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Here's a thought: Sergej Kurkowski; or "Does the tall kid redshirt?"


Norm Peterson

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I made an observation in another thread, which I will stand behind, that Kye Kurkowski, today, looks like a more solid player than Surgej Vucetic. I think that most people who see him would probably agree that Surgej could use a redshirt year to grow into his frame, bulk up, get stronger, learn the American game, etc.

I think there's a question when you look at him as to whether you want to tie up that spot for 5 years or have that scholarship available sooner than that. I don't know the answer to that one.

But, if I'm right that Kye is, today, a better player (though he might have a lower ceiling the Surgej down the road) why not play Kye this year and sit Surgej?

This year is kind of a ... well, it's just not going to be a banner year. No matter whether Surgej plays or Kye. Surgej didn't get in the game last night when Andre subbed out the first time. Instead, they sent Rivers in. Even when Ubel picked up his 2nd foul, they subbed Andre back in rather than Surgej.

If the plan is to rotate Rivers in when you bring Andre out and Surgej isn't going to get many minutes this year anyway, why not just redshirt the kid, play Kye instead, and let Surgej save a year of eligibility in which he can grow and develop?

Just a thought. Comments?

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I thought Kye did play well yesterday, but I do not know if you want to redshirt Sergej. I do think that down the road Sergej could turn into a big time player, but I think it would be better to have him play this season and gain some experience. If Pitchford could play this season then redshirting Sergej would make more sense, but with the lack of depth at the 5, we are going to need Sergej, Andre, and Kye to play some this season.

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If this year is a "throw away" year, why not red shirt him? I think that the coaches need to look at how he will best develop for the future and in my opinion, redshirting is the way to go. He isn't going to make a huge difference to this season, but a year in the weight room and training table could make a huge difference for this kid. If Miles has to throw 4 guards out on the floor, then so be it. I know that coach Miles will never admit to what this season is, but in the best interest of the future of the program, redshirt him.

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If this year is a "throw away" year, why not red shirt him? I think that the coaches need to look at how he will best develop for the future and in my opinion, redshirting is the way to go. He isn't going to make a huge difference to this season, but a year in the weight room and training table could make a huge difference for this kid. If Miles has to throw 4 guards out on the floor, then so be it. I know that coach Miles will never admit to what this season is, but in the best interest of the future of the program, redshirt him.

That is a good point but I do not think a coach is ever going to say it is a "throw away" year. This season is going to be tough, but I think that playing Sergej is probably more beneficial than redshirting him.

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If we had a full roster you could debate on whether to redshirt Serjej...it would probably makes sense.

We don't have a full roster. We don't have that luxury. Miles would be playing Biggs right now if it was up to him.

I'm not saying that Serjej is Myers Leonard, but you would probably be making the case against 2011-12 Myers Leonard.

http://www.fightingi...d_meyers00.html

Overall I find the original premise to be quite ridiculous.

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If we had a full roster you could debate on whether to redshirt Serjej...it would probably makes sense.

We don't have a full roster. We don't have that luxury. Miles would be playing Biggs right now if it was up to him.

I'm not saying that Serjej is Myers Leonard, but you would probably be making the case against 2011-12 Myers Leonard.

http://www.fightingi...d_meyers00.html

Wow I did not realize that Leonard only average around 2 and 1 per game as a freshman. Again I think that playing Sergej this season to get him experience and will be beneficial next season and in the years to come.

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That is a good point but I do not think a coach is ever going to say it is a "throw away" year. This season is going to be tough, but I think that playing Sergej is probably more beneficial than redshirting him.

True. The thing is, the coaches see this kid everyday in practice, and I will take their word if they think that he is ready to play D1 ball now and put some meat on his bones in the offseason. Either way, I'm excited about the future of Husker basketball.

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You're reaching an impossible conclusion based on one exhibition game in which the new guy was playing his first game and looked very nervous. Kye looked fine, but until I get a chance to see him play in a game that hasn't devolved into a glorified street game, I'm not going to sit here and say he should be playing over Vucetic. SV has one thing that we haven't had in a very, very long time and that's a 7' 1" frame. We'll need that length this year. Kye does not have that.

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The reasons to not redshirt him outweigh the reasons to redshirt him imo.

1. We will not have a center next year with any experience if we redshirt him

2. The depth this year, especially with Almeida always a question mark on health, means we need everyone we can at the position

3. Serge is a 4 year guy for Nebraska and you hope that by 2016 hes been a great asset and by then NU has gotten better and can upgrade to an even better player

4. It gives him an idea of what to expect in limited minutes and pushes him to become the main man for next year

5. (worst case scenario) We come to find out he isn't worth the scholarship and delaying the inevitable wastes a year someone else could have that scholly in a year or two

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If this year is a "throw away" year, why not red shirt him? I think that the coaches need to look at how he will best develop for the future and in my opinion, redshirting is the way to go. He isn't going to make a huge difference to this season, but a year in the weight room and training table could make a huge difference for this kid. If Miles has to throw 4 guards out on the floor, then so be it. I know that coach Miles will never admit to what this season is, but in the best interest of the future of the program, redshirt him.

What if it ends up not being a throw away year? what if they find a way to get to the CBI or NIT? Considering all that's led up to this year and the expectations levied on this group, that would seem like anything but a throw away year. I'm not expectig that. I don't think anyone other than those suiting up are expecting anything like that, but it's also not impossible.
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The reasons to not redshirt him outweigh the reasons to redshirt him imo.

1. We will not have a center next year with any experience if we redshirt him

2. The depth this year, especially with Almeida always a question mark on health, means we need everyone we can at the position

I do agree with both of these things and they are not something that I had thought of. No experienced center next year, although you could say that Pitchford is experienced and could play 5. Also, how healthy will Andre stay? All good arguments from everyone.

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A lot of times, 7-footers are the slowest players to develop. The speed of the game is much faster, big men are much bigger and stronger men. This year gives Vucetic a chance to play now and work through his growing pains on team with low expectations. I don't think we'd have the luxury next season. This kid wasn't a McDonald's All-American, so anyone who thought he'd look great right away probably had their expectations set too high. He's going to be a much better player one year from today.

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I made an observation in another thread, which I will stand behind, that Kye Kurkowski, today, looks like a more solid player than Surgej Vucetic.

Yikes, Norm! Kye Kurkowski is a redshirt sophomore--this is his third year on the team. Sergej Vucetic is a true freshman who arrived on campus at the start of this school year.

In last night's game, Sergej shot 2 of 5 from the field and 4 of 4 from the line, with six rebounds, one block, and one turnover in 16 mostly-meaningful minutes. Kye shot 1 of 1 from the field with 1 block in three minutes during mop-up duty.

Here's a thought: let's give the kid a chance before slapping bus tire treads on his back.

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Swan, you didn't include the entire quote. I said that Sergej might have more upside down the road but, as of this snapshot in time, Kye is probably a better player. Yes, I realize there may be reasons that, at this particular moment in time, Kye might be a better player. But that doesn't change the fact that, at this particular moment in time, Kye looks to me like the better player.

I think GATA makes a very good point, above, though, and that is that we can maybe get away with playing him this year and allowing him to develop where next year we might not have that luxury. So, if he sits out this year, the logic would be, he won't be as far along next year and we, therefore, might not be able to get him minutes next year.

That's a good thought. As long as Sergej gets minutes this year. If he rides the pine for the most part, then he might as well have saved the year. All depends on what happens, I guess.

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Overall I find the original premise to be quite ridiculous.

The original premise is simply that, whereas some people think Vucetic is a project and wish he could redshirt this year in order to develop, would playing Kurkowski instead of Vucetic be an option? I mean, I really don't see them both getting significant minutes. In fact, neither might get significant minutes. This thread has offered some good reasons for not redshirting Vucetic, but none of them argued that Kurkowski would not be an adequate alternative to playing Vucetic.
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The reasons to not redshirt him outweigh the reasons to redshirt him imo.

---snip---

5. (worst case scenario) We come to find out he isn't worth the scholarship and delaying the inevitable wastes a year someone else could have that scholly in a year or two

The "Shang Ping scenario"?

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What if he plays this year, we get Pitchford in next season and Miles finds a JUCO big and he red-shirts NEXT season when we may have a little more depth? Kind of along the Ray Gallegos route?

I have a feeling going forward, assuming the trend Miles has had happen elsewhere happens at NU you will not see a player redshirt past their freshman season, if at all, unless they suffer a season ending injury.

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The "Shang Ping scenario"?

40% of D-1 players have transferred at some in their career in basketball. Its an unreal stat when comparing it to any other sport. Many factors play into this but a very large one is a player not being up to the level of play for the school they are at. Its a major reason I dont think you redshirt a player in basketball unless its a necessity because the cream tends to rise to the top in this sport and the lesser players get trimmed much faster as well. No reason to delay something a year to find out next year that they truly find out he isnt B1G caliber and essentially wasted a year to try and get him ready for it.

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When Diaz was finally eligible, we sat him for the rest of the reason because (1) he was not ready to play big minutes and (2) we had enough players to run a four guard lineup. It sounds like Vucetic is not ready for big minutes, but it is also not clear whether we have enough depth to run a four guard lineup with Ubel, Andre, and Kyle rotating in at the post.

Picture something like what Drake ran back in 2009 (mind you once Keno Davis took this offense to the Big East it failed). We put Benny, Ray, Rivers, and Talley out there with the above three mentioned playing the post. Let Jordan Tyrance back up Talley as a quasi-4. Bring in that JUCO walkon to shoot from beyond three. If the point guard can penetrate and kick out to shooters on the perimeter with a post guy to rebound, It may work (but probably not). Keno Davis took an unknown squad with a losing tradition and made them a NCAA 5 seed which barely lost in the first round to a very talented Western Kentucky team (two NBA players on that squad).

If we can make something like that work, sure red-shirt Vucetic. It would probably do him a lot of good. Otherwise, we almost have to play him.

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When Diaz was finally eligible, we sat him for the rest of the reason because (1) he was not ready to play big minutes and (2) we had enough players to run a four guard lineup.

though you briefly mentioned it it was a bigger deal as to why so in reality a #3. where he wasnt eligible to play until Big 12 play due to admissions issues. I guarantee you if Diaz was available from day one he would've played.

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