Nebraska Basketball: 2018 Cornhuskers Christmas wishlist
By Bryan Mauro
Fast Starts
During coach Tim Miles tenure as the head coach in Lincoln, the Husker basketball team has been known for their underwhelming starts to games. The team always seems to go through a feeling out period with their opponents up until the first media timeout. While this is not always a problem and is sometimes expected. The Huskers cannot afford a slow start against the power teams in the conference or when they get into conference play. Slow starts against some of those teams could be the deciding factor in winning and losing.
The one saving grace of the slow starts during the conference season, is that most times these can be avoided. These teams are familiar with each other and none of these teams drastically change what they do based on the opponent. The feeling out period can still be present, but one thing Nebraska fans wish for is the feeling out period to accompany some buckets to either build a lead or extend a lead.
A fast start by the Huskers will also help them steady the waters when the team goes into a scoring drought. Scoring droughts are common in basketball as this is a game of runs. The bigger the lead when the scoring drought happens the better off the Huskers will be. The Huskers have so far used their abilities to stretch leads in the middle of games and their defense to keep them in the lead during the scoring droughts. Once the conference season resumes and the competition level picks up a fast start will imperative. It is going to help minimize the damage when the other team goes on a run, and help Nebraska extend a lead when the Huskers go on their run.