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about the only thing I agree with in that article is that its a crucial year for Miles. -no mention of Gill? It's funny how Shavon Shields was under-appreciated by the media outside of Nebraska. UNTIL WE HAVE TO REPLACE HIM! Then, it's OMG Shavon Shields!

I think Webster and Watson are givens. Both were pretty solid, especially Tai during conference play. Watson had the occasional off game...but for a true frosh...wasn't horribly up and down once he started playing a bunch. I think a big thing for us is that we won't have total liabilities out there anymore. Parker was an offensive liability. Sure he average 4.5 ppg but other teams basically ignored him on the floor as he was no threat to really do anything. You start ignoring guys like Webster, Watson, Gill, McVeigh and they can put up 12-15 real quick. I think that's where we see the biggest jump this year. Not as many dead minutes. Last year you had Hammond, Fuller and Parker contributing 35-40 minutes per game between the 3 of them. This year, you will have far far better players taking those minutes. As far as the free throws...same thing applies. We might not have someone who gets to the line as much as Shields...but the overall increase from every other position will make up for it.

The biggest thing in my opinion for NU to be successful defensively is that we have to hope and pray that between Jordy, a healthy Morrow and Jacobson we can clog the paint and defend the paint better without having to double in the post as much. Having a big frame like Jordy in the middle hopefully will help us in that area. When you double the post, you leave shooters open which leads to good shots. When you double the post, you leave cutters open which leads to stupid fouls. If our bigs can do a better job of defending and clogging the lane that will help a TON. We were a poor rebounding team at times as well last year so hopefully after another year in the system for our bigs, a healthy Morrow and a big man in Jordy that will improve us. Outside shooting will definitely be a concern as well. We kind of know what we will get in White. We need guys like McVeigh, Gill and Webster to really improve their outside shots. Maybe Fuller can specifically focus on only 3 point shooting and give us some nice minutes as well at times. Even Watson I think will improve on 3 point shooting from year to year. I'm excited about the pieces we have and I think it should be a fun season! You have to think our freshman will only get better, stronger and mentally tougher after being thrown to the wolves last year. I like this sophomore group a LOT and think they will be a good building step for our program.

It's also important to distinguish Rachel's injury from the rash of stress reactions. Her injury in 2015 was an acute traumatic injury sustained in practice, which required surgery. I don't know how anyone could legitimately say our final record in 2015 "speaks for itself". We were playing great prior to losing our point guard and returning Big 10 tournament MVP, we had 4 veteran seniors with tournament experience. Even with that setback we lose at the buzzer to keep from going to the round of 32. To suggest that the program was in a downhill spiral due to finishing in the "middle of the pack" under those circumstances is not credible.

Of course, some big contributors to the chemistry problems are still with the program. So perhaps actions taken by the new coaches can get those players to change their ways and do the whole buy in thing. We'll see. And I have to disagree that the final conference records the last 2 years "speak for themselves". Unless you think losing a player of Rachel Theriot's ability toward the end of both seasons didn't contribute to the final records, I don't think you can make a statement like that. We were "up from the middle of the pack" both years until disaster hit. (I realize that many on here blame Yori for the injuries also). We had a lot of talent returning, and a lot of talent coming in. I would argue that the odds of us moving up from the middle of the pack over the next couple of years were reduced by recent action by our AD, rather than increased.

Landed James Palmer Landed Coach Michael Lewis Landed Jordy Tshimanga Kept Andrew White Not playing someone from the state of Florida in the ACC challenge We still have 5 days left folks!

That's what she said

Sorry, not about a post about a Lithuanian big man with a 7ft wingspan and 22' range. Haymarket Hardwood brethren, I have been promising or, at minimum, eluding to an X's and O's post for some time now. Well, here's my very raw attempt at including video and gifs into a post. Topic, Lithuania/Gonzaga Ball Screen Continuity offense - aka - what we have ran the past few seasons as a base, revolving offense. *Big-time Disclaimer - I do not do these to get into arguments or criticize anyone. So if anyone takes these as a criticism of Coach Miles, his staff, players, or anything of that nature - just stop typing your reply. I will openly discuss what I think are some weaknesses of this offense, and the strengths. But this is more informational and just a hobby of mine. Also, we actually went away from this towards the end of the year in a lot of regards (much to my enjoyment). But it's an interesting study at least. Do any of these look familiar to you? That would be what we have ran quite a bit the past few years to just get the ball moving and players moving. It worked really well when TP could hit shots at the end of the shot clock, and when Walt P. was making 3's at a 40% clip. Some people call it Lithuania Ball Screen Continuity, others call it Gonzaga Ball Screen Continuity. Coaches steal all the time... so who knows who actually invented it. The basics of this offense are this: In theory, a 3 out 2 in offense. Or, at minimum, a 3 guard or wing, 2 "post" offense. The point guard will initiate offense by doing one of these three things: Dribbling out a wing to create a triangle on the other side of the lane, so he can start the ball screening action. Passing to a wing, and corner cutting to the ball side Passing to a wing, and corner cutting to the opposite side of the paint The first big will typically get the action started by setting a ball screen for a guard/wing The opposite post, Pops up the lane to get the reversal pass after the ball screen That post then does 1 of 2 things: Looks at the higher of the two wings and backdoors him out OR Starts dribbling at the higher of the two wings and dribbles him out (both backdoors) The post with the ball tries to hit the backdoor, but more than li Again, we went away from this offense towards the end of last year, for reasons that I will describe below (we just did not have the personnel to do so). Hence, sort of why I am making this post now, as opposed to during the season - as I don't want to look like I am being critical of Coach. He knows what he's doing. Oh yeah, and btw, you have to be able to hit open 3's if you want any offense to be successful (no kidding, right?). Why have we had such struggle scoring at times the past couple years? Well, because of this .gif right here (in my opinion): You'll notice basically nothing is open going to the hoop. First, after a school has seen your action a few times - they never get beat on that backdoor, they sag off, and they stay in the paint for a count as the backdoor player clears the lane to the other side. Second, and arguably more detrimental, is the action of the opposite big "popping" to the opposite lane side of the top of the key. If your big is not comfortable shooting that shot on the pop - his defender just sags in the lane and helps defend the driver. When Walt P was doing this, you had to honor him. Then, you also had to honor him after he received the reversal pass and began to hand-off/ball-screen to the wing. Because after he did that, he frequently "drifted" out to the corner instead of rolling to the hoop. You had to honor his shot from the corner because he hit it at a very high rate. Structurally, this offense isn't "wrong," at all. But your personnel is what makes an offense "wrong." For instance, this offense is great if you have a few things: Versatile Bigs that can shoot a - because if that big can shoot after he pops, you put his defender in a very tough position. Do I help the drive of the guy using ball screen? Or do I stick tight to my guy? On the ball screen, if they can shoot, they are very effective at "drifting" to the corner instead of rolling to the hoop. Super aggressive guards that can turn the corner on the ball screen and get to the rim. Guys who can back-cut, get to the opposite corner, and then knock down the corner 3. Think about how many open 3's Benny Parker got in the corner? Our inability to hit that shot means the guy who is defending him on the back-cut gets to sit in the paint for a long time and check off the roll man. What do I prefer (if you do not have versatile bigs)? Just a slight adjustment - you keep the post down in the paint, opposite of the ball screen. As described here: Unfortunately, I could not find a good film that would show this offense revolve from side to side. But basically what happens is that the higher of the two wings on the opposite side (backside triangle), will get the reversal pass, look inside to the duck-in one more time, then swing it to the corner who v-cuts to get open. Then he cuts to the opposite corner - creating another backside triangle with the opposite post and the guard who came off the first ball screen. Here's a super crude drawing I through up (did not have my iPad/Computer that has the correct software - click on it to make it bigger) - A lot of people call this "20 Series" Ball Screen Continuity: Hopefully some of you enjoyed this "breakdown." As I learn how to make .gifs and utilize screenshots better, I'll try to do some more stuff (especially if I can get my hands on Husker specific film). baketballjones

Hmmmm. Edited to add: The pause before he answered and the hedging kind of answer he gave makes me think he's willing to make a move if he thinks it's in his best interests. For a coach, you don't want to probably get in the habit of changing what you do to accommodate one player's desire to showcase himself for pro scouts. No one player is bigger than the team, right? But this might be a bit different. Miles needs Andrew for the team to be as successful as it could be next season. We need him on the roster. It also benefits Miles in terms of recruiting if White gets drafted next year. And, if White does well enough to get drafted, it probably means the team will have done well, too. So, do you run stuff specifically for one guy to improve his draft stock? Maybe in this case you do. In one of his interviews White was asked how you balance being a team player vs. your individual goal of improving your stock for the NBA. He said in order for him to get better he needs his teammates. It serves him well to involve the guys he plays with and by being a senior leader for the team.

It's a good point but is that a skillset that any of those players possess? Jack has shown good moves when he has had the few opportunities to use them. The skills are some that any of them could be proficient at by the beginning of the season if they want to put the work in. The question is whether or not Miles thinks that skill is important enough to emphasis.

We now have Jordy in the mix and have added a guy in Michael Lewis who was running Butler's offense Some questions for Jones (or for anyone really) - Does it seem like we have the personnel now to run the motion offense that Miles really wants to run? We can break down some lineups but just a general question - Has anyone watched much Butler? What sort of offense have they been running? That's a strong point of a real motion as opposed to some sort of passing game. You teach people how to play the game instead of just teaching them plays. You can run motion with any personnel. A true motion adapts to the strengths of who you have on the floor instead of making players adjust to the offense. Your offensive emphasis can change every time you make substitutions. So yes, our personnel fits the motion offense but then so does everybody else's. A good coach teaches some basic principles that are constants and then they adjust the emphasis to fit their personnel. Now I know what you mean in that Miles has some things he likes to do out of motion and can we do that with who we have? Personally, i would like to see more of an emphasis on a post game and you don't need a traditional post to do that. AWIII is built to be able to post. Jack has shown some potential to be a strong post. Tai should be able to post up the vast majority of the people who are assigned to guard him. Motion creates the space needed for any player on the floor to post. When you're going through a scoring drought, there's no more consistent way to end said drought than to get a favorable isolation on the block by somebody that knows what to do with the ball when they get it there.

He liked the GIFs. He probably really liked the GIF I would have stolen ... if I knew how. The GIFs that keep on GIFing.

If Gill is as good as we've told he is, he won't be coming off the bench. You'll want him, White and Watson on the floor as much as possible. Those three should lead the team in minutes played.

I'd be pretty shocked if Glynn doesn't start at the PG spot. Of course, Tai can play the 1 and, without a back-up PG, he's going to be playing a lot of both guard spots this year, but especially given the anticipated evolution of Glynn's game over the off-season, I just don't see another player on the roster who offers what he does, and with Benny gone, it's really Glynn's show to run now. He's the straw that stirs the drink, so to speak. Everyone benefits from his court vision and ability to distribute. Plus, he rarely turns it over, which is obviously key to playing that position. I feel we're going to see a myriad of different line-ups in the early part of the season while Miles and Co. accumulate statistics on various line-up configurations and gauge their effectiveness. I also agree with Norm and others who've said not to sleep on Jeriah Horne. Horne does a lot of things well and is extremely versatile. He's a really intriguing player to watch, and he's coming to Lincoln with a far more well-rounded and advanced all-around game than Ed Morrow. I love the depth and versatility on the roster this year. We have a wide array of options in terms of the five guys we can put on the court and now have the chess pieces to match up with any team in the league physically. We can go smaller and quicker against certain teams and then put a much bigger, more physical group out there when we're facing a more formidable front court, like Purdue from last year. We're not going to be seeing the type of physical dominance against us that we had to stomach last year. Jordy may be inexperienced at this level, and there will be a sizable learning curve for him, but at 270 lbs., with a 7-foot-5-inch wingspan, teams are going to know he's there. It should be a really exciting season. I'd love to see the program take a big step forward next season, and I feel it will.

That's an excellent point, HB. One has to wonder why all the injuries over the last couple of years. We're told by former players such as Zeros that practices this year weren't that difficult. Yet we've got all those injuries. I remember during the season it was repeatedly brought up about what the hell is going on with this team that we've seen so many injuries over the last couple of seasons, and it makes one wonder was the athletic training staff just asleep at the switch?

I'm generally more concerned with finishers, minutes, and producers instead of who starts a particular game. Will be very intriguing to see how it all transpires in 2016-17.

This. Despite the record, I thought our team played well last year. We were competitive and showed promise. We just got murdered inside. Next year we actually field a team that should be as big or bigger than everyone we play. It's a huge luxury to be able to go 6'4", 6'7", 6'8", 6'8", 6'11" and actually gain athleticism. I don't think there's any way we're below a bubble team. I would consider that our bottom line.

To his credit, he would know what .500 ball looks like from his time as a walkon in the MVC.

Love the positivity! My only concern is that Jordy is raw. He is not Sergei, he has a huge upside, but he is raw. This will be a team hopefully that: the opposing defense must account for all of our players offensively. we don't have to double the post all of the time. This is what gets us over the hump.

I think you look at the youth last year, the fact that they were only blown out maybe twice with lots of close games, look at the returnees, the additions, the depth, and then say no way it is a .500 team next year. No way. Now if they are...que Lanigan.

FWIW, I listened to the segment, he didn't advise AW to do anything one way or the other.

He just needs to make sure Nebraska scores enough points every home game and then turn the ticket in... Sorry, Nebrasketballer, I just reached my quota of up-arrows. The system won't permit me to up-arrow any more posts until, like, tomorrow. Can someone help a Norm out here and throw some up-arrows Nebrasketballer's way? That's a worthy post for some love. got your back Norm

Starters: 1. Watson 2. Gill or Webster 3. White 4. Jacobson or Morrow 5. Jacobson or Tshimanga Bench: Gill or Webster Roby McVeigh Horne That's ten deep right there, dude.

He just needs to make sure Nebraska scores enough points every home game and then turn the ticket in...

So, question is - What will we do next year? Jack McVeigh, Michael Jacobsen, Isaiah Roby, and Jeriah Horne are versatile bigs who can pop and drift to shoot outside shots... Glynn Watson, Tai Webster, and Anton Gill are super aggressive guards... AWIII and McVeigh (maybe?) can stretch defenses with their shooting... Maybe we go back to some of this? Ideally you don't include Ed Morrow in the "popping/drifting" action - you allow him to stay down and keep opposite (as he would in "20 Series" Ball Screen Continuity), and you let him catch dump off passes, lobs, roll passes, and offensive rebound. But I'd really like to see some more of the (what I'm going to call) 5-Out motion concepts we were doing towards the end of the year. Because of our versatility with our 6'7" - 6'8" guys, you can cause a lot of damage letting them operate on the perimeter a bit. Ala, Golden State.