thrasher31

There's a few games I have circled as games that will shift the season one way or another based on how close the metrics have it. This was a passed test. -uclas defense is real. Very real. They pressure the shit out of the ball and scramble. Does not shock me that Brice and Berke shot poorly from the field. Connor was wide open all night, so that was more a him missing shots thing. -sam needed to have a good offensive game soon, and boy did he have one. That 3 was such a timely 3 and he forced their guards to have bad nights -morgan is going to be a good big ten player. He can score in flurries and just plays so goddam hard. He's a perfect compliment for Berke and meah. Meah is just a tall body to catch lobs and shut off the water at the rim. Good win. Iowa's defense is going to be like playing a hs team compared to UCLA. Really poor defensive team.

Getting 2 off the next 5 should be the goal imo. Rutgers has two superstars, but the rest of the team is bad, so neb should get that one at home. Out of these 4, I just need 1. We'll see how they go. Vs UCLA @ Iowa @ Purdue @ Maryland

Very fair honestly. I was not a fan of Rice at all personally, so I'll lean Gavin despite his struggles. Thought Eli played with massive tunnel vision in his time here, and he was obviously not a great defender, but not like Gavin has shown to be much better. I think it's pretty obvious Eli is transferring after the year, so I'll be interested in how his next stop looks.

It's been great daily and Tyler have been great at the 4/5. Mara is just a big body at this point. Barely getting over 10 mpg, but with Kyle having surgery, that probably ticks up

Overall, Southern looked outmatched all night. Know they were down two guards, but it was bad offensively. They ran a junk trappish zone most of the night, and in the second half pressure got dialed up on that, so turnovers weren't shocking, although some were just dumb. No real overarching thoughts about individuals this one, as we were just better. Was awesome to see Gavin get going, because I really do think he'll be needed at some point this year and in the future. Keyed in on him on defense and thought he was in the right spots most of the time. Got a foul where he got overpowered for a orb, but overall rotated correctly. UCLA is a huge test. They're an interesting group, as they don't have one guy who can beat you, but their best player in Tyler from OSU or Eric dailey. They have about 4 quality forward bodies, best of which being kobe Johnson, who's a hellish defender. One area I think we can exploit is guard play, as I don't think their guard play has been all that consistent this year. They have 4 guards they go to, beat of which being Tyler perry imo, but he's a freshman. Sky Clark, Dylan Andrews and Sebastian Mack all do good stuff, but they all struggle with different things too. Could be a game to get Connor off, and potentially Berke, as he'll have Tyler on him more than likely

Might've missed this, but he's only played in one game this year.

He's extremely clumsy it seems in what I've seen. He fights on the glass on both ends, so I'll give him credit for that. His tips have led to keeping possessions alive at times. My ask of him is the same it was in the preseason. Be a dunker of the basketball. Deter people from driving to the rim. Crash the glass hard. Id say he's doing the first two well and the third can be improved upon. He adds a dimension none of the other bigs do with just how massive he is on defense. I will say though, Berke has been great on defense this year. There was a possession on defense where an OSU player (guard or wing) tried driving middle and Berke beat him to the spot and forced him into the help. The defense by him was not something I expected this year from him. If he can get his offense to where it was in Hawaii, that gives them a low post threat that can pop out other than Morgan.

Something I noticed that caught my eye late in game was an inverted p&p with Berke handling and rollie (I think) popping out. I don't know or remember that they have ran a lot of inverted stuff this year or even last year.

Turnovers are a problem still, and 3 ball. Like the foul drawing nature of the team, but the ball has to find the bottom of the net. Berke is getting better every game also. Him emerging as a guy teams have to account for as a third guy would be massive.

Took care of business like they should've. -Berke has a goofy lovable personality. He seems like a really good teammate and I'm super glad he's here. Him at the 5 also opens up the offense. Glad to see him knock down a 3, it was needed. -morgan had a tough night. Few missed rotations and few times he fouled unnecessarily. -i was really impressed with ullis and how he pushed the pace last night. Put pressure on the rim a few times. His jumper will never be good, but just maybe knock down 1 every other game or so to keep the defense honest. -3 point shooting is the hot topic right now, and rightfully so. I've been pleased with the shot selection mostly, but they need to knock down the shots. As simple as that. -Brices shot went away after the first game, but he impacted the game in a few different ways last night. Liked his control of the offense and how he defended. FDUs guard, Terrance Brown, can GO and Brice guarded him most of the night. Brown had single digits in the first half, and it looked like fdu got him off ball more to get him going early in the second, and he finished with 20. Watch him as a potential transfer up guy in the spring -i noticed it Saturday and it was even more evident today, but the defense is already at mid season form and I think that'll be where we hang our hat on most nights. Length seems to force turnovers consistently and they're already at 12 blocks on the year 3 games in after having 87 all of last year. St Mary's is interesting. PG/big combo is excellent and should be giving us problems. One thing to note, they only have 4 guys who have made a 3 this year, and two of them haven't shot it great at all. If that holds true, this is definitely a game that Meah was brought in for, and even Morgan. Inside the arc affair with minimal 3 pt activity. They're efficient and don't turn it over a ton. Very interesting matchup, and one that the baseline double defense Loesner runs may be effective in

I think it'll be 9 man, and that last spot will probably be Sam and uhlis I think?

I noticed a lot of what you said with Gavin. There were a few times that I thought he could force a shot, but he made the easy pass which led to layups or dunks. The Morgan pass and the fast break one stand out to me. He still seems to be figuring out where to be on offense in the half court right now, but that wasn't just a him thing. He just needs to continue to get better every game. With Berke, I agree. I can see the talent and skill, it's all there. It's about piecing it together for him.

A non con game I'm watching closely now is north Florida. They beat South Carolina first game of the year and are hanging in with GT. Nate Lliteras, former Nebraska HS kid, is a starter and putting up double digits. They look to be a great shooting team, making over 10 a game in their first two matchups. We'll see how this one turns out, but they have Georgia before they come to Lincoln too.

About the only positive I have from tonight is defense. I think that side is really clicking. Few missed rotations, but overall very happy with that end. Offense, nothing really was good. Probably my biggest gripe was Brice and his aggressiveness. He can't have 6 shots any game no matter who the opponent is. I expect more from him honestly. Lid seemed to be on the basket on short shots tonight and from 3. Throwing the ball to cutters who weren't there at least twice. To be expected with a essentially new team, but need to work it out very very quickly.

Diop started last night and had 8&6 in 20 minutes without missing. Lloyd (if he's even a former husker given how his tenure went) had 6 on 2-8 from the field. Rice shockingly didn't play even though PSU cleared their bench. Didn't look to see if he was injured though. Think that's it

When I heard about him and watched him, the immediate comparison for me was d walk too. I think getting a young big to supplement Berke and mast next year needs to be a priority. Perez can bounce between the 4 and 5, depending on who he shares the floor with. IF he signs in Nov, I think we have a great chance

Perfect. Thank you. I'll sign up for a month and then cancel after the month

Won't be able to make it tonight. I know it's on btn +, but does getting that let me watch it back from the beginning, or is there somewhere I can watch begining to end? Thank you in advance.

Yeah, he's a situation type guy. There's times where he'll be asked to do more, like vs iu and ballo, and times where he won't see much, like vs Rutgers and their lack of big presence.

Gave it a listen today. I think in certain lineup situations, Berke at the 5 is a viable option, but as you said and Fred has said, consistency needs to be there for it to be viable. I do agree about Connor needing to be a guy from 3. With meah, I don't like the DHOs they run with him UNLESS they get an immediate downhill action with him and the ball handler off the dho. It becomes a "pick your poison" situation then for the defense on the ball handler, the lob threat, or the corner if help comes. It's a wrinkle I really hope they implement, but meah needs to be better at passing in order to make it work. He did look awkward doing it though. Good thoughts as always

https://www.barttorvik.com/team.php?team=Northern+Iowa&year=2025 Looks like they're being projected to finish pretty high on the MVC, but Wisconsin shouldn't lose to them still. A sign of things to come, as I think this may be a rough year for them. Crowl is arguably their best player, or klesmit, and neither are guys you want to be your best player in this conference.

It was an exhibition, so pretty ugly at times, but I definitely see the vision of this team. -Gavin hit some pretty good shots. Some open and contested looks. Glad to see him get some shots to fall. In contrast, Connor couldn't get anything to fall. -As many have said, Berke was a bit bigger than I expected. He has some good size to him and I liked him bringing the ball up when he was on the floor. The plan seems to be rotate him between the 4 and 5 depending upon lineup, and without Morgan today he was asked to come off the bench. -rollie is going to be awesome. He mad a few plays that had me feeling great about having a pg again. He didn't take any shot outside of 5 feet and ran the offense effectively. I'm going to really enjoy him. -meah operating as a handoff hub isn't something I love, but if they get him to dive more on those handoffs it would work with him. I don't expect anything from him but defense, dunks, and rebounds. All of which will be important come big ten play. Sloppy on offense most of the night, but defense locked in, which was awesome to see honestly. Get some quality reps in this early non conference slate going into st Mary's and Creighton

I think we'll see a variety of lineups, this one included. It's a versatile group that can slide up or down positionally.

You nailed my thoughts on IU exactly. Very talented team, but Malik is still foul prone and turnover prone, and spacing will still be an issue. I've seen people pick them to win the conference and I think they're going to underwhelm a lot. Ware was also a unicorn at the 5, an NBA player that can defend the rim, finish lobs and stretch the floor. They won a lot of games based on him alone. Rice should help shore up the PG, but he's also a bit turnover prone and can't shoot, as is the Stanford PG they brought in. I have looked into IU quite a bit ever since I saw people picking them to win the conference, because I thought I was going crazy Very good pod though. Keep it up.

I'm super happy for McVeigh. I really hope he sticks. How hard he's worked to get to this point is truly unbelievable.