early in his tenure (NIT Final 4 his first year), followed by 3 disappointing years - including an awful season in year 4. It all came together in year 5.

So, not identical to our current situation, but there are some parallels. This season's struggles are no fun to watch, but the fact that so many key contributors are Frosh does provide reasonable hope.

 

[Dean Pope]

Solid response, agree with everything except the press. That was an issue the first 3 seasons and some early on this season but we've been real good at breaking the press with sound fundamentals. Best thing he did was get Shavon and Benny out of handling anything while letting Glynn, Tai and even Jack control it. It'll be even better next season with not only Anton but Isaiah as well, a 6'8" dude that can handle the rock will be a huge blessing.

Yes, less trouble with the press this year. Credit better ballhandlers, but your scheme can make things a lot easier too. I don't think Miles really has one when it comes down to it, but if there is one it's probably a loose set with few rules.

Major, major upgrade coming with Anton taking Benny's place. Hoping Isaiah has a comfortable backup spot in his first year and plays well. He's just growing so fast-- nine times out of ten those guys need an extra year. A redshirt wouldn't be out of the question unless he's just too damn talented and he has to play next year!

 

[artguy68]

All of those schools have tradition.

All of those schools have more tournament wins than Nebraska has appearances.

3 of those schools have national at least 1 national championship.

If you add Madison to Milwaukee, all of those schools (except CU) are in metros roughly equal to, larger to much larger than the entire state of Nebraska (Indianapolis, Philly, DC, Cincinnati).

Imo Omaha and Lincoln have not produced basketball talent (in proportion to population) comparable to those areas.

High school basketball in Nebraska historically, has not even been in the same galaxy as those states/metros...but about 10 years ago, youth basketball in Omaha seems to make a concerted effort to improve, and I think we are starting to see the results of that. Hopefully it continues, and Nebraska maybe gets a player or two from Omaha almost every year.

If Nebraska has to year after year get all recruits from out of the state, the program will struggle. I'm not saying Nebraska has to get stars from Omaha, but they've got to be able to get at least some role players out of here.

Jmho.

I've thought the same thing. Seems like we should always at least have a Keith Neubert/Richard V/John Turek type on the team-- a big guy who can play the role of enforcer-- that the state should be able to provide. To my recollection, we haven't had an impact player from Nebraska since Dourisseau a decade ago.

 

[sports control my life]

People keep mentioning Roby as someone who will help us next season. From the video I have seen, it looks like a stiff breeze could knock him down, and is therefore a prime redshirt candidate. Am I wrong?

Ever seen Kevin Durant? Roby is legit.