Texas A&M 57, Nebraska 55: Post Game Overreaction

by huskerlibrarian on Feb 24, 2009 10:52 PM CST in Nebraska Husker Basketball

Sometimes, I just feel like opening the window and screaming at the top of my lungs in frustration when I watch the Huskers play. It's one thing to go cold for long stretches. It's another to choke away a huge lead -- at home -- because they stop doing what got them ahead.

It happened earlier this year against Missouri, but the Tigers couldn't hit the shots down the stretch. A&M started drilling shots late in the game, and Nebraska -- which didn't commit a turnover until 11:00 to go in the second half -- had 8 turnovers in the last 11 minutes to give A&M 10 easy points.

What happened? Well, Ade Dagunduro came out with 5 quick points after halftime, then vanished. Steve Harley was hitting shots in the first half, then couldn't hit anything. Velander didn't get touches at all. Anderson was missing shots.

The biggest thing, though, was that the Huskers backed off the aggressive drive-and-shoot scheme they used for a number of easy shots in the first half run. Just like they do every time they get a lead. Seriously -- ATTACK THE BASKET!

A&M kept chipping away. NU would stop them 3 or 4 possessions in a row, but couldn't hit a shot to put it away. NU missed only 2 FTs all game. Unfortunately, one of them was Cookie's 1-and-1 attempt with 20 seconds to go.

The officiating was all over the place on both sides. A&M didn't get called for a number of horrible moving screens, but did get a questionable technical on a "chin-up" dunk. On the other hand, they also got the benefit of two horrible calls in the final minutes.

Then, of course, Josh Carter went and did what he seems to do best -- drain a 3 in the Devaney Center to beat the Huskers.

Report Card

Offense: F. The offense earns an "A" for the first half, but completely came unglued in the second. The Huskers backed off the aggressive drive offense in the second half, and died.

Defense: B. A+ for most of the game, but there were enough lapses late in the game to drag this down. Huskers stopped A&M seemingly every possession for most of the game.

Rebounding: D. This was an "B" in the first half, when the Huskers were only out-rebounded by 1. The Huskers kept A&M from getting second-chance shots until late, but the Aggies erupted for 11 offensive boards, mostly late in the game.

Ball Handling: B. Zero turnovers for 29 minutes is impressive. Eight in 11 is impressive in a different way. It makes it so much worse that every Husker turnover seemed to be incredibly costly.

Coaching: C. I have no idea what happened after halftime, but the team came out asleep, and that's on Doc. This team is used to being the underdog, but it needs to know how to play with a lead.

Overall: D. It's hard to believe that the first half and second half were from the same game. In the first half, Nebraska looked like the far, far better team. In the "third quarter," the teams looked fairly even. In the last 12 minutes, NU looked like a high school JV team. It doesn't frustrate me that NU loses games; it frustrates me that they should win these games and find a way to lose.

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Comments

D?

Sorry, I don’t care how you played in the first half. If you blow an 18 point lead, with 15 minutes to go, that’s an F

Men write many fine and plausible arguments in support of monarchy, but the fact remains that where every man in a state has a vote, brutal laws are impossible.

by BoVandy on Feb 25, 2009 8:07 AM CST reply actions

LOL

You are way too harsh BV, you can’t just overreact. It still boils down to a consistant lack of offensive shooting power with our team. But the overall effort is about as impressive as I’ve ever seen; it’s rare that our players take a ‘play off’’, they keep scrapping and harrassing til the bitter end and they were still forcing TOs late in the game.

Just don’t have the consistent shooting is all, nor much presence on the offensive boards. It’s frustrating to lose that one, but I thoroughly enjoyed the game up til the last 1/2 second.

"...dOn'T tAZ3 m3, brO'..."

by BO-urne Supremacy on Feb 25, 2009 9:41 AM CST up reply actions

overreacting?

there’s inconsistent shooting, and then there’s terrible shooting. 5 field goals in the second half. FIVE

If you can enjoy letting an 18 point lead go down our legs, then more power to you

Men write many fine and plausible arguments in support of monarchy, but the fact remains that where every man in a state has a vote, brutal laws are impossible.

by BoVandy on Feb 25, 2009 10:17 AM CST up reply actions

I don't give us any overall 'D'

is what I’m saying, yea our shooting is pretty pathetic and we should have never lost that one, but it came down to the last 1/2 second, and if aTm misses that shot then we get the W and me thinks you are giving us a better grade…

I give our D a solid A in that game. Shooting B+/A- 1st half, D 2nd half. Overall game B/B-.

"...dOn'T tAZ3 m3, brO'..."

by BO-urne Supremacy on Feb 25, 2009 11:42 AM CST up reply actions

Sorry dude,

I thought it was your grading system up there^^. I’ll have to bust Librarian’s chops…We still dont deserve an ‘F’ though, you are OVERREACTING, just take a chill pill and reflect….;).

"...dOn'T tAZ3 m3, brO'..."

by BO-urne Supremacy on Feb 25, 2009 11:48 AM CST up reply actions

No, you don't agree with me

doesn’t mean I’m wrong

Men write many fine and plausible arguments in support of monarchy, but the fact remains that where every man in a state has a vote, brutal laws are impossible.

by BoVandy on Feb 25, 2009 10:32 PM CST up reply actions

And it doesn't mean I have to "take a pill"

Men write many fine and plausible arguments in support of monarchy, but the fact remains that where every man in a state has a vote, brutal laws are impossible.

by BoVandy on Feb 25, 2009 10:33 PM CST up reply actions

Coaching should be a F

Doc had them pull back on numerous times in transition. NU quit attacking the bucket when that worked so well in the first half.

That’s on Doc.

You can't possibly be a scientist if you mind people thinking that you're a fool.
~Wanko the Sane

by JLew on Feb 25, 2009 9:10 AM CST reply actions

Their press

took us out of our normal offensive flow, but yea, we had numbers more than a few times after breaking the press, but pulled up. I think it’s part/mostly Doc’s decision there, and I’m not so sure how good of finishers we have on this team—they don’t attack the hole enough to tell.

"...dOn'T tAZ3 m3, brO'..."

by BO-urne Supremacy on Feb 25, 2009 9:35 AM CST up reply actions

I missed that. How the hell does he get a C out of that game?

Men write many fine and plausible arguments in support of monarchy, but the fact remains that where every man in a state has a vote, brutal laws are impossible.

by BoVandy on Feb 25, 2009 10:18 AM CST up reply actions

huh?

"...dOn'T tAZ3 m3, brO'..."

by BO-urne Supremacy on Feb 25, 2009 11:44 AM CST up reply actions

I said, how the hell does he get a C grad out of that game?

pretty straight forward

Men write many fine and plausible arguments in support of monarchy, but the fact remains that where every man in a state has a vote, brutal laws are impossible.

by BoVandy on Feb 25, 2009 10:32 PM CST up reply actions

My bad,

I forgot you are the ‘brains’ here…

"...dOn'T tAZ3 m3, brO'..."

by BO-urne Supremacy on Feb 26, 2009 5:07 AM CST up reply actions

Heartbreak.

That was an extremely disappointing loss for the Huskers. A
tale of 2 halves I guess you could say, though we still had
a double digit lead with about 10 mins to go.

aTm adjusted their D in the 2nd half, took our O away and
their full court press was a significant disruption. We
just weren’t getting too many open looks like in the 1st
half, where our shooting was better than it had been the
last 3-4 games.

It could have gone either way at the end, but I credit aTm
for making the changes that got them back into the game and
got them the ‘W’.

I hope our team can put it behind them and finish out the
season on a positive note.

"...dOn'T tAZ3 m3, brO'..."

by BO-urne Supremacy on Feb 25, 2009 9:31 AM CST reply actions

My main criticism of Doc in that one

is it looked like our team was ill prepared in handling their press. We also couldn’t seem to make them pay for their double teaming in the 2nd half, but I think that’s more a function of our player’s skill.

"...dOn'T tAZ3 m3, brO'..."

by BO-urne Supremacy on Feb 25, 2009 9:44 AM CST reply actions

my friend, you do not know frustration

It doesn’t frustrate me that NU loses games; it frustrates me that they should win these games and find a way to lose.

Try having Mark Turgeon as a coach, and knowing that despite a talent advantage in many games, you will still lose b/c you’re going to be outcoached. THAT is frustration.

I Am The 12th Man.com

by Beergut on Feb 26, 2009 5:46 AM CST reply actions