Beilein on Nebraska

[Mavric]

Beilein preaches patience. He’s a veteran of basketball rebuilds.

It took him three years to get things rolling at West Virginia, and essentially five to turn Michigan from the NIT-friendly program he inherited into a perennial winner of NCAA tournament games.

And when Beilein joined the Big Ten, the league was full of rebuilds and collapses-in-progress, he said. Iowa was in the Todd Lickliter era. Minnesota just fired Dan Monson. Indiana would fire Kelvin Sampson during Beilein’s first year. Illinois was on the back nine of the Bruce Weber era, which meant the Illini had roughly one-fourth the talent they enjoyed on the front nine of his tenure.

The Big Ten is a beast in 2021. Penn State, with an interim coach, is in flux while Nebraska rebuilds and Minnesota has collapsed. Indiana might be ripe to start over — maybe — but, otherwise, that’s it. The league is full of established, up-and-running programs and, in the case of Michigan, an elite basketball mind in Juwan Howard, who’s taking the strong program Beilein left him to another level.

“So it’s as deep as it’s ever been, which means it’s as good as it’s ever been, if not better,” Beilein said. “For Fred to be rebuilding Nebraska, this is the worst moment ever to enter the league.”

OWH

 

[Mavric]

Also:

Nebraska could also be out of the tournament quickly, since even the bottom of the Big Ten, according to KenPom, is better than the middle of the Pac-12. The Huskers are No. 92 even after losing 79-78 to Northwestern, which is No. 69. Including the Big East — appropriate for hoops — there are 15 power-conference teams rated behind Nebraska in the KenPom rankings.

Last season, two power-conference teams were behind the Huskers.

Not all seven-win seasons are created equally.

“Without question, there’s progress being made,” Beilein said.

 

[Minnesota_husker]

I hope this post doesnt change the "focus" of what this thread is about but I actually felt like this year was a much more promising year for what Fred can do.

Talent is still an issue with this team. I have tried to watch Freds offense more closely and while I dont always love the look, it comes down to the guys not executing or guys like Teddy going rogue. 

Last years team was really bad in terms of talent. This years team just has a weird mix of talent that doesnt mesh well, yet. I think if we can add actual talent to some pieces we have, we might actually get a feel for the coach Fred is.

I look at the Rutgers game as an example. The guys made plays and look what they could do.

I hope we can build a better base and not change the team out ever year, but also I get why he did it because last years team had about 60% of the talent this team has.

 

[ECisGod]

I hope this post doesnt change the "focus" of what this thread is about but I actually felt like this year was a much more promising year for what Fred can do.

Talent is still an issue with this team. I have tried to watch Freds offense more closely and while I dont always love the look, it comes down to the guys not executing or guys like Teddy going rogue. 

Last years team was really bad in terms of talent. This years team just has a weird mix of talent that doesnt mesh well, yet. I think if we can add actual talent to some pieces we have, we might actually get a feel for the coach Fred is.

I look at the Rutgers game as an example. The guys made plays and look what they could do.

I hope we can build a better base and not change the team out ever year, but also I get why he did it because last years team had about 60% of the talent this team has.

I think it will help next year if the team can get together in the summer an play pick up games so they learn more about each other on the court.

The biggest issue this year has been turnovers and lack of practice time which are related.

I think they should make a much bigger leap than some of the other teams at the bottom of the conference and some of the teams near the top should take a step back.

I think with the players coming in and the ones that could/should come back there is reason for optimism.

 

[Mavric]

Lots of good in this interview:

The coach likes Trey McGowens, Thor Thorbjarnarson, Dalano Banton, Derrick Walker and Lat Mayen quite a bit. He’s particularly high on the ceiling of Mayen, whom Beilein said had his season disrupted to some degree by contracting COVID-19.

“He needs volume as a shooter to stay consistent, and that’s tough sometimes,” Beilein said. “People shut him down, and just won’t let him get the ball. As he gets more familiar with his teammates in the years to come — the size and everything — he’s a guy you’ve got to guard, and he can make everybody else better.”

 

[Hedley Lamarr]

I hope this post doesnt change the "focus" of what this thread is about but I actually felt like this year was a much more promising year for what Fred can do.

Talent is still an issue with this team. I have tried to watch Freds offense more closely and while I dont always love the look, it comes down to the guys not executing or guys like Teddy going rogue. 

Last years team was really bad in terms of talent. This years team just has a weird mix of talent that doesnt mesh well, yet. I think if we can add actual talent to some pieces we have, we might actually get a feel for the coach Fred is.

I look at the Rutgers game as an example. The guys made plays and look what they could do.

I hope we can build a better base and not change the team out ever year, but also I get why he did it because last years team had about 60% of the talent this team has.

I am confident in Hoibergs system. When it is actually ran as we have seen it creates plenty of quality shots. Our biggest issue as you stated is both cohesiveness and overall talent. We are substantially better this year than last year and you are starting to see actual flashes. We will win double digit games next year and am hopeful we can land in the top 10 of the conference next season. I am much more confident in Hoiberg than I am Frost at this point.