Norm Peterson

I purposefully label off-topic threads as being off topic so that people who aren't interested in off-topic threads can easily avoid them. Some people like to come here and continue to have water-cooler conversation even when there's not much basketball activity. To illustrate that point, the thread you didn't like reached 5 pages inside a week.

You'll have to indulge me, I'm a beer or two in. OK, the recruitment of the guy whose artifact I inherited and on which I performed an exorcism, was, to me, a manifestation of the Husker Basketball Curse. (Old thread if you don't know what I'm talking about. Do a search for "exorcism" if you can't find it immediately.) To know beyond doubt that the curse has been broken, we'd need to win an NCAA tourney game. Agreed? BUT (and that's a really big BUTT) but as kind of preliminary signs, I have accepted the following as hopeful harbingers: 1. Replacing Derrick Walker was going to be a TALL task (literally and figuratively) and I had HUGE worries that we wouldn't come close. But we managed to, y'know, get like one of the best big men out of the Mo Valley, a guy who lacks in some respects compared to Derrick, but certainly has advantages. And, at the end of the day, while it might not be a push, we damn sure don't appear to be taking a big step backwards at that spot; 2. I was HOPING Keisei would find it in his heart to stay another year and not abandon us. Check; 3. I was thinking a dynamic scoring SG or wing would be nice. We landed Brice Williams who, on paper and per buzz, is better than I could have hoped for, check; 4. We replaced ADHD big man (who, by ALL accounts was a really good kid) with Josiah Allick, who is ALSO a good kid. And a big man. Without the basketball ADHD issues. And he's from Lincoln. 5. The portal arrivals appear to be far, far, FAR better than the portal departures; and 6. We didn't really lose any of the guys to the portal you hoped would stay. HOWEVER. I was hoping we'd land a PG. And we did. And he's a PG who started a lot for an Iowa team that made the NCAA tourney field. Except he kind of lost his starting job at the end of the season. His assist stats don't jump off the page. He's maybe not the best shooter at the PG spot, but you don't need him to score a lot, and he's a solid defender, so he's not without some qualities to recommend him. Still ... What if we get Kerr Kriisa? What if Bob Huggins DUI is our gain? Per reports, he's in the portal. If he winds up enrolling at DONU ... the curse might not be over, but how are you betting?

"Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated." Mark Twain

Holy crap, this was 50 years ago.

Beat me to it.

I think the big question for me is whether Brice Williams can play a Hoiberg stretch 4. Or would we rather have Allick/Gary on the floor? If Allick/Gary, then I see Williams playing one of the SG/wing spots with Keisei and someone who is a ballhandler and can initiate the offense. So, it's either Mast, Allick/Gary, Williams, Tominaga, PG OR it's Mast, Williams, Tominaga, Lawrence, PG. After the Spain trip, we'll know a lot more.

Welcome to Tuesday.

Body cam video of the stop is going to be

No worries. There's no demerits and we've got all week.

It's not Monday yet.

Today is Sunday. @cipsucks, you're on the clock.

I've seen this kid's video. He gets knocked down. Then he gets up again. You're never gonna keep him down. It's quite remarkable, actually.

I will not be able to find the source material, but I remember back at the time, the LJS put out the data from athletic testing and Mikki had one of the best vertical leaps on the team. Like a standing vertical of somewhere in the mid-30s. To go along with his 6'11 frame and long arms. And the reason he hung around the NBA for awhile is he turned himself into a solid mid-range jump shooter. Given his length and vertical, I used to say it'd be fun to see Tom Osborne use him in goal line situations. Can you imagine a 7 ft tall slot receiver with good hands and solid leaping ability drawing defenders to the back of the end zone for a jump ball? Fewer defenders to stop the QB keeper. Pick your poison. But it never happened. Shame.

That's kinda how I felt about the 7'2, 4-star, top 50 kid who just committed to someone else. Whatever his name was. Doesn't matter. His video just looked like he was really good at being tall.

As with the team, I'm going to take a wait-and-see approach on Ramel. I've seen some things that leave me encouraged and other things that aren't so encouraging. Has he actually transformed his body since he got here? Has he been putting in the work in the weight room? Is he putting in the extra time in the gym working on his shot? I don't know. I hope he is. If he is, he certainly has potential to make the rotation and possibly even start. Too much is unknown for me to make a prediction.

That NoDak St kid is expected to commit to Alabama.

You and I define mediocre differently.

He's 6'7. He'd be like Griesel but a better shooter. Hell yeah I'd say we kick the tires. STATS 2022-23 2021-22 2020-21 2019-20 GP MIN FG% 3P% FT% REB AST BLK STL PF TO PTS 30 32.4 41.6 37.0 72.3 3.6 4.9 0.3 1.5 2.1 2.0 8.3 32 32.2 43.8 34.7 77.6 4.1 5.3 0.3 1.1 2.3 2.6 9.0 28 27.3 47.9 39.3 67.5 3.3 2.9 0.4 0.6 2.3 1.6 5.9 31 18.2 54.0 33.3 63.6 2.5 2.0 0.3 0.4 1.7 0.9 3.7

You go to war with the army you have, not the army you wish you had.

Committed to USF per Jeff Bordello.

Sharpie: Rienk Mast Keisei Tominaga Brice Williams Dry erase: Jamarques Lawrence Ahron Ulis Allick/Gary

Places in San Francisco where people have reported encountering human poop.

So, I think one of the points of feedback he received from dipping his toe into the NBA draft waters this spring was he needs to prove himself against a higher level of competition. How does USF do that for him?