uneblinstu's postgame chatter: vol 12; Prologue - vs. Doane

2 minutes ago, uneblinstu said:

I didn't get to watch this one, but it sounds like a lot of guys played and they ran the Tigers out of the building. Nice to see that happen when it's supposed to.

 

Here's to a new season!

1 week to the real thing!  Leggoooooo

Well, it was an exhibition.  Saw some good, bad and ugly.  Cross had a good game.  I guess he was my pleasant surprise. 

Good: Lotta good ball movement; fairly even distribution of scoring, meaning a lot of guys contributed; we have some superb athletes on this squad; when Dachon Burke heats up, look out; Cam Mack really sets the table. Some of those dishes were pretty sweet.

Bad: For a big guy, Yvan doesn't play real big, on the offensive end at least; we didn't take good care of the ball, granted it's early, but still a bit too sloppy; intensity wasn't always there, particularly on D.

Ugly: Shooting, especially at the stripe, but also beyond the arc. How did we manage to shoot under 50% from the line?

Agree with Norm. Saw good things but no wow moments as a team. Almost saw the sickest alley oop of my life. I think NU will have some good moments this year but rebounding, defense, and even some raw plays might be concerning. 

Between the scrimmage and tonight, I’m going to put more stock in Tuesday vs UC Riverside, but here are my thoughts:

Started off sluggish and noticed a few players actually looked a bit nervous. In front of a crowd of maybe 5,000. Once the nerves settled down, started to see just enough flashes that has me quite intrigued this year.

Cam Mack- very fast, vision is great, went in for a layup and was guarded by two guys. Jumped up from well outside the paint and almost threw down what would’ve been the best dunk in PBA to date. Ball didn’t go in. Mack is a game changer and our QB. Has confidence and swag. Much needed.

Jervay- Thicker body, plays with a smile on his face, messes up and smiles, dunks and smiles, dribbles and smiles. During one of his free throws, a guy behind us yelled “it cleans yo butt!!” (From the BTN documentary for the uninformed)

Would love to see Jervay up his intensity but this was an exhibition so giving him a pass

Dachon Burke- good athlete, got hot to open the second half, had 8 points in under two minutes. Good looking outside shot and can drive too. Actually could see him leading our team in scoring many nights. Good on ball defender too

Cheatham- (not Kenny) - solid guard that is growing on me. Had a couple of really nice euro steps in the scrimmage and again tonight. Will need his steadiness. Could be our glue guy like Evan Taylor.

Yvan- Big body, thick, won’t be moved, incredibly raw. Before anyone comes down on him too hard this season, let’s remember that he is 17 and could very well be starting as a High School Junior at Millard West, but now he’s being asked to bang against the big 10

Kavas- Well, I must be completely honest and tell you, he’s 6-8. That’s about it. Didn’t show much interest in rebounding and passed up a lot of shots. My 13 year old said “ he’s like a low budget Jack McVeigh” definitely looked a bit in over his head. Hopefully he starts hitting threes.

Kevin Cross- a bright spot, had a double double and showed some potential. Looks thick and he is transforming his body and nutrition, I like his long term potential. My son compared him to a higher ceiling version of Jeriah Horne. Not sure that’s a good comparison but oh well

Thor- I’m going to say it. Thor is a much better fit in this uptempo offense vs last years methodical half court one. His basketball IQ is high, he made several nice back door cuts when his defender sagged off to help with dribble penetration- and he took advantage. 
 

Samari Curtis- took a shot that made my dad say “what are you—“ and then it went in. He also took a shot from Trae Young distance and buried it. To me, he has a unorthodox form with a quick flick of the wrist release but it seems to work for him.

Played a bit laid back down the stretch and almost lost the ball about four times to steals or interceptions. Could be a sleeper.

Easley- great pickup for a walk-on and could see him develop into a contributing factor some day down the road. Pretty good athlete too

Arop- took a baseline three and made it. His shot looked much improved. Also looks thin and he needs to take advantage of the training table, which I’m sure he is doing. Has some major hops and threw down a nice oop. I still think he redshirts.

No Stevenson- would’ve helped inside and with rebounding. Hopefully hear something soon. 
 

see you on Tuesday at the Vault!!! 

8 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

Good: Lotta good ball movement; fairly even distribution of scoring, meaning a lot of guys contributed; we have some superb athletes on this squad; when Dachon Burke heats up, look out; Cam Mack really sets the table. Some of those dishes were pretty sweet.

 

Bad: For a big guy, Yvan doesn't play real big, on the offensive end at least; we didn't take good care of the ball, granted it's early, but still a bit too sloppy; intensity wasn't always there, particularly on D.

 

Ugly: Shooting, especially at the stripe, but also beyond the arc. How did we manage to shoot under 50% from the line?

A Freethrows is basically a mid-range jumper.  Since we don’t practice that and don’t want to shoot those, expect that percentage to continue.

/sarcasm

There aren't a lot of warm fuzzies from last night to say we are going to be great this year.

But there were lot's of athletic plays by lots of guys of jaw-dropping quality.  Examples: (i) Cam Mack driving to the bucket--wow! (ii) Haanif Cheatham doing a whirling dervish through traffic in the lane with athleticism and control! (iii) Samari Curtis driving to the bucket toward the end of the game with incredible quickness and speed, (iv) and then . . . that alley oop to Akol Arop at the end . . . wow!!  If that had connected, we'd be seeing it replayed everywhere! 

Granted it was Doane and an exhibition,  but I sure as hell hope this sell out season appears like a sell out season with the next game.  Assume the yell squad will appear with the next game (or after football season) or are they going to be the Bill Moos of cheerleaders and only appear at Football games? Was kind of shocked that there were so few students down there...hopefully they turn out in bigger numbers with the upcoming game. 

What was the biggest lineup we played?

Off the top of my head I believe it was: Jervay Green 6'3, Haanif Cheatham 6'6, Thorir Thorbjarnarson 6'6, Matej Kavas 6'8, and Yvan Ouedraogo 6'9.

Did Cross and Ouedraogo get paired up on the court at all?

I was out for a late night, chilly run while listening to the game. So I zoned out on more than a few occasions.

Cross and Yvan subbed for each other and I can’t recall them both in at the same time

10 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

Good: Lotta good ball movement; fairly even distribution of scoring, meaning a lot of guys contributed; we have some superb athletes on this squad; when Dachon Burke heats up, look out; Cam Mack really sets the table. Some of those dishes were pretty sweet.

 

Bad: For a big guy, Yvan doesn't play real big, on the offensive end at least; we didn't take good care of the ball, granted it's early, but still a bit too sloppy; intensity wasn't always there, particularly on D.

 

Ugly: Shooting, especially at the stripe, but also beyond the arc. How did we manage to shoot under 50% from the line?

Question, and I didn’t get to watch the game at all so I’m just wondering, what makes you say Yvan didn’t play big on offense? My understanding is that bigs in this system aren’t going to post up much at all. They’re more screen and roll guys.

8 hours ago, Faux Mike Peltz said:

Cam Mack- very fast, vision is great, went in for a layup and was guarded by two guys. Jumped up from well outside the paint and almost threw down what would’ve been the best dunk in PBA to date. Ball didn’t go in. Mack is a game changer and our QB. Has confidence and swag. Much needed.

I know the dunk attempt you're talking about and I quite agree. He drew contact from a defender going in, which probably caused him to miss the dunk, but it was the most athletic play by a Nebraska basketball player than I can ever recall. The kid has some serious hops. I expect one of those to go down sometime soon in a game that counts where more eyeballs will see him do it and they'll be amazed at how explosive this kid is.

It’s one thing to throw down a dunk like that while fooling around in practice, but to do it in the flow of a live game while just driving in - that’s a completely different animal. Agh, who are we kidding, I’ve never done either...

Just now, NWUhusker said:

Question, and I didn’t get to watch the game at all so I’m just wondering, what makes you say Yvan didn’t play big on offense? My understanding is that bigs in this system aren’t going to post up much at all. They’re more screen and roll guys.

There were a couple of times he got the ball inside and, instead of going up strong with it, he tried going around or under the defenders with his feet on the floor. Playing more finesse than power.  A couple of times, he got it inside and should have just elevated and dunked it. I'm wondering if he's maybe carrying too much weight. With his height (I think he's legit 6'9) and wingspan (I've read it's over 7 ft), he should be able to dunk effortlessly. He needs to learn to use his shoulder width to carve out space and then just go up over people.

2 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

There were a couple of times he got the ball inside and, instead of going up strong with it, he tried going around or under the defenders with his feet on the floor. Playing more finesse than power.  A couple of times, he got it inside and should have just elevated and dunked it. I'm wondering if he's maybe carrying too much weight. With his height (I think he's legit 6'9) and wingspan (I've read it's over 7 ft), he should be able to dunk effortlessly. He needs to learn to use his shoulder width to carve out space and then just go up over people.

Ok ya that makes sense. Hopefully that’s just an age thing.  He’ll get some major push back when he goes against other bigs in the conference so hopefully that makes him realize he has to play strong. Sometimes you have to get popped in the mouth to understand how the game is played.

Cam Mack- very fast, vision is great, went in for a layup and was guarded by two guys. Jumped up from well outside the paint and almost threw down what would’ve been the best dunk in PBA to date. Ball didn’t go in. Mack is a game changer and our QB. Has confidence and swag. Much needed.

By the way, I don't think this is too much hyperbole. It's not just his athleticism. The MFer dished out 8 assists last night and grabbed 7 rebounds. In 23 minutes. Some of his assists were .  With his athleticism and passing ability, he has NBA potential.  You can see why Hoiberg said he has the chance to be special.

I wonder what the staff thinks Cam Mack's ideal playing weight is. Kent and Jake said his 160# listing might be generous. Im sure his medical issue in the summer has a lot to do with it tho.

He looked heavier than 160 to me. Closer to 175-180- similar to Dachon Burke

14 minutes ago, khoock said:

I wonder what the staff thinks Cam Mack's ideal playing weight is. Kent and Jake said his 160# listing might be generous. Im sure his medical issue in the summer has a lot to do with it tho.

Whatever his weight is, he flies.

Curtis looks every bit of a “Mr Basketball” might have kind of hitch in his giddy up with that jump shot, but it goes in. Cross has some handles for a man that size & wasn’t bashful about throwing up the 3  (which is good)!

I saw Cross draining threes during warm ups, like, quite a few of them. Dude is a solid prospect

Monte Morris, former Hoiberg point guard and one of the better college point guards in the last 20 years, is 6’2”  175 lbs and that’s exactly what Cam is listed at. He did lose quite a bit of weight during his health issue but he’s starting to gain it back. 

36 minutes ago, millerhusker said:

Monte Morris, former Hoiberg point guard and one of the better college point guards in the last 20 years, is 6’2”  175 lbs and that’s exactly what Cam is listed at. He did lose quite a bit of weight during his health issue but he’s starting to gain it back. 

175 is good. Thought Jake/Kent said something about him appearing really thin and skinny during the radio broadcast. And mentioned him looking closer to 150 or 160.

Could have misheard them. And obviously wasnt as the game to see for myself.

1 hour ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

Whatever his weight is, he flies.

I just wonder how he will hold up against bigger more physical guards. Hopefully he has gained most of his weight/strength back from his medical absence earlier in the year. If he hasnt, the grind of a college bball season isnt a great time to do so.

1 hour ago, Faux Mike Peltz said:

I saw Cross draining threes during warm ups, like, quite a few of them. Dude is a solid prospect

Yeah.  A pleasant surprise.  But Cross dribbling the ball up the court is still cringe-worthy.