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Is it time to start Brady?


Handy Johnson

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32 minutes ago, HB said:

I  like him a lot so far.   But he's really going to need to work on that catapult free throw shot, or it will be Hack-a-Heiman every game when he starts playing major minutes.

 

That's a good way of describing Heiman's shot.  Looks like a trebuchet.

 

Thing I really like about him as a true freshman is that, when he comes in, he might not do a lot, but he doesn't do a lot wrong, either.  He doesn't hurt us when he's in (except not having the bulk to keep from being shoved around in the paint), but then he'll makes some little plays here and there that help the cause.

 

Miles talked about this in general on his pre-game.  (Or was it the post-game?)  You don't have to be a star.  You just have to be a star in your role.  When you get called on, make a play in the role you've been called on to make.  I would say Brady is starring in his role as a true-freshman backup center.

 

He has quick hands and he seems to come up with more than his share of loose balls that are bouncing around in the lane.  So, we get that out of him.  But he has far more hoops IQ than Jordy regrettably ever displayed.  He has softer hands; he has a much better sense of where to be; and when he gets the ball in a position to score, he generally delivers.

 

Whenever he's gotten in the game, he's made plays when there's been a play there for him to make.  I agree: I like him a lot so far.

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Brady has 24 points and 28 rebounds in 77 minutes this season.  That's 12 1/2 points/40 min and 14 1/2 bds/40 min.  He's shooting a stellar 64.7% from the floor, but a paltry 22% from the stripe (small sample sizes for all of those.)  His best stat is probably 1 block every 10 minutes.  He's putting up more than a block/game while averaging only 11 minutes per contest.  Overall, those are some pretty encouraging numbers.

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1 hour ago, Huskerpapa said:

I think when he is a senior we are all going to look back and be upset that he did not redshirt this year.  That said, he is outperforming my expectation.  Give him 35 more pounds of muscle, a few changes in his shot mechanics and we are going to be very happy he is a Husker.

That’s why I would like to see the roby cope heiman trio on the court for a stretch here n there. If we are going to burn his red shirt let’s make it worth it. It would give us a different look on both offense and defense for a short period of the game 

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10 hours ago, Huskerpapa said:

I think when he is a senior we are all going to look back and be upset that he did not redshirt this year.  That said, he is outperforming my expectation.  Give him 35 more pounds of muscle, a few changes in his shot mechanics and we are going to be very happy he is a Husker.

I maybe disagree with that. I think that him playing this year will be extremely valuable for him in the long run. He is learning how to win by playing on this team, and that will be worth a lot.

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Tanner has been super solid, & Allen too, BUT, I’m intrigued by the BIG line-up with Brady and the Core Four. They would compensate for his shortcomings and he would provide more blocks and rebounds. I’m hoping his minutes will increase as the season unfolds and also agree the PT he does get will benefit us long term more than a Redshirt.

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I like Brady a lot and think he brings a ton to the table down the road. But anyone ever see him on the bench when he comes out after playing more than 2 or 3 minutes at a time? Dude is GASSED. I have no doubt that he'll keep developing and get there but if he struggles to breathe after 10 trips up and down the court, I can't imagine there's a chance of him playing starters minutes, much less at the very beginning of the game. I like the way he's been integrated in smaller doses, letting him get his feet wet, do some things that set him up for success, and then give him a breather. Think that probably gives him a better chance to gain some confidence (and hopefully endurance?) so he can deliver better results, rather than just throwing him to the wolves right off the bat.

For all that we trash Jordy (and some of that is rightfully so), he came in with MUCH higher expectations put on him and failed to live up to that. Had we put the same kind of expectations on Brady, I don't think we'd be singing his praises like this...we expected nothing and he delivered something, even small, but I don't know that his actual production (not potential, I mean actual results) is all that much better than Jordy's at this point in a true freshman season (although someone can feel free to do a side-by-side comparison...my memory may be off). The lens is just different.

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10 hours ago, nuhusker7 said:

I maybe disagree with that. I think that him playing this year will be extremely valuable for him in the long run. He is learning how to win by playing on this team, and that will be worth a lot.

 

Plus we'll need a guy with some reps under his belt for next year after Copeland and all of them graduate this spring.

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36 minutes ago, ladyhusker said:



For all that we trash Jordy (and some of that is rightfully so), he came in with MUCH higher expectations put on him and failed to live up to that. 


 

Jordy was a top 200 recruit heck maybe a top 150 recruit by some services and was force fed touches and minutes. And eventually flipped us the bird, he may not deserve to be trashed but whoever gives him advice should be.

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Jordy was a Rivals 150.  I think he slipped in and got the last spot in the 150 in their last update for that class.  

 

He improved a lot over the course of his freshman year.  He regressed his sophomore year.  But, at his best, Jordy was never as polished and skilled as Brady is right now, and that's not to say Brady is polished.  Brady has more skill, but I think he's just a better player overall.  Jordy was slow to the ball, had stones for hands, and just seemed to have a low hoops IQ.  I think Brady is the opposite of all those things.

 

Jordy had the advantage of mass going for him.  That helped him be more effective.  I had hoped to see Jordy develop some of the back-to-the-basket moves that Brady has shown.  He should have taken a giant step forward over the summer after his freshman year.  Those improvements never materialized and then he quit on his team.  I think he mentally checked out long before he actually left, though.

 

Brady is far more skilled.  He just lacks the mass and the stamina he'll need to be effective.  When he gets some meat on his bones, next off-season, though, he'll be a capable role player here.

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1 hour ago, ladyhusker said:

but I don't know that his actual production (not potential, I mean actual results) is all that much better than Jordy's at this point in a true freshman season

 

I'll put one up later when I have a chance but other than minutes Brady is easily outperforming anything that Jordy ever did on the court.

You're right though that there are less expectations on Brady and the question with him was more along the lines of 'did we make the right call offering him' vs Jordy's 'we won this guy from other Power 5 teams' recruitment.

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I don't know why this is a hill I'm dying on, but I was curious and procrastinating a project for work. So I did a side-by-side of Jordy's first seven games, and Brady's first seven games he played in (technically this is 8 games for the team, since he didn't play against Texas Tech, while Jordy was not afforded that mulligan). But since the two cupcake games really tell us very little and do nothing more than inflate stats, I also did a side-by-side with those two games removed.

 

Essentially, I think we get left with the same player, if Jordy doesn't even get the edge on that. Jordy fouled a lot, but he was also playing on the road and against better competition, so I think some of those calls are to be expected and some of those are just on him. The difference is, I think, the role they're being asked to fill, and that's a pretty big factor. Jordy was a top-whatever recruit, and so yes, he rightfully had more expectations placed on him than Brady. But for all the talk of Brady being far superior (and maybe the intangibles show that, although I think that's pretty subjective) -- the numbers just don't bear that out. Further, we're looking at Jordy in hindsight -- at this time two years ago, if we were to go read those threads, IIRC we were gushing just as much about his potential then too. (And because it probably needs to be said -- I'm strictly talking about on-court production here. Jordy and his handlers or whatever deserve all the criticism in the world for leaving us in a bind, twice.)

 

So all that to say: I think the coaches are being very wise in how they use Brady, such that he looks maybe better than he actually is, and is an asset to the team in the way he's been able to contribute without being asked to do anything outside his skill set. But I'd use that point to encourage some caution in how lofty we make our fans'-eyes expectations of him, lest we wind up disillusioned (which we saw with Jordy, and really, with countless others over the years). I really like him, and I think he'll be good -- but I don't think that will happen this year, and maybe not even next year. He's a project, which is what we all thought he was going to be when he came in, so let's be patient and let the project develop slowly and organically -- something I could say about this program in general.

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What I am most impressed by (and it's just the most fundamental thing for a big man) is Brady's ability to catch the ball high, and keep it high, then make a post move and score.  Jordy was a big fan of dribbling the ball 3 or 4 times on the block and it always frustrated the hell out of me.  No other reason than that is why I have much higher hope for Brady than Jordy.

 

I hope that Jordy spends his transfer season learning how to catch the ball and then NOT dribble it when he's in the post.

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5 hours ago, ladyhusker said:

Essentially, I think we get left with the same player, if Jordy doesn't even get the edge on that. Jordy fouled a lot, but he was also playing on the road and against better competition, so I think some of those calls are to be expected and some of those are just on him. The difference is, I think, the role they're being asked to fill, and that's a pretty big factor. Jordy was a top-whatever recruit, and so yes, he rightfully had more expectations placed on him than Brady. But for all the talk of Brady being far superior (and maybe the intangibles show that, although I think that's pretty subjective) -- the numbers just don't bear that out. Further, we're looking at Jordy in hindsight -- at this time two years ago, if we were to go read those threads, IIRC we were gushing just as much about his potential then too. (And because it probably needs to be said -- I'm strictly talking about on-court production here. Jordy and his handlers or whatever deserve all the criticism in the world for leaving us in a bind, twice.)

 

So all that to say: I think the coaches are being very wise in how they use Brady, such that he looks maybe better than he actually is, and is an asset to the team in the way he's been able to contribute without being asked to do anything outside his skill set. But I'd use that point to encourage some caution in how lofty we make our fans'-eyes expectations of him, lest we wind up disillusioned (which we saw with Jordy, and really, with countless others over the years). I really like him, and I think he'll be good -- but I don't think that will happen this year, and maybe not even next year. He's a project, which is what we all thought he was going to be when he came in, so let's be patient and let the project develop slowly and organically -- something I could say about this program in general.

 

Jordy's size and stamina was easily superior to what Brady has now and that's why he was the higher rated prospect. If they had the same skills you would always take Jordy over Brady as freshman Jordy is probably bigger and stronger than Brady might ever become.  I think you could say that Brady's skill set offensively (and possibly defensively) are superior to what Jordy had going on his freshman year and the numbers/eye test back that up. Brady looks like a guy with touch around the rim and a nose for rebounding and the numbers back that up thus far. You're right though...the kid gloves have been kept on a kid who should probably be redshirting. Thus far he's been a star in his role, as the coaches like to say.

 

Brady probably doesn't become the next Justin Patton or Ethan Happ but he doesn't need to be to in the roation or even start. With the way we want to guard the 3 his ability to protect the rim and rebound is really what we're looking for and I think we're going to put the weight and strength he so desperately needs on him this summer 

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Real impressive 15 minutes last night from the young man. If the couple passes that hit him in the shins were alil better he probably gets his first career double digit scoring game last night and he just has a knack for being in the right place for boards. I would say Minnesota has some quality bigs too. if not already by big ten play miles should be confident enough to run him out there 15 minutes a game if need be.

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