From Mad Chatter today

[burgundy95]

http://sports.omaha....-chatter-dec-7/

"Creighton doesn’t like Nebraska and Nebraska doesn’t like Creighton. And if it were up to me, they’d play home-and-home every year. But I’ll settle for competitive basketball. That’s coming next year, I think, when Tim Miles comes at Creighton with at least six new recruits.

The only current Huskers I project in next year’s rotation are Benny Parker, Shavon Shields and David Rivers. And I doubt any of them will start.

By next December, Bluejay fans will have to earn their bragging rights."

This is spot on and why we should be confident that the tides will be turning in Nebraska's favor. GBR

[burgundy95]

https://twitter.com/dirkchatelain/status/277132897121619968

And Gallegos!

[Norm Peterson]

"The only current Huskers I project in next year’s rotation are Benny Parker, Shavon Shields and David Rivers. And I doubt any of them will start."

OK, and then he later added Ray Gallegos and dropped the line that "I doubt any of them will start."

Wow. That's a strong statement. In essence, what he's saying is that the only current Husker likely to have a starting job next year is Ray Gallegos. If that's true, then someone else will start in place of Benny Parker at point and neither Rivers nor Shields will hold down either of the wing spots. Not sure I agree. But, supposing that's true, what would our starting lineup look like then?

PG -- He says not Parker so is he thinking Biggs or Webster?

SG -- Ray

SF -- If not Shields or Rivers, then whom? Petteway? Fuller? Hawkins? Maybe he has Biggs at point and Webster starting here.

PF -- Should be Pitchford I would think.

C -- Some guy not currently signed or on our roster.

I suppose you can come up with a possible starting five that only includes Ray among the returning players. I do think it will take a little bit to unseat Parker at point and I think one of either Rivers or Shields could find his way into the starting lineup next year depending on how everyone else pans out and if we add another player to the 2013 class. But that's still only 2-3 of the returning players. Which would mathematically mean that 2-3 of our starters would be new players. So, I guess I can see where he's coming from. It'll be a whole new look Husker team next year, that's for sure.

[Silverbacked1]

Norm you know that Dirk has watched the Huskers enough to make an educated remark about where the program is going and who will do what next year.

He has been too busy trying to track down all those spot on leads and done deals involving Bo going to Tennessee.

[kldm64]

I think that is why the Creighton fans are so cocky now as they know the tide could be turning in the next couple of years. One thing I don't agree with him is that Parker will be in the rotation next year. I think Ray will be the only one who gets any significant minutes next year. I think it will be the 6 new guys along with Rivers, Shields and Ray getting the majority of the time. Miles still might sign a Juco for next year yet that could factor in.

[FredsSlacks]

Early lineup prediction for next year:

pg Webster

sg Gallegos

sf Petteway

pf Fuller

C Pitchford

Bench:

guards- Parker, biggs, hawkins

wings- Rivers Shields

Center- Vucetic, Atewe.

There will be 4 small forwards on the team next year with Shields, Fuller, Petteway, and Rivers. I think that is going to force NU to have to start a small forward at power forward and go with a small lineup. I think Fuller will start at PF because I think he will be the tallest and most skilled of all our small forwards.

Nebraska's team is going to be completely different next year. They should be able to get a lot more fast breaks and play at a faster tempo. I don't know how that will work in the B1G, but that is how the team is going to be built next year.

Matthew Atewe and Aram Martin are the only 2 I know of that Nebraska might try to add for 2013 as of now. I doubt Atewe would start as a freshman and Martin would probably redshirt.

[Huskerpapa]

I still think we are going to get another big for next year...and a good one at that. We may even get two...depending if all the underclassmen come back.

[GATA]

I think Nebraska goes with a three-guard offense.

PG: Webster

PG: Biggs

SG: Gallegos

PF: Mystery player

C: Pitchford

[Huskerpapa]

I hope Biggs can match or exceed all the expectations that are out there for him. Also, I believe Pitchford will be a PF not a post player per se. I have a feeling that we have seen just a small glimpse of what Shavon can do. I believe he can turn into something pretty good. And I think he is still growing.

[4huskers]

Shavon does show a lot of good things already - he'll find some playing time for sure.

[Norm Peterson]

OK, I'll take a stab at this:

PG Parker

SG Gallegos

SG Webster

SF Fuller

PF Pitchford

OR

PF Pitchford

C Big to be named later.

[doc1394]

OK, I'll take a stab at this:

PG Parker

SG Gallegos

SG Webster

SF Fuller

PF Pitchford

Would be my guess as well, but Biggs at PG

[GATA]

Would be my guess as well, but Biggs at PG

I think Biggs/Webster will both essentially be point guards.

And my bold prediction is that by 2014-15, Parker will no longer be a member of the team. With all the guard talent coming in, I'm not sure there's going to be room for him to play.

[Norm Peterson]

Let's see how Parker holds up this year. He's going to have a developmental advantage over Biggs by virtue of all the minutes he'll be playing this year, probably 30+/game over the course of the season. That's logging a lot of minutes. 1000 by season's end? Wouldn't surprise me. Yes, there will be a lot of guard talent coming in but someone still has to beat him for the job. Where he lacks right now is in his perimeter shooting ability. He needs to be able to make defenses pay for sagging off of him. And when he gets fouled, he needs to hit those freethrows. If he develops that jump shot, it'll be tough to beat him out. The kid has some moxy. He's shown himself to be a pretty solid on-ball defender. He does a good job of moving his feet. He's not going to just give up the job; someone will have to beat him out. And, from what I can tell, Biggs has the same shooting liability.

[Fullbacksympathy]

PG - Biggs/Parker/Peltz

SG - Webster/Gallegos

SF - Fuller/Hawkins

PF - Petteway/Shields/Rivers

C - Pitchford/Vucetic

NCAA 2nd Rd.. team should be fast as hell.

[uneblinstu]

Let's see how Parker holds up this year. He's going to have a developmental advantage over Biggs by virtue of all the minutes he'll be playing this year, probably 30+/game over the course of the season. That's logging a lot of minutes. 1000 by season's end? Wouldn't surprise me. Yes, there will be a lot of guard talent coming in but someone still has to beat him for the job. Where he lacks right now is in his perimeter shooting ability. He needs to be able to make defenses pay for sagging off of him. And when he gets fouled, he needs to hit those freethrows. If he develops that jump shot, it'll be tough to beat him out. The kid has some moxy. He's shown himself to be a pretty solid on-ball defender. He does a good job of moving his feet. He's not going to just give up the job; someone will have to beat him out. And, from what I can tell, Biggs has the same shooting liability.

So, the two years of JUCO play don't count towards Biggs' development? He'd be starting over Parker if he hadn't chosen to redshirt. They'll both play, but Biggs should be the better player.

[Fullbacksympathy]

I could also see Rivers at center off the bench over Vucetic. He'll get moved around, IMO. He's a tough dude with length. He'll get minutes.

I think Vucetic is still an interesting prospect though. I was actually really impressed with his effort. He's not a sissy, just skinny.

[bobcat402]

i say the wild card is shields, i mean if grows another two-three inches he could be a 6'8-6'9 swing/post player but i think we need to snag another big, and subtly put Vuetic on some roids...or make him eat, live, and lift with the Offensive Lineman in the offseason. I will say i did hear a positive comment from a creighton fan, she said our players are far more built and imtimidating than creighton's players, she said a few of our players belong on the football field.

[HuskerFever]

http://sports.omaha....-chatter-dec-7/

"Creighton doesn’t like Nebraska and Nebraska doesn’t like Creighton.

No disrespect for their program, but I could care less about Creighton's program. Just like how I could care less about Bradley's team in any given year.

[GATA]

i say the wild card is shields, i mean if grows another two-three inches he could be a 6'8-6'9 swing/post player but i think we need to snag another big, and subtly put Vuetic on some roids...or make him eat, live, and lift with the Offensive Lineman in the offseason. I will say i did hear a positive comment from a creighton fan, she said our players are far more built and imtimidating than creighton's players, she said a few of our players belong on the football field.

I like Shields quite a bit. He definitely is a guy who just looks like he plays basketball the right way and will do all the little things to help a team win.

[Norm Peterson]

No disrespect for their program, but I could care less about Creighton's program. Just like how I could care less about Bradley's team in any given year.

I care, and the reason I care is this:

We not only play them every year; we share similar geography; we often recruit the same players; and we certainly both try to get the Nebraska kids that are D1 quality.

I disagree with whoever said it's good for both program for them both to be good. I don't think that's true. The better they are, the tougher it will be for us to compete for the recruits we both want. I look ahead to the future of their team because I want to know that, in the not too distant future, the pendulum will swing back in our direction and that they'll be a little quieter group of fans and won't walk around the PBA acting like they own the place. We're not an island unto ourselves. Like it or not, what happens down the road in Omaha affects our program in real and tangible ways. We lost a PF recruit to them this year. You think that would happen if Creighton was just another decent Mo Valley program?

[Norm Peterson]

So, the two years of JUCO play don't count towards Biggs' development? He'd be starting over Parker if he hadn't chosen to redshirt. They'll both play, but Biggs should be the better player.

Two years of juco counts for something but it doesn't count for everything. I would point to the comments by Brandon Ubel at the start of fall practice when new guys were coming up to him asking for help and he had to tell them that he was just as lost as they were.

Without game time, Biggs' skills will begin to rust. Maybe only a little, but he won't pick up next fall as though he'd never been gone. He'll have to readjust to game speed. Meanwhile, Parker will be playing an ungodly amount of minutes learning what Miles wants a PG to do. I think that gives Parker a bit of a head start and I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that Biggs comes in and takes the job away from him.

[Norm Peterson]

i say the wild card is shields, i mean if grows another two-three inches he could be a 6'8-6'9 swing/post player but i think we need to snag another big, and subtly put Vuetic on some roids...or make him eat, live, and lift with the Offensive Lineman in the offseason. I will say i did hear a positive comment from a creighton fan, she said our players are far more built and imtimidating than creighton's players, she said a few of our players belong on the football field.

Fuller and Shields still growing? If they end up that tall, that would be AWESOME!

Yeah, if you can't recruit some power forwards, just take a couple of guards and grow them up a bit. Couple inches here and there and you're golden. Seriously, though, Shields' game is a little bit power forward anyway. That first game he played he was going inside. If he were to grow another 2 inches (6'8"?) and add about 30-40 pounds, which his frame would easily hold, he might be a hell of a player. He might be a pretty good player anyway, but that would be seriously dangerous to have him at 6'8" and 240#.

[GoBigRed]

http://sports.omaha....-chatter-dec-7/

"Creighton doesn’t like Nebraska and Nebraska doesn’t like Creighton. And if it were up to me, they’d play home-and-home every year. But I’ll settle for competitive basketball. That’s coming next year, I think, when Tim Miles comes at Creighton with at least six new recruits.

The only current Huskers I project in next year’s rotation are Benny Parker, Shavon Shields and David Rivers. And I doubt any of them will start.

By next December, Bluejay fans will have to earn their bragging rights."

This is spot on and why we should be confident that the tides will be turning in Nebraska's favor. GBR

So he is saying that Peltz and Vucetic will not be in the rotation next year? I think that's pretty much common sense. Where do I sign up to be a sportswriter?

[bobcat402]

I like Shields quite a bit. He definitely is a guy who just looks like he plays basketball the right way and will do all the little things to help a team win.

i think he can be a stud here, and if he has a Paul George like growth spurt and continue's to develop his game, can be big time.