Mad Chatter: Tim Miles' Defense May Be Nebraska's Ticket To Postseason

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http://www.omaha.com/sports/blogs/mad-chatter-tim-miles-defense-may-be-nebraska-s-ticket/article_d187e406-daac-11e7-bb0f-a74f29f06627.html

 

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“Commitment to doing the same boring thing over and over.” — Tim Miles

 

In college basketball, there’s no such thing as a must-win in December. But walking in to Pinnacle Bank Arena Tuesday night, Nebraska was pretty close. 

 

The Huskers were coming off a 29-point drubbing at Michigan State. They’d lost two important games (St. John’s and Central Florida) prior to that.

 

And the path ahead was daunting. A Saturday road trip to Creighton, where NU usually gets depantsed in front of 18,000 laughing Bluejays. Then a home game with No. 2 Kansas. 

Mercy.

 

Miles’ team, fighting for credibility and confidence, needed a win over No. 14 Minnesota, perhaps the second-best team in the Big Ten, a team that averaged 89.4 points per game. What happened?

 

The Huskers produced their best defensive performance I remember in a long time. They ran double teams at Minnesota’s big men. They protected the rim with fury. They seized loose balls. They chipped all the shine off the Golden Gophers. 

 

Minnesota shot 32 percent from the field, but the Gophers were 6-for-16 on 3s — decent enough. They were 16-for-52 on 2s! Nebraska challenged almost all of them, blocking nine shots. 

As Lee Barfknecht wrote, “NU held Minnesota to one point on the first seven possessions” of the second half. A rowdy Husker crowd, still festive from Scott Frost’s hire, could comfortably head to the exits with four minutes left.

 

What happened Tuesday night was no fluke. It offered legitimate hope that Miles can turn this thing around in 2017-18. Nebraska isn’t skilled enough to make the NCAA tournament with its offense. The path to 18-20 wins is shutting teams down. How does NU become great defensively? 

 

That’s when Miles gave me the “boring thing over and over” quote. The Huskers got a first-hand look at defensive commitment Sunday in East Lansing.

 

“I think the Michigan State ‘experience,’ as we’re going to call it, was really good for us because that is an elite team that really plays hard and they just keep coming at you," Miles said.

 

"You feel that. You don’t see it on TV. It just looks like you’re getting whacked. But when you’re there and our players get hit on a screen or whatever, Michigan State teaches you a lesson. I thought we learned a hard one, but I thought we put it to good use.”

 

The past few years, Miles didn’t have the personnel to be great defensively. His team was too small, too slow and too shallow. This year, with a bevy of quick guards and rangy wings, forcing tough shots is doable. The concern is rebounding.