swmckewon

Nebraska wanted her and recruited her diligently. So did a lot of other programs with a lot more pedigree/historical success than Illinois. She went to Illinois because, in her own words, she saw the most similarity between it and her AAU program. That AAU program has sent three players to Illinois; a fourth was committed to Illinois' coach when he was at Green Bay but decided to flip to Nebraska after he left for Illinois. OK Sam, I have Sadie Murran, Brooke Kissinger and Chatrice White. Who is the fourth girl from Nebraska who has committed to the Illinois coach. Isn't Kissinger's little sister going there? Dunno. She hasn't committed there, I don't think.

Nebraska wanted her and recruited her diligently. So did a lot of other programs with a lot more pedigree/historical success than Illinois. She went to Illinois because, in her own words, she saw the most similarity between it and her AAU program. That AAU program has sent three players to Illinois; a fourth was committed to Illinois' coach when he was at Green Bay but decided to flip to Nebraska after he left for Illinois. OK Sam, I have Sadie Murran, Brooke Kissinger and Chatrice White. Who is the fourth girl from Nebraska who has committed to the Illinois coach. Not from Nebraska. From Council Bluffs -- Kyley Simmons. But she was on the same AAU team.

Nebraska wanted her and recruited her diligently. So did a lot of other programs with a lot more pedigree/historical success than Illinois. She went to Illinois because, in her own words, she saw the most similarity between it and her AAU program. That AAU program has sent three players to Illinois; a fourth was committed to Illinois' coach when he was at Green Bay but decided to flip to Nebraska after he left for Illinois.

You did a really good job. Doc attributed his offense to Eddie Sutton. I will ask: You think Doc's offense was worse than what you've seen this year? When Nebraska scores this year, it's usually because Petteway went off or Shields had a matchup.

Michigan. The team Michigan put out there that night was not good. It's improved, but that was the first night without Walton - LaVert was already out - with a dead, disinterested crowd.

IMO, this is salient. I think Nebraska will look back on 4-5 games this year with significant regret -- Creighton, Incarnate Word, at Michigan are three -- but when I look at what this team projected to be, I see, oh, 15-12, 16-11 or 17-10 at this point. Right there on the bubble with 3 games to go. And some bad shooting, coupled with a curious lack of want-to at Michigan, has left it 13-14. Though I've chewed on the overall talent of the team, that Michigan game was an alarm bell. Michigan rolled a pretty crappy team out there that night that had little chemistry. No LaVert, no Walton, who'd just been hurt. Nebraska should have had plenty of motivation, too, since it hadn't beaten Michigan since entering the league, got humiliated up there last year, and arguably got robbed at home last year. The performance in that game, right on the heels of a win over Michigan State, was a marker that something was off.

Long-term, I think Smith and Romeo will both be very good. Smith's upside is there. Needs a year to believe in her shot, but she again had a up-the-floor pass for a layup that's rare. She has a + understanding of the game. I think the team can be pretty interesting on D next year, especially if there's a true post defender.

Getting back to the original topic, I have a question: If Creighton has more talent, let's say we could go over to their program and poach one underclassman from their roster to play on our team next season. Who do you poach, and where in our rotation would you put them? Starter? Sixth man? Key reserve? Where? It'd be Huff.

I agree with that. She's Courtney Paris when she wants to be.

Zahui took 31 shots, all from point blank range, I'm sure. You'd hope she'd score at least 30. Iowa's now gone to a style it basically gives up the defensive rebound if Doolittle can't get it.

I've written as much on Twitter all year. I think Creighton's more talented top to bottom, even if Nebraska has the two best players. I feel like Creighton should have a better record than it does. I feel like Tim Miles has done a pretty good coaching job this year given the injuries and the talent on hand. It's worth noting almost no one agrees with me on the talent issue and I'm one person with a thought. Creighton has more talent, but should have a better record than it does. And it should have a better record than it does, because it has more talent. Hmmmmm. The results certainly don't prove the premise. Maybe Creighton doesn't have a better record than it does because it really doesn't have superior talent? I'm not convinced that the Big East is really a better conference, either. What they have that's better is they have some better shooters. But, take away their walk-on, and they're going to look pretty pedestrian. Sam has an inflated opinion of Creighton. He told his twitter followers to watch out for Creighton because they were going to be a lot better than what people give them credit for. Only to watch them fall flat on their face this year. Sam also said this..."Creighton has a better-assembled, deeper team than Nebraska. If nothing else, Mac is a better "GM" than Miles over the last three years." Had a great laugh at that one. Again: I think it's true. I think Creighton has underachieved, and I do think McDermott has assembled, over the last several years, a more complete roster of talent. And I will say, again: Neither Nebraska nor Creighton fan agrees. I know why Creighton fan doesn't -- because it doesn't fit the preferred narrative of Creighton hoops, which is, now that Doug's gone, it's going to take several seasons to get "Big East talent," whatever that is. Well, let's take a look at the last 3 classes signed by the coaches. Nebraska 2012: Keep in mind Miles was hired in March of this class Biggs- Dismissed from the team Parker- Doc recruit, if you don't want to give Miles credit for him understandable. Shields- Doc recruit, if you don't want to give Miles credit for him understandable...but credit should be given to Miles for developing a prospect who was not highly regarded Vucetic- Transfer Petteway- One of the top players in the Big Ten and country; Possible draft pick Pitchford- Solid campaign in his sophomore year; Struggling this year 2013 Fuller- RS Freshman this year; Not receiving much PT Hawkins- Transfer to be closer to home Smith- Injury problems; Gives NU some sort of presence down low when he can provide minutes Webster- Highly regarded prospect; Struggling to find his game in America 2014 Hammond- Would have RS if injuries did not occur. Looks to have ability but needs to bulk up Smith- Best Miles HS recruit to date; Plus athletic ability and long for a guard Creighton 2012 Yates- Transfer Zierden- Injury problems, Solid shooter; Bad defender; Not athletic 2013 Hanson- Third in line at center; Has not panned out Harris- Transfer Milliken- RS JUCO; Shooting 37% from the floor this year Brooks- Good athlete; Spaz on the floor..shooting 34% from the floor this year Hegner- Akin to Pitchford...likes to shoot the 3. Does not do anything else well 2014- Gilmore- Can't find any minutes on a bad Creighton team; Can't shoot the ball\ Harrell- RS this year Kreklow- Probably the most productive player for McDermott in his last three classes...and hes AVG 7 points this year Keeping in mind that Miles has had essentially two classes to rebuild the disaster Doc left him...I'm finding it hard to agree with you that McDermott has out "GM'd" Miles the last three years. Brooks, Milliken and Zierden are all more productive than Kreklow. Miles has had three classes, obviously, since the first one was overwhelmingly his best.

The Big East is better because they have less middle tier teams and less bad teams, not necessarily because they have better teams. Those guys up the road talk about the Rick Johnson era because they've been used to winning in the MVC for a long time. What they should be talking about is the Collier/Sadler era or the McDermott Iowa St era because trying to find guys who are skilled and athletic enough to play in a high level conference is tough. McDermott had talent at Iowa State. More than enough. Talent acquisition has never been a particular issue for him. He can recruit. How did they do this year with recruits who had offers from other power basketball conferences? What does that have to do with anything? Well, I am responding to the contention that McDermott is a good recruiter. While he had Brackins at ISU and Brackins was a terrific player, Brackins was about the ONLY major recruiting coup that McDermott had at ISU. If the claim is that McDermott can recruit just fine at Creighton, I think you'd have to say the jury is really still out on that. If you assume that head-to-head recruiting battles with other major conference schools is a good indication of recruiting prowess, then the November class that Creighton signed does NOT support the contention that McDermott is a capable recruiter in the Big East conference. I'll grant you Patton is a top 50 kid. And I think Patton has terrific upside, although as I said in a different thread, I think Thomas is the better player right now and will probably be more ready to contribute earlier in his career. But, having said that, Patton committed to Creighton before he had any other major offers. So, while he's a highly regarded kid, McDermott didn't win a recruiting battle to get him. McDermott did, however, whiff on a number of players with major offers, including: Matt McQuaid who committed to MSU; Chris Clarke who committed to Va Tech; Ed Morrow who committed to Nebraska; Glynn Watson who committed to Nebraska; Connor Frankamp who visited CU after leaving KU; and Juwan Morgan who committed to Indiana. (I may have missed some.) McDermott landed some great visits, but he wasn't able to close. The kids he did get did NOT have major offers. And they could turn out to be fabulous players, but they didn't have major offers. So, at least as far as evaluating closing ability compared to other major programs, the 2015 class recruiting results do not support the conclusion that McDermott is a capable recruiter. I guess that's what that has to do with the topic. Sam made a claim; I asked a question because I think the answer to my question calls into doubt his claim. That's all. Not sure if Mo Watson and Cole Huff count as "recruits" -- since Petteway is Nebraska's best player, I don't see how they don't -- but McDermott won some pretty significant recruiting battles there.

The Big East is better because they have less middle tier teams and less bad teams, not necessarily because they have better teams. Those guys up the road talk about the Rick Johnson era because they've been used to winning in the MVC for a long time. What they should be talking about is the Collier/Sadler era or the McDermott Iowa St era because trying to find guys who are skilled and athletic enough to play in a high level conference is tough. McDermott had talent at Iowa State. More than enough. Talent acquisition has never been a particular issue for him. He can recruit. Craig Brackins was big time and easily the most touted recruit McD has landed in his career. Melvin Ejim and Diante Garrett were solid grabs. Iowa St had more than enough talent for what though? To hang with Kansas, Frank Martin Kansas St, Turgeon Texas A&M, Texas? Those teams are landing a Craig Brackins every year...not just once in a career. He recruited Wesley Johnson to ISU, too. Johnson left, but, again, ask around: McDermott can recruit.

The Big East is better because they have less middle tier teams and less bad teams, not necessarily because they have better teams. Those guys up the road talk about the Rick Johnson era because they've been used to winning in the MVC for a long time. What they should be talking about is the Collier/Sadler era or the McDermott Iowa St era because trying to find guys who are skilled and athletic enough to play in a high level conference is tough. McDermott had talent at Iowa State. More than enough. Talent acquisition has never been a particular issue for him. He can recruit. How did they do this year with recruits who had offers from other power basketball conferences? Offers in basketball don't always work like they do in football. That said, Nebraska's recruiting class appears better to me, even if Creighton may have gotten the best player of the bunch in Patton. I also like Khyri Thomas a lot, but I've seen him play a lot, too.

I've written as much on Twitter all year. I think Creighton's more talented top to bottom, even if Nebraska has the two best players. I feel like Creighton should have a better record than it does. I feel like Tim Miles has done a pretty good coaching job this year given the injuries and the talent on hand. It's worth noting almost no one agrees with me on the talent issue and I'm one person with a thought. Creighton has more talent, but should have a better record than it does. And it should have a better record than it does, because it has more talent. Hmmmmm. The results certainly don't prove the premise. Maybe Creighton doesn't have a better record than it does because it really doesn't have superior talent? I'm not convinced that the Big East is really a better conference, either. What they have that's better is they have some better shooters. But, take away their walk-on, and they're going to look pretty pedestrian. Sam has an inflated opinion of Creighton. He told his twitter followers to watch out for Creighton because they were going to be a lot better than what people give them credit for. Only to watch them fall flat on their face this year. Sam also said this..."Creighton has a better-assembled, deeper team than Nebraska. If nothing else, Mac is a better "GM" than Miles over the last three years." Had a great laugh at that one. Again: I think it's true. I think Creighton has underachieved, and I do think McDermott has assembled, over the last several years, a more complete roster of talent. And I will say, again: Neither Nebraska nor Creighton fan agrees. I know why Creighton fan doesn't -- because it doesn't fit the preferred narrative of Creighton hoops, which is, now that Doug's gone, it's going to take several seasons to get "Big East talent," whatever that is.

The Big East is better because they have less middle tier teams and less bad teams, not necessarily because they have better teams. Those guys up the road talk about the Rick Johnson era because they've been used to winning in the MVC for a long time. What they should be talking about is the Collier/Sadler era or the McDermott Iowa St era because trying to find guys who are skilled and athletic enough to play in a high level conference is tough. McDermott had talent at Iowa State. More than enough. Talent acquisition has never been a particular issue for him. He can recruit.

I've written as much on Twitter all year. I think Creighton's more talented top to bottom, even if Nebraska has the two best players. I feel like Creighton should have a better record than it does. I feel like Tim Miles has done a pretty good coaching job this year given the injuries and the talent on hand. It's worth noting almost no one agrees with me on the talent issue and I'm one person with a thought.

White can.

Connie Yori knows what she is doing. It would be difficult to get anyone better at NU. The name of the game is recruiting. I'm not sure we will ever have the talent of Maryland, UConn, Notre Dame, Tennessee, South Carolina, Baylor or Stanford. Probably not, no, but if Nebraska had landed White and Shepard in back-to-back years, that's an excellent talent base from which to work.

Nebraska isn't good enough for its "response" to necessarily dictate the outcome of many games in the final stretch.

On the last play -- it was a missed assignment, but let's face it: That's the last player anybody thought was getting it. Whatever diehard Iowa women's hoops fans there are lights up the coaching staff if it doesn't work. It was a risk, and it worked because a ref blew the whistle. It was, from pure play standpoint, unsuccessful. Theriot blocked it clean.

I don't think she would be a starter this year, but would get minutes off the bench. She'd be enormously helpful to this team.

Anya's a good story and a hard worker. She'll give the team decent post minutes, which is crucial.

It's the older one. She graduated from NC State a few years back.

Hannah is good enough to play there. The best part of her game may be defense. I do think, eventually, it would have been an asset at Nebraska. CSU's coach had previous stops at USD and Wayne State, so he's very familiar with the Shooting Stars program and will be recruiting it with some gusto, I'd suspect, like out-of-state programs San Diego, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois are.