5th starter with Cope out

[HB]

2 hours ago, jayschool said:

I hope Harris will be ready soon, too. While not a 4 or 5, we'll need more off the bench, and even if we don't make postseason, assuming the players stick around after the coaching change, it will be good to get Amir and Nana as much time as possible. (Caveat: I'm wallowing in self-pity right now, so the assumption Miles is gone and we won't make the postseason is just a reflection of my despair.)

Amir and Nana were awful today.  Amir wasn't ready when called upon and made two quick defensive mistakes.   Then he sat on the bench and moped the rest of the game.  No enthusiasm or support for his teammates.  Not close to ready.  

[Huskerpapa]

Welp...losing Cope is a gut punch.  Soooo....

 

Others have to step up. 

- Isaiah has to step up.  He is inconsistent and hesitates pulling the trigger.  We all can see that he can shoot the ball.  Quit hesitating.  Trust your stroke.  Step up young man.

- Nana has not found his shot for the past several games.  In fact he has provided a number of empty minutes.  He needs to step up big time.

- Tanner just needs to be Tanner.  He plays solid, fundamental basketball.  He just needs to continue with his role.

- Amir needs to grow up.  He played one or two minutes today, made two or three glaring mistakes and then moped on the bench.  He HAS TO pick up his game.

- Thor will need to play.  He has limitations, but he has shown signs of life, and we need that guy.  Perhaps he can be one of those pain in the ass guys.  

- Cope, you are in my prayers.  Heal and be there for your teammates.  

 

I think Tanner will be starting.

Edited January 27, 2019 by Huskerpapa

[Fullbacksympathy]

2 hours ago, northwillriseagain said:

He usually has 3 fouls in like 5 minutes, so it wouldn’t be long that he stays in.

That also tends to correct itself with more PT and speed adjustment.  

[hal9000]

I wouldn’t mind seeing what Thor can do.

[Huskerone]

[huskerbaseball13]

1 hour ago, HB said:

Amir and Nana were awful today.  Amir wasn't ready when called upon and made two quick defensive mistakes.   Then he sat on the bench and moped the rest of the game.  No enthusiasm or support for his teammates.  Not close to ready.  

 

Amir is a guard who I’m not sure has taken a jump shot thus far. Sorry...that’s not going to work in the Big Ten.  If he doesn’t develop a jump shot...and he probably won’t if Miles is still around, I can’t see him ever being effective in this league. 

 

I know he wa sick, but unfortunatly it appears it be a pretty big drop off from Xavier Johnson to Amir. 

[HuskerActuary]

Assuming Tanner's minutes go up, we're going to start seeing some foul-outs from him. He's averaging 7.0 fouls per 40 minutes played - top (bottom) 0.1% of NCAA. Next highest on the team is Roby at 4.9.

[Chuck Taylor]

1 hour ago, HuskerActuary said:

Assuming Tanner's minutes go up, we're going to start seeing some foul-outs from him. He's averaging 7.0 fouls per 40 minutes played - top (bottom) 0.1% of NCAA. Next highest on the team is Roby at 4.9.

True, although he now plays with the idea that he can give fouls because they only need 10 good minutes out of him. The fifth starter has to be a wing, keep bringing Tanner off the bench to sub for Roby. Copeland's injury points out how sad the roster is. Seriously, you couldn't make an argument for any of the reserves to start. It's more like, "Well, (fill in the blank) looked pretty good against (fill in the blank)" and that would be based mostly on whether they hit their shots. 

[hskr4life]

This will give Thor, Brady, and Harris more looks.  I hope they take advantage of it.  Maybe someone will break out?  Now that we HAVE to play those guys, someone had the opportunity to step up.

[tcp]

reality is that Cope didn't actually have an understudy. He's not replaceable. We literally will have to play differently with him out. Roby has the talent to replace his production on offense, but as much as I love Zay,  I don't see it. Palmer's going to try to make up the points, and that scares me, because I think it's going to make his play even dicier than it is now. I don't see this ending well, given the team's already sketchy mental makeup. But  this is one of those Hallmark movie opportunities to prove the world wrong. I hope they do. 

[jason2486]

 

Wrong sport, but great speech. GBR

[Navin R. Johnson]

There are two major concerns I have with Cope out. A poor rebounding team loses its tallest starter and we lose a guy that can break down a zone. Cope was so good flashing into the high post or hitting a three. I'm afraid the good teams will still man up on us but the weaker defensive teams can beat us by staying back in a zone.

[Huskerpapa]

2 hours ago, Navin R. Johnson said:

A poor rebounding team loses its tallest starter

True, but I could argue that despite his height, Cope was not a ferocious rebounder.   In fact, I believe Tanner playing more may actually enhance our ability to rebound.  But the observation about zone busting is spot on.  He had, what always felt like, an automatic turn around shot.

[jason2486]

For someone with more time on their hands, I wonder if it's possible to see the points we give up per possession in man versus 1-3-1. I know there are ways to beat the 1-3-1, but with our depth issues, plus the fact we have great length, I still believe it might be our best shot down the stretch. Hell, we've been getting beat in man, and we rebound poorly regardless of man or zone, what could it hurt.

[hhcmatt]

I'd assume we'll roll with Tanner

[B-town hoopsfan]

Idk where he’s at but Jordy has got to be kicking himself. Woulda been a 20 minute rotational player on a good team and now would of started for a year and a half at a power 5 program. Funny how the ball bounces

[hhcmatt]

8 minutes ago, B-town hoopsfan said:

Idk where he’s at but Jordy has got to be kicking himself. Woulda been a 20 minute rotational player on a good team and now would of started for a year and a half at a power 5 program. Funny how the ball bounces

 

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[B-town hoopsfan]

It will be pretty interesting to see what they do. Tanners the obvious fill in at the five with roby sliding to the 4. Then Brady will probably be called upon for 15 minutes a game now or more. It gets real tricky when roby gets in foul trouble. The nana stretch 4 experiments have been a fail. I wonder what Thor or even Amir could give you at the 4? Pack it in w a two/three zone so we don’t get killed defensively then have 4 guys crash the boards every play? For that to work roby and Allen gotta give us much more in the half court. We probably need to start shooting 30+ threes a game(and not Palmer shooting ten on his own)

[Coaches kid]

On 1/26/2019 at 8:28 PM, HB said:

Amir and Nana were awful today.  Amir wasn't ready when called upon and made two quick defensive mistakes.   Then he sat on the bench and moped the rest of the game.  No enthusiasm or support for his teammates.  Not close to ready.  

Nana's body language was not good either. Given our current state, I don't think we can afford to give up on Amir. He at least has the potential to add some defense, ball handling and rebounding. I would hope the more he sees the floor and gets comfortable, the more he locks in and the defensive mistakes we saw on Saturday go away. Nana's shot looks different lately. I watched him shooting at halftime (Miles was standing right next to him observing). It looks like he's stopping the ball at the top of his shot and he's slinging the ball like a catapult. Unless he starts making shots, I'd like to see Amir get the minutes (unless the defensive lapses persist). Another positive could be that Brady gets a chance to develop by playing meaningful minutes. Sometimes when bench guys get their chance, they play with a sense of urgency and reckless abandon. We haven't really seen much of that from our starting 5. Trying to be a glass half full guy, but it's not easy. 

[hskr4life]

3 minutes ago, Coaches kid said:

Another positive could be that Brady gets a chance to develop by playing meaningful minutes. Sometimes when bench guys get their chance, they play with a sense of urgency and reckless abandon. 

 

Maybe a Derek Pardon type boost!?

[Cowboy Kermit]

 

Well well, looks like you’re officially part of “the hoops community” [mention=2]hhcmatt[/mention]

 

[Huskerpapa]

Nana cannot find his shot, which appears to affect his total game.  Amir lost his mojo with his sickness and needs to find it quick.  Brady has been pushed around like a punk rocker in a mosh pit.  The one kid who seems to play with some reckless abandon is Thor.  Kid you not.  If you stuck around to watch the end of the games that he has been in, he is like a pinball bouncing around the floor.  I'm not sure that is good or bad, but he does seem to have the will and desire.  

 

I am not advocating for anyone.  But with Tanner likely starting, the above appears to be possible bench replacements.  Who will be given the opportunity to step up???

[jimmykc]

Nothing to do at this point, but roll the dice and see what happens. I'm curious to see what playing as an underdog with an "us against everyone else" mentality does to this team.

[hhcmatt]

48 minutes ago, NebrasketballJake said:

Well well, looks like all of us are you’re officially part of “the hoops community” [mention=2]hhcmatt[/mention]

 

I'm basically just regurgitating this forum into twitter. 

 

[royalfan]

We are going to have to become a defensive team now.  We have to play elite defense.  Get the best combinations out there that can do that.  And then the reality is we are going to have to live and die with even more hero ball out of Palmer and Watson.  They are going to have to take more shots and they are going to have to play a lot better, especially Palmer.