Each day after a Nebraska men’s basketball game, KLIN Sports Director Kaleb Henry looks back at the latest contest.
Not the start Fred Hoiberg wanted for the season.
The third-year Husker coach told Kent Pavelka of the Huskers Radio Network after the game that he couldn’t find a silver lining or positive to take from the loss. I agree with the head coach.
The team that took the floor against Western Illinois was not the same that fans saw in exhibitions against Peru State and Colorado, at least from a mentality standpoint.
Those teams in the exhibitions found the open man, took care of the ball, and lived in transition. Was it perfect both games? Of course not. But it was nonexistent Tuesday.
Against the Leathernecks, the team fell into playing “me” ball. Guys seemed to decide that it was time they went and just got theirs, instead of doing what makes a Hoiberg team successful.
Throughout the game, whether it be Alonzo Verge Jr., Bryce McGowens, or anyone else, the popular play was to drive into traffic, get too deep into the lane, and force up a wild shot.
For Verge and the younger McGowens, a number of those shots went in as they combined for 51 points. Those two combined to shoot 42 percent from the floor, including 2-of-8 on 3s. That’s better than the rest of the team that shot 33 percent, including 3-of-12 on 3s.
Down by one and needing to score, the final sequence was simply Verge driving into multiple defenders and putting up another terrible shot. With Hoiberg at the helm, you have to believe something better was out there.
“I thought he had three guys open as he drove down, but I’ll have to take a look at it,” Hoiberg said. “We got the play where we wanted it, to get him downhill and attacking. I’ll go back and take a look at it and see what the options were.”
I’m sure when Hoiberg went back and looked, he saw multiple players open for cleaner looks.
Hoiberg has talked about making the easy play and being unselfish. That isn’t the team we saw Tuesday.
Watching just one player showed you the problems with the offense.
Trevor Lakes saw the floor for just over four minutes of game time. In the first half, Lakes touched the ball once and there was little to no effort to get him the ball in a position to shoot. On one occasion, he was left wide open at the top of the key while a teammate missed a wild shot in the lane.
Lakes just held his arms out in disbelief. So did most watching the game.
Posting a single assist in the first half and ending with six is not a recipe for success, especially when contrasted with 12 turnovers.
This is all on the offensive side of the ball, not even mentioning the lack of urgency to rebound the ball on the other end. Nebraska has the size this season to compete on the boards. The athletes at the guard and wing positions need to be more involved.
The Huskers won’t win the rebounding battle much, but they should at least be competitive.
Western Illinois is down at 221 in the Pomeroy Ratings, commonly called the kenpom. Nebraska is at 90.
The road isn’t exactly easier than it was Tuesday.
The Huskers host Sam Houston State (198) Friday. Creighton is at 62 and comes to Lincoln next week.
There are no easy fixes in sports, but finding that switch back to team basketball would bring that hope back for this time to find an NCAA Tournament berth. At the very least, beat Creighton.