Nebraska Basketball: Trip to Italy potentially a sign of things to come
Nebraska Basketball has been rolling overseas.
Nebraska Basketball seems to be taking Italy by storm. Thursday night, they improved to 3-0 in Italy as they defeated Salute Basketball Club by a 73-70 margin.
Although the game wasn’t as pretty as the final score may suggest, there were some positives from it. It was the freshman Samari Curtis that led Nebraska, piling 13 points on the evening, in addition to seven rebounds and three steals. He showed his versatility and was part of a Nebraska Basketball offensive attack that couldn’t be stopped. Three players recorded double-digit point games on the night.
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While the freshman performed well, the seniors also were represented nicely. Hannif Cheatham scored 12 points on the evening, and Dachon Burke managed to score 11. This trip to Italy has certainly been grueling. As Michael Bruntz of 247Sports notes, Thursday’s game marked the second contest in a 24-hour period for Nebraska Basketball. That certainly can’t be easy on the mind or the body.
Nevertheless, I am learning a lot from this Italy trip about this Nebraska Basketball team. It seems like the scoring is very balanced and that there are multiple playmakers on the roster. That was a huge question mark that I had heading into the preseason. Where was the scoring going to come from? It appears that the answer is gaining a bit more clarity now. The fact that everybody is contributing, from freshmen to seniors is very encouraging. Balance is going to be one of the reasons why this team can compete in the Big Ten.
In any event, this Italy trip has yielded positive results. It’s very obvious that coach Fred Hoiberg has a vision for all the players on the floor. Especially now that we are seeing them in game action, it is evident that he knew what he was getting with these players. This appears to be a high-tempo, stat-sheet filling bunch. The concept of being a “statsheet stuffer” can sometimes have a negative connotation to it. However, it appears that this team is capable of racking up statistics while sharing the basketball.
Obviously, this is just a snippet of what is to come for this Nebraska Basketball team. With the season opening up in just a couple of months, this team should definitely give fans something to look forward to. It will definitely look a lot different than last year, but I would certainly expect bigger and better results. This team is capable of doing big things, and their successful Italy trip is exemplary of that.