aphilso1

NBA players wearing a social justice phrase on their backs, and getting political in post-game interviews, seems like the correct way to raise awareness for an issue. You don't have to look too hard to find people that are doing it wrong...such as the neckbeards of ANTIFA.

That's a weird picture. Based on positioning I'd assume it's a jump ball situation, except that the White Team player next to Yvan is standing on the ground. Also, I'd be pretty disappointed if Yvan is one of our two best jump ball options. I'd assume Lat and Banton would both be better choices.

On thing appears pretty clear to me with the combo of Dalano, Kobe, Teddy, and Trey -- even if we don't have an elite ball handler and distributor, we have enough guys that are comfortable handling the ball to be very dangerous when breaking a press. That plus Fred's desire to push tempo tells me opposing defenses are going to sit back in half court against us.

It actually happens more than you'd think, and just notably happened a week ago. Different sport obviously but Deion Colzie (one of the top wide receivers in the 2021 class) just recommitted to Notre Dame after "opening his recruitment" 6 months previously.

100% agree.

I'm not arguing so much as I'm trying to understand what specifically people that are high on Cross see in his game. I gave reasons (both objective and subjective) of why I didn't see him as ever being a key piece of our roster, and was simply looking for the same from you. Because again, I respect your analysis, so I wanted to know what you see in him that gives you cause for optimism. That's it. Not an argument, just general curiosity of what an opposing view sees while giving the reasons why I don't see that.

So what aspects of his game would you say are above average then? Posting clips of the only two games he played well, where the defense is sagging off of him the majority of the time, just doesn't tell me much. Yes, he had two games were his shot actually went in. But taking the full sample size over the course of the season, and he was an atrocious shooter overall. We were a bad shooting team in general, and he was the worst on the team. I just don't see any individual offensive skill that he's above average at, and his defending is below average too. But again, I respect your analysis and I'd love to have you point out specific aspects of his game that you think he's legitimately good at.

Ubel was a scrawny, long 6'10" kid who got outmuscled as a frosh because he had never seriously hit a weight room. He had tons of growth potential in his game (and no, I'm not just saying that in hindsight...I actually liked him even as a freshman). In contrast, Cross's problems aren't easily solved by off-season conditioning. He was the worst shooter on a horrible shooting team and not long enough to defend the post. Unless his arms grow a few inches before he graduates, or he improves his shot by several orders of magnitude, he would never have been a consistent producer for us. Guys that walk in the door with a mature body and below average athleticism, like Cross, just don't have as much growth potential as guys who are natural raw athletes.

This is why I would love to see Trey give us a spark off the bench rather than slotted into the starting lineup. You've obviously gone way more in-depth than I have, but my game film and stats analysis pretty much jives with yours. I think three starters that all need the ball in their hands (Banton, Teddy, and Trey) is too many. While Kobe also thrives as a ball-dominant player, his skillset appears more versatile. I like Banton, Teddy, and Kobe as starters with Trey being the first sub off the bench for any of those three guys. Or even better, allow him to come in and be The Man if we need to rest two of them at once.

Not really. I see a guy who was the #5 scoring option when he was on the court, and a defense that is sagging off of him. Yes, he had a couple of games where the ball actually went through the bottom of the net enough times to make a highlight real, but that was definitely not the norm. We were historically bad last year and he was the worst offensive option on a historically bad team. Cross was dead last among our scholarship players in both FG% and 3pt FG% (unless you count Yvan going 0-for-0 from 3 as worse). Defense is obviously more subjective, but he was also a minus defender in my eyes. Not Matej Kavas bad (no one else was that bad on D), but suffering from similar shortcomings -- not big enough to defend the post, and not quick enough to defend one of the other spots on the floor. Cross would've had a chance to be less abused on defense if we could've played him more minutes at the 4 rather than 5, but even still I think he would've struggled because the skills aren't there. Anyway, that's my two cents. I felt that way pretty early just based on the eyeball test, and as the year progressed his lack of efficient productivity cemented my opinion of him. He could very well be a stud for a school like Tulsa, where he will actually have a size advantage most nights rather than disadvantage.

Cross was the guy I was least sad to see go. Below average athleticism, shooting, ball handling, passing, and playmaking. Average height. Above average strength and rebounding. I just don't see what position on the floor he was supposed to fill. Too small to be a B1G-level post, not enough skill to be a B1G-level wing. And no real strengths (such as if he were a deadeye shooter) to make up for these shortcomings. Kind of reminded me of a poor man's Jeriah Horne. All that being said, I really respect your analysis and I'd love to hear where you disagree.

Nah. We're planning on a bench player transferring anyway, so the value of a senior's expiring schollie is minimal. At least Wood is young and has a chance to surprise us down the road, a la Junior Year Thor. Green clearly is only a positive impact player when given the chance to be a volume scorer, which ain't happening given how many more talented players are on the roster. And Burke was streakier than off-brand Windex. I'd take Wood over either Burke or Green.

Curtis still intrigues me, but it's tough to say who I'd remove from the current team in order to get him back. I would say Wood, but I think Wood's skill sets fit better around the rest of the roster. I do think Cam could have thrived with all the playmakers around him this year. But obviously the mutual ill-will would have risked poisoning the team chemistry, so I don't think I'd take him back. Burke, Green, and Cross would've struggled to find minutes on this team, so no loss there. BLUF: Would've liked to give Curtis more time to develop, wish we could've kept a non-headcase version of Mack, and I'd gladly help pack the remaining three players' bags in exchange for acquiring our current roster.

That really is an underappreciated skill, and is particularly valuable in post players. Hard working guys can thrive on defense and the boards even with less than ideal size (Charles Barkley, Draymond Green, Dennis Rodman, etc). So a legit 6'10" guy with some polished offensive skill and that plays hard has me very excited.

This would be an interesting conversation to come back to halfway through the season. I can give you the poor shooting stats for most of these guys, but the obvious counter-argument is that Fred has proven able to drastically improve players' outside shots. We'll see how it plays out, but my guess is that the "hole in the roster" that we will all be lamenting in February is for a deadeye shooter.

I imagine we will see this lineup on the floor at times. Not the best shooting lineup in the world, but every one of those guys can at least keep the defense honest-ish.

That is going to be our weakness regardless of who Fred puts on the court. Adding Lakes and Tominaga for 2021 will be nice, but this year's team doesn't have enough shooters on it to truly spread the floor. I expect we're still a year away from running the offense the way the coaches really want to.

With schollies now full for 2021-22, it's a good time to look at that season's roster composition. We lose: Kobe Thorir We add: Lakes Tominaga Breidenbach For perhaps the first time ever since I've followed Nebrasketball, we are set to have an abundance of riches in the post. Walker, Yvan, Andre, Lat, and Breidenbach all give you different options at the 4/5. Plus throw in Shamiel who can give you some small-ball minutes there too. The 2/3 cupboard appears pretty well stocked, too. I have to assume that HCFH and Co. are looking almost exclusively at ball handlers at this point, to fill whatever early attrition roster spots open up.

Except that you're taking the best playmaker, Banton, and moving him up to Team A. Also, I took the "beating the starters" comments to mean that it was a fair fight between the two squads, not that the redshirt/reserve team was winning 90%+ of the time. I think Hoiberg would have been more effusive in his praise if they were lightyears ahead of the starters.

Team B looks about equal to last year's starters. So that's certainly some cause for optimism.

Agreed. Some people are better at their jobs than others.

I really, really hope we get this kid. 6'10" skilled player with goggles...where have I seen that before? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Grant

I'd be shocked if Kobe starts on the bench and Eduardo is in the starting lineup. Surprises happen, and one of those two things occurring wouldn't be crazy. But both? That seems pretty unlikely. I'm guessing that the teams were split for competitive balance -- putting your best ball handler on one team (Kobe) and your second and third best on the other team (Banton and Teddy). Which, if true, means there isn't a whole lot to infer about Trey's eligibility status.

Ok I'm intrigued by what you're reading into this. Are we presuming that the Red Team in these clips are the presumptive starters? That would be shocking. Kobe not in the starting lineup, plus Eduardo beating out both Walker and Yvan...that would certainly be something noteworthy. Alternatively, if we aren't assuming the Reds are the starters, then why would we assume that Trey wearing Red means he will likely be eligible?

Maybe I'm remembering this wrong, but I thought JBD was listed as "from Puerto Rico" when he played here (hence that whole English literacy test snafu that delayed his eligibility). But now that he's playing in Puerto Rico, he's listed as from New York? Weird.