Next Year Huskers vs Jays

[aphilso1]

Following the Bluejays egg-laying last night (pun intended), the office water cooler talk today naturally revolved around who would have the better team next year, Nebraska or Creighton.  With a couple of impact freshmen coming in next year, plus a core of guys who spent all year redshirting and gelling together in practice, we should be significantly more talented in '13-'14.  Assuming McDermott leaves, the Jays will talk a big step backwards. 

The question is if our step forward and their step backwards is enough to shift the balance of power next year, or if it will take a little longer for the Huskers to clearly be the best in the state.  So, what say you?

[Daledangdarn]

I think we beat them, I cannot wait for that matchup at the Clink.

[TheKamdyMan]

McDermott is still only projecting anywhere from a late first to early second round pick so it should be interesting to see if he leaves or not.  Gibb and Echinique are gone leaving Manigot, Wragge, and Chatman as the top returners sans McDermott.  I think if he does go they will struggle mightily with their season and move to the new conference.  I wonder where his dad leads him towards because selfishly he really needs Doug to make the transition but for his career next year could really hurt his stock with less around him and tougher competition.

[TheGov21]

I beleive Nebraska holds the advantage next year.

 

Nebraska with the redshirts and incoming recruits improves the team significantly.  Creighton loses Echnique (sp) and Gibbs which will really hurt.  McDermott will come back but they'll still won't be very good because they lack that second scorer.  Unless they sign an impact player they are going to struggle.

[Concrete]

If Mcdermott leaves, we should smoke them.  We will still be very young and learning how to play as a team at that point in the season, but Creighton will be a significantly below average team without him next year.  Probably one of their worst teams since the beginning of the Altman era.

 

Tai Webster will probably have a field day feeling like he's playing against New Zealand teams again

[Daledangdarn]

McDermott is still only projecting anywhere from a late first to early second round pick so it should be interesting to see if he leaves or not.  Gibb and Echinique are gone leaving Manigot, Wragge, and Chatman as the top returners sans McDermott.  I think if he does go they will struggle mightily with their season and move to the new conference.  I wonder where his dad leads him towards because selfishly he really needs Doug to make the transition but for his career next year could really hurt his stock with less around him and tougher competition.

 

They also are returning Artino, which IMO looked better at times than Echinique this season.

[TheGov21]

Can somebody help me out here.....

 

I'm not getting the McDermott leaving early talk.  He's a very very good college player, but I don't know how well his game translates to the NBA.  He's only projected as a late late 1st round pick at best.  Why would you leave early to be a late first round pick?  Normally it's money issues, but that isn't the case here.  Yeah his draft stock may be high, but he isn't going to get worse. 

 

Has he hinted at leaving early?  I haven't seen anything. 

 

I just don't get it.  Maybe I"m just wrong.

[TheKamdyMan]

Can somebody help me out here.....

 

I'm not getting the McDermott leaving early talk.  He's a very very good college player, but I don't know how well his game translates to the NBA.  He's only projected as a late late 1st round pick at best.  Why would you leave early to be a late first round pick?  Normally it's money issues, but that isn't the case here.  Yeah his draft stock may be high, but he isn't going to get worse. 

 

Has he hinted at leaving early?  I haven't seen anything. 

 

I just don't get it.  Maybe I"m just wrong.

 

The biggest thing is that he's losing some latent around him and now with the move to a bigger conference his numbers could go way down which would hurt his already mid level grade.  His draft stock definitely has the potential to go down further than it could go up at this point looking at next year compared to this season.

[MandRHusker]

We'll be more talented but less experienced next year. If Doug stays, I think we lose at the CLink in a close contest. After that we move ahead of the Jays for the rest of time.

[Creighton Fan]

Can somebody help me out here.....

 

I'm not getting the McDermott leaving early talk.  He's a very very good college player, but I don't know how well his game translates to the NBA.  He's only projected as a late late 1st round pick at best.  Why would you leave early to be a late first round pick?  Normally it's money issues, but that isn't the case here.  Yeah his draft stock may be high, but he isn't going to get worse. 

 

Has he hinted at leaving early?  I haven't seen anything. 

 

I just don't get it.  Maybe I"m just wrong.

Next year's draft is expected to be much, much deeper than this year's draft.

[Norm Peterson]

McDermott is still only projecting anywhere from a late first to early second round pick so it should be interesting to see if he leaves or not.  Gibb and Echinique are gone leaving Manigot, Wragge, and Chatman as the top returners sans McDermott.  I think if he does go they will struggle mightily with their season and move to the new conference.  I wonder where his dad leads him towards because selfishly he really needs Doug to make the transition but for his career next year could really hurt his stock with less around him and tougher competition.

Interesting and insightful post of the day.

 

Greg might be very conflicted next year.  For his son's sake, he might better get while the gettin's good.  For Greg's own sake, he needs the kid back in order to be competitive in the new league.  Intrigue.  We'll see soon enough which way the McDermotts elect to go.

 

Either way, I think they're fine folk and I wish them both well.  Never, EVER hated on Doug McD.  Erin Craft, yes.  The putz from Wiscy?  You bet.  The Byrd man from Purduecatraz?  Absolutely.  Grunt Gibbs?  Hell yeah.  But not Doug McD.  Hope he and his dad make the best decision for their collective future. 

[aphilso1]

McDermott is still only projecting anywhere from a late first to early second round pick so it should be interesting to see if he leaves or not.  Gibb and Echinique are gone leaving Manigot, Wragge, and Chatman as the top returners sans McDermott.  I think if he does go they will struggle mightily with their season and move to the new conference.  I wonder where his dad leads him towards because selfishly he really needs Doug to make the transition but for his career next year could really hurt his stock with less around him and tougher competition.

 

They also are returning Artino, which IMO looked better at times than Echinique this season.

Did Artino play in either Tourney game?  Other than 3 & 00, I didn't see anyone over 6'5" worth the price of admission for CU

[Daledangdarn]

Can somebody help me out here.....

 

I'm not getting the McDermott leaving early talk.  He's a very very good college player, but I don't know how well his game translates to the NBA.  He's only projected as a late late 1st round pick at best.  Why would you leave early to be a late first round pick?  Normally it's money issues, but that isn't the case here.  Yeah his draft stock may be high, but he isn't going to get worse. 

 

Has he hinted at leaving early?  I haven't seen anything. 

 

I just don't get it.  Maybe I"m just wrong.

 

"Only" project as a late first round?  That is pretty good money, and he may feel as though his draft stock can't get much higher. 

 

When asked if he is going to leave early he doesn't say yes or no, just that it is something he will look at when the time comes.

[Concrete]

Can somebody help me out here.....

 

I'm not getting the McDermott leaving early talk.  He's a very very good college player, but I don't know how well his game translates to the NBA.  He's only projected as a late late 1st round pick at best.  Why would you leave early to be a late first round pick?  Normally it's money issues, but that isn't the case here.  Yeah his draft stock may be high, but he isn't going to get worse. 

 

Has he hinted at leaving early?  I haven't seen anything. 

 

I just don't get it.  Maybe I"m just wrong.

 

The biggest thing is that he's losing some latent around him and now with the move to a bigger conference his numbers could go way down which would hurt his already mid level grade.  His draft stock definitely has the potential to go down further than it could go up at this point looking at next year compared to this season.

This is also a pretty weak draft class, whereas next year's appears to be loaded

[Daledangdarn]

 

McDermott is still only projecting anywhere from a late first to early second round pick so it should be interesting to see if he leaves or not.  Gibb and Echinique are gone leaving Manigot, Wragge, and Chatman as the top returners sans McDermott.  I think if he does go they will struggle mightily with their season and move to the new conference.  I wonder where his dad leads him towards because selfishly he really needs Doug to make the transition but for his career next year could really hurt his stock with less around him and tougher competition.

 

They also are returning Artino, which IMO looked better at times than Echinique this season.

Did Artino play in either Tourney game?  Other than 3 & 00, I didn't see anyone over 6'5" worth the price of admission for CU

 

He got hurt in practice last week.   Also, Wragge and Dingman are over 6'5".

[hhcmatt]

Home and McDermott? Advantage Jays

Home and no McDermott?  Push

[Norm Peterson]

In my unbiased opinion, I think Greg should go.  From what Kamdy and Creighton fan are saying, now might be his best chance.  If I was sitting there as a college senior-to-be who has an opportunity to make it to the NBA, I would not let that opportunity slip by.  There might not be a second chance.  I agree his draft stock could go down next year for the reasons Kamdy and Creighton fan have said.

 

For me, selfishly, I hope he stays.  I'd rather beat a fully loaded Creighton team than have them say, well, it's only because we lost Doug to the NBA.  I'd want to beat them at full strength.  And I think we would beat them.  Might be close but I think what we bring in next year is HUGE compared to what they bring in.  And they lose a significant chunk just to normal graduation attrition. 

 

We lose a lot also.  I'd say we're fairly even on what we lose.  But we gain a LOT with the transfers and recruits.  And I think by the end of this year, we were a much, much better team than the one they faced early on.  The team that knocked off Iowa at home was a greatly improved team from the one that lost at home to Kent State.

 

So, I hope he comes back because I want to see the Huskers get a W against Doug.  But, for his sake, I think the best decision is to test the NBA waters.  Maybe not sign with an agent so that if he doesn't get drafted high enough, he can come back.  But anything 25th or better and he should take it.  (Just sit at home in your family room rather than at draft night in the green room.)

[TheKamdyMan]

Draftexpress.com has him going 7th in the second round.  They are usually the best when it comes to projections as they are actually given funds by a few NBA teams for their insight and scouting reports, especially the foreign players that they may not be able to see them as much as the staff at DE does.

[TheKamdyMan]

So, I hope he comes back because I want to see the Huskers get a W against Doug.  But, for his sake, I think the best decision is to test the NBA waters.  Maybe not sign with an agent so that if he doesn't get drafted high enough, he can come back.  But anything 25th or better and he should take it.  (Just sit at home in your family room rather than at draft night in the green room.)

 

That rule changed this year Norm.  No longer can players test the waters by not hiring an agent.  Its either youre in or youre out.  So you will see a lot more fringe guys staying.  

[Norm Peterson]

Whoa.  I don't think you can leave early for 7th spot in the 2nd round.  I didn't think his prospects were that bad.  Didn't think they were great, but didn't think they were that bad.

 

(Bad, here, is a relative term.  We'd love to have a player getting that much consideration.  But the question here is whether to leave early or not.  And that's different.)

[GoBigRed]

It's a weird situation. Doug has to know there is no better time for him to go pro than now. Creighton will not be as good next year. Doug might still put up numbers next year, but he's going to have to scratch and claw for them against better competition. Look at last night: 4-16 FG, 12-12 FT, 21 points, 9 rebounds. Next year against Georgetown, Marquette, Villanova, Xavier, Butler...going to be tougher without a veteran PG like Gibbs and a huge man down low like Echinique. Whether he was skilled or not, he was a big body who attracted attention away from Doug.

 

But at the same time, he has to know if he leaves the Jays will blow next year and his dad will have to take the brunt of that. I'm sure his dad selfishly wants him to stay, but I really don't think it's in the best interest of his career. He is a 2nd round projection right now in a weak draft class. Sticking around for next year might push him to the bottom of or out of the draft.

 

I think we lose a close one if McDermott stays. We might sneak out a win if he leaves. Creighton fans think their recruiting is going great, but I'm not so convinced. Their guards look very average AT BEST to me. They aren't athletic or talented enough to hang with the teams mentioned above. I think Creighton is really in for a rude awakening. They are used to finishing 1-2 in their conference every year and making the dance. Just because you are in a power conference doesn't mean you are dancing with a middle of the pack team (like Iowa). You still need to perform extremely well against good competition in the non-conference (Illinois, Minnesota). I can't foresee Creighton finishing ahead of Georgetown, Marquette, Xavier, Butler, Villanova. That's a 6th place finish at best in a 10-team conference. That's not going to cut it.

[49r]

They'll be in the mix for that 4th spot in the new Big East, I bet.

 

Could finish 8th too.

 

 

Will we beat them?  If we played them at PBA I'd lean towards yes, but in Omaha, I'm not so sure.  Not early in the season with a young team that will probably need time to gel.

[bobcat402]

i hate throwing the i know a guy whos knows stuff card, but one of my best friends his a athletic trainer for creighton,  he gets pretty close with the players naturally, and he swears that doug stated he is coming back next year, to get bigger, and show he can compete with better competition. For my two cents, i dont think he really helps them next year more so than he could this year, unless Artino and Wragge make significant jumps in their games that i dont really see happening. I think we win next year, the balence of power shifts.

[Norm Peterson]

It's a weird situation. Doug has to know there is no better time for him to go pro than now. Creighton will not be as good next year. Doug might still put up numbers next year, but he's going to have to scratch and claw for them against better competition. Look at last night: 4-16 FG, 12-12 FT, 21 points, 9 rebounds. Next year against Georgetown, Marquette, Villanova, Xavier, Butler...going to be tougher without a veteran PG like Gibbs and a huge man down low like Echinique. Whether he was skilled or not, he was a big body who attracted attention away from Doug.

 

But at the same time, he has to know if he leaves the Jays will blow next year and his dad will have to take the brunt of that. I'm sure his dad selfishly wants him to stay, but I really don't think it's in the best interest of his career. He is a 2nd round projection right now in a weak draft class. Sticking around for next year might push him to the bottom of or out of the draft.

 

I think we lose a close one if McDermott stays. We might sneak out a win if he leaves. Creighton fans think their recruiting is going great, but I'm not so convinced. Their guards look very average AT BEST to me. They aren't athletic or talented enough to hang with the teams mentioned above. I think Creighton is really in for a rude awakening. They are used to finishing 1-2 in their conference every year and making the dance. Just because you are in a power conference doesn't mean you are dancing with a middle of the pack team (like Iowa). You still need to perform extremely well against good competition in the non-conference (Illinois, Minnesota). I can't foresee Creighton finishing ahead of Georgetown, Marquette, Xavier, Butler, Villanova. That's a 6th place finish at best in a 10-team conference. That's not going to cut it.

Yeah, I don't know about that.  They have two PFs committed who had very legit sets of offers coming out of HS including one we were trying to get.  They also have a 2-guard/wing who, while he didn't have great offers has some pretty good film and shows exceptional range, very quick wind-up and release and just a nice overall jumpshot plus some ability to penetrate and pass.  Solid looking prospect for them.  According to the White and Blue Review, the kid (the guard/wing) averaged 23 pts/8 bds/6 assists as a junior.  Damn good numbers.  Probably a better shooter than Nathan Hawkins.  And on par with Hawkins athletically.

 

So, I don't think you can say that Creighton's recruiting is going badly.  But, at the end of the day, none of these kids are any substitute for Doug McDermott.  That's a void they won't fill with just one guy.

 

(Edited to add:  Also, according to the W&B Review, the guard/wing kid had an offer from us.  Did not know that.  Rivals doesn't show it.  W&B also says he had an OU offer, which Rivals doesn't show.)

[huskerbaseball13]

Not sure if we beat them if McDermott leaves because its in Omaha. But if he does leave Id take our current roster over theirs.