bball_backer
Well-known member
I'll apologize in advance for the length of this post and don't blame anyone for not reading it, it gets a little lengthy
Since the K-State game I have pretty well refrained from doing any talking about Husker basketball, but that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about it. In fact, it's pretty much all that's been on my mind lately. I've done some discussing with close friends, but mostly have tried to just listen and read and see what others are thinking. It appears as though I'm in an increasing minority so I spent the last few days doing a lot of research and it has only made my opinions stronger.
I don't think anyone can disagree that from Feb. 19th to the 23rd, people were high on the potential of this team and were in general fairly satisfied with what was happening in the Bob. Now let's look at what has happened since then. Nebraska lost to K-State. The same K-State team that is on a 5 game winning streak including wins over KU and Texas and has won 7 of it's last 8 with the lone loss coming when a game winning shot was waived off. In it's current 5 game streak (again, that includes wins over KU and at Texas), Nebraska has been KSU's closest game. Was the KSU loss disappointing? Absolutely! But KSU will most likely finish 4th in the league, make a big run in KC and undoubtedly make a lot of noise in the big dance. Say what you will about it being "typical Nebraska basketball," but frankly winning that game was a taller order than beating Texas. My point here is that this loss should not have been enough to crash the party, but understandably most fans took it very hard.
Now the ISU game. There is no excuse for losing that game, let me make that clear. That being said, this was a trap game if there's ever been one. NU had 2 EXTREMELY emotional games in a row, winning against Texas and then losing such a close game to KSU that had SO much hype. This team was emotionally drained and quite honestly the biggest contributors on this years team were put in a situation they haven't experienced before; having to come back after an emotional loss and pick up a must-win to stay in NCAA talk in late February. Again, this loss is inexcusable but not unbelievable. It was one loss at a tough time, it's just magnified because so much was on the line. In terms of this season, the loss was huge. In terms of what Doc is still building, just a minor set back. Let's be honest, the only way they were going to sniff the dance was to show up to play in KC and that's still a possibility. When it comes to building this program, the important thing here is not that they missed out on a chance to make the dance (where they would have lost a play in game). What's going to build this program is the way they respond to the ISU loss. Other than Jeter all these guys are back next year and not throwing in the towel after an extremely tough week emotionally will only stengthen them for next year.
Here's the issue that's been irking me the most. I have read on message boards, but more so heard it from people in person, about the hating on Diaz. People that want to blame Saturday's loss on Diaz are way off. Did he inexplicably lose the ball at the end of the game? Absolutely. Would Nebraska have been in that position to win if Diaz weren't playing? No freaking way. The guy had 18 points and 9 offensive boards. 9 offensive boards. On a day when the rest of the team was content sitting oustide jacking up shots hoping they would stay hot, Diaz was the one player ready to grind it out. Give the guy a freaking break. As much as Jeter was carrying the team, Diaz was damn sure doing more than his fair share. And for those of us (yes I'll include myself even though since the Manhattan trip I have believed Diaz has been playing with fire even if we couldn't always see it) for those of us who have ragged on him for never looking like he cares - he's proven us wrong. In the last handful of games he has gotten into it with the Morris twins, chucked water bottles down the bench, yelled at teammates and yelled at coaches. Anyone questioning his desire from here on out deserves a Diaz fist to the face. Another common rip on him that I am hearing is his consistently missing layups. Again, this is ridiculous. He had a putrid game against KSU, yes. Other than that game, he has been fairly reliable down low. Husker fans seem to think big guys never miss layups so when Diaz or AA or Ubel does it, it's unbelievable. Guess what, big guys don't shoot 80% like everyone seems to believe. Diaz is shooting 47%. That number is lower than what Doc and Diaz and fans would like it to be, but it's not the unbelievably low number that many people are making it out to be. Among guys in the Big 12 that make 5 buckets a game, only 5 have a better percentage. (To be fair, Diaz doesn't quite average 5 buckets a game, but he is right there). The most important thing to remember about him is that he is a sophomore with a lot of room to grow. He has an amazing skill set and just needs to get stronger. Think back to when you were 20. At that age, one year of growth can be pretty drastic. The kid has been playing his heart out and doesn't deserve a fraction of the criticism he has received. He has a lot to improve on, but he's no worse than any of the other projects on this team.
Despite last year's record and the slip that has happened this past week, Doc has this program going in the right direction. You can't honestly expect a program with 0 tradition to become a power overnight. This thing is going to take 7-8 years to get to where it is annually competing to finish in the top 5 of a conference. It just is. You can turn around a program in a year if you want to get dirty, but it's not even worth mentioning anymore because Tom and Doc have made it so obviously clear that it is simply not going to happen. There are new recruiters on this staff, new facilities on the way and a new conference that will favorable shift the recruiting geographically speaking. Doc has 3 3-stars (sad, but for a program like NU this is a small victory) with the potential of another good pick up or two depening on what he wants to do with schollies. A quick glance for next year will show that 8 of the Rivals Top 150 have NU on their interest lists. Kids are starting to look. This isn't to say that 3 of them will commit, or even 1 for that matter, but getting them to look is the first part of the battle and frankly it's the toughest part. If you can get 10 of those top tier kids to give you a look every year, it's only a matter of time (especially with the allure of new facilities and a better recruiting base) before one of them pulls the trigger. And what has everyone been saying? Doc just needs that one player that can finally push them over the hump, a kid that can make the shots in the closing minutes. Those kids are becoming more and more interested, it's only a matter of time.
I had planned on getting into next year's roster as well, but I've already written a book and a half, so I'll cut it off here. I'll probably get accused of being a sunshine pumper, but whatever. Things are moving glacier-slow right now. Some of the losses Doc has endured these 5 years are inexcusable, yes. But you aren't going to get a better coach for the job, not right now anyway. The bottom line is if you step back and look at this program as a whole and all that it has been in the past, you cannot deny that since Doc has taken over things have improved. You may not be seeing much in the way of wins yet, but if you look at this thing fairly you'll see a foundation is slowly being poured. IMHO, the future is looking a little brighter now than it was 6 or 7 years ago, it's just really tough to see past these hard losses.
Since the K-State game I have pretty well refrained from doing any talking about Husker basketball, but that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about it. In fact, it's pretty much all that's been on my mind lately. I've done some discussing with close friends, but mostly have tried to just listen and read and see what others are thinking. It appears as though I'm in an increasing minority so I spent the last few days doing a lot of research and it has only made my opinions stronger.
I don't think anyone can disagree that from Feb. 19th to the 23rd, people were high on the potential of this team and were in general fairly satisfied with what was happening in the Bob. Now let's look at what has happened since then. Nebraska lost to K-State. The same K-State team that is on a 5 game winning streak including wins over KU and Texas and has won 7 of it's last 8 with the lone loss coming when a game winning shot was waived off. In it's current 5 game streak (again, that includes wins over KU and at Texas), Nebraska has been KSU's closest game. Was the KSU loss disappointing? Absolutely! But KSU will most likely finish 4th in the league, make a big run in KC and undoubtedly make a lot of noise in the big dance. Say what you will about it being "typical Nebraska basketball," but frankly winning that game was a taller order than beating Texas. My point here is that this loss should not have been enough to crash the party, but understandably most fans took it very hard.
Now the ISU game. There is no excuse for losing that game, let me make that clear. That being said, this was a trap game if there's ever been one. NU had 2 EXTREMELY emotional games in a row, winning against Texas and then losing such a close game to KSU that had SO much hype. This team was emotionally drained and quite honestly the biggest contributors on this years team were put in a situation they haven't experienced before; having to come back after an emotional loss and pick up a must-win to stay in NCAA talk in late February. Again, this loss is inexcusable but not unbelievable. It was one loss at a tough time, it's just magnified because so much was on the line. In terms of this season, the loss was huge. In terms of what Doc is still building, just a minor set back. Let's be honest, the only way they were going to sniff the dance was to show up to play in KC and that's still a possibility. When it comes to building this program, the important thing here is not that they missed out on a chance to make the dance (where they would have lost a play in game). What's going to build this program is the way they respond to the ISU loss. Other than Jeter all these guys are back next year and not throwing in the towel after an extremely tough week emotionally will only stengthen them for next year.
Here's the issue that's been irking me the most. I have read on message boards, but more so heard it from people in person, about the hating on Diaz. People that want to blame Saturday's loss on Diaz are way off. Did he inexplicably lose the ball at the end of the game? Absolutely. Would Nebraska have been in that position to win if Diaz weren't playing? No freaking way. The guy had 18 points and 9 offensive boards. 9 offensive boards. On a day when the rest of the team was content sitting oustide jacking up shots hoping they would stay hot, Diaz was the one player ready to grind it out. Give the guy a freaking break. As much as Jeter was carrying the team, Diaz was damn sure doing more than his fair share. And for those of us (yes I'll include myself even though since the Manhattan trip I have believed Diaz has been playing with fire even if we couldn't always see it) for those of us who have ragged on him for never looking like he cares - he's proven us wrong. In the last handful of games he has gotten into it with the Morris twins, chucked water bottles down the bench, yelled at teammates and yelled at coaches. Anyone questioning his desire from here on out deserves a Diaz fist to the face. Another common rip on him that I am hearing is his consistently missing layups. Again, this is ridiculous. He had a putrid game against KSU, yes. Other than that game, he has been fairly reliable down low. Husker fans seem to think big guys never miss layups so when Diaz or AA or Ubel does it, it's unbelievable. Guess what, big guys don't shoot 80% like everyone seems to believe. Diaz is shooting 47%. That number is lower than what Doc and Diaz and fans would like it to be, but it's not the unbelievably low number that many people are making it out to be. Among guys in the Big 12 that make 5 buckets a game, only 5 have a better percentage. (To be fair, Diaz doesn't quite average 5 buckets a game, but he is right there). The most important thing to remember about him is that he is a sophomore with a lot of room to grow. He has an amazing skill set and just needs to get stronger. Think back to when you were 20. At that age, one year of growth can be pretty drastic. The kid has been playing his heart out and doesn't deserve a fraction of the criticism he has received. He has a lot to improve on, but he's no worse than any of the other projects on this team.
Despite last year's record and the slip that has happened this past week, Doc has this program going in the right direction. You can't honestly expect a program with 0 tradition to become a power overnight. This thing is going to take 7-8 years to get to where it is annually competing to finish in the top 5 of a conference. It just is. You can turn around a program in a year if you want to get dirty, but it's not even worth mentioning anymore because Tom and Doc have made it so obviously clear that it is simply not going to happen. There are new recruiters on this staff, new facilities on the way and a new conference that will favorable shift the recruiting geographically speaking. Doc has 3 3-stars (sad, but for a program like NU this is a small victory) with the potential of another good pick up or two depening on what he wants to do with schollies. A quick glance for next year will show that 8 of the Rivals Top 150 have NU on their interest lists. Kids are starting to look. This isn't to say that 3 of them will commit, or even 1 for that matter, but getting them to look is the first part of the battle and frankly it's the toughest part. If you can get 10 of those top tier kids to give you a look every year, it's only a matter of time (especially with the allure of new facilities and a better recruiting base) before one of them pulls the trigger. And what has everyone been saying? Doc just needs that one player that can finally push them over the hump, a kid that can make the shots in the closing minutes. Those kids are becoming more and more interested, it's only a matter of time.
I had planned on getting into next year's roster as well, but I've already written a book and a half, so I'll cut it off here. I'll probably get accused of being a sunshine pumper, but whatever. Things are moving glacier-slow right now. Some of the losses Doc has endured these 5 years are inexcusable, yes. But you aren't going to get a better coach for the job, not right now anyway. The bottom line is if you step back and look at this program as a whole and all that it has been in the past, you cannot deny that since Doc has taken over things have improved. You may not be seeing much in the way of wins yet, but if you look at this thing fairly you'll see a foundation is slowly being poured. IMHO, the future is looking a little brighter now than it was 6 or 7 years ago, it's just really tough to see past these hard losses.
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