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I'd have to think if you need 10 minutes of someone on the court, then it's a no brainer of Hoiberg over Jacobsen because Sam will go out and make all the right plays on offense and defense. If we're talking about an injury replacement at guard, it might boil down to who is injured because Cale has a lot more experience playing PG than Sam.

My projected starting lineup: 1. Lawrence 2. Keisei 3. Williams 4. Gary 5. Mast The only question mark is Gary vs. Allick. They seem to be very similar players. Allick has a bit more size, Gary may have a bit more athleticism. The main reason I give the nod to Gary is because Allick is clearly the backup center so he has to stagger his minutes with Mast. First off the bench: 6. Allick 7. CJ 8. Coleman I know CJ had a rough year last year (and was brutal the first half of the season), but he still is probably the 2nd best pure shooter on the team behind Keisei. Fred said he's been shooting lights out in practice, can it carry over to games this year? He shot over 40% from 3 in the B1G as a freshman, so he has proven he can do it. Hoping and maybe even expecting that he can do it again. Allick will have to play big. Not sure he is ideal as a center (at just 6'8") in the B1G, but I don't see any indication Keita is coming back any time soon and Diop is just a raw freshman no matter how athletic. Rice and Diop will have opportunities. I get the sense Hoiberg really like Rice, it's just a question of whether he can learn the system and be consistent enough. As for Diop, he will be fun to watch. We all know he is raw, the question is just how raw. Last, the constant nagging injuries are annoying. I realize they said Mast and Gary are not serious, but still. During the scrimmage last Saturday we had 4 scholarship players out with injury. Is this common? If we surveyed every team in the country, how many would have 4 or more scholarship players injured at one time? And is a foot/ankle injury on a big guy ever really "non-serious"? Keita anyone? Are either/both of them going to play in the exhibition this Sunday? Are they even back to practicing now? Fortunately we start out with an easy schedule, but Mast is brand new to the team and needs all the practice and playing time with this new team he can get. He can't be expected to sit on the sidelines and then just show up for the Creighton game. Every rep, every game counts to build chemistry and continuity.

The stats guys, the analytics guys, have a way of measuring luck. Arnold Palmer once said something like "I've hit a lot of lucky shots in my day and the more I practice, the luckier I get." Sam Hoiberg often finds himself at the right place at the right time because he has intuition for the game. That's something you cannot teach or coach. It might appear like it's luck, but like Arnold Palmer, he's creating his own luck. He's not basketball tall. He's not D1 athletic. But, for a guy who's neither tall nor athletic, he makes hustle plays in spades. Knowing they're both walk-ons and minutes will be exceedingly limited for them regardless, I'd pick Sam for my hypothetical open spot in the rotation. We're not going to rely on either of them to shoulder a scoring load. But Sam has a demonstrated propensity to create that one opportunity that swings a close game in our favor.

The one problem with the entire Tim Miles era was the lack of definable and reliable post presence. The revolving door of sub-standard and inconsisent bigs was never solved. Which lead to guys like Dererk Pardon having career afternoons inside PBA (still nightmare fuel). I think your interior with this year's squad is undeniably better than anything Miles had and that's enough to keep games in the B1G closer night-in and night-out, overall. Copeland and Roby are some of my favorite players to have watchd and very talented, but they weren't dominant defenders in the paint or streetsweepers on the boards. What this team lacks (and what takes last year's team to a different level) is a player like JPJ. Perhaps Brice Williams can fill that role? Glynn was great but I think Lawrence has the ability to grow into a similar role with a potentially higher upside.

I'm REALLY looking forward to the November schedule for that reason. I can't remember the last time we had the chance to get off to a good start like this. No road games and the only P5 game is neutral site against the projected worst team in the PAC-12.

Dude, do you see that wall over there? Now, go run through it. Sam will run through it for you. That may be his greatest attribute and what makes him popular amongst his teammates.

If he were two inches taller he'd be a starting PG at a mid-major, imo. What separates Sam, and I've said this before, from your normal "hussle walk-on," is he can make a multitude of shots.

Seeing the toothpicks that Blaise Keita walks around on and understanding why he's always injured

We should have a countdown for next game, regular season start, Creighton, and selection Sunday!

Based purely on length of shorts, I'd guess that Allick will be our starting PG.

Is he a PG though? I've always considered him to have a SG skillset.

I'm not sure this is a reflection on the program. Like this isn't a reflection on our strength guy or the athletic trainer or that practices are too hard or that there's anything intrinsically the matter with the program. I think there might be one *real* injury there and it might not be hoops-related. Keita is just not durable and that's who he is. I doubt he'll ever regain the form he had on his juco championship team. Since his injury early on his 2nd year of juco, he's just never been the same since. And it's not looking like he ever will be. Gary came to us with a bum shoulder that we tried to manage last year, and he got off-season surgery that sounds like it went well. Allick came to us with a problem that appears to have been repaired as well. Bandoumel blew out his knee as sometimes happens with athletes doing athletic things. It's ENTIRELY POSSIBLE that guys being held out last week were being held out in a precautionary manner because we have ample depth and don't need, at this point, to push things.

Agreed. In AAU ball Cale really struggled against length and quickness, which is why he didn't get any offers. He has great size for a college point guard. Sam is a better athlete imo. Just obviously lacks size. The biggest thing with Sam is the game at this level is not too fast for him. There are plenty of big, athletic players who never adjust to the speed of the game at the college level. The game never slows down for them, so they aren't able to make quick decisions and PLAY fast.

To be clear, Sam is a *really* good athlete . . . he's just short. If he were 5 inches taller, He'd be on scholarship at another P5 program, but alas he's 5-10 so he's a (excellent) walk-on for us.

That's only to sell your tickets. You still access your tickets through your Huskers.com account.

Ready for the match tonight. Got my Johhny (F'ing) Russell kit on, and a fancy special occasion beer ready to pour. It's gonna be a good night. Paint the wall, boys!

Is it? CJ started 24 games last year for a team that was 12 spots higher than Charlotte, according to KenPom. He had a bad year shooting last year, but shot 40% two years ago. I'm betting CJ starts the first game because he knows the system and Fred trusts him to do the right things. I also think he returns to form with his shooting. Idk whether he's still starting in March because all I've seen of Brice is highlights.

If Matt Abdelmassih ever decides to put a Nebraska section into his new St John's biography, this should be it.

I die laughing every time I think about Matt A insisting that we make a hype video for the 21-22 season with him in it This is the worst team Nebraska has to date assembled defensively in the KenPom era

I don't know a lot about Cale but I've always imagined him to be very Ryan Anderson-esque. Maybe a little more of a true guard type and a lot less of a musician.

1st two predictions (1) Nebraska finishes the season somewhere in the 8 spots of Last 4 in - 1st 4 out (2) Sam Hoiberg finishes with the 9th most mpg

Believe it or not, we're only three weeks away from the start of the basketball season. You know what that means! HUSKER HOOPS CENTRAL CHALLENGE IS BACK! For any of you who are unfamiliar with Husker Hoops Central Challenge (HHCC), you're in the right place. The rules are simple. Just make a prediction for each game. That's it. And even if you missed joining on Day 1, don't let that stop you. You're still in the hunt for the coveted title. Even if you're out of the running for #1, there's still a chance to prove you're smarter than Ken Pomeroy. The more people that participate, the more entertaining this challenge becomes. The rules are the same as last year with more opportunities to earn some bonus points throughout the season. Last year's Top 10 finishers were: 1 Handy Johnson 2 LNKtrnsplnt 3 hhcmatt 4 75unlgrad 5 HuskerFever 6 Noah121 7 REDZONEDAN 8 BLB115 9 AuroranHusker 10 MichHusker *15 KenPom Good work, team, for not letting Ken Pomeroy crack the top 10 last season. It's up to all of us to maintain that for this upcoming season. Now that we know the objective, let's go out there and have some fun! Game on. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ HHCC SCORING AND RULES If you want to be part of the HHCC, all you need to do is guess the score of each game. Participants with at least one entry will be included in the overall standings. There will be a thread available following the completion of the previous game. Scoring is based on how close you were to each team's actual point total and the margin of victory. HHCC GAME SCORING: The object of the game is to have the lowest accumulated points at the end of the year. Scoring is taken from three variables (margin of victory, actual score, correct game winner); with possible bonus points. Margin of Victory: This is how many points either team wins by. Scoring: Difference between Actual MoV (Husker score & Opponent score) Predicted MoV (Predicted Husker score & Predicted Opponent score). This is then multiplied by 2. Bonus: There is a -5 bonus for correctly predicting margin of victory. To get the bonus two things must happen. 1. Your margin of victory must match the actual margin of victory. 2. You picked the correct winner. EXAMPLE Prediction: NU 79 Opponent 72 Actual: NU 72 Opponent 62 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- (Actual (72 62) = 10 - Predicted (79-72) = 7) = 3 * 2 = 6 MoV = 6 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Actual Score: This is the final point totals of both teams. Scoring: (Predicted Husker score vs. Actual Husker score) + (Predicted Opponent score Actual Opponent score) Bonus: There is a -5 bonus for correctly predicting either the Huskers score or the opponents. EXAMPLE Prediction: NU 79 Opponent 72 Actual: NU 72 Opponent 62 ------------------------------------------ (79 72) + (62 72) 7 + 10 = 17 ------------------------------------------ Game Winner: Picking the correct winner. Scoring: Zero points for correct winner. 20 point penalty for incorrect choice. The final score for this game would be 23. Correctly predicting the actual game score nets all -5 bonuses and a -25 bonus, for a best possible score of -40. Missed Game: Your score for missing a game is (the highest score of picked games + 25 points). End of year: Your highest score will be subtracted from your final point total. No Games Missed equals a -25 bonus to your final score. HHCC RULES: All new HHCC game threads will be posted following the previous game. The first game will be up after the last exhibition game. Post your prediction in the HHCC thread. All predictions must be in by the scheduled tipoff time (noted in the thread's title). Any corrections to your prediction should be done in the HHCC game thread. If you are unable to edit your score, just quote your previous score and post the new score underneath. All score updates will be posted throughout the season.

ENOUGH TALK ! Time to get with the program ! SUNDAYOCT 29 12:00 PM CDT vs. EXHIBITION Dakota Wesleyan Pinnacle Bank Arena

My guess on starters are 1. Coleman 2. Keisei 3. Williams 4. Gary 5. Mast

Agreed. I think the big differentiator will be who shots the long ball better. That will determine who is starting at the end of the year.

He did not play point in HS either. I thought I saw he was trying to learn the point in the off season but not sure. I agree he has always been a 2 guard.

I don't know what a PG is anymore.

I like Sam because we basically get him for free...no schollies needed. And he had a great run at the end of last season There's more to being a good playe than just your vertical. Ask Worm about that.

Marc Boehm is a plague.

Can somebody put this into terms of "Baseline to Baseline" for me?

I'll bet you $50 I was being sarcastic and taking a shot at the woke crowd.

Give me even odds and I'd bet you $50 the new poster's a dude. That's not sexism, that's just playing statistical probabilities.

getting to the NIT would constitute a magical season for me...:)

I would also add a lack of administrative support. Just saying.

Nice first post, my man.

I don’t care if we play fast tempo or deliberate. I want to win games and eventually, games that matter.

You could choose either paper or electronic tickets. The last season or two we opted for electronic. This year we opted for paper tickets. We received those tickets in the mail two weeks ago. You should be able to gain access to your tickets electronically, if you chose that path, now.

I don't see a way Sam Hoiberg is kept off the court.

I think we will be able to score more consistently and more easily. The key to this is playing defense like we did last year when we had to to survive. If we back track in that department we wont be much better. The good news is that there us no reason whatsoeer that we shouldn't be able to play as good or better defense.

Glynn Watson was so underrated and underappreciated.

The environment that has led these seven programs to devolve into their current state needs to be uprooted and hacked to bits. National Rank Team Games TDs PATs 2 pt PATs DEF Pts FG SAF PTS PPG 76 Wisconsin 7 22 19 2 0 11 0 188 26.9 99 Purdue 7 22 20 0 0 3 0 161 23 111 Illinois 8 21 15 2 0 6 0 163 20.4 112 Minnesota 7 14 14 0 0 14 1 142 20.3 113 Northwestern 7 17 16 0 0 7 1 141 20.1 116 Iowa 8 16 15 1 0 13 2 156 19.5 119 Nebraska 7 17 17 0 0 4 0 131 18.7