How long before this ship is headed in the right direction?

[uneblinstu]

The most important question is, do we beat Creighton next year? I vote yes.

Does McDermott come back?  That's the big question for them.  That said, we haven't played well in the CLink since Nate Johnson hit his runner in the lane as the clock expired.

[Cookie Belcher]

But we still lose to Ohio State twice, still lose to Michigan State twice

While I think some are being too optimistic about our team's level of play next year, I don't think the part of your comment I quoted is necessarily true.

 

Ohio State loses Deshaun Thomas and Evan Ravenel.  Thomas is everything for them on offense.  Their best recruits are in the 2014 class, not 2013.  They are going to take a step back next year.

 

Michigan State loses Nix and possibly Payne and Harris if they go pro.  Depending on the Payne and Harris decisions, they could take a step back next year.

 

I think counting each as 2 automatic losses is premature.

[HuskerFever]

Are we not competitive now? But I think next year we'll be NIT bound, so that's my vote.

 

"Competitive", in my opinion, means being able to change the lead throughout the entirety of a game. Not trailing behind the entire time for the last 10+ minutes.

[Hooper]

I happen to believe that this team needs to be able to put a bigger line-up on the court next year at times where Pitchford becomes a 4 and someone like Atewe is at the 5. That gives the Huskers a lot more size if the coaches feel we need it to match up.

 

I look at Atewe as a guy who'd have a very strong chance to come in and start as a true freshman. There's only one player on the Husker roster right now who's similar to him physically, and that's Pitchford, but Pitchford came through the ranks as a wing, and that's his background. He doesn't have years of high school and AAU experience banging in the paint and rebounding like Atewe presumably does. I therefore don't believe that Pitchford would hold much of an advantage over Atewe for that starting 5 spot should Atewe come on board. 

 

In Pitchford, we're trying to take a wing with phenomenal athletic ability and build him into a center. That's going to take time, not only in terms of his physical development, but also his mental and technical development.

Miles is going to put the best players on the court regardless of how big they are. Atewe could turn out to be just as big of a project as Sergej has been. Atewe's film does not suggest he will be starting next year.

 

Sergej's main reason for not playing much is lack of quickness and lack of strength, according to Miles. Atewe is much more athletic and powerfully built than Sergej.

 

And I agree that Miles is going to put the best five on the court, but there's got to be at least one guy out there who can give us a viable chance to rebound the basketball on both ends of the floor. Shields has shown a lot to indicate that he could become a very good rebounder, especially as he gets bigger and stronger. Still, I don't see him being the guy we count on to get rebounds for us next year.

[Norm Peterson]

But we still lose to Ohio State twice, still lose to Michigan State twice

While I think some are being too optimistic about our team's level of play next year, I don't think the part of your comment I quoted is necessarily true.

 

Ohio State loses Deshaun Thomas and Evan Ravenel.  Thomas is everything for them on offense.  Their best recruits are in the 2014 class, not 2013.  They are going to take a step back next year.

 

Michigan State loses Nix and possibly Payne and Harris if they go pro.  Depending on the Payne and Harris decisions, they could take a step back next year.

 

I think counting each as 2 automatic losses is premature.

No, I think you misunderstood what I was saying.  I was saying that if you take NEXT year's team and play THIS year's schedule, we would only be about 2-4 wins better at this point.  Here's what I said: "Even with next year's roster we would still have lost those games. So, instead of sitting on 3 (conference) wins right now, we'd maybe be sitting on 5?" 

 

And that's enough to get us to the NIT but not enough to get us to the NCAA tourney.

[tcp]

Seems like with all the AQ's in the NIT now that it's a harder tourney to make for mid-pack BCS teams. We can't assume a winning record with a solid to good SoS will get us in like it used to.

 

That said, I'd be thrilled if we got the NIT next season. That 2014/2015 class is looming big for us.

[jimmykc]

Too many variables to even make a rational choice, but ,what the heck, have to pass some time while awaiting a snowflake to fall so I picked option 2. I figure the arena will amp up the crowd next year and by the second year we should actually feel that we can compete with every team on the schedule, at least on our home floor.

[nustudent]

Will go for year 4.

 

I think we will see what we've seen in Miles past stops.   A steady build and climb.

 

Next year we will be above .500 overall and win 5-7 league games.

Year 3 will be an NIT-type year where we win 18-20 games and 7-8 league games.

Year 4 will be the year when we are the most loaded and experienced talent wise and when we finally break through.

[MandRHusker]

I happen to believe that this team needs to be able to put a bigger line-up on the court next year at times where Pitchford becomes a 4 and someone like Atewe is at the 5. That gives the Huskers a lot more size if the coaches feel we need it to match up.

 

I look at Atewe as a guy who'd have a very strong chance to come in and start as a true freshman. There's only one player on the Husker roster right now who's similar to him physically, and that's Pitchford, but Pitchford came through the ranks as a wing, and that's his background. He doesn't have years of high school and AAU experience banging in the paint and rebounding like Atewe presumably does. I therefore don't believe that Pitchford would hold much of an advantage over Atewe for that starting 5 spot should Atewe come on board. 

 

In Pitchford, we're trying to take a wing with phenomenal athletic ability and build him into a center. That's going to take time, not only in terms of his physical development, but also his mental and technical development.

I agree with you Hooper. While Pitchford is making progress on his inside game he is definately more comfortable as a face up 4. All we need from the big man we sign this spring is defense and rebounding. It would be nice to find someone who can score too but we should be able to surround him with enough scorers that it isn't necessary for the big guy to score. This is why Atewe fits us so well from day one!

[Bugeaters1]

I went with # 2. I had my red colored glasses on, But my gut says opition 3. My question to the board is do the Huskers have player that has the it factor. And I mean the guy that just gets the stuff done that needs to be done. Does this make sense to you guys ? Example When Nee was caoch i think Chubick to me he had the it factor.

[Handy Johnson]

Huskers will make their 1st of many visits to the NCAA tournament, NEXT year under Coach Miles. I'm confident we'll have some big boys signed up by then, along with some guys who can, get this, SHOOT a basketball.

 

I don't see it Handy, but if it happens, they should tear Miles' contract to shreds and write up a new one immediately that pays him a top-10 salary nationally, because he would have achieved one of the most impressive coaching feats in college basketball over the past decade in my opinion.

 

We should've made the Tourney our last year in the XII, only to fade late. Big jumps happen all the time in basketball, it really wouldn't be all that surprising. Look at Miami. Cornfed-Inbred-GO BIG RED!

[hal9000]

Will go for year 4.

 

I think we will see what we've seen in Miles past stops.   A steady build and climb.

 

Next year we will be above .500 overall and win 5-7 league games.

Year 3 will be an NIT-type year where we win 18-20 games and 7-8 league games.

Year 4 will be the year when we are the most loaded and experienced talent wise and when we finally break through.

I agree with this the most.

 

We need to be able to break through that 7-8 win barrier which we haven't been able to for so long.  Once we do that, once we get to double digit wins and an NCAA bid, that's when we've "turned this thing around."  I would say we're definitely headed in the right direction, but it's going to take some time.

 

Agree with Hooper, we'll need better bigs.  We hung with Mich State as best we could, but I watched guys like Ubel, Rivers and Shields who were in position and boxing out, still get rebounded on all night by their taller, bigger, more athletic bigs. 

 

I think it's gonna be by year 4.

[cozrulz]

Next year we may be on the bubble of the NIT.  Probably will play the CBI for the first time.  No experience down low will hurt.

 

Year 3 is my pick, but they may still only be a solid NIT team.  Probably need one more difference maker.