Sergej Vucetic

[Huskerpapa]

Coach Miles commented post game that we are one big man short.  Sigh. 

 

Let's discuss Serg for a bit.  The kid is 7' tall.  The kid has some offensive skill.  The kid can occupy a bit of space.  The kid can rebound a bit.  The kid struggles on defense, but he can defend inside the paint.

 

So here is my point.  Can't he provide at least two to four minutes a half?  If he is that incapable, then man, somebody has to make a decision.  I simply believe that he needs to earn his scholorship, or move on. 

 

I am not bashing Serg, far from it.  He seems to be well liked.  The crowd seems to like him, and again, the brief opportunities he has had, shows he has some talent.  So my plea or request or whatever...is to give the kid a chance over the next few games.  See how he reacts in short spurts in relief of our current bigs.  Why not?

[cozrulz]

I think he probably can provide a few minutes a half but he is still a relatively young player.  As a big man it takes longer to be ready to play if you aren't an elite athlete.  Give Miles a couple more years with him and who knows.  He looks bigger and better this year.  Maybe he will start seeing the court more later in the year.  The next few games will provide enough opportunities for minutes.  A lot depends on matchups and how Miles wants to play.

 

I think he is earning his scholarship.  Not everyone on scholarship will be getting game minutes.  So...How is he practicing?  Is he buying into the coaching?  Is he improving to the staff's expectations?  We also get a 7 footer in practice which is pretty valuable.  You probably want guys like this around to build a program.  A bunch of new faces is hard for a basketball program that isn't getting a bunch of 5 stars.

[tcp]

it's hard to know why miles has him locked down this much, but i'm wondering if he's just a really slow learner. I've seen some flashes of skill from him and not sure why he can't hold down 3-4 minutes in a pinch.

 

maybe Dean can comment on this, since Miles isn't exactly prone to explain it in depth.

[Rome4Lyfe]

He may be a 7 footer, but he plays about 6'5" the way he is always bent over. Dissapointed to not see more weight gain on him from the off-season.

[Dean Smith]

it's hard to know why miles has him locked down this much, but i'm wondering if he's just a really slow learner. I've seen some flashes of skill from him and not sure why he can't hold down 3-4 minutes in a pinch.

maybe Dean can comment on this, since Miles isn't exactly prone to explain it in depth.

I don't want to upset those people that say they can spot a players potential after about 10 minutes. That is way too small a sample size for me and I haven't seen enough to make a statement on Sergej's potential for this year and certainly not long term. In limited time without checking the stats I saw 1 maybe 2 rebounds where he secured the ball high & the running hook was a solid move. So I'm deferring to Coach Miles and those who see him everyday in practice for this one. Sorry no help here.

[Norm Peterson]

Miles was talking about being one GOOD big away this year.  Serge might yet develop, but he's simply not capable of doing damage for us.  Miles needs a guy who could start.

[NUdiehard]

Count me in as one who would like to see Serg at least get a chance out there.  We were up 30+ with plenty of time on the clock last night.  I guess I would like to see what he could do with the other starters out there for a few minutes.  I wouldn't even mind seeing him get a few meaningful minutes in a close game if we need to give Pitchford or Smith a blow or something.  He is really tall.  For those who say he is unathletic, well, of course he is.  If he was athletic at that height he probably would have gone to Kentucky of Indianna.  He is really tall (towers over Pitchford).

[FredsSlacks]

He could benefit greatly from gaining 30-40 pounds.

 

He is never going to be a guy that is on the court for a long time, so his best chance to be effective is to put on lots and lots of muscle.

[Hooper]

He could benefit greatly from gaining 30-40 pounds.

 

He is never going to be a guy that is on the court for a long time, so his best chance to be effective is to put on lots and lots of muscle.

 

It's hard to imagine that Vooch would move well with 30-40 additional pounds. As it is he's not real quick out there.

 

I believe people are placing too much emphasis on Vooch's weight. I've posted this here before, but Vlade Divac, who's really the template for a guy like Vooch, was 7-1, 243 in the NBA. That's virtually a carbon copy of Vooch right now. 

 

The difference between the two is mostly athleticism and skill sets. I'm sure Vlade was stronger, but he wasn't bigger.

 

I really believe the biggest problem with Vooch is getting up and down the court and playing the type of defense Miles wants to play. A guy like Divac functioned very effectively in the Lakers' fast-break offense because he could run up and down the court. Vooch doesn't have that type of quickness, which is very limiting, despite the fact that he does a few things relatively well.

 

I'm still scratching my head a bit over the signing of Vooch in the first place, because he just doesn't seem to fit very well into what we want to do. However, he continues to improve, which is good to see, and I went nuts when he drained that hook shot. 

[tcp]

 

it's hard to know why miles has him locked down this much, but i'm wondering if he's just a really slow learner. I've seen some flashes of skill from him and not sure why he can't hold down 3-4 minutes in a pinch.

maybe Dean can comment on this, since Miles isn't exactly prone to explain it in depth.

I don't want to upset those people that say they can spot a players potential after about 10 minutes. That is way too small a sample size for me and I haven't seen enough to make a statement on Sergej's potential for this year and certainly not long term. In limited time without checking the stats I saw 1 maybe 2 rebounds where he secured the ball high & the running hook was a solid move. So I'm deferring to Coach Miles and those who see him everyday in practice for this one. Sorry no help here.

 

 

Well, it's kind of a help, because it tells me you saw some positive things small sample or not. Mostly that was a cry for a second pair of eyeballs, because I wasn't trusting my own on Serge. Thanks for giving it a shot, though.

[TheKamdyMan]

Honestly those 4 minutes were all I needed to see of Serj.  I'd be happy to be wrong but he is not a high level D1 player.  He is a Low D-1 high D-2 player at this point.

 

He is slow, plays out of position, had to be told several times where to be in a short amount of time, was out muscled, and he looks somewhat unathletic down in the paint.

[FredsSlacks]

I think he moves well enough for being 7'1. I would say it's more coordination that he struggles with. He is always kind of wobbling and doesn't have great footwork.

 

I would love to see him get to play the last 2-3 minutes of the first half just to see how he looks when the game isn't a blowout.

[The_Vault]

Not a D-1 talent. Especially big ten

[Dean Smith]

I'm not a professional scout & if scouting was an exact science no one could fly under the radar and there would be no such things as a bust. Roy Hibbert was pretty rough for his first three seasons on campus. No one out side the Georgetown program thought he would ever be a player. I have no idea whether Sergej will be a major contributor at Nebraska. When his workout video was posted after he signed I thought he looked terrible, but I figured Miles had more than that.clip to work from. I understand speculation is the reason for fan boards like this to exist. If "In Miles we trust" is on the T-shirt then he probably knows a little bit more about his potential then out resident experts. Miles so far has always had a plan for what he does. Maybe his plan will be to move Serg on next year or maybe he is expected to supply big minutes. One way or the other I bet Miles has a plan in motion for Sergej long term.

[NeeandMe]

I don't like to rip on a young kid just trying to play college ball - but I will.  Vucetic was a big swing-and-miss.  I think Miles was trying to find big guy after just getting hired and jumped prematurely at the chance to have a 7 footer.  This kid is not a DI player.  He can't handle the ball or rebound with any authority.  B1G big men would eat him alive.  Best wishes to him, but he doesn't need to see anything other than garbage time.

[AuroranHusker]

If Vucetic is merely a practice player for this season, he's probably helping the team enough to earn a 'ship. The team can improve quite a bit by having a Kurkowski and Vucetic go up against Smith & Pitchford every day in practice. Sure, it'd be great if Sergej could develop into a front-line contributor, but even if he doesn't the team could benefit from his 7'-1" interior presence on the practice courts.

[bobcat402]

Sergj just needs more time...and we need to give it to him, if his ceiling is, next season he gives us 13 mins a game, with a few points and a few boards im willing to wait on that, last time i checked all we have is Hammond coming in for a big man, ER, Okafor, or Turner are not going to change their minds and come to NU, we cant sign free agents, we simply need to wait and let Sergj develop.

[Swan88]

"Coach Miles commented post game that we are one big man short."

Sounds like a recruiting statement directed toward an unknown-to-the-fan-base target.

[Huskerpapa]

Interesting though, Coach Miles said we would only sign one player early (Hammond). But he went on to say that he is good with that move. He indicated times have changed, and there may be good players available, including transfers at the end of the year.

My only issue is that if it is a transfer, unless he is a 5th year graduated transfer, he would not be available next year.

[FredsSlacks]

just wanted to point out that Sergej wasn't somebody that we took a huge gamble on. He had offers from minnesota, vanderbilt, georgia tech, providence, etc. Plenty of high level D1 schools thought he had potential.

[Blindcheck]

Not all players contribute in their first two years....

 

Some players take time to develop.

[Huskerpapa]

 

Not all players contribute in their first two years....

 

Some players take time to develop.

 

I need to feel good about how this thread is going...please provide names/examples.

[Blindcheck]

Brandon Ubel looked like a stiff his first year....

 

he only played in my opinion, because there was not many other options.

[Busch Light]

The book of Vucetic is far from written.  I'm not exactly a scout, but I see a lot more potential than many here.  When he gets the ball where he's supposed to get it, he's got some decent moves.  The weight room and practice will help him get to that spot more.  The lack of coordination is a little more problematic, but I think some of it is because he's still growing into his body.  NBA caliber 7 footers have superior coordination and athletic ability naturally.  That's such a small fraction.  Most 7 footers don't have that and need to work hard on their development and coordination to become quality players. 

 

I believe that if Vucetic is willing to keep putting in the work, be it at Nebraska or somewhere else, he can become a quality player before it's all said and done.  He would definitely be getting more game minutes at a lower-tier D1 school though.  That's a decision that he will have to make though.   

[Dean Smith]

Not all players contribute in their first two years....

Some players take time to develop.

I need to feel good about how this thread is going...please provide names/examples.

Mikki Moore, Roy Hibbert. Jeff Withey, Charles Oakley, John Starks, Latrell Spewell, Devean George, Scottie Pippin for that matter, Luis Scola, David Robinson and even Kareem Abdul-Jabbar didn't play a minute until his second year. Alright except that last one all of the above had different levels of success but all qualify as late bloomers.