NUdiehard

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.

Next year's team should be better than this years team, but considering this year's team was one of the worst in the history of the already bleak legacy of Husker Hoops, that is not saying anything at all. I want to be optimistic about next year, but having a lot of trouble getting there. Is there a single 1st, 2nd or even 3rd team All-B1G player on this roster? How can NU be a top team in the B1G if it doesn't have any of the top players in the B1G? Where is the shooting? We have takers, but where are the makers? IF Kobe King can get eligible, at least we know he is a player who would start on another B1G team and is a capable player. But this team needs shooters. No--it need makers! Kobe has shot worse from 3 each year, ranging from 33% his freshman year, to 30% his soph year, to a miserable 25% this year. And he will play shooting guard! A shooting guard that can't shoot is usually a problem. Especially when he is surrounded by other players who cant' shoot. Today's game is all about space and pace. Most good teams have at least 4 shooters on the floor and many have 5 good shooters (using a big man who can stretch the floor). The advantage of having shooters is that it forces the defenders to guard all the way out to the 3 point line, which opens up lanes for drivers to drive. If you don't have shooters on the floor, the defenders will sag off the non-shooters and play in the lane. This makes if much harder for the other players to penetrate and finish. We saw this year how many shots we missed at the rim. Some of that was poor finishing, no doubt. But a lot of it was because the defense could sag off non-shooters, or post players like Yvan, and just wait in the paint for our driving guards. It is very difficult for a small guard to finish over multiple long and athletic defenders patrolling the paint. Banton is getting a lot of hype and he hopefully will be a very good player for NU. But he can't shoot a lick. His form is atrocious, his 3-point percentage is terrible and his free thrown percentage is terrible. The B1G has great coaches, and they will sag off him all game every game. Now, most likely Banton will still find ways to get to the hoop and finish and he will get his own. But with guys who can't shoot, you can't just judge them on how well they do individually. For instance, if he shoot 50% from the floor, you can't just say "well, he is overcoming his shooting deficiency by finishing at the rim so he is fine." This type of thinking doesn't factor in how much he has contributed to the reduced shooting percentage of his teammates. If Kobe King has more trouble finishing at the rim because he not only has to beat his defender, but also had to go over/through Banton's and Yvan's defenders, then that is not all on Kobe, that is on Banton and Yvan as well. Teddy Allen could be a nice player, but it is so hard to know for sure. His juco numbers are great, but so were Green's. I am now convinced juco players play no defense at all because the numbers so many average to below average players put up is astounding. At least we know Teddy has some success in Div 1, but he also had problems and who knows where that goes. Fred rolled the dice on Cam and see how that turned out. How will Teddy turn out? And I haven't seen much of Teddy, but from what little film I have watched, he doesn't seem like much of an athlete to me. Am I missing something? Did I just see the wrong highlights? Maybe, but from what I've seen he appears to be a mediocre athlete that plays below the rim. His basketball skills are good, but how will that translate against B1G athleticism? I did another post on Yvan so I won't cover that here. In short, I don't think a player of his type can ever take NU or any team to the upper tier of the B1G. Similarly, I don't understand the excitement for Walker at all. Walker is WAY undersized at just 6'8 and can't shoot a lick. He shot 40% FT his freshman year and 26% last year. He could not get more than a couple minutes playing time as as a sophomore. Sure he was on a good team, but don't we also want to be good team? If NU wants to be a top team, it can't keep playing other top team's rejects. Walker is a guy who the other team will not have to defend outside the paint. As said above, this clogs the lane and makes it hard for everyone else. Unlikely he will be rim protector on defense at 6'8". just don't get why we have one, let alone two, of these types of players on the roster. I've never seen Kobe Webster play so all I can go off of is his stats. But based on his stats, he looks like a chucker. Chucks up a lot of shot and some of them go in. His shooting percentages have never been good and he shot 33% from 3 last year as a junior. Where are the shooters? Yet another guy the defense can sag off of or go under screens and clog the lane making it more difficult for everyone else. And I seriously doubt he is in the same stratosphere as a passer as Cam who was an elite passer and playmaker. Look at Kavas' numbers when he played in the MAC. Kavas' numbers and percentages are much, much more impressive. We all saw how that translated to the B1G which is an infinitely higher level of basketball. Lat Mayen averaged about 10 points in juco, where we already know they play absolutely no defense. Jervay averaged 24 pts and shot 39% from 3 in juco and how did that translate. Now we have a guy who averaged 10 points in juco. Mayen did seem to get better as the year progressed, and he does seem to have some length and athleticism, but still, he seems to be yet another role player at best. Even Sadler, Collier, and MIles were always able to get role player level players. But that is not enough. Where the difference makers? Where the 1st, 2nd or 3rd team All-B1G players? Can't win in the B1G without some.

Yvan is clearly a very, very impressive young man. He is living and attending college in a foreign country while playing high level division one basketball at the age of 17. By all accounts, he is a great kid, a hard worker, and his maturity levels are off the charts. Nothing but props to Yvan as a person and as a fine young man. But . . . As a player, this assessment is spot on. Yvan has certain limitations that are going to be very difficult, if not impossible, to overcome in his attempts to become a difference maker at the Big 10 level. First thing I noticed when watching Yvan play is that he literally shoots the ball from the back of his palm (bordering on his wrist as mentioned by HF). Shooting this way makes it virtually impossible to have consistency, let alone good touch. Trying to correct something like this over an off-season is almost impossible. He has clearly been shooting this way his whole life. If it was an easy fix, I imagine they would have done it prior the start of this season. He now shoots this way by instinct, by habit. Very, very difficult to change at this point. This form of shooting affects not only jump shots, but free throws and even layups which should be controlled off the fingertips are coming off his palm instead. Yvon also has athletic limitations that will never change, no matter how much he works out or conditions his body. Yvon is already considerably undersized as a center at about 6'8", but this is compounded by the fact he is a very, very S-L-O-W jumper. When Yvan catches the ball under the basket, it takes him an eternity to catch, gather, get his balance, bend his knees, load and then jump. This is why is constantly gets blocked. This makes it virtually impossible to run pick-n-roll with him. He simply cannot gather and jump quick enough to have it all happen in one motion. There are so many different types of athleticism. Yvan moves around the court fairly well, but his lack of quick-jumping ability is a limitation that stifles everything a player at his size should be about. And this will never change. He may get a fraction quicker on the jump, and may get a fraction higher on the jump, but he is what he is. This is why exceptional athletes are so sought after out of high school. There are some things you cannot teach or manufacture. Some have it, some don't. Even when he does load and jump, he isn't particularly explosive, and he doesn't jump that high. And I don't recall ever seeing him jump off one foot. I could be wrong on this, but some guys are only 2-feet jumpers, and this severely limits their potential as well. The comparison to Cross by HF is apt. Cross is a much, much quicker and more explosive jumper--and I don't think anyone is going to argue this is because Cross is in better condition. It is just natural ability, something Yvan doesn't have. Problem with Cross is that he is only 6'5", is a terrible defender, and has no business playing center, but that is a different discussion. Yvan also has poor hands. How many times did Mack or someone else drop a dime into his bread basket right under the basket, but Yvan bobbled the ball and by the time he secured it, the defender had recovered. Admittedly, this is an area he could maybe improve some, but in most cases, guys with stone hands tend to always have stone hands. This is another thing that usually tends to separate big men. Some have nice soft hands, some don't, and that usually doesn't change much over their career. Remember Moses Abraham. That guy was a 5th year senior when he arrived, had played 4 years or Div. 1 college ball, and still couldn't catch a ball clean to save his life. Had stone hands, and all the games and practices year-after-year didn't change his reality. Yvan's lack of height and slow jumping limits him on the defensive end. I think we all saw that he was not a rim protector at all this year. I would be shocked if that changes much over his career here. This goes back to his limitations, slow jumper, lack of explosiveness, virtually no second jumping ability. Yvan was way better than Cross on the defensive end, but that is not the standard we need to go by. If we want to get into the top half of the B1G and go to the dance, we need players who are high level B1G players. Time to stop comparing our players to other Nebraska players (current or past). We should be comparing them to other teams players to see how we match up. How many teams in the B1G would start Yvan? Very very few, if any.

Blah

I hope you’re right, but I absolutely don’t see it with him.

Name me one guy on this roster that you believe will ever be a difference maker in the B1G?

At this point it might be a positive if all of these guys transferred.

lol. Or these players are just bad and most likely won’t ever be legitimate B1G players.

Wake wake me up in three years please.

That is really hard to believe considering the product that is being put on the floor. But even if true, is this year really about finding the best 8 practice players and giving them all the playing time? Or is it about finding the most promising young prospects and playing them and developing them for the future? This season is already a lost cause. Why are we wasting the present on transfer seniors like Kavas who have no part in the future and will take us nowhere this year?

At this point it would be best if the waiver is denied.

I think we can all agree that Fred gets a complete mulligan for at least one or two years as he tries to build this program from the ground up. For Nebraska, Hoiberg was as close to a "home run" hire as we probably can ever get, and frankly, if he can't get it done during his tenure here, then we should all just agree to terminate this moribund program and put us all out of our misery. He needs time. He deserves time. For those of us that have been doing this for decades, it stinks having to sit through another year(s) or inept and losing basketball, but for Fred it is year 0 so in the words of Coach Miles, "we can't put that history on him." With that said, I am completely perflexed by this team he has assembled. Yes, he had to scramble to piece this together in a matte of weeks, and it is a minor miracle we even have 13 scholarship players. But for a coach who is renowned for shooting the basketball and playing a style of "5 out" with 5 shooters on the floor, it is hard to understand this group of players. Not a single one of them (sans Kavas who, although a 5th year senior, looks like a deer in the headlights out there and not athletic enough to guard or get open) that has a nice shot. And I don't think the first 2 games are an aberration. Will they continue to shoot 20% from 3? Probably not. But this will never be a solid 3-point shooting team. To be honest, there isn't a single player on this current roster that I would be majorly disappointed if he transferred out except maybe Mack or Curtis. And speaking of Curtis, why isn't he playing more? I would take him over 13 guys on this roster right now, yet he sits on the bench. He is young, he is talented, he can shoot (looks weird, but goes in). Unless there is a disciplinary issue, I don't get it. If it was just for this year, then it wouldn't be much of a concern. Again, this is year 0--the mulligan. But we only have 2 seniors, so most of these guys will be sticking around for a while. And the two redshirts--Banton and Walker--are even worse shooters than anyone that is currently eligible. I don't understand why he recruited two centers (Walker and Yvan) that are (1) undersized, (2) can't dribble, and (3) can't shoot a lick. They will never allow Fred to play a 5 out system. Cross may eventually become an okay shooter (he is not a good shooter now), but he is not a center--he is 6'6" tall at best. Recruiting has also gotten off to a very slow start. Our most promising 2020 recruit (Davis) backed out of his verbal. Please don't tell me Fred didn't want him--he committed to Louisville! And now Donovan is waiting to sign his LOI in April, which is never a good sign. And why didn't Hoiberg secure additional commitments for 2020. I realize we only have 2 seniors and Miles already had two commits, but come on. We need a serious upgrade in talent. I would have expected Fred to be looking for multiple additional 2020 recruits and let things sort out after the season. And yes, he still can, and I'm sure will, get more 2020 recruits. It is just a little discouraging that he wasn't able to secure a single 2020 commitment for the November signing period. In fact, he hasn't secured a single commitment from any recruit for any class since assembling the current roster last April/May. Have a bit of a concern about Doc being defensive coordinator. His pack-line defense may have been great 15 years ago, but in an age where kids grow up shooting 3s and teams and coaches shoot 3s, putting 5 guys in the paint may not be the best strategy anymore. Remember, Molinari brought a similar packline defense here, and after year after year of getting scorched, Miles had to finally force him to modify the defense to stretch out and contend against those 3 point shots--and it did work much better. The game has changed, coaches must evolve with the game. Hoiberg should know that better than anyone. Strange that he would bring in a defensive coordinator that would be completely ill-suited to stop everything he wants to do on offense. Many people on this board are looking forward to a significant jump in year 2. To those people, based on what we know now, what is it that you see that makes you think this team will be anywhere close to competing for the top half of B1G next year? Unless there is a miraculous infusion of talent in the April signing period, I just don't see it at all. Again, not down on Hoiberg for that, I believe he gets at least 2 years mulligan, I just don't see a quick fix here at all. Again, none of this is to question Hoiberg or say everything is doomed. Most likely, Fred will pull a rabbit out of his hat and land some big time recruits here soon that will assuage all of these concerns. But as things stand now, this is what I see. I will continue to the games this year, but it just seems like none of these players are going to be the players that are going to take us to the next level. I think almost this entire roster is going to have to be turned over before we get there. And that could take many more years, which will still be worth it, but man, we've been doing this for so long already . . .

In the grand scheme of the Fred Hoiberg era, I realize this will be a blip on the radar. But I still don't understand why Fred gave Amir Harris his walking papers. If he had brought in a bunch of studs to replace him, I could understand, but I would take Amir Harris over many (most?) guys on this current roster in a heartbeat. Amir couldn't shoot a lick, but neither can anyone one this current team. Amir had length and athleticism, could drive and finish and was a very good defender.