Who Starts?

[49r]

Guys have been known to make a jump to high major play and do pretty well.  It can happen and frequently does.  Why wouldn't it happen in this case?  Heck, what Petteway did at NU should be your first reason to hold out hope.

 

Derrick White went from D-2 UC-Colorado Springs to Pac 12 CU Boulder for his senior year and got himself drafted in the first round this year.  Nobody predicted that.  Most CU fans sounded just like you do last summer.  I'm just saying keep an open mind, you never know what might happen. 

 

And Okeke's a Senior grad transfer, not a Junior.

[nustudent]

5 minutes ago, 49r said:

Guys have been known to make a jump to high major play and do pretty well.  It can happen and frequently does.  Why wouldn't it happen in this case?  Heck, what Petteway did at NU should be your first reason to hold out hope.

 

Derrick White went from D-2 UC-Colorado Springs to Pac 12 CU Boulder for his senior year and got himself drafted in the first round this year.  Nobody predicted that.  Most CU fans sounded just like you do last summer.  I'm just saying keep an open mind, you never know what might happen. 

 

And Okeke's a Senior grad transfer, not a Junior.

 

 White average 26 points a game as a junior. Petteway was a freshman at a power five conference school, those situations where a little bit different. I'm not saying guys can't take a step up.   It happens all the time.   But it's usually guys who excel, not marginal contributors.  You don't generally see guys who are benchwarmers move up a level and all of a sudden become superstars.  And Duby was a fourth-year Junior last year 

[49r]

So we'll be better off if Okeke doesn't develop into a player who's good enough to start over Jordy?

[nustudent]

7 minutes ago, 49r said:

So we'll be better off if Okeke doesn't develop into a player who's good enough to start over Jordy?

 

You really believe that's what I'm saying?

[hskr4life]

I remember what some said about Tai Webster.  How he was not ever going to be anything more than a role player.  Yada Yada.  Coming out of high school, would anyone have confidently said Patton was a first round pick?  Guys change, guys improve, work ethics can go up and they can go down.  I would say Okeke has a little more athleticism than Jordy does as the moment.  If Okeke goes all in, he can get better and he will.  If that means he is better than Jordy, then great!  I will think nothing less of Jordy or his development if Okeke is a bit better than he is at the moment.

 

I guess I just do not get the camp that says if Okeke is playing more than Jordy, it means that Jordy is no good.  Though I tend to look at the positive side of things and be a little more optmistic when it comes to thinking about the future.

[unl]

Not to highjack the thread because we have some great opinions going, but, Allen is not getting enough mention in the thread as a whole. I have never said he'd start, but, when we talk about rotations and subs, we're still not mentioning him (or Akenten). These dudes are going to help...not sure how much...but they are going to factor in this year.

[Huskerpapa]

Folks, I am once again going to stress that anyone who believes they know how the starters are going to shake out is simply guessing with the rest of us.  I will be very interested to see what transpires when practice begins.  I will be attending any open scrimmages simply to put my finger on the pulse of this team.  I really like the "potential" of this team.  It is really going to be interesting to see who has made strides and who may simply be a pretender. 

 

One player flying way under the radar is Jack.  It will be interesting to see what his role will be.  I am not quite ready to put that young man out to pasture quite yet. 

[khoock]

Ive got Jack as my 6th man. And Allen and Nana in my top 9 for the rotation.

 

If Duby can duplicate his best season at Winthrop (4.9pts, 4.8reb, 2.5blk) i'd be estatic. Hopefully he establishes a role and excels. Maybe better coaching and better competition will bring the best out of him. Still see Jordy as a lock to start tho.

[basketballjones]

11 hours ago, huskercwg said:

One player flying way under the radar is Jack.  It will be interesting to see what his role will be.  I am not quite ready to put that young man out to pasture quite yet. 

If McVeigh does not hit his trey, Jack will not play.

 

*end scene 

[hhcmatt]

19 hours ago, dustystehl said:

Gill was a Div-1 transfer who redshirted a year but did not start Game 1.

 

Ah, I felt like I was forgetting about someone. 

 

[hhcmatt]

15 hours ago, 49r said:

So we'll be better off if Okeke doesn't develop into a player who's good enough to start over Jordy?

 

He's saying that Okeke is done developing

[hhcmatt]

13 hours ago, unl said:

Not to highjack the thread because we have some great opinions going, but, Allen is not getting enough mention in the thread as a whole. I have never said he'd start, but, when we talk about rotations and subs, we're still not mentioning him (or Akenten). These dudes are going to help...not sure how much...but they are going to factor in this year.

 

This is a thread about starting though

[Norm Peterson]

31 minutes ago, basketballjones said:

If McVeigh does not hit his trey, Jack will not play.

 

*end scene 

 

Not bad, not bad.

 

I would make a very slight syntactical adjustment involving a little poetic license, and rework the "end scene" slightly, and phrase the above poem thusly:

 

"If Jack McVeigh hits not his trey he will not play.  Naught else to say."

[uneblinstu]

1 hour ago, basketballjones said:

If McVeigh does not hit his trey, Jack will not play.

 

*end scene 

Yes, it may. But if others defense is basically "Ole!" Jack will still be in the fray.

[hhcmatt]

16 hours ago, nustudent said:

I don't think there is a lot about Duby we don't know.   We aren't talking about a freshmen here.   We're talking about a 4th year junior.   I suppose it's not impossible that he all of a sudden overnight resembles a skilled offensive player.   I also suppose it's also not impossible Charlotte McKinney and Lindsey Pelas will show up on my doorstep tonight.  Point being....neither are realistic or likely.    And while I will give you he is athletic, and can have a role on the team, you are still talking about a jump from the Big South to the Big Ten.   Role players on Big South teams don't all of a sudden breakout by moving to the Big 10.

 

And while I was pleased with Taylor's contributions last year, let's also not paint a picture that he was anything more than an average Big 10 player fitting a role (with some help from a Gill injury).

 

I think Duby's size and athleticsm give him a role.  I do.   Don't take this as taking that away from him.   But I don't believe tiger's change their stripes.   This isn't a kid who is transferring after his freshman year because of an odd fit.   This is more of a finish product.  You have 4 years of criteria here, not one or even two.  He was a role player in the Big South.  I think it's a bit foolish and naïve to realistically expect he would be anything above that by stepping up several levels in competition.  IMO, he is who he is.  A role guy.    Jordy has the potential to be so much more than that.   Which is why I say, it's not a good thing if he is starting over Jordy.

 

I also think that Dube comes off the bench to spell Jordy but here are some of the things that point to how he could surpass his numbers at Winthorp and/or earn him the start.  To me it seems like he can at least duplicate what Ed brought to the team as a freshman.

 

1. Winthrop's offense wasn't a good fit for Okeke:  For the last 3 years Winthrop has been running a fast paced, 3pt shooting game plan where his role on offense was to clean up the trash and occasionally post up.  The Eagles would start Okeke for a lot of the games but would switch to 4 guards with David River sized post who could shoot 3s.  Last year our offense seemed to be contingent on whether or not Jordy was in the lineup: When Jordy was in we'd work the ball into him; When he wasn't in we basically avoided the post.  Thus, when Okeke is playing for us will we feed him like Jordy or use him more like Ed Morrow?  Is Okeke capable of scoring in an offense that passes him the ball?

 

2. Okeke will score just as effectively as Ed Morrow:  Okeke didn't play a ton of minutes, didn't shoot a lot during those minutes, and thus has paltry offensive numbers.  However, when he did shoot the ball it went in as he's shooting 62.7% for his career. When Okeke does have the ball, you will have Morrow like results, not MJ bricks.  How far do those numbers fall if he's taking more and thus tougher shots?  Is Jordy's shooting percentage going up after his freshman year?  It currently sitting at 44.7%

 

3. Okeke is an elite shot blocker: It wouldn't be impossible for him to crack the top 10 list all time for Nebraska (Wes Wilkerson with 61) playing 15 minutes per game.  Two years ago he had 72 blocks playing 17.2 mpg.  Some teams will alter their game plans when he's in the game...which isn't a post presences we've had during the Miles era (Sorry Andre)

On the flip side, he's going to struggle to stay on the court with foul trouble and is going to turn the ball over quite a bit. There is also no reason other than blind optimism to believe that should he start shooting enough for a defense to counter with a double-team that he could find a teammate to burn the D....assuming that you just don't foul him to send him to the FT line to miss 2 shots.

 

[aphilso1]

2 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

"If Jack McVeigh hits not his trey he will not play.  Naught else to say."

 

2 hours ago, uneblinstu said:

Yes, it may. But if others defense is basically "Ole!" Jack will still be in the fray.

 

Still in the fray?  'Tis pure hearsay!

'Til flaws be allayed, no coach will be swayed.

 

Edited July 14, 2017 by aphilso1

[Dead Dog Alley]

1 hour ago, hhcdimes said:

 

Last year our offense seemed to be contingent on whether or not Jordy was in the lineup: When Jordy was in we'd work the ball into him; When he wasn't in we basically avoided the post.  
 

 

You're right that we ran two different offenses, when they tried to run it through the post with Jordy and when they didn't.  It wasn't very effective - in the nine games Jordy hit 3 or more shots from the field Nebraska only won one.  Since you'll probably get 22-25 minutes a game out of Jordy, you either have to be more effective when you switch off the emphasis of running the offense through the post when Jordy is on the bench; find a backup center you can run the same offense with; or not run the offense with Jordy as the focal point in the first place, but run the same things whether he's on the floor or not.

[Norm Peterson]

5 hours ago, aphilso1 said:

 

 

Still in the fray?  'Tis pure hearsay!

'Til flaws be allayed, no coach will be swayed.

 

 

Was there a coach dismayed?

Not tho the players knew someone had blundered.

Theirs not to make reply

Theirs not to wonder why

Theirs but to do and die

Into Death Valley rode the six Huskers

 

[khoock]

Good article about Glynn Watson in the LJS.

 

Interesting note was that it said Glynn and Thomas Allen have been playing on the same team in practices recently. Idk how they run summer practices but is it similiar to regular season practice? If so i'd assume that means Allen is currently in the starting rotation.

 

Or are they simply just trying out different lineups, anybody know?

[basketballjones]

8 hours ago, khoock said:

Good article about Glynn Watson in the LJS.

 

Interesting note was that it said Glynn and Thomas Allen have been playing on the same team in practices recently. Idk how they run summer practices but is it similiar to regular season practice? If so i'd assume that means Allen is currently in the starting rotation.

 

Or are they simply just trying out different lineups, anybody know?

Just probably trying different lineups and different looks. If Allen/Nana can knock down shots and create space for Glynn that's a really good thing.

[Huskerpapa]

Here is the article Khoock mentioned.  Looks like the chemistry thing remains a work in progress. 

 

http://journalstar.com/sports/huskers/mens-basketball/watson-happy-in-lincoln-moving-ahead-after-huskers-tumultuous-spring/article_34570c58-0c15-5e57-8f30-6c1c301e0ddb.html

[Norm Peterson]

One thing that really confuses me about that article is that it says Glynn Watson never considered transferring.  Even though Ed and Mike were his roommates; even though they were part of his recruiting class; even though Ed was a fellow Chicagoan and legacy recruit.  Hmmm.

 

I remember being told Glynn couldn't stand the coaches, didn't like it here, etc. etc.  Maybe I'm just misremembering but I coulda swore someone came on here saying that.

[aphilso1]

18 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

Was there a coach dismayed?

Not tho the players knew someone had blundered.

Theirs not to make reply

Theirs not to wonder why

Theirs but to do and die

Into Death Valley rode the six Huskers

 

 

You win, Master Bard.

[Norm Peterson]

22 minutes ago, aphilso1 said:

 

You win, Master Bard.

Hey, I was just playing off your leave.  Nice setup.

 

#fistbump

[Fullbacksympathy]

Not sure about the start of the season, but I definitely have Watson and Allen as our established starting back court at some point.  I think they're going to look a lot like Kansas' guards from last season.