I am so geeked.

[Norm Peterson]

That's it.

 

That's the message.

 

Geeked, I say.

[Huskerpapa]

Norm...so am I.  Yes, it was only a pseudo practice, but we got ourselves some keepers.

[Bugeaters1]

Anyone stay for the adult only concert?

 

[Norm Peterson]

Well, OK, allow me to elaborate.

 

I watched carefully as Rienk Mast jogged onto the floor when he was introduced. I was wanting to see if he moved ploddingly, like a plow horse. Or if he moved around like a guy with 50-year-old knees. Nope, he moves well. He cantered onto the floor like a smooth athlete. No hitch in his giddyup at all. In 3-point drills, he has a quick catch-and-shoot action with a compact, repeatable stroke. He elevates with power. He has a variety of moves down low. He threw a nice little lefty hook and nailed a nifty fadeaway.

 

OK, not bad. Nice start.

 

Then comes Matar. HOLY SMOKES!!!! OMG. Superlatives are not enough to describe this kid's incredible athleticism. I do not recall a big man in a Nebraska jersey as explosive as he is. Not ever. He effortlessly snagged lob passes and threw them down like child's play. He covers ground from one end of the floor to the other like a greyhound or a cheetah or some other animal that's really fast. Oh, and on the 3-point shooting drills, he was nailing 3, 4, 5 in a row. His inside post moves appear to be a work in progress, but it's clear there's work going on.

 

And talk about effortless leapers throwing down dunks and then stroking it from deep, allow me to introduce you to another fresh face in Eli Rice. The kid is gonna play. This year. He's really going to put pressure on some of the upper classmen to elevate their games if they want to stay in front of him. You can clearly see how he managed to be one of our leading scorers on the Spain trip.

 

Rice and Diop might have the greatest inverse relationship between recruiting rankings and basketball ability of anyone we've had since Shavon Shields. Steals. Absolute steals. Both of them. Rice was ripping the nets on his 3-pointers. And effortlessly athletic. Very happy with what I saw there. Very happy.

 

I should mention we have some shooters.

 

Brice Williams looked about like what you'd expect. He's fast in the open floor. And he's an oustanding shooter.

 

CJ finally looks confident. Finally. Confident, but not cocky. And it showed with him winning the 3-point competition.

 

And, of course Keisei, who had quite a large cheering section on hand. And damn near couldn't miss until the 3-point competition started.

 

And then we have some athletes.

 

In addition to the aforementioned freshmen, I have to say Josiah Allick was surprisingly bouncy. I mean, I didn't expect him to be a stiff. But he was bouncier than I had anticipated. And his shot seems like it's coming around. He has some basketball skills. And I don't think he's going to frustrate you to watch like the guy whose roster spot he took.

 

All in all, this looks like a generally longer and more athletic group than we've had while also being better shooters.

 

I don't know how that translates into wins, but if these guys care more about team success than individual glory, the sky is the limit.

[Huskerpapa]

7 minutes ago, Bugeaters1 said:

Anyone stay for the adult only concert?

 

Yes...

[Huskerpapa]

2 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

Well, OK, allow me to elaborate.

 

I watched carefully as Rienk Mast jogged onto the floor when he was introduced. I was wanting to see if he moved ploddingly, like a plow horse. Or if he moved around like a guy with 50-year-old knees. Nope, he moves well. He cantered onto the floor like a smooth athlete. No hitch in his giddyup at all. In 3-point drills, he has a quick catch-and-shoot action with a compact, repeatable stroke. He elevates with power. He has a variety of moves down low. He threw a nice little lefty hook and nailed a nifty fadeaway.

 

OK, not bad. Nice start.

 

Then comes Matar. HOLY SMOKES!!!! OMG. Superlatives are not enough to describe this kid's incredible athleticism. I do not recall a big man in a Nebraska jersey as explosive as he is. Not ever. He effortlessly snagged lob passes and threw them down like child's play. He covers ground from one end of the floor to the other like a greyhound or a cheetah or some other animal that's really fast. Oh, and on the 3-point shooting drills, he was nailing 3, 4, 5 in a row. His inside post moves appear to be a work in progress, but it's clear there's work going on.

 

And talk about effortless leapers throwing down dunks and then stroking it from deep, allow me to introduce you to another fresh face in Eli Rice. The kid is gonna play. This year. He's really going to put pressure on some of the upper classmen to elevate their games if they want to stay in front of him. You can clearly see how he managed to be one of our leading scorers on the Spain trip.

 

Rice and Diop might have the greatest inverse relationship between recruiting rankings and basketball ability of anyone we've had since Shavon Shields. Steals. Absolute steals. Both of them. Rice was ripping the nets on his 3-pointers. And effortlessly athletic. Very happy with what I saw there. Very happy.

 

I should mention we have some shooters.

 

Brice Williams looked about like what you'd expect. He's fast in the open floor. And he's an oustanding shooter.

 

CJ finally looks confident. Finally. Confident, but not cocky. And it showed with him winning the 3-point competition.

 

And, of course Keisei, who had quite a large cheering section on hand. And damn near couldn't miss until the 3-point competition started.

 

And then we have some athletes.

 

In addition to the aforementioned freshmen, I have to say Josiah Allick was surprisingly bouncy. I mean, I didn't expect him to be a stiff. But he was bouncier than I had anticipated. And his shot seems like it's coming around. He has some basketball skills. And I don't think he's going to frustrate you to watch like the guy whose roster spot he took.

 

All in all, this looks like a generally longer and more athletic group than we've had while also being better shooters.

 

I don't know how that translates into wins, but if these guys care more about team success than individual glory, the sky is the limit.

Yeah, what he said.  And oh by the way, all our bigs have good hands...and are athletic...and look strong...oh my.

 

 

 

Repeat after me...it was only one practice; but still.

[Bugeaters1]

12 minutes ago, Huskerpapa said:

Yes...

Looked like a bunch of noise to me.

 

[Norm Peterson]

1st 29 weeks of the off-season:

 

 

Last 4 weeks of the off-season:

 

 

[AuroranHusker]

Thanks for the report. Wanted to be there but had other commitments. Sounds like a real positive night for keeping one's hopes up. GBR!

 

 

[Bugeaters1]

What's Lloyd's injury?

 

[Huskerpapa]

22 minutes ago, Bugeaters1 said:

Looked like a bunch of noise to me.

 

Yes indeed.

[Huskerpapa]

5 minutes ago, Bugeaters1 said:

What's Lloyd's injury?

 

Didn't hear; but he had a sleeve over the knee and lower leg.

[Norm Peterson]

3 minutes ago, AuroranHusker said:

Thanks for the report. Wanted to be there but had other commitments. Sounds like a real positive night for keeping one's hopes up. GBR!

 

Matar Diop probably stood out the most because of his freakish athleticism. Skills still a work in progress, but allow your imagination to run wild on his physical tools and you probably won't overshoot things by much. I mean, he is a freak of nature. You're just going to have to see him. Words fail.

 

But all that athleticism will be meaningless if he cannot corral it and put it to good use. I think he will be able to do that. I don't know if he'll be able to do that this year, though. He has a ways to go with learning the game and developing a feel for the action. But his physical tools will at least get him on the floor.

 

Eli Rice, on the other hand, is both athletic and skilled. How we managed to land him is beyond me. How other schools missed on him is beyond me. He's high-major talent, for sure. I am shocked -- SHOCKED -- that he wasn't more highly rated. But thankful, because that means he fell into our laps.

 

You might miss some things about Derrick Walker. Primarily his intuitive relationship with Keisei and the feel he had for hitting Keisei on back cuts. But Rienk is no slouch. Let me emphasize that point. Derrick Walker was a very good player with lots to commend himself for. But Rienk Mast is a solid player in his own right and I don't think we're going to skip as much of a beat at that spot on the floor as some might have feared. I think Rienk is the real goods. And Matar will be a quality backup.

 

Every single one of our newcomers is a player. Every single one of our newcomers has game. Brice appears to be as advertised. He'll probably drop off a bit on the 3-point percentage as he goes up a level in competition, but I figure he's good for a solid 35 or 36% from deep. He's long, smooth and athletic. He would have clearly started on any of Hoiberg's first four teams here.

 

Boogie is a long point guard. It's hard to say too much about him because the drills they ran weren't really conducive to letting you see his passing ability, for instance. But these guys are all fast in the open floor. Athletically, they all belong at the high major level. Ulis, also, although I hesitate to say too much about him because I'm just not sure if he'll be eligible.

 

There are some things we're not going to know for awhile. But there are some other things I feel pretty confident about:

 

1. We're more athletic than we were a year ago;

2. We found a suitable replacement for Derrick Walker;

3. We'll be a better perimeter shooting team than we were a year ago.

 

What I saw tonight did not leave me feeling worried. I'm really anticipating what the season holds in store and I really want to see how these guys stack up. I really don't think we'll have a weak spot on the floor.

 

That doesn't mean we'll win the Big Ten. I'm not that much of a Pollyanna. But I'm really looking forward to seeing what these kids can do.

 

THIS IS NOT THE SMOKE AND MIRRORS "MOST TALENTED TEAM" FROM TWO YEARS AGO. THESE GUYS ARE REAL.

 

The only question for me is whether they'll mesh and whether we have someone who can initiate the offense. And then how far can they go. But I think this is, for sure, a post-season roster. 

[Norm Peterson]

20 minutes ago, Bugeaters1 said:

What's Lloyd's injury?

 

 

If I had to guess, I'd say maybe it's his testicles.

 

But that's just a guess.

[AuroranHusker]

Appreciate the extended recap, Normy. I was already stoked for the season, now I'd say I'm amped to win a whole bunch of ballgames! GBR

 

 

[Bugeaters1]

 

[Bugeaters1]

I found my answer to Lloyd's injury.

 

[AuroranHusker]

15 minutes ago, Bugeaters1 said:

I found my answer to Lloyd's injury.

 

 

 

I presume Blaise has had an ankle injury in which he is not able to use it. 

 

[jayschool]

9 hours ago, AuroranHusker said:

 

 

I presume Blaise has had an ankle injury in which he is not able to use it. 

 

Definitely a disability.

[Buglem]

I’ll echo Norm and his comments. I told my wife that we pass the eyeball test. In the past, that’s not been true. 

[thrasher31]

I didn't get the chance to head out, but I'll be at every home game this year. Glad to see diop getting praise. Even if he is just a rim runner that cleans the glass and can be an over the top lob threat, that's a net positive. Will help he has two very experienced bigs to learn from in allick and mast. 

 

CJ I hope has a bounce back year to at least be respectable. Last year was very rough for him, but I'm hopeful he can turn it around this year. Would be a massive threat coming off the bench

[HuskerFever]

12 minutes ago, Buglem said:

I’ll echo Norm and his comments. I told my wife that we pass the eyeball test. In the past, that’s not been true. 

 

You really shouldn't be talking about your wife's eyeballs like that. Risky move!

[Huskerpapa]

14 hours ago, Bugeaters1 said:

Looked like a bunch of noise to me.

 

Yes indeed.

[Norm Peterson]

Welp, there's always basketball.

[75unlgrad]

And it can't get here soon enough.