ChipperF1
01-20-2003, 10:37 AM
A crowd at Bob Devaney Center that was half Purple. An excellent Kansas State team coming to town. An inept Nebraska team.
This was so last year.
My lasses in red lost their fifth straight game in a matter befitting last year's dismal effort. They were never in the ballgame. Play poor defense and didn't shot the ball well at all.
The first half was a laughable exercise. Kansas State was up as much as 12-2 early until the Huskers started hitting a few shots. Alexa Johnson again leading the brick parade with a 1-for-7 in the first half (although she ended up 8-for-18 for the ballgame with 18 points.)
For Kansas State, All I can say is. I underestimated the Wildcats, again. Chelsea Domenico was sensational. She did an excellent Laurie Koehn impression, in fact she did better than Koehn in terms of meeting the Husker defense head on, and making all the right passes and putting Nicole Ohlde and Kendra Wecker into position where they were unchallenged. Domenico had three three-point field goal, all of them run-starters and basically exposed the Husker defense as sissified, chasing, desperate and just plain sorry.
No one played any defense for Nebraska yesterday for most of the game. If Kansas State hadn't have called the dogs off they could have run up a 50-point margin. Looking at the highlight feed of the game was just brutal. The Wildcats are much better than they were last year in terms of their focus and harnessing their abilities. I still don't buy into the notion of Kansas State going to the Final Four, but I must tip my hat and say that they are definitely in the sphere of Final Four hopefuls. Wh
What I really like is how KSU beat Nebraska. They did it without remorse. That is what a championship team does with a team in the losing class. You do not give them hope. You destroy them.
The coming KSU conflicts with Texas Tech and Texas will be very good indeed.
WHAT WORKED FOR NEBRASKA?
1. Jina Johansen....Seven assists yesterday and bunch of plays that were bungled by poor ballhandling and shot selection. She was about the only aggressive element of a rather unaggressive offense.
2. Laura Pilakowski...In conference play, she's been the best Husker player and she hasn't touched a basketball in four years. It's a measure of how fundamentally weak this team really is.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK FOR NEBRASKA?
1. Alexa Johnson....The 2002 Alexa played on this day. Milquetoast on offense and defense and made shots after the game was decided. She looks weak out there for most of the game. Alexa's shooting about 32% from the field right now. And this was our "call 'em out T-Shirt girl" from preseason.
For the last five games, Alexa isn't living up to her self-proclaimed leadership role on the team. When you call somebody out, you better have the play to back it up and it conference play she hasn't.
2. Margaret Richards....For all the progress she's made this year. Yesterday, she was subpar and lazy defensively. On the offensive end? FIVE TURNOVERS. She handles the ball as well as Griechaly Cepero, and that's not a good thing.
3. Amanda Cleveland....Out of position all game. Ohlde got 6 unconstested layups in the ballgame. That is unacceptable.
4. TURNOVERS!!!! 20 turnovers that lead to 26 KSU points. Alexa Johnson had 5, Richards had 5, Griechaly Cepero had her usual high turnover game. Griechaly dribbles so poorly that one wonder why even pass it to her? Cepero with the basketball is always an adventure.
5. SHOOTING and SHOOTING DEFENSE. Nebraska shots about 30%, when you give up 60% shooting, you are going to lose.
FOR KANSAS STATE, CHIPPER REALLY LIKES
Chelsea Domenico
Yep, I was WRONG! This kid really showed something. Hey Deb Patterson, how about running Chelsea and Laurie in the backcourt together? Hmmmmmmm. Domenico ran their game plan well yesterday. All KSU needs is some more player to develop.
I've always said that if you kill the head, the body will die. The opposite is true as well, when the head is functioning well, the whole body is strong. Nicole Ohlde had 23 points and no resistance. Kendra Wecker had 22 and sparks a pair of runs that made Nebraska quit. Much of that came to be because Domenico could do what she wanted in the perimeter when she wanted and the Nebraska defense looked much like the football Blackskirt defense of the last season.
OVERALL OUTLOOK
Nebraska faced three ranked teams. I expected the Huskers to at least win one. That didn't happen.
I expected the team to compete well. For the most part that hasn't happened in the conference schedule with the exception of the first 15 minutes of the Oklahoma game.
Among the Samurai of feudal Japan, there is a code. One of the tenets of that code is when you are faced with a superior enemy in battle one must still fight well. If the warriors must die at their hands, one must die properly.
The Huskers did not die properly on Sunday. They were intimidated from the beginning of game. Mounted one challenge at most during the game, and meekly feel into despair.
This felt a lot like last year and that is what bothers me the most. At point in the last two ballgames, the Huskers have been feeling a little sorry for themselves. They haven't stayed and fought. Their hearts at Colorado and yesterday at home pumped Kool-Aid, and I hate that in a ballclub.
Next up is a Missouri team that got fired up and beat up Iowa State on the road (oh my, what the heck is wrong with Iowa State?????????). This is will be another test on the road to respectability. I'm anxious to see how my lasses handle facing a hot team in their house. I'm also a little freightened, because in the last two games the cowardice of last season has appeared at points. Connie Yori needs to nip this in bud, NOW!
--Chipper http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif
[This message has been edited by ChipperF1 (edited 01-20-2003).]
This was so last year.
My lasses in red lost their fifth straight game in a matter befitting last year's dismal effort. They were never in the ballgame. Play poor defense and didn't shot the ball well at all.
The first half was a laughable exercise. Kansas State was up as much as 12-2 early until the Huskers started hitting a few shots. Alexa Johnson again leading the brick parade with a 1-for-7 in the first half (although she ended up 8-for-18 for the ballgame with 18 points.)
For Kansas State, All I can say is. I underestimated the Wildcats, again. Chelsea Domenico was sensational. She did an excellent Laurie Koehn impression, in fact she did better than Koehn in terms of meeting the Husker defense head on, and making all the right passes and putting Nicole Ohlde and Kendra Wecker into position where they were unchallenged. Domenico had three three-point field goal, all of them run-starters and basically exposed the Husker defense as sissified, chasing, desperate and just plain sorry.
No one played any defense for Nebraska yesterday for most of the game. If Kansas State hadn't have called the dogs off they could have run up a 50-point margin. Looking at the highlight feed of the game was just brutal. The Wildcats are much better than they were last year in terms of their focus and harnessing their abilities. I still don't buy into the notion of Kansas State going to the Final Four, but I must tip my hat and say that they are definitely in the sphere of Final Four hopefuls. Wh
What I really like is how KSU beat Nebraska. They did it without remorse. That is what a championship team does with a team in the losing class. You do not give them hope. You destroy them.
The coming KSU conflicts with Texas Tech and Texas will be very good indeed.
WHAT WORKED FOR NEBRASKA?
1. Jina Johansen....Seven assists yesterday and bunch of plays that were bungled by poor ballhandling and shot selection. She was about the only aggressive element of a rather unaggressive offense.
2. Laura Pilakowski...In conference play, she's been the best Husker player and she hasn't touched a basketball in four years. It's a measure of how fundamentally weak this team really is.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK FOR NEBRASKA?
1. Alexa Johnson....The 2002 Alexa played on this day. Milquetoast on offense and defense and made shots after the game was decided. She looks weak out there for most of the game. Alexa's shooting about 32% from the field right now. And this was our "call 'em out T-Shirt girl" from preseason.
For the last five games, Alexa isn't living up to her self-proclaimed leadership role on the team. When you call somebody out, you better have the play to back it up and it conference play she hasn't.
2. Margaret Richards....For all the progress she's made this year. Yesterday, she was subpar and lazy defensively. On the offensive end? FIVE TURNOVERS. She handles the ball as well as Griechaly Cepero, and that's not a good thing.
3. Amanda Cleveland....Out of position all game. Ohlde got 6 unconstested layups in the ballgame. That is unacceptable.
4. TURNOVERS!!!! 20 turnovers that lead to 26 KSU points. Alexa Johnson had 5, Richards had 5, Griechaly Cepero had her usual high turnover game. Griechaly dribbles so poorly that one wonder why even pass it to her? Cepero with the basketball is always an adventure.
5. SHOOTING and SHOOTING DEFENSE. Nebraska shots about 30%, when you give up 60% shooting, you are going to lose.
FOR KANSAS STATE, CHIPPER REALLY LIKES
Chelsea Domenico
Yep, I was WRONG! This kid really showed something. Hey Deb Patterson, how about running Chelsea and Laurie in the backcourt together? Hmmmmmmm. Domenico ran their game plan well yesterday. All KSU needs is some more player to develop.
I've always said that if you kill the head, the body will die. The opposite is true as well, when the head is functioning well, the whole body is strong. Nicole Ohlde had 23 points and no resistance. Kendra Wecker had 22 and sparks a pair of runs that made Nebraska quit. Much of that came to be because Domenico could do what she wanted in the perimeter when she wanted and the Nebraska defense looked much like the football Blackskirt defense of the last season.
OVERALL OUTLOOK
Nebraska faced three ranked teams. I expected the Huskers to at least win one. That didn't happen.
I expected the team to compete well. For the most part that hasn't happened in the conference schedule with the exception of the first 15 minutes of the Oklahoma game.
Among the Samurai of feudal Japan, there is a code. One of the tenets of that code is when you are faced with a superior enemy in battle one must still fight well. If the warriors must die at their hands, one must die properly.
The Huskers did not die properly on Sunday. They were intimidated from the beginning of game. Mounted one challenge at most during the game, and meekly feel into despair.
This felt a lot like last year and that is what bothers me the most. At point in the last two ballgames, the Huskers have been feeling a little sorry for themselves. They haven't stayed and fought. Their hearts at Colorado and yesterday at home pumped Kool-Aid, and I hate that in a ballclub.
Next up is a Missouri team that got fired up and beat up Iowa State on the road (oh my, what the heck is wrong with Iowa State?????????). This is will be another test on the road to respectability. I'm anxious to see how my lasses handle facing a hot team in their house. I'm also a little freightened, because in the last two games the cowardice of last season has appeared at points. Connie Yori needs to nip this in bud, NOW!
--Chipper http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif
[This message has been edited by ChipperF1 (edited 01-20-2003).]