Norm's Power Rankings

[Norm Peterson]

Rienk Mast 

Keisei Tominaga 

Brice Williams 

CJ Wilcher 

Jamarques Lawrence 

Juwan Gary 

Eli Rice 

Cale Jacobsen 

Josiah Allick 

Ramel Lloyd 

Sam Hoiberg 

Blaise Keita 

Ahron Ulis 

 

Mast gets to the top of my list by, at present, being our only healthy big man. Oh, and he's pretty good, to boot. But we're going to need him to play big minutes and so his position at the top is a reflection of how good he is but also his current level of importance. Keisei is Keisei and holding steady near the top of the list. Brice Williams is showing he can do some things and CJ is having himself a Spain. Jamarques gets a down arrow because he's not filling the stat sheet like you might have expected. Possibly because of a new role. But, c'mon, he's still near the top of the list.

 

Juwan Gary gets a "holding steady" because he showed up and played. For now, I can live with that. Eli and Cale are the two pleasant surprises. Was not expecting them to make such a strong argument for being in the rotation, but if you had to pick a top 8 today, you'd have to say they're in it. Allick gets a down-arrow kinda because he's out with an injury and so we're not able to see what he's made of. Ramel, on the other hand, gets a down-arrow because he's maybe not showing the kind of promise I might have expected.

 

Everyone else is pretty self-explanatory.

[hhcmatt]

1 hour ago, Norm Peterson said:

Rienk Mast 

Keisei Tominaga 

Brice Williams 

CJ Wilcher 

Jamarques Lawrence 

Juwan Gary 

Eli Rice 

Cale Jacobsen 

Josiah Allick 

Ramel Lloyd 

Sam Hoiberg 

Blaise Keita 

Ahron Ulis 

 

Mast gets to the top of my list by, at present, being our only healthy big man. Oh, and he's pretty good, to boot. But we're going to need him to play big minutes and so his position at the top is a reflection of how good he is but also his current level of importance. Keisei is Keisei and holding steady near the top of the list. Brice Williams is showing he can do some things and CJ is having himself a Spain. Jamarques gets a down arrow because he's not filling the stat sheet like you might have expected. Possibly because of a new role. But, c'mon, he's still near the top of the list.

 

Juwan Gary gets a "holding steady" because he showed up and played. For now, I can live with that. Eli and Cale are the two pleasant surprises. Was not expecting them to make such a strong argument for being in the rotation, but if you had to pick a top 8 today, you'd have to say they're in it. Allick gets a down-arrow kinda because he's out with an injury and so we're not able to see what he's made of. Ramel, on the other hand, gets a down-arrow because he's maybe not showing the kind of promise I might have expected.

 

Everyone else is pretty self-explanatory.

 

Checks out

 

[jayschool]

45 minutes ago, hhcmatt said:

 

Checks out

 

I like the cut of your jib.

[hskr4life]

2 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

Rienk Mast 

Keisei Tominaga 

Brice Williams 

CJ Wilcher 

Jamarques Lawrence 

Juwan Gary 

Eli Rice 

Cale Jacobsen 

Josiah Allick 

Ramel Lloyd 

Sam Hoiberg 

Blaise Keita 

Ahron Ulis 

 

A few that I have a little bit of a different perspective on.

 

Brice and CJ-- I'd have them about what I expected of them on this trip.  With everyone out, someone was going to have to score the ball and those two are doing what I would expect of them in the scoring column.  To me, they would be more "even" than trending upward, though not anywhere near a downward trend... if that makes sense.

 

Overall though, this list is about where I'm at including with Eli Rice.

[Handy Johnson]

Wait until we have the Governor & the “Ashland Assassin” in the Backcourt at the same time. 

[millerhusker]

For me there is a clear top 6, assuming Ulis is out. If he remains on the team and can play, I'd have a top 7. 

1. Mast

2. Keisei

T3. Williams

T3. Lawrence

T5. Gary

T5. Allick

 

If Blaise is healthy, he'll get 8-10 minutes a game off the bench in the same role he had last year as a defensive post presence. But, that seems like a big if at this point so I won't include him for now.

I'm not reading anything into the box scores in Spain. I fully expect walk-ons, freshmen and guys who are trying to prove themselves to produce more in these games. Especially in a situation like this where we have so many guys not playing. The points have to come from somewhere. I remember Charlie Easley leading us in scoring in a game or two in France. 

 

So, that leaves five guys fighting for the last couple spots in the regular rotation. Hoiberg, Jacobson, Wilcher, Lloyd and Rice. One of these guys might be in the starting lineup. The nice thing about Sam being one of those guys is you don't have to worry about hurting his feelings. Fred will give the more talented guys every opportunity to take his minutes. But the value of simply doing the right thing and making the right play is always underestimated early, then realized later in the season. 

If we don't find another portal primary ball handler, Lloyd and/or Jacobson will have to play a good amount. 

To finish out my rankings:

7. Wilcher

8. Hoiberg

T9. Lloyd

T9. Jacobson

11. Rice

12. Diop

[Chuck Taylor]

2 hours ago, millerhusker said:

I'm not reading anything into the box scores in Spain. I fully expect walk-ons, freshmen and guys who are trying to prove themselves to produce more in these games. Especially in a situation like this where we have so many guys not playing. The points have to come from somewhere.

 

[HuskerFever]

I'm just really excited to see how Haanif Cheatham, Dachon Burke, and Cam Mack gel together this season. Exciting things to look forward to. Especially with the Big Ten tournament on March 11, 2020. We're going to crush it. What could possibly go wrong in this world?

 

[Handy Johnson]

49 minutes ago, HuskerFever said:

I'm just really excited to see how Haanif Cheatham, Dachon Burke, and Cam Mack gel together this season. Exciting things to look forward to. Especially with the Big Ten tournament on March 11, 2020. We're going to crush it. What could possibly go wrong in this world?

 

I was just looking at my Autographed Cam Mack hat today & sadly much like the “Shine” of his Husker career, his signature is also starting to fade. 

Edited August 3, 2023 by Handy Johnson