uneblinstu

IDK about limits with walk-ons and such, but the conversation is about trying figure out how many scholarships are available and who might take those spots. So, as long as they remain walk-ons, they don't factor in that conversation.

They're not on scholarship.

Yep. The offense was supposed to be the thing here. According to KenPom adjusted efficiency, it's been 190, 179 and 118. So last year was the best offense so far under Fred, and I think I would have probably guessed that just based on watching games. Miles' last season, they were 30th in the country. 75th the year before. Surprisingly, the defense has had at least one season where it was really good, last year they were 40th in the country in adjusted defense, so it's possible to play good defense in a Hoiberg system and I think they'll have a roster that looks more like that 2020-21 one. Fixing the offense will be the key to making the jump.

I see. I haven't seen any reporters mention him considering leaving and he seemed to be pretty engaged to the end. I don't think we're going to see any sort of statement from him, he's just gonna still be here when school starts next fall.

What are you basing that on for KT?

Honestly, I think I see a lot of what they were hoping Banton would be, and kind of was before the covid shutdown. Banton's listed at 6'7" 204 on the NBA website. Griesel's was listed at 6'6" 220 on NDSU's site. IDK if he's as good at Banton, but I think he's going to be asked to fill that kind of role. We had our best defensive numbers by a lot with Banton, so maybe they go back to trying that kind of thing.

Sam or CJ. If you can get it to the rim, Walker.

I'm guessing Lat leaves and Keisei stays. So, if Trey and Walker come back, the presumed starters of Trey, Walker, Griesel, Blaise and CJ would not be a young group. Then you add in Kiesei who'd be in his 4th year of college basketball. That'd be the most seasoned top 6 since 2018-19. You add in some pretty highly thought of young players after that, but it could sure be a lot worse in terms of experience. Not to mention 8 of those players would have a season in the program already. I guess technically 7 1/2...

Does their standing in the table have any impact in their WC draw?

You know whose roster didn’t strike fear in the heart of opponents in November? Iowa state

Not sure that Keisei is all that iffy. I'd be pretty surprised, actually, if he leaves.

That's certainly the impression I had of Kalkbrenner at CU when I first saw him play. He's developed into something much more than that. RK and OK had similar measurable coming into college, too. Jays have a reputation of developing players like that, though. NU doesn't yet. If they can do that, then maybe there's something there. Interestingly, both Kalkbrenner and Kojenets were offered by Georgia Tech.

Just like Keisei!

Good for them. I hope a lot of athletes benefit from this. Also, I think adidas has done a good job with NU hoops branding over the past decade.

We give Doc a hard time, but their defense, which presumably he had a big had in, was 40 in KenPom in the covid season. That is right where you want to be. That was the season where we had the most length and athleticism on the perimeter. Didn't have that this year, among other things. They have yet to be a top 115 team offensively under Fred. I don't think Doc was the biggest issue on this team.

No, I don't think that will be the case.

Hope so

Shoot, thought he was really making some strides down the stretch. Hopefully that means Walker is coming back and/or Oleg is showing signs of growth, too.

I mean, I'm sure they feel that way, too, but conversely, you can't also rush the process. These things often take longer than tweeters and message board posters want it to. Getting it done right is better than getting it done fast.

IDK, I'm not overly concerned yet. Fred, and frankly, Trev, feel like people that do things fairly close to the vest. A lot of these coaching conversations happen at the Final Four, which is still a week and a half from now. If we haven't heard anything in the next two weeks, I'll be more concerned. I do believe there's quite a bit happening right now, though, that we're just not hearing about.

He definitely didn't score like I was hoping he would, but he was way more willing to do the dirty work than some of the other guys, diving for loose balls, getting in the mix on the boards more than others, that sort of thing. He also seems to struggle adjusting to the college game a bit, but that's pretty normal for a true freshman. Depending on how much the injuries affect him long term, the ceiling's still really high for him, I think. There's a place for him to be a piece of a long term core that can maybe build something over the next few years.

And when you heard about Dawson coming in and diving for more loose balls than the rest of the team had combined, and getting Briedenbach back, who was very willing to get on the floor, I'm hopeful we'll see that change start to happen next season. It needs to be an identity for this team to win.

My hope that is one of the changes and they can bring in some coaches/players that can help make that culture changes. It needs to be a day-to-day thing, not just on gameday. That fizzles out quickly once the game starts.

For sure. Doc's teams generally played with "passion". They lacked for "talent". But that passion they played with most nights kept them in a few games a year they shouldn't, teams more talented than them, but when they went up vs a team that had the talent and the passion, they'd lose by 40. Kansas was master at this. They rarely took nights off.

I could get behind that