Norm Peterson

Morrow picked up his 5th foul with about 5 minutes to play, give or take. I thought a couple of the calls against him were mysterious, but who's going to complain about the officiating when you win by 53, amIright? Anyway, if he hadn't picked up that last foul, he'd have easily had a double-double as well.

Might seem like a small thing. Wanted to see if anyone else mentioned it. After the game last night, after the two teams had exchanged handshakes and the coaches were headed to the locker room ... Shavon Shields gathered all the Husker players into a huddle at mid-court between the sideline and the jump circle. A couple of players had headed off toward the tunnel and were called back. I don't know what he said, but Shavon gathered his team around and spoke to them for about 15-20 seconds before they all put their hands in for a "Go team." Leadership. Chemistry.

I agree that Bakari seems like the odds-on choice to redshirt for a variety of reasons, but I don't think re-doing his college choice is necessary. Nathan Hawkins wasn't quite a B1G caliber player, IMO. And he probably transferred downward to a more appropriate level for his abilities. (Granted, that wasn't part of a redshirt year.) Evelyn doesn't fall into that category as far as I can tell. I think Bakari could develop. I think redshirting him makes sense because of the glut of good players we have right now leaving him in a pinch for minutes. I think having a class of 5 contributing players graduate all at once would be a hit to the program, so it makes sense to move one of these five down to the next group. And that next group of players who'll sign tomorrow lacks a guard. Bakari seems like the obvious choice. Although McVeigh probably would benefit the most from a redshirt year, I think he could help this year and, therefore, probably sees the floor.

Just another update: Mike Edwards started and was the Bulldogs' leading scorer in their exhibition win over Armstrong State. Watch the vid in the link. He would have been the back-to-the-basket big that we needed this year. http://www.georgiadogs.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/110615aaa.html

OK, enough about the walk-ons. Now, about those freshmen. Let's just say you can really see the upgrade in talent and what it means to have a Rivals 4-star. Now, not all Rivals 4-stars pan out. I realize this. But we have 3 of them available to play this year and I'd say they're all comfortably within the top 7 or 8 in the rotation. White is a clear starter; Morrow might be a starter very soon; and Watson could challenge for starter's minutes before too long. We've moved to that next tier of talent with the influx of guys we have this year. IMO, the upgrade is very noticeable.

That is indeed the one thing that you look at in this exhibition game and think we're truly missing. If there's a weakness in our roster, that would be it. Just one athletic big dude who can defend the post.

And we still won by 53. How about this for a stat line: 9 pts (on 67% shooting); 5 rebounds; 2 assists; 1 steal; 1 turnover in 15 minutes. Whose line was that? That was the true freshman walk-on Tanner Trueblood. Or Johnny Borchardt. Or both. Combination, actually. I don't think I've ever seen walk-ons account for us many stats (make as many plays) in any game -- exhibition or otherwise -- ever. The weird things it that, in years past, we actually had some walk-ons in the rotation. Remember Ross Buckendahl? Or Bronson Schliep? Those guys got real minutes. Frickin' Ross Buckendahl averaged 17 minutes (and 2 points) per game his senior year here. Granted, this was against a DII school, but still. I thought Borchardt played more solid D against the Decker kid than Jacobson. And having a walk-on the caliber of Trueblood might give us the luxury of being able to redshirt a guy like Bakari Evelyn so that we balance out these two most recent recruiting classes a little bit.

Yes, McVeigh will help in 3-pt shooting. With this being a team that doesn't have that back-to-the-basket post, being able to shoot is going to be important. For that reason, I don't see McVeigh redshirting. I think we'll need him to be a shooter for us. I think odds on it'll be Evelyn. For one thing, dropping Evelyn to the next class will kind of balance things out not just with numbers but also with positions. We have 2 forwards committed for next year. Redshirting Jacobson or McVeigh will mean 3 bigs in that one class. And Jacobson is probably going to be needed for depth down low this year. The last reason I think it makes sense to redshirt Evelyn: Johnny Trueblood. Whatever depth Evelyn would provide for us this year I think can be filled by a talented walk-on from Elkhorn.

Yep. And one of those freshmen is a walk on even. Yes... Ole Johnny TB looks like a decent player for a walk on. Yep. And one of those freshmen is a walk on even. Yes... Ole Johnny TB looks like a decent player for a walk on. Kent called him Youngblood and Matt was all over that. Probably had this on the mind after watching Trueblood score Is that the Rob Lowe with cable?

I bet we go at least nine deep.

Yes, uniblinstu. The freshman from Gothenburg not only got in the game but very much made his presence known. A couple of blocks, half a dozen rebounds, and something like eight points.

I don't care if it was northern state or East West Carolina A&M or the Presbyterian blue hose. We had two true freshman both get double figures in rebounding in their first college action. Whoa. And those 2 True Freshman weigh a combined 400 pounds and average 6'7" tall.

I'll go back to what I said a while back about Fuller. It's not about lack of improvement because he has improved. It's just that the talent level has improved so drastically that an improved Fuller isn't going to find very many minutes. Speaking of improved talent level, let me try to illustrate the point with this comparison. Jake Muehleisen as a freshman versus Johnny Trueblood. Who ya got?

I'm not sure they deserve "props" but I will say that they appear to be the impetus behind this guy quitting.

I don't remember exactly the distinction but there was some rule about who could play in an exhibition game and still preserve their redshirts. I am pretty sure that anyone not eligible for the season due to transfer rules is similarly not eligible to participate in the exhibition game. I think any freshman could play and still redshirt. Was it juco transfers who couldn't play the exhibition and still redshirt? I can't recall. In any event, I don't think we have any guys tonight who would sit out in order to preserve a redshirt, because all the newcomers are either freshmen or a guy who has to sit out no matter what.

Can't believe I didn't think of this earlier: Runzas in at least half of the home games. That's how I would define success this year.

One of the significant things that I see is that six out of the last 10 recruits that we've had were members of the Rivals 150. And three of the other four are Jacobson, McVeigh and Evelyn. So far, from everything we've seen, those three certainly look like they belong with those Rivals 150 players. The upgrade in talent is almost mind-boggling.

Kidney stone or severe constipation ---- you make the call!Loose dentures.

Of the recruits above who have already arrived on campus, are there any of them, now that you've had a chance to see them, whom you'd consider to have been a reach? In answer to my own question, I'd say no. Every single one of them have game and a couple appear to have been under-the-radar guys who are better than what you might have anticipated based on what you knew of them from the recruiting services.

7/31/14 Michael Jacobson, 6-9, 225# F-C with 3-pt range 8/18/14 Andrew White III, 6-7 F, KU transfer, Rivals **** #51 8/18/14 Aguek Arop, 6-5 G, Class of 2017, youngest ever commit to NU 8/25/14 Glynn Watson, 6-0 PG, Rivals **** #82, ESPN Top 100 #73 9/22/14 Ed Morrow, 6-7 PF, Rivals **** #105, ESPN Top 100 #53 10/21/14 Isaiah Roby, 6-8 F, 2016 Rivals **** #104, Scout #89 1/06/15 Jack McVeigh, 6-8 F, Aussie, Solid 3-pt range and 7 ft wingspan 4/14/15 Bakari Evelyn, 6-2 G, Rivals ***, All-State in Michigan 5/05/15 Anton Gill, 6-3 SG, Louisville transfer, Rivals **** #50 10/1/15 Jeriah Horne, 6-6 F, 2016 Rivals 150 #129

Weeellllll now. Looks to me like the young feller on the far left could be that big man prospect we've been waiting for. If Glynn Watson is 6'0", that dude must be at least 6'10" and probably still growing! What's his name? He looks enormous.

Nike shouldn't but Converse might. Oh, fine. Be technical about it. (Nike bought out Converse? Why the hell for?) I was going to ask if you thought I was being pedantic enough. Such high praise was, I thought, reserved for me. I'm pedantic; you're merely pedantish.

If we had just a single, stud post, I'd agree. We have a quality remainder of the supporting cast that if we had just that one big man who could start and give us even just 10 and 8 (just?) I think the rest of the team is good enough to do some damage. Maybe even a top half finish and maybe a guarantee of being on the front of the bubble.

Nike shouldn't but Converse might. Oh, fine. Be technical about it. (Nike bought out Converse? Why the hell for?)

I agree with jimmykc for the most part, but I'll add: Unless Watson is clearly a cut above Benny at point right now, you don't start him over Benny right now. You wait. Until he's ready. And Watson is a true freshman, so he might need to play the understudy role for a little while. I am not yet ready to accept the fact that Watson is a better option at point RIGHT NOW, than Benny is. Key is RIGHT NOW. I'm not starting a kid based on his future potential. If Watson is to start, he needs to start based on how things stand at this moment in time. If Watson is better than Benny is at this point in time, then Watson should start. But we'll see. And I will say that the Spain trip, and preparations prior thereto, might have given Glynn enough of an initiation that he's been able to bridge the gap already. I will trust that Miles will start whoever he thinks is best and I will guarantee he knows more about it than I do. Far be it from me to second-guess who starts from day 1.