A comparison of teams

[khoock]

Since it seems our roster has pretty much settled and its kind of the dead point of college basketball with the CWS and summer/fall camp approaching for football, i think it'd be fun to compare last years team versus this years team. 

- PG: So. Glynn Watson < Jr. Glynn Watson

It is only natural to think Watson will progress with another year.

- SG: Sr. Tai Webster > Jr. James Palmer

Tai was unbelievable his senior year and the growth and commitment he showed throughout his time here has him as one of my all time favorites. If Palmer can put up half the #s Tai did we will be in good shape.

- SF: Jr. Evan Taylor < So. Isaiah Roby

ET was grinder and busted his ass on the court but was limited in so many ways. Roby oozes potential and hopefuly takes a big step for his sophomore campaign.

- PF: So. Michael Jacobson < Jr. Isaac Copeland

MJ was another energy guy that brought decent athleticism and attacked the boards like crazy. His offensive game never developed like we would have hoped. Alot rests on Copeland and his elegibility. If hes good for the whole season then watch out. Hes gifted with the ability to do alot of things MJ couldnt.

- C: So. Ed Morrow = So. Jordy Tshimanga

I was a huge Morrow fan so call me biased but he was a bad man. That attitude isnt easy to replace nor is 9pts/7reb. Jordy showed alot of potential towards the end of the season and could be in line for a breakout year.

 

BENCH

- 6th: So. Jack McVeigh < Jr. Jack McVeigh

I for one, dont think Jack is gonna be as easy to bench as some of you do. The kid is resilient and will find away on the floor. And next year he'll be a little stronger and more consistent.

- 7: Fr. Isaiah Roby < Fr. Thomas Allen

Roby's injuries made this one a lot easier than it should have been. Also Allen comes in with a specific role as a knock down shooter. Not the most ideal comparison but this years squad is more gaurd heavy and last years was more forward heavy.

- 8: Fr. Jeriah Horne < Fr. Nana Akenten.

Nana will have a similiar role as Horne was suppose to last year but i think he will be better at it. He alreadys has the build for a perimeter player whereas Horne was reshaping his body after previously playing in the post. Also Nana has the athleticism to be less prone to mistakes on defense and therefore get more minutes.

- 9: Fr. Jordy Tshimanga > Sr. Duby Okeke

Duby struggled with injuries and foul trouble at a much lower level of basketball. The Big Ten will test him. But his NCAA tournament experience and winning attitude hopefully comes in handy. Back up center is still a big worry to me.

- 10: Jr. Nick Fuller < Sr. Evan Taylor

Both will play similiar roles but ET gets the nod bc he has proven he can also play a bigger role.

- 11: Jr. Anton Gill > Sr. Anton Gill

Thats just a tough injury to come back from. And hes only played 1/2 a season in the past 2+ years.

[REDZONEDAN]

6 minutes ago, khoock said:

 

Tai was unbelievable his senior year and the growth and commitment he showed throughout his time here has him as one of my all time favorites.

This x 1000

[49r]

Man, and people HATED sophomore Tai Webster.  Many wanted him to transfer.

 

Can we think of any guys on the current roster that might fit that description???

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*cough*Jack McVeigh*cough*

[hskr4life]

8 minutes ago, khoock said:

Since it seems our roster has pretty much settled and its kind of the dead point of college basketball with the CWS and summer/fall camp approaching for football, i think it'd be fun to compare last years team versus this years team. 

- PG: So. Glynn Watson < Jr. Glynn Watson

It is only natural to think Watson will progress with another year.

- SG: Sr. Tai Webster > Jr. James Palmer

Tai was unbelievable his senior year and the growth and commitment he showed throughout his time here has him as one of my all time favorites. If Palmer can put up half the #s Tai did we will be in good shape.

- SF: Jr. Evan Taylor < So. Isaiah Roby

ET was grinder and busted his ass on the court but was limited in so many ways. Roby oozes potential and hopefuly takes a big step for his sophomore campaign.

- PF: So. Michael Jacobson < Jr. Isaac Copeland (I could see this as a = **IF** Copeland is not eligible right away.)

MJ was another energy guy that brought decent athleticism and attacked the boards like crazy. His offensive game never developed like we would have hoped. Alot rests on Copeland and his elegibility. If hes good for the whole season then watch out. Hes gifted with the ability to do alot of things MJ couldnt.

- C: So. Ed Morrow = So. Jordy Tshimanga (I could see this as a > towards Ed, but I would of put = as well.  The reason being is Jordy brings some things that Ed did not.)

I was a huge Morrow fan so call me biased but he was a bad man. That attitude isnt easy to replace nor is 9pts/7reb. Jordy showed alot of potential towards the end of the season and could be in line for a breakout year.

 

BENCH

- 6th: So. Jack McVeigh < Jr. Jack McVeigh

I for one, dont think Jack is gonna be as easy to bench as some of you do. The kid is resilient and will find away on the floor. And next year he'll be a little stronger and more consistent.

- 7: Fr. Isaiah Roby < Fr. Thomas Allen (I think this is more of an =, but if Allen can come in as a shooter right away, you have it spot on)

Roby's injuries made this one a lot easier than it should have been. Also Allen comes in with a specific role as a knock down shooter. Not the most ideal comparison but this years squad is more gaurd heavy and last years was more forward heavy.

- 8: Fr. Jeriah Horne < Fr. Nana Akenten. (This is a good one for Nana and Allen.  I think that Nana and Jeriah are more of a =, but could see it leaning Nana's way.)

Nana will have a similiar role as Horne was suppose to last year but i think he will be better at it. He alreadys has the build for a perimeter player whereas Horne was reshaping his body after previously playing in the post. Also Nana has the athleticism to be less prone to mistakes on defense and therefore get more minutes.

- 9: Fr. Jordy Tshimanga > Sr. Duby Okeke (Experience goes a long way.  I am holding off on Duby until I actually see him in a Husker uniform.  Sometimes when you put a player into a situation where they HAVE to be better... they are better than they were.)

Duby struggled with injuries and foul trouble at a much lower level of basketball. The Big Ten will test him. But his NCAA tournament experience and winning attitude hopefully comes in handy. Back up center is still a big worry to me.

- 10: Jr. Nick Fuller < Sr. Evan Taylor

Both will play similiar roles but ET gets the nod bc he has proven he can also play a bigger role.

- 11: Jr. Anton Gill > Sr. Anton Gill (I think that this one is more of a = and could end up leaning toward SR Anton.  We shall see how this progresses.)

Thats just a tough injury to come back from. And hes only played 1/2 a season in the past 2+ years.

 

A couple of notes...

 

1.  I think that you were pretty spot on with most... and I love these types of threads.

2.  To even see Anton at the #11 spot despite his injury is something that we just need to step back and admire.  If you would have told me Anton could possibly be the 11th player on the team as a SR even with an injury, I would have said you were nuts.

3.  I've said it before, and I will say it again.  I love the way that this team sets up.  I am much more happy now than I thought I would be with all of the transfers.

[hskr4life]

3 minutes ago, 49r said:

Man, and people HATED sophomore Tai Webster.  Many wanted him to transfer.

 

Can we think of any guys on the current roster that might fit that description???

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*cough*Jack McVeigh*cough*

 

This is exactly why you do not just stop giving a kid minutes and give up on him... despite what some on here say.

[huskerbaseball13]

16 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

 

This is exactly why you do not just stop giving a kid minutes and give up on him... despite what some on here say.

 

I think Jack can still play a crucial role to our success the next two years.  He was a black hole for the better part of the non conference last year but he also has the skill to get hot from deep.  And, we need guys who are willing and able to make the three ball because that's been an issue in Lincoln for as long as I can remember. 

[Jacob Padilla]

The roster is also short on guys who can play the four. You have Copeland, Roby and McVeigh at this point and that is it. Nebraska will need him this year.

 

[khoock]

My question is who else plays the 5?

I see bestcase scenario we get 25 min from Jordy and 10 from Duby. Who plays the remaining 5-10 min (bc as Husker fans we know we rarely get the best case scenario).

 

[Huskerpapa]

One word...flexibility.  With certain line ups we may suffer from traditional match up problems on defense.  But, when we are on the offensive end of the court, we too can create match up problems.  It will be interesting moving forward.  Who plays where is almost as important as who plays.

[lang]

3 hours ago, khoock said:

My question is who else plays the 5?

I see bestcase scenario we get 25 min from Jordy and 10 from Duby. Who plays the remaining 5-10 min (bc as Husker fans we know we rarely get the best case scenario).

 

Tanner B baby...coach said it.  Don't count him out !

[Jugular]

7 hours ago, khoock said:

Since it seems our roster has pretty much settled and its kind of the dead point of college basketball with the CWS and summer/fall camp approaching for football, i think it'd be fun to compare last years team versus this years team. 

- PG: So. Glynn Watson < Jr. Glynn Watson

It is only natural to think Watson will progress with another year.

- SG: Sr. Tai Webster > Jr. James Palmer

Tai was unbelievable his senior year and the growth and commitment he showed throughout his time here has him as one of my all time favorites. If Palmer can put up half the #s Tai did we will be in good shape.

- SF: Jr. Evan Taylor < So. Isaiah Roby

ET was grinder and busted his ass on the court but was limited in so many ways. Roby oozes potential and hopefuly takes a big step for his sophomore campaign.

- PF: So. Michael Jacobson < Jr. Isaac Copeland

MJ was another energy guy that brought decent athleticism and attacked the boards like crazy. His offensive game never developed like we would have hoped. Alot rests on Copeland and his elegibility. If hes good for the whole season then watch out. Hes gifted with the ability to do alot of things MJ couldnt.

- C: So. Ed Morrow = So. Jordy Tshimanga

I was a huge Morrow fan so call me biased but he was a bad man. That attitude isnt easy to replace nor is 9pts/7reb. Jordy showed alot of potential towards the end of the season and could be in line for a breakout year.

 

BENCH

- 6th: So. Jack McVeigh < Jr. Jack McVeigh

I for one, dont think Jack is gonna be as easy to bench as some of you do. The kid is resilient and will find away on the floor. And next year he'll be a little stronger and more consistent.

- 7: Fr. Isaiah Roby < Fr. Thomas Allen

Roby's injuries made this one a lot easier than it should have been. Also Allen comes in with a specific role as a knock down shooter. Not the most ideal comparison but this years squad is more gaurd heavy and last years was more forward heavy.

- 8: Fr. Jeriah Horne < Fr. Nana Akenten.

Nana will have a similiar role as Horne was suppose to last year but i think he will be better at it. He alreadys has the build for a perimeter player whereas Horne was reshaping his body after previously playing in the post. Also Nana has the athleticism to be less prone to mistakes on defense and therefore get more minutes.

- 9: Fr. Jordy Tshimanga > Sr. Duby Okeke

Duby struggled with injuries and foul trouble at a much lower level of basketball. The Big Ten will test him. But his NCAA tournament experience and winning attitude hopefully comes in handy. Back up center is still a big worry to me.

- 10: Jr. Nick Fuller < Sr. Evan Taylor

Both will play similiar roles but ET gets the nod bc he has proven he can also play a bigger role.

- 11: Jr. Anton Gill > Sr. Anton Gill

Thats just a tough injury to come back from. And hes only played 1/2 a season in the past 2+ years.

 

Is that pre-diet change Tai?

[aphilso1]

15 hours ago, khoock said:

My question is who else plays the 5?

I see bestcase scenario we get 25 min from Jordy and 10 from Duby. Who plays the remaining 5-10 min (bc as Husker fans we know we rarely get the best case scenario).

 

 

I've thought the exact same thing.  If you're going to play small, you've got to either find a way to get the other team to adjust to your style of play, or you've got to strategically insert your small lineup when you'll receive the least negative impact.  Not sure we've got the horses to dictate a fun-n-gun/high press style of play (I'm thinking something like Shaka Smart's tournament VCU teams), and it seems a stretch to say we could space the floor with 5 shooters (we were awful at shooting the rock from  deep last year).  Maybe there's another way to successfully build around a small lineup, but none come to mind at the moment.  So that leaves Option B: only go small at strategic times of the game when the negative impact will be minimal.  This seems somewhat doable; since most teams don't boast a dominant backup PF/C combo, it stands to reason that we could hide Copeland or Roby at the 5 for a few MPG.  Probably would be an ideal time to bust out the zone D, too.

[aphilso1]

17 hours ago, 49r said:

Man, and people HATED sophomore Tai Webster.  Many wanted him to transfer.

 

Can we think of any guys on the current roster that might fit that description???

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*cough*Jack McVeigh*cough*

 

I've seen a bunch of posts claiming that other people want Jack to transfer, but no posts of anyone actually stating they want Jack to go.  Sure, there's plenty of speculation that he won't earn enough minutes in the regular rotation, but that's a far cry from wanting him to jump on a plane back to Kangarooland. 

 

You could probably drop the cudgel, 49r.  The horse appears to be dead

[Huskerpapa]

I will just add, when (not if) Jack recovers his stroke, he will find a lot of minutes at both the 3 and the 4. 

[aphilso1]

As to the original post, I think it slightly oversimplifies in some areas (Webster v. Palmer deserves more than one '>,' IMO), and doesn't place enough emphasis on non-scoring skills.  There was one thing that we did at a very high level last year, and kept us in a lot of ball games: REBOUNDING.  Webster rebounded well relative to his position on the floor as a 1/2, Jacobson frequently erased the other team's best rebounder to free up our guys to go after the ball, and Morrow was beast.  Hopefully Jordy can stay out of foul trouble and continue his late-season growth.  Hopefully Duby can rebound against high major talent.  Hopefully our PF's are willing to pound the glass.  But that's a lot of hopefullies.  I think we could conceivably be '>' at almost every position, but still not improve in terms of wins and losses. 

 

All that being said, I do like the overall level of talent on this team.  I'm hoping that we've got enough guys willing to do the little things to win.

[Norm Peterson]

18 hours ago, khoock said:

- C: So. Ed Morrow = So. Jordy Tshimanga

I was a huge Morrow fan so call me biased but he was a bad man. That attitude isnt easy to replace nor is 9pts/7reb. Jordy showed alot of potential towards the end of the season and could be in line for a breakout year.

 

- 9: Fr. Jordy Tshimanga > Sr. Duby Okeke

Duby struggled with injuries and foul trouble at a much lower level of basketball. The Big Ten will test him. But his NCAA tournament experience and winning attitude hopefully comes in handy. Back up center is still a big worry to me.

 

I'm going to hone in on a couple of these.

 

First of all, I posted the exact numbers elsewhere, but in the last 11 games of last season, Jordy was putting up more points and rebounds per 40 minutes of playing time than either Ed or Michael.  That means, as a late freshman, Jordy was more productive than Sophomore Ed Morrow.  So, Sophomore Jordy, more likely than not, is going to be better than Sophomore Ed was.  At the end of the year, Ed was nowhere near the player he'd been at the beginning, I think partly due to him trying to be something other than what he was.

 

Comparing Freshman Jordy to Senior Duby, I don't feel like I could say Duby isn't going to be as good as Jordy was.  Jordy was very raw coming in and you could see the improvements almost game by game.  But, for most of the season, he was still raw. 

 

What I've seen from Duby is kind of a lot like what we saw from Ed Morrow, quite frankly:  Strong and athletic but he's not going to get you buckets outside the paint.  Duby has a height and length advantage over Ed.  I'm going to take a guess that Senior Duby is not quite the equal of Sophomore Ed, but not terribly far behind him either.  Which means Senior Duby probably isn't going to be any worse than Freshman Jordy was.

 

I guess I'm more optimistic about our inside situation than most around here.  I think Jordy and Duby can cover 40 minutes at the 5 most nights.  And for the few minutes they might not be able to cover, we still have Tanner Borchardt.

[nebrasketball10]

18 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

I'm going to hone in on a couple of these.

 

First of all, I posted the exact numbers elsewhere, but in the last 11 games of last season, Jordy was putting up more points and rebounds per 40 minutes of playing time than either Ed or Michael.  That means, as a late freshman, Jordy was more productive than Sophomore Ed Morrow. 

 

I see what you're saying, that on a ppm and rpm basis, Jordy was more productive at the end of the year. But I'm not sure the comparison is quite that simple. That is, I don't think you can necessarily say that, given more minutes, Jordy would/will provide equal or greater output. 

 

For starters, (and I don't have the numbers to back this up, so I could be wrong), Jordy seemed more foul proned (I would imagine his fouls-per-minute was also greater). So it's not safe to assume you could extrapolate his per-minute numbers accurately. 

 

That said, I expect him to improve markedly from year one to year two. Overall, I'm just not as confident our front court is better on paper this year than it was last year. 

 

To the OP, I don't know how we can say Copeland, coming off injury and with unclear eligibility, is going to be an automatic upgrade. I think we tend to look back to the stars coming out of high school, but GENERALLY speaking, performance at the "next level" supersedes rated potential at that level. This is NOT to say he won't be great... I just hesitate to assume a high school ranking was accurate and we're getting that caliber of player when we get a transfer who underperformed at a previous school. 

[Norm Peterson]

Actually ... 

 

Ed Morrow's last 8 games (after he returned from his foot problem, there were only 8 games left in the season) he averaged 6.08 fouls per 40 minutes.  In the same last 8 games, Jordy averaged 4.44 fouls per 40 minutes.

[REDZONEDAN]

3 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

Actually ... 

 

Ed Morrow's last 8 games (after he returned from his foot problem, there were only 8 games left in the season) he averaged 6.08 fouls per 40 minutes.  In the same last 8 games, Jordy averaged 4.44 fouls per 40 minutes.

My recollection is that later in the season, Jordy started talking to the refs before the game in order to get an idea on how they would call the game, which appeared to help with his foul issue that he had early on in the season.

[Norm Peterson]

Duby Okeke's freshman year stats:  13.7 mpg; 4.4 ppg; 2.8 rpg; .695 FG%; .549 FT%

 

Ed Morrow's freshman year stats:  13.7 mpg; 4.1 ppg; 3.3 rpg; .639 FG%; .571 FT%

 

Jordy Tshimanga's freshman year stats:  12.5 mpg; 5.0 ppg; 4.0 rpg; .449 FG%; .625 FT%

[Donkey]

14 hours ago, lang said:

Tanner B baby...coach said it.  Don't count him out !

 

I have heard good things about Borchardt's athleticism.  However, I wonder about his drive.  I am under the impression could have, but chose not to, play college sports and basically tried out for the basketball team on a whim.  It could be possible Miles kept a scholarship open as motivation for Borchardt.  I hope he is practicing/keeping himself in shape this summer.  I get the feeling the staff may try to use him as a backup PF/C.  It would be interesting to say the least.

[Huskerpapa]

2 hours ago, Donkey said:

 

I have heard good things about Borchardt's athleticism.  However, I wonder about his drive.  I am under the impression could have, but chose not to, play college sports and basically tried out for the basketball team on a whim.  It could be possible Miles kept a scholarship open as motivation for Borchardt.  I hope he is practicing/keeping himself in shape this summer.  I get the feeling the staff may try to use him as a backup PF/C.  It would be interesting to say the least.

I understand "drive" could be open to interpretation; but to some, sports is not the end all, academics is more important.  Jeez, go figure.  There are many individuals that are gifted in music, art, dance, sports, et al, that choose to concentrate on academics in both HS and college.  I am not sure that is always about drive, rather it is about priorities and areas of focus.   

[Dead Dog Alley]

4 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

Jordy Tshimanga's freshman year stats:  12.5 mpg; 5.0 ppg; 4.0 rpg; .449 FG%; .625 FT%

 

So a (very) rough estimate,  extrapolating on those numbers, for expectations next year:  If he averages 22 minutes a game, increases his FG% to 55% and FT% to 70%, and averages the same amount of shots and free throw attempts per minute, you are looking at around 10.5 ppg and 7 rpg.

[Donkey]

2 hours ago, huskercwg said:

I understand "drive" could be open to interpretation; but to some, sports is not the end all, academics is more important.  Jeez, go figure.  There are many individuals that are gifted in music, art, dance, sports, et al, that choose to concentrate on academics in both HS and college.  I am not sure that is always about drive, rather it is about priorities and areas of focus.   

 

Its not priorities thing.  From what I understand its more of a desire to play basketball.  Its not uncommon for some kids to burnout on playing competitive sports.

 

Further, I would never knock a kid who prioritizes school over sports.  

[Fullbacksympathy]

The more I think about what Miles needs for his system to be effective, the more I think one of the frontcourt players has to be serviceable from 3.  We haven't had that since Pitchford.  

 

Because of this, if Copeland and Roby are both above 30% 3pt shooters, they'll both be better than Jacobson by default, because they'll create points in the paint just by roaming around the perimeter and forcing a big to chase them.  Plus, they're both WAY more skilled than Jacobson offensively regardless, especially in transition.  I'm telling yall.. we're not going to miss MJ after a couple of games of adjustments.