Then there's more coffee. Maybe a puzzle. And in between, plenty of film study on a Nebraska season that saw the Huskers play in a way that Hoiberg largely wants to play on offense — just with the pesky problem of not making enough shots.
"I’ll say this. Even though the win-loss record wasn’t where we wanted it, I do think that we did some important things as far as laying the foundation and as far as establishing the style of play that hopefully (will) be successful and sustain success," Hoiberg said. "We had some things that I thought we did very well; we just didn’t finish plays the way we needed to."
You don't have to look far to see what Hoiberg is talking about.
Nebraska's pace was among the fastest in the country in 2019-20: the Huskers were fifth nationally in average possession length, according to KenPom, at 15.2 seconds. Only one Hoiberg team has played faster at the college level — his 2014-15 Iowa State team averaged 14.6 seconds per possession.
NU ranked 16th in KenPom's adjusted tempo stat, a number that measures the estimate of possessions per 40 minutes a team would have against an opponent that wants to play at an average tempo.
Nebraska's adjusted tempo of 73.1 is the highest of any of Hoiberg's college teams, and nearly three possessions more per game than his fastest team at Iowa State.Â
The 2019-20 Huskers played faster than any Nebraska team — both in terms of possession length and the number of possessions per game — in the KenPom era (statistics date back to the 1996-97 season).
The roots of Hoiberg's system have started growing. The next step is for those roots to establish themselves.
How does that happen? Well, a nourishing diet of made buckets would help.
Nebraska finished 25th nationally in percentage of its shot attempts that came at the rim (43.9%), according to .
That number led the Big Ten and ranked fourth among power conference schools, behind only Stanford, Kansas and Duke — two national title contenders and a near-lock to make the NCAA Tournament.
Rutgers was second in the Big Ten in that category, with 43.4% of its attempts coming at the rim. No other Big Ten team took more than 39% of its shots at the rim.
Indiana was a distant third in the league at 38.7%, which ranked 116th nationally.
However, the Huskers ranked an abysmal 329th in the country in field-goal percentage at the rim, making just 54% of their attempts.
NU ranked ahead of only Washington State and St. John's among power conference programs, and was last in the Big Ten by a wide margin — Wisconsin was 13th in the league at 57.2%. Every other school in the conference converted at better than 58%.Â
Not every shot is a good shot, of course. Nebraska often got exactly what it wanted offensively. The Huskers also saw their guards fly into traffic and take a difficult shot among taller, more physical opponents instead of kicking the ball out for an open three-pointer.
"You want to create as many shots as you can. You want to — hopefully (when) the defense comes, we didn't do a good enough job of kicking out," Hoiberg explained. "Our three-point attempt rate was third in the Big Ten, which is also a pretty good stat. But we just need to convert better."
While Hoiberg didn't divulge where his numbers came from, according to , NU ranked 123rd nationally in three-point rate, taking 39.6% of its total attempts from beyond the arc. That number was fifth in the Big Ten behind Wisconsin, Maryland, Ohio State and Minnesota.
And remember: That number would likely be higher had the Huskers kicked the ball out more instead of forcing a shot in traffic. The problem there, again, was shots going in. NU's 31.8% three-point shooting ranked 10th in the conference and 250th in the country.
No matter where the shots come from, Nebraska simply has to make more of them. More length and athleticism on Hoiberg's second roster should help with finishing at the rim. Find a couple of capable three-point shooters to go with Thorir Thorbjarnarson, who was shooting better than 40% from three-point range before wearing down at the end of the season, and suddenly that offense becomes much more potent.
"I think the biggest thing is versatility with this group. I think it's going to give us the option to play a lot of different ways," Hoiberg said. "I've talked about the size — we got beat up a lot inside and on the glass, based on experience. The size and physicality of (the Big Ten), it took its toll, I think, on this group."
A look back at Fred Hoiberg's introductory press conference at Nebraska
Photos: Fred Hoiberg is introduced as the Nebraska men's basketball coach