Originally posted on 02/09/2018:

I believe the Big Red were selected to finish last (or close enough to park next to it) in the pre-season B10 media hoopla. Relatively good things were expected from the transfers (Palmer by way of U of Miami & Copeland via Georgetown), and Glynn Watson and Zay Roby had shown some exciting promise. After losing leading scorer Tai Webster to graduation, and a couple of decent Sophs (Ed Morrow transferred to Marquette, Mikey Jacobsen to Iowa State) to angst, most rightfully assumed another season of quiet desperation in Lincoln. They definitely took awhile to gel. I was deeply skeptical after the first five games. But an arguably decent home win vs Boston College, and a better than it looked game vs Creighton revealed signs of life. I think the tough loss at home vs Kansas is what helped them start to build some confidence. James Palmer Jr has elevated his play considerably since the 2nd semester started in Jan. I'm green as St Paddy's day beer when it comes to contemporary hoops analysis, but I do know that Nebraska has more length and athleticism than they have had in a long time. Blocks and dunks. I would wager there have been more dunks this year than during the dull gray paint days of Doc Sadler and Barry Collier combined. Miles pet move is springing a 1-3-1 defense at opportune times, sometimes extending it to half court. It has worked to great effect. I'm surprised teams aren't better prepared for it, because he does it regularly. I know coaching hoops at Neb is almost an idictment in and of itself, but I'd be curious to know what the perception is of Miles as a coach. I assume he overachieved with his Col State teams. And getting Neb to the dance in his second year certainly came out of nowhere. He looks like he has a good shot to get back to the tournament again this year. I would think he deserves some credit for melding together a team built on a couple of transfer players, and meshing them to recruited talent like Roby and Watson. They have some depth too. As a Neb homer, I hope the B10's down year, and frankly, the anemic hoops tradition at Neb, doesn't keep a +20 win, potentially 12-6 or 13-5 in conference 3 or 4th place team outside looking in come March. I'm a homer. So my objectivity is out the window. It is fascinating to me that a 2nd rate power 5 conference team keeps getting negged despite having one of the best ATS records in the country. Dave, you mentioned something about the quips in Baseball Prospectus recently. I recall skepticism in those pages about a late blooming Raul Ibanez. Insinuating that a productive season by a relatively old Raul Ibanez was the result of being possessed by an alien. After a few subsequent equally productive years, BP announced, "sometimes the alien stays." I'm hoping the alien stays in Lincoln.