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NUdiehard

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Everything posted by NUdiehard

  1. It was nice to see Williams start to get into a rhythm even if he was inefficient. We are going to need him, he just needs to figure out how to get his shots within the flow of the offense rather than forcing them. He did have 3 wide-open corner 3s to start the game. Hit the first one and missed the next 2, but those are good quality shots. After that he began forcing things a bit. Mast was a stud last night. Of course we have to see how that will translate to B1G play, but I am all for him shooting 3-5 threes at the top of key to open up the paint. Rice is quite impressive when he is hitting his shots as he was last night. Still gets lost and struggles on the defensive end, which is why he will be in the back of the rotation, but man he showed what he can develop into. He could develop into a bigger, more powerful and explosive version of Williams IMO, which is a very solid player that any team would love to have. CJ seems to have more confidence this year, he just needs to see the ball go through the hoop a few times and he could be on his way to a good season. With that said, the lack of PG problem is already rearing its ugly head. The backcourt of JL, SH and Boogie combined for: 63 minutes 12 points (4-12 FG) 8 Assists 9 TOs This is not going to cut it. Obviously Keisei will improve those numbers, but he is a SG, not a PG. JL has not come close to finding his shot or his rhythm so far this year. There are a lot of games left, but the transition to PG is rough so far (4 turnovers in 24 minutes). SH came back to earth this game, and Boogie does some nice things, but also does a lot of head-scratching things (3 turnovers in 17 minutes).
  2. Even with everyone healthy, SH could crack the top 8 Starters: 1. Lawrence 2. Keisei 3. Williams 4. Gary 5. Mast Bench: 6. Allick 7. CJ 8 . Hoiberg 9. Boogie 10. Rice Until my eyes tell me otherwise, I am perfectly comfortable with Sam taking minutes over Boogie. Sam is small, but a much better athlete than most think (IMO he is FAR quicker than Cale for instance, and he is definitely quicker/faster than Boogie). Sam also THINKS the game at a very high level, and as long as he is not completely over-sized, he is a very good defender and creates havoc on that end. I could even see him occasionally getting some of JL's minutes in a pinch, because Sam is probably more of a natural PG than anyone on the team right now.
  3. Is this injury the same injury that caused Mast to miss the intra-squad scrimmage two weeks ago in which he appeared to be in a boot? BTW, the lack of journalism/reporting on this Nebraska team this pre-season is stark. For example, I just listened to a podcast with Robin Washut that aired yesterday, and Robin talked about how good it was going to be for Fred to have the entire roster available to "tinker" with lineups. He obviously had no clue about any of these situations, nor seemingly has any other reporter/journalist. There has been almost no pre-season coverage in print or media. Can you imagine if the football team had 40+ players injured or otherwise unavailable in preseason camp, there would be non-stop coverage and discussion. Husker Hoops continues to be a total and complete afterthought in this state.
  4. I seriously doubt there is a single other team that currently has 6 scholarship players unavailable. Only at Nebraska is that possible.
  5. Hard to do when I’ve never seen him play— hence why I said “I’m really looking forward to watching him play”
  6. My projected starting lineup: 1. Lawrence 2. Keisei 3. Williams 4. Gary 5. Mast The only question mark is Gary vs. Allick. They seem to be very similar players. Allick has a bit more size, Gary may have a bit more athleticism. The main reason I give the nod to Gary is because Allick is clearly the backup center so he has to stagger his minutes with Mast. First off the bench: 6. Allick 7. CJ 8. Coleman I know CJ had a rough year last year (and was brutal the first half of the season), but he still is probably the 2nd best pure shooter on the team behind Keisei. Fred said he's been shooting lights out in practice, can it carry over to games this year? He shot over 40% from 3 in the B1G as a freshman, so he has proven he can do it. Hoping and maybe even expecting that he can do it again. Allick will have to play big. Not sure he is ideal as a center (at just 6'8") in the B1G, but I don't see any indication Keita is coming back any time soon and Diop is just a raw freshman no matter how athletic. Rice and Diop will have opportunities. I get the sense Hoiberg really like Rice, it's just a question of whether he can learn the system and be consistent enough. As for Diop, he will be fun to watch. We all know he is raw, the question is just how raw. Last, the constant nagging injuries are annoying. I realize they said Mast and Gary are not serious, but still. During the scrimmage last Saturday we had 4 scholarship players out with injury. Is this common? If we surveyed every team in the country, how many would have 4 or more scholarship players injured at one time? And is a foot/ankle injury on a big guy ever really "non-serious"? Keita anyone? Are either/both of them going to play in the exhibition this Sunday? Are they even back to practicing now? Fortunately we start out with an easy schedule, but Mast is brand new to the team and needs all the practice and playing time with this new team he can get. He can't be expected to sit on the sidelines and then just show up for the Creighton game. Every rep, every game counts to build chemistry and continuity.
  7. If he beats out Boogie, that would be disappointing. If he beats out Williams, that would be devastating. Williams is the both the wildcard and the X-factor. I am really looking forward to watching him play and see for myself, because right now he is an enigma to me. His stats are great, his size for a wing is ideal, everybody speaks highly of him. But then why did he not even start at Charlotte last year? I realize its not who starts its who finishes, but 99% of the time the best players still start. He had a really good first game in Spain, then seemed to disappear a bit (not that we should make anything much from that trip, but still). From the very little we learned from the scrimmage against Utah (where is the investigative reporting--Washut? Padilla? Somebody?), Williams was not even mentioned. Again, just one game (and a scrimmage at that), but is he supposed to be a top 1 or 2 player, or a role player? If he is just a role player, is that enough to get us to where we want to go?
  8. If Cale plays will that mean something bad has happened?
  9. Ulis is only a Junior. It is possible he could be suspended all of this year, but still be eligible next year, which could be important since Boogie will be graduating. Plus, Ulis is significant asset to have on the scout team to play against the starters. Fred said he is a good kid and has been a joy to coach so far. Hard to find any reason to dismiss him at this time.
  10. Agreed. Talent is essential. Experienced talent is better.
  11. Coleman is a very nice pick up, especially this late in the off-season. He certainly has the potential to be even better than Ulis. I don't see the log jam at 2-3. Coleman, Keisei and Lawrence are all 1-2, not 3s. None of them are natural PGs, but they are closer to PGs than SF. Most likely, Coleman will be the starting PG (assuming Ulis is ineligible). Keisei and Lawrence will play the 2, and Lawrence will probably be the backup PG. So this means we have 3 primary players for those two spots, so not a log jam there. I'm curious who you think are 3s. IMO, the only experienced 3s on the team are CJ and Williams. Eli is probably a natural 3, but he is a true freshman. Ramel could play the 3, but considering his alleged shooting struggles, he probably will be battling for some minutes at the PG/SG spot, if any. Regarding who "needs the ball", I hope that Coleman doesn't need the ball to shoot a lot. Overall, he is an inefficient shooter at just 37% overall FG%. He is a decent 3 point shooter, but only shot 30% when playing at Missouri in power 5 conference. He scored a lot at Ball State, but, well, that was Ball State. So I would hope that he will be more of a facilitator at NU with some timely spot up 3s or drives. No more off-the-dribbles 2 pt jump shots. Thing I like most about Coleman is his size. If he can play PG at 6'5", he could guard opposing team 2 or 3, allowing him to play with both Keisei and Lawrence at same time if the situation calls for it. This probably wouldn't be possible if Ulis was PG. This would be especially important if either CJ or Williams should get injured for any period of time. It just adds more versatility.
  12. Ummm, I was responding to Norm who asked us to project the point guard position for the season. But you may be right, maybe Fred chooses to start Mast at PG, might be worth a shot.
  13. Maybe. It will be interesting to see who gets more rotation minutes between Cale and Ramel. In many ways they are similar players. Both are versatile guards who can play on or off the ball. Ramel is a bit taller (6'6" vs. 6'4"), but Cale is stronger. Doubt there is room for both of them in the rotation.
  14. Excellent work, appreciate the write up. In watching the highlights you attached, I noticed that most all of the 3s that Gary made were from the corner. Do you have stats on what percentage of his 3 point shots were from the corner, and what percentage he shot on 3s from the corner as opposed to the wing or top of the key?
  15. As of right now, just listening to Fred and reading the tea leaves: 1. Ulis 2. Lawrence 3. Sam H 4. Cale 5. Ramel (Fred said he will play a lot "in Spain". Hope this changes and Ramel moves up to 2 or 3 by end of season, but not really expecting it at this point.
  16. We only have 11 scholarship players, but we have 2 quality walkons who are point guards. Along with everyone else, I am hoping Ramel will be the player we all hope/expect him to be. In particular, I am hoping he can be a tall (6'6") PG because that would open up opportunities to play Lawrence and Keisei together at the SG/wing. But, I was not and am not planning on it for this season. The main reason for my doubt is simply from listening to Fred whenever he talks about the roster. He rarely mentions Ramel and when he does it usually only is only about him "gaining strength." But even more specific, in his last interview a couple of months ago, Fred was specifically asked about the PG position and he listed about 3 players, which included Sam Hoiberg, and did not include Lloyd. That told me all I needed to know as to the PG position coming into this season. As alluded to above, the problem with our guard situation is that we have too many quality "small" guards. Lawrence and Keisei are two of our best players. But neither are true PGs, and we cannot play both of them along with Ulis who is only 6'3" because of defensive limitations. If Ulis is our starting PG, then most likely Lawrence will be coming off the bench. And if Sam Hoiberg is the backup PG, this makes us even smaller, and does not alleviate the problem of playing Lawrence and Keisei together. My guess is that Lawrence the backup PG, a role he can perform, but is not really his strength. A lot can change between now and the start of the season, but my current projected starting lineup: PG - Ulis SG - Keisei SF - Williams PF - Gary C - Mast Gary will have to battle Allick for that starting PF position, and really could go either way. Wilcher will backup Williams, and Lawrence will backup Ulis and Keisei.
  17. This is an interesting statement considering NU is currently hosting Ahron Ulis, who was a starter on an NCAA tourney Iowa team (that finished in the top half of the league), and yet I wouldn't trade a single player in our current top 7 rotation for him (Keisie, Lawrence, Mast, Williams, Gary, Lloyd, Keita). Most on this board are very ho-hum about the possible addition of Ulis, with one calling him a plan D or E type recruit. One could argue that Ulis is a better prospect than Wilcher, WB or maybe even Keita, but considering our roster construction, and our need for size and post presence, I would not trade either Keita or WB for Ulis. We definitely need a talent upgrade The talent on the roster last year was not quite enough. But I would choose Lawrence six days a week and twice on Sunday over Ulis. Lawrence, as a true freshman, put up comparable numbers to Ulis (who was a junior), and Lawrence is a very solid defender and much better 3 point shooter. I understand your reticence to declare the current roster a sure-fire NCAA tourney team. But to absolutely dismiss its potential seems a bit premature. With that said, like everyone here, I am definitely hoping to add some more quality transfers. We have 3 open scholarships, and they will be filled. The most important need IMO is a PG.
  18. The first article I read about him listed him at 6’2” so that height was in my mind. I see others refer to him as 6’3” and rivals at 6’4 so if he is a legit 6’4 then I agree that is good size for a 2 guard.
  19. What the heck is a noncommitable offer? That’s an oxymoron. An offer by definition is something that can be accepted or rejected. If it can’t be accepted then by definition it’s not an offer.
  20. Just watched his 12 minute highlight video. Not overly athletic, but this kid is a straight up hooper. As a junior in HS has more polish than most college seniors. Obviously hard to read too much from just a highlight video, but he gives me some real Tominaga vibes in the way he shoots/plays. One question I have is whether he is a PG or a SG. If he is not a PG then he is a bit small and unathletic for the 2, and may have defensive limitations similar to Keisei
  21. Just watched his 12 minute highlight video. Not overly athletic, but this kid is a straight up hooper. As a junior in HS has more polish than most college seniors. Obviously hard to read too much from just a highlight video, but he gives me some real Tominaga vibes in the way he shoots/plays. One question I have is whether he is a PG or a SG. If he is not a PG then he is a bit small and unathletic for the 2, and may have defensive limitations similar to Keisei
  22. Roster construction is critical and Fred is really going to have to thread the needle on this year's portal class. Nebraska's best returning players are: Keisei -6/2" SG (assuming he returns) Lawrence - 6'3" SG Gary - 6'6" PF This is not an ideal roster construction. And it is a bit odd that the staff is recruiting so many guards considering our two best returning players are SG. We definitely need a PG, but if the PG is 6'5" or shorter, this already complicates the lineup for next season. This seems to be compounded with Nebraska recruiting multiple players who are 6'5" or shorter and who seem to be more SG than PG. As good as Bando was for the team last year as a defender and leader, it seems hard to argue the team was a better with Keisei and Lawrence taking his minutes. Bando came to Nebraska as a career 35% from 3, yet struggled in the B1G and shot about 26%. Would Sallis be any different. And there has been talk of Sallis and Wrightsell possibly being a package deal. This would be yet another smaller guard who really isn't a true PG, and even if he is, how does that roster work? If NU were to sign Sallis and Wrightsell, who would start and/or play significant minutes out of Keisei, Lawrence, Sallis, Wrightsell, (and this doesn't even include McPherson, Hoiberg or Cale). You can't play all 4 at once, and it would be a real stretch to even play 3 at one time, especially if your PF (Gary) is 6'6". I am more interested in players like Williams who have legitimate SF size. Rice (6'7") would also fit this bill, but he will just be a true freshman. And obviously, Lloyd is the wildcard. If Lloyd could play PG, that largely evens out the roster (must like Griesel did) because Ramel could guard the opposing SF, allowing the smaller guards to guard the PG and SG. But Lloyd is an unproven freshman.
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