Nebrasketball Game #17: @ Penn State- Sunday, February 14- 2:00pm BTN

What will the game result be?

  • Nebraska single digit win

    Votes: 3 37.5%

  • Nebraska double digit win

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Penn State single digit win

    Votes: 3 37.5%

  • Penn State double digit win

    Votes: 2 25.0%
  • Total voters
    8
  • Poll closed .
This is a different looking team than just a few games ago these past few games.  You just hope they can continue playing like this.  Looking a lot better defensively and they are shooting better despite the once again drought they had near the end of the 2nd.

 
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PaulCrewe said:
I have and will bag on this team/program as hard as anyone, but there was some positive here.  The team that has 15 assists on the 18 made FGs with their great cutting and not standing around(which we saw for almost half of this game) is something.  Now the question is can they mentally grasp that concept after seeing how well they look on the film and play that way down the road.
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I hope they do mentally grasp it. But the fact that they continue to consistently break down at moments throughout the game leads me to believe they just can't handle it. Lazy passes, not boxing out, not hustling back on defense. Shooting the basketball is hard enough for them, yet, they can't do the basics consistently. 

 
NebraskaHarry said:
I hope they do mentally grasp it. But the fact that they continue to consistently break down at moments throughout the game leads me to believe they just can't handle it. Lazy passes, not boxing out, not hustling back on defense. Shooting the basketball is hard enough for them, yet, they can't do the basics consistently. 
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I think a lot of the "me ball" you see which certainly contributes to the problems you stated, may start waning a little because of Walker.  He not only provides some positive post presence, but looks like he could be the guy to beat some toughness into the rotation.  Toughness as is being the guy to jump his teammates for doing the crap they have been prior.  One can hope at least.

And for the record, even Fred said before the year he did think this would be a good shooting team.  However, I would expect even a suspect shooting team to be a lot better from the FT line

 
NebraskaHarry said:
I hope they do mentally grasp it. But the fact that they continue to consistently break down at moments throughout the game leads me to believe they just can't handle it. Lazy passes, not boxing out, not hustling back on defense. Shooting the basketball is hard enough for them, yet, they can't do the basics consistently. 
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I haven’t seen you around the hoops boards previously but welcome. I’ll engage you and assume you aren’t trolling because I want to use your post to speak on something.

You have to learn how to win. Winning is the result of ten thousand small things that build up throughout the course of the game. Friday’s loss to Illinois is part of the process. Today’s’ win is part of it too. It’s not linear. 

If you have watched this team the entire year, the last 3 games have been the best hoops they’ve played. Did you watch the Michigan State game last Saturday? This team is night and day different. The off ball movement, the cutting, the passing, the playmaking, the unselfishness, THAT is why this team is finally competing. They’re working their tails off in the paint in the rebounding battle and finally defending with a purpose. THOSE are the behaviors that you build upon.

They’re figuring out how to win. As such, you’ll see growing pains and tough moments down the stretch as they figure out who their “go to” guy is, how to operate under pressure, etc. This is all new to this team and oh yeah, they’re absolutely exhausted because they’re basically playing a NBA schedule.

Respectfully, if your conclusion from the last few games is they aren’t hustling on defense or boxing out, I just don’t think you know basketball very well. This team is growing before our eyes and every single person on BTN in the postgame, including John Belien, commended the job the team and staff is doing. Either enjoy the ride and growing pains associated with a young team establishing a culture and learning to win, or turn it off and come back in 2 years when the team is in the NCAA Tournament. 

 
seaofred92 said:
I haven’t seen you around the hoops boards previously but welcome. I’ll engage you and assume you aren’t trolling because I want to use your post to speak on something.

You have to learn how to win. Winning is the result of ten thousand small things that build up throughout the course of the game. Friday’s loss to Illinois is part of the process. Today’s’ win is part of it too. It’s not linear. 

If you have watched this team the entire year, the last 3 games have been the best hoops they’ve played. Did you watch the Michigan State game last Saturday? This team is night and day different. The off ball movement, the cutting, the passing, the playmaking, the unselfishness, THAT is why this team is finally competing. They’re working their tails off in the paint in the rebounding battle and finally defending with a purpose. THOSE are the behaviors that you build upon.

They’re figuring out how to win. As such, you’ll see growing pains and tough moments down the stretch as they figure out who their “go to” guy is, how to operate under pressure, etc. This is all new to this team and oh yeah, they’re absolutely exhausted because they’re basically playing a NBA schedule.

Respectfully, if your conclusion from the last few games is they aren’t hustling on defense or boxing out, I just don’t think you know basketball very well. This team is growing before our eyes and every single person on BTN in the postgame, including John Belien, commended the job the team and staff is doing. Either enjoy the ride and growing pains associated with a young team establishing a culture and learning to win, or turn it off and come back in 2 years when the team is in the NCAA Tournament. 
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Since coming back from COVID issues, NU is 4th in the conference in defensive efficiency. That shows they are hustling, boxing out, and playing team defense (like you say). Some people will want to focus on the negatives and stay grumpy. I don’t know if NU will be in the Big Dance in 2 years, but it could be a fun process to watch. 

 
seaofred92 said:
I haven’t seen you around the hoops boards previously but welcome. I’ll engage you and assume you aren’t trolling because I want to use your post to speak on something.

You have to learn how to win. Winning is the result of ten thousand small things that build up throughout the course of the game. Friday’s loss to Illinois is part of the process. Today’s’ win is part of it too. It’s not linear. 

If you have watched this team the entire year, the last 3 games have been the best hoops they’ve played. Did you watch the Michigan State game last Saturday? This team is night and day different. The off ball movement, the cutting, the passing, the playmaking, the unselfishness, THAT is why this team is finally competing. They’re working their tails off in the paint in the rebounding battle and finally defending with a purpose. THOSE are the behaviors that you build upon.

They’re figuring out how to win. As such, you’ll see growing pains and tough moments down the stretch as they figure out who their “go to” guy is, how to operate under pressure, etc. This is all new to this team and oh yeah, they’re absolutely exhausted because they’re basically playing a NBA schedule.

Respectfully, if your conclusion from the last few games is they aren’t hustling on defense or boxing out, I just don’t think you know basketball very well. This team is growing before our eyes and every single person on BTN in the postgame, including John Belien, commended the job the team and staff is doing. Either enjoy the ride and growing pains associated with a young team establishing a culture and learning to win, or turn it off and come back in 2 years when the team is in the NCAA Tournament. 
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I don't know about the learning how to win thing. Folks been saying that about Nebraska basketball for decades now and they haven't won a thing of significance in that entire time. When I watch this team, I see glimmers of hope to be shattered by inconsistency. I'm glad there are lots of optimists in here, but this team's inconsistency suggests to me that I should probably expect a crushing loss next game and not expect too much. That's what my eyes are telling. 

 
Honestly with this hodgepodge team of transfers and what not, ALSO without this Covid thing, this is a team that I would have going full court trapping defense and let them run and run.  Their length and build as a team of pretty much all being off guards/small forwards could cause havoc.  Secondly a group of guys that never played together will have a lot of time to build cohesiveness in half court offenses(maybe, JUST maybe we are starting to see these guys starting to get a good feel for each other the last few games).  Thirdly, easy buckets.  Quickest way to bust a drought, is easy baskets. Great way to build confidence in a team, seeing the ball go through the net.

Again that is me.  Obviously in the current state of the world, and this schedule, no way they could do it(fully expect on turd game out in Maryland because of the fatigue).  

FInally, I think this is a team that needs a crowd.  Both home and away.  Think a crowd would almost jolt these guys to where the lazy plays are few and far between

 
NebraskaHarry said:
I don't know about the learning how to win thing. Folks been saying that about Nebraska basketball for decades now and they haven't won a thing of significance in that entire time. When I watch this team, I see glimmers of hope to be shattered by inconsistency. I'm glad there are lots of optimists in here, but this team's inconsistency suggests to me that I should probably expect a crushing loss next game and not expect too much. That's what my eyes are telling. 
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They’re underdogs on KenPom in every single remaining game on the schedule. The current iteration of the Big Ten is legitimately the best rated conference ever in college basketball. And the team had limited non-conference schedule and the entire team had COVID for essentially a month and didn’t play. If they lose both to Maryland, it won’t be shocking, it’ll be expected. You should be looking for how they’re playing, not the final result, to determine if there is growth or not. 

 
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