Craigy said:

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Have a primary defender get all up in Keisei Tominaga business. Hassle him, bump him and try to take him out of the game. May I suggest Radford and spot Lawrence and possibly Solo .

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I suggest Jace. We can afford for him to get some fouls.

bobinator said:

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Sounds like yall are calling a Hefner breakout game

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Honestly as long as the Nebraska kid isn't super fast or athletic Hefner may be able to frustrate him on defense at times.

Leveque played a bit more post offense against Florida with some success until UF put a bigger guy on him and then it was over. I'd like to see if we can post him against the Norwegian and at least get a couple of fouls on him.

If we're counting on Jace to handle the scoring load we are in trouble. Not that he's a bad player but we need to be scoring at the rim primarily. If he can hit 4-5 jumpers that wouldn't hurt. He can score at the rim but it's not his forte'.

I feel like if our three leading scorers are Wade, Boots, and Manny in no particular order we'll win the game.

If Buzz goes into this game as stubbornly as he did last year's vs Penn State, allowing a shoot first team to find open shooters easily due to us double teaming and crashing the lane, we will lose.

Jaylen Pickett's don't grow on trees.

Penn State was just fantastic in that game. It happens.

We're actually better suited to defend the extended perimeter now compared to last season. Swapping Marble for Andy is a net positive. Solo isn't quite the on-ball defender that Dexter was, but he's good and he's a great secondary rim protector. Manny has greatly improved and Carter is a good defender.

bobinator said:

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Again, it's like some people think the last part of the first half against Penn State was the beginning. They only had 13 points through the first 12 minutes of the game. It's not how our defense started that was the problem.

We're not going to suddenly come out in a different defense on Friday after running variations of the same thing for over 30 games including some against teams that shoot the three even better than Nebraska does.

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We let them beat us the only we they could and then refused to adjust.


Nebraska will space the court with all 5 guys. And they want to shoot early and often. If we are double teaming and crashing to stop something they don't want to do, to give them open looks for something they do want to do, it would be pretty dumb on our part.

And I don't really care how many games have been played or what our normal defense is. Your goal should always be to take away the opponents strength without sacrificing your own. We can very easily guard the 3. We switch everything already. Just don't crash in the paint. Trust each man to pick up his own guy. If they are torching us with 2's, it's a lot easier to adjust and come back from than if they are torching us with 3's.

Our best player can't keep anyone in front of him and our next best guard is a mediocre defender on a good day. We're small in the post.

There are some good reasons why we play defense the way we do. I sympathize that it can be frustrating, but we can't allow Taylor and Radford to get torched while collecting fouls and getting taken out of the game.

Nebraska making 3's is not the only way they can beat us.

Changing a fundamental part of your team, the way you've taught and executed all season is not a recipe for success. I don't think Nebraska is the desperation scenario where you take that kknd of risk.

Play our game. Execute it to the highest possible level and we will have a very good chance to move on.

I know we have played well lately and seem to have something new with Manny's emergence and a "three guard attack".

My concerns are still specific to us and not so much Nebraska or a particular opponent.

Since the losing streak - where many lost all hope due to two blowout losses and two losses to cellar dwellers - we have beaten 4 teams. Georgia, Ole Miss (2), MSU, UK. 100, 90, 31, 18 in the NET. We seem to either matchup well with UK or just really elevate play when they are the opponent, great fun win. MSU is a challenging matchup, imo, so I find that win impressive and we had a 20+ point lead at one point. We looked strong vs Florida too, despite loss, with an 18 (15?) point lead vs NET #29 at one point. UF played very well too.

It's been a strong, but short, run of success. Can we continue after 6 days off? Does this group handle tourney play and the atmosphere well? NCAA a bit different than SEC tourney.

Is Manny for real as far as being able to sustain his level of play? That's another concern. He's been in double digit scoring every game of win/good play streak and his all around play, not just scoring, has been solid.

Otherwise I just have general basketball game worries - can we stay healthy, can we stay out of foul trouble, how hot does our opponent get from the field. All of those can impact W/L regardless of team we are playing.

Nebraska doesn't uniquely scare me in any specific way. Good team, like many SEC teams, and we have to play well to win.

jaxisback said:

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Our best player can't keep anyone in front of him and our next best guard is a mediocre defender on a good day. We're small in the post.

There are some good reasons why we play defense the way we do. I sympathize that it can be frustrating, but we can't allow Taylor and Radford to get torched while collecting fouls and getting taken out of the game.

Nebraska making 3's is not the only way they can beat us.

Changing a fundamental part of your team, the way you've taught and executed all season is not a recipe for success. I don't think Nebraska is the desperation scenario where you take that kknd of risk.

Play our game. Execute it to the highest possible level and we will have a very good chance to move on.

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I don't necessarily disagree with anything you said. I just don't want us helping off of their big man or Japanese Curry to help on the other three that we should be able to limit with a single defender. It's a recipe for failure. Their big man picks and pops a lot. We have to switch and stay on him. He doesn't want to bang down low. Japanese Curry is a quick trigger and will make at a high clip. Just don't give him the chance. Force the other three on the court to beat you. That's all.

But I do see your point about Wade and Radford. They are capable defenders but spend all their energy on offense and are lazy on defense. When they put their energy forward on defense, we are suffocating.

Divining Rod said:

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i watched the Illinois v Nebraska game. I hate to say this, but NU looked inferior to us as far as athleticism. I'm not sure how theyre going to stop iur three headed guards attacking the basket.

if we can have a couple threats feom outside to dish to, this coupd be a long game for huskers.

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Well I have to blue diamond my astute observation.
but seriously, when i watched them in the paint, their lack of height and general slowness, i saw visions of Radford and Obaseki victimizing them.

snowdog90 said:

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I know nothing about Nebraska. How good are they at defending dribble drives.

This is the key to the Ag offense. If Nebraska can't stop Boots, Wade and Manny from getting to the rim, the Ags could get up and over 80 points.

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Bingo

As long as we could shoot, and we established early we could. Once we were hitting threes at any kind of rate this game was over.

Know Your Enemy said:

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snowdog90 said:

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One other thing...

I have a feeling that Jace Carter may turn a corner Friday. He has incredible shooting form and has proven in the past that he can score. I think maybe he was feeling some pressure, as was the whole team, trying to just make the tournament.

I think he and others may feel a little more free, relaxed and nothing-to-lose now that they're in. I think Jace shoots well Friday - I hope I'm right.

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Incredible shooting form? If so it's impressive how few shots he actually makes.

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Jace had 13 points on 5-9 shooting with 7 rebounds. I'll take that.

He played very well tonight. Hope that continues.

Know Your Enemy said:

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He played very well tonight. Hope that continues.

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I think it will. Nothing to lose, they are playing the best basketball of Buzz' tenure here, confidence at an all-time high...

Houston better be ready.