King James

1 hour ago, 49r said:

 

Couple years ago - I was shocked.  Probably about 20% blue, and we were ranked at the time, or just a few weeks removed from a ranking.

 

I estimate that due to increasing fan apathy in Lincoln and a highly energized fanbase in Omaha it would skew the numbers more blue.  I could be wrong, but I bet I'm not.

 

 

Fair enough.  I would suggest that there is a pretty big difference between 20% and the "1/3 to 1/2 statement" you made in your original post, but whatever.

If there is a lot of blue there, it means that, for the most part, Nebraska fans sold their tickets since the arena is allegedly sold out to season ticket holders.  I suspect that some of the blue would be friends or family of season ticket holders that the season ticket holders chose to bring as guests. 

36 minutes ago, 49r said:

 

While this is true, unfortunately it will also be true that PBA is going to be about 1/3 to half blue so it will be more like a neutral game for them.  You might be surprised how many of their fans buy season tickets for Nebrasketball just for this game every other year.

Has there ever been a game in Lincoln where the crowd is 1/3 to 1/2 blue? I do not recall one.

52 minutes ago, LK1 said:

Jordy has earned more minutes, in my opinion.  I thought he was a game changer when he was in there.  I have no idea why we refuse to play he and Morrow together and absolutely destroy other teams inside with physicality.  I think Morrow would've had an easier time guarding Blossomgame than Jacobson.  I thought Jacobson and Jordy should've split minutes at the 5 last night. 

 

More on Jordy:  I'm not sure how many are paying attention, but he has excellent court awareness on both ends.  He's a good passer and is comfortable with the ball in his hands.  He also knows how to clear the lane for guards to get to the rim, and is a mean offensive rebounder.  Defensively, he had some nice blocks and shot alterations.  Let him foul out for all I care, but let the kid play.  He's good.  

Probably getting limited minutes because of fouls.  4 fouls in 9 minutes last night (averaging a foul almost every two minutes on the floor)...hard to find him much more playing time under the circumstances. 

12 hours ago, mwash95 said:

I thought MJ really had some awful shot selection. He was taking too many 3's and off balance long 2's. At one point he caught the ball at the 3 point line following a press break and he immediately shot up a brick from 3 rather than taking it to the rim. i believe it was 2 on 1 with morrow down by the hoop.

Times have changed; shooting threes in transition is common place now and most teams even practice this.

Dayton has outstanding coaching.  How they didn't lose him last off season is pretty miraculous. 

It is silly to say that a successful or unsuccessful noncon revolves around one opponent.

1 hour ago, LK1 said:

White is a good college player, though.  Not taking anything away from him, but he's not a great player.  Just good.  

Its tough to quantify good versus great - everyone will have their own feelings.  To me, an all conference player, first or second team, qualifies as great rather than good. 

11 hours ago, hhcdimes said:

I see Foster went 2-10 inside the arc....was that a lot of mid range jumpers, Happ/Wisconsin at the rim, or both?

I saw the talk about the Nebraska kids but Mo Watson is what stirs that drink.  He's starting at point guard for a lot of Power 5 teams.

Foster was battling cramps all game which obviously impacted his shooting.  He also seemed to settle for contested outside jumpers instead of going to the rim - credit for that goes to the big Wisconsin D that didn't allow many driving lanes.  He also missed one dunk . 

No doubt that Mo stirs the drink, but Khyri Thomas played an incredible game.  He looks so much more confident than last year.

The two biggest difference sin this year's Creighton team versus the recent past: much more athleticism and they actually play pretty solid perimeter defense (Foster and Thomas are very good defenders).  Rebounding will certainly need to improve though.

47 minutes ago, Navin R. Johnson said:

 In some cases it seemed like poor timing for some NE kids.  When we have some extra scholarships to give, there is not many quality kids to offer to and when we are short of scholarships that is when you have a few kids you could take a chance on.

When has Nebraska been short on scholarships?

It doesn't count for RPI purposes and it doesn't count as a win by the selection committee criteria.

Because it doesn't impact RPI, it may be better than playing your typical MEAC or SWAC team.

Would love to know if any schools outside of the Summit League have even considered a glimpse at Aguek. Teddy Allen and Isaiah Chandler seem to have stolen all of his thunder in Omaha and in the headlines. Maybe the Omaha media realized Miles did the right thing.. 

I don't think that there were many significantly questioning whether Aguek was capable of playing at the power conference level; the issue was always more about the timing, shopping him behind his back, and denying the "shopping" when asked about it.

We can now add five minutes to the length of the game.  Here is my thing, even if they look at video, it is still hard to call.

Five minutes?  Sheesh, I could see a whole lot more time than that!  It seems to take at least five minutes every time they go to the replays....

I have no idea what to expect from this years team. I will say, from everything you read, see, the guys seem to really bond well together. That alone can go a long ways in a successful year. We definitely lack that experience, but at the same time, in this day in age, a LOT of team tend to be young due to transfers, early departures to play pro ball of some kind.

My hope is this team plays with a huge chip on their shoulder. Nobody is talking about them, nobody thinks they will be any good. I think athletically NU is better than we have been for several years. My one worry this year is how we will score. I think NU has the chance to be much better defensively this year. Especially with a big man in the middle to hold down the paint. Add in the weight gain by Jacobson and Morrow and I think we should be a much improved defensive team.

I LOVE Watson. Think he will be a stud when all is said and done. Ice in his veins type kid. Fearless. Tai will be good for us this year. He showed great improvement last year. Gill is an unknown simply because you never know what you will get from a transfer. If he can fit in the way Pitch, TP and White did, he will do great. McVeigh I am hoping is that guy that can open up driving lanes with his shooting. He's also a very "smart IQ" guy.

The freshman look good on paper, but until we see them play we don't know. I think Roby physically has a chance to do very well this year. Just hope he stays healthy.

I'm excited for this year. I like that nobody thinks we will be any good. Takes pressure off the young guys and makes them hungry to prove people wrong. I think it will be a very interesting year. Being young, I'm sure we will look great on some nights and not so great on other nights. But I see this team getting better and better as the year goes on and I think they will fight like hell for one another.

Experience is greatly overrated in college basketball, especially if the player is gifted. Experience allows you to build on skills, it allows you to better understand the nuances of the game, it allows you to build your body and it allows you to meld into the college experience.

Many of the top flight players of today are graduates of AAU programs. They are used to being away from home for extended periods of time. They have had individual coaching and those coaches work on the players game and body. Where experience may help is with the one, two and possibly some three star kids. They may need to have the first two years of college to catch up, so to speak.

We now have players that evolve from the former. In the past, many of our players were from the latter group. We are going to be better than fine this year. Expect the unexpected.

Are you suggesting that past Nebraska players did not play for AAU programs? I find that hard to believe.

 

 

This is what Rosenthal is doing on his last day at the Lincoln Journal-Star:

 

so did we back off white or did dana talk him out of coming here?

 

 

Timing is everything: Oregon's semester started much later than NU's.

 

If you think the timing of start of the school year truly had anything to do with the decision making, I've got some land in Florida to sell to you.

 

Question for all the Miles supporters: Does it matter to you at all that this basically ends our chances of signing a kid like Chang-- who is going to be a stud. Arops younger brother-- who is going to be a big time stud-- and other Omaha kids?? And if you say it won't affect those relationships--- you are outside your mind crazy.

Whats wrong with having your 'Nick Fuller' be an instate kid from the best Program in the state who is insanely popular with the top level recruits coming out of that city in the next 2-3 years?? Are we even going to fill his scholarship? Or just carry one over again?

Your sunshine pumping koolaid drinking naive comments are EXACTLY why our program has been trash and will continue to be....

My question is outside of Bruce Chubbick Sr and certain media, are the people directly involved with this truly upset/angered at Miles for this or more just disappointed? Is Arop himself pissed off at Miles or is he more upset/disappointed with the circumstances?

 

They're pissed.  Really pissed.  The Omaha AAU community is pissed, Chubick and HS coaches are pissed and the Sudanese community is really pissed.  How often do you think Chauncy Billips goes on local talk shows?  As Benning said yesterday (and his kid is in the AAU scene, so he would know), "Miles may never recover (in terms of recruiting) from the Omaha metro over this."  Chubick, who obviously has long ties to the Nebraska program, said all "bridges have been burned" as far as he is concerned.

 

 he wouldn't have been headed to prep school because he didn't have the required grades or because he was trying to get additional exposure (P5 scholarship offers).

 

Is there going to be a P5 offer though for 2017? More power to the kid but I'm not sure it happens.

 

I'd agree, but I think it is fair to point out that Arop's chances of getting such an offer have been substantially lessened because Miles didn't cut him loose until after the AAU season was over.

Why is everyone saying Miles pulled his scholarship?  He didn't.

Was a scholarship going to be available for Arop in the fall of 2017?  NO!!!  That, by definition, means the scholarship offer had been pulled.

Heck, who is to say that a scholarship would have even been available even if Arop finished a year of prep school?  If the reason that this all went down is because the staff didn't think Arop was good enough, and that seems to be the prevailing theory, it seems likely that Arop wouldn't be good enough after a year of prep school either.  As Chauncy Billips said on 1620, unlike other kids that go the prep school route, he wouldn't have been headed to prep school because he didn't have the required grades or because he was trying to get additional exposure (P5 scholarship offers).

To those stating Miles should have cut him loose before the AAU season so other coaches could have evaluated him, one question. Yes he was committed to us but if he was good enough to play big time ball why would that stop others from still go look?

Because that is the way the system works for basketball.  I realize that this is different from football in which many Nebraska fans are more informed.  If you are a coach going to an AAU tourney, there are multiple games going on at once.  You have to pick and choose which games you want to watch depending on available prospects.  If you have interest in a kid but are told he is a "solid commit" to his instate school, why use your limited time watching and evaluating him when you can watch a different kid that you feel you may actually have a chance of landing? 

Listen to the interview of coach Chubick and the other coaches on 1620.  It was stated that other coaches had contacted Chubick about potentially recruiting Arop, but were told to "back off - the kid is already committed to Nebraska."

 

The easy thing for NU to do would have been to bring Arop in and not take the PR hit, but our skinny coach is a backroom brawler who is likely feeling a little cornered.  My money is still on him to get it done.

I don't see that as the only option.  If Miles knew Arop wasn't a fit (and according to Chubick, Miles was shopping Arop around for awhile now) he could have cut Arop loose before the AAU season was over so that Arop could increase his chances of getting other offers.  It isn't really the pulling the scholarship that is the problem from a PR standpoint, it is the TIMING and the fact that Miles and staff were shopping him around without even telling Arop or his coaches.

https://twitter.com/leebeeowh/status/768207311227588608

Where there was smoke is now fire

I hope people don't misinterpret this as miles pulling his scholarship. miles simply gave aguek an honest evaluation, and i don't think aguek liked it. aguek is better suited at a lower d1 school where he can get a chance to play.

as nice as it would be to have local kids on the team, i would rather have top 150 guys.

Make no mistake about it ---- this is absolutely a case of Miles pulling a scholarship.

Don't really like any of this after reading Chubick's quote. This is a bush league move by Miles.

I don't think miles did anything wrong. If Miles doesn't see a role for him on the team, why would Arop want to come here?

The kids been committed for how long and you are just recently telling him to go to a prep school for a year?

he has a full year to find a new school. he is not a big 10 quality player and is still recovering from a serious injury.

Not really; fall signing period is 2 months away. AAU season is over...Miles did him no favors on the timing. If Miles cuts him loose earlier in the summer, he gets other coaches to watch him during the summer eval period. I assume that is part of the reason Chubick is so pissed.

Well it sounds like Nebraska is forcing his hand according to the newest update by Robin.

"Forcing his hand"?  Does that mean Nebraska is forcing him to decommit or something else?

Not sure how this got started, but NU is not pulling its offer to Arop. 

Ouch.

Gotta' love team-player guys like this who get in tight with the new team as quickly as they can to make sure transitions and integration go smoothly toward the coming season so everyone can hit the ground running . . .

Oh, wait . . .

So, what are odds White ends up getting a paycheck to play over seas this coming season?

He's not playing overseas this season. Him not committing to a college isn't because he can't find one; it's because this is how he operates.

This.

The kid was an all conference caliber performer and upper tier shooter that will only tie up a scholarship for one year. I suspect almost every school with an open scholarship would love to have him for that lone year.

What a great find to get in early on this guy.

I don't think that starting on a 2017 kid in the summer of 2016 is really getting in early.