One more player

[75unlgrad]

I am extremely pleased with the complete team make-over.  However, I am surprised at how young we will be next year.  I expected a few more senior graduate transfers.  (I like the two players that have to sit out a year -- Banton and Walker).

 

To add the 'cherry' to top off this make-over, I would like to add one more player -- a senior graduate transfer or Juco power forward/center.  An experienced, mature player that can defend the rim and grad a few rebounds.  Such a player would make next year's team fit in the top half of the BIG Conference and possibly an NCAA invitation.

 

I realize that we are at the maximum number of scholarships.  If Roby comes back (an experienced, mature senior power forward), Thor is told to stay in Iceland.

 

If Roby goes pro, we still have time to find a quality graduate transfer or de-commitment (ex. Khalid Thomas from Highland Juco).  Thor is told to stay in Iceland.

 

In the BIG conference, you have to have some quality size in the paint.  The officials allow the 'bigs' to push and shove.   I don't know if our freshmen will be ready (Ouedraogo and Cross).

 

I think next year's team is one player away from being a serious contender for the NCAA.  The team in two years -- and beyond -- looks stacked.  We have not have this much talent in 30 years.  I am extremely excited for the future of our basketball program.  GBR!!  Go Fred!!  Get one more player!!!

 

[Huskerpapa]

I am not expecting another move, other than the Isaiah decision.  But hey, my head continues to swirl with all the movement, so anything is possible.  

 

My main concern is not the youth, it is with the team dynamics.  Can we come together as a team/unit?  Can we build team chemistry while learning each others strengths, weaknesses and/or nuances.  It seems that a team can be destroyed by "little things."  Yet I am pretty confident that the Italy trip and the preseason workouts will help make this bunch a team.  

[thrasher31]

15 minutes ago, Huskerpapa said:

I am not expecting another move, other than the Isaiah decision.  But hey, my head continues to swirl with all the movement, so anything is possible.  

 

My main concern is not the youth, it is with the team dynamics.  Can we come together as a team/unit?  Can we build team chemistry while learning each others strengths, weaknesses and/or nuances.  It seems that a team can be destroyed by "little things."  Yet I am pretty confident that the Italy trip and the preseason workouts will help make this bunch a team.  

The Italy trip will do wonders for team building. 

[75unlgrad]

I agree that creating team chemistry will take time.  Just figuring out starters and a substitution pattern will take time.  But hey, that is what the non-conference schedule is for and it will be fun watching these guys compete for playing time.  

[nustudent]

On ‎05‎/‎19‎/‎2019 at 8:51 PM, 75unlgrad said:

I agree that creating team chemistry will take time.  Just figuring out starters and a substitution pattern will take time.  But hey, that is what the non-conference schedule is for and it will be fun watching these guys compete for playing time.  

And I think  you will see an 'easier' non-con schedule than normal for some of these reasons.

 

We know of:

 

Southern

UC Riverside

@Creighton

Caymans Classic

Caymans Classic

Caymans Classic

Big 10/ACC Challenge.

 

That's 7 of 11 there.   I'd expect 3 patsies and one other decent team to be added.

[hhcmatt]

5 minutes ago, nustudent said:

And I think  you will see an 'easier' non-con schedule than normal for some of these reasons.

 

We know of:

 

Southern

UC Riverside

@Creighton

Caymans Classic

Caymans Classic

Caymans Classic

Big 10/ACC Challenge.

 

That's 7 of 11 there.   I'd expect 3 patsies and one other decent team to be added.

 

I expect it to be 4 more patsies.  We're going full Iowa on the schedule this year.

[nustudent]

21 minutes ago, hhcmatt said:

 

I expect it to be 4 more patsies.  We're going full Iowa on the schedule this year.

Possible.   I didn't know if we were going to be involved with Gavitt this year so I left it up in the air.

[hhcmatt]

1 minute ago, nustudent said:

Possible.   I didn't know if we were going to be involved with Gavitt this year so I left it up in the air.

 

We will not be playing a Gavitt game this year.

[Cazzie22]

Keep Thor! Teams need an effort guy. 

[uneblinstu]

38 minutes ago, Cazzie22 said:

Keep Thor! Teams need an effort guy. 

Only if he sees the floor...which I don't think will be much...

[GATA]

On 5/24/2019 at 7:52 AM, hhcmatt said:

 

I expect it to be 4 more patsies.  We're going full Iowa on the schedule this year.

 

 

One down, three to go. 

[khoock]

1 minute ago, Bill Self's Toupee said:

I think a team can be in one non-conf tourney during a season which only takes up one of the non-conf slots.  So with Southern Utah, we still have 5 more opponents?

 

01) Southern
02) UC Riverside
03) @Creighton
04) Caymans Classic (3 for the price of one?)
05) Big 10/ACC Challenge
06) Southern Utah

07) ?

08) ?

09) ?

10) ?

11)?

The Cayman Classic still counts as three individual games. So only three more left to be announced.

[khoock]

5 minutes ago, Bill Self's Toupee said:

 

Did I imagine that early-tourney rule then?  Does anyone have any idea what I might be thinking about here?

You can only play in one of those tournaments but each game still counts as an individual game.

[Searching 4 Chester Surles]

2 hours ago, Bill Self's Toupee said:

Did I imagine that early-tourney rule then?  Does anyone have any idea what I might be thinking about here?

 

2 hours ago, khoock said:

You can only play in one of those tournaments but each game still counts as an individual game.

 

The rules around "exempt tournaments" have evolved over the years (and may be changing again soon), but this is from the current NCAA rule book (p 255)...

 

 

[hhcmatt]

2 hours ago, Bill Self's Toupee said:

 

Did I imagine that early-tourney rule then?  Does anyone have any idea what I might be thinking about here?

 

Not sure if the early season rule used to be something but what we typically do is the 27 games + tournament as highlighted above.  The tournaments we play in are technically 4 game events where you play either 2-3 games against good teams at a tourney location and the remaining 1-2 games are played at home as part of the tourney. The Cayman's Classic is 3 neutral games and then we'll get a team assigned to play us at home.  It's possible one of the teams announced already is that team.

 

Thus we're looking at 3 more mystery opponents

 

01) Southern
02) UC Riverside
03) @Creighton
04) Caymans Classic (1)
05) Big 10/ACC Challenge
06) Southern Utah

07) Caymans Classic (2)

08) Caymans Classic(3)

09) ?

10) ?

11)?

[throwback]

At one time, to pick up a 4th game out of the 3-game neutral site tournament, the 4th game had to be against a team in the tourney field. Not sure if that's changed or not.

 

I know in 2017-18, when we were in the tournament in Orlando, we counted our Gavitt Games trip to St John's as our 4th game for the tourney because St John's was also in the 8-team field in Orlando, so we had 31 total regular-season games.

 

In 2016-17, we only played 30 regular-season games, as we didn't play a 4th game against someone else in the Wooden Tourney field, and only played the 3 neutral site games there.

 

That's different from the 4-game tournament where you get 2 at home against non-P5 teams and 2 neutral site games, like we had last year in KC and like we had a few years back when we played in Brooklyn. You can play up to 31 with that type of tournament.

 

If that rule is still in effect, to pick up a 4th game out of the Cayman Islands tourney -- and an 11th non-con game -- we'd have to play a game against someone in that field - doesn't matter where it's played, as long as it isn't at the tourney site.

 

[Searching 4 Chester Surles]

4 hours ago, Bill Self's Toupee said:

That's where I picked up the poorly thought out idea of "early-tourney that only takes up one non-Conf slot".

 

I believe that was the rule at one point in time (exempt tourney = one slot), until it got abused. Previously, when a team played in one of these tournaments, there was the possibility they'd only play one or two games (depending on the event). But then everyone started shenanigans to ensure the maximum number of games would be played by every team that entered these "tourneys". Now they're barely tournaments anymore. Just some sort of Frankenstein round-robin event to get some easy games scheduled and a few neutral-court points for whatever matrix the NCAA decides to use for Selection Sunday.

[Tallbaby21]

I distinctly remember listening to the Huskers v. Southern Utah in the early 90s and Danny Nee saying he thought they were on their way to becoming a basketball power. Also why in the world were we playing a road game there. 

[Norm Peterson]

On 5/27/2019 at 11:45 AM, Tallbaby21 said:

I distinctly remember listening to the Huskers v. Southern Utah in the early 90s and Danny Nee saying he thought they were on their way to becoming a basketball power. Also why in the world were we playing a road game there. 

 

I'd bet it was a football deal.

[hhcmatt]

On 5/31/2019 at 8:05 PM, Norm Peterson said:

I'd bet it was a football deal.

 

Look it up and that wasn't it. We played Toledo on the road as well that year.

 

[throwback]

If I remember right from the World Herald's multi-day look back at the Nee years from last summer, Danny liked taking teams into out-of-the-way road venues because he knew they'd be nasty, as the fans rarely had a chance to have a P5 school in their building. He thought it helped the team prepare for rough conference road environments.

 

If I remember right, the 90-91 team's trip to UW-Green Bay was one of the toughest ones ... or at least the one where they had the most beer thrown on them.

 

Plus he had only 14 conference games and 13-16 non-con games to fill (with 0 of those non-con games dictated by the conference like they are today). You had to be a little creative.

[49r]

45 minutes ago, throwback said:

If I remember right from the World Herald's multi-day look back at the Nee years from last summer, Danny liked taking teams into out-of-the-way road venues because he knew they'd be nasty, as the fans rarely had a chance to have a P5 school in their building. He thought it helped the team prepare for rough conference road environments.

 

If I remember right, the 90-91 team's trip to UW-Green Bay was one of the toughest ones ... or at least the one where they had the most beer thrown on them.

 

Plus he had only 14 conference games and 13-16 non-con games to fill (with 0 of those non-con games dictated by the conference like they are today). You had to be a little creative.

 

I seem to recall a trip or two to play at Northern Iowa and a game (or two) at Wichita State as well.

 

Those are games that would never get scheduled today.

[fr8-train]

 

11 hours ago, 49r said:

 

I seem to recall a trip or two to play at Northern Iowa and a game (or two) at Wichita State as well.

 

Those are games that would never get scheduled today.

Yep.  I was at one of those games.  A game against UNI was played in Cedar Rapids rather than Cedar Falls because the UNI-dome roof had collapsed due to snow.