Robin Washut - Derrick Walker

[hhcmatt]

23 minutes ago, HB said:

 

Both.  But mainly just looking at it--no way you're winning in the  Big 10 with that group.   Top to bottom just not very good.   Even if Walker comes back we're losing 2 out of our 3 best players.  On a terrible team.  Pretty comfortable that any new guys will not be as good as Bryce or Verge.  Maybe Fred will pull off a miracle from the portal, but this roster isn't gonna cut it absent Bryce returning.  I mean, they might win 10 vs. 7, but it's a bottom rung Big roster. 

 

To me it's about how much of the stuff that has kept us from winning can Fred cut out in the next couple of months and how much can he add in.   

If we're still watching guys give crap effort next year then the roster is never going to matter. Minnesota hasn't out talented anyone in this conference and they've scraped together wins.

[NUdiehard]

As currently constructed, the roster is not good enough to be successful in the B1G next year.  Part of that is talent, but much is youth.  If Walker returns, but Trey, Lat and Bryce no not, next year's team (as currently constructed) will have:

 

1 Senior - Walker

1 Junior - Tominaga

4 Sophomores - Andre, Wilcher, Edwards and Keita

6 Freshmen - McPherson, Oleg, Lloyd, Dawson, Lawrence and Breidenbach (assuming he gets medical RS)

 

Even if this group is "talented", there is little chance such a young team can win regularly in the B1G.  FWIW, this is why I feel Fred should get 5 years, but that is a different argument for a different thread.  The dilemma will be if there are concrete signs of legit "talent" and quality/sound play from these younger players, but they are coming up short due to so much youth and inexperience.  Most likely everyone will still want Fred gone, but it is important to look at what might lie ahead rather than what is past.  In contrast, if the group of young players don't give much/any indication of real potential, then the decision will be very easy.

 

Fred will have to pull in some quality and experienced transfers to have a shot next year, including a PG.  It is possible (likely) that a couple of the player listed above will transfer.  Will Edwards stick around?  Andre?  So there should be room for at least 2 or maybe 3 portal transfers.  Let's hope they hit better than they did last year. 

 

 

[busticket]

1 hour ago, aphilso1 said:

 

Who on our roster can defend his position without regular help?  My list is only one player long: Trey.  And on some nights when his head is screwed on straight I would also include Verge.  Maybe that's a coaching deficiency, but a lot of it appears to be just a deficit on physical tools.  CJ and Keisei aren't going to add enough lateral foot speed to defend other guards.  Walker isn't going to grow 3" before next season.  Sure, we do have some guys with physical tools that need to have their defensive technique coached up (Bryce, Andre, Keon), but two of those three are likely gone after the season and the third has spent more time with his face on the back of a milk carton than he has on the floor.

It has to be Keita.  Having a rim protector changes the whole defense.  Players won’t have to dig down when a post entry pass is made, and if they get beat on the drive they have help from the shot blocker. Keisei’s foot speed is adequate; his problem is bigger guards can take him to the hole.  That’s where a shot blocker can make up for that.  Wilcher is the opposite, he has size but slow foot speed.  Again having a shot blocker helps.  Look at Creighton and Kalkbrenner.  Nembhard is smaller than Keisei but when he gets taken to the whole he has an elite shot blocker backing him up.    Hate to put it all on Keita but we need a difference maker at that spot, because we don’t have elite defensive players on the perimeter….I’d actually categorize them as below average (assuming Trey is not coming back)

[hskr4life]

9 minutes ago, NUdiehard said:

As currently constructed, the roster is not good enough to be successful in the B1G next year.  Part of that is talent, but much is youth.  If Walker returns, but Trey, Lat and Bryce no not, next year's team (as currently constructed) will have:

 

1 Senior - Walker

1 Junior - Tominaga

4 Sophomores - Andre, Wilcher, Edwards and Keita

6 Freshmen - McPherson, Oleg, Lloyd, Dawson, Lawrence and Breidenbach (assuming he gets medical RS)

 

Even if this group is "talented", there is little chance such a young team can win regularly in the B1G.  FWIW, this is why I feel Fred should get 5 years, but that is a different argument for a different thread.  The dilemma will be if there are concrete signs of legit "talent" and quality/sound play from these younger players, but they are coming up short due to so much youth and inexperience.  Most likely everyone will still want Fred gone, but it is important to look at what might lie ahead rather than what is past.  In contrast, if the group of young players don't give much/any indication of real potential, then the decision will be very easy.

 

Fred will have to pull in some quality and experienced transfers to have a shot next year, including a PG.  It is possible (likely) that a couple of the player listed above will transfer.  Will Edwards stick around?  Andre?  So there should be room for at least 2 or maybe 3 portal transfers.  Let's hope they hit better than they did last year. 

 

 

 

Fred has had 3 years to get Jrs and Srs to develop and build a team around.  I disagree that we have to look at how young the team is next year if things go south again.  We've had 3 years now to build a veteran team and haven't done it.  It's time to start putting some W's on the board.    

[Handy Johnson]

38 minutes ago, BirdsOnTheBat said:

When Keita arrives do you think Walker will be off the bench?

Google Bob Boozer 

[nustudent]

15 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

 

Fred has had 3 years to get Jrs and Srs to develop and build a team around.  I disagree that we have to look at how young the team is next year if things go south again.  We've had 3 years now to build a veteran team and haven't done it.  It's time to start putting some W's on the board.    

I would agree with this.   It's hard to fault him for year 1 because he was dealt a horrible hand there.   But the groundwork for 2022 should have been getting laid in 2020 and 2021.   If we're this bad again....it's absolutely on him and he will have had time to correct initial mistakes.

[aphilso1]

30 minutes ago, busticket said:

It has to be Keita.  Having a rim protector changes the whole defense.  Players won’t have to dig down when a post entry pass is made, and if they get beat on the drive they have help from the shot blocker. Keisei’s foot speed is adequate; his problem is bigger guards can take him to the hole.  That’s where a shot blocker can make up for that.  Wilcher is the opposite, he has size but slow foot speed.  Again having a shot blocker helps.  Look at Creighton and Kalkbrenner.  Nembhard is smaller than Keisei but when he gets taken to the whole he has an elite shot blocker backing him up.    Hate to put it all on Keita but we need a difference maker at that spot, because we don’t have elite defensive players on the perimeter….I’d actually categorize them as below average (assuming Trey is not coming back)

 

I agree with everything you said, other than Keisei having enough lateral quickness.  The unfortunate reality of Keisei is that he can't guard anyone in this conference.  He is both too small AND too slow-footed.  Perhaps he can run fast in a straight line, but his quickness is abysmal for a D1 player of his stature.

 

And yes, it does seem like Keita is the biggest factor in whether we can be any good at all next year.  There's such a huge difference between having an eraser in the paint that makes up for your guards' shortcomings, and having an undersized man at the 5 that requires double team help.  Hopefully Keita provides the former, because we already have seen what happens with the latter.  Another bottom 50-ranked defense.

[Crush78]

59 minutes ago, NUdiehard said:

As currently constructed, the roster is not good enough to be successful in the B1G next year.  Part of that is talent, but much is youth.  If Walker returns, but Trey, Lat and Bryce no not, next year's team (as currently constructed) will have:

 

1 Senior - Walker

1 Junior - Tominaga

4 Sophomores - Andre, Wilcher, Edwards and Keita

6 Freshmen - McPherson, Oleg, Lloyd, Dawson, Lawrence and Breidenbach (assuming he gets medical RS)

 

Even if this group is "talented", there is little chance such a young team can win regularly in the B1G.  FWIW, this is why I feel Fred should get 5 years, but that is a different argument for a different thread.  The dilemma will be if there are concrete signs of legit "talent" and quality/sound play from these younger players, but they are coming up short due to so much youth and inexperience.  Most likely everyone will still want Fred gone, but it is important to look at what might lie ahead rather than what is past.  In contrast, if the group of young players don't give much/any indication of real potential, then the decision will be very easy.

 

Fred will have to pull in some quality and experienced transfers to have a shot next year, including a PG.  It is possible (likely) that a couple of the player listed above will transfer.  Will Edwards stick around?  Andre?  So there should be room for at least 2 or maybe 3 portal transfers.  Let's hope they hit better than they did last year. 

 

 

Their official class designation skews this younger than it actually is due to the free covid year, in any other time, this would be 6 upperclassmen (super senior, senior, & 4 juniors) + 3 redshirt freshman who have been in the program(mcpherson, oleg & dawson) for a year (or semester for Dawson)

 

Not saying that it makes the lineup any better, but this group will have a combined 18 ¹/² years in a college program for next season

[Ron Mexico]

1 hour ago, NUdiehard said:

As currently constructed, the roster is not good enough to be successful in the B1G next year.  Part of that is talent, but much is youth.  If Walker returns, but Trey, Lat and Bryce no not, next year's team (as currently constructed) will have:

 

1 Senior - Walker

1 Junior - Tominaga

4 Sophomores - Andre, Wilcher, Edwards and Keita

6 Freshmen - McPherson, Oleg, Lloyd, Dawson, Lawrence and Breidenbach (assuming he gets medical RS)

 

Even if this group is "talented", there is little chance such a young team can win regularly in the B1G.  FWIW, this is why I feel Fred should get 5 years, but that is a different argument for a different thread.  The dilemma will be if there are concrete signs of legit "talent" and quality/sound play from these younger players, but they are coming up short due to so much youth and inexperience.  Most likely everyone will still want Fred gone, but it is important to look at what might lie ahead rather than what is past.  In contrast, if the group of young players don't give much/any indication of real potential, then the decision will be very easy.

 

Fred will have to pull in some quality and experienced transfers to have a shot next year, including a PG.  It is possible (likely) that a couple of the player listed above will transfer.  Will Edwards stick around?  Andre?  So there should be room for at least 2 or maybe 3 portal transfers.  Let's hope they hit better than they did last year. 

 

 

Next season, I'm not looking at wins and losses. I'm looking for improvement in competitiveness. I'm looking for fundamentals. Are they boxing out. Are they  making the extra pass. Do they give a damn. 

[Huskerpapa]

My expectation remains the same as this season.  MINIMUM  one win in NCAA tournament.   

Sorry, we have the facilities, we have the fan base and we belong to arguably the best basketball conferences in the nation.  It is not about the past, it us about the present and future.

[Silverbacked1]

To me Walker is the guy we need back next year because I really feel like he is a glue guy and leader.

 

 Also we will be getting a JUCO player who we all say will need half a year to get used to playing BIG 10 ball. We have another big coming off of ACL replacement and a third big who can be good or not.

 

I think we need him to cover all the bases.

Edited February 25, 2022 by Silverbacked1

[nustudent]

3 hours ago, Ron Mexico said:

Next season, I'm not looking at wins and losses. I'm looking for improvement in competitiveness. I'm looking for fundamentals. Are they boxing out. Are they  making the extra pass. Do they give a damn. 

Of course if those things are evident....there are probably quite a few wins that come as well.

[Ron Mexico]

26 minutes ago, nustudent said:

Of course if those things are evident....there are probably quite a few wins that come as well.

You can have all those things and still struggle to close out games.

10-12 wins can feel like more if we are competitive.

[bkamler]

Guys who block out:

Tominoga

Breidenbach

Trey

Wilcher but not much vertical 

 

Guys who really try to rebound:

Andre

Breidenbach

Verge

Mayan lately

 

Guys who hustle on

Tominaga

Trey

Webster

Andre but does not move his feet

 

Guys who pass to open teammates:

Verge most of the time

Tominaga

 

Guys who seldom pass to open teammates or hustle on

Bryce

 

All in all the above looks pretty dismal.

 

Oh Yah the most uninspired looking guys on the team:

 

Fred

Doc

 

[royalfan]

On 2/25/2022 at 9:03 AM, aphilso1 said:

Walker is a perfect example of a guy that would be dominant in the post for a good mid-major program.  And someone that on an individual night can go toe-to-toe against bigger opposing post players.  The problem is that he can't consistently do that in our conference.  When you're that undersized as a 5, and that underskilled as a 4, you will eventually be exposed in a conference as good as the B1G.

 

I really like Walker.  I like his hustle, his effort, his desire to better himself and to do things the right way.  But being realistic, if he is our best choice at the 4 then we're staring down the barrel of another single-digit win season.  And if he is our best choice at the 5 then we better have some seriously improved team rebounding and team defense to help him out.  Other than our posts, we currently have two guys that box out on rebounds (CJ and Trey) and a handful of others that seem to find themselves in the right place/right time to snag a handful of uncontested rebounds (Lat, Bryce, Verge).  That has to improve if we roll out an undersized player at the 5 again.

 

You knocked it out of the park here.  It goes along with what I was suggesting in my long winded "scheme" post.