millerhusker

Before social media I still wanted to know what the team looked like in preseason scrimmages and practices and couldn't wait for the season to start...

Would like to see a box score. Would like to know what the rotation looked like. Utah probably has more length than anyone we'll face this year. Their top 8 goes: 6'4" 6'6" 6'8" 6'8" 6'9" 6'9" 6'10" 7'1" November 4th can't get here fast enough.

What do you guys think the starting lineup will be Game 1. What about Game 12? It doesn't necessarily matter who's in the starting lineup - these 7 players will probably get starter's minutes - but who is on the floor together to begin the game and how that group gels will be interesting. The obvious (maybe?) answer for Game 1 is Worster, Williams, Gary, Berke, Morgan. I could see that group having some space and pace issues. Rollie Worster - seems clear he'll be the starter at point guard and can be a Griesel-type player/leader. Berke Buyuktuncel - maybe the player with the most preseason hype from coaches, teammates, media, etc. Looks bigger, longer than everyone on the team other than Meah. If he can defend and rebound as well as Morgan, I think we'll see a lot of him at the "5", to allow for more versatile lineups. Brice Williams - starter, obviously Juwan Gary - starter, but if we need someone to come off the bench for best fit within the rotation, he'd be willing to. Andrew Morgan - We've been assuming since April he'd replace Mast as the starting big. Haven't heard much about him in the preseason. He does look smaller than expected. Connor Essegian and Gavin Griffiths - 2A and 2B for offseason hype rankings (behind Berke). The two most likely players to somewhat replicate Keisei's gravity on the court. Do we really want to keep both Essegian and Griffiths out of that first group? Ahron Ulis - coaches love him (and so will we), but he's probably the backup point guard on this team. Sam Hoiberg - some of his minutes will be given to the new guys, at least to start the year. Always finds a way into the rotation, though. Braxton Meah - 10-12 minutes in a healthy Keita role as a defensive presence and rebounder would be great. I wouldn't expect much more than that.

Updated measurables today: https://huskers.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster Janowksi 6'4" 208. Thought he looked bigger than his previously listed 6'3" 190. Juwan up to 226 lbs. Frager 6'7" 220. Griffiths shrunk an inch. 6'7" Rollie 6'5" 210. Big point guard. Meah 7'1" 264. Was hoping Henry Burt grew another 3 inches this offseason. Still 6'7", unfortunately.

Berke now listed at 6'10" 245 lbs on our roster

If everyone was healthy and available, who wins a round robin with these three groups? PG – Rollie Worster G – Sam Hoiberg W – Braden Frager F – Juwan Gary C – Andrew Morgan PG – Ahron Ulis G – Nick Janowski W – Gavin Griffiths F – Justin Bolis C – Rienk Mast G – Cale Jacobson SG – Connor Essegian W – Brice Williams F – Berke Buyuktuncel C – Braxton Meah

Pretty sure that is all 11 non-con games right there.

Washington hired him for 2 million. Wild. I wasn't even impressed with him in their two tournament games. Limited offensively, and will be even more so at the Big Ten level. Gets to the line but is a poor FT shooter. Also not a great rim protector (zero blocks against TCU and Purdue). Think his numbers will look more like they did two years ago with Montana than this year with Utah State.

I thought Mast's best attribute was his vision/passing ability when I saw his Bradley film. All the talk was about how fortunate we were to find a player who could do those things that Walker did. The concern was that he may not be able to handle the ball and bring it up the court like Walker did. I don't see that passing ability with Morgan, but that may just be because he wasn't given the opportunity to showcase it.

Yeah, I agree. Although I don't think the numbers or labels matter whatsoever. But roles obviously do matter. A lot of people saying we didn't need to find a Keisei replacement this offseason because Brice is his replacement. Brice might be his replacement in terms of production, volume of shots and being the focal point of the offense. But Brice will absolutely not fill Keisei's role in the offense. That wouldn't suit his game and he doesn't move off the ball like that. If Brice is the "2", or plays the position Keisei did, we just won't run the same exact stuff we did last year. Hoiberg is good at adapting the system to the personnel. If we do want someone to fill Keisei's specific role in the offense, that guy is Essegian. And there might not have been a better player in the portal we could've realistically gotten to fit into that role than Essegian.

In one of Berke’s highlights I saw him shoot imaginary arrows into the crowd after a made shot and it gave me nightmares

247 had Berke ranked #36 in last year's class

When the On3 guys say "I'd keep an eye on..." it usually means they know something but can't say it out loud yet

We'll likely add another forward to the roster, but if we don't Juwan can play all of his minutes at that spot. He's been a 4 his entire life until the last half of this past season. When Juwan was a starter at Alabama, the other starters went: 6'1" 175 lbs 6'3" 175 lbs 6'3" 200 lbs 7'0" 220 lbs That was an Alabama team that was ranked as high as #6 in the country during that season. If we roll out a lineup of Rollie, Essegian, Brice, Juwan and Meah, that is plenty of positional size plus a rim protector. If we start Juwan at the 3 again, we had better add a skilled sharpshooter at the 4 spot. There's not nearly enough perimeter shooting in a lineup of Rollie, Brice, Juwan, Allick-type, Meah/Morgan (I know we think Morgan can shoot it, but he has made a total of 17 threes in 85 career games). Guess that's why I have Essegian sharpied into the starting lineup. He averaged 12 ppg as a freshman for freaking Greg Gard. He will be unlocked under Hoiberg.

Could anyone beat Nebraska in a 3 on 3 walk-on tournament? NO

*15.5 ppg

Preferred walk-on. Love it.

Wow. That's an awesome get for a preferred walk-on. Will be a great locker room guy and may contribute.

It would make a lot of sense for him to stay and play here the year after next. Can't imagine his first pro contract would be too lucrative coming off a knee surgery and sitting out the entire year. Makes sense to come back, collect more NIL money and prove he's healthy and productive for another year before heading overseas for pro ball. I like it. Both Hoiberg and Miles have touched on how there are too many scholarships and it's impossible to keep 13 guys happy and together. It's a great situation to be able to redshirt someone who is a leader and isn't upset about being redshirted. We could have a nice core heading into that 25-26 season.

I think it’s all quite a bit overblown. Obaseki had the game of his career against Nebraska. We played just as athletic (and just much better) guards than him throughout the year. But Worster and Ulis will absolutely upgrade the perimeter defense. They significantly upgrade the length and physical strength of our backcourt. Worster was Utah’s best defender. I don’t think there’s anything deceptive about his athleticism. He looks like an outside linebacker. Ulis is a very good athlete and was Iowa’s best defender his junior year. Theres a lot more that goes into it than just having elite athleticism. Do you realize none of the guards in the national championship game would be capable of guarding good players according to your criteria? Newton, Spencer, Smith, Loyer, Jones. None of those players are even close to being elite athletes. Nebraska had a pretty darn good defense last year despite the limitations of Keisei and CJ, and not having any semblance of a rim protector. And on paper, the defense looks like it’ll be much improved next year.

A lineup of Worster, Essegian, Griffiths, Morgan and Meah also would’ve beaten Michigan by 15+ this year

Can you break down why Worster and Ulis can’t guard players like Obaseki?

No harm no foul, but Josiah's last name is spelled Allick. Just a pet peeve of mine.

Their frontcourt is gonna be stout next year

Playing time increased towards the end of the year and he had some big games. I like that he had 12 games where he shot 100% from the field. Means he knows his role and doesn't try to stray too far away from it.