I am so geeked.

[HuskerBB]

22 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

This is a really good point. A REALLY GOOD POINT.

 

In practically all the years of Hoiberg, we've gotten hammered on the boards. You look over on the ribbon boards around the arena halfway through most conference games and we'd be routinely down 10 rebounds to the opposing team. At home.

 

Those 10 boards equate to 10 extra possessions where they have a chance to score. Figure every extra possession from every extra rebound is about an extra point give or take.

 

So, of the guys we picked up in the portal ...

 

Rienk Mast was the #2 overall leading rebounder in the Missouri Valley Conference last year at 8.0 per game.

 

Josiah Allick was the #2 overall leading rebounder in the Mountain West Conference last year at 7.3 per game.

 

Brice Williams was the #15 overall leading rebounder in Conference USA last year at 5.3 per game.

 

Jarron Coleman, even as a PG, was the #20 overall leading rebounder in the MAC last year at 4.9 per game.

 

So, the transfers we've brought in are decent to very good rebounders for their positions. And winning the rebounding battle will probably move the needle as much as anything in our win/loss record year over year.

 

In conference games last year, we won the game EVERY TIME we won the boards. And 12 out of the 16 games where we lost the battle of the boards, we also lost the game. And in the 4 games we won despite being outrebounded, we were only outrebounded by 1, 2, 3 and 5 boards each.

 

So, it seems safe to say this year, if we're holding our own on the boards, the dividends should be obvious.

Had not seen those numbers.    This post makes me more optimistic about this season than anything I have read on here.

[HuskerBB]

5 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

I think that change in want-to is what happens when you bring in assistants who actually care about winning instead of glad-handing and schmoozing.

 

I still acutely remember how I used to complain about the players goofing around during pre-game and halftime warmups. Just maddening. And then they'd go lay an egg.

 

That doesn't happen anymore.

You may be right Norm - in fact I am sure that is at least part of it.  

 

That said, I also think Emmanuel Bandoumel and Juwan Gary came here with a way better work ethic than other players we have had recently - especially than the players we had the season or two before.   

[royalfan]

22 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

This is a really good point. A REALLY GOOD POINT.

 

In practically all the years of Hoiberg, we've gotten hammered on the boards. You look over on the ribbon boards around the arena halfway through most conference games and we'd be routinely down 10 rebounds to the opposing team. At home.

 

Those 10 boards equate to 10 extra possessions where they have a chance to score. Figure every extra possession from every extra rebound is about an extra point give or take.

 

So, of the guys we picked up in the portal ...

 

Rienk Mast was the #2 overall leading rebounder in the Missouri Valley Conference last year at 8.0 per game.

 

Josiah Allick was the #2 overall leading rebounder in the Mountain West Conference last year at 7.3 per game.

 

Brice Williams was the #15 overall leading rebounder in Conference USA last year at 5.3 per game.

 

Jarron Coleman, even as a PG, was the #20 overall leading rebounder in the MAC last year at 4.9 per game.

 

So, the transfers we've brought in are decent to very good rebounders for their positions. And winning the rebounding battle will probably move the needle as much as anything in our win/loss record year over year.

 

In conference games last year, we won the game EVERY TIME we won the boards. And 12 out of the 16 games where we lost the battle of the boards, we also lost the game. And in the 4 games we won despite being outrebounded, we were only outrebounded by 1, 2, 3 and 5 boards each.

 

So, it seems safe to say this year, if we're holding our own on the boards, the dividends should be obvious.

It also allows us to get out and run, which we typically are good at doing under Hoiberg if we can get a rebound.  

[huskercappy]

I'm 65 years old. I've been a fan my entire life. My expectations for the program have always been, play hard and play together.  Simple goals but under our control. Last year we met those goals.  I'm really confident we will do that again this year.  Add in more depth, and that's a recipe for a good year.  Fingers crossed.

[basketballjones]

Call me an old fart…. But I’m not a huge fan of first year transfers going to media day. 

[Norm Peterson]

5 minutes ago, basketballjones said:

Call me an old fart…. But I’m not a huge fan of first year transfers going to media day. 

 

Good gawd you're an old fart.

 

And I am NEXT to your lawn. I am not ON your lawn.

[royalfan]

One major thing to keep in mind is that we have the defensive minds here again that crafted a nice defensive scheme.  Once Doc got demoted and started showing bad body language we started playing respectable defense and pulled off huge road upsets.  Then Howard added to it last year.  We have more athletic bodies to be good again on that end and hopefully even better.  

[millerhusker]

A recruit who was at a practice last week told Washut that Brice Williams was a player that stood out. "He was killing them. Killing everybody."

[basketballjones]

1 hour ago, millerhusker said:

A recruit who was at a practice last week told Washut that Brice Williams was a player that stood out. "He was killing them. Killing everybody."

Assuming everyone is who you think they are, BWill is easily the most important player to take us from "nice team" to "dang good team." Real wildcard. 

[49r]

On 9/29/2023 at 9:52 PM, Norm Peterson said:

That's it.

 

That's the message.

 

Geeked, I say.

 

But @Norm Peterson, let's be honest here...when haven't you been geeked for Husker Hoops?  

[Norm Peterson]

48 minutes ago, 49r said:

 

But @Norm Peterson, let's be honest here...when haven't you been geeked for Husker Hoops?  

 

Last couple of years, I've definitely been in the show-me mode. I was so pissed after the first game of the Verge-Bryce McGowans era that I accurately foresaw the disaster that season was going to become. I was actually pretty skeptical going into Hoiberg Year 2. I remember asking the question what changed in our lineup so much to think Year 2 would be materially any better than Year 1.

 

So, I've been kind of down on the whole Hoiberg era from shortly after the start of Season 1 when it was clear our recruiting had been smoke and mirrors. It started to improve a bit last year after we beat Creighton. It continued to rise as I watched how the team responded to the season-ending injuries to Bandoumel and Gary. And I was fairly happy with how we did in the portal.

 

My optimism, I felt, was validated when I watched the hoops Opening Night the other night. That's when the needle moved for me from "we *could* be pretty good" to "we *should* be pretty good."

 

I feel like we finally have a coaching staff that a) has their shit together; b) cares; and c) can get the most out of the roster. And, speaking of rosters, I feel like we finally have a roster that a) doesn't have a glaring weakness; b) has quality depth; and c) has players who will likely be more concerned about wins than how they individually fill the stat sheet.

 

So, yeah, I haven't been geeked very much for about the last 4 years. I'm getting increasingly geeked now.

[49r]

Well you're definitely ahead of me on that schedule then @Norm Peterson.  I am very much firmly still in the show-me mode.

 

But I guess I have been ever since that 2014-15 team.  What a bitter disappointment that year was.

 

Honestly, I haven't been in the "we *should* be pretty good" zone since the Danny Nee era.  Maybe in 2019 after we beat MVSU 106-37 I started to feel that way...

[Norm Peterson]

We now have guys who can shoot our way back into games, keep us in games, or blow games open.

 

 

[hskr4life]

15 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

We now have guys who can shoot our way back into games, keep us in games, or blow games open.

 

 

Likely means nothing, but we’re at that point before a season where it’s time to dig into every charge and pass we see from practice on social media… sooo…

 

It appeared the red team was

 

JLaw, Keisei, BWill, Josiah, and Reink… starting 5??

 

white looked like Hoiberg, CJ, Rice, Diop, and maybe Lloyd.  If you consider red to be the starting 5… how tough is this second 5!?!?

 

and that’s still leaving out Blaise, Gary, etc who weren’t on the floor!

[basketballjones]

12 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

Likely means nothing, but we’re at that point before a season where it’s time to dig into every charge and pass we see from practice on social media… sooo…

 

It appeared the red team was

 

JLaw, Keisei, BWill, Josiah, and Reink… starting 5??

 

white looked like Hoiberg, CJ, Rice, Diop, and maybe Lloyd.  If you consider red to be the starting 5… how tough is this second 5!?!?

 

and that’s still leaving out Blaise, Gary, etc who weren’t on the floor!

Final Four

[Navin R. Johnson]

48 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

Likely means nothing, but we’re at that point before a season where it’s time to dig into every charge and pass we see from practice on social media… sooo…

 

It appeared the red team was

 

JLaw, Keisei, BWill, Josiah, and Reink… starting 5??

 

white looked like Hoiberg, CJ, Rice, Diop, and maybe Lloyd.  If you consider red to be the starting 5… how tough is this second 5!?!?

 

and that’s still leaving out Blaise, Gary, etc who weren’t on the floor!

 

Coleman?

[millerhusker]

1 hour ago, hskr4life said:

Likely means nothing, but we’re at that point before a season where it’s time to dig into every charge and pass we see from practice on social media… sooo…

 

It appeared the red team was

 

JLaw, Keisei, BWill, Josiah, and Reink… starting 5??

 

white looked like Hoiberg, CJ, Rice, Diop, and maybe Lloyd.  If you consider red to be the starting 5… how tough is this second 5!?!?

 

and that’s still leaving out Blaise, Gary, etc who weren’t on the floor!

Two weeks ago I would've had Coleman and maybe Gary in my starting 5. But Fred has sure been talking a lot about JL at point guard and about Allick and Mast on the floor together. So as of today that red team would be my current starting 5 prediction. 

[Bugeaters1]

34 minutes ago, Navin R. Johnson said:

 

Coleman?

Jarron.

[hskr4life]

5 hours ago, Navin R. Johnson said:

 

Coleman?

 

He actually might have been the 5th white instead of Lloyd.

[hhcmatt]

During the presser today Hoiberg mentioned he's throwing lineups out there to find good ones so the takeaway might be who is on the court as opposed to who is on what squad.

[Huskerpapa]

Josiah geeked about husker volleyball...and his sister... 

 

 

[Norm Peterson]

I'm still pretty geeked.

[REDZONEDAN]

Yeah I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight.  What an amazing win!

[Huskerpapa]

Amazing win!  Amazing atmosphere!  That was an emphatic win.  Yes, I AM GEEKED!!!!!!!!!!

[hskr4life]

Wife: you going to bed any time soon.

 

Me: Ehhhh you better head in without me.  I need to decompress.

 

Also me: watching highlights again.