• You do not need to register if you are not going to pay the yearly fee to post. If you register please click here or log in go to "settings" then "my account" then "User Upgrades" and you can renew.

HuskerMax readers can save 50% on  Omaha Steaks .

Iowa thoughts.....post yours. maybe?

NUFootballTim

NUFootballTim

Scout Team
15 Year Member
I'm trying to remember what my mom always said....if you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all. ;)

I told myself I wouldn't do this tonight. but here I am....I watched the game tonight and I didn't see anything to indicate that this team has improved at all in the big areas that IMO desperately need improvement. I keep seeing the same stuff. useless turnovers, losing the free throw battle, alarming difficulty handling full court pressure, poor floor spacing vs zone defense......

First of all......

Tim Miles should be embarrassed that teams who don't normally apply full court pressure, do so vs. NU. I've seen Iowa play at least 4 times this year. they weren't pressing Iowa St, or Michigan St, or Purdue, or anyone else for that matter.....at this level of Div 1 P5 bball, if you are getting full court pressed, you are being disrespected. Yet again, NU has trouble breaking a simple, 3/4 court pressure with a trap on the first pass. Since i don't want to be a guy who only points out problems, with no solutions, if anyone would care to know how NU could have easily broken Iowa's 3/4 court pressure and turned it into a layup drill, please reply and I will post the answer. The only reason I know is because its an extremely common pressure package that teams use in HIGHSCHOOL basketball. Good grief, the fact that Iowa was able to do it to a DIV1 Power 5 conference team and have success with it would be laughable if it wasn't so sad. I'll assume that Miles didn't have his marker board out ready to show his team where to go because its been so long since he coached highschool basketball. Or who knows, maybe he skipped HS bball and went straight to coaching NAIA schools, where all the players inherently knew how to break a highschool 3/4 court trap. enough on that....

if i see NU players trying to set ball screens against a 2/3 zone 1 more time, I will probably put my head through a wall. I have visions of 1 NU player (I'm not naming names anymore) dribbling the ball in the corner vs the bottom defender of the 2/3 zone. low and behold, here comes another NU player down to save the day with a ball screen. I'm thinking "HEY THE GUY YOU ARE SCREENING IS PLAYING ZONE!!!!!" so what happens? he sets a ballscreen, sort of, player 1 dribbles 2ft or so, and has no where to go because he's confronted by the top guy in the zone. Meanwhile, the screener starts to roll and then realizes thats not going to work because the middle defender in the zone is already standing there waiting for him. Therefore, he changes direction & pops out to the 3 pt line.....well unfortunately, thats right where player 1 is dribbling because, as was already pointed out, he didn't receive any advantage or extra dribble space from the ball screen, so he's still there....dribbling. End result is 2 NU players standing in the corner vs a 2/3 zone, one of whom is dribbling the ball, the other standing 2 ft from him, both being guarded by 1 Iowa defender, and me wondering WHAT IN THE WORLD are these players being coached???? At this point, I don't believe the team is actually being instructed. I believe they are just being told to "make plays" or get to the rack, or just score, or whatever.....its up to them to figure it out. i don't see anything to indicate that they are being instructed on proper offensive spacing, or just common sense basketball principles that need to be applied when you are playing teams with athletes who are just as good, if not better, then your athletes.

I'm tired of watching 5 guys run around, each taking their own turns at taking the game over on offense. I don't blame the players. players do either what they are coached, or what they can get away with.
 

Two different teams, two different directions. If Nebraska doesn't show improvement during the stretch run, year five the miles experiment needs to be reevaluated
 
It very painful watching this team... It appears we have some talent, but as mentioned above, we look like a high school teams at times...
 
Last night we once again looked like a team of freshmen that are still playing AAU ball. Remember, Iowa starts 4 seniors and a junior. I know we start two seniors, but if anyone thinks Parker would stat anywhere else, you are mistaken! I was frustrated by the trap, as well. Players need to move to the open space and position themselves in a passing lane.

Once they were able to break pressure, I thought the ball moved better than previous games. Watson still dribbles too much, but for the most part guys were getting open shots. We just couldn't buy a bucket. It had to be close to 15 consecutive missed shots. Even when we did get to the line, no one could put the orange ball through the hoop.

I thought Morrow played one of his better games. He worked very hard and held his own against a 7'1" senior. I still wish the guards would feed him the ball on the block! He establishes good position, but no one will pass him the ball. Opponents know this, and don't even sag in to double team. It's called scouting your opponent.

I don't think Miles is in trouble this year. The program essentially pushed the reset button after last season and is starting from scratch. They are staying in games, but not finishing. If this group of freshmen stay together, they can be special in 3 years. Morrow, McVeigh, and Jacobson will get stronger and develop confidence in their shot. Watson will calm down and play with more control. Coach Miles and staff may not be here, if they don't do some development, but this group can be very good. If a coaching change is made, the search should be easier because the talent is better than Nebraska is used to getting.
 



NavyWarrant said:
Last night we once again looked like a team of freshmen that are still playing AAU ball. Remember, Iowa starts 4 seniors and a junior. I know we start two seniors, but if anyone thinks Parker would stat anywhere else, you are mistaken! I was frustrated by the trap, as well. Players need to move to the open space and position themselves in a passing lane.

Once they were able to break pressure, I thought the ball moved better than previous games. Watson still dribbles too much, but for the most part guys were getting open shots. We just couldn't buy a bucket. It had to be close to 15 consecutive missed shots. Even when we did get to the line, no one could put the orange ball through the hoop.

I thought Morrow played one of his better games. He worked very hard and held his own against a 7'1" senior. I still wish the guards would feed him the ball on the block! He establishes good position, but no one will pass him the ball. Opponents know this, and don't even sag in to double team. It's called scouting your opponent.

I don't think Miles is in trouble this year. The program essentially pushed the reset button after last season and is starting from scratch. They are staying in games, but not finishing. If this group of freshmen stay together, they can be special in 3 years. Morrow, McVeigh, and Jacobson will get stronger and develop confidence in their shot. Watson will calm down and play with more control. Coach Miles and staff may not be here, if they don't do some development, but this group can be very good. If a coaching change is made, the search should be easier because the talent is better than Nebraska is used to getting.
Click to expand...

"Special"? I guess I'm not seeing it. What has the group done collectively that makes you think that?. Besides, is this where Nebraska basketball is right now: Bring in 4 freshman and hope their senior year they can be NCAA bid worthy?

To compare, of the 6 freshman who are seeing regular minutes for Nebraska and Creighton, I'd take Creightons two (Thomas, Harrell) before I'd take any of Nebraskas. Just Sayin'
 
NavyWarrant said:
Last night we once again looked like a team of freshmen that are still playing AAU ball. Remember, Iowa starts 4 seniors and a junior. I know we start two seniors, but if anyone thinks Parker would stat anywhere else, you are mistaken! I was frustrated by the trap, as well. Players need to move to the open space and position themselves in a passing lane.

Once they were able to break pressure, I thought the ball moved better than previous games. Watson still dribbles too much, but for the most part guys were getting open shots. We just couldn't buy a bucket. It had to be close to 15 consecutive missed shots. Even when we did get to the line, no one could put the orange ball through the hoop.

I thought Morrow played one of his better games. He worked very hard and held his own against a 7'1" senior. I still wish the guards would feed him the ball on the block! He establishes good position, but no one will pass him the ball. Opponents know this, and don't even sag in to double team. It's called scouting your opponent.

I don't think Miles is in trouble this year. The program essentially pushed the reset button after last season and is starting from scratch. They are staying in games, but not finishing. If this group of freshmen stay together, they can be special in 3 years. Morrow, McVeigh, and Jacobson will get stronger and develop confidence in their shot. Watson will calm down and play with more control. Coach Miles and staff may not be here, if they don't do some development, but this group can be very good. If a coaching change is made, the search should be easier because the talent is better than Nebraska is used to getting.
Click to expand...

ya. Honestly, if i was a big man looking for a school, and I watched Nebraska play, I'd be wondering, why go to NU and play for a team that NEVER bothers to feed the post. All I see is a system predicated around guards doing their thing, while the big just gets out of the way. Sure, one could argue that NU would pass the ball to the big man more if they had a good post player down there, but I would disagree. The fact that NU rarely (I can recall 2 occasions vs Iowa that NU guards actively threw a pass to a player down low) feeds the post indicates to me that coach Miles doesn't understand the inherent benefit of getting the ball down on the block. We have guys in the post who are open all the time. No one ever throws them the ball, because its not a team priority. If the ball goes down to the post, that doesn't mean the post player HAS to shoot it every time. So even if our post players aren't that great on the block, it would sure relieve a ton of pressure on the guards if the defense had to at least respect defending the block. heck, if NU just wants to jack up 3s like they've done the past couple years, i would think Tim Miles would love feeding the post because thats a perfect way to get open 3 pt shots. Feed the post, the defense collapses, post player throws a skip pass to a wide open 3pt shooter. I'd stand up and cheer if i saw an open 3pt shot taken off a nice post feed pass. I haven't seen that once all year.

big men aren't going to want to play here if this is the type of play they see on their recruiting visits.
 
Very good analysis. We also tried to screen the top 2 on their zone with little success. Did you notice that Iowa switched defenses depending upon whether they scored or not? Apparently our coaches and team didn't. Why not just use a 1-3-1 versus their 2-3 zone and pass the ball? Use the high post for passing and just send a cutter through. Against the zone press, use the middle as an outlet, but just reverse the ball to the other side before crossing half court. As Tim said, just fundamental high school stuff.
 
NavyWarrant said:
Last night we once again looked like a team of freshmen that are still playing AAU ball. Remember, Iowa starts 4 seniors and a junior. I know we start two seniors, but if anyone thinks Parker would stat anywhere else, you are mistaken! I was frustrated by the trap, as well. Players need to move to the open space and position themselves in a passing lane.

Once they were able to break pressure, I thought the ball moved better than previous games. Watson still dribbles too much, but for the most part guys were getting open shots. We just couldn't buy a bucket. It had to be close to 15 consecutive missed shots. Even when we did get to the line, no one could put the orange ball through the hoop.

I thought Morrow played one of his better games. He worked very hard and held his own against a 7'1" senior. I still wish the guards would feed him the ball on the block! He establishes good position, but no one will pass him the ball. Opponents know this, and don't even sag in to double team. It's called scouting your opponent.

I don't think Miles is in trouble this year. The program essentially pushed the reset button after last season and is starting from scratch. They are staying in games, but not finishing. If this group of freshmen stay together, they can be special in 3 years. Morrow, McVeigh, and Jacobson will get stronger and develop confidence in their shot. Watson will calm down and play with more control. Coach Miles and staff may not be here, if they don't do some development, but this group can be very good. If a coaching change is made, the search should be easier because the talent is better than Nebraska is used to getting.
Click to expand...

Not to nitpick, but three years is an eternity in college basketball. College basketball programs can get things turned around in one year.
 




ArNe said:
Very good analysis. We also tried to screen the top 2 on their zone with little success. Did you notice that Iowa switched defenses depending upon whether they scored or not? Apparently our coaches and team didn't. Why not just use a 1-3-1 versus their 2-3 zone and pass the ball? Use the high post for passing and just send a cutter through. Against the zone press, use the middle as an outlet, but just reverse the ball to the other side before crossing half court. As Tim said, just fundamental high school stuff.
Click to expand...

yes i've been commenting about this in my "thoughts" posts all year.....not once has NU ever gained anything from setting ball screens vs zone defense, other then wasted energy by NU ball screeners. It usually only leads to opportunities for the defense to guard 2 NU players with 1 defender.

Even against man defense, watching these ball screens being set with no success, constantly, over and over, each and every game has become like fingernails on a chalkboard for me. at the very least, as committed as Miles appears to be to this ball screen concept, one would think the team would at least be good at it. but they aren't. over and over i see guys who spend the energy to run across the floor to set a ball screen, and then when they get there, the ball handler either starts dribbling before they can get set, so the screener can't actually set the screen, or the screener simply doesn't screen the defender. he just sort of bumps the guy and continues on his merry way. either way, its poor execution all the way around.

geez, if you're gonna tell guys to set ball screens, at least demand that they execute it properly.
 
Last edited:
Iowa presses teams. They pressed like crazy in the 2nd half against Purdue, it was what they mostly attributed the win to. Got smething like 10 to's from Purdue in the 2nd half.

Marrow and Jacobson seem like they will be decent post players for us but they still need experience. McVeigh could be a good enough scorer with consistency. I like what Watson could do. But those guys are being relied on too much this year for me to have any optimisim. They all need developing. White is a good shooter but not a guy to carry a team. Webster is way too streaky. Shavon is fine but he is not a go to.

Not much reason to expect success this year. If the undercalssmen stay and develop, maybe next year we have a chance to compete for post season. I expect Gill to be an upgrade over Parker. Hope Roby can contirbute and along with improvement from the freshmen make us a better team even without Shavon. Would be nice to get another big guy to add to Jacobson and Morrow, or hope Hammond develops into a servicable player.
 
jtf said:
Iowa presses teams. They pressed like crazy in the 2nd half against Purdue, it was what they mostly attributed the win to. Got smething like 10 to's from Purdue in the 2nd half.

Marrow and Jacobson seem like they will be decent post players for us but they still need experience. McVeigh could be a good enough scorer with consistency. I like what Watson could do. But those guys are being relied on too much this year for me to have any optimisim. They all need developing. White is a good shooter but not a guy to carry a team. Webster is way too streaky. Shavon is fine but he is not a go to.

Not much reason to expect success this year. If the undercalssmen stay and develop, maybe next year we have a chance to compete for post season. I expect Gill to be an upgrade over Parker. Hope Roby can contirbute and along with improvement from the freshmen make us a better team even without Shavon. Would be nice to get another big guy to add to Jacobson and Morrow, or hope Hammond develops into a servicable player.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure that at 6'7" I'd consider Morrow a "post player".
 
I won't disagree with the Creighton players perform better. To be fair, they are playing with guys who understand the coaches system. Nebraska doesn't have that. A system, or guys that seem to understand what they are doing... If Morrow was playing the 4 at Iowa, he would be a double double guy.
Fromunda Cheese said:
"Special"? I guess I'm not seeing it. What has the group done collectively that makes you think that?. Besides, is this where Nebraska basketball is right now: Bring in 4 freshman and hope their senior year they can be NCAA bid worthy?

To compare, of the 6 freshman who are seeing regular minutes for Nebraska and Creighton, I'd take Creightons two (Thomas, Harrell) before I'd take any of Nebraskas. Just Sayin'
Click to expand...
 



Coach Miles did it in 2, but then the wheels came off. That is why I say he is starting over. Usually turning a program around requires luck. A transfer that excels or a recruit that is a game changer. Coach Miles is using the Izzo system of bringing guys in and developing them to perform as upperclassmen. At this time, his staff hasn't shown the ability to do that. However, I would say Parker and Webster are playing better than they did two years ago.

Porkchopexpress said:
Not to nitpick, but three years is an eternity in college basketball. College basketball programs can get things turned around in one year.
Click to expand...
 

I can't understand why we go through long stretches every game we can't buy a bucket. This goes all the way back to Doc Sadler. Is it a talent issue that eventually we just wear out trying to play up to the other teams level?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

GET TICKETS


Get 50% off on Omaha Steaks

Back
Top