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I could see Lakes being the "who TF is this guy and why is he making all these threes tonight" against a few teams this year. Kind of like every conference game we play where some random dude goes off for 15-20.

I kinda feel bad for Trevor Lakes. From the sounds of things, he's been shooting lights out in practices. His shoulder is finally fixed and he seems to have fully recovered. I wish I knew he was having shoulder problems last season; I would probably have gone easier on him in anything I posted. We're set to lose Verge and Kobe to exhausting their eligibility and the McGowens brothers to the pros. Lat Mayen, it's been speculated, could leave after this year to pursue pro opportunities in Australia. Trevor Lakes could potentially be a rotation player on next year's team. Except he doesn't get a next year. And, this year, fortunately for us and unfortunately for him, we're stacked. How many of the last 20 years would we have LOVED to have a guy like him?

Until they prove me otherwise, I’m going to be nervous every time we step on the pitch. Trinidad still haunts me to this day.

I just want to shout-out Tim Weah! He dominated after coming on as a sub and should have had at least one assist. How Zardes didn't put his brilliant cross into the back of the net is beyond me (and had me screaming at the TV). The depth of young talent on this team is almost unthinkable to this longtime USMNT fan.

Call me crazy, but I'm starting to believe in Gregg. A few examples: 1. How he handled Weston's off-field issues was perfect. Sent him home for a window to send a message. But then when he brought him back to the team there was no residual punishment. No sitting the bench in the doghouse for an indefinite period of time. Weston received his punishment, and now is forgiven. We move on. 2. Playing Musah through the middle is a bold move that makes Gregg look like a genius. Musah is one of the speedy up-and-comers in La Liga playing out wide. Logic would say that he and Arriola are the same type of player in our 4-3-3, and they should share playing time at the right winger position. Gregg playing Musah where he has is really a pretty bold move, because if it didn't work out he'd look like an idiot. But Musah has been great every time he's played, and kudos to GB for trusting him as a #10. 3. Riding the hot hand in goal with Turner. It would be easy to roll out Steffen whenever he's available. Turner has played perfectly as our keeper, and was rewarded with the #1 jersey last night. 4. A well-thought out strategy to get 3 points against an inferior foe, while playing without our two best creators. No Pulisic, no Reyna, no problem. Dest and Robinson were given the green light to get forward and attack. Aaronson was given a heavier workload out wide. We switched the field with long, aggressive passes the whole night. Quality in the final third could have been better, but not for lack of game plan. And don't forget the two "yellow" cards that resulted from the team constantly looking for the aggressive through ball. That was a really well designed match last night by Gregg and his staff. 5. Buy-in from the young players. Gregg and these kids are growing up together. Obviously winning helps a lot, but this looks like a TEAM. That isn't always the case. 6. Identifying young talent and getting it. This was the main argument for keeping Klinsmann around despite continued disappointing results. He expanded the talent pool by going out and getting commitments from dual-nationals. That wasn't supposed to be Berhalter's strength. And yet, the two 18 year old wunderkinds on the pitch had the option to play for Mexico (Pepi) and England/Ghana/Italy (Musah), but committed to the USA instead.

To be fair, we probably should have been playing at least 11 on 10 if not 11 on 9 at points in the first half. Two pretty clear goal scoring opportunities taken away.

Good article by Sam in today's OWH. A few things mentioned: Kendall Moriarty could be used as a defensive stopper. Nailah Dillard is out for the year with an ACL tear. Tatiana Popa will redshirt this year. And, Sam Haiby, because of the Covid impact on college sports, is again listed as a junior. She has not made any decisions regarding returning for another year or not.

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Or foul trouble...which is very likely to happen.

I agree Norm. I figured he was Kavas 2.0. Just another guy who couldn’t shoot with that N on the jersey. Knowing his story now, it is easy to envision a role for him as a sniper coming in off the bench. Like many things in life, timing is critical and it doesn’t appear to be playing out well for Lakes. He may have a few moments here and there but probably few and far between. If we are unfortunate with a front court injury, though, he gives us a guy I think most of us would be comfortable sliding into the rotation.

Probably. I'd guess Trey will try to cut his teeth in the G League. Lat probably back to Australia. Webster and Walker could likely make a roster in a lower Euro League if they aren't ready to hang up their sneakers yet. Lakes might have a hard time landing somewhere. Not because his skillset doesn't work in Europe, but because it's hard to imagine him getting a lot of looks when there's really no tape on him (assuming he doesn't crack our rotation this year).

CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying Standings & Results Team PTS GP W L D GF GA GD 1. USA 8 4 2 0 2 7 2 +5 2. Mexico 8 4 2 0 2 5 3 +2 3. Canada 6 4 1 0 3 6 3 +3 4. Panama 5 4 1 1 2 4 2 +2 5. El Salvador 5 4 1 1 2 1 3 -2 6. Costa Rica 3 4 0 1 3 1 2 -1 7. Honduras 3 4 0 1 3 2 5 -3 8. Jamaica 1 4 0 3 1 2 8 -6 This is beautiful.

Favorite moment for me was was Pepi's first goal, and to celebrate he kisses the crest on his jersey. I'm probably reading too much into that simple gesture, but originally I had assumed that he decided to play for the US instead of Mexico because we are thin at the #9 and they aren't. Simply a better opportunity. But that moment made me think that maybe it really was a love for this country that made him choose his nation over his heritage. And maybe we will see the tides turn and be able to start keeping more of the elite Mexican-American soccer players representing the USA in the future. Oh, and how cool was it to finally have home field advantage in the state of Texas?!? Austin's crowd was FANTASTIC. Looking at the bigger picture, we are now top of the table thanks to Canada getting a draw in Estadio Azteca. Panama losing helps too. And Costa Rica must be in a complete panic as they are sitting on 3 points through 4 matches. It's still early, but 29% of the way through WCQ and things are going about as perfectly for us as we could have realistically hoped. We will be in a commanding qualifying position if we can snag a point at Panama and a win at home against a frazzled Costa Rica team.

Canada gets their first result in Mexico since 1980, and really they should have won. Mexico is looking really pedestrian right now.

Hey, if one NBA draft pick equaled 7 wins last year, than TWO should be worth at least 14... right???

Definitely, I just knew we needed 3 points from this game and that first half made me nervous. lol

I think Coach is voting to use Nebraska throwback warmups for the season...

I agree, taking him this early leads me to believe he is not a reach in their eyes. He looks an awful lot like some of his wings at ISU to me

They had people draw logos from their favorite teams

Sit down interviews on B1G Network with Coach, Trey & Verge: FH – Trey is part of the continuity that we like to have back – we were making good progress as a team last year before covid hit – but we played a lot of our best basketball after that hit us – Trey is a big part of helping our young guys along and help them learn the system – older guys are helping coaches hold everyone accountable – bringing a player like Verge in late was big for us – for our team, the biggest challenge is making the right, simple play – shooting should be far better, so need to make the simple play – Trey & Verge are big parts of this T – Holding each other accountable is very important – yesterday, held a team meeting to talk about roles, so we can reach our goals as a team V – NU’s style of play and coach’s system is perfect for my style of play, the spacing – our team fits well with the way I play FH – We're much more versatile in the front line – Breidenbach is a big addition with his versatility – big players are so physical in the B1G, so having a big who can pull them away from the basket and stretch the floor for our slashers – we’ve had a good shot profile the first 2 years, and the pieces we’ve added will give us better spacing – Walker, will be nice to have him full go for the entire season – Andre is making strikes – Lat stretches the floor – must have a versatile team in today’s game – where we have generated our shot attempts is 82% inside the restricted area and behind the 3-pt line last season – analytics say those are the best places to generate points – we did not finish well at the rim last year, though – and we did not shoot a high percentage from 3 – hopefully with our floor spacing, it should generate better 3 pt looks and better results at the rim T – I just want to take whatever the defense gives me – and want to continue to work on my shot with Coach Hoiberg V – Different role for me here than at ASU – I’m here to be the point guard and be a leader, lead by example, do the right things every day – show everyone that hard work pays off T – Bryce puts in work – always looking to improve – after being away from him for a few years and now seeing him grow up up close makes me proud – really he just saw how genuine the staff was so he made the choice to come here – you could see how real this staff is, being genuine FH – Bryce has God-given talent – he and Trey have great parents – Bryce is very fluid on the floor, great stroke, unlimited range, athleticism sets him apart, great wingspan – at the same time, he will have a learning curve in college and will have ups and downs – important to have Trey and other leaders on hand to help with that transition – but sometimes what Bryce does on the floor just ‘wows’ you – how he can take over portions of a practice – grateful that we have him and the whole McGowens family on board – feel great about his future and the future of the program

Coach Hoiberg: Excited about our group this year - first time bringing back some players who had a key role They're providing great leadership to our newcomers with 4 freshmen & 4 transfers Continuity is very important - took over a big rebuilding project, which has created some difficult moments Proud of how our guys fought through last season's struggles - 10 players & 4 coaches had covid last year 14 games in 29 days - our guys that found a way to fight through that adversity are really helping mentor this season Impressed with maturity of newcomers - like the uniqueness and skill set of the roster Very competitive team, gives great effort daily Love coming back to Indy - fun to see all of the Pacers greats' names that I know hanging in the rafters - awesome years in Indy for me May see transfer numbers increase with no sit-out rule Transfers are key for increasing the roster talent quickly What we have now is a good mix of older and younger transfer players Verge, getting him late was big for backcourt depth & to add ball handling Edwards, Wilcher & Keisei all can spread the floor Shooting is huge, opens up driving lanes - 82% of our shots last year came in restricted area & behind 3 pt line, which is ideal - we're better equipped to finish those shots this year Difficult to figure out a rotation, who starts and who finishes games Must stress to team that role acceptance is big - go out and do your role - still have 3 weeks to figure it out I played every role imaginable - understand how big it is to go out and accept your role Creates highly competitive practices as guys fight for valuable minutes Probably have 12 guys right now who could take key minutes - probably start the year narrowing that to 9 or 10 guys playing key minutes May not be same guys in those roles to start the season as will be at the end of the season Nice to have an event like this to gain some normalcy for our lives We are 100% fully vaccinated, but we are being cautious with testing & keeping an eye on it - no positive tests so far this season Excited about having fans back in PBA - our fans give us a huge home court advantage - appreciate our fans' patience as we build this

Coach Williams: Large number of returning players should lead to highest level of B1G overall success 4 returning starters give us confidence + 4 other contributors + Top 25 recruiting class A lot of reasons to be excited for the program Team has embraced internal competition & believes in hard work Want to be hardest working, grittiest & most competitive team on the court Staff has been with me a long time, and they know what works for us here Watching NCAA is not as enjoyable when we're not in it March Madness is exciting, but it's far more special when we're in it Was a transition period when I took over, but we tried to embrace history & tradition & what Yori did for the program Always want to raise the bar and build on what happened in the past Hard to put into words the B1G Network's growing support of women's athletics & hoops Grateful that Kevin Warren understands the importance of growing the women's game & puts actions behind his word

The Lincoln paper also had an article. Mentioned that Jaz Shelley is a great point guard. So we have went from really having no point guards since Theriot, to having two good ones in Shelley and Weidner. And Markowski kept telling how she likes and wants to win. said it fifteen times in a meeting with Coach.

In the past Sam H. has noted on several occasions that she prefers playing the 2 position but would do whatever is needed for the team. It will be good to have some options at the point as we have been limited there in the past ever since Rachel Theriot graduated.

IMHO Sam's natural position is at the two. It would be nice to have two who could go back and forth at the point.

And A Point Guard to boot!!!