v Nebraska

[flippinhogmana]

Hogs down five at the end of the first quarter (19-24).  Cosper with ten points.  The game is being called in such a way (lot of bumping not being called) that benefits Nebraska so far.

[flippinhogmana]

Hogs cold starting the second quarter with a lot of turnovers, Nebraska's length and height is affecting them.  Down thirteen midway through the second

[flippinhogmana]

Down by ten with 3 mintues to go in the half

[hawgwatcher]

No second chance points. We're running the other way before the ball hits the rim.

[hawgwatcher]

Stupid fouls.

[hawgwatcher]

My first game watching this yr; we look really slow.

[flippinhogmana]

down by eleven at the half

[flippinhogmana]

My first game watching this yr; we look really slow.

You arent serious are you?  We are short, not slow.

[flippinhogmana]

No second chance points. We're running the other way before the ball hits the rim.

Williams is getting some offensive rebounds, but she is giving up four inches inside.  Cosper who is playing the four a lot of the time is giving up two or three too.  We are just generally shorter and it is showing.  But I think we will have a run as it winds down.  Just depends on how much we have left.  Monk is getting worn out.  The hogs also have ten turnovers.  We havent had that many in a game, much less a half.

[flippinhogmana]

41-30 at the half, Cosper with twelve points (had good shots in the 2nd quarter they just rimmed out).  Monk with 8.  Williams with 7 rebounds. Refs only called four fouls (one of them a moving screen) on Nebraska in the first half, eight on the Hogs.

[flippinhogmana]

Cosper and Mason have three turnovers each in the first half (Cosper also has two blocks and three boards).  4 of Williams rebounds are offensive ones.  We ARE quicker than them, and playing hard, but the style of officiating and the greater height (plus Nebraska is well coached and arent slouches themselves) is hard to overcome.  We are rushing it, they are long in the passing lanes and we got cold from the field (partly because we are rushing it trying to overcome their height.  Monk and Mason have two fouls, no one else more than one.

[flippinhogmana]

Hogs on a 5-2 run to start the second half, close to 8. Now down five.

[flippinhogmana]

Willams picks up two quick fouls, hogs down seven now.

[flippinhogmana]

 a couple of bogus calls here of late on the hogs.  Williams, Zimmerman and Cosper now with three fouls.

[flippinhogmana]

Monk has done much of the scoring in the second half, now with 16.

[flippinhogmana]

Hogs down five with three to go in the 3rd. Swenson with a three, now down four with two to go, 3rd.

[flippinhogmana]

Hogs down six with a quarter to go.

[flippinhogmana]

Hogs down three on a driving layup by Mason (coast to coast) with 8:20 to go.

[flippinhogmana]

Offensive rebound and a stick back by Thomas and its down to one, but then answered with a three by Braska, down four, and an answering three from Cosper back to down one!  Cosper with 18, Monk with 20, Mason with 8.

[flippinhogmana]

Cosper with her fifth three pointer (and 21 points) to take a two point lead!

[flippinhogmana]

refs have consistently given the edge to the huskers.  I hate to see that. home whistle after home whistle.

[flippinhogmana]

three minutes to go, hogs down two.  Win lose or draw the hogs have proven tonight they arent going to back down or quit. Monk with 22 Cosper with 21.

[flippinhogmana]

Down four with 2:37. Cosper misses an in and out three.  Arkansas with a TO with 1:46, down four and with the ball.  On a neutral court with decent refs the hogs would beat this team.

[flippinhogmana]

Huskers up 8 with 30 seconds to go, and a lane volation is called.  These homer broadcasters dont help much either.

[flippinhogmana]

these refs are ridiculous.fouls 23-12.  Like most games, the stats dont even show how bad the bias was.  It wasnt how many they called (that is bad enough but sometimes you that battling a taller team) but it how they called the game and when they called bogus fouls.  There were a couple of times they protected the Huskers, plain and simple at critical times, especially when the hogs took the lead. 

[BWS]

Certainly a lot of home cooking. The calls definitely weren't going our way. In the end, though, Cosper went cold down the stretch and we weren't able to counter their shots. Gotta appreciate the effort. Monk played well. Thomas showed a lot of effort as well. Nebraska's freshmen are pretty good.

[flippinhogmana]

Certainly a lot of home cooking. The calls definitely weren't going our way. In the end, though, Cosper went cold down the stretch and we weren't able to counter their shots. Gotta appreciate the effort. Monk played well. Thomas showed a lot of effort as well. Nebraska's freshmen are pretty good.

I wonder if playing the four so much wore Cosper down.  You shoot with your legs.  She was pushing against taller players all night.  Its not an ideal situation, but its MN's best option right now.  But I am proud of the girls.

[psycHOGlogist]

Didn't get to watch, but it sounds like we are going to be a second half team this year. Hate to hear about the officiating.

[3kgthog]

This team was just too small last night. I was impressed that they fought back to take the lead, though. They'll be pesky all season.

[LadybackBBFan]

Some very good comments.  Coach stated in his postgame interview that he was at fault in a lot of the issues.  Mentioned playing late, learning how the team travels, etc.  My view is that this was a great learning teaching game - just what we needed.  I think we can go 3 - 1 on this four game road trip which I would have taken before the trip started.

[flippinhogmana]

Despite the height disadvantage, despite them having 10 players good enough to play and us having only eight with enough experience to play at a high level (despite our top three players all playing 30 plus minutes, with Cosper playing 34, and Monk 37 - because she fouled out) we still were only out rebounded by 10.  We actually had more offensive rebounds than them, we had less tournovers than them, we even had more blocks than them.  We almost neutralized their height advantage and the poor officiating and their home court advantage.  Yes, I would say were will be pesky.

[Basketball fan]

They will be pesky but they were pesky last year until danberry and freeman began a revolt against team..coaches and school...looks like same ole story..a couple of shooters in cosper and monk but that won't cut it in sec...last year's team won all their pre season with exception of one...this group is small..why is big weaver girl not playing...dykes first year team only had eight and made it to second round of ncaa so that's not an excuse as you state ........??

[flippinhogmana]

They will be pesky but they were pesky last year until danberry and freeman began a revolt against team..coaches and school...looks like same ole story..a couple of shooters in cosper and monk but that won't cut it in sec...last year's team won all their pre season with exception of one...this group is small..why is big weaver girl not playing...dykes first year team only had eight and made it to second round of ncaa so that's not an excuse as you state ........??

You mean Collen's holdovers (including seniors Calli Berna and Jhasmin, junior Wolff, and JJ as a freshman)? They may have had only eight after several freshmen left when Dykes was hired but they were taller, and had more upper classmen.  this team is different that any of Dykes team his last years (including last) if you cant see it.

[LadybackBBFan]

They will be pesky but they were pesky last year until danberry and freeman began a revolt against team..coaches and school...looks like same ole story..a couple of shooters in cosper and monk but that won't cut it in sec...last year's team won all their pre season with exception of one...this group is small..why is big weaver girl not playing...dykes first year team only had eight and made it to second round of ncaa so that's not an excuse as you state ........??

Wow where did you come from?  You certainly do not know much about women's basketball at Arkansas.  We actually lost two non-conference games last year - to Oral Roberts and Missouri State.  It was a much weaker schedule than we have this year - although this year is not a top notch schedule.  Weaver is not playing obviously because she is not ready to play at this level - other girls are better than her.  That does not mean that she will not be a player at some point in her career.  Many post players that we have had did not play their first year. Celia Anderson is one that comes to mind after winning the Arkansas state championship the previous year from Little Rock.  Last year we only had one player average in double figures - Jessica Jackson who is gone.  Monk, Cosper and Mason are all in double figures or close to it (Mason).  The combination of Williams and Thomas in the post are averaging double figures.  The difference is that we finally have an offense and a coach that knows how to coach and adapt to the situation and relate to the girls that he is coaching.
Dykes was very lucky when he took over his first team.  Yes, the roster only had nine, but five of them were quality players left over from the Tom Collen.  They all played over 32 minutes a game - in fact we had the top three players in the SEC on minutes played.  They also were a great defensive team because they had a great coach of them in their previous year or more (Niki Collen who is now the head coach of the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA).  If Dykes had been a better coach, he would have been able to keep two players who played significant minutes the previous year and left for greener pastures.  In all I believe Dykes had close to 10 players transfer out of the program in his three years which is unbelievable.   

[LadybackBBFan]

  Wow where did you come from?  You certainly do not know much about women's basketball at Arkansas.  We actually lost two non-conference games last year - to Oral Roberts and Missouri State.  It was a much weaker schedule than we have this year - although this year is not a top notch schedule.  Weaver is not playing obviously because she is not ready to play at this level - other girls are better than her.  That does not mean that she will not be a player at some point in her career.  Many post players that we have had did not play their first year. Celia Anderson is one that comes to mind after winning the Arkansas state championship the previous year from Little Rock.  Last year we only had one player average in double figures - Jessica Jackson who is gone.  Monk, Cosper and Mason are all in double figures or close to it (Mason).  The combination of Williams and Thomas in the post are averaging double figures.  The difference is that we finally have an offense and a coach that knows how to coach and adapt to the situation and relate to the girls that he is coaching.
Dykes was very lucky when he took over his first team.  Yes, the roster only had nine, but five of them were quality players left over from the Tom Collen.  They all played over 32 minutes a game - in fact we had the top three players in the SEC on minutes played.  They also were a great defensive team because they had a great coach of them in their previous year or more (Niki Collen who is now the head coach of the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA).  If Dykes had been a better coach, he would have been able to keep two players who played significant minutes the previous year and left for greener pastures.  In all I believe Dykes had close to 10 players transfer out of the program in his three years which is unbelievable.   

You forgot Kelsey Brooks who averaged 14 points per game that year and was a lock down defender when she was healthy that year unlike her last year under Dykes.

[flippinhogmana]

Yes I forgot Kelsey, and she was a good three point shooter as well, But I think she was a sophomore, and I was mentioning (although I did mention JJ because she was a MacDonald AA and as such a significant player) upper classmen.  I should have remembered Kelsey and mentioned her as well.

[flippinhogmana]

But more than anything else the difference in this team is Mike Neighbors and his staff.  I have listened to his pod casts.  Besides being a proven coach, he really gets it.  Look at his relationship with his past players, look at how MM and DC are playing this year. MM says she loves (and it shows) the freedom that MN gives her.  I agree with MN that DC will score 40-50 points in a game this year, too!

[LadybackBBFan]

Yes I forgot Kelsey, and she was a good three point shooter as well, But I think she was a sophomore, and I was mentioning (although I did mention JJ because she was a MacDonald AA and as such a significant player) upper classmen.  I should have remembered Kelsey and mentioned her as well.

Kelsey and JJ were both sophomores and both played a lot as freshman - although Kelsey did not start.  JJ was not a  McDonalds all American.  We have only had two Ruby Vaden and Wilson from last year.

[flippinhogmana]

Kelsey and JJ were both sophomores and both played a lot as freshman - although Kelsey did not start.  JJ was not a  McDonalds all American.  We have only had two Ruby Vaden and Wilson from last year.

Well she was a five star and I thought a mac AA

[flippinhogmana]

Kelsey and JJ were both sophomores and both played a lot as freshman - although Kelsey did not start.  JJ was not a  McDonalds all American.  We have only had two Ruby Vaden and Wilson from last year.

the main point we were both making was the JD had plenty to start with, more than MN has now. 

[LadybackBBFan]

the main point we were both making was the JD had plenty to start with, more than MN has now. 

Totally agree.

[logic]

I'm proud of this team and I'm excited about Ladyback basketball again.  Near the end of last season with talk about replacing Dykes, I thought it would be years before we could have a good team. However, already this team has far exceeded my expectation.  Certainly Coach Neighbors has already proven that he is a great coach and can recruit.

[LadybackBBFan]

I'm proud of this team and I'm excited about Ladyback basketball again.  Near the end of last season with talk about replacing Dykes, I thought it would be years before we could have a good team. However, already this team has far exceeded my expectation.  Certainly Coach Neighbors has already proven that he is a great coach and can recruit.

Completely agree.  We are headed up and it will not take 5+ years.

[hog63]

He will get it fixed pretty quickly in my opinion. He is playing now like he wants to play when he has the players. He wants that mindset built into his program from the start.