millerhusker

If we could make layups, Cam would have at least 12 assists right now.

Very happy with the defensive focus and toughness today. So much better than the first game. We’re getting good ball pressure, hustling to rotate and recover. And we’re blocking out.

Not that it really matters, but Roby and Uthoff never would’ve played against each other in college. Uthoff was before Roby’s time.

Man, that sums it up. And that’s in the first 70 seconds of the game.

A couple things did disappoint and surprise me. One was our EFFORT on the boards. We were out-rebounded 49 to 29. A lot of that comes from the absurd amount of shots we missed, but that’s not acceptable. We hear all about our size disadvantage, but UC-Riverside had a 6’3” guard grab 18 (!!!) rebounds last night. Props to that kid. Given how much the coaches and players talk about it being a point of emphasis, I couldn’t believe how our guards would turn and watch the shot, and almost never put a body on someone. The other thing was our on-ball defense, which I could tell was driving Doc crazy. Riverside’s ball handlers were driving past our guards at will, drawing help defense and kicking out to shooters. It’s pretty easy to catch fire from 3 when the majority of your shots are open stand-still threes off kick outs. I call it “pretend” ball pressure. Our guys were clapping their hands and getting down in their stance as Riverside’s guards brought the ball up the court, acting like they wanted to defend. But apparently not understanding the mentality, effort and focus it takes to defend at this level. They all have the quickness, athleticism and coaching it takes. I expect/hope for huge improvements in this area as the season goes on. With an entire new team and new system, there will obviously be growing pains. But effort and aggression is always something you can control as a player. Hoiberg has voiced his concerns about the mentality and toughness of this team and last night I think we saw what he’s been talking about.

If last night is any indication, Hoiberg seems to trust Jervay more than Burke right now. Jervay was in foul trouble, but still tied Cam for most minutes played with 32. Burke didn’t have any fouls, but played 23 minutes. Dachon’s ball handling concerns me a bit after watching the exhibition and last night’s game. The ball gets away from his body a bit too much for my liking. I’m hoping that’s just due to him being a little too anxious and out of control since he hasn’t played in so long.

Yep, and both of those teams had senior post players who were solid on both ends of the court. Miles had Ubel and Hoiberg had Jamie Vanderbeken (6-11 245).

The floor for this team is lower than the floor for that Iowa State team. They did have some solid pieces. Hopefully the ceiling for our future teams are as high as it was for those next few Cyclone teams. We’ll see, but I’m not gonna get too worked up over any loss this year.

It was brutal. Hopefully it’s the worst we play all season. Back in 2010-11 I’m guessing some Iowa State fans were saying the same thing about their 30 point losses, and maybe some other fans were just imagining what their team would look like if Royce White, Chris Babb and Chris Allen were eligible.

When I read Doc’s tweet yesterday, I took at as his way of saying, “We’re gonna be terrible this year.” That was probably one of the worst performances we’ve seen in recent Nebrasketball history, but it’s not all as bad as it seems. Fred’s first season in Ames was rough. They lost 10 in a row at one point and got absolutely blown out a handful of times. We have 3 guys sitting on the bench who would make this team look a lot better. Walker would definitely be our starting big man. And the team just looked different when Dalano and Shamiel were on the floor in Italy. All three of these guys have played for some fantastic coaches at their previous stops and, while they’re not close to being finished products, they’re undoubtedly more polished than most of the other guys. I saw some bad habits from the three freshman and two juco transfers last night that will get worked out over time. As Doc said, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Defensively, Cam plays upright and frankly pretty lazy most of the time. Hopefully that changes soon as the season goes on. Jervay is very disruptive defensively.

Cheatham was Marquette’s best defender for two years and the coaches have praised Jervay’s ability on the defensive end. Awesome to see we’ll have at least three legit perimeter defenders.

Every Division 1 head coach has “asked players to leave.” Some call it a mutual decision, some are a little more honest. But Hoiberg and Nebraska have nothing to do with the NCAA’s decision. It’s all based on Shamiel’s personal situation at his previous school(s).

Huskers: 84 UC-Riverside: 71 Non-con: 8 Season: 15

Monte Morris, former Hoiberg point guard and one of the better college point guards in the last 20 years, is 6’2” 175 lbs and that’s exactly what Cam is listed at. He did lose quite a bit of weight during his health issue but he’s starting to gain it back.

Oregon offered today

FWIW, the huskers.com Doane game notes have the “probable starters” listed as Cam, Jervay, Burke, Cheatham and Yvan.

Georgia Tech lost to Alabama by 28 in a charity exhibition. 93-65

Good breakdown. IMO, Samari also has a B1G body at the guard position. He’s a big, strong dude for a combo guard.

Gonna disagree with you on the conference comparison. The Big 12 was stacked during this time, and the frontcourts had to give coaches nightmares. Some frontcourt players that season: Cole Aldrich (all-American) and the Morris twins at Kansas. Blake Griffin (National POY) and his brother Taylor at Oklahoma, Craig Brackins (all-American) at Iowa State. Dexter Pittman and Damion James at Texas. Brian Davis at A&M. And Baylor always had about five guys in their rotation about 6’9” and above. Not saying Big Ten bigs are scrubs by any means, but I’d rather deal with Matt Haarms, Jon Teske and Kaleb Wesson than the guys I listed above.

Great post. I’m sure Doc loves the pieces he has to work with defensively. This roster reminds me of a couple of his great defensive teams that were undersized. I don’t think he’s ever coached this much quickness and length at the guard and wing positions though. Call me crazy, but I think this team could be better on defense than on offense. The sheer numbers may not suggest that, since there will be more possessions and more shot attempts than we’ve seen here since Nee (and therefore more points for both teams), but our defensive efficiency (Doc’s specialty) may keep us in some games when our offense is struggling.

Jasen earned co-MVP at this camp. He measured in at 6’8” 210 lbs at the top 50 showcase in Omaha this summer. A lot of potential.

So far I’ve heard Hoiberg, Doc and Abdelmassih all mention Jervay’s ability to defend when discussing his potential with the media. Haanif, Dachon and Samari have reputations of being tough perimeter defenders. The only guard I’m concerned about on the defensive end is Cam. That’s based on watching his game against WNCC last year. He obviously has the quickness and athleticism required to be a good defender, but his defensive effort was frankly awful in that game. That’s what Doc is here for! I think Shamiel will be another guy that averages around 25 mpg. Hopefully he gets his waiver.

Well, Cross and Yvan are definitely on their tip-toes. Cross and Thor are the same height....

Committed recruits are constantly being contacted and recruited by other schools up until the day they sign their LOI. There’s no doubt that coaches were trying to flip Davis after they saw him this summer. He just wasn’t going to put it out there on social media until he officially de-committed.