Alonzo Verge is N

21 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

Backup to whom?

Looking at this from an outsider's prospective... As excited as we all about our other transfers and freshman, none of them have proven anything at college level. As for our returners.. I might get chastised for saying this... they all had pretty mediocre individual seasons on a very poor team. Verge averaged nearly 15 ppg in 2020 on a team that would've made the tournament if it had been played. I think most people would assume he'll start and be our leading scorer next year. 

Bart Torvik projectometer bumps us from 79 to 66 with Verge. Back to bubble territory!

https://barttorvik.com/rostercast.php?run=1&team=Nebraska&player=Alonzo%20Verge%20Jr.%3BArizona%20St.

Like getting a body that can play.  I hope we can dial back his rate of shooting.  Without researching it, 38 percent effective fg % in conference play last year has got to be among the 4 or 5 worst out of the top 10 or so leagues for fellas playing at least half the game.   Will likely depend on what his agenda is.  Seems likely it will be to shoot a lot.  

3 hours ago, hhcmatt said:

 

To me we just grabbed our backup PG and a reliable bucket.

 

 

Assist rate: Verge

 

Our team last year, for reference 

 

 

So yeah you're right in seeing a dude who took a lot of shots.

I see a guy with passing ability who hopefully can make that translate here.

In those terms, how much better than Kobe Webster is he?

I think adding him will let Kobe be off ball and spotting up more. Could put him out there with Trey now as your two guards and not need to save him to play point if Trey is in foul trouble. 

2 hours ago, 49r said:

Interesting.  His recruiting pages say he was recruited to ASU by....Rashon Burno.

 

https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2019/alonzo-verge-233994

 

https://247sports.com/Player/Alonzo-Verge-Jr-84002/junior-college-225701/

 

http://www.espn.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/236185/alonzo-verge-jr

 

So he may just be here a week?

3 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

Trey's a junior. Just sayin'.

True, a COVID junior. We’ll see if he’s back for his extra year…

Hopefully he can play within a system, unlike Teddy Allen. 
 

scoring 43 of your teams 56, in a 40 point loss is a bit scary.

Based on what I've heard from some of my Arizona State alum friends, Alonzo is a good scorer and one of those bench guys that can come in and immediately find ways to get points.

1 hour ago, HuskerFever said:

Based on what I've heard from some of my Arizona State alum friends, Alonzo is a good scorer and one of those bench guys that can come in and immediately find ways to get points.

Imagine discussing Verge with your Arizona St. alumni friends. 

According to Washut, the Charlotte Hornets offered Verge a two-way contract after his workout with them earlier this week. He turned it down. That’s a pretty big deal. 

1 hour ago, millerhusker said:

According to Washut, the Charlotte Hornets offered Verge a two-way contract after his workout with them earlier this week. He turned it down. That’s a pretty big deal. 

How in the ever loving crap do you turn something like that down???  Now I'm questioning this kid's judgement that much more!

1 hour ago, millerhusker said:

According to Washut, the Charlotte Hornets offered Verge a two-way contract after his workout with them earlier this week. He turned it down. That’s a pretty big deal. 

He probably thinks he can make it up on NIL at DONU and still go to frat parties.

21 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

He probably thinks he can make it up on NIL at DONU and still go to frat parties.

Maybe, but that two-way contract gets your foot in the door in the NBA and opportunities like that, even two-way opportunities, are extremely tough to get.

Gotta say, at least he seems confident in his ability to get back there again, and I hope for his sake he does.  I'm just sayin'...

Just now, 49r said:

 

Maybe, but that two-way contract gets your foot in the door in the NBA and opportunities like that, even two-way opportunities, are extremely tough to get.

 

Gotta say, at least he seems confident in his ability to get back there again, and I hope for his sake he does.  I'm just sayin'...

The other day, after Banton decided to stay in the draft, I was thinking (and I was going to start a post by saying "I hate to say this, but ..." and then I decided not to say it, but since you kinda bring it up ...) that, with the players on this team, Cam Mack would have been an assist machine if he could just stay out of his own way.

With Cam's speed, quickness and ability to throw darts, this team would be a highwire act. Can you imagine running a break with Trey filling one lane, Bryce another, and CJ or Keisei or heck even Lat spotting up from 3?

If Verge has that kind of seeing-eye passing ability and the quickness to break defenders down off the dribble, this could be a really fun team to watch.

17 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

Backup to whom?

I'm assuming that our starting PG is Trey McGowens, at least to start the season.

My guess is some of the feedback he got was they want to see more from him as a distributor.  A lot of his comments were team centric about coming to Nebraska. That leads me to believe that he wants to improve on the things they want to see from him in order to become a drafted player.

39 minutes ago, hhcmatt said:

 

I'm assuming that our starting PG is Trey McGowens, at least to start the season.

So, who is the 5th player to round out the rotation?

I'm assuming Trey, Bryce, Lat and Derrick are basically locks. Trey could just as easily be a wing as a PG. And if he's the primary ballhandler, we have a few options for the other wing. If he's the other wing, we have a couple of options for PG.

So, I guess I was really curious where you were slotting Trey. B/c if he's starting at wing and someone else is point, it wouldn't seem obvious that Verge would be a backup.

16 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

So, who is the 5th player to round out the rotation?

 

I'm assuming Trey, Bryce, Lat and Derrick are basically locks. Trey could just as easily be a wing as a PG. And if he's the primary ballhandler, we have a few options for the other wing. If he's the other wing, we have a couple of options for PG.

 

So, I guess I was really curious where you were slotting Trey. B/c if he's starting at wing and someone else is point, it wouldn't seem obvious that Verge would be a backup.

I'm thinking of it from the perspective that you have to have one guy on the court at all times that is a ball handler/PG type, but it's ok to have multiple of those, especially since we only have combo guards anyway. (apologies to Quaran) I know what you mean about Bryce but as far as Verge goes he wasn't the starting PG at ASU and can also as easily be a wing as a PG.  The difference between the two is that McGowens has experience running Hoiberg's offense.  If Verge works better as a ball handler (those lack of turnover numbers are promising), then we should shift towards him as the primary PG for the team.

I could very much see McGowens and Verge starting/playing together and that whomever happens to get the ball on any given possession will be the guy that functions as the PG for that possession. 

31 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

So, who is the 5th player to round out the rotation?

 

I'm assuming Trey, Bryce, Lat and Derrick are basically locks. Trey could just as easily be a wing as a PG. And if he's the primary ballhandler, we have a few options for the other wing. If he's the other wing, we have a couple of options for PG.

Agreed on the four locks.  Lat maybe a tad less so than the other three, but I would be surprised if any of those four are not opening night starters.

My guess is CJ is the fifth starter.  The McGowens Brothers can handle the ball well enough to break some token pressure and initiate the offense.  Gotta think Fred will prioritize getting one extra shooter on the floor over one extra ball handler.  

12 hours ago, HuskerFever said:

Based on what I've heard from some of my Arizona State alum friends, Alonzo is a good scorer and one of those bench guys that can come in and immediately find ways to get points.

Which famous ASU alums Won/Lost vs. Nebraska: Jake Plummer, James Harden, Danny White...? 

This is a nice addition.  
 

He may or may not be a bench guy for us, but he has some serious scoring ability and great footwork/ball handling.  Very crafty with the pick and roll.  Much different scorer than Teddy’s bruiser iso buckets.  80% from the free throw line is a lot more important than most realize.  
 

I think Trey, Bryce, and Alonzo will start.  The three of them give us positionless basketball at the 1-3 which can be a huge advantage in transition.  Hopefully Alonzo can hit threes at a 35% clip.  If so, I can’t see him coming off the bench.  It’s very difficult to guard three guys who can fill it up.  
 

Have we ever had three guards average double figures in a season?  

14 minutes ago, Handy Johnson said:

Which famous ASU alums Won/Lost vs. Nebraska: Jake Plummer, James Harden, Danny White...? 

We lost a lot with Sam Keller. 

16 minutes ago, LK1 said:

 Have we ever had three guards average double figures in a season?  

The quick answer is yes - Cheatham, Burke and Mack did and Thor and Green were over 8/game. Too bad we didn't have much scoring after that.

28 minutes ago, aphilso1 said:

 

Agreed on the four locks.  Lat maybe a tad less so than the other three, but I would be surprised if any of those four are not opening night starters.

 

My guess is CJ is the fifth starter.  The McGowens Brothers can handle the ball well enough to break some token pressure and initiate the offense.  Gotta think Fred will prioritize getting one extra shooter on the floor over one extra ball handler.  

 I like this scenario IF Verge would buy into the fact he could be Manu Ginobili.  Combo guard coming off the bench that can score in waves, be a facilitator, and change the pace of a game.  He will still get starters level minutes on average and be on the court to finish a game but gives us balance.

 Now will that be the case, who knows, but that's how I would think is the best option for the team as of today.  

I think the NIL rules are already having a positive impact on college basketball. We’re seeing a lot of good players return, now that they can potentially make more in college than they can in the G-League or in most leagues overseas. 
 

I’ve always thought the competitiveness and quality of play in college basketball took a hit after they stopped letting high schoolers jump to the NBA. It used to be only a few guys in each class, if that, would go from high school to the NBA and the rest would go to college for three years, like in baseball. Now you have dozens of guys leaving college after one year, whether or not they’ll be a first round pick. It’s looking like the NIL stuff could change that.