nustudent

On the surface looks to be a replacement for 2017 after Tai and White both graduate.

Disregard. Already posted

It's posts like these that remind me why I am a happier person when I spend less time reading message boards

I would think VaTech would be unlikely due to the potential game in Anaheim. I think GT, Clemson and NC State are probably the safest bets

We aren't in a position to be turning him away

Wisconsin's front court was good. It was their backcourt outside of Koenig that wasn't very good

Yes and no

Side benefit of Cullen Neal and Prince Ali leaving is that we potentially would have had to play against both in Anaheim next year

Guys at 24/7 Sports still think we are very much in the picture as well

Real curious as to the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Let's be honest....we aren't winning in Phogg and we aren't trending well against Creighton. If we want to dance, we can't lose more than 4 non-con games. 2-1 in Anaheim, win the acc/big east challenge and then lose to Kansas and Creighton gives us 3 non-con losses against a solid schedule and sets us up with a chance to make a run in the conference.

Was looking at the field today and it looks like Butler is the team no longer in the field. Looking at the field: UCLA suffered about the same fate we did. New Mexico wasn't much better. Dayton is a 7 seed. A&M is a 3 seed and won the SEC regular season title. Virginia Tech was a 3 seed in the NIT. Portland & Northridge were both pretty terrible. I don't know anything about what any of these teams lose or bring in, but based of this years results, A&M and Dayton will be the favorites. NU should be competitive vs. everyone else. I'd love to see NU matchup with UCLA. A&M will pry still be good...but they do lose their top 2 players I can see VaTech being formidable as they return everyone. UCLA will always have talent and they don't lose much (outside of some early entry possibilities) I think it's a pretty solid field. If we can go 2-1.....it'll be a big boost for us.

Thought about this a lot. I'd say we need Hammond to make the leap...but I think McVeigh is the next likely. He was pretty good when he saw extended minutes. Another year of conditioning and experience and I think a few more of those 3s drop.

There were plenty of times where they were no where to be found when we needed that push this year. Let's stop pretending the last 2 nights are an accurate picture of the entire year. If you can't replace Parker....you are going to struggle. We'll see a lot of increased production from our guards next year. Shields is a very good player. But he can be replaced by committee.

We will be able to replace Shields and Parker. We may not have a guy that goes for 16.7 a game like Shields...but Gill will step in and be more than productive. Parker played well these last two games and was very good last night. But let's not forget how mediocre he was all year. Finding an undersized player who can't shoot isn't hard to do. The biggest thing for me is that we won't have as many empty minutes next year as we did this year. Our freshmen will be more experienced. We won't have an offensive liability like a Parker on the floor. Loved watching Shields....but the combination of Gill, experience, added talent and added depth will replace him.

Had we beat either one of them head to head in the last 2 weeks of the season, the roles would have likely been reversed. We didn't.

This

If we can land Tshimanga and the Louisville transfer.....watch out.

1, White 2. Shields 3. Webster 4. Watson 5. Jacobson 6. Morrow 7. McVeigh Big Gap 8. Parker (on experience only over Evelyn) 9. Evelyn 10. Hammond 11. Fuller

Very deep next year. If we make the proper strides in the offseason we have the makings of a decent club next year. Tai is going to be very good next year either in or out of the starting lineup. That's what has me optimistic. So much more depth. Miles spoke the other day about empty minutes. No offense to him...but we don't have a Benny Parker next year.

I suspect the best thing about Gill will be that he'll open things up for White. Significantly. He's that guy who can and will take an open shot or create one for himself. Defenses will be forced to account for him and won't be able to help off of him. He'll add scoring punch for sure. But, maybe more importantly, he'll allow Andrew White to get better looks because defenses won't be able to cheat on him. And it won't be just him. Guys like McVeigh and Roby will help as well.

I'm hoping for a starting lineup of Watson/Gill/White/Morrow/5th Year XFer Big Webster the first off the bench. I think he should be Watson's backup as well. He's valuable because he can be more than serviceable at two positions. McVeigh, Roby and Jacobson are the next 3.

Might be sacreligious to say this...but I find it interesting that when Shavon came back and Benny moved back to the starting point (with Webster at the two) is when you saw the downturn at the end of the year. I know we were just 1-3 without Shavon...but were a missed call on Watson's final heave from being 2-2. And the two losses (@Wisconsin, @Indiana) we seemed, at the very least, more competitive and energized than we did against Purdue and Northwestern. I think the change in the roster ruined some mojo. Coupled with the fact that we were down and out of the NCAA by that time and it was hard to get some of it back. Two big pieces, Watson and McVeigh, found their way back to the bench. I appreciate both of their efforts, but I remain convinced, we will be better off next year.

Timeline?

Nebraska basketball fans are unbelievably loyal. Nebraska won 19 games two years ago and it was like a religious revival. Nebraska is 11-22 in the Big Ten the last two years. That there is 9,000 fans in that arena, much less 14,000 fans, is a testament to the arena and the fans who fill it. Not the product on the court. I'll disagree slightly that it's not about the product on the floor. Everything is relative. If you look at the quality of basketball, the product on the court this year is light years ahead of the last couple years under Doc. I loved Doc but the basketball was nearly unwatchable. Slow, grind it out games and no real athleticism on the court. This year the quality of basketball was fairly good, the offensive flow was better than the last few years (including the NCAA team two years ago). The W/L results aren't what we want them to be and if that's the only way you judge the quality of the product on the court, then the quality isn't good. However, most of the games we have played have been fun to watch and the level of play and athleticism is significantly higher than the past few years (except for two years ago). I find it funny to hear all the gnashing of teeth going on about a team that essentially lived up to the preseason expectations. Nobody expected us to be in the NCAA's this year and everyone predicted us to be about a .500 team. I don't remember anyone saying the freshmen were "Fab 5" types and going to be the saviors of the program. They were definitely the most heralded class we have had in years but I don't think any of them were Top 50 players in their class (except if you include Andrew). It's comical seeing the writers comment about how the class didn't live up to the hype and how the season has been a disappointment. At the end of the day, we brought in a solid group of freshmen, played to expectations and appear to have a solid nucleus of players coming back. We clearly need more and better big men and to continue to improve but the foundation appears to have been laid for the future. Are we exactly where we want to be at this very moment - NO! Should we settle for what the results are today? ABSOLUTELY NOT! But I don't see why people are so upset/surprised by where we are right now. Maybe I'm just missing something. This is pretty spot on

Specifically moreso with Fuller than Hammond...you aren't missing a lot if he moves on. You have Gill, Roby and Horne coming in next year. Add a year of experience to McVeigh and White and Webster coming back and there are a lot of bodies you can play at the 3 and stretch 4 position. With Hammond, while I don't think he is very good and won't be...at least he has size. Fuller isn't athletic, big and for being known as a shooter, is remarkably bad at it. I would trust the coaches to have a feel for what they can get and what is out there. For example...if Tshimanga commits and they feel like they can get a quality transfer....then it may be time to have a difficult conversation. If they don't believe they can get a big guy and are iffy on Tshimanga...then don't. Which is what I was kind of saying IF and it is a big IF Tim and company could find 3 guys to come here that were upgrades then I guess you sit down and talk. But I haven't see Tim and company do that yet. So I said keep them until you know for sure that we have these new unbelievable players that will be coming in. Or are you saying dump these two and hope? Because that would be worse than what we have going now, right? Or are you saying that Fuller and Hammonds are any better than open scholarships? I'm saying we should recruit as if we have 3 open ships. If we can find some legitimate talent to come in...don't turn it away. As far as if Fuller and Hammonds are better than open scholarships. Nice to have them for practice players. I guess this is the way I will phrase it as being better than open scholarships. IMO, If both left and we replaced them with nobody, it would not cost us anything in the W/L record next year. Until it does cost you... People said the same yikity yak about Benny, and Tai, and Fuller and Hammond are now the guys who can't cut it and won't give us anything positive the next couple of years. Where would we have been this year without Benny and Tai? Because what you are saying could lead us to question where we might have gone in 1 year or two with Nick and Hammond. I think there is quite a bit of difference. For one...Fuller is at the end of his 3rd year. Not a true frosh when people were questioning Benny and Tai. Secondly....you have a deeper roster next year...so it's fair to question what type of impact they will have. Benny and Tai didn't have a lot of other talent to compete with at their spots.