1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - One-On-One with DP: December 7th, 3pm - Happer joins DP at Barry's

Episode Date: December 7, 2021

One-On-One with DP: December 7th, 3pm - Happer joins DP at Barry'sAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's time to go one-on-one with D.P. Coming at you live from the couple Chevrolet GMC Studios. Here is your host, Derek Pearson, presented by Beatrice Bakery on 93-7 The Ticket and the Ticketfm.com. Happy Tuesday, kids. Appreciate you. I appreciate you. Joining us on a Tuesday pregame. It's a big one at Pinnacle Vecorina.

We're here, Barry's. you'll be able to get down here you've got three hours to get here now they're they're open everything's open kitchen will be open Connor happer is ready he seems to be in game shape yeah well definitely game shape I think he's I think he's ready for whatever this will be tonight remember you guys can join in on the festivities add to the conversation 402 464 56688 on the Honda Lincoln hotline you could call you can text to that number as well you can follow us a live video stream starter haman's best facebook youtube twitch you can do so so reach out you can hit me on the text line with a what's up dp even with a what's up connor he's here his beard is looking

magnificent yes i will respond to what's up connor what's up happer that's pretty much it though i don't yeah no other names well just the what's up the what's up i like that that's a good bit i like that well my thing is these are you know we're family let's talk yeah right let's talk don't be the old dude from muppets yelling at me from the rafters just screaming at me from the rafters just screaming stuff down. Don't do that. Be it, be a grown-up. Let's be civil. Reach out, say, hey, what's up, D.P.? I like who you are. You know, simplicity.

I like grown up. I like grown-up stuff. What is up, DP? What's going on? Are we ready? It's our prayers, hoping you're feeling better and things, you know, things turn free and you're back on the bench soon, sooner than later for whatever is going on. So we'll think of that. But, yeah, he's kind of the, the, he and Doc are the ones that kind of poke the players in the right direction. They know what code words to use to get them moving. And this is, this one will be awestruck.

The building will be full. I think so. Yeah, right? I think so. I'm not confident in that, though. Well, it better be, it better be filled with red or the blue will show up. That's true. Like, we know that now.

Like, we know that now. They will show up. So then the crowd and, of course, television. in what may have been the game that most people on the roster circled as soon as the schedule was announced because this is the measuring stick. Yeah, it's a fun one every time. There's a little bit of a history between these two teams.

I mean, the most notable one for Nebraska is a few years ago when they beat them pretty good, and they had Mo Wagner, and they were wagnering him out of the building, and that was awesome. ultimately ended up losing to them in the Big Ten tournament that maybe cost them a shot at the NCAA tournament, so they got the last lap this year. But they've brought in that year, but they've brought in good teams.

They've had good players. It seems like they come here every year. Remember last year they came here on Christmas Day? Christmas Day 2020, I suppose it would have been. They played here. I think it was Nebraska's conference opener last year or close to it anyway. and here we go. We'll try it again.

And Nebraska needs a big one. They need a win like this to get them to feel good, I think. Well, I mean, you can remember this is a Michigan team that, under Jawan Howard's leadership, the star factor, the wow factor of the program has gone back up. Through the roof, right? They started the preseason at number four in the country, took three losses along the way,

and now they roll in the building five and three tonight, but their losses were to like Arizona and North Carolina. Arizona, North Carolina, good teams, and then close to Seton Hall. Right, which is the one where I think they kind of got caught sleeping. I think so, yeah. We know more about Michigan's lineup roster than we do Nebraska's. It's probably true. Right?

I don't know. We're familiar with them, right? They're young. They always look the same in, terms of like the types of players that they have but they're it's not the same core it the guys that you'll notice tonight that are that are the same are dickinson and brooks and that's their point guard and their center and that's usually about what you need in the big 10 to um you know to have some success so um yeah and then really talented in the in the middle and the in between that i mean they have

not only dickinson who i think most people were probably surprised that he came back to school this year and then two other guys who were in the top 20 in recruiting that are in their starting lineup. So it'll be, I think it'll be a nice, a good challenge for Nebraska's potential first round pick next year, Bryce McGowan's. We'll see how he matches up with Caleb Houston, who's been, who's had a slower start to his, to his college career, but has picked up a little bit recently. So I don't know.

They're always, they always present a really tough athletic challenge. But if you catch them on a, on a night where you got a good game plan and they don't shoot the lights out, then you're going to have a chance to win tonight. Well, it was funny too. Watching film, you notice that they have some of the same issues that Nebraska does. Oddly enough, they give up a ton of offensive rebound, just a ton. They don't necessarily defend well in the pants. They don't take care of the ball particularly well so far. Right.

So it seemed weird to me. When you watch them, you go, okay, here's a, this is a team that has all talent where all the four or five stars are there. They recruit strong. They practice strong. But then they get in games and somehow in these games they figure out, how can we make this more interesting than it needs to be? Isn't, wouldn't that be the product of being a younger team that's trying to, I mean, you look at the guys they're going to run out tonight. I mean, that are getting the bulk of their kind of minutes. I mean, Brooks is a senior, steady, it feels like they have a steady senior point guard, like every year.

I don't know how they have a senior point guard every year, but it just feels that way. So Brooks is that guy, you know, and Dickinson is obviously really good down low. But there are other guys that they're really relying on. Houston's a freshman just playing his ninth game tonight. Diabate, another top 20 recruit freshman, is going to be playing in his ninth game tonight. a couple other guys down the line. It's a good mix, but some of the guys they're leaning on for big moments, and in some cases, big shots are just pups.

You know, they're 18 years old. So, well, I don't know, maybe if there was a time take, I wouldn't want to play them in March. Yeah, oh, this is the perfect time. I'd rather play them in December. Yeah. This is perfect. We want no parts of them during tournament.

Do they get a double play with them this year? Yeah, they play them in February. right. Yeah, right before. Well, I'm okay right before the tournament. Yeah. Just I don't want them in that where the task kind of solidifies it. Yeah, so that's in almost two months. We'll see what they look like then. But this is the one to get. Yeah, this is the one. This is the one to get. Now, they run, he likes to run seven. He'll go eight or nine deep, but they're eight and nine, darn strong as Nebraska's. Or at least don't, they're not in a package unit like the second

group. I got you. I got you. They will run them in an interval. they will run them out there to get shooting. Dickinson has been really purposeful and not shooting a lot of threes this year. But I wonder why. Well, because he's not really good at it. That would be it. But see, here's the thing. That's what happens to a guy comes to Nebraska.

They come to PBA. And if you aren't shooting three as well, just shoot them at PBA and don't wear a Nebraska uniform. And the shots go down for it. Yep. Yep. I mean, and they got three big guys on the boards. They're all average six plus on the boards. three scores and double figures another three between eight to ten yeah some of that is nebraska

and the way they defend they they get a little sleepy at times especially when shots aren't going on offense but you're right it seems like if there's ever a shooter that comes in it's like they're a notorious shooter but they're in a huge slump um they'll come in and can their first three and then we're off to the races hello remember that um was it last year that the Purdue guy Stefanovich came in And he had made a three. He had made a three in like two months, and he came in and just drilled like six of them. He was the hottest player on the floor. You couldn't do anything to, like, you couldn't touch him.

Otherwise, you'd burn. Like, that was, that's a classic, you know, it happens quite often. Yeah, and this will be an interesting one because the youth from Nebraska will get caught up by this crowd tonight. Like, they're going to get caught up by this crowd tonight. Yeah. Yeah, that's a good point. What do you think the crowd is going to be like? It'll be either really good where KCe gets it going and the crowd just dives all the way in kissing his feet.

Yeah. Bryce hits his first big shot. Verge on the pick and roll early. They get a shot block or something along those lines. Yeah, you need something. Yep. You know what usually gets this crowd going more than anything actually is like a bad call. So if we could get like a Bo Barowski in the house tonight and just have them do a really bad charge call in the first four minutes of the game and then get a little chippiness afterwards, I think that would set the place off pretty well.

I don't want Nebraska's team to get chippy tonight. I don't want them to be extra. Yeah. Yeah, you could sink into that and it could be a dangerous thing. I like the I like the Now the the the lat push on against Indiana was With a headbutt

It was what what the push was I was with That was just weird Like that just that was a thing that didn't need to happen But I appreciate that you know They got after it a little bit in that game And that's the thing you like to see Now you don't want it to be fake At some some teams it feels like they go through those moments

Like they clear the bench and it feels fake Or something like that But so I don't want it to feel like that but I don't know. We'll see how the game flow of it goes. I hope they're in a competitive game in the, you know, late in the second half where it comes down to somebody making a shot or something like that. That's what you hope tonight.

Well, I, like, I want Nebraska to be tough. I don't want them to be fake guy tough. Right. Right. Like, there's nobody that, like, if Trey McGowan's isn't on a scooter, I want him at the front of the line. But otherwise, I don't want, I don't want Derek. Walker to go to that

It seems unnecessary. I don't want, you know, although I might get a chuckle out of his case that he decided he was going to, if he was going to like that I could see. He, right? He is a pest on defense. Yeah, he's kind of everywhere. So I could, I could definitely see him at some point getting mixed up with somebody. But other than that, I don't know that it's in individual guys, just looking at what they

have, individual guys DNA to be like, yeah, I'm going to pick a. Karan Stevenson to come off the bench. Karama Fiersson, yeah. Q, I mean, so sorry. He reminds me of a Q from the Jazz. They're literally the same human being. Yeah, he's the guy. As a matter of fact, he was the guy that was holding back coaches.

Yes, he was, yeah. So, look, at some point. Good, tough guard. And this may be a Q-type game. I hope so. I've kind of called for that a little bit. It just feels like they're going to keep, and this is more from a basketball perspective.

I wish they would look at it a little bit more from a, like, what do we need intangibly perspective. But from a basketball perspective, I think there's an argument for it too. You're not getting, you're not making the shots that you set out to on offense right now. So let's turn the key a little, let's turn the steering wheel a little bit the other way

and lean into, maybe we could slow things down and we could get a little tough, you know, hard edge to us. And that's where McPherson would come into play. I just don't think I see it, though. I don't know that it's going to happen. If shots go down, they can slow it down.

Yeah. If Nebraska's hitting threes, they can slow it down. If they're not, then you're just re-scrambling the egg. Yeah, you're going. Like, it's just further down the hole. Yeah, it's just not necessary. And it's certainly not beneficial. I think for tonight, watch the lineups.

I'm still curious as to whether it's the same starting lineup two games in a row. Yeah. They've been doing a couple different things with that other spot since Trey McGowan's left. They've started Edwards, and then he kind of disappears, and then Tomiaga started the Indiana game. He played four minutes on Saturday. Four, yeah. And even in the games that he started, he started those two in a row, I think, and played no more than ten in those. He's become Kurt Rambas.

Yeah, it's. He would start and then he would disappear. Well, I really like the idea of putting him into the lineup, and I like the explanation that Fred gave at the time, which was like, we could use a little bit more of a physical presence and a guy who's athletic and can guard and stuff like that. And I'm like, okay, maybe this is kind of leaning that way a little bit. And then they don't play them the whole game. And they go with their, and maybe that's just game script stuff, but they go with their, like when it gets tough for them, they're more inclined to go three-point barrage lineup instead of let's hold get tough lineup.

You know what I mean? I was asking some of the coaches this question or whether they could have their three-point lineup with Verge on the floor. Is it possible for both to coexist? Well, I think you kind of have to. Otherwise, there's no other ball handlers, right? I mean, unless it's just Bryce, which I suppose you could do.

Well, that's actually on the tax line. They asked the thoughts on moving Verge to two. It's just so hard because he can't. With Kobe, maybe? He can't match. That's such a mismatch defensively. I don't know that that's good enough on offense to make up what you would lack on defense. You know what I mean?

Those are just two guys who are six one trying to guard big physical, big 10 guards. And in some cases, you know, wings. I just don't like that picture. And I don't think it's good enough offensively to make up for what you would lack on the defensive end. Tim, on the text on the test site says, I know between 20 and 25 season ticket holders, and I know that at least nine of them are not going tonight and haven't given away their ticks. It's a busy season of people worn down from football on the start.

basketball season. Yeah. Oh, be better than that. Well, a win like this would change the attitude, I think, at least a little bit. Do we not want to just scream out, okay, don't, we don't want those people? I would say that it's early.

I would say to those people that it's early, and it's not time to throw in the towel just yet. I share your frustrations in it not looking like you want it to look, and yes, we're definitely beaten down by football and basketball over the last couple of years. but it's still early for this group. They're still figuring it out. And as far as that Indiana game, I don't know that that was conducive. Like think about this.

You're coming off of a four overtime game. You come back home. You go straight back out on the road for an 11 a.m. Saturday morning game against a big physical team. Not that you're going to not see those. Cracker box. Right. Yeah, exactly.

No amenities or anything like that. They're trying to pass their jump tests so they can, so they can, you know, play, pass the test physically. I don't know. Coming back home, getting a day or two off of your feet and welcoming in a good opponent is a little bit more conducive to them playing well tonight. I'm not trying to excuse the loss, but that was a tough situation. Yeah, I felt bad. Talked to a couple of players the next day, and they were in deep fatigue.

When we talked, we went over there and talked to them on what? So they played North Carolina State on Tuesday. I think it was probably Thursday. And Derek Walker came out. So I started talking to him about how they had 15 games and 30 days last year. It was like, yeah, man. Yeah. Caesar Wilcher said he hadn't slept.

Right. Like they did their show Thursday night. And he's like, no, I haven't slept yet. Yeah. So I would expect a fresher group tonight. Let's hope. And then there's always the roulette wheel or the craps table where we're not sure what we're going to get from Eduardo, Eduardo, Andre.

People say, okay, this would be. a great night to put Eduardo. They will run Eduardo and Bridenbach together. But Eduardo and Derek we haven't seen yet. Yeah. And this would be the night because there are going to be times tonight where Michigan rolls out the two seven footers at same time. And they'll go high, low, and just try to wear you out. Yep. So I'm not sure. We've jokingly... I think he could be more part of the plan tonight. What they've done historically over the last three years

when there's a huge threat in the middle is that they've just crashed on him and say, okay, go ahead, you're going to shoot 33's, make 10 of them. If you make 10 of them, you'll probably be in good shape. If you make less than 10, we're going to be hanging in. You know, that's what they did to Luca Garza a couple of years ago. And by the way, again, with worse personnel. Oh, absolutely. With a worst team, you know, so they did it to Garza.

They did it to the Purdue big guy, harms. and, you know, it's at varying success. You're always, it's a gamble game plan, but Nebraska basketball right now is a bit of a, it's a bit of a crap shoot. You don't know what you're getting offensively. So they have to hope that they have a good night shooting it, a better night shooting it, and that the gamble works out on defense. Michigan has, they will bring a bus load full of three-point shooters. Isaiah Livers has 50

No, Livers is gone. This is last year. I think you're looking at last year. I was looking at last year. I was going to wait a minute. I don't recall them shooting that well. So basically the guys that are going to shoot are Brooks. Brooks is a knockdown three-point shooter.

He's made 40% this year. And Houston, who's got hot recently. Yeah, he tried to bail them out against North Carolina and didn't have enough. Right. But he had their last game. So Brooks, Houston are one and two. He shot it well against San Diego State in their last game. Those are pretty much the guys who are going to be shooting threes.

And they're coming into 33%. Yep. So, yeah, if you can force them to actually do some work, that'll be nice. It'll be, like I said, to me, I just have the impression. As you just said, they dumped down in the box. What's Nebraska shooting from three as a team? Do I even want to know? I don't think you want to know.

Is it 25? They are. It's 27. They were like 300 and something. 329th in the country. Oh, good heavens. I don't know how many D1 teams there are anymore, but it can't be much more. It can't be.

Ha! And they have capable shooters, and I know we've been saying that, so it sounds like a load of crap from the last couple years. But they, I mean, just you look around and you could pick out each one of their guys that you actually trust that when they shoot, you don't frown. Exactly. That's how I always put it, too. I'm like, yeah, Wilcher, keep going, man. CJ, keep shooting threes. Tomenaga, you got to keep doing it.

I mean, that's the only way you're going to be out here. Latt's made them at times inconsistently. 27%. Yeah, and then, you know, those are basically your three guys that you're going to trust. And then Bryce gets a little bit going here and there. But, yeah, 27% it's not good enough. So, I mean, if you- But LAT's 7 for 28.

Like, at some point, doesn't the light go on for Latt this year? That is both your reason for worry and your reason for hope at the same time. Seven for 28. That's not what you put in the books. Is this the night where you see Trevor Lakes? I don't know. I don't know what the right situation is for Trevor Lakes. I'm not sure they know.

Yeah, I don't know. I think they kind of view him as, I mean, he's kind of the backup Bryce, but they've put so much on Bryce that it's hard to take him out of the game. He played almost 60 minutes against NC State. I mean, can we talk about that being one of the best performances you can say? for a guy to be for a 19-year-old to go almost 60 minutes on the road in an ACC game in your first road game as a collegian. He gets more impressive as we go, for sure, game by game.

And this is only the 10th game tonight. You know, so he keeps getting there. I don't know to what level he can raise Nebraska to as a team, but you can certainly see the seeds like growing of like, oh, okay. I get it. Once he gets a little bit more physical, you know, asserts himself a little bit more, and that'll grow.

He's going to be pretty special, I think. And there has to be a level of trust between he and Verge that the ball is going to be on time and place. Yeah. And that he could get it back, which is also the big thing in that. Here's the red circle for me tonight. Was Verge has taken heat for his,

penetration game is probe game. You know what the number one way to beat Michigan is? Probe. Probe. Mid-range game on a night that Fred will tell you, it's not our mission, it's not our goal, it's not our focus. Yeah. We don't want to rely on the mid-range game.

But guess what's the easiest way to beat Michigan? Mid-range game. Well, that's how they, they don't think they want the offense to result in mid-range shots in theory, but how you create good looks, especially when nobody's moving, is Verge has to dribble around a little bit. He has to find some space and then kick. The problem is when he gets to that point, he's at times made some bad decisions. And that's, you know, that's a part of the learning curve for him. He's been better recently at that.

I'm fine with him trying to probe, like you said, especially if the offense is stagnant, which gets stagnant quite a bit. Because they don't get, you know, they don't get any positive reinforcement on making shots early when they're running what they do. Well, when you don't see them go down, not only does the quarterback decide he may not want to make the pass, but the shooters are a little reluctant and accepting it. That's right. And that man is example one, A, B, and C. I can't.

If there's one thing that will make me drop my head during a game every time, it's when Lat gets a good look and pump fakes it, dribbles into something dumb. and it ends up in a turnover. It happens twice again. It really, that is a thing that you can circle. Yeah. And my first, my thing with Latt is when Latt catches above the numbers and gets into a shot, he's smooth. When he catches and dips below the waist or he catches below the numbers, he becomes so mechanical in his movement that he's thinking.

Yeah, he knows I can't get this off. Michigan is also really wide open to back cuts. North Carolina wore them out with back cuts. They'll pursue for sure. Right. So if they're going to chase, if they're going to help down on Verge, if Verge is willing to set that thing early that says, I'm going to give away for these open shots.

Yeah. Like I'm not going to try to finish over two seven footers. I'm not going to go and try to punch it. Look, I do want Bryce McGowan to go try to dunk on one of the big. Yeah. Like I want that. I want that for me. Yeah.

That's just me being selfish. Yeah. Yeah, that's just me being selfish. But, yeah, I want Bryce to be aggressive. I don't want him getting, I don't want him in foul trouble aggressive. But I want him in, let me be a magnet for my teammates. Yeah. Let me draw an extra guy, get his attack levels right, apex between,

so they can get their stuff done. But I think Verge, look, and somebody said it earlier on the Texan on one of the earlier shows, that they didn't like his into the paint running one hand or trying to float it over, but that's the newest added weapon for point guards who play basketball at a high level. Yeah. You've got to master that, and you've got to use it. It's their last-ditch effort, I think, on offense, and ultimately, you know,

sometimes it comes down to their last-ditch effort on offense. If he, when it comes down to it right now, and maybe as the season goes long, he won't be, but right now he's going to be the guy initiating the offense and probably the guy with the ball in his hand with the ball in his hands at the end especially a meaningful moment so i like you know it's it's whoever for whichever other team you're playing but right now for nebraskets alonzo elonzo verge and the difficult part of it is he's you know he's six one so it's it's tough for him to get to the rim conventionally so he's got to make a move he's got to cross somebody over He's got to get off a screen and float one. Like, it doesn't, it doesn't, watch, watch Eli Brooks tonight. Eli Brooks will do the same thing. You remember the guy from the point guard from Michigan a couple years ago who did the hook shots? Yeah. What was his name?

Oh. I always forget his name. He was awesome. But he was so, Xavier Simpson, I think. Is that right? I think that's right. Yeah. But he was, maybe there I'm thinking of another guy.

Yeah. But he's small. He's a shorter guy. So he had to, when he was ultimately the ball handler, he had to find his way to get creative and get a shot. So he brought back the hook shot, you know? And it went down because it's tough to defend even for a little guy. Right. So it.

It's whatever you got to do to put the ball in the hole, man. The big ass hoop. I want, I need to find on the, we'll go with where to break. We'll live at Barry's here in Haymarket. We'll be here until 6 o'clock. I want to find Tray Young was interviewed post game about a shot. he chose to take in a game. And his answer was so on point,

but it sounded like Alonzo Verge. I want to have Nick find it and read it to us because it's the moment I asked, I said, Nick, who do you think this is? And he says, Verge. And I said, yeah, this is what it is. So Nick, if you could find it with Word to Break, more live one-on-one from Barry's.

This is 937 the ticket.