[Husker] What is with the Husker basketball team?

[Dr. Derek Ryter]

After that first half I was forced to relent and let my wife watch
"Moonstruck" (thank goodness I didn't drive to Omaha).  After seeing the
final score it was a good move.  Leading up to the game it was starting to
seem like Collier had pulled in some talent and they were coming together as
a team, McCray not withstanding.  Now I don't know what to think.  OSU
looked good--what little I saw of it--against Gonzaga.  Tx got lit up at
Duke, and Kansas is struggling mightily.  OU is going to be athletic and
good.  It looks like another finish in the bottom 6 for the Big Red, with a
couple inspired upsets to spur interest.  I could see the Huskers matching
up against KU but probably not winning.

I would think it unlikely, but the CU game could be an aberration.  I sure
hope so, because this looked like a terribly ill-prepared team.

One thing that stood out was in transition.  I was always coached to push
the ball and that a player filling the outside lanes continue on under the
basket and come up the opposite side.  There were several missed shots that
NU rebounded in the early stages that could have turned into transition
points if the wings had run the floor, as they would have beaten the CU
players back.  Instead they pulled up and waited for the rest of the team.
Perhaps Collier is more of a half-court offense type, but the breaks were
there.

They also missed several skip passes to players open and waving behind the
arc.  Ad several of the turnovers were so rudimentary that I hope that they
were just overcome by the big game and the hostile environment.  Creighton
also appeared to bring a lot more energy.  I'm hoping they were just out of
sync on the road, but this isn't the first time that the Huskers have shown
up without any fire, and that looks very bad for Collier.

I wouldn't give Collier any more time if the team doesn't show up with at
least a couple plays in mind.  I don't know what's wrong with Joe, but
Collier didn't manage him very well considering that he was the most
ballyhooed player returning from last year (though I was counting on
Wilkinson and Dourisseau playing at a higher level this year).  The problem
is that good coaches are not cheap, and NU isn't going to break the bank to
get one.

Derek
  -----Original Message-----
  From: Sue Smith [mailto:huskerdana at yahoo.com]
  Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2005 7:04 PM
  To: dryter at inebraska.com; husker at tssi.com
  Subject: Re: [Husker] What is with the Husker basketball team?


  I went to the game and was embarrassed to be a Husker fan.  NU had 17
turnovers in the first half and 11 points.  Johnny Mathis for Creighton
outscored the entire NU team with 14 points at half.  This is a banged up
Creighton team and they clobbered us.  How much more time are we suppose to
give Collier?

  Dana

  "Dr. Derek Ryter" <dryter at inebraska.com> wrote:
    That was the worst half of basketball that I have seen ANYONE play in a
long
    time. I lost count of the turnovers, but I'm betting that they outnumber
    points scored. Big game jitters? Not ready for the CU's second string?
    What is going on?

    The Huskers look tentative, unsure of where to go or what to do with the
    ball. The lightest bit of a press and Walker and Dourisseau (sp?) lose
the
    ball. The basic fundamental asp ects of the game are shockingly lacking
for
    NU. This level of preparedness is astonishingly low and if they can't
rise
    to play a injury-riddled CU, I don't hold much hope for the rest of the
    season. Collier said that he's getting the newcomers to the team on
board
    with the system and that was key to this game. What's key is that they
come
    out and play. They are lost, with and without the ball.

    There was one brief moment after a timeout late in the half where I saw
    Wilkinson come out fired up and they pounded the paint, but it only
resulted
    in a foul against CU.

    Egad!!!!

    Derek


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