MandRHusker

I think there will be two different starting groups. One at the beginning of the season and one mid season. Here is how I see it playing out: Beginning of the season pg Parker TM will favor ball security early. Webster won't have the handles early & Biggs has a sg mentality sg Gallegos Rey will improve and plays good defense sf Petteway Scoring threat and excellent slasher pf Shields Fits at one of the wings and is becomes an even more accomplished scorer c Pitchford More of a face up 4 but will understand TMs offense first off the bench: Webster at pg, biggs at sg, fuller & rivers at wing and atewe/serbian cigar in the middle 2nd half of season pg Webster Better knowledge of the offense and better handles allow him to start sg Gallegos I don't see anyone unseating him sf Petteway/fuller Can't predict this one pf Shields He'll be difficult to unseat c Pitchford Still the best option first off the bench: parker at pg, biggs at sg, rivers at wing and atewe/serbian cigar in the middle

In a way I agree with you. We now have four scoring options on this team with Shavon as one of them. This makes us a more dangerous team and more difficult to defend. But to expect Shavon the be the guy each and every game is not realistic. I do think he is getting better because his elbow is healed, he is very coachable and has a high basketball IQ. So I do expect him to get better over his career. But I will be very happy if he is just one of multiple scorers we have on the team going forward, and nothing more.

I don't have facts, I just feel it in my gut. Times are chaning in our favor. TM has all the peices in place, he just needs one more big man who can rebound and play D. He will then have everything necessary to make the big dance and win a game. Next year he will have at least 5 legitimate scorers on the team, among the group of Gallegos, Shields, Petteway, Biggs, Pitchford, Webster and Fuller. He should have strong rebounding with Shields, Pitchford and Fuller. But he needs one more big for defense in the middle. Is that Atewe, Thomas or the development of the Serbian Cigar? Who knows but I know TM will get it done....I just feel it.

I've been wondering this too Norm. Can we bulk him up a bit, get him to 230-235 lbs and use him as a face up 4? I don't want to make too much of height but if he is 6'8" the transition is a lot easier. But one related question, isn't Shavon already playing a lot of face up 4 now, when Rivers rotates out?

Congratulations Shavon! You deserve it!!!!

I agree Norm. And I wouldn't be surprised if his numbers aren't special before the end of the year. He may not match Joe, but he may end up close with a much higher shooting %!

Wow, I forgot just how good Joe was that season. He had a lot of potential... I guess I am missing the "good" part. Nothing about shooting less than 40% is good. Yep, Joe shot a lot to net those 15 points!

here are a few stats to compare each player during their freshman season. Numbers are field goal %, 3 pt %, rebounds & points 12-13 31 Shields, Shavon.... .500 .294 4.9 7.9 06-07 44 Anderson, Ryan..... .470 .432 4.6 10.1 04-05 02 McCray, Joe .398 .356 5.0 15.5 05-06 31 White, Jamel....... .361 .355 3.0 8.7 95-96 Tyronn Lue .453 .328 3.0 8.5

Coach Miles just said Ubel will play. He won't start, but he will play!

Short, wide guys have the same problem cwg!

I can easily see why no redshirt was taken. From Coach Miles viewpoint, why waste a year on a kid who is a project. More importantly, from Sergej's viewpoint, he may need the redshirt if he decides to transfer. Move on everyone, nothing to see here!

Could they also be saving the redshirt in case he has to/decides to transfer?

I love the Shatel column. Coach Miles just gets it. If I was a lot younger I would die to play on his team. The more I hear him, read what he says and watch him coach, the more confident I become that he will get this program turned around!

Just saw a post on another site that Nick had 40 pts and 17 rebounds last night in a 61-55 victory. Wow, nice night!

This is my impression of Biggs too CWG. Very effective at penetration, super quick and tremendous ups. His mid range jumper looks good but doesn't have an effective 3 ball shot.

It's been stated multiple places. I'm thinking newspaper articles that have been posted on this board where Miles has said Biggs needs to work on his shot or Biggs has said that's his weak area. And then things I've heard otherwise that reinforce that assessment. Problem with Biggs driving is that defenders will lay off him and not give him driving lanes until he proves that he can shoot it and make them pay for laying off of him. If he does that, then he gets Benny's minutes and Benny sits. OK, good enough for me. Sorry to hear it though as I thought Biggs could be a PG with a strong scoring mentality!

I am curious Norm, how did you develop the belief that Biggs can't shoot? I'm not sure he is a 3 point guy but what I have seen is that he can penetrate and is quick enough, with enough ups to create his own shot. He looks much better at that than Benny from what I have seen.

Seems like Talley has the job to jack up shots as the timeclock expires! This probably negatively influences his shooting %. I do think that Talley takes some boneheaded shots, even when the timeclock is not expiring.

Thanks KambyMan. Clears it up for me! Very good news! Has your friend seen Atewe play before? If so, any comments?

Silverback, you probably read something from me. Yesterday there was a post by one of the Rivals recruiting analysts who speculated that some schools may have backed off Atewe because the NCAA was investigating Notre Dame Prep. I am certain that KambyMan knows much more about this than I do!

Anyone read the Rivals Atewe interview after his Husker visit? When asked about the fact that K State had secured the pledge of another big man, Atewe said that they were now out of it with him and that he was disappointed that they had not shown loyalty. The only reason I can think of that Atewe had not already committed to K State, and that he would say that K State had not shown loyalty, is if there is an academic issue. I have no inside info but it just makes sense to me. I'm not sure where he stands with academics now but I would not be surprised if we continue to recruit big men and don't see an immediate pledge from Atewe, despite his glowing comments regarding this weekends visit. Despite this speculation, I really hope we get Atewe!

Well, either way I hope we have room for Thomas. I'm just not confident we will have three big bodies ready to play next year without a fourth big man on the team. One other thing about Atewe. A recruiting analyst from Rivals said some schools who would have pursued Atewe may have backed off because the NCAA is investigating his school regarding scholastics.

I agree 100% Silverbacked! I'm just specualting that those two players may make the decision themselves because they see diminished playing time. I hope it doesn't happen but it does happen on a regular basis in D1 ball.

Guess i don't want to be short on bigs Norm. I think we will see at least one and maybe two leaving the program after this year. Benny was mentioned and I'm still wondering where Rivers fits after this year. Maybe I underestimate the progress he is making. I think Thomas can help us. He has length, can rebound and has a smooth shot. Regarding Biggs, he can score. Much stronger in that category than Parker. Much more athletic and assertive. A great penetrator with Gallegos ups. I am not sure how much progress he has made in learning to run the team. In the one practice I saw Biggs looked more like a scoring guard than a point guard. One practice is probably not enough but it is all I have to refer to.

I have a question regarding Atewe. I read in an article from last November that K State had the lead and Atewe was expected to commit to K State any day. But time passed and he didn't commit. All of a sudden Nebraska appeared. Anyone have insight why he didn't commit to K State?