OK, so what do we need now?

[huskerbaseball13]

 

I'm just curious as to how White has achieved this status among you guys as a good, possibly great shooter when his numbers (albeit a very small sample size) simply do not back it up. 

 

Every coach and scouting report is about him being a great shooter.

His Kansas Bio

 

Given the inability by others to make threes and given he's the only guy coming in off a redshirt (as opposed to a freshman coming in), predicting that he will take the most threes next year seems like a pretty safe bet. Petteway's status for next year is the biggest X factor for projecting shots as he dominated that statistic last year.

 

His shooting numbers in college garbage time are fairly irrelevant. 

 

 

It was a scrimmage...but we all saw what he can do.  He's going to be a good one.  Not sure if that means 35% or 40% from deep.  But he is going to help out...a lot. 

[Norm Peterson]

From all sources, it is reported that White is a really good shooter.  What I can't get my arms around is his range.   So Bluejay's points seem to involve fair discussion.  The good news is if White ends up shooting 35% rather than 40, that's still decent, and way better than some guys who launched a bunch of 3s this year (one guy going 9/58 in league play just boggles the mind.  If Norm's prognostication is too be critiqued, it perhaps should be that he has that guy taking 120 3s, vs. his thoughts on White). 

My rationale for White having more 3 attempts than Petteway is that I expect Petteway will: a) not be as efficient from beyond the arc; and bee) Terran, if he comes back, will get more shots going at the basket.  I don't expect Petteway to have significantly fewer overall touches but I expect he'll be taking more of his attempts closer to the basket than White.

 

Shields gets 120 because I firmly believe he's capable of being another shooter and this was an uncharacteristically bad year for him shooting the deep ball.

 

While Walt has been more productive in the past, so has Frank Kaminsky.  And I apportioned to Walt about the same number of three attempts as Frank Kaminsky had playing the same position. I think it's reasonable to limit Walt's perimeter touches while asking him to get more of his points closer to the basket.

 

Seventy attempts for Tai doesn't put a ton of pressure on the kid but certainly makes him an important part of our offense for next year.

 

So, those were my thoughts and the justifications for why I projected attempts and hoped-for accuracy the way that I did.

[Norm Peterson]

And, BTW, important to mention:  My projections don't move us from bad to fantastic.  They only move us from bad to average.  We'd be middle of the pack in the Big Ten if we shot 600 threes on the season next year and did so at about a 36% clip.  I don't think average is too much to ask.

[Ron Mexico]

Norm, you know I love ya, but am I out of line for sensing that you are a little late to the party on this?   I mean the capital letters and back to back posts, as if this is a revelation.  Since December it was painfully obvious we were a horrible shooting team, and it was the single biggest factor in us having a bad team.  Kind of like after the ship sinks thinking that big friggin' hole in the side of the boat is a problem. 

There was a ship that sank 

[hhcmatt]

It was a scrimmage...but we all saw what he can do.  He's going to be a good one.  Not sure if that means 35% or 40% from deep.  But he is going to help out...a lot. 

 

Oh yeah...completely forgot about the scrimmage!

[AuroranHusker]

 

I'm just curious as to how White has achieved this status among you guys as a good, possibly great shooter when his numbers (albeit a very small sample size) simply do not back it up. 

 

Because they're a small sample size.

 

Every coach and scouting report is about him being a great shooter. He is reportedly giving Petteway fits in practice guarding him and Petteway is an above average defender.

His Kansas Bio

 

Given the inability by others to make threes and given he's the only guy coming in off a redshirt (as opposed to a freshman coming in), predicting that he will take the most threes next year seems like a pretty safe bet. Petteway's status for next year is the biggest X factor for projecting shots as he dominated that statistic last year.

 

His shooting numbers in college garbage time are relatively irrelevant. We'll find out next year though.

 

 

 

Pretty sure I'm going to take the word of the KU coaching staff WANTING AW-III back on their squad this past year over a bleujay backer. Every time.

[bleujay]

 

 

I'm just curious as to how White has achieved this status among you guys as a good, possibly great shooter when his numbers (albeit a very small sample size) simply do not back it up. 

 

Because they're a small sample size.

 

Every coach and scouting report is about him being a great shooter. He is reportedly giving Petteway fits in practice guarding him and Petteway is an above average defender.

His Kansas Bio

 

Given the inability by others to make threes and given he's the only guy coming in off a redshirt (as opposed to a freshman coming in), predicting that he will take the most threes next year seems like a pretty safe bet. Petteway's status for next year is the biggest X factor for projecting shots as he dominated that statistic last year.

 

His shooting numbers in college garbage time are relatively irrelevant. We'll find out next year though.

 

 

 

Pretty sure I'm going to take the word of the KU coaching staff WANTING AW-III back on their squad this past year over a bleujay backer. Every time.

 

 

Why does it matter which program I support with my fandom? For all you know I could hate CU just as much as all of you do. Just trying to get a better idea of White's game, not make you angry or belittle your recruiting class.

 

Dimes enlightened me with his post from the KU athletics bio page. Thank you, Dimes. I didn't know AW3 had that sharpshooter reputation before/during his time at Kansas. I would agree, the sample size we have right now is too small to deem him a poor shooter. I really won't have a chance to form a more intelligent opinion of his shooting ability until I watch him play, however

[AuroranHusker]

 

 

 

I'm just curious as to how White has achieved this status among you guys as a good, possibly great shooter when his numbers (albeit a very small sample size) simply do not back it up. 

 

Because they're a small sample size.

 

Every coach and scouting report is about him being a great shooter. He is reportedly giving Petteway fits in practice guarding him and Petteway is an above average defender.

His Kansas Bio

 

Given the inability by others to make threes and given he's the only guy coming in off a redshirt (as opposed to a freshman coming in), predicting that he will take the most threes next year seems like a pretty safe bet. Petteway's status for next year is the biggest X factor for projecting shots as he dominated that statistic last year.

 

His shooting numbers in college garbage time are relatively irrelevant. We'll find out next year though.

 

 

 

Pretty sure I'm going to take the word of the KU coaching staff WANTING AW-III back on their squad this past year over a bleujay backer. Every time.

 

 

Why does it matter which program I support with my fandom? For all you know I could hate CU just as much as all of you do. Just trying to get a better idea of White's game, not make you angry or belittle your recruiting class.

 

Dimes enlightened me with his post from the KU athletics bio page. Thank you, Dimes. I didn't know AW3 had that sharpshooter reputation before/during his time at Kansas. I would agree, the sample size we have right now is too small to deem him a poor shooter. I really won't have a chance to form a more intelligent opinion of his shooting ability until I watch him play, however

 

 

And the evaluators of talent at KU are likely a MUCH better source than random opposing fandom. Coaches that have won 11 straight conference titles know better than internet tough guy.

[uneblinstu]

Last season both Shavon and Walt were competent 3 point shooters. Both dropped off drastically. If they simply get back to what they were last year, that's a huge boost. Personally, I expect them to do that. I think Walt has a Conklin-esque senior year.  I still want this team to run more last year, I think they'll have the roster for it.

[Bugeaters1]

If Petteway returns, we'll have two guys at least who can get to the rim fairly reliably and finish much of the time.

 

White is apparently a dead-eye shooter.  Let's just assume he is because I doubt the coaches are assuming he ain't.

 

I fully expect Shavon to be a 36-40% 3-pt shooter next year.  I will be shocked -- SHOCKED -- if he doesn't come back a much better perimeter shooter next season.  At least as good as his first two years and probably a bit better, particularly if we have a guy like White who is the shooter we've been told to expect.

 

Walt is a bit of an unknown here.  Which season was more representative of the kind of shooter he can be?  Last year or this year?  And, did you notice in the last game, he actually posted up?  TWICE?  Is that an element he's going to be working on to add to his game?  Would help a lot if he did.

 

Benny will still be a glue guy who plays solid D but will probably never be a guy we count on to score and will probably continue to pass up open threes.

 

Tai could continue to get better.  Basketballjones said so and basketballjones knows these things.  I don't think it's entirely out of the question that he finds his shooting stroke, but he'll probably never be north of, say, 36%.  But, shoot, 36% would have been nice to have this year.

 

We lose rebounders in Rivers, Leslee and Moses.  We gain Ed Morrow, Michael Jacobson and the Aussie kid, FWIW.

 

Jacob Hammond is an unknown sum.  I really don't think any of us know or can predict what he'll be in 8 months' time.  Maybe a solid rebounder with limited offensive skills; maybe a mediocre rebounder with decent offensive skills; maybe a guy who's still so under-developed and raw that he'll not see much of the floor; or maybe a bulked up specimen who's ready to be a solid contributor.  I don't know which it will be.  We can handicap it, I suppose.

 

So, anyway, freshmen don't tend to become starters and those who do don't typically become your best player off the bet, unless you're Tyron Lue or something.  So, I really don't expect a freshman to make a huge impact next year.  Solid impact?  Sure.  Huge?  Mmmmm, no.  Prolly not. 

 

 

 

Sooooooo, with that setup, let's assume 2 scenarios:  one where Petteway returns but another (not major contributor) player leaves; and two where both Petteway and another player leave.

 

If we have one more spot and Petteway comes back, what is your priority to do with it?

 

If we have two more spots and no Petteway, what do you try to do with them?

[AuroranHusker]

 

 

 

So, anyway, freshmen don't tend to become starters and those who do don't typically become your best player off the bet, unless you're Tyronn Lue or something.  So, I really don't expect a freshman to make a huge impact next year.  Solid impact?  Sure.  Huge?  Mmmmm, no.  Prolly not. 

This is actually a good point -- at least as it relates to freshmen in Nebraska's program over the years -- but I think Morrow is expected to make a pretty good impact. 

 

Maric averaged 8 and 6 as a frosh. Morrow does that, and I think you have a 17/18-win team if nothing else changes. But I think White gets you 2/3 more wins. 

 

I've written before: I do not think Nebraska's poorly coached this year. I think there's some iffy on-court chemistry, I think there's no post, and I think the team leader is having a hard emotional year. But when I really bore down into it, I thought it was 16/17-win talent once L. Smith got hurt. 

 

Sam, when I say "huge impact" I'm not saying "huge" relative to other freshmen.  I'm saying "huge" in general.  Like having a freshman come in and put up 14 ppg or something like that.  I would not be surprised to see Morrow give us 8 and 6, and if David Rivers had done that this year, we would have called it "solid" as opposed to "huge."  And that's what I'm saying.  Not compared to other freshmen, but compared to other players in general.

 

8 and 6, for this team, IMO, would be huge. 

 

And it'd be more the offensive rebounds and defense. The team will probably have 3 scorers, presuming Petteway returns, plus Pitchford, plus Smith, who's bound to evolve as a scorer.  

 

 

 

AW-III & Shields will be more of a scoring threat than Pitch or Smith, IMHO. Although it would be nice if Tarin could devllop a consistent perimeter jumper to  go with his quickness & hops.

[Busch Light]

I'm not an extreme optimist by any stretch of the imagination, but if every major player comes back and we get a Leslie Smith-type grad transfer, I think our drought finally comes to an end. 

 

Petteway, Shavon, Pitchford, Tarin and White.  That's a lot of different ways to score and 3 double-figure type of scorers to boot.  I agree with Norm, Shavon and Pitchford are going to shoot it better next year.  When you hit rock bottom, there's two ways you can go; straight up and sideways. 

 

Whatever attrition happens, keep one of the scholarships open for a grad transfer.  If Miles can land a solid, high-minute big, then I would feel pretty good.  If you can't land it, add a Kreklow/Perry clone who can open the lanes up for Petteway, Shavon, and Tai. 

[MandRHusker]

Had a chance to attend a practice not too long ago and thought a few observations may be helpful.

1. AW III looked great. Only he and Ali were making shots in the scrimmage portion of the practice. Much more athletic than I expected with some nice finishes at the rim. A solid 215 and has gained quite a bit of strength since his Kansas days. Also an effective defender and rebounder according to the staff I talked to.

2. Hammond needs to learn to eat. Down in the 220s now.

3. Watson does not have a great 3 point shot but can score and is a great facilitator.

4. When you think of McVeigh think of a Utoff ++. Similar approach to the game and skillset.

5. Jacobsen will be relied on as a 5 so he needs to grow and add bulk. Too slow at this point to play PF but this could change with time in the Husker strength program.

 

The general view among a couple of the staff I talked to regarding the difficulties this year was that the loss of Gallegos caused more problems than expected. Reyes commanded defensive attention by everyone we played and that defensive attention created driving lanes for Petteway & Shields.

[Silverbacked1]

Had a chance to attend a practice not too long ago and thought a few observations may be helpful.

1. AW III looked great. Only he and Ali were making shots in the scrimmage portion of the practice. Much more athletic than I expected with some nice finishes at the rim. A solid 215 and has gained quite a bit of strength since his Kansas days. Also an effective defender and rebounder according to the staff I talked to.

2. Hammond needs to learn to eat. Down in the 220s now.

3. Watson does not have a great 3 point shot but can score and is a great facilitator.

4. When you think of McVeigh think of a Utoff ++. Similar approach to the game and skillset.

5. Jacobsen will be relied on as a 5 so he needs to grow and add bulk. Too slow at this point to play PF but this could change with time in the Husker strength program.

 

The general view among a couple of the staff I talked to regarding the difficulties this year was that the loss of Gallegos caused more problems than expected. Reyes commanded defensive attention by everyone we played and that defensive attention created driving lanes for Petteway & Shields.

Thanks, Did you get a feel for who might be leaving, especially since they offered the kid from Michigan today.

[Dead Dog Alley]

           MIN  FGM FGA  FG% 3PM 3PA   3P%  FTM FTA   FT%  OR  DR REB AST BLK STL  TO  PF  PTS

Petteway   670  110 288 38.2  43 140  30.7   70 100  70.0  11  75  86  55  13  18  57  60  333

Shields    657   97 235 41.3   9  58  15.5   69  88  78.4  23  80 103  43   3  23  44  45  272

Parker     501   15  59 25.4   4  24  16.7   14  19  73.7   5  38  42  27   1  22  16  42   48

Pitchford  478   51 126 40.5  19  70  27.1    7  11  63.6  18  63  81   9   5   5  14  34  128

T Smith    363   37  84 44.0   7  21  33.3   11  20  55.0   6  31  37  13   6  12  16  23   92

Rivers     352   28  59 47.5   1   1 100.0    7  16  43.8  26  28  54  11   3   6   8  45   64

Webster    313   19  53 35.8   7  22  31.8   14  19  73.7   6  25  31  21   1  12  16  35   59

L Smith    214   23  50 46.0   0   0          7  16  43.8  18  35  53   9   9  10  15  28   53

Abraham    117    6  16 37.5   0   0          3   8  37.5  20  17  37   1   3   3  12  27   15

Fuller     104   11  21 52.4   2   6  33.3    4   5  80.0   7  10  17   1   2   2   3   8   28

Hammond     11    0   2  0.0   0   0          1   2  50.0   2   1   3   0   1   0   0   3    1   

Menke        7    0   0        0   0          0   0         0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0    0

Kurkowski    6    0   1  0.0   0   0          0   0         1   1   2   0   0   0   0   0    0

Totals          397 994 39.9  92 342  26.9  207 304  68.1 143 404 546 190  47 113 201 350 1093

 

Here are the total stats for the 19 games played against Big 10 competition.  It might give a better idea where the needs are.

[jimmykc]

Unfortunately the stats bear out the fact that we were pretty much playing 2 on 5 during most games. The telling fact is the huge discrepancy between the first two and the others in the number of free throws attempted.

[golfer3]

Develop passing skills, in-and-outs to the open man for a rhythm shot and start to run more plays like give-and-goes near the basket, Parker and Smith are quick enough to make this work.

[MandRHusker]

 

Had a chance to attend a practice not too long ago and thought a few observations may be helpful.

1. AW III looked great. Only he and Ali were making shots in the scrimmage portion of the practice. Much more athletic than I expected with some nice finishes at the rim. A solid 215 and has gained quite a bit of strength since his Kansas days. Also an effective defender and rebounder according to the staff I talked to.

2. Hammond needs to learn to eat. Down in the 220s now.

3. Watson does not have a great 3 point shot but can score and is a great facilitator.

4. When you think of McVeigh think of a Utoff ++. Similar approach to the game and skillset.

5. Jacobsen will be relied on as a 5 so he needs to grow and add bulk. Too slow at this point to play PF but this could change with time in the Husker strength program.

 

The general view among a couple of the staff I talked to regarding the difficulties this year was that the loss of Gallegos caused more problems than expected. Reyes commanded defensive attention by everyone we played and that defensive attention created driving lanes for Petteway & Shields.

Thanks, Did you get a feel for who might be leaving, especially since they offered the kid from Michigan today.

 

I have no idea. I didn't ask and they didn't say.

[Cazzie22]

The shooting of all will improve, in my opinion, if we (1) take better shots (2) not wait until the end of the shot clock and (3) pass the ball better to open shooters.  

[unl]

Last season both Shavon and Walt were competent 3 point shooters. Both dropped off drastically. If they simply get back to what they were last year, that's a huge boost. Personally, I expect them to do that. I think Walt has a Conklin-esque senior year.  I still want this team to run more last year, I think they'll have the roster for it.

 

Hopefully Junior Conklin.  He dropped 10% points or so from his junior year (which was just incredible) to his senior year (which was still darn good. I agree - they should be able to shoot like they did last year...

[hhcmatt]

3. Watson does not have a great 3 point shot but can score and is a great facilitator.

 

I was wondering about that...to add to your Uttoff comparison that sounds like Mike Gesell++. Hopefully he can become a competent 3pt shooter

Having a scoring point guard instead of a shooting guard handling point will be nice though.

 

 

5. Jacobsen will be relied on as a 5 so he needs to grow and add bulk. Too slow at this point to play PF but this could change with time in the Husker strength program.

 

Anything about Jacobsen's offense?

[Huskerpapa]

I watched Jacobsen play twice this year...I am a bit befuddled by the observation that he is too slow to play power forward.  I guess I would somewhat disagree.  I believe that is precisely the position he will play. 

[Norm Peterson]

Had a chance to attend a practice not too long ago and thought a few observations may be helpful.

1. AW III looked great. Only he and Ali were making shots in the scrimmage portion of the practice. Much more athletic than I expected with some nice finishes at the rim. A solid 215 and has gained quite a bit of strength since his Kansas days. Also an effective defender and rebounder according to the staff I talked to.

2. Hammond needs to learn to eat. Down in the 220s now.

3. Watson does not have a great 3 point shot but can score and is a great facilitator.

4. When you think of McVeigh think of a Utoff ++. Similar approach to the game and skillset.

5. Jacobsen will be relied on as a 5 so he needs to grow and add bulk. Too slow at this point to play PF but this could change with time in the Husker strength program.

 

The general view among a couple of the staff I talked to regarding the difficulties this year was that the loss of Gallegos caused more problems than expected. Reyes commanded defensive attention by everyone we played and that defensive attention created driving lanes for Petteway & Shields.

Sooooo ... what's ol' Normy have to do to sneak in on a practice? 

 

Take me with you next time or you get a down arrow from this hombre.

[Norm Peterson]

 

 

Had a chance to attend a practice not too long ago and thought a few observations may be helpful.

1. AW III looked great. Only he and Ali were making shots in the scrimmage portion of the practice. Much more athletic than I expected with some nice finishes at the rim. A solid 215 and has gained quite a bit of strength since his Kansas days. Also an effective defender and rebounder according to the staff I talked to.

2. Hammond needs to learn to eat. Down in the 220s now.

3. Watson does not have a great 3 point shot but can score and is a great facilitator.

4. When you think of McVeigh think of a Utoff ++. Similar approach to the game and skillset.

5. Jacobsen will be relied on as a 5 so he needs to grow and add bulk. Too slow at this point to play PF but this could change with time in the Husker strength program.

 

The general view among a couple of the staff I talked to regarding the difficulties this year was that the loss of Gallegos caused more problems than expected. Reyes commanded defensive attention by everyone we played and that defensive attention created driving lanes for Petteway & Shields.

Thanks, Did you get a feel for who might be leaving, especially since they offered the kid from Michigan today.

 

I have no idea. I didn't ask and they didn't say.

 

What do you mean you didn't ask?

 

See, this is why you need to take me with you.  I would have known that this was an important question to ask.

[Norm Peterson]

I watched Jacobsen play twice this year...I am a bit befuddled by the observation that he is too slow to play power forward.  I guess I would somewhat disagree.  I believe that is precisely the position he will play. 

I was surprised by that, too.  A guy that plays TE in HS and was getting looks from D1 colleges as a TE should be plenty fast to play the PF position.  And mobile, too.