Minnesota (24) @ Nebraska - 1/04/20

[Shades]

Lincoln, NE - 6:00 PM ET
TV: Big Ten Network (Larry Punteney, Brenda VanLengen)

Video stream:
https://www.foxsports.com/events-schedule (tvpli)

Audio

W. Basketball vs Minnesota

Video: W. Basketball vs Minnesota. Women's Basketball

huskers.com

Live stats:

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[azfan]

This is a important game for both teams early in the Big 10 season. The Huskers will really need to improve their intensity and energy after the overtime loss at Michigan State. Hopefully some home cooking will make the difference as the Huskers draw well at home and have a very supportive crowd. I suspect this game will go right down to the wire.

 

[DefenseBB]

I am definitely rooting for Nebraska here. Maybe this post will have some of our peer BYers help me as I am reaching out to admit I am openly rooting against Minnesota and Lindsey Whelan to NOT win. It's not so much I have something against Lindsey but more that I am irritated that all the "experts" keep voting for the Gophers to be a top 25 team without any evidence they belong other than the fact that a gritty and talented player is now coaching them. Last year when the got off to that undefeated 12-0 start due to the extremely soft schedule Marlene Stollings put together (I am seeing a pattern here by here and is why I am also openly rooting against Texas Tech but for Lexi), the media was dubbing Lindsey a success until the Big10 schedule arrived and they were 9-11 to finish the season. Fortunately, the NCAA Tournament committee was wise enough to realize this and did not invite them to the big dance.
Then again this year, they played and lost at home to a Mizzou State team (mistake in scheduling?) played against ASU at home (good job to schedule them) and were forced to play ND in the Big10-ACC challenge. So her scheduling has really improved as much as hoped. So with more cupcakes on the schedule, she's jumped out to a 10-1 record and the media again has voted them into the top 25. Thankfully a loss to an underrated tOSU team will remove them from the list.
So BYers, what therapy do I need to undertake to lose this angst against teams that overschedule cupcakes to pad their record and the media that can't see through that? My weekly dialogues with @Plebe aren't working as we both get into frenzies about it...Thoughts?

 

[Plebe]

I am definitely rooting for Nebraska here. Maybe this post will have some of our peer BYers help me as I am reaching out to admit I am openly rooting against Minnesota and Lindsey Whelan to NOT win. It's not so much I have something against Lindsey but more that I am irritated that all the "experts" keep voting for the Gophers to be a top 25 team without any evidence they belong other than the fact that a gritty and talented player is now coaching them. Last year when the got off to that undefeated 12-0 start due to the extremely soft schedule Marlene Stollings put together (I am seeing a pattern here by here and is why I am also openly rooting against Texas Tech but for Lexi), the media was dubbing Lindsey a success until the Big10 schedule arrived and they were 9-11 to finish the season. Fortunately, the NCAA Tournament committee was wise enough to realize this and did not invite them to the big dance.
Then again this year, they played and lost at home to a Mizzou State team (mistake in scheduling?) played against ASU at home (good job to schedule them) and were forced to play ND in the Big10-ACC challenge. So her scheduling has really improved as much as hoped. So with more cupcakes on the schedule, she's jumped out to a 10-1 record and the media again has voted them into the top 25. Thankfully a loss to an underrated tOSU team will remove them from the list.
So BYers, what therapy do I need to undertake to lose this angst against teams that overschedule cupcakes to pad their record and the media that can't see through that? My weekly dialogues with @Plebe aren't working as we both get into frenzies about it...Thoughts?

A lot of last year's hype in Whalen's year 1 was because Minnesota beat a fairly highly-ranked Syracuse team early in the ACC/B10 challenge. The Gophers also picked up a few quality wins in conference (Rutgers, Michigan State, Indiana), but also took some bad losses and their RPI ended up way too low for consideration. They ended up losing at Cincinnati in the WNIT 2nd round.

This year's Missouri State game was the first round of the WNIT, so Lindsey doesn't exactly get credit for scheduling them. But my animus toward Minnesota is a bit kinder, if nothing else because Minnesota did God's work in whipping Notre Dame in the conference challenge game

 

[Plebe]

So BYers, what therapy do I need to undertake to lose this angst against teams that overschedule cupcakes to pad their record and the media that can't see through that? My weekly dialogues with @Plebe aren't working as we both get into frenzies about it...Thoughts?

The cupcake padding is part of a generalized pathology of weak OOC scheduling among "power" conference teams. Unfortunately, what allows many of them to get away with it is the very fact that so many of them are doing it. SOS is a comparative ranking, after all, so unless a team's nonconference schedule is truly horrendous a la Texas Tech, they can usually still get their RPI in range if they do well enough in their conference.

A couple months ago I contrasted the OOC scheduling between volleyball and basketball, and it's really striking how the OOC scheduling standards are much higher in volleyball -- probably due to the fact that the volleyball RPI includes incentives for strong scheduling and penalties for very weak scheduling -- and most of the elite volleyball programs go out of their way to schedule elite opponents in the OOC. I'd like to see the WBB committee adopt similar incentives and penalties.

 

[Zanzman]

Neb up 3 after 1st qtr 13-10

 

[Zanzman]

Huskers up 9 at half

 

[azfan]

The Huskers are shooting much better at home. cain has had an outstanding first half and Whitish has 3 threes for the difference in the score.

Did anyone see the interaction between Pitts and Coach Whalen at the end of the half? Certainly seemed like Pitts was not interested in anything Whalen had to say.

 

[Zanzman]

Just frustrated

 

[nwhoopfan]

I haven't watched either team play all year, but I called this upset. Big 10 basketball...just pick the home team and you'll almost always be correct. At least last year and so far this year anyway. Probably gonna have another year where 2/3 of the conference finish within a couple games of .500. (I'm exaggerating slightly, but last year 7 teams were between 10-8 and 8-10 w/ 1 more at 11-7)

 

[eebmg]

I openly root for Nebraska because I like the story of their coach Amy Williams (Husker Alumnae) making good on her dream job after stemming the tide of some transfers. And I like some of their players (Cain. Kissinger and Whitish)

I wanted to root for MN as well because I loved what Whalen had done as a player and want her to succeed but to me it is so bizarre that such a fiery player is so mellow on the sidelines.

 

[FridaFriend]

I watched the game and was initially for Minnesota. Then, Cain went down hard, and the announcers said this looks bad for her shoulder and elbow. Her teammates rushed over to help her up and she held up a finger to say give me a minute and then she smiled and got up. She proceeded to take on a double team and score with a pretty smooth shot. She finished with a double-double. She reminded me of Dolson for a minute.

 

[Shades]

I watched the game and was initially for Minnesota. Then, Cain went down hard, and the announcers said this looks bad for her shoulder and elbow. Her teammates rushed over to help her up and she held up a finger to say give me a minute and then she smiled and got up. She proceeded to take on a double team and score with a pretty smooth shot. She finished with a double-double. She reminded me of Dolson for a minute.

Minnesota was a finalist for her re-recruitment. She would’ve been a great get.

 

[azfan]

Huskers Shoot Past No. 24 Minnesota - University of Nebraska

ate Cain posted her third consecutive double-double with season highs of 19 points and 15 rebounds to go along with six blocked shots, as Nebraska powered past No.

huskers.com

I have enjoyed watching the Huskers for the last 15 years. Amy Williams is a great story and before her so was Connie Yori. They've always been a team that's been well supported by the fans in Lincoln and Nebraska. I'm really glad to see that they rebounded from last year.

 

[azfan]

The Huskers are shooting much better at home. cain has had an outstanding first half and Whitish has 3 threes for the difference in the score.

Did anyone see the interaction between Pitts and Coach Whalen at the end of the half? Certainly seemed like Pitts was not interested in anything Whalen had to say.

Wonder if the suspension was foreshadowed by the disrespect I saw and commented on prior to the half in the Cornhusker game.

From the link below:

"Minnesota suspended leading scorer Destiny Pitts before the Gophers' Big Ten game at Illinois on Sunday."

Minnesota suspends top scorer Pitts for conduct

Minnesota suspended leading scorer Destiny Pitts for "conduct unbecoming a member of the team."

www.espn.com