bball23

Maybe you guys can put some more YouTube videos of songs? Those are always fun to scroll through.

Tai can get to the rim, he has always been able to get to the rim. Finishing at the rim has always been his problem. I have always been a big, big Tai supporter and I still am a big fan of his. He has worked his butt off and stayed the course when many other players left for greener pastures (or so they thought). He is in incredible physical condition and has very good athletic ability for his size. With all that said, as much as I want to see Tai breakthrough this year, I won't believe it until I see it. I just have never seen a guy find so many ways to miss shots, especially right at the rim. I watched all 4 games in Spain and other than game 1, I continued to see this pattern with Tai on drive after drive. I would bet my bottom dollar that he closes his eyes almost every time he drives to the basket and encounters any form of opposition or contact. There are some people who simply are averse to contact, causing them to flinch, to retract, to even close their eyes in anticipation. It is genetic IMO, I don't know if it can be overcome. If Tai could teach himself to thrive on contact rather than fear it, he could possibly take a major step forward. I just haven't seen any indication of that yet. As for Benny, we heard the same reports about his shooting last year. And he actually did come out and started the year decently shooting the ball. At one point I believe he was our leading 3 point shooter. But then conference started. Everything changes in conference. Opponents are bigger, stronger and faster, but even more important, the scouting is 1000X better. Conference teams know opponents weaknesses better than the players themselves. Once conference hit, BP reverted right back to what where he always has been. Hard to imagine things will change significantly this year, but who knows. He has worked hard on his game and his shot, I guess we will have to wait and see. But even if he improves his shot, he will never be the passer and facilitator that Watson already is. We really need Watson to get his defense up to snuff so he can get extended minutes this year. All very valid points. My hope is this. When you are a role player for your team, you take on that role and go with it. Now that TP and Pitch have moved on, this team will need more guys to "step up" When you are all of a sudden looked upon to score more, do more, you sometimes are less hesitant. When you become a senior that has been around for awhile as Benny and Tai have, you naturally become more experienced, more confident, etc. All of a sudden you feel like you are "da man" This sometimes can make a guy naturally feel more confident and less hesitant to just get the ball to the "scorers" Who knows what Benny and Tai will do this year, but in order for us to be successful they are going to have to be solid for us this year.

I still have high hopes for Tai. Tai has been asked the past few years to basically get the ball to Shavon and TP. Will be interesting to see his role this year. Tai has shown flashes of being able to get to the rim. With us going smaller this year, maybe more driving lanes will be open for Tai and he can get to the rim and finish. Benny is Benny. We kind of know what to expect of Benny. We just have to hope that when we do drive and kick, he can maybe knock down some open shots. Last year our team seemed to stand around more and kind of wait for TP to make a play. Numerous times in the paper it has been brought up that the ball movement is better this year (in practices). This group is going to have to play as a TEAM in order to win. I'm very curious to see how this season goes. I think it will be very tough at times, but on some nights I bet we look pretty solid. Shavon and White will be very important in our success this year.

Crazy how low Maryland is for KenPom, but in the preseason rankings they may be a top 2 team.

I acutally have no problem with it. If you are an outside (or insider) looking at our program and you see that we lost TP, Pitch, Moses, Leslee, can you really blame them? We have a LOT of unknowns this year and are very young. Our young guys are going to have to grow up fast. I for one am very excited to see what this group can do this year. I think as a team we can be a very good defensive unit. We aren't big, but I think we can cause problems with our length at the wing spots. The key for us (and every year it seems) is being able to shoot the 3 ball better.

Yeah, I also looked around and all I saw were some DII offers as well. Maybe a walk-on situation if correct.

Anybody know anything about him? 2016 PF @Qsiebs: Invited to the U of Nebraska on Oct. 24th to meet the coaches, tour the campus and attend the football game. @Huskers #opportunities

P-Allen could explode too. As could Gilmore.

Is there any place I can find Norm's "highlight video"? If so, I would love to see this, to pass judgement on his skills I kid Norm!

I'm not saying this to be a jerk. But most write ups on players from evaluators are fairly positive as are the guru's on the radio. They have a job and they deal with a LOT of coaches/parents, etc. They don't want to rip many players and burn bridges. Yeah, but you could also look at it from the perspective that what he is saying about Davion has at least a shred of authenticity or genuineness. I'm not trying to be a jerk as well. Fair point. I don't know enough about Mintz to judge him as much as maybe I am. I just know from the years of Doc Sadler that so many on this board (myself included) would try to almost sell ourselves on recruits due to maybe what a few people said, a highlight film, etc...We would tell ourselves that we found that "diamond in the rough" player that nobody else had seen and we got in on him early. We all know the results of those years. Similiar to CU finishing last in the Big East last year post Dougie. In this day in age with social media and the AAU basketball, it is nearly impossible to really go under the radar. Now, this doesn't mean a player can't turn out to be great when other big time programs weren't after him. The same can be said for kids that you assume will be great and turn out duds. My whole point on all of this was simply that when you look at the guys offers, it just isn't anything to get all that excited about. If the big time programs in his own area weren't even sniffing at him, I just have a hard time thinking this kid is an "under the radar" type kid. I put a lot of stock into the schools that are after these kids. I trust the eye of the coaches MUCH more than I ever would a recruiting website. A good example of this as well is if you watch a kids ratings. Say no "blue chip" school is going after a kid. He isn't even rated near the top 150. All of a sudden, say a Duke or UNC or KU starts to "watch" this player. All of a sudden the recruiting websites rank him in the top 150 and say he has "blown up over the summer." Did they do their homework? Did they see him play? Or did they simply say "Hmm...this is interesting, KU is now looking at this kid, he must be good."

I'm not saying this to be a jerk. But most write ups on players from evaluators are fairly positive as are the guru's on the radio. They have a job and they deal with a LOT of coaches/parents, etc. They don't want to rip many players and burn bridges.

Norm, good question. In all honesty, I usually look at what schools are going after them. I trust coaches much more than I would ever trust an "evaluator" of talent from say a Rivals or Scout service. I don't put a ton of stock into highlight videos because that's what it is, a highlight video. MOST players can make a decent highlight video of the top 15-20 plays they have during a season. I understand you can get a good look at a kids form, leaping ability, etc...But so many kids now a days are fairly athletic looking in these videos. A kid may have one big dunk or that one "sweet" play during a year. What these videos don't show is the intangibles a kid has. How do they fight through ball screens, how do they defend a pick and roll, how do they handle pressure? In this guys write up for example, it says he has to learn to cut back on "stupid" turnovers. Naturally they don't show turnovers or stupid plays on a highlight film. Again, this kid could turn out to be a good player. My thoughts though are that he had a bunch of mid-major offers. And when an evaluator says "bigger schools were starting to LOOK at him" doesn't mean much to me. It could be plan C, D or E for a bigger school if other pieces fall through. I had an athletic director once tell me "Coaches will find good players." Especially with the social media the way it is, AAU ball, etc....People talk, coaches talk, media talks. If a kid is a player, the kids a player and coaches would have been in on them. Doesn't mean they can't develop into a nice player, but when the list shows a bunch of mid-major type programs after him, well, it tells me his evaluation by coaches must not be "great".

Myles Holley and Kyle Marks were athletic too.

Saw this in a writeup about him: 2015 NC Top 80 Davion has tremendous length and matching skill set for his size/position as a PG. Without question, Davion is one of the better midrange shooters off the dribble, but has also improved his efficiency from the 3-point line. Davion has a nice change of pace dribble and is crafty in the paint. He has good court vision and is trending as a solid mid major prospect. The next step in his development is to cut down on unforced turnovers and to be more vocal in his leadership abilities.

Yep, this guy was "blowing up" as teams like GT, NU, Miami were starting to look at him. What this simply means is that maybe a coach was at a game/practice of his to watch. Nothing more, nothing less. His write up said he could be a "high mid-major prospect" Look, this guy could end up good. But unless Mac starts to recruit better (on paper at least), his classes are starting to look like Doc Sadler type guys when you are beating out the Tulsa's and Columbia's of the world. And the Big East has recruited very, very well. CU has struck out on almost every "bigger" name recruit they have gone after. It will be very interesting to see how they do these next few years. The more and more you see who they are getting, the more and more they look like a Doc Sadler type team on paper. Decent players, not great players. And when you start to play "Big Boy" basketball, you need to sprinkle in some "great" players. Mac hasn't shown the ability to get very many good HS players the past few years. He got some guys that fit very well in the Valley, but he's not in the Valley anymore. Creighton fans will never admit this, but if they aren't careful, they could become the Depaul of that league. They already finished last, last year, and this year I just don't see them competing all that well (I could be wrong). And if you continue to downslide, its much, much harder to recruit top tier players. Who should know this more than us NU fans?

From the Kazemi article: If I know TP -- I don't, but I did say hello to him and get a photo when I saw him and the rest of the team at the airport last December in route to Hawaii -- this is only going to serve to motivate him more. TP: "Oh, you want to take my college number? That's coo. I just took your paycheck, homey." For what it's worth, the guy was incredibly humble and nice. I think he even responded, "yes, sir!" when I asked if I could get a quick selfie with him. I met TP on 2 different occasions and he could NOT have been nicer. I always cringe when fans judge him. The guy went out of his way to take a picture with my son, and the sign the ball he had. When we said "Thanks" to him he said "You are very welcome sir." Then went on to give my son another high five. TP will go down as one of my favorite Huskers of all time. I know some fans want to judge him because he wears his emotions on his sleeves, but I can tell you, their is no fan in this State pulling for TP to make an NBA roster more than I am.

I wonder how McVeigh would have rated if he was a stateside kid. Maybe close to the 150-ish range??? This. After watching the game online of our Euro trip, I really liked what I saw from McVeigh.

What I like about Horne are a few things. 1) He has a big body. Mold that thing up with some weight lifting and he could be very physical down low, even if he is "undersized" 2) He is crafty with his moves. Doesn't "wow" you with athleticism, but kind of reminds me of a Shavon Shields type player 3) Creative around the rim, with soft touch. Uses his body well to establish position on the block for a guy his size. I also think this guy has room to grow. I wouldn't be shocked if he ends up 6'9 or so. And with that "beefy" body, hitting the UNL strenghth program, he could really bulk up well.

Are people really complaining about the people next to them? Just 4-5 years ago, there were NO people next to most of us die-hards. I don't care if a blind, deaf, mute sits next to me. I'm just happy people are finally starting to support the program and make for a better home court advantage. I would much rather have an annoying person next to me, then to be told by the PA announcer that I can move down to the 100 section because nobody is there and they want it to look better on TV. That happened MANY of times at the Devaney.

Is it bad that I think this officiating is just awful? Ha! Definitely a different style than US basketball. That's for sure.

Picture on my end is MUCH better this half.

I hate to be the one to say this, but I think Creighton is going to be pretty decent this year. Norm, I see you too have bought into the "local" hype of the team. Its just like every NU football fan thinking the 3rd string QB is going to be a stud because the paper had a feel good story about him. CU may, or may not be good. But on paper, their recruiting was behind the rest of the Big East again this year. A league they finished dead last in, and lost their (I believe 3 year starting PG). Also lost arguably two of their better players down the stretch in Kreklow and Brooks. Again, they may have a good year, but I just don't see them jumping that much this year. They may hype up Watson and Huff, but Watson is going to be undersized in the Big East for a guard. Kyri Thomas is the "most athletic" player ever, etc.... My guess is they will beat us in Omaha as they clearly have our # and I have no idea how this years NU team is going to fare with all the new faces. But it sounds to me like you are listening to all Jays fans and thinking that the 12th man on the roster has really improved and will be awesome this year and be that "defensive stopper, scorer, (fill in the blank))" that we haven't had in quite some time. Then throw in the fact that they beat basically a HS team by 10,000 points on their trip and it really has them going. What a lot of fans (us NU fans included) always forget is that the rest of the league also improves. After awhile you start to even believe "Hey, this years team really could be special." But you forget that the rest of the league also has recruited talent (especially in the B10 and Big East) and their fans feel their team will be great. Sometimes (especially on message boards) you are talking with other fans of your team and your team only and you really start to almost get this false sense of hope that you will be better than you think you will be. I've seen a few publications that still have CU at the bottom of the Big East. Doesn't mean they end that way, but they also look at ALL the teams and don't hype each other up on a message board to make their team sound like its going to make a heck of a run.

This. He's the most physically and mentally ready to play. He has a year in the system, albeit practice last year. I really think White may have a big year for NU.

I tend to respect his opinion as well. It's just that when somebody says they "should be better" after finishing in last place isn't exactly throwing all the chips in the middle. It can't technically get worse can it?

Jon Rothstein tweeted this morning that he will be visiting NU and KU this week. So does KU still have room? Maybe they make room?