2023-24 Burning Questions

[NUdiehard]

5 hours ago, Art Vandalay said:

Definitely a point I can agree with, it is definitely possible. In that case he’d have to beat out Williams or Boogie. That could happen but it would be pretty surprising to me. However as a Husker hoops fan I’ve been unpleasantly surprised before. I’m just commenting on what I expect to happen.

 

If he beats out Boogie, that would be disappointing.  If he beats out Williams, that would be devastating.

 

Williams is the both the wildcard and the X-factor.  I am really looking forward to watching him play and see for myself, because right now he is an enigma to me.  His stats are great, his size for a wing is ideal, everybody speaks highly of him.  But then why did he not even start at Charlotte last year?  I realize its not who starts its who finishes, but 99% of the time the best players still start.  He had a really good first game in Spain, then seemed to disappear a bit (not that we should make anything much from that trip, but still).  From the very little we learned from the scrimmage against Utah (where is the investigative reporting--Washut?  Padilla?  Somebody?), Williams was not even mentioned.  Again, just one game (and a scrimmage at that), but is he supposed to be a top 1 or 2 player, or a role player?  If he is just a role player, is that enough to get us to where we want to go?  

 

Edited October 26, 2023 by NUdiehard

[Serenity Now]

Small sample size, but Sam shot nearly 41% from 3. If that is sustainable, you gotta find a few minutes for that don’t you? 

[k3s3i]

33 minutes ago, NUdiehard said:

 

If he beats out Boogie, that would be disappointing.  If he beats out Williams, that would be devastating.

 

Williams is the both the wildcard and the X-factor.  I am really looking forward to watching him play and see for myself, because right now he is an enigma to me.  His stats are great, his size for a wing is ideal, everybody speaks highly of him.  But then why did he not even start at Charlotte last year?  I realize its not who starts its who finishes, but 99% of the time the best players still start.  He had a really good first game in Spain, then seemed to disappear a bit (not that we should make anything much from that trip, but still).  From the very little we learned from the scrimmage against Utah (where is the investigative reporting--Washut?  Padilla?  Somebody?), Williams was not even mentioned.  Again, just one game (and a scrimmage at that), but is he supposed to be a top 1 or 2 player, or a role player?  If he is just a role player, is that enough to get us to where we want to go?  

 

who cares if he didn’t start just trust ur eyes 

[NUdiehard]

20 minutes ago, k3s3i said:

who cares if he didn’t start just trust ur eyes 

Hard to do when I’ve never seen him play— hence why I said “I’m really looking forward to watching him play”

[HuscurAdam]

10 hours ago, Dean Smith said:

My opinion is if Sam is playing any meaningful minutes, something bad has happened. I also believe Jacobson can do everything Sam can and is twice the athlete. 

 

To be clear, Sam is a *really* good athlete . . . he's just short.  If he were 5 inches taller, He'd be on scholarship at another P5 program, but alas he's 5-10 so he's a (excellent) walk-on for us.  

[basketballjones]

10 hours ago, Dean Smith said:

My opinion is if Sam is playing any meaningful minutes, something bad has happened.

Hmmm. Strong disagree. 

I guess define meaningful?

[basketballjones]

1 minute ago, HuscurAdam said:

 

To be clear, Sam is a *really* good athlete . . . he's just short.  If he were 5 inches taller, He'd be on scholarship at another P5 program, but alas he's 5-10 so he's a (excellent) walk-on for us.  

If he were two inches taller he'd be a starting PG at a mid-major, imo. 

 

What separates Sam, and I've said this before, from your normal "hussle walk-on," is he can make a multitude of shots. 

[millerhusker]

1 hour ago, HuscurAdam said:

 

To be clear, Sam is a *really* good athlete . . . he's just short.  If he were 5 inches taller, He'd be on scholarship at another P5 program, but alas he's 5-10 so he's a (excellent) walk-on for us.  

Agreed. In AAU ball Cale really struggled against length and quickness, which is why he didn't get any offers. He has great size for a college point guard. 

Sam is a better athlete imo. Just obviously lacks size. The biggest thing with Sam is the game at this level is not too fast for him. There are plenty of big, athletic players who never adjust to the speed of the game at the college level. The game never slows down for them, so they aren't able to make quick decisions and PLAY fast. 

[tcp]

I like Sam because we basically get him for free...no schollies needed. And he had a great run at the end of last season There's more to being a good playe than just your vertical. Ask Worm about that. 

[hhcmatt]

1 hour ago, basketballjones said:

If he were two inches taller he'd be a starting PG at a mid-major, imo. 

 

What separates Sam, and I've said this before, from your normal "hussle walk-on," is he can make a multitude of shots. 

 

Is he a PG though? I've always considered him to have a SG skillset. 

[basketballjones]

1 minute ago, hhcmatt said:

 

Is he a PG though? I've always considered him to have a SG skillset. 

I don't know what a PG is anymore. 

[Art Vandalay]

2 minutes ago, hhcmatt said:

 

Is he a PG though? I've always considered him to have a SG skillset. 

He did not play point in HS either. I thought I saw he was trying to learn the point in the off season but not sure. I agree he has always been a 2 guard.

[NoladrianSephier]

27 minutes ago, millerhusker said:

The biggest thing with Sam is the game at this level is not too fast for him. There are plenty of big, athletic players who never adjust to the speed of the game at the college level. The game never slows down for them, so they aren't able to make quick decisions and PLAY fast. 

This is the reason that Sam has a big edge over Jacobson in terms of seeing the floor this year. Sam proving himself last year makes the leash much shorter for all the other guards.

[hhcmatt]

I'd have to think if you need 10 minutes of someone on the court, then it's a no brainer of Hoiberg over Jacobsen because Sam will go out and make all the right plays on offense and defense.

 

If we're talking about an injury replacement at guard, it might boil down to who is injured because Cale has a lot more experience playing PG than Sam.

[Huskerpapa]

Dude, do you see that wall over there?  Now, go run through it.

 

Sam will run through it for you.  That may be his greatest attribute and what makes him popular amongst his teammates.

[NoladrianSephier]

2 hours ago, hhcmatt said:

If we're talking about an injury replacement at guard, it might boil down to who is injured because Cale has a lot more experience playing PG than Sam.

I don't know a lot about Cale but I've always imagined him to be very Ryan Anderson-esque. Maybe a little more of a true guard type and a lot less of a musician.

[k3s3i]

13 hours ago, NUdiehard said:

Hard to do when I’ve never seen him play— hence why I said “I’m really looking forward to watching him play”

plenty of charlotte games on youtube 

[Norm Peterson]

The stats guys, the analytics guys, have a way of measuring luck.

 

Arnold Palmer once said something like "I've hit a lot of lucky shots in my day and the more I practice, the luckier I get."

 

Sam Hoiberg often finds himself at the right place at the right time because he has intuition for the game.

 

That's something you cannot teach or coach. It might appear like it's luck, but like Arnold Palmer, he's creating his own luck.

 

He's not basketball tall. He's not D1 athletic. But, for a guy who's neither tall nor athletic, he makes hustle plays in spades.

 

Knowing they're both walk-ons and minutes will be exceedingly limited for them regardless, I'd pick Sam for my hypothetical open spot in the rotation. We're not going to rely on either of them to shoulder a scoring load. But Sam has a demonstrated propensity to create that one opportunity that swings a close game in our favor.

[aphilso1]

3 hours ago, basketballjones said:

I don't know what a PG is anymore. 

 

Based purely on length of shorts, I'd guess that Allick will be our starting PG.

[Navin R. Johnson]

Debbie says:

 

1. Slow, not good enough to play fast

2. No, see #1

3. Jacobsen (BC and JL don't play well at the point)

4. No

5. Diop (RM, JA, BK all get hurt)

6. No, see #1

[Vinny]

56 minutes ago, aphilso1 said:

 

Based purely on length of shorts, I'd guess that Allick will be our starting PG.

Knowing he’s played a lot of guard before and that Fred loves length at the “point”, I could see us discussing Eli initiating the offense next offseason if Ulis ends up with a lifetime ban.

[Art Vandalay]

1 hour ago, Norm Peterson said:

The stats guys, the analytics guys, have a way of measuring luck.

 

Arnold Palmer once said something like "I've hit a lot of lucky shots in my day and the more I practice, the luckier I get."

 

Sam Hoiberg often finds himself at the right place at the right time because he has intuition for the game.

 

That's something you cannot teach or coach. It might appear like it's luck, but like Arnold Palmer, he's creating his own luck.

 

He's not basketball tall. He's not D1 athletic. But, for a guy who's neither tall nor athletic, he makes hustle plays in spades.

 

Knowing they're both walk-ons and minutes will be exceedingly limited for them regardless, I'd pick Sam for my hypothetical open spot in the rotation. We're not going to rely on either of them to shoulder a scoring load. But Sam has a demonstrated propensity to create that one opportunity that swings a close game in our favor.

Agree with it all but the part of him not being athletic. I’d bet a lot of money his vertical, 10yard dash, agility times, and 40yd dash would compare favorably with a lot of D1 guys. Height and ball handling are the only the issues I see and he can improve one of those.

[Norm Peterson]

49 minutes ago, Art Vandalay said:

Agree with it all but the part of him not being athletic. I’d bet a lot of money his vertical, 10yard dash, agility times, and 40yd dash would compare favorably with a lot of D1 guys. Height and ball handling are the only the issues I see and he can improve one of those.

 

I should have said P5 athletic instead of D1 athletic. He doesn't jump out of the gym. He's not cat-quick. If he was, his height wouldn't be an issue.

[Art Vandalay]

15 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

I should have said P5 athletic instead of D1 athletic. He doesn't jump out of the gym. He's not cat-quick. If he was, his height wouldn't be an issue.

 
He can dunk at 5’11” and I actually think he is pretty quick as well even for P5 but I get what you are saying

[cipsucks]

Not sure to which players on the team this applies.  Might be several.  Back in 1982, some on this board have parents who weren't yet born, my brother and I drove 100 miles+ to watch the Metro Conference All-Star Basketball game to see how good our commitments looked versus the traitors who left.     NU commits were Dave Hoppen and James Moore. Those who went elsewhere were Ron Kellogg, (I blame you, jimmy), Kerry Trotter and Vic Lazzaretti.  Two others who played were Calvin Sprew and Bart Kofoed.

 

While watching the game, focusing on the Husker recruits, and Kellogg, Trotter and Lazzaretti, the one player that impressed us the most was Bart Kofoed.  We left saying, that Kofoed kid was the best player on the court tonight. You just never know.