Chuck Taylor

I'd been holding out hope that we'll "gel" at some point, but at this point it just seems like our talent level is the problem. Cam's good enough to start on a decent team, and the 2 frosh bigs are improving, but honestly, is there another player who deserves a spot in the rotation of a good BIG team? The three transfer redshirts will help, but I don't think any of them will be stars. It's looking like Teddy Allen needs to be a supernova for us to make a jump next year.

Riverside lost to Air Force a couple of nights ago by 105-56, but they beat us by 19. I don't want to do the math on that to compare us to Air Force.

It finally strikes me who he reminds me of: The Knight of the Flowers from GOT. His part is on the wrong side, though.

Didn't see this posted earlier, but Shaka Smart supposedly in town for visit today. Say what you want about coaches being overpaid, but being in Lincoln sweet talking a high school kid isn't my idea of a great way to spend New Year's Eve.

Couldn't find a thread on Wal Chuol, who almost single handedly took down No. 1 MNorth last night. UNO's interested in him, Tim was reported to have taken a look at him last fall but didn't offer. https://www.starherald.com/sports/big_red_wrap/mens_basketball/nebraska-s-tim-miles-among-coaches-making-rounds-in-omaha/article_1ff6d9d6-9088-5633-83ec-f5d2898930df.html

The fourth instate D-1 team lost to Omaha North last night. Wal Chuol hung 28 and 11 on them.

He couldn't crack their rotation either. Besides after he committed to NU, he didn't fit their system perfectly.

Mitchell was the 2018 Gatorade player of the year. Does someone else name one?

I strongly agree with not giving up on him a person. The question of whether to offer him is different, especially in light of what's going on with football team. Does the university want to bring in somebody with his background after the publicity over Washington, Hunt and LeGrone? Teddy's situation may be completely different, but the perception matters to the university. He got another chance when he went to Wichita and likely received multiple chances there before he was dismissed. He was scholarship worthy in high school, and it's fair to say Miles passed because of the warning flags. Since then, he's had episodes with drug use and domestic violence.I don't think Tim would get involved with him now either, knowing the entire history. As I've said before, I trust Fred to make the right decision, but it's a very complicated situation and the choice might not be his.

So Cam, Jervay and Dachon have BIG athleticism, but not elite athleticism?

So having to pay to park to get a Runza would be like Defcon 1?

This gives us another tool for second guessing the coaching staff!

Regarding the FT %, as others have pointed out, some of these guys weren't good shooters at other places last year. I'll add that they're also adjusting to a very fast pace, and it affects your breathing and legs when you go to the line. Eventually they'll adjust, although not as much if they're just poor free throw shooters. As for 3pt%, they're also adjusting to facing better opponents who close out with bigger players. They should adjust to that as well, along with learning better shot selection. As for suggestions that they practice more, all of these guys have taken tens of thousands of shots and have received hundreds of "tips." You can't improve depth perception, muscle coordination, wrist structure, etc. Some guys just shoot better than others. Shaq wasn't a 52% FT shooter because he didn't practice them. Going way back, I remember somebody with the old Philadelphia 76ers (might have been Billy C) saying nobody on the team practiced FTs more than Wilt, a career 50% shooter. He eventually tried grannie style and supposedly even considered trying to run a couple of steps and dunking them. I wish somebody would try that.

Fred did have success at ISU with Royce White, who had a troubled past. It's worth noting, however, that Teddy couldn't stick with Bob Huggins (loose ship) or Gregg Marshall (tight ship). Also some issues at Boys Town. I trust Fred to make the right call here, but there are enough warning signs that we'd be shaking our collective heads if it was somebody else reported looking at him. If we haven't offered, it's not because he can't play here, it's because the staff hasn't seen enough evidence that he won't be an issue.

That's what she said.

My first thought was to suggest that some of the FT percentages are low right now because of the adjustment to playing D1 for the first time, or from sitting out a year. Plus, it might require some time to learn to settle down at the FT after playing full speed. But then I checked juco FT stats from Cam (64.6%) and Jervay (53.6%) and from Dachon (62.8%) in his last year at Robert Morris. So never mind.

Memo to self: Don't check KenPom, RPI, etc. every morning as per usual routine during basketball season.

What an amazingly balanced field, ranging on KenPom from 95 (NM St) to 154 (George Mason). How many tournaments are there where anyone could win it?

Whoa, our RPI is 338. http://warrennolan.com/basketball/2020/rpi-live

Got to admit to being disappointed when I first saw the field for this one. Yeesh. But now I'm excited to play some mediocre teams, good chance to take a step forward.

You mean it's time to start a new thread that there's no need to click on this one?

Agree, I think the coaching staff likes Cheatham. He's an easy target when we're playing so poorly, but his resume is pretty impressive. I know he's coming off an injury but this guy is talented. Highly ranked recruit, started at Marquette. I'd think he'd be a good player on a functional team, but he might not look like it on a dysfunctional one.

FWIW, TeamRankings still has our win odds as 89.6% against Southern Utah. Bad opener, but very likely our worst game of the year (or at least most unlikely loss). We'll beat somebody we shouldn't and even things up.

NU 84 Riverside 61 8 noncon 15 BIG

That wasn't the case, though.