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Exhibition tips off in 30 hours, and ...

Norm Peterson

By Norm Peterson
in The Haymarket Hardwood

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Norm Peterson

Norm Peterson

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So, as unknown as this roster was, it's almost kinda looking like our wild-ass lucky guesses back in July about who might start sorta look like they might have been correct.

 

That is, of course, if you had Cam Mack as the starting PG (and who didn't? amiright?)

 

AuroranHusker

AuroranHusker

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21 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

And there's a distressing lack of hoops discussion on the eve of the unofficial first game of the Fred Hoiberg era. What's wrong with you people? Don't you care?

 

 

 

 

 

Methinks ppl are in mourning for losing to the Indiana Hoosiers in football, and especially for the result not being an "upset." 😑

 

 

Norm Peterson

Norm Peterson

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I look at this roster and, granted, it's not like we have a lot of info to base a judgment on, but I still think we have guards who can compete at this level. We have Big Ten-quality guards. And plenty of them.

 

What this roster lacks on paper is interior defense and rebounding. I'd imagine a steep learning curve for Yvan -- meaning he'll make major strides in the near term -- but then that will shallow out as the season goes along. Probably a lot of ups and downs with him.  Big questions: Is he physical enough?  Does he have stickum on his fingers?  Can he stay out of foul trouble?  And then who subs for him? If he can swipe rebounds out of the air and can avoid foul trouble, we probably don't need much scoring out of him and any raw-ness when it comes to his offensive skill will be largely mitigated by our guards.

 

The other issue is that, while I think we have guards who can get downhill in a hurry, I just don't know how many snipers we have from distance. Pretty sure Matej will not only get looks but also be able to bury them. But who besides him?  In juco, Jervay shot a lot off the bounce rather than the catch-and-shoot. Can he be a guy who can spot up in the corner and bury open looks off the catch? What about Haanif?  What about Dachon?  Etc.?

 

Those are the things I wonder about.

hskr4life

hskr4life

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The nice thing is that Yuvan and Cross should greatly improve as the year goes on.  This should help the inside game out a little bit.

 

The biggest thing that I want to see out of the exhibition and the first few games is us beginning to gel.  It sounds like that is a little bit of an issue right now.

Norm Peterson

Norm Peterson

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35 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

The nice thing is that Yuvan and Cross should greatly improve as the year goes on.  This should help the inside game out a little bit.

 

The biggest thing that I want to see out of the exhibition and the first few games is us beginning to gel.  It sounds like that is a little bit of an issue right now.

 

Are you talking gel in terms of chemistry or gel in terms of picking up the offense? I heard chemistry was good but there's a lot of new offense still being installed and that takes time to get 5 guys on the same page.

hskr4life

hskr4life

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23 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

Are you talking gel in terms of chemistry or gel in terms of picking up the offense? I heard chemistry was good but there's a lot of new offense still being installed and that takes time to get 5 guys on the same page.

 

Well, I thought that I read on here that we had a lot of guys who wanted to be "the man" and that was causing some possible problems.  Could be making that up though.

 

However, I think with everything being new (players, coaches, etc) we will need to work on the "gel" in multiple areas to start the season.

khoock

khoock

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A lineup of Mack, Green, Burke, Cheatham, and Ouedraogo is super small. Cant imagine we win many games with that unless Mack is as advertised, Ouedraogo can play 25+ min, and the others can shoot 37% or better from deep.

 

If that is the starting lineup, it will be interesting to see how Cross, Kavas, Arop, and Stevenson (when eligible) are used as front court pieces off the bench.

hskr4life

hskr4life

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15 minutes ago, khoock said:

and Stevenson (when eligible) 

 

Speaking of, I have been seeing a lot of tweets about waivers being cleared or not.  Wondering if anyone has heard anything about Stevenson?  Hoping to hear before the first game.

Norm Peterson

Norm Peterson

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5 hours ago, khoock said:

A lineup of Mack, Green, Burke, Cheatham, and Ouedraogo is super small. Cant imagine we win many games with that unless Mack is as advertised, Ouedraogo can play 25+ min, and the others can shoot 37% or better from deep.

 

If that is the starting lineup, it will be interesting to see how Cross, Kavas, Arop, and Stevenson (when eligible) are used as front court pieces off the bench.

 

That lineup goes 6'2, 6'3, 6'4, 6'5, 6'9.

 

The starting lineup for Doc's best team went 5'7, 5'11, 6'3, 6'4, 6'5.

 

I agree what you say is important, though. We need 25 good minutes of rebounds and post D from Yvan, Cam driving and dishing, and the other 3 knocking down treys at a 37% or better clip.

 

Also, don't forget Thor.

PimpMario

PimpMario

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I just watched the Italy trip on BTN and doc Sadler is a God damn treasure

 

I can't wait for Tuesday but until I see these guys play and start to learn the players I feel like I just don't have a lot to contribute.

Edited by PimpMario
NWUhusker

NWUhusker

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The regular season opener is on my birthday. The wife asked if I wanted to go to dinner and we could go anywhere I wanted. My response was that we will be getting take out and watching the start of the Hoiberg era. I’m really excited to see it start. Not because I have high expectations this year but I think this team will be fun to watch.

hskr4life

hskr4life

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Just now, NWUhusker said:

The regular season opener is on my birthday. The wife asked if I wanted to go to dinner and we could go anywhere I wanted. My response was that we will be getting take out and watching the start of the Hoiberg era. I’m really excited to see it start. Not because I have high expectations this year but I think this team will be fun to watch.

 

Dinner huh?  You should have said Vals at PBA sounds perfect.

hskr4life

hskr4life

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Just now, Nighthawk said:

Yup..I'm ready.  This will be the only time I ever wear the opponents colors to a game.  I'll be rooting for both teams to play a good game.  Although, I'd love to see the Huskers start the season on a positive note.  

IMG_2933.jpg

 

I swear... if you blow this for us and we lose tonight because of this.... 😂

NWUhusker

NWUhusker

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2 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

Dinner huh?  You should have said Vals at PBA sounds perfect.

I know I know...I’m in a pickle because I go with my dad, who has season tickets, a lot so I can’t justify buying my own...

Norm Peterson

Norm Peterson

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20 minutes ago, NWUhusker said:

The regular season opener is on my birthday. The wife asked if I wanted to go to dinner and we could go anywhere I wanted. My response was that we will be getting take out and watching the start of the Hoiberg era. I’m really excited to see it start. Not because I have high expectations this year but I think this team will be fun to watch.

 

Same. I think we'll be getting a glimpse of what will look like a bright future.  All season long, we'll be saying "this team would be really, really good if we just had a ______." And, in the off-season, I expect us to fill in for next year whatever that blank might be.

NWUhusker

NWUhusker

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4 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

Same. I think we'll be getting a glimpse of what will look like a bright future.  All season long, we'll be saying "this team would be really, really good if we just had a ______." And, in the off-season, I expect us to fill in for next year whatever that blank might be.

Exactly. My only real expectation is that the team we see in February/March is clearly an improved team over what we seen in November. I get some extra comfort knowing we have two guys waiting in the wings (Walker and Banton) that should atleast help alleviate the glaring hole this roster has. Then fill in the gap with Donovan Williams and another good recruit.

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