Dirks "For And Against" Article

[Husker Eponymous]

It's about individual players and team chemistry. One player lose can make a hell of a difference, i.e. Morrow whose loss cost us in at least four games. As to Iowa, for example, can they weather the loss of Jok, who is their best player?

As to #4, Miles has had to totally rebuild, losing out on a couple of classes along the way the first couple of seasons. I like the make-up of the current roster, and their ability to coalesce as a team may show up next year with a few more close wins instead of so many close loses.

Northwestern went to Wisky, with their leading scorer out. Played 3 sophs and 1 jr, with a role playing senior and put the wood to the Badgers. Weird what good coaching can do.

Of course NW has those shiny new facilities, intimidating crowds and arena, years and years of winning basketball tradition, and numerous McDonalds all americans to cover up for Chris Collins deficiencies... Oh, wait, nevermind...

 

[joestrummer]

Smashed by halftime is only possible if you're already drunk when you get there. What's the max # of beers a person can acquire and consume in a packed stadium in 1/2 of football? 3 or 4 of they try really hard and totally blow off the game?

cu students were also likely partying all day and likely smuggling hard stuff into the game....just like 1000s of nu students do. I'm guessing the cu thing had as much to do with them traditionally being trash PLUS the booze.

I'm pretty sure they weren't selling beer at Folsom when the Colorado student section was booted. I think they stopped selling in '96 or '97 and started back up a few years ago.

 

[bilsker]

I'm pretty sure they weren't selling beer at Folsom when the Colorado student section was booted. I think they stopped selling in '96 or '97 and started back up a few years ago.

I wouldn't imagine college kids would be getting ripped on $8-10 beers anyway. we were pretty resourceful when it came to getting booze into games when I was at UNL.

 

[LarstheRed]

In order to think about next years team, you must remember the rules of a Tim Miles coached team:

-- There can be no transfers out of key players, for that is an excuse for losing
-- There can be no injuries, for that is an excuse for losing
-- There can be no reliance on young talent, for that is an excuse for losing.

As long as those things do not happen, there is reason to be cautiously optimistic

You really lack a great deal of understanding in the sport of basketball, don't you? I'm guessing you were one of those who equates team sports as all equal in their challenges. Basketball is night and day different from football. We saw what life was like in a sport like football when we TA went down, or Nate Gerry was out, or we lost Foltz far too soon, or Westy was on the sidelines, yet that's a sport that has 22 separate components plus special teams, and yet a missing part or two paralyzed us in many ways. And what do we think that team would have been like had we not lost 3 of the top DTs, keeping their talent and leadership? What would it have been like if we'd had maybe one more option at QB instead of losing a kid to an Iowa directional? What would it have been had Sam not been killed tragically, bringing his incredible skills and leadership to the team, instead of being forced to play a freshman who had no interest in being on the active roster this year?

Basketball usually only looks for 10 guys to really be a part of the team. Of those, it's likely only 8 will really be serious, regular contributors. So if one or two have issues, that's 25% of your contributing roster. Think of it as 6 to 8 starters on a football team, and depending on position, keys to your chances of being an upper level team. So losing White and Morrow is similar to the football team losing Valentine, Collins, Armstrong, Westy, Gerry, Foltz, Kevin Williams and Foster. Do we really think we would have had the same record if we would have been able to have that group as healthy starters all year? Please, this entire posting of yours is absurd.

I don't know what your deal is, but you really don't have a clue about the sport, and the more you try to sound knowledgeable, the worse you are sounding. Yes, all teams have injuries, but not all teams have equal depth, or equal number of players ready to fill in when called on. The B1G is no different than most conferences in that the best players rarely last all 4 years, and certain teams tend to have more of those guys on their rosters year in and year out. Tai has only been around 4 years, but it feels like 10 from a program perspective. That's how it is in high caliber college basketball these days...4 year players are an anomaly. It's also important to consider the roster changes that not only we've experienced, but the fact numerous kids on rosters in the conference aren't going to stick with those programs to complete their eligibility. Have you ever looked at the movement on basketball rosters? Let's just look at departures from 2012-2013:

-Petteway
-Pitchford
-Biggs
-Hawkins
-Vucetic
-Smith
-Hammond
-Evelyn
-White

This isn't that unique if you look at some of the other programs, but the difference being, we didn't have much depth to begin with. We've been building the last 2 years, but we still lack 2 or 3 more solid players to be able to deal with injuries when needed. Looking at next year's potential roster, I really like what I'm seeing. That roster didn't happen by itself, it was built by the staff. That takes an eye for talent, dedication to getting the players to campus and to commit, and a product players can see themselves being a part of. We have more inside depth, outside shooting and athletes, than any time I can recall. If we cut Miles loose, we likely lose 2 guys, so 25% of our contributing roster. If it really went poorly, we could lose 3-4, which would put us at half of the guys who are actually playing for us. Think of losing half of the starters off a football team...and no it's not the same thing, but it has similarities. For years we heard that injuries or losing certain kids at certain positions on the football team would be devastating, because we lacked talent and depth at those positions. It's not different in basketball, except the opportunity for depth is that much narrower.

Miles has not done a great job building the core of the team...until the last couple of years. He seems to recognize that the 'quick fix', can lead to a slow death if those reclamation projects don't pan out. I like the direction we seem to be going now, and I think he will staff accordingly with assistants who are better teachers, and not just recruiters of talent. We need that blend.

 

[Rainbow Dash]

You really lack a great deal of understanding in the sport of basketball, don't you? I'm guessing you were one of those who equates team sports as all equal in their challenges. Basketball is night and day different from football. We saw what life was like in a sport like football when we TA went down, or Nate Gerry was out, or we lost Foltz far too soon, or Westy was on the sidelines, yet that's a sport that has 22 separate components plus special teams, and yet a missing part or two paralyzed us in many ways. And what do we think that team would have been like had we not lost 3 of the top DTs, keeping their talent and leadership? What would it have been like if we'd had maybe one more option at QB instead of losing a kid to an Iowa directional? What would it have been had Sam not been killed tragically, bringing his incredible skills and leadership to the team, instead of being forced to play a freshman who had no interest in being on the active roster this year?

Basketball usually only looks for 10 guys to really be a part of the team. Of those, it's likely only 8 will really be serious, regular contributors. So if one or two have issues, that's 25% of your contributing roster. Think of it as 6 to 8 starters on a football team, and depending on position, keys to your chances of being an upper level team. So losing White and Morrow is similar to the football team losing Valentine, Collins, Armstrong, Westy, Gerry, Foltz, Kevin Williams and Foster. Do we really think we would have had the same record if we would have been able to have that group as healthy starters all year? Please, this entire posting of yours is absurd.

I don't know what your deal is, but you really don't have a clue about the sport, and the more you try to sound knowledgeable, the worse you are sounding. Yes, all teams have injuries, but not all teams have equal depth, or equal number of players ready to fill in when called on. The B1G is no different than most conferences in that the best players rarely last all 4 years, and certain teams tend to have more of those guys on their rosters year in and year out. Tai has only been around 4 years, but it feels like 10 from a program perspective. That's how it is in high caliber college basketball these days...4 year players are an anomaly. It's also important to consider the roster changes that not only we've experienced, but the fact numerous kids on rosters in the conference aren't going to stick with those programs to complete their eligibility. Have you ever looked at the movement on basketball rosters? Let's just look at departures from 2012-2013:

-Petteway
-Pitchford
-Biggs
-Hawkins
-Vucetic
-Smith
-Hammond
-Evelyn
-White

This isn't that unique if you look at some of the other programs, but the difference being, we didn't have much depth to begin with. We've been building the last 2 years, but we still lack 2 or 3 more solid players to be able to deal with injuries when needed. Looking at next year's potential roster, I really like what I'm seeing. That roster didn't happen by itself, it was built by the staff. That takes an eye for talent, dedication to getting the players to campus and to commit, and a product players can see themselves being a part of. We have more inside depth, outside shooting and athletes, than any time I can recall. If we cut Miles loose, we likely lose 2 guys, so 25% of our contributing roster. If it really went poorly, we could lose 3-4, which would put us at half of the guys who are actually playing for us. Think of losing half of the starters off a football team...and no it's not the same thing, but it has similarities. For years we heard that injuries or losing certain kids at certain positions on the football team would be devastating, because we lacked talent and depth at those positions. It's not different in basketball, except the opportunity for depth is that much narrower.

Miles has not done a great job building the core of the team...until the last couple of years. He seems to recognize that the 'quick fix', can lead to a slow death if those reclamation projects don't pan out. I like the direction we seem to be going now, and I think he will staff accordingly with assistants who are better teachers, and not just recruiters of talent. We need that blend.

All good points. I wouldn't waste time explaining how rational your thought process is though, at least not to him. He'll hit you with a three sentence memorized spiel here shortly and then passive-aggressively troll in every other thread. Occasionally he will throw out a Nick Bahe talking point. I've stopped engaging him until I see some sort of knowledge inventory about the game of basketball.

 

[NavyWarrant]

Miles has not done a great job building the core of the team...until the last couple of years. He seems to recognize that the 'quick fix', can lead to a slow death if those reclamation projects don't pan out. I like the direction we seem to be going now, and I think he will staff accordingly with assistants who are better teachers, and not just recruiters of talent. We need that blend.

I have stated this in the past and still believe it today. Coach Miles tried something that he had no experience with in the "quick fix." It brought some success, but isn't conducive to long term success. The staff essentially started over and decided to build a program with high school players.

When you bring in a whole bunch of young players and let them grow and develop together it helps the program grow long term. When that group is seniors, they are more developed and you have some continuity on the team. The rest of the team learns how to win and gain confidence. Then, you start to balance out the roster amongst the year groups. The program continues to grow because you aren't starting over with new concepts each year. Hopefully, you get lucky somewhere with a recruit that changes the program and the other recruits will truly look at your program.

I know I am in the minority in my belief of giving the staff another 3 years to see if this will pay off. Considering the history of Husker hoops, you have nothing to lose...

 

[LarstheRed]

I have stated this in the past and still believe it today. Coach Miles tried something that he had no experience with in the "quick fix." It brought some success, but isn't conducive to long term success. The staff essentially started over and decided to build a program with high school players.

When you bring in a whole bunch of young players and let them grow and develop together it helps the program grow long term. When that group is seniors, they are more developed and you have some continuity on the team. The rest of the team learns how to win and gain confidence. Then, you start to balance out the roster amongst the year groups. The program continues to grow because you aren't starting over with new concepts each year. Hopefully, you get lucky somewhere with a recruit that changes the program and the other recruits will truly look at your program.

I know I am in the minority in my belief of giving the staff another 3 years to see if this will pay off. Considering the history of Husker hoops, you have nothing to lose...

Miles was backed into a corner when he first got to Nebraska, in desperate need of talent. That was the motivation behind picking up some of the quick fix guys, and even if a coach has experience in that area, it's a crap shoot. We had several come to our team in college. There were some occasional issues with personalities, but nothing that wasn't sorted out fairly easily. The problem can get out of hand when you have guys who absolutely don't fit on the court. If you are a balanced team that moves the ball, you can't expect a 'black hole' to be accepted by the squad. What may have started off as a positive for Miles, ended very badly, and it hurt the team's development for at least a year following their early departure. As much as we hated that quick fix, and the outcome overall was not good, it did get us to the Dance for the first time in what seems forever.

I'm definitely a fan of having the staff show what they can do with this group next year, but we do need to see some improvement and a consistency in solid play that we haven't really seen as yet. I love Miles enthusiasm, but he needs to have a calming, knowledgeable presence in the huddle when we are trying to thaw a frozen offense or get a crucial shot.