Voice of the Cornhuskers: ‘Could be a long night’ against Indiana
By DOUG GRIFFITHS
ISL Assistant Editor
Today, IndySportsLegends.com interviewed long-time Nebraska basketball radio play-by-play announcer Kent Pavelka to get his thoughts on the Cornhuskers as they prepare for No. 1-ranked Indiana tonight in Assembly Hall.
Following is what Pavelka, the “Voice of the Cornhuskers,” had to say about Nebraska, who is 12-12 overall, 3-8 in the Big Ten this season.
IndySportsLegends.com: Life has been rough in Year One for Tim Miles as Nebraska’s head coach, but that hasn’t been unexpected has it?
Pavelka: No, I think it’s about what we expected. Obviously it’s been a really tough year in conference with just three wins in the league and .500 in all games.
“On the other hand, there have been glimpses of things to be positive and encouraged about. The three wins for starters and secondly Nebraska did play pretty well at Michigan and at Michigan State, particularly Michigan State, but not so well at Ohio State or at Minnesota recently.
“This team continues to play hard. It’s a team that has a lot of challenges and deficiencies. There are not a lot of scorers on this team. Coach Miles has had to play a conservative brand of basketball offensively, trying to limit the number of possessions in each game. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn’t.”
IndySportsLegends.com: On Twitter you said you are back in Indiana again for the first time in more than 35 years. What’s that referring to?
Pavelka: 1974 late December and wet-behind-the-ears broadcaster. I was roaming around the hallways at Assembly Hall and pretty naive.
“Bob Knight’s reputation had not preceded him by a whole lot. He was in his four season or so at Indiana.
“It was a four-team tournament, Nebraska, Indiana, Creighton and SMU. We were playing SMU in the first game and I was by myself. I didn’t have a color man or an analyst with me so I always tried to grab somebody for a couple minutes for a pre-recorded interview to air at halftime. So I spotted Coach Knight, asked him if he would be kind enough to do a couple minutes to which he looked down at me as he does with most everybody because he’s 6-foot-5 and says, ‘You’ve got 30 seconds, go.’ I was pretty intimidated.
“I don’t know what I asked him and I don’t know what he said, but I managed to get a minute or two out of him so that was 39 seasons ago.
“It was the backdrop for watching him in his career all these years since. I don’t know why he had to be that way with so many people. I just don’t understand it.”
IndySportsLegends.com: What does this current Nebraska team do best? What’s its biggest strength?
Pavelka: “They defend pretty well. They really do play hard. They’re sound. They play the way they have to in order to have a chance to compete. That doesn’t mean that they’re successful at it every night.
“They don’t shoot it very well so that’s not at the top of the list, but they just compete. I’m hopeful we’ll see that tonight at Assembly Hall.”
IndySportsLegends.com: Are the offensive struggles the Cornhuskers’ No. 1 glaring weakness?
Pavelka: Yeah, and the reason for that is you just don’t know who is going to score night to night. This is a team that is averaging just 56 points in league play.
“Some nights Ray Gallegos will go off. You’ve had five different guys lead this team in scoring with 20 or more points this year.
“A good example is Shavon Shields had 29 points at Penn State and hasn’t had any outing like that at all since.
“Just scoring the ball has been a difficult thing.”
IndySportsLegends.com: What do you like about Gallegos’ game?
Pavelka: He may have more vertical than any guard his size (6-2) in the conference. He elevates very quickly.
“He’s a streaky shooter. His game is not taking it to the hole. It’s shooting jump shots and threes, but he’s a nice athlete and a nice player. He has come miles and miles from where he was two or three years ago. He redshirted last year.
“If he had more help, he would be even more effective. He’s had a nice junior year.”
IndySportsLegends.com: Is Shields the best prospect on the roster?
Pavelka: Shields and David Rivers I think. I would put them in the same category.
“Those three guys coming back next year, Shields, Rivers and Gallegos are going to be the guys that bring the most experience back and two of the three are in their first seasons so they’ll be better.
“Those three guys are going to have to carry this team next season.”
IndySportsLegends.com: What makes Brandon Ubel such a good rebounder?
Pavelka: He does not have great vertical leaping ability. He gets good position. To be honest with you, everybody who has decent stats on this team to a degree has decent stats because they’re getting 35 to 38 minutes a game. You score more points, get more rebounds and more assists if you’re playing 35 minutes than if you’re playing 25.
“That’s not to take anything away from Brandon Ubel. He’s been a kind of an iron man for Nebraska.”
IndySportsLegends.com: How does Nebraska make a game of it tonight against IU? Is it a game where they have everything to gain and really nothing to lose?
Pavelka: I don’t know if that’s the motivating factor. This team has a lot of pride and it will compete tonight.
“The keys for Nebraska are always pretty consistent. They have to be able to score the ball. At night’s end, they have to have a better shooting percentage than their season statistics have been. This is a team that is not shooting it well at all at 38 percent in conference action and just 28 percent beyond the arc. If you’ve got numbers like that tonight, you’re probably not going to be competitive with Indiana.
“Against Indiana, you can’t turn it over and succumb to Indiana’s pressure and you’ve got to limit possessions. This has to be a 60 to 65 possession game. If it’s not, Indiana will win probably decisively.”
IndySportsLegends.com: If you got a sneak peak at Miles’ scouting report for tonight’s game, what would be at the top of the list?
Pavelka: Well I have had a sneak peak at it and I’m not going to tell you.
“What can I tell you about Indiana that you don’t already know about how good they are.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a more impressive performance than Sunday at Ohio State just unbelievable.”
IndySportsLegends.com: Can Nebraska make a game of it tonight and will it make a game of it or will it be as lopsided as most think it will be?
Pavelka: You can’t get me to say that. I think it’s going to be a tough game for Nebraska.
“If Indiana is hitting shots, it could be a long night for the Huskers.”
