NUdiehard

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.

Palmer loves to pad his stats in garbage time

Palmer ALWAYS pads his stats in garbage time

Its one thing to miss shots (and we missed plenty), but I was dumbfounded by Miles "strategy" down the stretch. As we all know, NU managed to take a lead by 3 in the second half and if I recall correctly, it was still a close game with about 6-8 minutes left, and we all knew we absolutely could not let UW stretch out the lead. So I was pleading, even yelling, for Miles to go to Hack-a-Happ. Happ is shooting 37% on FT in conference play. He was 0-3 last night. Miles made 2 massive blunders down the stretch of that game. 1. When Tanner fouled out, he put in Brady. Why? Why not go small? Play Watson, Allen, Thor, JPJ and Roby. Brady was clearly outmatched in that game. The smaller lineup could at least stretch out the defense a bit and give the offense the best chance to score. Then, on defense, if the ball goes inside to Happ, just FOUL HIM. We didn't need a big to guard their big, because our small could just foul every time Happ touched the ball (we had multiple players who had just 1 foul on the floor at the time. This lineup blunder was compounded when Miles, out of a timeout, ran a play that apparently was designed to go to Brady under the hoop! What? The ball was passed in to Brady and Brady then promptly threw it away. Turnover. What is going on? Why is Miles running a play through Brady late in the game when the game is on the line and Roby is on the floor? 2. His second mistake plays off the above. Miles should have gone to Hack-a-Happ with 6 to 8 minutes left in the game. Especially when NU reached 6 fouls putting UW in the single bonus. We could have had 3 straight possessions where we put Happ on the line for a 1-on-1 situation. If he misses the first shot, it is essentially a turnover. But no. Instead, NU allowed UW to run significant clock and either (a) hit a 3 point shot which was an absolute killer in such a low scoring game, or (b) fouled one of UW's guards late in the shot clock!?! What is going on here? In fact, Miles never went to hack-a-Happ the entire game. Even down 10 with 3 minutes to go, he could have fouled Happ every time down just to give NU a chance, but its almost like it never occurred to him or any of his assistants. Really?!? This is mind blowing. It is incredibly frustrating watching the players miss shots. And watching JPJ take his hero shot 3s late in the game was tough. But that is something that can happen to the best of players, let alone our guys. Sometimes the ball just doesn't go in the hoop. But watching a coach, who is payed $2.5M fail to see and implement such basic and obvious strategies and lineups is unacceptable. The coach has to give the players the best chance possible to win the game. NU may still have lost, but Miles should not cripple them with such poor coaching decisions making it that much more difficult. I have supported Miles. Up to this point I have told everyone I talk to I think Miles should get an extension. But with this collapse, and watching these types of massive coaching inadequacies, has me at wits end.

Can someone explain to me how to mute another member. Thanks.

Note Iowa had 3 seconds left in half and made a 3-pointer by just dribbling up floor and taking 3 in comparison to the ridiculous half court alley-opp play run by Nebraska with 3 seconds left in Maryland game that had no chance of being successful in that short span of time.

Go back and watch the replay. By the time the ball gets to Roby there was only 0.3 seconds on game clock. Even if he catches it clean he doesn’t have time to gather and shoot. Would have had to literally tipped it in from a full sprint and jump based on a half court pass. Almost 0% chance all that works in that time frame. Plus the defender was with him all the way and had another defender in paint as well. Maryland not going to allow him to just streak down court all alone. Much rather get a decent look from 3 and live with results.

The Paner hero ball down the stretch had to end and a lot of that is on Miles. Allen is the best shooter on the team but Miles will not or cannot get him open shots. That play out of timeout with 3 seconds on shot clock (not last possession) where pass into Roby and out to James for 3 should have been to Tom. Need to get the right pkayers the right shots at the right time.

Totally disagree. The pass was off because it is almost an impossible pass—an alley-oop pass from half court with hands in your face. Terrible play. Just get a good look from 3

The was a crap play. Just get a good look from 3 and go for the win. The odds of that half court alley oopbworking was about .01%.

Terrible shot. Hero ball in effect

2 for 1 Please!!!!

ESPN just updated their top 100 draft prospects and Roby came in at #39, which would be a high 2nd round pick. Palmer comes in at #80 and Copeland is not listed on the top 100