Fullbacksympathy

I love that we picked up Costello. He's a legit midmajor D1 point guard from what I've seen on the film, and he's a 40+% 3pt shooter. If we don't sign a point guard, I wouldn't be surprised in the least if he ends up backing up Watson and getting 10minutes or so a game. He's an elite passer and plenty explosive (in-game dunker), and he has a knack for playmaking in general, which implies a high IQ. His only weakness is straight line speed. Both of those guys are darkhorses.

wow... interesting development.

This. Also, I think Borchardt might be a dark horse for playing time next year. Seems like a fire has been lit there. He's a luxury walkon, IMO.

True, the whole "wing" thing really caught me off guard. That's completely delusional.

Yep. Oakley and Rodman came to mind for me as well. Ed is completely molded for that sort of skillset, and there's nothing wrong with that. The game has to be won in a bunch of areas, and PFs are often your dirty work guys to get those wins.

First, good points. I view Ed as a "traditional" 4--one that could develop a 10-15 foot jumper (which he did make on occasion), one that could block shots on the weakside, and one that could be a pest on the glass by ruining the day of a soft stretch 4 trying to box him out. When you have a center in Jordy who proved he was legitimately capable of earning double teams around the basket, the dream should've been to have a guy like Ed there to clean up the glass. While his offensive game is definitely unorthodox and not at all "stretch," I would also argue that his non-dunk finishes around the basket were pretty reliable--definitely moreso than Jacobson or Jordy. Defensively, playing the 5 forced him to bog down and lean rather than move around and create havoc with help defense. As a counter point, I'd ask this: what can Jacobson do at the 4 that Ed couldn't? It definitely wasn't making shots, and Jacobson's lack of lateral quickness was exploited in multiple games by 4s with guard skills last year. I don't think Ed would've been a defensive liability in those situations at all. I love Jacobson--he's a very good young player. But I see him more of a utility 4-5 who should get legit minutes as a spot guy in both areas. I don't think he should've ever been starting over Ed or Jordy. Now, since Copeland can knock down open threes and still legitimately guard the 4, and if Roby develops a reliable-enough 3pt shot in the offseason, and if Akenten is as good as advertised, this will probably end up being a net gain. In fact, it could end up being a blessing in disguise if we move Jacobson to the 5, where I think he should play most of his minutes. Watson - Taylor Akenten - please God a great shooter grad transfer - Gill McVeigh - Palmer Copeland - Roby Jordy - Jacobson That's a really nice looking roster to me, and spots 1-4 are all legitimate 3pt threats which means the lane will be open or post game will be hard to double team. With Jacobson, I think the kid will be strong enough, athletic enough, and EASILY tough enough to play the 5 next year. I would love to see him work on nothing but jump hooks. He's capable of getting high percentage shots close to the basket, and he jumps well. Just learn to make a bunny, kid!

Yeah, I just wish we could've seen he and Jordy more though. I don't really care if someone is a "stretch 4" if they can't defend or rebound or are soft in general. Ed would've been dominant as a weakside shotblocker and offensive rebounder. No one his size can handle him down there. Agree with the Jordy angle as well--he's a better 5 than Ed. I felt like Ed lost more minutes to Jacobson than Jordy, which is complete crap. I don't think Jacobson is a better offensive player--face up or other--than Ed. Ed is a way better finisher. (I love Jacobson, btw, but he's a glue guy and role player at this point until he can make a shot to save his life.) I definitely blame Miles from and Xs and Os standpoint, though I know he prefers a stretch 4 for his system. It's his fault. That said, there still might be a net gain with the addition of Copeland, Akenten, and Palmer in terms of overall talent, not to mention whatever he does to fill these three open scholarships. I'm still optimistic.

Morrow doesn't want to play the 5. That's essentially what he told the press. I don't blame him.

Maybe someone with eyes will put Ed at the 4. I would guess that has something to do with this decision. The writing was on the wall for Ed to play the 5 all four years here. Complete incompetence how he was used last season. I don't blame him. That said, I'm by no means sunshine pumping, but Jordy-Jacobson-Copeland-Roby as our front court next year doesn't send me into panic mode AT ALL. Sorry.

Um.. this kid is a ridiculous scorer. Great elevation and release on his jumper, and super confident. He'd help us immediately.

Fascinating. I appreciate you articulating this for me. Thanks Dean.

He'd be a great get. Gorgeous looking shot. Nifty offensive game. This kid would be a phenomenal compliment to Nana.

I like both. I think they compliment one another and flow pretty well into one another. The shell seems to create a lot of problems on the perimeter, and the fact that WVU is always at or near the top in steals is fairly telling to me. I realize the press isn't unique, but the fact that they press is unique and disruptive. I don't know. I'm just looking at all of these athletic 6'5"-6'8" guys on next year's roster... seems like a press dream to me. The mentality of a press defender is so much more "offensive" and aggressive (and, probably, fun) than most typical half court defenses as well. It's rare to find teams that press who don't play with confidence, and I don't see much of a talent gap between us and WVU or Arkansas. I think either of those programs would be a reasonable goal.

Glad you're here, Dean. I like that they press and roll back into the box. It looks like an extremely difficult defense to get any sort of rhythm against offensively because so few teams use it. Notre Dame is a very good offensive team and they couldn't get comfortable at all. What do you think?

Why can't this be us? We have the athletes. That's the most practical and unique defensive philosophy I could see us employing here with success. Ugh.

Watson/Taylor Nana/Palmer/Gill Copeland/McVeigh Morrow/Roby Jordy/Jacobson I was never high on Horne. Streaky shooter, bad defender, out of shape, attitude problems in practice, passive agressive mom/son posts on twitter. Best of luck kid. I don't really get the shooter argument either. Horne has offensive skill, but he wasn't an assassin out there. We have better scorers coming in. I'm not even remotely disappointed. I was disappointed that Jeriah came in overweight when a solid month of strict diet and weights could've put him in a comfortable "3" body. I think the team got better today. That's not really a knock on Horne because I think he'll end up being a contributor somewhere depending on his health. We just really have a lot of talent in the 11 listed above. Was he really significantly any better than Fuller last season? I'd be pissed if we lose any of the remaining players. It's a hell of a roster on paper.

We should've won the 1997 first round game. That Arkansas team was completely overrated. Of course, the #1 has to be 96. Horrifying waste of talent. They crapped out an NIT Championship in their sleep.

Penn was the worst draw ever for our team that year. They had: Sr. PG Matt Moloney (7-year NBA vet) Sr. SG Jerome Allen (2nd Round NBA pick) and a bunch of very good upperclassmen who played pro ball in Europe/became head coaches. We were always going to get our ass kicked in that game. Xavier was a sleeping giant with guys like: Brian Grant (NBA lottery pick) Jamie Gladden (NBA free agent) Aaron Williams (15 year NBA player) Michael Hawkins (NBA) Just absolutely horrible draws. Both of them. We really weren't any better than either of those teams.

Dirk is my favorite local sports writer because he's the best pure writer of the bunch. I've disagreed with him many times, but he typically makes an argument and defends it soundly in addition to a creative and articulate approach. He clearly doesn't understand the raw talent of Morrow, who will be a 2nd team all-conference power forward if we play him at the damned 4 next to Jordy next year. He's right about Jacobson and Taylor--both good role players. Other than that, I thought the article was pretty spot on and really thoughtful.

Agree. Akenten might be my favorite recruit of the TM era so far outside of Jordy (who I think has an NBA future if he muscles up). He's an absolute steal. I do think he starts eventually as our 3 and D guy. He's going to be very similar to AWIII in what he brings for a skillset, which is exactly what we're missing. He should be able to play the 3 for sure, but I'm hoping he settles in to the 2 spot with improved ball handling.

I feel like Roby could be a hell of a pick and roll option with the ball in his hands. He has such a high ceiling as a passer, and he's tall enough to finish at the rim/dump passes down to bigs over defenders. This could work both ways defensively if you roll out a team of 6'6" guys who can switch on everything--that's the real key to guarding the three ball. If you put a lineup of, say: Roby (6'8") Palmer (6'6") Akenten (6'6") Copeland (6'9") Morrow (6'8") ...you could literally switch on everything defensively and completely take away the 3 ball, and this lineup would still have some offense, and this lineup would still be very good in transition.

Haha... awesome. I agree though. The talent TM has brought in should be allowed to be coached at least one year at the upperclassmen level. It's pretty undeniable that every freshman from last year became better this year by quite a bit save, maybe, Jack during his slump. If we see that same jump (or a bigger jump a la Tai) in this next season among all of the sophomores and freshmen, that's the difference in several close losses we had this year. The addition of Copeland--a much more conventional scorer than Tai--and Akenten--who shoots 50% from 3 in addition to having crazy elevation to get his shot--are going to fit nicely, I think. I'm optimistic that the talent alone on next year's roster will overwhelm many teams we face. Hopefully Miles will improve as a strategist and motivator.

I wouldn't take an average coach over Miles. I would need it to be a good, proven P5 coach in order to sign off on it. A person only has so much time in the day, and I think it's fairly obvious that Miles has spent his time heavily on the recruiting end of things, which is a smart decision. He's changed the culture in that area. Now that this system is in place, and we're going to see a Fr-Sr roster of impressive talent, I would hope that would give TM the opportunity to really hone in on a sound basketball philosophy and identity and create a culture. There's no reason to make a lateral move. Miles is exceptional in some areas and pretty bad in others. He's also 50, so not terribly young anymore, and I don't know that the old dog can learn new tricks. All in all, I'd say the job he has done at Nebraska has been average when considering his massive strengths and weaknesses, but the 10 year ceiling is WAY higher than the prior coaches (next to Nee, of course) given the talent in place if he can improve the culture and philosophy. Literally the only coaching change I can think of as a legitimate possibility with my criterion would be Mark Gottfried. I'd be fine with that move. Beyond him, I believe we'd get a bunch of minimally better in-game coaches who can't recruit worth a damn. Thad Matta is being retained at OSU. I think we end up keeping Timmy, and I'm fine with that.

Watch from 45min - 1:05 or so. This is the only game I remember Jordy and Morrow playing together. It was to start the second half against KU. The rotation went: Jordy - Jacobson (1st sub) Morrow - Jordy (2nd sub) It's not a coincidence that we were competitive during that stretch. Plain as day that Jordy and Morrow are our two best front court players and that Jacobson is an absolute coach's dream off the bench for fresh minutes. Losing Gill really hurt our overall athleticism at the guard position defensively too. Ugh.

I'd really like to see our frontcourt rotation be: 5: Jordy - Jacobson 4: Morrow - Roby But that would make sense, so...