Next Years Starting 5

[Norm Peterson]

Aphilso, with all respect, I don't see from his hudl video what you're concerned about.

 

Can you break it down any further?

 

http://www.hudl.com/video/3/6500304/5721db1e9a90ec5540a47cdd

[Norm Peterson]

In fact, with his shooting ability, length, athleticism, and reputation for being a focused defender, I'm going to say I could see a starting lineup going into conference play next season that has Nana Akenten in it.

[Art Vandalay]

Agree Norm, that shot looks nice to me and not real slow at all. I would like to see more of his handle but the shot does not concern me and it looks like he has deep range.

 

That being said we need another guard who can play. A real good frosh or a grad transfer. I am not convinced on Gill and Taylor will never shot close to 40% on threes in my opinion. I do like his pull up but there it is not pretty from deep.

[Norm Peterson]

I just hope Gill will recover well enough to play again.  I'm not any expert on knees but I sure worry about how soon he'll be back and if he'll ever get back to 100%.  His injury sounded pretty complicated and tricky, from my layman's perspective.

[Fullbacksympathy]

27 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

In fact, with his shooting ability, length, athleticism, and reputation for being a focused defender, I'm going to say I could see a starting lineup going into conference play next season that has Nana Akenten in it.

 

Agree.  Akenten might be my favorite recruit of the TM era so far outside of Jordy (who I think has an NBA future if he muscles up).  He's an absolute steal.  I do think he starts eventually as our 3 and D guy.  He's going to be very similar to AWIII in what he brings for a skillset, which is exactly what we're missing.  He should be able to play the 3 for sure, but I'm hoping he settles in to the 2 spot with improved ball handling.  

[aphilso1]

2 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

Aphilso, with all respect, I don't see from his hudl video what you're concerned about.

 

Can you break it down any further?

 

http://www.hudl.com/video/3/6500304/5721db1e9a90ec5540a47cdd

 

I can't pull videos up at work, but I can rewatch his Hudl highlights again tonight.  From memory though, the first move he makes on jump shots is actually lowering the ball to around thigh level.  I didn't notice it on plays when he creates his own shot,  but did on the ones that were supposed to be catch-and-shoot.  I'm looking for an efficient, quick release in a deadeye shooter.  Not saying it's a terrible shooting motion by any means, but also not what I'd call efficient.  But who knows, he may very well be able to tighten it up under pressure.  Danny Green is a pretty darn good distance shooter in the NBA with a similar body type, and I can remember him shooting it that way when he's wide open and not rushed.  He's also able to tighten up the mechanics and get a clean shot off when contested.

[Norm Peterson]

What I see is a guy with decent though not quite perfect mechanics (he could tweak a thing or two) who has a longer wind up than you'd probably ideally like to see, but gets really good elevation on his jump, and has a high release.  The fact that he gets great elevation on his jump, is 6'5" with long arms, and has a high release, will almost certainly make up for any lack of quickness on his release. 

 

I vote he's able to get that shot off at the next level.

Edited March 10, 2017 by Norm Peterson

[uneblinstu]

He'll probably be able to get it off, but I agree with @aphilso1, in that it's not the most efficient shot. It's probably adequate and hopefully can tighten and quicken it up as he matures. 

[hskr4life]

At this point, I could care less if a guy would shoot it off of his damn head.  I just want the thing to start going into the hole.  If Nana can do that... then count me in.

[hhcmatt]

7 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

At this point, I could care less if a guy would shoot it off of his damn head.

 

That seems more like a Jordy move

[49r]

...all I really care about is if he makes 'em.  One needs look no further than Lonzo Ball to see an ugly shot that goes in more often than not.

[uneblinstu]

Just now, 49r said:

...all I really care about is if he makes 'em.  One needs look no further than Lonzo Ball to see an ugly shot that goes in more often than not.

But it's also lightning quick. I think that's more of the concern.

[uneblinstu]

On 3/9/2017 at 7:26 PM, nustudent said:

Hate to say it....IMO....Nana is the deciding factor.   

Thinking about this a bit, if this is true, we're basically asking him to be Kevin Huerter. Huerter shot about 43% from 3 in AAU play. And hit about 37% (39.4% in B1G play) in his FR year. Can Nana do that? Is that good enough? I can't find his HS or AAU stats for the life of me, so I'm not sure how they compare to what Huerter put up his senior year.

Edited March 11, 2017 by uneblinstu

[nustudent]

4 hours ago, uneblinstu said:

Thinking about this a bit, if this is true, we're basically asking him to be Kevin Huerter. Huerter shot about 43% from 3 in AAU play. And hit about 37% (39.4% in B1G play) in his FR year. Can Nana do that? Is that good enough? I can't find his HS or AAU stats for the life of me, so I'm not sure how they compare to what Huerter put up his senior year.

Huerter or not...we need to be able to plug and play and get a major contribution out of a frosh.  

 

We've struggled with that.   Last year the 4 frosh played out of necessity.   To a certain extent, Roby and Horne as well.   And they each struggled at times as there was no real defined role.   

[Dean Smith]

22 hours ago, aphilso1 said:

 

I can't pull videos up at work, but I can rewatch his Hudl highlights again tonight.  From memory though, the first move he makes on jump shots is actually lowering the ball to around thigh level.  I didn't notice it on plays when he creates his own shot,  but did on the ones that were supposed to be catch-and-shoot.  I'm looking for an efficient, quick release in a deadeye shooter.  Not saying it's a terrible shooting motion by any means, but also not what I'd call efficient.  But who knows, he may very well be able to tighten it up under pressure.  Danny Green is a pretty darn good distance shooter in the NBA with a similar body type, and I can remember him shooting it that way when he's wide open and not rushed.  He's also able to tighten up the mechanics and get a clean shot off when contested.

That's called the dip. Other players who dipped: Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, etc. 

 

Some call it the pro shot shooting method. Not all of them use every part of the method but they all dip, get their shooting shoulder directly in line with the basket, shoulders back on the shot and follow through with the index finger down and all the others up. There is lots of good video on this on YouTube - Pro Sot Shootomg Method. 

 

I don't like every part of that method but I agree with a lot. When talking to another coach about how I taught shooting now he said that sounds a lot like the pro shot method and told me to watch video on YouTube. I do know if you go to Duke or North Carolina, that's how they teach you to shoot. 

[bleujay]

Looking at the youtube vid from a couple months ago...a mechanical shot for sure. It doesn't look like he's shooting with the momentum of his jump. But its a reasonably quick release and, at least from that one game, looks relatively consistent. Definitely looks like a player to count on for knocking down shots. But you just never know with true freshmen, especially underrecruited ones who have been less scrutinized . 

[Dean Smith]

43 minutes ago, bleujay said:

Looking at the youtube vid from a couple months ago...a mechanical shot for sure. It doesn't look like he's shooting with the momentum of his jump. But its a reasonably quick release and, at least from that one game, looks relatively consistent. Definitely looks like a player to count on for knocking down shots. But you just never know with true freshmen, especially underrecruited ones who have been less scrutinized . 

I don't understand what you mean by, "doesn't look like he's shooting with the momentum of his jump." He's not shooting on the way down and he's going slightly forward on the jump. Looks to me like he's using the jump correctly. 

[kldm64]

I could care less about what Nana's form looks like as long as the ball goes through the hoop.

[aphilso1]

I still say that if we're a better 3pt% team next year, it will be more so the result of improvement from guys already on the roster rather than a direct result of adding Nana.  But hey, as long as we get better I don't really care where the improvement comes from.

[Ron Mexico]

My starters for the beginning of the season:

Gynn - He'll play at least 30min a game

Palmer/Taylor - People are two easily discounting Evan.

Copeland - In my view there is no way that he doesn't start.

Morrow/Jacobson - Here I would caution against discounting Michael as a purely bench player. 

Jordy T/ Morrow - I look for these two to split minutes

 

McVeigh and Roby will get a lot of minutes.

 

TM will have the ability to situationally adjust the lineup which is major advantage.

The potential of the following lineup is very intriguing to me:

Glynn

Palmer

Roby

Copeland

Morrow

 

[Huskerpapa]

I do think we will see pretty amazing growth out of Mr. Roby and Mr. Horne.  Depth is going to good.  Quality of the depth is yet to be determined.

[Norm Peterson]

On 3/9/2017 at 4:48 PM, Norm Peterson said:

The players with the highest ceiling and biggest upside on the roster are probably Roby and Jordy.

 

If those two guys take the kinds of giant leaps forward they're probably capable of, that will improve the team the most.

 

Therefore, if we have a starting lineup that features those two guys, it probably means they took those steps forward and it would make the team better in the process.

 

From Chatelain's column today:

 

Challenge players to compete. At the same time, recognize your X-factors and prepare them accordingly. This roster doesn’t have many high-ceiling guys. Jacobson, Morrow and Taylor aren’t getting you to the NCAA tournament. 

But Nebraska can gain ground quickly in the Big Ten if Roby, Jordy Tshimanga and Isaac Copeland progress. Coaches must prioritize their development.

 

So, having said that, suggested starters:

 

PG 6-0 Glynn Watson

SG 6-6 James Palmer

SF 6-8 Isaiah Roby

PF 6-9 Isaac Copeland

C 6-11 Jordy Tshimanga

 

For the record, when I was projecting next year's starters on March 9, almost 3 weeks ago, Ed Morrow wasn't in my top 5.

[PimpMario]

 
For the record, when I was projecting next year's starters on March 9, almost 3 weeks ago, Ed Morrow wasn't in my top 5.

So he was your 6th man?

[nustudent]

Didn't think he would start either.    Doesn't mean there aren't red flags or issues with the departure 

[OmahaHusker]

30 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

For the record, when I was projecting next year's starters on March 9, almost 3 weeks ago, Ed Morrow wasn't in my top 5.

 

When Glynn leaves you can give yourself permission to freak out then