Game #31, (L, 65-54), Sun, 3/6 @ Northwestern, 1:00 pm CST, BTN

[HuskerWeatherman]

Without 'Jumping on the Bandwagon,' just fwiw, I understand everyone's disappointment. This is the second year in a row that the team has seemingly regressed as the season progressed. Poor shooting (and seeming inability to finish well) has been a characteristic for the past two seasons.

But, much as we might like to, I'm not sure we can blame All of the poor shooting on the coaching. This is Not a bad team; there is a lot of talent on the team; more talent than last season, and even more talent is on the way for next year. This is a much better team than their record indicates. They'll stop losing when they get Tired of losing and start believing they can win.

Dare I say it? What would our record be if Terran had stayed for his senior year?

Though if poor shooting is a familiar them, that speaks highly to coaching. Everyone has their off nights were shots don't fall. But if it's consistent, it's coaching problem. Our offense is simply rather sloppy. Two years in a row of poor shooting is a coaching problem.

Why should we be convinced they will get tired of losing? Sounds a bit cliche.

If Terran had stayed ... it's quite possible this season's team would have been even worse. He was the single worst chemistry player I've seen in many decades of following Husker hoops. I'm not sure that Miles creates good chemistry. And I saw times this season that made me believe that as well.

Regardless of all my negatives, I'll welcome Tim Miles back for 2016-17 -- and hope for the best.

 

[NavyWarrant]

Another disappointing performance. Speaking of chemistry, it has been off since Shields came back. The staff has struggled mightily the last couple years with "team chemistry." This year, White and Shields seemed to take turns as the offense. Even though Shields was putting up some big numbers, he could have kicked the ball out several times to guys for easier shots.

Looking forward to next year, I am hoping that the upgrade from Parker to Gill will help the team. Parker had heart, but that doesn't win in big boy ball. If the staff can close the deal on a big, they will be able to stick around. If not, and next season is a repeat of this year, this staff may be looking for work. They need to get better and eliminate those long scoreless droughts!

 

[LarstheRed]

Though if poor shooting is a familiar them, that speaks highly to coaching. Everyone has their off nights were shots don't fall. But if it's consistent, it's coaching problem. Our offense is simply rather sloppy. Two years in a row of poor shooting is a coaching problem.

Why should we be convinced they will get tired of losing? Sounds a bit cliche.

If Terran had stayed ... it's quite possible this season's team would have been even worse. He was the single worst chemistry player I've seen in many decades of following Husker hoops. I'm not sure that Miles creates good chemistry. And I saw times this season that made me believe that as well.

Regardless of all my negatives, I'll welcome Tim Miles back for 2016-17 -- and hope for the best.

Shooting once you get to this level isn't a coaching thing unless you kill their confidence. Either you can shoot or you can't. Guys playing D1 ball can have people tweak their shots a little, help with some fundamentals, show them where to get their shots in the offense, and work on timing, spacing and passing, but that's about it. Now if the issue is confidence and a coach kills that, like say a Moe Iba, then yes it is coaching. The shooting woes I see are more a product of guys not being in a good position to shoot. They aren't in the gaps of the defense, they aren't ready to catch and fire, they don't find ways to create space, their spacing is flatout horrid and they never look for easy shots to gain some confidence and get a rhythm. It seems the AAU habits come to the forefront whenever the first shot or two doesn't fall. And I contend, the lack of a real sniper, that guy who can find those gaps, knows his spot on the floor and the offense is smart enough to find him, is as big a recruiting failure as finding a good big man. You get a guy who can drill the 3, and the entire offense will change. At this point you have some pretty average shooters who have become convinced they are outstanding and slashing and getting to the basket...they aren't. They also don't realize that if they actually kicked the ball out occasionally, their slashing would get easier and the kick out man would likely get some decent looks. If that guy scores the slashing gets even easier. I think Watson can be one of those guys. I think Morrow can play a role and won't try to be more than what he is. Jacobson looks like a smart kid who recognizes spacing and ball movement. White is a tough call, but if he is the baller some suggest, he should see this as well, and if he did, his opportunities to score would go way up and get much easier. Shields is going to finish the season and graduate, and that might be for the best. He wasn't a naturally good shooter, and his success slashing has been both a positive and negative. Our spacing and ball movement were much better without him on the court.

I still see some solid potential if we can have players come in and compliment our returners.

 

[NUFootballTim]

Shooting once you get to this level isn't a coaching thing unless you kill their confidence. Either you can shoot or you can't. Guys playing D1 ball can have people tweak their shots a little, help with some fundamentals, show them where to get their shots in the offense, and work on timing, spacing and passing, but that's about it. Now if the issue is confidence and a coach kills that, like say a Moe Iba, then yes it is coaching. The shooting woes I see are more a product of guys not being in a good position to shoot. They aren't in the gaps of the defense, they aren't ready to catch and fire, they don't find ways to create space, their spacing is flatout horrid and they never look for easy shots to gain some confidence and get a rhythm. It seems the AAU habits come to the forefront whenever the first shot or two doesn't fall. And I contend, the lack of a real sniper, that guy who can find those gaps, knows his spot on the floor and the offense is smart enough to find him, is as big a recruiting failure as finding a good big man. You get a guy who can drill the 3, and the entire offense will change. At this point you have some pretty average shooters who have become convinced they are outstanding and slashing and getting to the basket...they aren't. They also don't realize that if they actually kicked the ball out occasionally, their slashing would get easier and the kick out man would likely get some decent looks. If that guy scores the slashing gets even easier. I think Watson can be one of those guys. I think Morrow can play a role and won't try to be more than what he is. Jacobson looks like a smart kid who recognizes spacing and ball movement. White is a tough call, but if he is the baller some suggest, he should see this as well, and if he did, his opportunities to score would go way up and get much easier. Shields is going to finish the season and graduate, and that might be for the best. He wasn't a naturally good shooter, and his success slashing has been both a positive and negative. Our spacing and ball movement were much better without him on the court.

I still see some solid potential if we can have players come in and compliment our returners.

you just listed off about 10 issues that are fixed with good coaching.

on another note, I've been complaining about poor team chemistry for years now. TeranP was the worst team guy i've ever witnessed, and he was allowed to run rampant all over his teammates with impunity. Shavon certainly isn't the D-bag tyrant that TP was, but he seems to have some of the same type of "effects" on the team that TP had. the last half of the season, the team played much better when he was gone. I don't blame Shields for that, nor do i blame his teammates. i blame T.Miles for that. players will do what they are allowed to get away with. Miles seems fine with creating an environment in which 1 player, and the rest of the team, believe that everything must flow through that 1 player. we saw it with TP, and we see it with Shavon. it can't be a coincidence.

How many times this year have we seen AW3 spot up in the corner while a teammate drives and creates, drawing AW3's man so that teammate can pass him the ball for a wide open 3? Zero

how many times have we seen Shavon go 1 on 3, drive the ball into the lane and put up a crazy shot, while AW3 is standing wide open in the corner, hands ready, hoping for a pass? happens 5 times a game at least.

Everyone saying that NU doesn't have a sniper? ummmmm......we've got a pretty darn good 3 pt shooter in AW3. It wouldn't matter if we had a 10 year military vet with a barrett .50 cal, full ghillie camo and a spotter camped in the corner, if no one is gonna pass him the ball, what difference does it make? I blame the coach for that.

 

[NUFootballTim]

Another disappointing performance. Speaking of chemistry, it has been off since Shields came back. The staff has struggled mightily the last couple years with "team chemistry." This year, White and Shields seemed to take turns as the offense. Even though Shields was putting up some big numbers, he could have kicked the ball out several times to guys for easier shots.

Looking forward to next year, I am hoping that the upgrade from Parker to Gill will help the team. Parker had heart, but that doesn't win in big boy ball. If the staff can close the deal on a big, they will be able to stick around. If not, and next season is a repeat of this year, this staff may be looking for work. They need to get better and eliminate those long scoreless droughts!

its hard to bust on benny, cause he's such a likeable guy. hard worker, senior, gives great effort...... unfortunately we're playing 5 on 4 offensively when he's in the game. teams don't even bother using a guard to defend him. Purdue had a 6 7' guy guarding him, and he basically played 5 ft off him, daring him to shoot. and whoever was guarding benny was basically just spying Shields the whole time. So whenever shields would drive, which was every possession, he automatically had 2 guys defending him. I paid special attention to this cause it was fascinating to me, to see a D1 bball player out there literally not being guarded. this went on the entire time Benny was on the floor.

anyone notice how many times benny easily drove into the middle of the lane, but still had no where to go? thats because whenever he caught a pass, there was no one really guarding him. so he'd dribble into the lane, and just continue on to the other side because there was nothing for him to do, being a foot shorter then everyone in proximity. one time he tried to shoot in the lane and AJ hammonds volleyball spiked his shot.

Purdue decided they weren't even going to guard him. and who could blame them. How Miles couldn't see that and make an adjustment is beyond me. Sure bennny is a good defender, but its not like Purdue had Allen Iverson out there for benny to lockdown on defense. I would think that playing 1 man short on offense would far outweigh any defensive "advantage" that Benny brings. but what do i know.