NUdiehard

The B1G is a grind. So many top level teams. What we are all learning is that to compete in the B1G, you can't have a roster full of one-dimensional players. We have some players that our good/great athletes, but not great shooters (Banton, Trey, Shamiel). We have others that our good shooters, but not good athletes (Webster, Lakes). And then we have a guy like Lat who is a decent shooter and a decent athletes (but not great by any means), but otherwise lacks all basic basketball skills. And Teddy, well, he is just Teddy (not a great athlete and really struggles with the mental game). I really hoped a guy like Lakes could add that shooting dimension, but the B1G is proving you have to have a certain level of athleticism or you become unplayable. Without that athleticism, Lakes can't defend sufficient, and can't even get open long enough to get his shot off. Kobe is similar, he is just outmatched athletically in this league. He is not a B1G caliber player. This is not to knock him, I like his grit and effort, but he is not legit B1G talent (too small, not quick enough, not a good passer, not a great shooter, etc). Shamiel is a wrecking ball and is actually pretty good finishing at the rim. But any shot more than 3 feet from the hoop is an abomination, not sure I've ever seen a wing with less touch from the outside. Other teams know this. Watch them, they don't guard him at all when he is on the perimeter. And every time Shamiel catches it, he pump fakes (to no one), and then shuffles his feet (called for traveling half the time) and bulls his way into the crowded paint area. Rinse and repeat. This is the one-dimensional play that won't work. Can't have a guy who simply cannot and will not shoot on the perimeter, the defense will simply ignore him. Yvonne. Seems like a great kid, works incredibly hard. But he looks like a kid who never, and I mean never, played any sport of any kind growing up. At least not with his hands. Maybe he played soccer, i don't know. But he has absolutely no feel and touch with this fingertips. We all know he shoots from his palm, he passes from his palm, he shotputs his shots. He is shooting 2-16 on free throws in conference! 2-16!!!! What baffles me is I watched 5 minutes of his highlight film when he was recruited and this was painfully obvious. How does someone like Hoiberg watch his film and not see this. This lack of feel with the hands/fingers is simply not something that can be changed/improved very often, and it does not appear Yvonne has even tried. Due to misses like this, it does make one start to question this staff's ability to evaluate talent. Banton is a skilled player for his size, but he can't shoot. He hit a few early in the season, but now is shooting 24% from 3 overall and just 19% in conference. He is a good player and a solid core piece, but I don't think we have to worry about him going to the NBA anytime soon. He also isn't a PG. This team desperately needs a true PG who can distribute and shoot. I love Trey, love his grit, hustle, effort, and even his gamesmanship (drawing fouls, etc). Great athlete, but unfortunately, he is just not a naturally skilled basketball player. He is an athlete playing basketball. He can get incrementally better, and he definitely is a keeper, but he mostly is what he is--an inefficient grinder who will never be a great passer or shooter. Although his 3-point percentage is good, it is on low volume, especially in conference where he has shot only 13 threes in 8 games, and you can see he is hesitant to pull the trigger, resulting in him constantly driving the lane. So many people say all we have to do is "love the rim". Well, I think we all saw what can happen when a bunch of players who can't shoot just "love the rim" all game. It wasn't pretty. Andre. Although he hasn't done much this year, I really like Andre. He is a definite bright spot in my book. He already has much better feel, touch and skill than either Yvonne or Walker. And he hasn't even been playing the game that long. Great length and very good athleticism. Good timing. He could eventually be the big man we need, but he needs to put on weight. That will be the determining factor, can he bulk up enough. As to next year, Bryce McGowens is exactly the type of player we need. A three dimensional player, a three level scorer, passer defender. He has the whole package. But, he is slender and will just be a freshman. I don't think it is fair to expect him to come in as a skinny freshman and tear up the B1G. I hope upon hope I am wrong, but I don't see much contribution next year coming from either Keisei or Breidenbach. I have already posted my thoughts about Breidenbach, and his lack of size and athleticism, so I won't repeat here other than to say this goes back to my initial point. He appears to me to be a one-dimensional player--very skilled, but poor athlete. I just don't see it working in the B1G, especially not his first couple of years (and who knows if he will last all 4 years, does anyone?). Keisie is the same things--very skilled shooter, but lacks athleticism and size. Yet another one-dimensional player. I don't think he will be able to get his shot off consistently in the B1G, and he will get destroyed on the defensive end. I recently checked his juco stats and they have only played a couple games but his numbers were very pedestrian and he didn't even start at least one of the games. Fred made a mistake in thinking he could bring in 2 coaches that only coach and don't recruit. He has relied almost exclusively on Matt A. to do all the recruiting. This simply isn't working. Fred is going to have to make some tough decisions in the offseason and most likely have to bring in 1 or 2 more ace recruiters to up the talent. It is that simple. Nebraska has a talent problem. Upgrade the talent, and upgrade the wins. With that said, it is so disappointing seeing his complete inability to recruit the talent right here in our own state. As someone who watched Danny Nee lock up the state at a time of great Nebraska talent, it is a shame to see player after player in our home state go to other schools when if they simply all cam together here at NU, along with Bryce, Banton, Andre and Trey, could have a great, and I mean great, team. Danny did it. Why can't Fred?

Why in the world are they playing man the man defense on the inbounds with one second left? And watch Teddy guarding the inbound are standing flat-footed with his arms down. Pathetic.

You crack me up. For five years I suspected you are either related to Tim Miles or his secret lover. Now I know it must be true. For five years if Miles, no matter how bad, you never once criticized him or said anything that in any way could be interpreted as negative about him and defended Miles at every single opportunity. You’ve said more negative about Fred and this team in this thread alone than against Miles in 5 years. Lol.

If you can’t guard the pick and roll, you can’t play center in the NBA. At least not big minutes or as a key player.

This didn’t age well

I subscribed to Big 10 Network+ for this game. Does anyone know how to watch on my TV using a Roku or other device?

We’re playing with great effort but making too many stupid decisions and mistakes.

Lat does the same stupid stuff game after game, time after time

Starters shooting 6-24 Bad Teddy is really bad. They are locking up Mayen and daring Banton to shoot. Nice to see Webster get get his stroke back, but Still looks like this team is full of chuckers not shooters.

Losing Walker and Andre probably has already cost us one game. None of us has seen Andre play, but with his height, length and athleticism, I would hope he can give us more than Yvan from day 1. Hoping he gets immediate playing time upon his return. Until then, Fred might have to go with Stevenson at center. They utilized him some yesterday, and it worked okay. Fred parked Stevenson in the dunker spot (short baseline) and then when Delano or Trey or whoever would penetrate and draw the defender they could just dump off to Stevenson for the easy dunk. These are plays that Yvan just can't seem to convert because his stone hands don't allow him to catch it cleanly and his slow jump doesn't allow him to get off the floor quick enough.

There is a difference between a player that can make a 3, and a player that is a legit 3-point shooter. Nebraska has a number of the former, but not any of the latter. Lat is the closest to being a legit 3-point shooter, but he appears to have a confidence issue. Some guys are dynamite practice players, but when the lights turn on, struggle for whatever reason. It is still super early, so no way to know for sure, but just reading Lat's body language and seeing how quickly he became tentative after missing his first few shots seems to be telling. In the 2nd half, Lat had a wide open 3 and passed it to Banto to take the 3 instead. I don't care if Delano hit his last 10 threes, if open, Lat should always take the shot before Banton. It also might explain why a guy that can make 86 out of 100 in a NBA shooting drill only shot 38% in juco ball. With that said, Hoiberg may just be the perfect coach for him because Fred will continue to encourage him to shoot and shoot some more. The other guys like McGowens, Stevenson, Teddy, etc, are just guys who "can" make a 3, but are not legit or pure 3-point shooters.

I watched his entire game that he played on ESPN. I really, really, really hope I am wrong, but I think he is going to struggle in the B1G. He is super, super skinny, and he doesn't have the frame to put on weight. No way he can guard centers in the B1G. This means he will probably have to play PF (as opposed to center), which, to me, takes away all the potential advantage he might offer as a "stretch 5". He will struggle at PF IMO because he is alarmingly unathletic. I don't understand all the talk by Fred about him being good at playing fast tempo because he is S-L-O-W and, frankly, looks gangly and and uncoordinated. He is not a leaper at all. He will get banged around like a rag doll against physical teams. I think the hope would be that he could be a player like the Wagner brothers at Michigan, but he is not even close to the athlete or ball-handler of either of those guys (or the shooter IMO). So I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see him being much of contributor until at least his junior or senior years, and maybe never.

The University itself using Bots as followers may be a violation. But I can't see any reason why true fans can't work the system to their players/recruits advantage by strategically following them. What if every Nebraska fan created a burner account (or two, or five or ten) and use that account just for following all Nebraska athletes. Does anyone know how exactly the algorithms work in valuing the number of followers of an athlete. Do they just check the number of Twitter/Instagram handles "following"" the athlete? Or do they also check to see how many others are following the followers (so, for instance, if a follower retreats an advertisement by an athlete that retweet connects to more handles"? If yes, then someone should create a site where everyone that creates a "Nebraska Burner Account" can find the handles of all others who created "Nebraska Burner Accounts" and then they could all follow each other as well. This would make it appear as though every follower of the athlete had numerous followers themselves, thereby enhancing the value of the followers.

I mentioned this in the McGowens thread, when I saw that Georgia was our competition for Bryce, I worried that $EC money bags would win out as they have so many times before. But with the commitment of Bryce, I wonder if the fact that NIL rules go in effect next year helped "even the playing field" for dear ol' NU. Reading between the lines, it sure seems that Moos, Frost and Fred are developing "strategies" to make sure the players NIL pays "dividends" once implemented. We all have read the articles about how Lincoln's own Opendorse is working with pro athletes across the nation already, and it poised and ready to work with college athletes as soon as the NIL rules are implemented. From what I've read, it seems that the potential earnings a player can earn (by tweeting or posting about certain products or companies) is directly linked to the number of followers the athlete has. For instance, Adrian Martinez has about 40,000 follower, so he will earn more than Dedrick Mills who has about 7,000 followers. I personally have never followed any Nebraska athlete on any social media platform (Twitter, Instagram, etc.). Frankly, it's just not my thing, as I am sure many of you feel the same. But. But, if I can play a small role in helping this program get more 4* and 5* recruits in the future (and more money in their pockets) simply by pressing that "follow" button, then it seems it behooves me as a fan and season ticket holder to to so. Nebraska is not a large state, but we do have 1.7million people, most of whom are supporters and fans of Nebraska football and basketball. I may not know much, but I know that 1 million followers is a lot more than 10,000, or even 40,000. If we spread the word to everyone we know to "follow" our athletes (especially basketball because there are only 13 at any one time!), and that leads to these athletes getting more NIL money than they could get at other schools, this could finally put the "money" factor to our advantage. And it doesn't cost any of us a single penny. With all this said, I could be wrong in my understanding of how this all works. If anyone knows more about how this works, please chime in. But if I am right (or even close), then how can we, as diehard Nebrasketball fans, spread the word to "follow" in support of our players and recruits.

It is very rare to find a truly talented wing with length, athleticism, ball-handling skills, basketball IQ, body control and true 3-level scoring. McGowens is almost an ideal wing, can't wait to watch him live at PBA. He may have to put on some muscle to bang night in and night out in the B1G, but he should be able to get there. His brother certainly has strength and a solid frame, so the potential should be there. When I watched his video I was struck by how smooth he is on the court. The scouting reports say he is not an explosive athlete, and that may be true, but he appears to glide on the court and almost levitates in the air. When he jumps off movement he has incredible body control and his lift seems effortless. As others have mentioned, he often looks like he is going to hit his head on the rim. His height seems a legit 6'6" and I would be interested to know his wing-span, he looks to have nice length. Handle is nice in the open court, but we still need to see how well he can handle in traffic when attacking closeouts in the B1G--this is often what separates good from great. On a side note, when I saw Georgia was the competition, I immediately worried that $EC money bags would win out as we have seen so many times before. But not this time. I wonder if the NIL played some part in this. Nebraska fans will get behind a big-time recruit like Bryce and this could increase he NIL appeal. I also believe Moos, Frost and Fred are already being very "strategic" in developing ways to make sure the NIL pays "dividends" once implemented. Welcome Bryce-- GBR!

Does anyone know why they didn’t seek a waiver for Lakes to play this year? Now with this extra year of eligibility he could have played this entire year and next year.

In the 2018 season, the national average was 35.1 percent and it was 35 percent in 2017.

At Western KY Banton shot 21% from 3 and 56% from the line, and (at least as of last year), his form was atrocious. I have a lot of high hopes for Banton as an all-around ball-handler/slasher/passer/rebounder. But unless Fred has some magic dust in his pocket, not counting on him being anywhere close to a decent shooter from the outside. Especially considering that "decent" in today's game should be at least 35% from 3. Hope I'm wrong and he has significantly improved his shot.

I agree this team still lacks shooters, but a lineup of Kobe, Banton, Allen, Thor and Lat is intriguing to me. Enough ball-handling and fire-power to put up points, and though a bit small, should have enough size to compete on defense and rebounding. When examining the PF/C spots, must remember that Banton is 6'9". Even though he may play guard on offense, he can still guard opposing PF or most teams (unless they have a complete bruiser). This allows Lat to play 5 and Kobe, Allen and Thor to match up with opposing guards/wings.

Worried about the shooting with that starting lineup. Yvan is a complete non-shooter. Banton (unless he has improved immensely) is a very poor shooter and Trey was never a consistent shooter at Pitt (about 31% from 3 which is very poor). Allows defense to sag off on defense and clog the paint making it very difficult for guys to dribble penetrate.

That was kind of my whole point. I don't know what the staff has planned for Lat. I'm just saying that I think NU's best chance of success is if Lat can be an impact player at the 5. I have no idea if he can or not. No idea if he is physical enough or strong enough. Heck, I don't even know if he is any good. But if reports are true that he is playing well and they expect good things from him, and he is a really good shooter, I would love to see him get some run at the 5. Nebraska will not be able to out-talent its opponents. Its best hope it to have a unique offense that can cause match up problems and give it a unique advantage. Small ball is taking over the NBA. The Rockets had a starting lineup with Robert Covington at center (6'7" 209 lbs) and no other player taller than 6'5". If they can do that in the NBA, I would think Lat could play some 5 since he is 6'9" and 210 lbs+. Plus, you have Banton who is 6'9" and the other players are all pretty tall and very thick/strong for their positions. Playing Lat at center would allow NU to play a 5-out system, which would really open things up for our driving wings like Banton, Trey and Allen.

How do you win games in the B1G without great players? You can't just willy nilly say "we have to win games before we can get the recruits." You can't win games without the players. The recruits must come first. We saw this last year. Even the great basketball mind of Fred Hoiberg was absolutely destroyed in the B1G because he didn't have the horses. You gotta get the Jimmys and the Joes to get the wins. And yes, Hoiberg and Matt and even Doc should be busting their butts for these Nebraska recruits. Are you really suggesting NU, with Fred Hoiberg as HC, should just drop its head, kick the dirt, and moan "woe is me" and think we have no chance of landing a kid out of Grand Island? I don't care if the odds are slim of getting them, they need to burn up the phones and zoom with the players and coaches and families and everyone else in their teams. Even if they don't land them, they will build some goodwill in this state which is sorely lacking right now. Nebraska is finally producing some big time players and Nebraska hasn't landed any of them. Danny got the best players and locked up the state. Fred and staff need to put on the work, there no excuse to not do so.

I think the X-factor this year is going to be Lat. Not only whether he can be a true impact player, but an impact player at the 5. He could open up the lane and so many other options on offense. Question is whether he can guard opposing 5 and rebound. Hear he is relentless, so that will help, but is he big and strong enough.

Do you really think Donovan decommitted solely because he is scared of the competition on the NU roster? From players who are on a 7 win team? Or that he decommitted solely because he was scared of Teddy? He is being recruited by multiple power 5 schools. Do you really think those schools don't have players who are just as good or better than Teddy?

cjbowbros original post was in response to Huskerinexile who said that we do not want Donovan at NU because he is not a team player and became uncoachable this year. I think cjbowbros point was that this seems like a myopic and selective vision position considering all the other players Hoiberg has recruited to play at NU. I have thought about this as well. I mean, let's be honest, virtually every single high profile HS player is selfish in some form or another. And isn't pretty much every single transfer player we bring in selfish? These are players that just quit on their team because the situation wasn't best for them. Some of them have quit on multiple teams already. Are they not selfish? What about Cam Mack (watching 10 minutes of his juco film pretty much summed him up, didn't it)? Are we certain Donovan is more selfish than all these other players? If you or I or Huskerinexile watched some of these other high profile players play in HS, we would probably see a lot of selfish play I imagine. We are all excited about the signing of Trey McGowens today (as am I), but when you read his interview with Washut all he talks about is how his coach at Pitt didn't utilize him in a way that can "get him to the league" and so he quit on his team so he could play for a new coach who can hopefully get him to the league. Again, it is what it is, but how can you, or Huskerinexile, or anyone else be sure that he is going to be a great team player and Donovan most definitely will not. Tim Miles scouted Donovan and thought enough of him to recruit him and accept his verbal. Shall I take Huskerinexile's (or yours for that matter) over Tim Miles? Or Bill Self? Of the head coach of Texas? Or Kansas State? For years we have all lamented the lack of talent in Nebraska. Year after year after year we lament that we cannot count on any Nebraska kids to build around. Well, now we have some Nebraska kids, but we are not signing any of them (except Arop who obviously is not of the same skill level). Yes, we all still hold out hope for Sallis who probably is the best of the bunch. But it also seems that Donovan and Sallis talk (friends? Does anyone know?) so losing Donovan may hurt us with Sallis. When Danny Nee was here, he locked up the state. He got all the best players from the state and those were some of his best teams. Why not take a gamble on Donovan? If he is a bad apple, cut him loose. Fred is turning over the roster every year anyway, so not a lot of risk involved. Neither you, nor I, nor Huskerinexile know for sure what his attitude would be once he is here. Maybe once he got around the older players and got humbled on the practice floor he would grow up and mature some. We all seem to be giving Teddy that benefit of the doubt even though he has proven otherwise many times over (and still has excessive antics on the court in juco). I think cjbowbros was simply saying he would rather take that gamble on a 4 star Nebraska kid than some other kid from some other state who in the end is probably is just as selfish as Donovan anyway.