busticket

If Fred and Matt flew out to watch him work out and offered on the spot, they saw something they really liked.  I trust Fred’s ability to assess players completely.  
 
Welcome to the family Denim!

I agree Norm.  I figured he was Kavas 2.0.  Just another guy who couldn’t shoot with that N on the jersey.  Knowing his story now, it is easy to envision a role for him as a sniper coming in off the bench.  Like many things in life, timing is critical and it doesn’t appear to be playing out well for Lakes.  He may have a few moments here and there but probably few and far between.  If we are unfortunate with a front court injury, though, he gives us a guy I think most of us would be comfortable sliding into the rotation.

I could see Lakes being the "who TF is this guy and why is he making all these threes tonight" against a few teams this year.  Kind of like every conference game we play where some random dude goes off for 15-20.

I kinda feel bad for Trevor Lakes. From the sounds of things, he's been shooting lights out in practices. His shoulder is finally fixed and he seems to have fully recovered. I wish I knew he was having shoulder problems last season; I would probably have gone easier on him in anything I posted.
 
We're set to lose Verge and Kobe to exhausting their eligibility and the McGowens brothers to the pros. Lat Mayen, it's been speculated, could leave after this year to pursue pro opportunities in Australia.
 
Trevor Lakes could potentially be a rotation player on next year's team. Except he doesn't get a next year. And, this year, fortunately for us and unfortunately for him, we're stacked. How many of the last 20 years would we have LOVED to have a guy like him?

If Fred and Matt flew out to watch him work out and offered on the spot, they saw something they really liked.  I trust Fred’s ability to assess players completely.  
 
Welcome to the family Denim!

If Fred and Matt flew out to watch him work out and offered on the spot, they saw something they really liked.  I trust Fred’s ability to assess players completely.  
 
Welcome to the family Denim!

I am pretty sure he wants a shot at the NBA.  If he leaves we probably had a really good year.

If Fred and Matt flew out to watch him work out and offered on the spot, they saw something they really liked.  I trust Fred’s ability to assess players completely.  
 
Welcome to the family Denim!

If Fred and Matt flew out to watch him work out and offered on the spot, they saw something they really liked.  I trust Fred’s ability to assess players completely.  
 
Welcome to the family Denim!

If Fred and Matt flew out to watch him work out and offered on the spot, they saw something they really liked.  I trust Fred’s ability to assess players completely.  
 
Welcome to the family Denim!

If Fred and Matt flew out to watch him work out and offered on the spot, they saw something they really liked.  I trust Fred’s ability to assess players completely.  
 
Welcome to the family Denim!

If Fred and Matt flew out to watch him work out and offered on the spot, they saw something they really liked.  I trust Fred’s ability to assess players completely.  
 
Welcome to the family Denim!

If Fred wants a kid enough to give him a committable offer in the early signing period, then the kid is good enough to play for us.  Not saying Dawson's tape or offer list jumps out as elite, but HCFH doesn't throw those early offers out like candy.  I think anytime we land a kid in the early signing period that means he's a Plan A or Plan B kind of dude. 

I had that same thought as I watched and rewatched it. I know that's how it's called now. But in my heart it will always be traveling. Que old man voice "Back in my day...that was traveling"

I felt way better about our outlook when Verge signed on.  Still not 100% on Verge as a playmaker for others but some of the practice clips make him look like he can pass a bit.  At first I thought he was just a better version of Kobe (a scoring PG).  Trey can play the point but that doesn’t mean he is a point guard.  He is more of a combo guard who can spell at the point but you don’t want him as your primary ball handler.  At least that is what my eyes tell me.

I have heard that Verge demands respect and attention when he walks into the locker room. And he is a far more natural lead ball handler/point guard than Trey is. I was never happy/comfortable with Trey as our PG. But I think he was.....

Was really hoping to open up my favorite site today and see someone else write this... highly disappointed everyone. Highly. 

First off, if you think you can make any definitive assumptions on this team after that, you're a lot better at this than I am. They were just having fun and playing pick-up - with the intention to entertain and have fun. 

I'm going to start off with the main topic I'm sure everyone is wondering. Yes, Wilhelm Breidenbach will play this year and yes he's probably the greatest pick-up in Nebrasketball History. As soon as he signed his LOI looking through his thick goggles the program changed. 

Wait? Who? McGowens? Trey? Trey's has a brother on the team? That's so nice!
SO...... Two things can bet true at once. 1. Bryce McGowens has an NBA frame, skill set, etc... etc.. etc.. to be a Lottery Pick. 2. Bryce McGowens might not necessarily be ready to (or need to?) lead a B1G team as the go-to guy, give him the ball and get out of his way, 23ppg or whatever else a lot of us are thinking a 5-star could be. In other words, I don't think this is Kevin Durant for Texas. THAT'S OK - THERE'S A LOT OF GOOD, PRODUCTIVE SPACE BETWEEN KEVIN DURANT AND YOUR TYPICAL 5-START YOUNG LOTTERY PICK  - PLEASE TAKE YOUR CAPS LOCK OFF AND DELETE THE POST YOU'RE MAKING GETTING READY TO SCREAM AT ME. 

There's a really good reason why I say the last paragraph. That reason - there's a lot of other dudes on this team who can tote the rock and be the guy any given night. We're gonna have Lat's night, Trey's night, Verge's night, etc.. Heck - maybe even Keisei's night (good lord it's scary to think of the runs he could go on if the match-ups are right). 

Anyways - I'm not going to spend too much more time on the scrimmage. I don't believe you can draw much from what they showed Friday. But I will say I can foresee two potential issues:
1. Rebounding/Girth. This has plagued us in the past. Especially if we can't play our tempo and make shots. We're kinda skinny again. I don't see a guy who I'm like, "that guys gonna get double digit rebounds a game." I hope Walker can withstand the pounding down there, and I really hope Andre is serious about trying to be more "Rodman-like" as he's mentioned on a podcast.
2. Who's team is this? I see some potential conflict brewing... Who's our leader? Who's gonna have their hand on the ball in crunch time and late in the shot clock? I feel like there's a bit of a conflict between who believes they're that guy and who actually is. We'll see! Could be (I hope it is) nothing. 

I think we pretty much know who the starters are.  As far as reserves in the rotation, Wilhelm appears to be the top front court sub.  I can’t see a scenario where Tominaga doesn’t play.  Edwards and Wilcher gotta play, right?  Edwards is extremely athletic and has great skills.  Wilcher is another shooter and we are recruiting his superstar brother.  That puts us at 9, which is a large number.
 
That leaves Kobe, Andre and Lakes on the outside looking in.  I think any of those three have the ability to be contributors if the need arises.  
 
Man we look stacked.  Inexperienced, but very talented roster now.  It will be interesting to see how well this post ages because rarely does the rotation I expect to see preseason end up that way in reality.
 

I think we pretty much know who the starters are.  As far as reserves in the rotation, Wilhelm appears to be the top front court sub.  I can’t see a scenario where Tominaga doesn’t play.  Edwards and Wilcher gotta play, right?  Edwards is extremely athletic and has great skills.  Wilcher is another shooter and we are recruiting his superstar brother.  That puts us at 9, which is a large number.
 
That leaves Kobe, Andre and Lakes on the outside looking in.  I think any of those three have the ability to be contributors if the need arises.  
 
Man we look stacked.  Inexperienced, but very talented roster now.  It will be interesting to see how well this post ages because rarely does the rotation I expect to see preseason end up that way in reality.
 

I might get chastised for this on here, but I don’t think it’s obvious Eduardo will be part of the regular rotation. Only so many minutes to go around and Fred has made it clear he likes Wilhelm at the 5. I wouldn’t be surprised if Eduardo was a situational minutes player, like Okeke was when Roby and Copeland took up the majority of the minutes at the 4/5. If Eduardo is getting significant consistent playing time, I think that means he’ll be vastly improved from last year. Which would be awesome. 

The one thing I know about rotations is they rarely have more than 8 players by the time teams are deep into conference play.  I remember Tulane with the “posse” having 10 players consistently play, but that is it in my recollection for a team going that deep. It mainly has to do with getting the chemistry right.  
 
With that said, you can make a credible argument for 11 players possibly being in the rotation.  If Lakes has his 3 point shot back he could have a role.  I think we may be more surprised by what 2-3 players end up NOT being in the rotation.

I feel like if we're good enough to get to 11 wins in conference, we're good enough to drop no more than 2 games in the non-con. I mean, if we're good enough to win 11 in conference, who in the non-con would we lose to?
 
There are only 4 non-con games that aren't "buy" games (and we should win all the "buy" games). K-state was as bad last year as we were and probably didn't fill their roster holes as well as we did (they have a good transfer from Missouri, though). And that one is in Lincoln. Creighton is also in Lincoln and they lost their entire starting lineup from last year's squad. Granted, they pulled some big recruiting coups last spring, but those kids will still only be freshmen in their 3rd game of their college careers when they play us.
 
We have NC State on the road and Auburn in a semi-neutral setting. Those are the only excusable non-con losses AFAIC. I think we have to beat everyone else in the non-con.

The one thing I know about rotations is they rarely have more than 8 players by the time teams are deep into conference play.  I remember Tulane with the “posse” having 10 players consistently play, but that is it in my recollection for a team going that deep. It mainly has to do with getting the chemistry right.  
 
With that said, you can make a credible argument for 11 players possibly being in the rotation.  If Lakes has his 3 point shot back he could have a role.  I think we may be more surprised by what 2-3 players end up NOT being in the rotation.

The one thing I know about rotations is they rarely have more than 8 players by the time teams are deep into conference play.  I remember Tulane with the “posse” having 10 players consistently play, but that is it in my recollection for a team going that deep. It mainly has to do with getting the chemistry right.  
 
With that said, you can make a credible argument for 11 players possibly being in the rotation.  If Lakes has his 3 point shot back he could have a role.  I think we may be more surprised by what 2-3 players end up NOT being in the rotation.