2021-2022 expectations

[HuskerFever]

3 hours ago, Handy Johnson said:

Heard folks talking on the radio last week that Bryce might be our first ever One-n-Done. If he’s THAT talented with the pieces already in place, who knows what our “ceiling” might be. Also hoping he becomes so enamored with the U, even if he COULD go Pro he’ll stick around to win a B1G Title...

 

I don't care if/when they leave. Just please continue the momentum and use this as an opportunity to bring in additional talent for years to come.

[HuskerFever]

WE > ME

 

 

[aphilso1]

15 hours ago, HuskerFever said:

WE > ME

 

 

 

The moment was brief, but did I just see Fred actually smiling???

[hhcmatt]

Not sure if Kojenets is injured or just didn't make the 12 man roster but he's not active/playing for Lithuania.

http://www.fiba.basketball/world/u19/2021/team/Lithuania#tab=roster

 

Since we're talking about players under the age of 19, Yvan is of course in the mix and he's playing for France

http://www.fiba.basketball/world/u19/2021/game/0907/Lithuania-France#tab=boxscore

[Norm Peterson]

Assuming @hhcmatt is right about starters ...

 

Trey

Bryce

CJ

Lat

Derrick

 

That leaves a bench consisting of ...

 

Alonzo

Kobe/Keisei

Keon

Wilhelm

Eduardo

 

I mean, you could swap CJ and Keon if you want. Either group would seem able to make it rain buckets.

 

[Norm Peterson]

Updated musings:

 

Having Derrick for a full season matters. Having an important reserve player not fall ill to Covid for a month during a crucial time in his development matters. Throwing in some offensive firepower like CJ and Bryce matters.

 

Hopefully Lat is more than just a year better. I think he will be. As everyone probably is aware, I was big on Dalano and disappointed not to have him back. We might be able to make up some of his assist numbers, but his rebounding will leave a hole in the lineup that might be more of a challenge to overcome. Lat's a good rebounder but he spends a lot of time on the perimeter. So, while I hope for big improvement from him, he's probably not going to fill that particular void. So it's good news that Eduardo is up to 240#.

 

I feel like we will field a team of better shooters than a year ago. Now that Dalano is gone, we don't return a single player who had more than 1 attempt who was worse than 33.3% from 3-point range last year. Not a single one. Everyone we bring back with more than 1 attempt was at least 33.3% from three. That alone should push us into the top 5-6 in the league in 3-point accuracy. To add to that, I think we bring in at least 4 guys who each should be mid-30s or better.

 

I feel like we have to make a move this year. We might only get Bryce for 1 season. We need to take full advantage. I think we have some elements, but it'll be interesting to see if we can put it all together.

[hhcmatt]

On 7/9/2021 at 9:23 PM, Norm Peterson said:

Assuming @hhcmatt is right about starters ...

 

Trey

Bryce

CJ

Lat

Derrick

 

That leaves a bench consisting of ...

 

Alonzo

Kobe/Keisei

Keon

Wilhelm

Eduardo

 

I mean, you could swap CJ and Keon if you want. Either group would seem able to make it rain buckets.

 

 

Feels like we now live in a world where the center position might be our most reliable position.

I'm going to assume that Alonzo and Bryce are going to be day 1 rotation players.

If we can get production out of at least 2 of Keon, CJ, Keisei, and/or Wilhelm we'll have a good year.

[JBARGIE]

8 hours ago, hhcmatt said:

 

Feels like we now live in a world where the center position might be our most reliable position.

I'm going to assume that Alonzo and Bryce are going to be day 1 rotation players.

If we can get production out of at least 2 of Keon, CJ, Keisei, and/or Wilhelm we'll have a good year.

This ^ I think you are crazy if you don't think Alonzo is a day 1 starter.  We don't have the convenience of bringing him off the bench like he's Lou Williams.  Maybe CJ/Keon sneaks into the rotation by the end of the year but you have to assume Alonzo doesn't get beat out by one of them for the first game.

 

Alonzo

Trey

Bryce

Lat

Walker

(who's our leading scorer?  My money says Trey or Alonzo at 14 a piece)

 

Kobe

Andre

CJ

Wilhelm

Keon

 

Lakes

Keisei

Oleg

Quaran

 

 

Edited July 13, 2021 by JBARGIE

[atskooc]

1 hour ago, JBARGIE said:

This ^ I think you are crazy if you don't think Alonzo isn't a day 1 starter.  We don't have the convenience of bringing him off the bench like he's Lou Williams.  Maybe CJ/Keon sneaks into the rotation by the end of the year but you have to assume Alonzo doesn't get beat out by one of them for the first game.

 

Alonzo

Trey

Bryce

Lat

Walker

(who's our leading scorer?  My money says Trey or Alonzo at 14 a piece)

 

Kobe

Andre

CJ

Wilhelm

Keon

 

Lakes

Keisei

Oleg

Quaran

 

 

I don't think you said what you meant to say.

[millerhusker]

2 hours ago, JBARGIE said:

This ^ I think you are crazy if you don't think Alonzo isn't a day 1 starter.  We don't have the convenience of bringing him off the bench like he's Lou Williams.  Maybe CJ/Keon sneaks into the rotation by the end of the year but you have to assume Alonzo doesn't get beat out by one of them for the first game.

 

Alonzo

Trey

Bryce

Lat

Walker

(who's our leading scorer?  My money says Trey or Alonzo at 14 a piece)

 

Kobe

Andre

CJ

Wilhelm

Keon

 

Lakes

Keisei

Oleg

Quaran

 

 

Agree with all of this, but if Trey is our leading scorer I’m afraid we’ll be more similar to Nebraska/Pitt the last few years than the competitive Big Ten team we’re all hoping for. He hasn’t proven to be very efficient in his first three years and it’ll require a lot of shots for him to get to 14 ppg. I’m hoping he won’t have to carry that burden this year. He’ll definitely be a valuable player on this team for many other reasons. 

Edited July 12, 2021 by millerhusker

[hugh42]

I'm hoping we will see more balanced scoring with multiple players averaging double figures, with solid offensive contributions from the remainder of the guys. Maybe something like this.

 

10-14 ppg (Alonzo, Bryce, Lat, Trey)

6-9 ppg (CJ, Derrick, Keon, Kobe)

3-5 ppg (Andre, Keisei, Quaran, Trevor, Wilhelm)

 

IMO, if we are to make a significant jump in the B1G standings this coming season and beyond, we need to average in the mid to upper 70's. We appear to have the fire power for next season, but we also have a lot of youth that will need to step up for this to happen.

[JBARGIE]

4 hours ago, atskooc said:

I don't think you said what you meant to say.

Thank you sir. Edited! 

[hhcmatt]

15 hours ago, JBARGIE said:

This ^ I think you are crazy if you don't think Alonzo is a day 1 starter. 

 

I think Alonzo is simultaneously a good bet to be our backup PG and starting SG on opening day

[kldm64]

I think we call all pretty much agree that these 4 are most likely to be starters but it just who will slide into the 5th spot.  It's nice to have options as we can add another guard or big body to the starting line-up.

 

Trey

Bryce

Lat

Walker

Edited July 13, 2021 by kldm64

[jayschool]

Joe Lunardi's expectations for 2021-22, if anybody cares at this point.

 

Clearly the dude has problems with premature speculation, though I'm sure his partner understands.

 

Creighton = Barely OUT

Iowa = Barely IN

Rutgers and Wisconsin = Barely OUT

Auburn has = 6 seed

Illinois = 7 seed

Indiana = 10 seed

Maryland = 4 seed

Michigan = 1 seed

MSU = 5 seed

OSU = 3 seed

Purdue = 2 seed

Colorado = 11 seed

Nebraska = C'mon, it's Joe Lunardi.

[Vinny]

15 hours ago, hugh42 said:

I'm hoping we will see more balanced scoring with multiple players averaging double figures, with solid offensive contributions from the remainder of the guys. Maybe something like this.

 

10-14 ppg (Alonzo, Bryce, Lat, Trey)

6-9 ppg (CJ, Derrick, Keon, Kobe)

3-5 ppg (Andre, Keisei, Quaran, Trevor, Wilhelm)

 

IMO, if we are to make a significant jump in the B1G standings this coming season and beyond, we need to average in the mid to upper 70's. We appear to have the fire power for next season, but we also have a lot of youth that will need to step up for this to happen.

So team scoring above 90 points/game? That would be fantastic. Probably unrealistic, but would be fantastic.

[hugh42]

2 hours ago, Vinny said:

So team scoring above 90 points/game? That would be fantastic. Probably unrealistic, but would be fantastic.

 

Well...if you take the low numbers I suggested, it comes to 79 and in my defense, I didn't want to leave any of the guys on scholarship out. 

 

Obviously the rotation won't go 13 deep, but 10 is a possibility, with the remainder getting spot minutes during the season. The players that are a part of the regular rotation need to be putting up at least 75/game IMO.

[Vinny]

I hear you. Gonzaga did score more than 90 a game last year. It can be done!

[millerhusker]

This season I expect our defense to be top 25-caliber. We were top 40 last year and replacing Thor and Teddy with Verge and Bryce could/should help. Love Thor, but he really struggled to stay in front of people on the perimeter. Teddy, most of the time, had little interest in playing defense. 

 

When Kobe King decided not to enroll at Nebraska, I was concerned about our perimeter defense against the more athletic guards in the Big Ten. Trey is really the only reliable perimeter defender we had and most teams have at least two quick, athletic guards on the court at all times. Verge is known for being a pesky defender - Trey calls him a "dog" on that end of the court. Lat has already commented on Bryce's defensive versatility. I love the thought of having two guards like Trey and Verge to harass opposing guards in the backcourt. I'm sure Doc does too. Doc did a pretty amazing job with the defense last year, considering what he had to work with. 

 

Derrick is an underrated defensive anchor in the middle. He reminds me of Draymond Green in how he quarterbacks the defense from the paint. He and an improved Eduardo should mean we'll always have a solid defensive presence down low, which will allow Trey, Verge and Bryce to take more gambles on the perimeter. 

[Norm Peterson]

What are our biggest areas of weakness? What are y'all's concerns?

[cornfed24-7]

21 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

What are our biggest areas of weakness? What are y'all's concerns?

No idea on weaknesses. But my concern is we dig too big a hole in the loss column before the team puts it all together and meshes. I believe they will. But with so many new faces again...How I rationalize it won't happen is this year we do have a nucleus of returning players that expedite the gelling process.

[millerhusker]

1 hour ago, Norm Peterson said:

What are our biggest areas of weakness? What are y'all's concerns?

Playmaking, creating shots for others in the halfcourt offense is my concern. It seems we now have the shooters to space the floor and knock down shots. But we have to be able to create shots for those players. Hoiberg's teams at Iowa St. were at their best when they were averaging 16-18 assists per game, with a couple players averaging 3-6 assists. We lose Dalano and his 4 apg (despite what some Husker fans seem to think, Dalano was an excellent passer, and not just in transition). Trey was second on the team with 2.3 apg - he did have a handful of games with 4-5 assists after Dalano moved to the bench. Trey and Alonzo are not pure point guards, but they will have to fill the role of making plays for others. I don't think Bryce will be that player as a freshman. I can also see us playing out of the post more and taking advantage of Derrick and Wilhelm's vision and passing abilities. We know Hoiberg will find ways to put players in position to get good looks, but it's on the players to make the right reads and execute. 

[busticket]

1 hour ago, Norm Peterson said:

What are our biggest areas of weakness? What are y'all's concerns?

Biggest area of weakness to me is low post scoring, which is not a large part of our offense. BUT if a team is able to slow the tempo down and make it a half court grind of a game we could struggle there.  Walker is decent there and Andre has shown flashes, but I would not want to have to rely on it for a whole game.

 

My biggest concern is chemistry.  We are again mixing a bunch of new faces together.  I love the roster makeup for what Fred wants to do.  Exciting potential.  Now we need everyone to find their role and transform potential to performance.

[75unlgrad]

11 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

What are our biggest areas of weakness? What are y'all's concerns?

Rebounding will be our biggest weakness.  We will rank in the bottom half of the conference in rebounding.

 

We should show great improvement in free throw shooting.  We should show improvement in our 3-point shooting.  We should be much more athletic than in the last two years.  We will have much better depth than ever before.

[OmahaHusker]

22 hours ago, millerhusker said:

It seems we now have the shooters to space the floor and knock down shots.

 

Other than Bryce, who are those shooters? I'd think this is the biggest area of concern.