Basketball: OSU @ Nebraska 8pm BTN

[schuele]

Just watched it again: with the inbounds so far in the corner, just a bad defensive strategy. Again, MJ was not guarding the basket, and Watson was biting WAY too hard trying to go around a screen on the opposite side of the court, when literally OSU could not have passed the ball to that spot--it would have hit the backboard. Luckily it's just a game, but coaching matters. How would OSU have reacted if NU came out after the 2nd TO in a zone??? OSU was out of TOs andOSU would have been stuck with a play designed for man to man D. Coaching matters......

When I watch that play, I see Ohio State trying to create yet another situation where the Huskers get caught in no man's land trying to figure out who to defend. And why wouldn't they? It worked for them about 150 times in the second half.

The only reason for Williams to run to that spot on the right side of the lane was so that Loving could put a body on the guy chasing him, which was Watson. Since Watson fell down (or got tripped, or whatever), he didn't end up setting much of a screen. But if Watson is upright, that's exactly what happens and Webster has the same dilemma - do I slide over to where the cutter is headed, or stay here to guard Loving under the basket?

 

[huskerbaseball13]

I know what you're saying but it's a two-way street. If it's a competative game the crowd should be in it. No argument from me about games that aren't very close.

Crowd was loud in spots last night....especially on a few possessions on the defensive end but we would then go on to give up easy bucket. First half was not bad when the team was running and getting out in transition. It was as if the crowd was lulled to sleep in the second half.

 

[chicolby]

Crowd was loud in spots last night....especially on a few possessions on the defensive end but we would then go on to give up easy bucket. First half was not bad when the team was running and getting out in transition. It was as if the crowd was lulled to sleep in the second half.

They were lulled to sleep because Ohio State put the clamps down and the Huskers never put a few buckets together. It is a two-way street. Any crowd grows a bit weary when the team isn't as productive.

 

[schuele]

All that aside, if Nebraska secures one rebound, none of you boo birds are screaming for Miles to be fired.

I have no desire to start over with a new coach, and have never in my life suggested that Miles needs to be fired. But tell me - is there really a fan base somewhere that wouldn't be discussing what went wrong when a team loses a game on an uncontested layup with 1 second to play? Would it better if nobody gave a sh--, like near the merciful end of the Doc era?

 

[BleedHuskerRed]

I was at the game and every time we did something great on the offensive side and the crowd was fired up OSU would hit a runner, layup, dunk or a jump shot and just suck the air out of the place. Not to mention it was like 80 degrees inside when the game started. We just couldn't get a good offensive trip followed with a good stop on defense. Our section stood up, sat down, stood up, sat down...
The game had no flow and that made it tough. As soon as we got something going play would be stopped with a foul or long TV timeouts. The difference in the game was turnovers. 11 by OSU in the first and 0 in the second. Even the 1-3-1 didn't work well. Overall we played one of the worst halves of basketball I have witnessed and still, we were one rebound away from winning the game. I honestly believe we win two of the last three if Morrow is healthy.

 

[chicolby]

I have no desire to start over with a new coach, and have never in my life suggested that Miles needs to be fired. But tell me - is there really a fan base somewhere that wouldn't be discussing what went wrong when a team loses a game on an uncontested layup with 1 second to play? Would it better if nobody gave a sh--, like near the merciful end of the Doc era?

I have zero problem dissecting a play that gave up a wide open game winner at the rim. That is what fan boards are for. What I am wondering is why all the Miles haters can't wait to come out of the wood work when the team loses a heart-breaker with one of their top players on the bench injured.

I'm not suggesting you are a Miles hater, but man, some of these fans want to hire and fire based on a single damn play. They get pissed because they get their hopes up only to be dashed. Well, guess what? Getting your hopes up means that the team won some good games. Would they have rather the team lost by 20 to Ohio State? Would they have rather started the conference 0-3?

They only criticize the bad times but they don't celebrate the good ones. For people like that, I think their life must be miserable.

 

[Harry Caray]

Ohio State is the 2nd or 3rd worst team in the Big Ten this year. This is a game you cannot lose at home, even if you have a starter injured.

It's not just one game that has me questioning Miles. It's his entire body of work. It's looking like this will be his 4th losing season in 5 years (even Doc only had 1 losing season in his first 5, and didn't have amazing facilities to work with). Over the past few years he has lost more conference home games than he has won. Each of the last 3 years he has lost a home game to a team like Gardner-Webb or Incarnate Word. 7 times this year we have had a lead or tie in the 2nd half and ended up losing the game. For the most part during his tenure here, Miles has been a lousy 2nd-half game coach during close games. The 2nd half of the 2014 Big Ten tournament game is probably still the worst half of coaching I have ever seen. When it happens over and over, you can't keep blaming bad luck.

Miles will get a pass for one more year because of recruiting. Which is probably fair, I just said that part of me would like to see what another coach could do with this young talent. Miles is a great salesman but in terms of coaching ability I believe he is at or near the bottom in this conference.

 

[Hoosker Du]

I have zero problem dissecting a play that gave up a wide open game winner at the rim. That is what fan boards are for. What I am wondering is why all the Miles haters can't wait to come out of the wood work when the team loses a heart-breaker with one of their top players on the bench injured.

I'm not suggesting you are a Miles hater, but man, some of these fans want to hire and fire based on a single damn play. They get pissed because they get their hopes up only to be dashed. Well, guess what? Getting your hopes up means that the team won some good games. Would they have rather the team lost by 20 to Ohio State? Would they have rather started the conference 0-3?

They only criticize the bad times but they don't celebrate the good ones. For people like that, I think their life must be miserable.

Fans getting upset at an erratic team? That's crazy talk. I've never heard of such a thing taking place. Good Lord..

We went from being up 13 in the first half, to going ice cold from the field, and not being able to stop a layup. And then giving up a point-blank range shot in the last 1.9 seconds. Did you expect a cake with candles or picnic?

 

[chicolby]

Ohio State is the 2nd or 3rd worst team in the Big Ten this year. This is a game you cannot lose at home, even if you have a starter injured.

It's not just one game that has me questioning Miles. It's his entire body of work. It's looking like this will be his 4th losing season in 5 years (even Doc only had 1 losing season in his first 5, and didn't have amazing facilities to work with). Over the past few years he has lost more conference home games than he has won. Each of the last 3 years he has lost a home game to a team like Gardner-Webb or Incarnate Word. 7 times this year we have had a lead or tie in the 2nd half and ended up losing the game. For the most part during his tenure here, Miles has been a lousy 2nd-half game coach during close games. The 2nd half of the 2014 Big Ten tournament game is probably still the worst half of coaching I have ever seen. When it happens over and over, you can't keep blaming bad luck.

Miles will get a pass for one more year because of recruiting. Which is probably fair, I just said that part of me would like to see what another coach could do with this young talent. Miles is a great salesman but in terms of coaching ability I believe he is at or near the bottom in this conference.

I hear where you're coming from and I think you lay out a logical case. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to present an opposing point of view.

Tim Miles has simply been successful at turning around programs for his entire career. You can see his previous performance here.

Almost every stop in his career left the team with their best record at the end of his tenure.

So why hasn't that happened at Nebraska you might ask?

In my opinion, it didn't happen at Nebraska as quickly as one might expect because he caught lightning in a bottle in his second year when Terran Petteway basically got so hot and willed the team to an unexpected NCAA appearance. This left Miles to basically ride that train the following year, allowing one guy to freelance in hopes that he could generate the same outcome from the previous season. The downside to this was that he wasn't able to really implement his offense or his style of player because you can't throw away the guy who took you to the dance the year prior.

So in my mind, getting to the NCAA tournament actually cost the program over the long haul as I think his 3rd year was more like a standard first year in his coaching journey. At that point, he began recruiting his players and implementing his system.

As a reminder, this team was selected to finish LAST in the conference this year. I don't believe there is any chance this team will finish last this year.

I will also state with both opinion and factual data (based on the number of top 150 recruits are on the roster) that this team is the most talented team Nebraska has possibly ever put on the court. One could argue that the 1991 team that featured Rich King, Tony Farmer, Beau Reid, Eric Piatkowski was more talented (and they may have been) but those guys did this (mostly) as seniors. Let's see how this crew looks in two years.

A Collier or Sadler team would most likely not have won road games at Indiana and Maryland.

I strongly advise patience with Miles as I think he IS the right man for the job and I can tell you that history has shown that programs who stay the course are more likely to be successful than the revolving door of coaches.

For those that claim he can recruit but can't coach, I'd happily show you that talent ultimately wins in college hoops, so if we finally have a guy who can recruit, I wouldn't want to send him packing.

 

[chicolby]

Fans getting upset at an erratic team? That's crazy talk. I've never heard of such a thing taking place. Good Lord..

We went from being up 13 in the first half, to going ice cold from the field, and not being able to stop a layup. And then giving up a point-blank range shot in the last 1.9 seconds. Did you expect a cake with candles or picnic?

I guess I expect average fans to react exactly as we are seeing. I'm simply appealing to have a little reason and not letting one missed rebound followed by one guy falling down to claim that the sky is falling.

And, if they must have such strong reactions, I also expect the same and equal strong reaction when good things happen. Instead, I feel like people sit there and wait for the opportunity to bash.

 

[huskerbaseball13]

Ohio State is the 2nd or 3rd worst team in the Big Ten this year. This is a game you cannot lose at home, even if you have a starter injured.

It's not just one game that has me questioning Miles. It's his entire body of work. It's looking like this will be his 4th losing season in 5 years (even Doc only had 1 losing season in his first 5, and didn't have amazing facilities to work with). Over the past few years he has lost more conference home games than he has won. Each of the last 3 years he has lost a home game to a team like Gardner-Webb or Incarnate Word. 7 times this year we have had a lead or tie in the 2nd half and ended up losing the game. For the most part during his tenure here, Miles has been a lousy 2nd-half game coach during close games. The 2nd half of the 2014 Big Ten tournament game is probably still the worst half of coaching I have ever seen. When it happens over and over, you can't keep blaming bad luck.

Miles will get a pass for one more year because of recruiting. Which is probably fair, I just said that part of me would like to see what another coach could do with this young talent. Miles is a great salesman but in terms of coaching ability I believe he is at or near the bottom in this conference.

Assuming no major transfers or injuries going into next year....that team SHOULD be a team that makes it do the dance. The Sophomore and Freshman class all look like high major contributors for the most part and will be a year older. Adding Copeland should help. Roby I think is going to be very good and we will start to see more offensive output from him. Obviously losing Tai will hurt but we have the pieces to replace his production. Next year needs to be a good year for Miles and this program IMO.

 

[RealHusker]

NU hoops really is the bizarro world of sports if we spin a trip to the NCAA tournament as a negative thing.

 

[chicolby]

NU hoops really is the bizarro world of sports if we spin a trip to the NCAA tournament as a negative thing.

I think I stated my claim fairly clearly. I stand behind it also.

 

[Hoosker Du]

I guess I expect average fans to react exactly as we are seeing. I'm simply appealing to have a little reason and not letting one missed rebound followed by one guy falling down to claim that the sky is falling.

And, if they must have such strong reactions, I also expect the same and equal strong reaction when good things happen. Instead, I feel like people sit there and wait for the opportunity to bash.

3 out of 4 losing seasons will tend to make fans skeptical. It will take more than 3 straight wins in conference for this mindset to change. If we see consistent performance and coaching, people will eventually buy in.

 

[Harry Caray]

Assuming no major transfers or injuries going into next year....that team SHOULD be a team that makes it do the dance. The Sophomore and Freshman class all look like high major contributors for the most part and will be a year older. Adding Copeland should help. Roby I think is going to be very good and we will start to see more offensive output from him. Obviously losing Tai will hurt but we have the pieces to replace his production. Next year needs to be a good year for Miles and this program IMO.

I agree, we will have a talented team next year and Miles deserves a lot of credit for that. Then I remember that the 2014-15 team was a preseason Top 25 team and finished 13-18 and lost 9 games in a row to end the season. So I think Miles' ability to manage talent is still questionable. It seems like team chemistry has never been great under him. Injuries and adversity happen and his teams have not generally responded well to such adversity.

You also have to remember that the Big Ten as a whole is extremely young and talented this year. Most of the other teams have only 1-2 senior starters at the most as well, so even though we should be better next year on paper, so will everyone else - we will still likely not be picked to finish in the top half of the league next year.

Miles was a good D-II/mid-major coach - but so was Kim Anderson, and he has been a trainwreck at Mizzou. And Barry Collier built the Butler program from nothing to a perennial NCAA tournament program. But this level is a totally different world in terms of the types of student-athletes and egos you are dealing with on a daily basis. My one concern when we hired Miles was that he had never coached at a major-conference D-I program, even as an assistant. So I think it is fair to question his ability to manage a major program.

 

[chicolby]

I agree, we will have a talented team next year and Miles deserves a lot of credit for that. Then I remember that the 2014-15 team was a preseason Top 25 team and finished 13-18 and lost 9 games in a row to end the season. So I think Miles' ability to manage talent is still questionable. It seems like team chemistry has never been great under him. Injuries and adversity happen and his teams have not generally responded well to such adversity.

You also have to remember that the Big Ten as a whole is extremely young and talented this year. Most of the other teams have only 1-2 senior starters at the most as well, so even though we should be better next year on paper, so will everyone else - we will still likely not be picked to finish in the top half of the league next year.

Miles was a good D-II/mid-major coach - but so was Kim Anderson, and he has been a trainwreck at Mizzou. And Barry Collier built the Butler program from nothing to a perennial NCAA tournament program. But this level is a totally different world in terms of the types of student-athletes and egos you are dealing with on a daily basis. My one concern when we hired Miles was that he had never coached at a major-conference D-I program, even as an assistant. So I think it is fair to question his ability to manage a major program.

Again - well stated and I understand the concerns, but typically the coaches that fail to transition from mid-major to major lack the ability to recruit difference makers. They were able to get the most out of fringe talented players. This was the biggest problem with Collier and Sadler in my view. Miles is showing that he can recruit and recruit B1G talent.

I stand by my initial statement that in a way, the fast appearance in the NCAA tournament set back his ability to build a team that he wanted. I consider this his third year and we're already starting to see the fruits of what he is building. Next year, and especially the year after, should have the pay-out everyone is looking for. If he isn't able to turn the corner in two years, then I will happily claim that I was woefully mistaken.

 

[schuele]

Miles was a good D-II/mid-major coach - but so was Kim Anderson, and he has been a trainwreck at Mizzou.

Well in fairness to Miles, his hire was an absolute stroke of genius compared to Missouri handing the reigns over to Kim Anderson. The parallel to that move would have been to hire Miles straight from SW Minnesota State, without the stops in Fargo and Fort Collins. That was just a downright bizarre move by Missouri.

 

[donahues17]

The biggest screw up on the inbounds play was not so much the guy getting open underneath the basket. There is no reason that whoever it was guarding the inbounder gave an open lane to throw to under the basket. I thought it was also getting close to the 5 second violation as well.

 

[RealTucoSalamanca]

The biggest screw up on the inbounds play was not so much the guy getting open underneath the basket. There is no reason that whoever it was guarding the inbounder gave an open lane to throw to under the basket. I thought it was also getting close to the 5 second violation as well.

Actually only about 3 seconds from the time the ref handed off the ball to the basket was made.

Also the negative of having a tall dude on the inbounder. It was a low pass at a tough angle to defend. The defender can't see what is going on behind him, he doesn't know that Watson fell and the Ohio St player is standing alone.

 

[donahues17]

Actually only about 3 seconds from the time the ref handed off the ball to the basket was made.

Also the negative of having a tall dude on the inbounder. It was a low pass at a tough angle to defend. The defender can't see what is going on behind him, he doesn't know that Watson fell and the Ohio St player is standing alone.

Seemed like forever. I understand ye cant see whats behind him but you have to be between the inbounder and the basket. Not straight in front of the inbounder. You only need to know where the basket is.

Edited to say: the inbounder gave a hard fake to the right when he seen his guy breaking to the basket. Our player fell for it and got schooled big time. If he stays in his spot in a direct line between the inbounder and the basket, he can protect the low pass as the backboard with prevent the high pass. He should have been straight out from the B on the endcourt. It seemed that Miles had him concentrating on preventing the inbounds pass more so than getting a pass out for a low percentage shot.

 

[chicolby]

Seemed like forever. I understand ye cant see whats behind him but you have to be between the inbounder and the basket. Not straight in front of the inbounder. You only need to know where the basket is.

Edited to say: the inbounder gave a hard fake to the right when he seen his guy breaking to the basket. Our player fell for it and got schooled big time. If he stays in his spot in a direct line between the inbounder and the basket, he can protect the low pass as the backboard with prevent the high pass. He should have been straight out from the B on the endcourt. It seemed that Miles had him concentrating on preventing the inbounds pass more so than getting a pass out for a low percentage shot.

You know that having a 6'10 guy standing right in front of you with his hands out makes it difficult to get a pass in right? It should eliminate a soft pass up near the rim which was likely his job.

Again, a player got faked out and fell. This post game shoulda woulda will drive you nuts. I have no problem with the man d. Our guy fell down. Tough way to lose.

 

[donahues17]

You know that having a 6'10 guy standing right in front of you with his hands out makes it difficult to get a pass in right? It should eliminate a soft pass up near the rim which was likely his job.

Again, a player got faked out and fell. This post game shoulda woulda will drive you nuts. I have no problem with the man d. Our guy fell down. Tough way to lose.

Watch the play again. The guy guarding the inbounder got faked out as well. I would have never guessed a 6x10 guy standing in front of you would make it hard to pass the ball in but with that fake, sure made it look easy.

 

[JohnRossEwing]

This is just me… But I have the player defending the inbound pass shading towards the basket… I don't mind if a pass goes out to the three-point line but I do you mind if A pass goes out somewhere in the key.

 

[96WCDC]

This is just me… But I have the player defending the inbound pass shading towards the basket… I don't mind if a pass goes out to the three-point line but I do you mind if A pass goes out somewhere in the key.

Bingo...coaching! Where was that defensive geniuses that works for Miles on that inbound play?

 

[anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi]

This is just me… But I have the player defending the inbound pass shading towards the basket… I don't mind if a pass goes out to the three-point line but I do you mind if A pass goes out somewhere in the key.

Have you shared this with anyone else? Would probably be worth a drive down to Lincoln to have a sit down with the staff. This is complicated stuff above all our heads.

 

[chicolby]

Bingo...coaching! Where was that defensive geniuses that works for Miles on that inbound play?

Guy fell down.