NUdiehard

https://footballscoop.com/news/diego-pavia-granted-injunction-opens-door-for-juco-athletes-to-gain-extra-eligibility According to one court, juco seasons may not count towards eligibility. This could shake things up. Bring back Keisei!

Starting Meah mucks up the whole offense and that leads to the stagnant offense throughout the game because it prevents the offense from getting into a rhythm early and then guys get down and start pressing. For the life of me I can't understand why he starts. He should be a 5-10 minute a game player, at most. I would be fine with zero minutes against lesser/smaller teams. His detrimental role in the starting lineup is compounded by the fact that Rollie and Gary can't shoot. Hard to believe Hoiberg is starting a lineup with three guys who can't shoot. Ugh! Watching basketball is not as fun when the players on your team can't shoot. Last year any of 4 or 5 guys could go off from the 3 point line on any night (Keisei, Wilcher, Mast, Williams, Lawrence, etc.) That made if fun--electric! After three games of watching this team the only thing I have felt is annoyed. Now that I've got that off my chest, I'll try to find some positives. Like many above, I do agree there could be some potential in some of these players if the lineups are adjusted. More minutes for Connor, Gavin and Morgan. Less minutes for Meah and less for Ulis or Sam. My roster is the exact same as Hugh's above, except that battle for the 8th spot is between Sam and Ulis. As of this point, I have no idea what Ulis brings to the table. So far all I have seen is a guy who can kind of dribble and is an okay athlete. He is not a good shooter. I have not seen any indication is a good creator or distributor. He is just . . . there. Does not really bring anything of substance that i have seen so far. But the season is early so he should have more time to show what he can bring and then it must be decided between him and Sam for those minutes.

Agree completely. From what I have seen, eems pretty easy to tighten up this rotation. Unless there are injuries or unusual circumstances, Meah and Ulis are out. Roll with the remaining 8. Brice is the backup PG. Must have more shooting on the floor. Last night's starting lineup with three non-shooters in Worster, Gary and Meah was sluggish, clogging and a bit brutal to watch. With that said, would like to see Worster fire up a few more threes. He was not even looking at the basket from behind the arc until that three at the end of the game. Even if he only makes 30%, he needs to fire a few up just to keep the defense honest and create some gravity. Berke should be PF and backup center. BTW, Berke is listed on the roster at 6'10" and 244 lbs, which is the exact same height as Morgan and actually 2 pounds heavier. Berke could be that high post passing center similar to what Mast was last year.

A little concerning that we started a lineup of 6-5, 6-6, 6-7, 6-10, 7-1, with a bench of 6-4, 6-10 and 6-8 and still got "out physicaled"

I am not a fan of the current starting lineup. Not enough shooting and I don't think Meah should be starting. My preference would be: Worster Williams Gary Berke Morgan There will be difficult decisions on lineups. If it was just about offensive potency, I would go with Worster, Essegian, Williams, Gary, Berke. It seems like Essegian could be similar to Keisei in his ability to stretch the floor and make 3s, but he is a weak defender and so is Berke so it is hard to play them together. Not sure Morgan is a strong enough defender to make up for Essegian either. Tough call. But I just don't like the current starting lineup because that means three players are poor shooters (Worster, Gary and Meah).

I would be shocked if the coaching staff tried to "push" or "nudge" JL out. After JL's departure, NU now has 6 open scholarships. Fred may be able to find a couple nice additions that are an upgrade to the team, but there is almost no chance that he lands 6 players of higher caliber than JL. And logic dictates that if he can't get all 6 better than JL, then there is no reason to push or nudge someone like JL to leave. For instance, let's say the staff is able to land 3 players better than JL, but the other 3 are worse than JL. Why would the staff want to the net result to be worse? Why not just sign the 3 upgrades and keep JL who is (probably) far better than the 6th player signed out of the portal?

Illinois shot 8 more 3-point shots than Nebraska. Nebraksa shot 42 2-point shots to IU’s 34. But please carry on with your enlightened takes about the foul disparity.

That game was pure fun. Hoiberg ball at its best.

I think I get what you are thinking, but not sure I agree with the logic. The first step for ANY recruit coming to UNL is getting the nod of approval from the the coaching staff, including HCFH. Although Fred made mistakes in his first 3 years (mostly trusting he who shall not be named), most would agree he has learned his lesson and now knows exactly what type of players he wants (which I am assuming does NOT include primadonnas). Thus, if HCFH is recruiting the player, I feel confident that recruit meets HCFH's criteria for what he wants on the team (which includes being a team player). If this is the case, the next crucial step is securing the commitment from the athlete. If NIL is a factor, then we should generally be able to make sure NU is in line with whatever other schools may be in the picture to make sure it is not the deciding factor. And please don't say "well, if money is all that matters we don't want him anyway." Who on this board, if they were interviewing for a job, would not at least give some weight to the salary/compensation offered by the different prospective employers. Plus, there are ways to pay significant NIL without it leading to the "recruits running the program." For instance, it is my understanding that Creighton pays all of its starters the same amount (which his a pretty significant sum) and pays the non-starters the same amount. This makes sense, because this would prevent any one player from being resentful of what another player is making. There are other options along these lines that could be implemented. Last, I want someone who really knows to answer this question. Is NU Hoops "total" NIL package this year as larger or larger than Creighton's total NIL package? Anyone? If the answer is no, then that is unacceptable.

Gary Sharp (Sharp & Handley sports radio Omaha) has repeatedly and recently said that NU Hoops NIL needs to improve. I would imagine he has some inside info on this considering his position as a Nebraska sports media person. Similarly, Tom Shatel stated before the season that NU's hoops NIL is nowhere near as good as Creighton's. I would imagine he had a basis for this before putting it in print. On an anecdotal note, every time we receive interest or have a visit from a bit time (5 star or high 4 star) recruit, I pretty much move on right away because I have never seen any evidence that we are competing in the NIL for these types of players. This is not to say the NU hoops NIL is terrible, it probably is decent, but there has been little evidence that we are competing with the big boys in the hoops NIL department. The hope is that this year's success--an NCAA tourney appearance, Fred's recognition as coach of the year thereby solidify him as a long-term coach--will help "boost" the donations to a point where we really can be competitive with the blue bloods.

I expect 3 and hopefully all 4 to return. It would be devastating in only 1 come back. BUT, this is where NIL comes in. Before NIL, I could definitely understand why the 6th (and even 5th) year seniors would want to move on and go overseas and make some money. BUT, in the NIL era, a school like NU should be able to pay them just as much, if not more, than what they would get overseas. NIL is how we got Walker to return last year. Of course, with 4 guys, it means more NIL money, not to mention the other players and young recruits. But if the NIL money isn't there to keep the guys we already have here, then we can pretty much just end the dream of ever being a success in hoops at DONU. Whether these players return will be 95% based on NIL. Not the coach (because the coaching is very sound). Not the culture (because the culture is very sound). Not the school (B1G school with great fan support). Its about the benjamins. Of course, Coach Hoiberg will be the one who will have his fate (and job status) decided by whether they return, but the reality is no coach will be able to consistently win at NU if there is not sufficient NIL support. It's that simple.

Mast and Allick are combined 0-8 on 2-PT FGs even though Illinois mostly playing then 1v1.

CJ stole Keisei's soul

it was the worst of times. It was the best of times.

Anyone who went to the Ohio State game and watched him "warm up" could see that he was EXTREMELY gimpy and frankly did not look like he would be playing in a game anytime soon. It seemed kind of ridiculous that he even suited up, maybe it was just to throw off the scouting report.

That ball was kicked twice by Rutgers

If it’s Achilles, not only this season but next as well

I’m thinking Achilles. Terrible.

It's not just a matter of being a step slow (although that often is part of the problem). The problem is that once you get in to league, the coaching is better and the scouting is better (same with Creighton), and coaches have figured out how to attack this defense. In our defense, the off-ball defender ALWAYS helps in to the paint. This makes us susceptible to the swing pass or the skip pass. But in addition, the better coached teams in league play are positioning an offensive player behind Nebraska's off-ball defender to SCREEN him from closing out on the 3 point shooter. This is done over and over and over again. So even if the Husker defender was playing fast and with great effort, it is impossible for him to run through that screen and get to the shooter. Overall, I feel the coaching staff has done a good job and they clearly are trying to make the best out of the less athletic defenders on the team. But man, giving up wide-open 3 point shots from the corner over and over and over again does become a bit maddening.

We would be much better off if JL and Gary hadn’t started the game jacking up hero-ball ill-advised 3s early in the clock. Set I is back in a huge hole. Oh and Gary needs to stop getting lost on the defensive end. His man gets wide open shot way too much. how about Eli. Way to go young fellow

Too much hero ball so far. Need to work the offense and get the right players the right shots

How ya like those apples

Keisei only played 21 minutes, which is 3 minutes LESS than Sam H. Is this still of product of Keisei's ankly injury? Is Keisei still not in shape enough to play more extended minutes? Or is this by design? Admittedly, Keisei did not have a great game last night, and he did force some shots. But is he forcing some shots because of his limited playing time? Does Fred feel that his limitations on defense outweigh his potential on offense? Sure seems so for many games this year, which is odd. Honestly, I have rarely watched and felt like Keisei is getting seriously exposed on the defensive end. And we are going to need Keisei to get hot during league play, he is such a potential dynamic offensive weapon. Curious to see how this all plays out. Will Keita play a single minute this year? If Mast is out for more than a couple weeks, NU could really, really use him. But it just does not seem to be in the cards. Nice to escape with a win last night. And we should be able to comfortably win against South Carolina State. But the following game is Indiana at home, a virtual must win, and it is hard to imagine a win without Mast unless something drastic changes between now and then. Or, as said above, a massive offensive explosion from someone like Keisei.

Last night's game was a bit of confluence of bad fortune for NU. Nebraska lost its most important player for the game while ND gained its best player that it hasn't had all year. Had ND had #4 all year, it would have had a better record and better ranking, and NU wouldn't have been "expected" to win by such a large margin. Such are the vagaries of early season computer rankings.