• 11 months ago
Nebraska Basketball coach
Transcript
00:00 Brett, defensively, what did you see as the biggest issues?
00:05 Perimeter was-- I guess, what did you see from the defensive
00:09 struggles?
00:10 Yeah, it was the perimeter.
00:11 It was the inside.
00:12 It was the middle.
00:12 I mean, it was everything.
00:14 We were very soft tonight.
00:16 And Iowa puts you in a tough position with their movement.
00:18 And you've got to be able to talk when you're playing
00:20 against a motion offense.
00:21 We weren't talking out there.
00:22 We weren't communicating.
00:23 We weren't getting matched up.
00:25 They exposed us in transition.
00:27 They were tougher than us.
00:28 It was obviously a bad night all the way around.
00:31 And when you dig yourself a 17-2 hole,
00:34 it takes a lot to climb out.
00:35 To our guys' credit, they did that.
00:37 And you come back all the way and take a lead.
00:40 And then you let them get comfortable again.
00:42 And they threw a zone out there, which we missed some bunnies.
00:45 We missed some open ones.
00:47 And they capitalized on it.
00:48 I think they made seven threes in a row in that stretch
00:51 after we had taken a lead.
00:52 But again, just soft out of the gate.
00:55 You can't have it.
00:56 So what you always worry about after a big emotional win
00:59 is a hangover like that.
01:00 And it's tough to do against Iowa with the way they move,
01:03 the way they score it.
01:04 And give them credit.
01:05 They did a lot of really good things out there tonight.
01:08 How do you think that zone affected you
01:09 in the second half?
01:10 Well, first of all, we weren't getting into our action.
01:13 We weren't getting them.
01:13 Once we got it in the middle, we were fine.
01:15 And we were getting some high lows.
01:16 We got some good looks that we missed.
01:19 When we first came down, we just were not
01:21 getting to the right spots.
01:22 And once we settled down a little bit--
01:25 but it was too late after that.
01:26 Once they built that big lead, it was hard to climb back in it.
01:30 And our shots obviously didn't fall tonight
01:32 like they had been the last couple of games.
01:35 We scored, I think, 30-46 in the paint.
01:39 So when we got it in there, good things happened.
01:41 I think 30 of our 36 in the first half were in the paint.
01:45 And the second half, again, we missed a couple right
01:48 at the rim.
01:48 And you've got to make your open shots when
01:50 you're playing against a zone.
01:52 We didn't do that.
01:53 But again, give Fran and give Iowa credit for that.
01:55 Did you think you got good looks with the threes?
01:57 I thought we had some good looks.
01:58 I thought we rushed early.
02:00 We talked about not playing their game.
02:01 You can't beat them on their home court
02:03 when you play their game.
02:04 And we took, I thought, four rush shots early.
02:06 And that led to them getting run outs.
02:08 It led to them starting the game 17-2.
02:12 Once we settled down and got the ball in the paint,
02:15 good things happened.
02:16 We moved it.
02:17 And we cut well.
02:18 And you've got to do that from the beginning of the game.
02:21 You can't come out and jack shots
02:22 and try to match shot for shot in this building.
02:26 They're too good at it.
02:27 And I thought we played their game a little bit too much.
02:30 And that was a big reason that we dug ourselves that big hole.
02:33 How much did the play in the third game and seven days,
02:37 second on the road, and then the hangover maybe of the--
02:40 I mean, did you see or sense anything
02:42 as far as a potential letdown just in terms of the energy
02:45 and effort?
02:46 I thought our energy this morning, actually,
02:48 in our shoot around was good.
02:51 We pushed them.
02:51 We ran.
02:53 We competed this morning in our shoot around
02:54 just because we didn't do a ton.
02:56 We didn't do much at all, put the game plan in the night
02:58 after--
02:59 sorry, the morning after the Purdue game,
03:00 just because it was such a late game.
03:02 And this is one of those you wish
03:04 you had four or five days in between to get a day off
03:07 and then to get them back in there and refocus them.
03:10 But yeah, yesterday we were OK.
03:12 This morning I thought we were sharp.
03:14 And obviously, it didn't carry over.
03:16 What do you think you got from Eli tonight?
03:18 I thought Eli gave us good minutes.
03:20 He really helped us get back in this game.
03:22 And that showed what he's capable of.
03:24 He can go create his own shot and get to the basket,
03:27 hit a three for us in that stretch,
03:30 had nine first half points.
03:32 He's a talented player.
03:34 Listen, like everybody on that other end,
03:36 we just weren't very good tonight.
03:38 And that was the difference in the game.
03:40 We're trying to match up for shot.
03:41 But at some point, you've got to find a way to dig in
03:43 and get tough and find a way to get stops.
03:46 We just never got to that tonight.
03:48 I think Iowa had six guys in double figures.
03:50 Perkins finished with 15 assists.
03:51 How hard is this Iowa team to defend
03:53 when they have that many guys?
03:55 Yeah, obviously, it's one of the top offenses in the country.
03:57 Fran does an unbelievable job of getting his guys to move and cut.
04:03 The bigs are really good.
04:04 Freeman is a load down there in the block.
04:07 Kricke got it going for that stretch, hitting threes.
04:09 I thought Patrick played well.
04:11 Sanford, obviously, is one of the best shooters
04:13 in the country.
04:13 And then Perkins ran the show for them.
04:16 Dix had a really, really good game as well.
04:18 So they played great.
04:20 Give them credit for it.
04:21 But again, our toughness wasn't where
04:23 it needed to be to win a Big 10 game on the road.
04:26 When they shoot 35 threes, was there
04:28 any thought of maybe putting more emphasis
04:29 on covering the perimeter as opposed
04:32 to collapsing in the pavement?
04:34 I mean, Robin, they were dunking in our face.
04:35 I mean, they did everything.
04:36 I mean, they were dunking on us.
04:37 They were hitting threes on us.
04:39 We threw a couple of different coverages out there.
04:41 But again, when you don't talk, when you don't have urgency
04:45 like you need it, it's going to be a long night.
04:48 That's what happened, especially those last, whatever it was,
04:50 10, 12 minutes.
04:52 Thanks, Coach.
04:54 Thanks.
04:55 (dog whining)
04:58 (water splashing)