Projected starting line up

[hhcmatt]

Brice Williams is going to give you 38%-42% 3pt shooting. We need someone out of Essigian and Griffiths to hit at 36%+ because I don't think we're going to get much shooting out of the PGs or the front court. 

 

Last season we set 3pt attempt records. I don't think that is the strength of this roster and would expect us to play more like the Griesel team in terms of 3P attempt percentage.

[Handy Johnson]

3 hours ago, hhcmatt said:

Brice Williams is going to give you 38%-42% 3pt shooting. We need someone out of Essigian and Griffiths to hit at 36%+ because I don't think we're going to get much shooting out of the PGs or the front court. 

 

Last season we set 3pt attempt records. I don't think that is the strength of this roster and would expect us to play more like the Griesel team in terms of 3P attempt percentage.

Don’t Sleep On Nick Janowski, he could be the Pike of ‘91 

[hhcmatt]

7 hours ago, Handy Johnson said:

Don’t Sleep On Nick Janowski, he could be the Pike of ‘91 

 

Pike redshirted for a year. Jano seems like he'll be a nice player but he's competing against guys with high level D-1 experience. Ideally he would redshirt and start next year but that model of play went out of style at least 10 years ago.

 

That being said you can see a path for him with our lack of shooting this year.

[Huskerpapa]

38 minutes ago, hhcmatt said:

 

Pike redshirted for a year. Jano seems like he'll be a nice player but he's competing against guys with high level D-1 experience. Ideally he would redshirt and start next year but that model of play went out of style at least 10 years ago.

 

That being said you can see a path for him with our lack of shooting this year.

Seemingly, another advantage he has for playing time is his size.  He appears to have good strength for an incoming freshman that goes well with his basketball IQ and skills.  The only thing that may hold him back is the talent/experience ahead of him.

[aphilso1]

Starters:

Worster

Essegian  

Williams

Gary

Morgan / Meah (doesn't really matter who starts, they'll platoon and each play roughly 20 mpg)

 

Regular Rotation:

Griffiths

Buyuktuncel 

 

I think the guys above will get the lion's share of the minutes and be in the game plan for every single game. Morgan & Meah share the 5. Gary and Berke share the 4, with Gary sliding up to the wing when they're both on the court. Griffiths is the backup for both Essegian and Brice.  In addition to starting, Brice also functions as the backup PG and takes over primary ballhandling when Worster needs a breather.  There's your 8-man rotation.

 

9th man, he'll play but not as much as the other 8:

Hoiberg.  Dude is a shooter, decent ballhandler, and great off-ball defender.  He'll play when Coach needs a specific role executed by someone reliable.

 

Situational, will play some games but not in others:

Ulis (when we need an extra ballhandler on the court)

Janowski (when we need an extra shooter on the court)

 

Barring any long-term injuries, I don't see the need for a situational big man to log any minutes.  Two centers, plus positional size throughout the rotation.  We should be able to hide minutes at the 4/5 when our regular bigs get into foul trouble.

 

 

 

[Handy Johnson]

2 hours ago, hhcmatt said:

 

Pike redshirted for a year. Jano seems like he'll be a nice player but he's competing against guys with high level D-1 experience. Ideally he would redshirt and start next year but that model of play went out of style at least 10 years ago.

 

That being said you can see a path for him with our lack of shooting this year.

I’ve got a hunch there won’t be any “Happy Medium.” Nick will either be on the Frosh B1G Team or buried on the bench with a possible (but unlikely) Redshirt. 

[GhostOfJoeMcCray]

1 hour ago, aphilso1 said:

Starters:

Worster

Essegian  

Williams

Gary

Morgan / Meah (doesn't really matter who starts, they'll platoon and each play roughly 20 mpg)

 

Regular Rotation:

Griffiths

Buyuktuncel 

 

I think the guys above will get the lion's share of the minutes and be in the game plan for every single game. Morgan & Meah share the 5. Gary and Berke share the 4, with Gary sliding up to the wing when they're both on the court. Griffiths is the backup for both Essegian and Brice.  In addition to starting, Brice also functions as the backup PG and takes over primary ballhandling when Worster needs a breather.  There's your 8-man rotation.

 

9th man, he'll play but not as much as the other 8:

Hoiberg.  Dude is a shooter, decent ballhandler, and great off-ball defender.  He'll play when Coach needs a specific role executed by someone reliable.

 

Situational, will play some games but not in others:

Ulis (when we need an extra ballhandler on the court)

Janowski (when we need an extra shooter on the court)

 

Barring any long-term injuries, I don't see the need for a situational big man to log any minutes.  Two centers, plus positional size throughout the rotation.  We should be able to hide minutes at the 4/5 when our regular bigs get into foul trouble.

 

 

Ulis is probably the biggest question mark for me. His production at Iowa was meh. Yet we've been hearing the coaches loved him on scout team and that he caused problems for our starters. If he learned how to shoot in his year off then he could be a much better PG than Jamarques Lawrence. If he didn't, I'm not sure how he fits in. There will be at least 1 or 2 Boogie Colemans on this roster (someone who expects to play and starts off the year with minutes but winds up on the bench after Jan. 1). I think Ulis has a ceiling of being our starting point guard and has a floor of Boogie Coleman. 

Edited June 5 by GhostOfJoeMcCray

[Huskerpapa]

It is very hard to choose a lineup or even a rotation until I see the team and how they develop throughout the off-season.  Then you have chemistry and leadership roles that play into the equation.   

 

We have two players that we all can agree as likely starters.  They are Juwan and Brice.   With the remaining roster, there is a ton of potential.  How hard will the individuals work to turn potential to production?

 

I am amped because recent history tells us that the current staff seems to understand when and how to push the right buttons.  Heck, Uhlis has been tutored by this staff for a year now, and has his reputation to gain back.  One would think that he should be exponentially better than what we saw of him at Iowa.  I can clearly imagine that Sam's shot has improved.  Tied to his hustle and big play ability, he should also be in the mix for rotational minutes...and on and on.

[Vinny]

I get the sense we want Gary playing less of the 4 this year.  If Berke is the defender Fullbacksympathy described over the Berke is N thread, then I think you see him start. This is who I think will start and the players I think that will also get minutes at those spots depending on matchups/foul trouble. 

1 - Worster (Ulis, Sam)

2 - Brice (Essegian, Sam)

3 - Gary (Griffiths, Brice)

4 - Berke (Gary, Morgan)

5 - Morgan (Meah, Berke)

 

Starting, that’s two real three point threats and two guys you have to at least respect on the perimeter. And it’s three playmakers on the perimeter/wing. No one under 6’ 4” in the starting lineup.

Any Berke minutes at the 5 would be due to foul trouble or an opponent going very small. Meah provides a defensive spark off the bench inside, while Sam brings it on the perimeter. Griffiths and Essegian provide shooting and more length off the bench. 
 

If Essegian is back to his freshman form, he could knock Berke out of starting and move Brice and Gary to the 3 and 4. But again, I don’t think we want to start with Gary at the 4.

[Huskerpapa]

You want length?  How about this as a lineup:

 

PG - Williams

SG - Griffiths 

Wing - Juwan 

PF - Berke

C - Meah

[HuskerFever]

3 minutes ago, Huskerpapa said:

You want length?  How about this as a lineup:

 

PG - Williams

SG - Griffiths 

Wing - Juwan 

PF - Berke

C - Meah

 

What about @roscoe?

[B-town hoopsfan]

Unless something changes this summer I don’t think we should be to enamored by the thought of Berke being a plus defender 

[49r]

26 minutes ago, B-town hoopsfan said:

Unless something changes this summer I don’t think we should be to enamored by the thought of Berke being a plus defender 

 

Yeah, all accounts of him from UCLA fans are he's a sieve on defense, which is why he didn't mesh well in Cronin's system.

 

Apparently he's fairly elite on the offensive end though so I think that probably appeals to Fred and the system we run can probably hide his defensive liabilities some.  (i.e. CJ, Keisi)

[B-town hoopsfan]

7 hours ago, 49r said:

 

Yeah, all accounts of him from UCLA fans are he's a sieve on defense, which is why he didn't mesh well in Cronin's system.

 

Apparently he's fairly elite on the offensive end though so I think that probably appeals to Fred and the system we run can probably hide his defensive liabilities some.  (i.e. CJ, Keisi)

Yup, has a low post game and a mid post game. If he fixes his three point stroke I could see us running the offense through him when he’s on the court.  Then let’s just hope he stays in front of his guy on defense for the most part and grabs the rebounds a 6’9” guy should 

[Huskerpapa]

1 hour ago, B-town hoopsfan said:

Yup, has a low post game and a mid post game. If he fixes his three point stroke I could see us running the offense through him when he’s on the court.  Then let’s just hope he stays in front of his guy on defense for the most part and grabs the rebounds a 6’9” guy should 

Just a simple observation.   Yes, some players simply can't or won't play defense.  But there is also a possibility that a player is not being coached properly, or his coaches and fellow players don't motivate a player to defend.

Many will say Keisei did not defend well.  Where was Keisei located for long periods of time in certain games last year?  His ass was planted on the bench.  That said, more often than not, he was on the court working hard and appeared to really try being a pest.

So I personally will not yet look at any of the history's of our players in other programs.  Instead, I will wait to see how the players react to the defensive philosophies and techniques that our coaching staff teaches.

Perhaps we will like the results we will see.

[Handy Johnson]

From where we were after the A&M loss to where we are now I’d give Fred & his Entire Staff an A+ 

[hhcmatt]

To me we're running a pseudo-zone out there and had a top-50 defense with Keisei and Wilcher on the court. Ability to understand our scheme and then just willingness to chase can make up for lack of natural ability.

[Navin R. Johnson]

3 hours ago, hhcmatt said:

To me we're running a pseudo-zone out there and had a top-50 defense with Keisei and Wilcher on the court. Ability to understand our scheme and then just willingness to chase can make up for lack of natural ability.

 

Yup and the longer you are, the better that pseudo-zone usually works, and we will have a long armed team.

[Fullbacksympathy]

13 hours ago, Huskerpapa said:

Just a simple observation.   Yes, some players simply can't or won't play defense.  But there is also a possibility that a player is not being coached properly, or his coaches and fellow players don't motivate a player to defend.

Many will say Keisei did not defend well.  Where was Keisei located for long periods of time in certain games last year?  His ass was planted on the bench.  That said, more often than not, he was on the court working hard and appeared to really try being a pest.

So I personally will not yet look at any of the history's of our players in other programs.  Instead, I will wait to see how the players react to the defensive philosophies and techniques that our coaching staff teaches.

Perhaps we will like the results we will see.

A zillion percent. 
 

I’m using my eyes.  Watched a couple games.  The kid can move really well at 6’9”.  He works better in our defensive system for sure, but he’s not some flat footed liability.  Far from it.  Any defensive coach worth their salt can work with what he brings.  That was the scout on him from Europe as well—very high defensive ceiling because of his feet. 

[basketballjones]

I really like Janowski but I’d bet he barely plays this year. 

[Handy Johnson]

14 minutes ago, basketballjones said:

I really like Janowski but I’d bet he barely plays this year. 

He’ll have to be “Off the Charts” Good or a couple other players might be disappointing. I’d Love it to be the first case scenario. 

[LincecumFan]

30 minutes ago, Handy Johnson said:

He’ll have to be “Off the Charts” Good or a couple other players might be disappointing. I’d Love it to be the first case scenario. 

One never knows. His running mate in high school stole the show in Ames last season. And everyone thought Omaha Biliew was gonna be the man.

Edited June 12 by LincecumFan
Grammar