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Coach's Corner: Nebraska's Tim Miles
Nicole Auerbach, USA TODAY Sports 1:51 p.m. EST February 20, 2014
LINCOLN, Neb. ? Nebraska coach Tim Miles picks up a penny off the ground.
It's heads.
With Miles, pennies are usually ? if not always ? heads up. He keeps face-up pennies around pretty much everywhere around the basketball offices here, and there's even one involved in his pre-game ritual.
BUBBLE TRACKER: Nebraska highlights on-the-fence teams
BRACKETOLOGY: Projecting the field of 68
College basketball coaches know, just like Miles knows, that in order to win games, you've got to be good ? and lucky. He's working on both parts.
Little over a month ago, Miles' Huskers were 0-4 in the Big Ten, an ominous start to what undoubtedly would be a long season in one of the nation's top leagues. But slowly, Nebraska started to turn things around, breaking its winless streak by beating No. 17 Ohio State at home. A few days later, Nebraska dismissed its third-leading scorer Deverell Biggs.
The Huskers continued to roll, despite road losses to Penn State and Michigan. Since that 0-4 start, they're 6-2. Their latest win ? a victory over No. 9 Michigan State at the Breslin Center ? opened some eyes and vaulted Nebraska into the NCAA tournament bubble discussion. The program hasn't gone dancing since 1998. The buzz around town ? the prospect of possibility ? is palpable.
Nebraska has six regular-season games left, four at home. Road games at Illinois and Indiana appear winnable, with both teams in the bottom third of the league standings. Can the Huskers win some games, make their final push and earn an at-large bid this season? Can they get a little lucky?
We'll have to wait and see. (And pick up some coins in the meantime.)
Miles sat down with USA TODAY Sports national college basketball writer Nicole Auerbach this week to discuss that, Nebraska's big upset, how he found Terran Petteway, the state's big basketball day and more.?
Q: Your Nebraska team had won four of five entering Sunday's game at Michigan State. How were you feeling heading into that game? What was your approach?
A: We took a different approach. We'd been at Creighton, got down early and tried to play a brand of basketball that didn't work for us ? going as fast as Creighton was going. Then, we go to Ohio State, played them tough the first half and we panicked the second half, do the same thing. We lose by 15 at Creighton, which was as close as it got. We lose by 31 at Ohio State. We get run off the floor at Michigan the same way.
So, instead of having practices after the Michigan game, we just had individual meetings with the guys. I just think when we're on the road, we have to control tempo. I told the guys, 'Look, we've had three big road games, and we really haven't competed. Let's show the whole country we can compete. We have something to prove there, or are we just not good enough? Maybe we aren't good enough. But I think we have to go out and earn that respect.'
I think our guys really took that attitude of we're looking to earn respect. There's truly a chip on our shoulder, and it wasn't a Dorito. It was, we have something to prove. They played a tough-minded game.
Q: And right before the game, you said something important to them on the court.
A: Yeah, it was kind of Hoosiers moment. The old 'I love you guys' moment. On the Big Ten Network, you get slides ? all the sudden, it's like, one minute till the game's going to start. Or, oh, three minutes, now the game's going to start. You're waiting for another game to end. So, we're hanging around. They tell us it's one minute, and we're ready to go. Then they say three minutes.
So I sit 'em down, I'm squatting in front of them. We've already gone over the game plan at nauseum. I didn't know what to do. I just told the guys, 'Listen, we are more together over the last six weeks than we've ever been. We've really pulled together. I see less frustration in you guys. I see more togetherness. We're playing tougher. We're one of the best defensive rebounding teams in the Big Ten. I think we can do it. I also think it's easier than you think it is. So let's just stay together. I truly believe we can do this.
I've coached for a long time ? I've been a head coach for 19 years ? and I've seen some teams that get it and come together. I've seen some teams that get it for a while but don't. You are truly a team I think that's together and really flourishing right now. I love coaching you guys. I think we can do this.' It was funny because usually when you're talking to your team, by the end, there are so many distractions. Some guys are looking at you. Some guys are toweling down or taking a drink. All the guys were locked in. We started out on a 13-4 run, so apparently it was good timing for the Hoosiers speech.
Q: How confident were you as the game went on, and you had a big lead early and then a slight lead for most of the game?
A: To win on the road, especially against good teams, you have to play from the front. If you're not ahead and working from the front, it's rare you see teams come back late and win on the road. It just doesn't seem to work that way. I don't have any math to back that up, but I can tell you from standing there about 600 times what I feel like. I feel a lot better on the road when I'm playing with a lead. Jumping out to that lead and kind of holding them off ? I never felt like we were going to lose. I just thought we had the eye of the tiger that night. I felt like, 'We're going to do this.' The guys had that feeling, too.
Q: It seems like you caught Michigan State at a good time. What's it like preparing for a team that's had so many injuries and lineup combinations (and got Keith Appling back, kind of)?
A: Coach Izzo has done an incredible job of truly piecemealing lineups. There's no consistent lineup. Nobody knows, 'OK, there's my spot.' I use Michigan as the example: As soon as Mitch McGary was out and done, they took off. That's not anything to do with Mitch McGary except that now, everybody knows where they fit in. They knew he was not there. They accepted their certain roles. Then, they blossomed as a team.
But Michigan State's injuries haven't been catastrophic enough that you're done for the season. It's more of these chronic, nagging things that keep guys out. That's really difficult to manage. To be where they are says a lot about Coach Izzo and his staff, and how talented they are. Appling comes back, but they're not quite in sync. We were fortunate to kind of catch them out of sync as well. I think we were tough-minded and kind of took them out of a few things, too.
The one thing about Michigan State is, first of all, they play with tremendous defense and physicality, keep you out of the lane. We took 30 threes against them, and I'd have to look long and hard to find a team of mine that's taken 30 threes. But there was no other available shot. And second of all, in transition. I remember Shavon Shields saying to our guys, 'If you are not in the lane, get back. They are coming in a hurry.' Every time we had two or three guys in the lane, it was bad for us. They were down the floor and had a high-percentage shot. It was kind of amazing.
Q: This win propelled your team into the NCAA tournament bubble discussion. Did you think it was possible to be here at this point in Year 2?
A: I thought if we could survive the beginning of our schedule. I expected us to do better at the tournament in Charleston. Worst-case scenario, I thought we'd go 1-2. I was very disappointed. We lost to UMass, which is a very good team. Then we just kind of ho-hummed our way through UAB, and UAB just kind of kicked our butts. Then we beat Georgia. It didn't go as well as I hoped it'd go. ? Then we're at Creighton, we're at Cincinnati. At Iowa, at Ohio State. I think our first home (Big Ten) game was Michigan.
So, you have this run of games, and out of a billion people in the world, a billion people would pick us to lose five straight or all seven of the games I just mentioned. They were all right. We lost them all. We didn't quite have an identity. I think now, over the last six weeks, we know we have to be very sound defensively, eliminate defensive transition, cut down on errors that lead to easy baskets and play just good enough offense to win. We've done that.
Q: This is a place that's been starved for an NCAA tournament appearance. How do you and your players balance embracing the excitement over a win like that vs. not letting it get to anyone's heads/tempering it?
A: At Colorado State (in 2010-11), we were 18-7 and just ran the Runnin' Rebels of UNLV just off the floor. Literally, it was a 14- or 15-point game. We emptied the gym. It was ridiculous. We're rolling. We're on ESPN every night. It's great being on the bubble because you're in the national news all the time. The next year ('11-12), nobody's talking about us because we're in the tournament.
At the end of the day (in 2011), we ended up losing five of six to end the year. We had to beat UNLV at home, couldn't do it. Had to win at Air Force, couldn't do it. At San Diego State. We end up in the NIT as a No. 3 seed. I talked about everything with them, and I regret that. I think it was a disservice to the guys. I said, 'They're all going to talk about us. This is what we've got to do.' I got away from process.
The next year, when we had to win four or five to get in and make sure we didn't end up on the bubble, we did it. Just took it one game at a time, one possession at a time, every coaching clich? you could imagine. But truly, believing in what we knew it took to win, believing in our game plan. That's what we try to do with this team. I met with them afterwards. I said, 'Everybody's going to talk about how great you are. You're going to see it on social media. It's going to be online. You're not going to get away from it, but you've got to avoid the noise. If you just concentrate on what's got us here ? and what's got us here is our attitude, two simple questions we ask ourselves everyday: How can I be a better player today? How can I be a better teammate today?' ? if we can keep them focused on those things, good things will happen.
Q: Terran Petteway is averaging 17.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game this season. How did you guys land him (as a transfer from Texas Tech) and last year, while he was redshirting, could you tell he might be capable of a breakout season like he's having now?
A: He killed us every day in practice. Terran is a guy we recruited when I was at CSU. You know, there are all these AAU programs that are nationally known. They're in special leagues. They're represented by big-time shoe companies. Craig Smith, my assistant, calls me and says, 'We've got to go see the Galveston Hornets.' I said, 'Really? Are they playing the Las Vegas Dog Catchers?' These out-of-the-way teams. He said, 'Trust me, you're going to love one guy for sure, and I bet you're going to like the other guy.' So I go down there and watch these guys play.
Terran Petteway is just an absolute thoroughbred up and down the floor. I'm like, he's going to be a beast in the Mountain West. We push for him, make a hard push. His other buddy is a 6-5, kind of 3, 4 man, a rebounding machine. Just unbelievable, way above the rim. Not quite as skilled as Terran. We offer them both. A week before they're both going to visit, Terran commits to Texas Tech and Pat Knight.
The other guy ? Mike Evans, No. 13 at Texas A&M, who is probably going to be a top-10 pick in the NFL draft at wide receiver ? comes on the visit. We have a great visit. He goes back home the next week and he breaks my heart. He says, 'I think I can play in the NFL before I can ever play in the NBA.' I think he's right. Big Mike Evans was gone, and Terran Petteway was gone. My heart was in Galveston. There's a song about that one, I think, somewhere. ?
At the end of the season, Terran contacted us. He wanted to be recruited. Billy Gillispie had the job. We thought we were going to get him at CSU, but 10 days later, I took the Nebraska job. Once we were in the Big Ten, Terran was coming. We were very fortunate. He's been a guy who's been our hardest worker, honed his skills like you wouldn't believe. Spent more time in the gym than any player I've ever had. And he's truly about the team and the team winning. He wants to build a winner. ? We've got a good team, too, but he's been the real catalyst for us.
Nicole Auerbach, USA TODAY Sports 1:51 p.m. EST February 20, 2014
LINCOLN, Neb. ? Nebraska coach Tim Miles picks up a penny off the ground.
It's heads.
With Miles, pennies are usually ? if not always ? heads up. He keeps face-up pennies around pretty much everywhere around the basketball offices here, and there's even one involved in his pre-game ritual.
BUBBLE TRACKER: Nebraska highlights on-the-fence teams
BRACKETOLOGY: Projecting the field of 68
College basketball coaches know, just like Miles knows, that in order to win games, you've got to be good ? and lucky. He's working on both parts.
Little over a month ago, Miles' Huskers were 0-4 in the Big Ten, an ominous start to what undoubtedly would be a long season in one of the nation's top leagues. But slowly, Nebraska started to turn things around, breaking its winless streak by beating No. 17 Ohio State at home. A few days later, Nebraska dismissed its third-leading scorer Deverell Biggs.
The Huskers continued to roll, despite road losses to Penn State and Michigan. Since that 0-4 start, they're 6-2. Their latest win ? a victory over No. 9 Michigan State at the Breslin Center ? opened some eyes and vaulted Nebraska into the NCAA tournament bubble discussion. The program hasn't gone dancing since 1998. The buzz around town ? the prospect of possibility ? is palpable.
Nebraska has six regular-season games left, four at home. Road games at Illinois and Indiana appear winnable, with both teams in the bottom third of the league standings. Can the Huskers win some games, make their final push and earn an at-large bid this season? Can they get a little lucky?
We'll have to wait and see. (And pick up some coins in the meantime.)
Miles sat down with USA TODAY Sports national college basketball writer Nicole Auerbach this week to discuss that, Nebraska's big upset, how he found Terran Petteway, the state's big basketball day and more.?
Q: Your Nebraska team had won four of five entering Sunday's game at Michigan State. How were you feeling heading into that game? What was your approach?
A: We took a different approach. We'd been at Creighton, got down early and tried to play a brand of basketball that didn't work for us ? going as fast as Creighton was going. Then, we go to Ohio State, played them tough the first half and we panicked the second half, do the same thing. We lose by 15 at Creighton, which was as close as it got. We lose by 31 at Ohio State. We get run off the floor at Michigan the same way.
So, instead of having practices after the Michigan game, we just had individual meetings with the guys. I just think when we're on the road, we have to control tempo. I told the guys, 'Look, we've had three big road games, and we really haven't competed. Let's show the whole country we can compete. We have something to prove there, or are we just not good enough? Maybe we aren't good enough. But I think we have to go out and earn that respect.'
I think our guys really took that attitude of we're looking to earn respect. There's truly a chip on our shoulder, and it wasn't a Dorito. It was, we have something to prove. They played a tough-minded game.
Q: And right before the game, you said something important to them on the court.
A: Yeah, it was kind of Hoosiers moment. The old 'I love you guys' moment. On the Big Ten Network, you get slides ? all the sudden, it's like, one minute till the game's going to start. Or, oh, three minutes, now the game's going to start. You're waiting for another game to end. So, we're hanging around. They tell us it's one minute, and we're ready to go. Then they say three minutes.
So I sit 'em down, I'm squatting in front of them. We've already gone over the game plan at nauseum. I didn't know what to do. I just told the guys, 'Listen, we are more together over the last six weeks than we've ever been. We've really pulled together. I see less frustration in you guys. I see more togetherness. We're playing tougher. We're one of the best defensive rebounding teams in the Big Ten. I think we can do it. I also think it's easier than you think it is. So let's just stay together. I truly believe we can do this.
I've coached for a long time ? I've been a head coach for 19 years ? and I've seen some teams that get it and come together. I've seen some teams that get it for a while but don't. You are truly a team I think that's together and really flourishing right now. I love coaching you guys. I think we can do this.' It was funny because usually when you're talking to your team, by the end, there are so many distractions. Some guys are looking at you. Some guys are toweling down or taking a drink. All the guys were locked in. We started out on a 13-4 run, so apparently it was good timing for the Hoosiers speech.
Q: How confident were you as the game went on, and you had a big lead early and then a slight lead for most of the game?
A: To win on the road, especially against good teams, you have to play from the front. If you're not ahead and working from the front, it's rare you see teams come back late and win on the road. It just doesn't seem to work that way. I don't have any math to back that up, but I can tell you from standing there about 600 times what I feel like. I feel a lot better on the road when I'm playing with a lead. Jumping out to that lead and kind of holding them off ? I never felt like we were going to lose. I just thought we had the eye of the tiger that night. I felt like, 'We're going to do this.' The guys had that feeling, too.
Q: It seems like you caught Michigan State at a good time. What's it like preparing for a team that's had so many injuries and lineup combinations (and got Keith Appling back, kind of)?
A: Coach Izzo has done an incredible job of truly piecemealing lineups. There's no consistent lineup. Nobody knows, 'OK, there's my spot.' I use Michigan as the example: As soon as Mitch McGary was out and done, they took off. That's not anything to do with Mitch McGary except that now, everybody knows where they fit in. They knew he was not there. They accepted their certain roles. Then, they blossomed as a team.
But Michigan State's injuries haven't been catastrophic enough that you're done for the season. It's more of these chronic, nagging things that keep guys out. That's really difficult to manage. To be where they are says a lot about Coach Izzo and his staff, and how talented they are. Appling comes back, but they're not quite in sync. We were fortunate to kind of catch them out of sync as well. I think we were tough-minded and kind of took them out of a few things, too.
The one thing about Michigan State is, first of all, they play with tremendous defense and physicality, keep you out of the lane. We took 30 threes against them, and I'd have to look long and hard to find a team of mine that's taken 30 threes. But there was no other available shot. And second of all, in transition. I remember Shavon Shields saying to our guys, 'If you are not in the lane, get back. They are coming in a hurry.' Every time we had two or three guys in the lane, it was bad for us. They were down the floor and had a high-percentage shot. It was kind of amazing.
Q: This win propelled your team into the NCAA tournament bubble discussion. Did you think it was possible to be here at this point in Year 2?
A: I thought if we could survive the beginning of our schedule. I expected us to do better at the tournament in Charleston. Worst-case scenario, I thought we'd go 1-2. I was very disappointed. We lost to UMass, which is a very good team. Then we just kind of ho-hummed our way through UAB, and UAB just kind of kicked our butts. Then we beat Georgia. It didn't go as well as I hoped it'd go. ? Then we're at Creighton, we're at Cincinnati. At Iowa, at Ohio State. I think our first home (Big Ten) game was Michigan.
So, you have this run of games, and out of a billion people in the world, a billion people would pick us to lose five straight or all seven of the games I just mentioned. They were all right. We lost them all. We didn't quite have an identity. I think now, over the last six weeks, we know we have to be very sound defensively, eliminate defensive transition, cut down on errors that lead to easy baskets and play just good enough offense to win. We've done that.
Q: This is a place that's been starved for an NCAA tournament appearance. How do you and your players balance embracing the excitement over a win like that vs. not letting it get to anyone's heads/tempering it?
A: At Colorado State (in 2010-11), we were 18-7 and just ran the Runnin' Rebels of UNLV just off the floor. Literally, it was a 14- or 15-point game. We emptied the gym. It was ridiculous. We're rolling. We're on ESPN every night. It's great being on the bubble because you're in the national news all the time. The next year ('11-12), nobody's talking about us because we're in the tournament.
At the end of the day (in 2011), we ended up losing five of six to end the year. We had to beat UNLV at home, couldn't do it. Had to win at Air Force, couldn't do it. At San Diego State. We end up in the NIT as a No. 3 seed. I talked about everything with them, and I regret that. I think it was a disservice to the guys. I said, 'They're all going to talk about us. This is what we've got to do.' I got away from process.
The next year, when we had to win four or five to get in and make sure we didn't end up on the bubble, we did it. Just took it one game at a time, one possession at a time, every coaching clich? you could imagine. But truly, believing in what we knew it took to win, believing in our game plan. That's what we try to do with this team. I met with them afterwards. I said, 'Everybody's going to talk about how great you are. You're going to see it on social media. It's going to be online. You're not going to get away from it, but you've got to avoid the noise. If you just concentrate on what's got us here ? and what's got us here is our attitude, two simple questions we ask ourselves everyday: How can I be a better player today? How can I be a better teammate today?' ? if we can keep them focused on those things, good things will happen.
Q: Terran Petteway is averaging 17.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game this season. How did you guys land him (as a transfer from Texas Tech) and last year, while he was redshirting, could you tell he might be capable of a breakout season like he's having now?
A: He killed us every day in practice. Terran is a guy we recruited when I was at CSU. You know, there are all these AAU programs that are nationally known. They're in special leagues. They're represented by big-time shoe companies. Craig Smith, my assistant, calls me and says, 'We've got to go see the Galveston Hornets.' I said, 'Really? Are they playing the Las Vegas Dog Catchers?' These out-of-the-way teams. He said, 'Trust me, you're going to love one guy for sure, and I bet you're going to like the other guy.' So I go down there and watch these guys play.
Terran Petteway is just an absolute thoroughbred up and down the floor. I'm like, he's going to be a beast in the Mountain West. We push for him, make a hard push. His other buddy is a 6-5, kind of 3, 4 man, a rebounding machine. Just unbelievable, way above the rim. Not quite as skilled as Terran. We offer them both. A week before they're both going to visit, Terran commits to Texas Tech and Pat Knight.
The other guy ? Mike Evans, No. 13 at Texas A&M, who is probably going to be a top-10 pick in the NFL draft at wide receiver ? comes on the visit. We have a great visit. He goes back home the next week and he breaks my heart. He says, 'I think I can play in the NFL before I can ever play in the NBA.' I think he's right. Big Mike Evans was gone, and Terran Petteway was gone. My heart was in Galveston. There's a song about that one, I think, somewhere. ?
At the end of the season, Terran contacted us. He wanted to be recruited. Billy Gillispie had the job. We thought we were going to get him at CSU, but 10 days later, I took the Nebraska job. Once we were in the Big Ten, Terran was coming. We were very fortunate. He's been a guy who's been our hardest worker, honed his skills like you wouldn't believe. Spent more time in the gym than any player I've ever had. And he's truly about the team and the team winning. He wants to build a winner. ? We've got a good team, too, but he's been the real catalyst for us.
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