Offseason Potpourri

[49r]

I did find it interesting that Walt P was still hanging around the program...not sure how I feel about that, TBH.

[hhcmatt]

21 minutes ago, 49r said:

yeah, @hhcdimes I was thinking this morning as I was reading this column that it seems like the annual "they're better this year, and this time we really mean it" Lee B piece was a little early this year.

 

 

[Norm Peterson]

1 hour ago, Navin R. Johnson said:

I was wondering when the annual Husker basketball team chemistry will be better this year article would come out. Maybe this will be the season in which everything clicks.

 

What did they say about chemistry last year?  Asking because I honestly don't recall.

 

We've been talking about leaders on this team and who will fulfill those leadership roles.  This article, as much as it might be labelled the annual "team chemistry will be better this year" article, still has some interesting insights.

 

The guys acting like captains:  Anton Gill and Glynn Watson.

 

I have mentioned ever since he arrived on campus that I've noticed what seem to me to be good signs from Gill.  When he was sitting out as a transfer, he'd go join the huddles during timeouts and would make a point to go say something to a guy who just got pulled from the game.  I saw the same thing last year after his injury.  Rather than getting discouraged and checking out, Gill was still active around the huddle during timeouts even after he got hurt.  So, to read Lee B describe Gill as one of the players assuming that kind of leadership role just confirms what I thought I'd seen of him in the past.

[khoock]

I will admit it has your typical rainbows and sunshine vibes for this time of year. But like Norm said, there is some good insight into the team.

 

Jacks gained some muscle and Jordy and TB have trimmed down while getting stronger (mentioning a walkon has me wondering if Tanner might actually get some playing time).

 

Also, gotta love the mention of Nana and Allen's ability to knock down the three ball. I havr a feeling we will be much improved from deep this upcoming season.

[Red Rum]

2 minutes ago, khoock said:

Also, gotta love the mention of Nana and Allen's ability to knock down the three ball. I havr a feeling we will be much improved from deep this upcoming season.

 

 

Well you can't fall off the floor....

 

sorry i couldn't resist.

[49r]

In fairness, these kind of summer fluff pieces are not unique to us:

 

 

That nobody will be expecting much from the Buffs in the 2017-18 season is not … well, unexpected. Colorado graduated four seniors from last year's squad, including NBA first round draft pick Derrick White, and Boyle is welcoming five incoming freshmen. Throw in the fact that he also has two redshirt freshmen as well as a transfer who sat last season out and it means there will be eight Buffs next year who have never played an official minute of Colorado basketball.

 

Scary? Maybe — but there's also already no doubt the newcomers offer a boatload of potential. That much was clear after Sunday night's full-tilt practice that had all the edge, energy and competitiveness of a midseason workout.

 

"I thought it went great," Boyle said. "A lot of energy, the guys are competing. I was pleased with the veteran guys coming back and I was also pleased with the young guys. We're going to need some of these guys to contribute and  there's no doubt there's some guys out there that are fully capable."

 

Four of CU's freshmen — McKinley Wright IV, D'Shawn Schwartz, Evan Battey and Tyler Bey — are already on campus and practicing. The fifth, Lazar Nicolic, will be on hand in August when the Buffs reconvene to continue preparation for their Italian trip.

What was quite evident Sunday is that the freshmen do indeed have the potential to live up to their billing as one of the best recruiting classes in CU history. All four who were on hand showed at various moments why they came to Boulder so highly regarded.

 

---

 

I mean those paragraphs should be a pretty familiar refrain for us Husker fans...well, other than the graduating four seniors and NBA draft part...we never have that, LOL...

[uneblinstu]

3 minutes ago, khoock said:

I will admit it has your typical rainbows and sunshine vibes for this time of year. But like Norm said, there is some good insight into the team.

 

Jacks gained some muscle and Jordy and TB have trimmed down while getting stronger (mentioning a walkon has me wondering if Tanner might actually get some playing time).

 

Also, gotta love the mention of Nana and Allen's ability to knock down the three ball. I have a feeling we will be much improved from deep this upcoming season.

I mean...every single player that might possibly contribute was mentioned positively...I checked. They may be improved, but this story comes out every year. If one doesn't see a story like that, that should be a red flag.

[Norm Peterson]

1 hour ago, 49r said:

I did find it interesting that Walt P was still hanging around the program...not sure how I feel about that, TBH.

 

Walt P saying he's matured a lot, I guess I have to give him some credit because that's basically an admission that he wasn't mature enough before.  Also tells me that maybe players don't hate Miles as much as some on here were reporting last March.

 

Glynn Watson never transferred.  That kind of tells you something too. 

 

I had heard that there were some flies in the ointment on last year's team.  At least one of them transferred away and won't be missed as much as some around here thought.  That helped chemistry right there.

[huskerbaseball13]

2 hours ago, huskercwg said:

Very good update from Lee.  Provides a brief look inside the Husker weight room, so to speak.

 

http://www.omaha.com/huskers/mens-basketball/barfknecht-no-one-is-ignoring-last-season-but-huskers-summer/article_7b7e9423-1017-5516-a1aa-19adf49e3092.html

 

http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=211307690

 

Not an OWH fluff piece from last year(I'm sure if can be found), but below are some quotes on last years team chemistry and how great it was before the losses piled on.

 

“It’s the tightest it’s ever been while I’ve been here,” said Webster, the only senior on coach Tim Miles’ fifth Husker team. “It’s a whole different feel. We’re great friends off the court, and obviously we’re forced to be friends on the court.”

 

“I’ve been on teams like that, and I’ve been on teams the complete opposite,” Webster said. “This is definitely one of the more-together teams I’ve ever been on, and it’s a lot of fun. I’m enjoying it. I’m so grateful it happened my senior year.”

 

“I just feel like we have a lot more of the buy-in factor this year,” Webster said. “We’ve had a couple of years where we haven’t really reached our goals and stuff, and I think everyone’s realized we can’t do it individually, and we need the team to come together to achieve all of our goals. Individual goals come from us coming together and achieving our team goals.”

Sophomore forward Michael Jacobson has been vocal about Nebraska’s improved team chemistry from a year ago. He describes a close, more tight-knit locker room in which players have a vested interest in knowing one another, and caring.

“It’s just one of those things where you know this guy has my back, and I know he cares about me, he cares about the team, I have trust in him,” Jacobson said. “I think that’s one of the biggest things with good teams, is they trust each other, they trust the process and they trust the coaching staff to put them in the right positions.”

 

Sophomore wing Jack McVeigh simply said the Huskers have “a lot of dudes who just enjoy each other’s company.

“We’re just great mates. We hang out a lot, and more than that, we’re just great in the locker room together,” he said. “It’s nice having the one leader we know who’s a leader in Tai, like someone we look at when a question gets asked sometimes. It’s been really good for him, as well. It’s really helped him grow up and helped him on the court and off the court.”

 

Staff members who are around the team on a daily basis laud Nebraska’s chemistry, some noting it’s the best locker room in Miles’ tenure. One member said you could lock these players in a completely empty room, and they’d find a way to have fun and keep each other entertained.

[uneblinstu]

On 6/28/2017 at 10:23 AM, Norm Peterson said:

What did they say about chemistry last year?  Asking because I honestly don't recall.

So, I went back and did a quick search on what was happening last summer.

 

AW3's transfer - June 26

Roby got hurt on - July 18

No extension for Miles - Aug 4

Anton Gill injury - late August

Aguek Arop - Aug 23

 

Yikes.

 

In retrospect, that was a brutal summer. Maybe we should have done a better job of seeing it coming (and in fairness, some did...). That said, after AW3 left, I saw the team out and about several times during the fall and they were almost always together as a group. They were loose and having fun, they appeared to be a close group. I think you saw signs of this early in the season when they were playing loose and free before they got beat down by the piling up losses late in the year. But, at least so far, there haven't been any of those demoralizing stories, though there's a lot of summer left. But there aren't any rumblings, either, as far as I'm aware. They've got a full summer without players leaving or in-state recruits decommitting (or whatever happened there...) and hopefully everyone stays healthy.

 

We'll find out which version of the story ends up being the reality this winter.

Edited July 1, 2017 by uneblinstu

[49r]

21 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

Walt P saying he's matured a lot, I guess I have to give him some credit because that's basically an admission that he wasn't mature enough before.

 

Yep, I got that immediate impression myself.  Credit where its due I guess.

[HuskerFever]

3 minutes ago, uneblinstu said:

AW3's transfer - June 26

 

WE MADE IT!!

[bobcat402]

Shavon Shields on the Heat summer league roster!

[northwillriseagain]

3 huskers on summer league teams isn't bad, now need some on rosters

[hhcmatt]

4 hours ago, uneblinstu said:

So, I went back and did a quick search on what was happening last summer.

 

AW3's transfer - June 26

Roby got hurt on - July 18

No extension for Miles - Aug 4

Anton Gill injury - late August

Aguek Agau - Aug 23

Tack on

Beckner takes a hint and leaves - April 11

Miles spending time looking for a new assistant ~ April 11th - May 4th

[Norm Peterson]

6 hours ago, huskerbaseball13 said:

 

http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=211307690

 

Not an OWH fluff piece from last year(I'm sure if can be found), but below are some quotes on last years team chemistry and how great it was before the losses piled on.

 

(snipped)

 

And losing (a/k/a adversity) can wreak havoc on chemistry. 

 

I probably sound like a broken record but that team had a lot of bounce-back in them but they pretty much emptied the tank of bounce-back with about 12 games left in the season.

 

It would have been a pretty aggressive schedule even with AWIII.  But that's the kind of brutal schedule that can take the starch right out of you.  Because once you start losing, things can start to fall apart and are more difficult to hold together. 

 

Losing can be demoralizing.  Being demoralized causes loss of unit cohesion and esprit de corps.  Chemistry might very well have been very good last summer, better than in times past.  I can very, very easily believe that.

 

But we put a young, inexperienced squad, missing a 3-point threat, through a meat grinder of a schedule.  There's no way Miles would have scheduled like that if he'd known AWIII wasn't going to be part of the team. 

 

That's one of the reasons I hold AWIII in such low regard for leaving us hanging like that.  He really left us in a lurch.

 

Fortunately, sounds like this year's team has a more complete set of skills and perhaps a slightly less daunting non-conference schedule.

Edited June 28, 2017 by Norm Peterson

[uneblinstu]

55 minutes ago, hhcdimes said:

Tack on

Beckner takes a hint and leaves - April 11

Miles spending time looking for a new assistant ~ April 11th - May 4th

My time frame was essentially from when Jordy committed to the start of the fall semester.

[uneblinstu]

On 6/28/2017 at 11:06 AM, huskerbaseball13 said:

 

http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=211307690

 

Not an OWH fluff piece from last year(I'm sure if can be found), but below are some quotes on last years team chemistry and how great it was before the losses piled on.

 

“It’s the tightest it’s ever been while I’ve been here,” said Webster, the only senior on coach Tim Miles’ fifth Husker team. “It’s a whole different feel. We’re great friends off the court, and obviously we’re forced to be friends on the court.”

 

“I’ve been on teams like that, and I’ve been on teams the complete opposite,” Webster said. “This is definitely one of the more-together teams I’ve ever been on, and it’s a lot of fun. I’m enjoying it. I’m so grateful it happened my senior year.”

 

“I just feel like we have a lot more of the buy-in factor this year,” Webster said. “We’ve had a couple of years where we haven’t really reached our goals and stuff, and I think everyone’s realized we can’t do it individually, and we need the team to come together to achieve all of our goals. Individual goals come from us coming together and achieving our team goals.”

Sophomore forward Michael Jacobson has been vocal about Nebraska’s improved team chemistry from a year ago. He describes a close, more tight-knit locker room in which players have a vested interest in knowing one another, and caring.

“It’s just one of those things where you know this guy has my back, and I know he cares about me, he cares about the team, I have trust in him,” Jacobson said. “I think that’s one of the biggest things with good teams, is they trust each other, they trust the process and they trust the coaching staff to put them in the right positions.”

 

Sophomore wing Jack McVeigh simply said the Huskers have “a lot of dudes who just enjoy each other’s company.

“We’re just great mates. We hang out a lot, and more than that, we’re just great in the locker room together,” he said. “It’s nice having the one leader we know who’s a leader in Tai, like someone we look at when a question gets asked sometimes. It’s been really good for him, as well. It’s really helped him grow up and helped him on the court and off the court.”

 

Staff members who are around the team on a daily basis laud Nebraska’s chemistry, some noting it’s the best locker room in Miles’ tenure. One member said you could lock these players in a completely empty room, and they’d find a way to have fun and keep each other entertained.

I do think there's a difference between the OWH/LJS type writing a piece like this than the Huskers inhouse writers. The beat writers don't have to say nice things, and often don't, but Rosenthal or York aren't going to point out the negative things. I couldn't the OWH writing anything like this last offseason. Didn't check LJS. Last summer, in retrospect, was full of storm clouds.

[jason2486]

On 6/28/2017 at 2:56 PM, northwillriseagain said:

3 huskers on summer league teams isn't bad, now need some on rosters

If we include Benedict Arnold III, 4. Just think, if Petteway stayed, 4 players from the 15-16 would be on NBA summer league teams this year. Shows the improvement of recruiting.

[HF_]

And yet...only 1 winning season in the TM tenure.

[uneblinstu]

Also, the first NCAA tournament in nearly a generation.

[49r]

http://www.cleveland.com/osu/2017/06/ohio_state_basketball_offers_g.html

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State basketball coach Chris Holtmann has made it sound as if the Buckeyes are done with the 2017 recruiting class.

 

Holtmann got the job late. By the time he arrived in Columbus earlier this month, almost all of the potential players the Buckeyes could recruit this year had signed or committed elsewhere. Makes sense.

 

But perhaps Ohio State is not quite done. It offered four-star 2018 combo guard Eric Ayala on Thursday, according to multiple reports. Why does that matter for this year? Ayala could potentially reclassify to 2017.

[hhcmatt]

Next year's rotation at the 5

 

 

O.R.E.O! Ya like? #Normandie

A post shared by Jordy Tshimanga (@lafoudre32) on Jun 24, 2017 at 9:00pm PDT

 

[The Polish Rifle]

1 hour ago, hhcdimes said:

Next year's rotation at the 5

 

 

Jordy is MC Slammer

[hhcmatt]

Looks like he's gone from 2 to 3 chainz in the offseason