Nebraska Basketball: Fred Hoiberg’s frustrations certainly warranted

Fred Hoiberg has every right to be frustrated with Nebraska basketball.

There is little doubt that this is been a rough season for Nebraska basketball. They have struggled mightily over certain stretches of the season, and that has led to a 4-10 record. That is not exactly how I envisioned the season would be going at this point.

Nevertheless, this whole entire calendar year has not been going the way many of us had envisioned. You can certainly sense of frustration among Nebraska basketball fans, and it I see quotes that certainly reveals the frustration of the players and Coach Hoiberg. Right now, Nebraska basketball is in a rut, and they are having a difficult time getting out of it.

In speaking to the media earlier this week, Hoiberg had a great analogy for how he views Nebraska basketball’s play. From a fan perspective, it seems very scattered right now, and it seems like this team is too reliant on the three-point shot. That has led to miss after miss and the opposing team getting a chance to capitalize on Nebraska’s mistakes. To put it bluntly, it’s extremely predictable.

Hoiberg’s quotes were very revealing. In an interview with the Journal-Star that was published on Tuesday, Hoiberg expressed his frustration for what has become a very sluggish season. I have to say, I agree with his comments here.

"“We’re just driving into a pile,” Hoiberg said. “Every day in practice I do about five simple play drills where we drive it in, converge on the ball, reverse pivot, pass the ball with two hands, catch the ball with two hands, drive the next one, come to a jump stop, draw the defense, make the play.“But we’re just driving that thing into a pile right now. And it’s beyond frustrating. Because when we move it, we’re pretty damn good. And when we trust it and the guys have that level of trust out there, we’re pretty damn good. We have to take care of the ball.”"

I definitely understand where he is coming from here. Nebraska basketball is very good when they move the basketball. However, it seems like they focus on isolation basketball a little  bit too much. Oftentimes, I will see them go for a three-point shot or try to drive it to the basket by themselves early in a possession. That’s fine on a couple of plays here and there, but it’s not good to play straight isolation basketball.

Nebraska basketball is so good when everybody else is involved. There have been several possessions this season where every player has touched the basketball. I would love to see that start happening again. It makes a Trey McGowens drive to the hoop that much more unsuspecting. It makes a Teddy Allen three-point shot that much more of a weapon.

Too often, Nebraska falls into the same old habits on the court. A little mixing up, especially with a condensed schedule, will go a long way.