Nebraska @ CU

[unkiemark]

Here we go, another conference game and another big challenge for the Buffs. At this point it would seem every team that comes to Boulder has to be very confident given CU's history at home against Big 12 teams this season.

Besides the confidence factor, it would seem that the game will be interesting in the post where the Buffs and Cornhuskers both have talent. CU's Jackie McFarland has been doing more than her share in recent games while Aija Putnina plays physical basketball. For NU it will be Kelsey Griffin and Danielle Page.

This game begins at 8 pm MST due to TV. It will be broadcast live on FSN Rocky Mountain.

[Noah121]

Heh... will I be willing to stay up that late since that means I'd be up until nearly an hour after my normal bedtime? The radio is a good thing...

[lilbuff]

Just some thoughts before going to bed :D...
Well this should be an interesting game. CU needs to step up. It is not like they have bad players or anything, they just need to play team basketball. Forcing the ball to Jackie will do no good. She needs to pass it out when she gets double teamed or triple teamed. She has not been doing a good job with that. CU has great post players. I wish they all could get a chance to show everybody that they can play (and I know that they can). They just need more confidence. Aija has proved that she can score and play defense. Last game against OSU she had some great moves. Jackie needs to see her and the guards need to pass her the ball inside. It will be fun to watch both teams battle inside. This will give a chance for the guards to knock down some shots. Hopefully they will go in. I want my Buffaloes to start winning again. They are a winning team :CU: Good luck girls!

[bballinfan]

Just some thoughts before going to bed :D...
Well this should be an interesting game. CU needs to step up. It is not like they have bad players or anything, they just need to play team basketball. Forcing the ball to Jackie will do no good. She needs to pass it out when she gets double teamed or triple teamed. She has not been doing a good job with that. CU has great post players. I wish they all could get a chance to show everybody that they can play (and I know that they can). They just need more confidence. Aija has proved that she can score and play defense. Last game against OSU she had some great moves. Jackie needs to see her and the guards need to pass her the ball inside. It will be fun to watch both teams battle inside. This will give a chance for the guards to knock down some shots. Hopefully they will go in. I want my Buffaloes to start winning again. They are a winning team :CU: Good luck girls!

I would have to disagree with your comment about Jackie not doing a good job with passing out of double and triple teams. After all, she had 8 assists and considering she is a post player and not a guard that's a pretty impressive stat.

[unkiemark]

Article on tonight's game from the BDC:

http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/06/8-pm-fsn-buffs-in-desperate-need-of-a-victory/

[Row6Seat10]

Here are the articles from the World Herald and Journal Star:

World Herald:
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1200&u_sid=10251218

Journal Star:
http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2008/02/06/huskerextra/womens_basketball/doc47a910078c60f506697405.txt

[YCN]

Holy smokes! Nebraska was up 11-4, and CU went on a 15-0 run.

Did I hear that right?

[Jimi]

Holy smokes! Nebraska was up 11-4, and CU went on a 15-0 run.

Did I hear that right?
Yup, You did.

[ChipperF1]

Again...defensive intensity laxing...


Connie Yori...This team still isn't focused.

[ISU 40]

Score?

[YCN]

At least this is the first game tonight where I've detected a pulse from both teams.

[YCN]

35-32 Colorado.

I think the two teams have hit 6 or 7 threes in the last two minutes.

[ChipperF1]

We have to do a better job of guarding these people....We need to start building a lead..

[YCN]

13 made threes with just seconds left in the first half.

[YCN]

Really nice effort for NU in the last two minutes of the half. Griffin is an absolute warrior!

NU leads by one, 36-35.

[ChipperF1]

Now this how you rally back!!!! Great block ms. Page!!!!!!!

But "Toughest place to play in the Big 12?"

Don't oversell it, Matt.

Good strong finish...Nebraska leads....HOLDING MCFARLAND TO NO POINTS? COOL!!!

36-35, Nebraska....

Second half...Ratchet up the defensive intensity..and lets put this team to bed.

[Noah121]

I'm here to listen to the second half of the game. Just got back from a meeting...

I'm also going to fight the dissonance--I would normally be asleep at this time!

[Noah121]

AND IT COUNTS! And a foul! It's 38-37 and a chance at another point.

[ChipperF1]

McFarland swatted that....That kid is incredible and she starting to get warm.. We'll have to fight for this....Bober is in...now...

We are not guarding well 43-41....The perimeter is getting beat at the post players are forced to react.

[Noah121]

It's :NU: 41, :CU: 45 at the 16:00 break, and it's been a sloppy few minutes for the Huskers with some forced shots and bad turnovers.

[Noah121]

Hester makes one of two free throws: it's 47-all, Mr. Smith!

[YCN]

free throws. got to hit them.

[Noah121]

This sounds a lot like the ugly game from last year that was a defensive standoff... but it's not quite the same thing.

The score is :NU: 49, :CU: 49. Exciting!

[YCN]

49-49 at 11:18.

Anyone care to pick a winner?

[Noah121]

Wow, although my Hoopla! score is going down the drain because I picked McFarland, maybe I can be the Hoopla! curse. (At least this game didn't get the 48-51 curse).

PS: YCN, I think the Huskers will win by a few.

[Row6Seat10]

Huskers need to get Danielle P untracked.

[YCN]

I haven't been able to decide who will win yet. But the next 8 minutes mean everything.

[Noah121]

Griffin has really shown her power in the Big XII. She has 17 points right now this game.

[Noah121]

Row6, it looks like it might be tough to get Page untracked--she has four fouls and probably will be riding the bench for a while...

[Noah121]

Air ball from 2 feet... ha! Sounds like Aleks Maric...

It's :NU: 57 :CU: 61 with about 4:30 remaining.

[Noah121]

Vonnie Turner ties it!! (Repeat!) It's 64-64! Rebound Cory Montgomery! ...
...
...
...
Danielle Page has 8! 66-64 Nebraska!

Timeout Colorado! There's about 3 minutes left. NOW it's play for play.

[Noah121]

A Turner steal has given the Huskers a 4-point lead!

[Noah121]

Huskers are on a big run-- 70-64! It's late in the game and this seems to be something big for the Huskers lately. The late game is something the Huskers like this year--and it's working well at least on the road!

[Noah121]

It's time to finish this, Big Red! This is our game to steal!

[Noah121]

RESET:
:NU: :CU:
72 Score 66
10+ Fouls 10+
Poss. >

The fouls are coming in-- CU is going to try and force us to win it at the line.

EDIT: Darn that formatting!

[Noah121]

Smith hits a three to cut the deficit to 6 points. Caution Cornhuskers; you've won games at the wire, but you've lost games at the wire too!

[Noah121]

McFarland has fouled out! It's 76-69 and the Cornhuskers are shooting free throws.

Was the 32+ minutes that Griffin played tonight a season high?

[Noah121]

The game is over! Nebraska wins, 80-71. That's our 50th straight win when we score 80+ points.

[YCN]

This one is a terminal case.

I'll be honest, I never expected CU to play like this in conference play, but there's something missing that I cannot put a finger on.

Huskers move to 6-3, very healthily in the upper echelon of the Big 12. Even better, there are more wins to come.

[Buffer]

I don't think there is anything wrong with CU except that they couldn't continue to play at their very best as they were earlier in the year. They played to every bit of their potential in beating better than average teams in Wyoming and Vanderbilt, but lack the talent to consistently play at that level.

[Row6Seat10]

Coach Yori post game quotes

She's speechless.

Defended the 3 better the second half

Great execution by the Huskers

Defended Jackie Macfarland very well but had to give up some three's as a result.

Smith played well for CU

Danielle Page struggled but did make a couple of big plays down the stretch

Needs a big crowd for Sundays OSU game

Kelsey Griffin quotes

Credits her teammates

team has learned from the K State game

Altitude didn't really effect the team because they played so many


Caught a bit of the CU postgame show

KMMquotes

Jackie struggled with the double team Whitney, Brittany & Bionca played well.

Too many turnovers

Got to get better because the schedule doesn't get any easier

Coaches and fans are still behind the players

[ChipperF1]

Good Stuff Tonight!!!

Over the last four games, Kelsey Griffin has been a ball playin' woman...and tonight we refocused and fought back against a team that is playing much better than their record says. Now this is a good win and it says a lot more than the Missouri game did.

Also much love to Yvonne Turner, Tay Hester (very solid game) and Nikki Bober (this kid was big in a relief role)

80-71...Two straight in Boulder...I'm lovin' it!

Now we can THINK PINK!
BEAT CANCER!

[unkiemark]

I am very lucky no one was sitting in front of me the last four minutes of the game - I absolutely lost it. The Buffs' modus operandi in their conference home games is to get a lead in the second half and then go soft. Tonight it was a a ton of silly plays when the game was on the line. Really, the Buffs seem to have the physical ability to stay with most of their conference opponents, but they are absolutely lacking the mental toughness to close out a game.

At this point it would seem that it will be an accomplishment for the Buffs to stay out of the Big 12 cellar.

Amazing that Jackie didn't score until 4:12 left in the second and the Buffs were in the game.

Whitney Houston played well until the final three minutes :-).

Brittany Spears seems to be getting her game back. 19 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks.

NU was able to isolate Griffin in the low post frequently in the second half. Danielle Page did not have her best game, which helped keep the Buffs in the game.

I likes the intensity of NU's young guards. As a group they are hard working and will be good to build around.

Box score:

http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=3909&SPID=258&DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=1384242

[CWM]

Mark

You're more familiar with the program than I am. What do you think the cause of these mental lapses are? One thing that crossed my mind this morning was the fact that I've never seen KMM really get in a player's face or chew someone out. She seems to treat the players more in a motherly, comforting fashion, at least during games. I've never been to a practice so I have no idea how she acts during practice. Maybe the players know that they aren't going to get a tongue lashing so they don't always play with that fear/concern in the back of their minds. Maybe they know that if they screw up that they'll just take a seat on the bench but they won't be dressed-down in front of their teammates, friends, fans or family at the game? I'm probably way off the mark, but it just seems that they really lose focus at some point in every game and maybe they need a kick in the pants to get their attention. I don't want to hear from KMM or the team about how young they are and these are youthful mistakes. That doesn't fly at this point in the season.

It's really frustrating to see them play so well in spurts but not be able to sustain it for an entire game. Any thoughts?

[LadyBuff]

Nebraska did a great job of holding Jackie to only one point. See, it doesn't work if Jackie doesn't score. She needs help from the outside, but it has to be an inside/outside game.

Have you ever seen Tom McConnell get in a player's face? I sure have.

[BeBe]

This team is really getting to me. It's like they are afraid to win. They get ahead and then find ways to give up the lead and they have done this over and over and over. Against any team that doesn't give up when they get down, against a team that fights back, these Buffs just seem to get nervous, start making stupid idiotic passes or taking bad shots, etc .... whatever they need to do to lose the game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nebraska didn't win this game... CU lost it. All Nebraska did was continue to play... same as ISU, TAMU, etc have done. They didn't do anything great but DID take advantage of all the !@#$%^& gifts the Buffs gave them late in the first half and late in the second half.

As Mark said, there were some good things that the Buffs did last night, just not enough to overcome the stupid things they did. In addition to Whitney (up until cruch time :mad:) and Spears play, the other thing I liked was that the coaches sat Putnina a lot and played Caley Dow instead. Aija has not played like she can since the broken pinkie. She played too tentative on both ends of the court too many times..... understandable with a broken finger on her shooting hand, but we have other players who can contribute more than she seems to be able to now. And we will need those players next year after jackie is gone so getting them playing time now seems smart to me.

A month ago I had thoughts of the NCAA for this team. Now I'm just hoping they can make the NIT. What a bummer!!!!

[rock]

This loss ruined a good day. It is the next day and this loss still hurts, because they do not seem to get the ideal that you have to have mental toughness at every postion for every play. Susie powers is playing awful right now. And if our post players our our strenght, why can they double jackie and the others not take over and dominate. I hope the gal from csu and fressie are big 12 caliber starters because in my opinion spears and mcfrarland are the only big 12 starting caliber players on this roster right now.

[tx4OU]

I'd like to interrupt your regularly scheduled Colorado Game Thread to bring you this announcement.......No really, all kidding aside, I just want to say what a nice change of pace over the past two years to have so many Buff posters actively posting here on HoopScoop. Thank you!

From this Sooner's perspective, I've learned so much more about your team this year than ever before by your passionate posts, and to those that have obviously done a good job of spreading the word about this site creating more Buff HoopScoopers that give additional insight to your team....Good Job!!

I wish there was a way to take out an ad or somehow get the word out about this site to Missouri fans. I would've enjoyed reading their comments about last night's game against my team. Maybe we could all, who are going to attend the B12 Tournament in KCMO, seek out those Gold and Black clad Tiger fans and introduce ourselves and tell them about HoopScoop.

But back to Colorado posters: It's sure nice to see all of you making a strong presence this year on the site. GO :CU:'S

This concludes my announcement. Now back to your discussion.:p

[LadyBuff]

Want to tell the team to go Buffs? :confused:

These team plays like it doesn't want to win. I don't know if we will win another game, let alone go to the WNIT.

And people are saying Kathy should go again.:mad:

[unkiemark]

Mark

You're more familiar with the program than I am. What do you think the cause of these mental lapses are? One thing that crossed my mind this morning was the fact that I've never seen KMM really get in a player's face or chew someone out. She seems to treat the players more in a motherly, comforting fashion, at least during games. I've never been to a practice so I have no idea how she acts during practice. Maybe the players know that they aren't going to get a tongue lashing so they don't always play with that fear/concern in the back of their minds. Maybe they know that if they screw up that they'll just take a seat on the bench but they won't be dressed-down in front of their teammates, friends, fans or family at the game? I'm probably way off the mark, but it just seems that they really lose focus at some point in every game and maybe they need a kick in the pants to get their attention. I don't want to hear from KMM or the team about how young they are and these are youthful mistakes. That doesn't fly at this point in the season.

It's really frustrating to see them play so well in spurts but not be able to sustain it for an entire game. Any thoughts?

Personally, I am not a big fan of coaches who are frequently in the face of a player. Having said that, I know that there are a variety of ways to motivate a player. Some may respond well to being directly confronted and others may not.

I haven't been to a practice since before the first game. What caught my eye at that time was the intensity in Kathy. She was much more active and demanding than I remember seeing the previous two seasons. There were many times when she would let the team know in no uncertain terms that their level of play/intensity would not get it done in the Big 12. She was really working hard to get the team to play with better intensity and focus.