Norm Peterson

Is the idea behind moving the three-point line back that we're losing the mid-range game and it's all threes or trying to get something at the basket?

Now, I don't profess to know a ton about Marquette basketball, but I question how well Ed scouted out his options before choosing them as his transfer destination. This year, when Ed will be eligible as a junior, Marquette returns 7 of its top 8 players. These include the following players potentially competing against him for minutes: Jr Sam Hauser, G/F, 6'8", 220 (returning starter) Jr Sacar Anim, G/F, 6'5", 210 (returning starter) Sr Matt Heldt, C, 6'10", 240 (22 min/game) So Jamal Cain, F, 6'7", 195 (17 min/game) So Theo John, PF, 6'9", 240 (49 min, 18 pts, 13 bds as a true frosh in 3 NIT games to end the season) (plus two guards who combined to average nearly 60 minutes and 26 points/game on the season) In addition, besides Ed, they add the following: RFr Joey Hauser, 4-star PF, 6'9", 230 RFr Ike Eke, 3-star PF, 6'9", 220 Fr Brendan Bailey, 4-star (Rivals #54) G/F, 6'8", 190 So, if Ed sees himself as more of a big (PF/C), he has plenty of competition; if he sees himself as a wing, he has even more competition. If he wants to start, I don't see it happening. Not at Marquette.

Recruitniks who watch video of basketball prospects too often get fascinated with monster dunks and high-flying drives to the basket. If you do that with Nebraska’s latest signee — guard Amir Harris from Hagerstown, Maryland — it means you’ll miss his best attribute, according to his high school coach. *** “He brings a defensive intangible to the game,’’ Prete said. “We all worry about the offensive side so much that we sometimes forget what wins championships. “Amir has a chance to be an elite-level defender. He is long and athletic, and that is going to get him playing time immediately as a freshman. He creates offense with his ability on defense.’’ http://www.starherald.com/sports/big_red_wrap/mens_basketball/husker-signee-amir-harris-has-highlight-reel-attributes-could-be/article_e626a73b-9fcf-5eac-b972-d77f518bd82c.html

I'm not an on-line subscriber to the OWH. Who were they quoting who called Amir an elite-level defender?

I’m thinking some future in-laws fared pretty well too.

I have some personal feelings on one of these and let's just say it's about time they let Spangler go.

They have Sam Haiby as an unranked 3-star. Let me just say I think she's seriously underrated. I think she has the best chance of any of the recruits of having an impact next season. Part of that is the position she plays. We lose Cincore and she's the only recruit in that category. But part of that is also that she's just damn good. She's very athletic, she attacks the rim, and she has range on her jumper. She can score at all three levels. I anticipate she's going to make it into the rotation next season and be a real sparkplug off the bench.

Does this mean she's off the market?

Congratulations, Emily!

Y'know, this is a kid we really needed to sign just for the sake of @Kent Pavelka so that whenever Ed would hit a 3, Kent could yell out "CHANGARANG!"

That could very well be. I was hoping for his sake that he'd have a better end to his career. From a distance, he always struck me as a good, supportive teammate who handled his injury adversity with a great deal of maturity and class. If he'd finished the season the way he started, we likely would have danced. Just sayin.

Good points, but I look at this slightly differently. Slightly. I've always attributed our slow starts to the process of trying to meld a bunch of newcomers into the rotation. It just takes a bit for guys to figure each other out and know where their opportunities are going to be coming from and what the other guys are going to be doing. We don't face that next year (assuming things hold the way they're looking right now.) We bring back a veteran team with guys who've already gotten used to each other and I suspect we won't have the kind of team learning curve we've seen in past years. So, the big point to take away from this is that it could present an opportunity almost the opposite of St. John's from last year. This Seton Hall team could get a ton better as the year goes on. We'll face them at a time when we have a probable advantage of being in sync and they'll be just getting used to each other. Whereas St. John's beat us and then became somewhat of a bad loss as they floundered for much of the rest of the season, we have a chance to get an early win here against a team that might look a lot stronger as the season progresses.

I looked at this the other day. It's actually worse than that for Anton. Anton missed the first 2 games of the season, so he only played in 31 games on the year. In his first 16 games (roughly half the season), Anton shot 37 of 80 from beyond the arc for 46%. In the last 15 games, he was only 17 of 63 for 27%. And in our last 4 losses down the stretch, Anton was an abysmal 4 of 21 from 3-point range for 19%. For comparison purposes, in those same 4 losses, Isaiah Roby was 5 of 11 for 45.5%.

What's the line?

Not exactly. I think Frost's offense differs significantly from Osborne's. In the old option I, the QB was a potential run option on probably 50% or more of our plays. The passing game worked because the defense was drawn up to stack the box in order to stop the run and we didn't need precision passing. You could lob a long pass to a TE running alone and he had next to all day to adjust to the ball. Most deep passes were significantly underthrown to wide open TEs who would have to slow down to almost a stop to catch the ball before being overtaken by the defense. And, keep in mind a lot of Tommie's and Brooke's pass attempts were shovel passes to a running back up the middle. Almost like a forward hand-off. So there wasn't even as much passing involved as the old stats would make it seem. What I saw in UCF's bowl game and the spring game was an offense that seemed to utilize the QB still for his feet but more for his arm. I expect there will be a lot more balance in the offensive attack under Frost than there was under Osborne. Yeah, the QB is going to get some carries, but he's going to be slinging the ball around the field as well in ways that the old Power I never envisioned. And that's one of the reasons I think we'll need a guy who can throw it like Brooke more than a guy who can run it like Tommie.

I thought I read somewhere on here that Roby didn't file the papers and therefore cannot be drafted. Am I misremembering?

That was my thinking as well.

Hey, I was giving you cover to blame it on your keyboard! ?

Assuming Copeland comes back for his senior year, we need someone to replace him when his eligibility expires (can't say "graduates" because he already did that! (Congrats again, Curl Juice)). So, I agree with this approach. The replacements for Palmer and Cope sitting out their transfer year, ready to take the floor after Palmer and Cope leave. Easy to say it, though; bigger challenge is actually finding that guy.

I would just add what I mentioned in the other thread on the main page: Highlight films tend to focus on what a player is really good at and Amir's highlight film shows a lot of defense. He anticipates really well, jumping into the passing lanes; he has quick hands and seems to come up with a lot of the loose balls; and he challenges jump shooters quite a bit and seems to get to the ball a decent amount of the time and alter the shot. So, yeah, this is probably a player who would embrace a defensive role and not only have the ability to switch screens but do so with a little zeal.

Fever, thanks for starting this thread. Not to change the topic -- keeping it on football -- but something has kinda been percolating in my brain since watching the spring game and I'm curious what other people think about it, and that is what kind of QB best fits in Frost's system? A guy who's a top-notch runner who's maybe a B-average passer? Or a guy who's maybe a B-average runner but a top-notch thrower? I think I saw both kinds of QBs at the Spring Game this year, and while I think a lot of people seem to assume that Martinez is the odds-on favorite to start, I'm not so sure. What I saw in the spring game suggests to me that the ideal QB for Frost's system is a QB who can run AND pass very well, but if you had to lean in favor of one particular trait or skillset over the other, based on what they were actually running in the spring game, I'm not sure you wouldn't go in the direction of the guy who can throw it better. Seemed like there was a lot of vertical passing in the spring game, a lot of downfield throws. And I saw a couple of QBs in Gebbia and Bunch who could fit that ball into tight spaces downfield. Those guys had wheels enough to get out of trouble and scramble when needed even if they didn't have the kind of burst and change-of-direction you'd look for in your running back. So, they probably aren't going to be big-time running threats in zone-read situations. But passable. On the other hand, you have a guy in Martinez who has the speed, quicks and change of direction to be a real running threat. I do, however, question his passing touch. He had a medium-long TD throw that was behind and short and the receiver had to adjust on the ball to make the catch. He was wide open and so the throw didn't have to be perfect, but that's a good thing because it wasn't. It also wasn't a tight spiral. Granted, that's the only long pass I saw Martinez throw, so it's a very small sample size. And, yes, I realize Martinez's completion percentage was probably the best of any of the QBs, but he was throwing a lot of short routes and high-percentage kinds of throws. Seems to me that Gebbia and Bunch can both hand the ball off or pitch the ball to a running back just as well as Martinez. So, the only time the running game would really benefit from the better running QB is in zone-read situations. How many zone read plays will we run in a game? I have no idea, but probably not as many zone reads as there will be passes that require pin-point accuracy that I'm not sure Martinez has. In other words, I could honestly see any of the three QBs starting this fall. And I think the offense would be in capable hands with any of them, based on what little you get to see in a spring game. Just thinking out loud here. Anyone want to chime in?

cough cough bag men cough cough

Your keyboard thinks it's a Monday or something. Cock-a-doodle-doo.

Highlights tend to feature what a player is really good at and tend to avoid showing things a player isn't very good at. They fill the highlight reel with what good things the kid does a lot of. And so, you don't see a lot of Amir taking jumpers. That probably tells us something. That being said, things I like about Amir's film: I'm thinking the kid can play pretty solid defense. How many HS kids' recruiting film shows them playing a lot of defense? This kid really anticipates well and gets in the passing lanes. Reminds me of Cooke Belcher for those who remember how Cookie played D. He also shows quick hands coming up with loose balls. That's innate. Amir also blocks a lot of shots. Oh, yeah, well, you say, he might be able to block high school kids' shots, but that doesn't mean he'll do those things in college. That's true. But look at the way he challenges jump shooters. That kind of attitude does translate. For a 6'5" kid, he's pretty explosive taking the ball to the rim, seems to have good court vision, handles the ball well, has a good cross-over, and changes direction pretty well. I concede that Xavier looks like he has better straight-line speed. But Amir is pretty explosive himself, which is evident on some of those throw-down dunks. I'm hoping/expecting the kid will develop that shot. But he's got a lot of other tools that I don't think we got sloppy seconds out of those deal. In fact, we might have gotten the better end of this deal.

I didn't word this very well. Thor is a lot better with the ball than Nana, whether he gets his shot grooved or not. But, IF Thor gets his shot grooved, he'll have a very well-rounded offensive game. I give Thor better odds of grooving his shot than Nana developing the ball skills that Thor has.