NUdiehard

What is your projected starting lineup and who will be the 8-10 rotational players? My projected starting lineup: PG - Griesel SG - Bando SF - Wilcher PF - Wilhelm C - Walker Other rotational players: Keita - C Gary - PF LLoyd - PG/SG/SF Keisei - SG Dawson and Lawrence will be battling for for playing time. If Keisei struggles again early this year, Lawrence may get some of his minutes. After listening to the press conference (and the Sam Hoiberg show on 93.7), it was surprising how many times Fred brought up Dawson's name unsolicited. Based on what I saw of Dawson in warm-ups last year, and what limited amount Fred has said about him, it appears clear that Dawson has a ways to go on his shot, but he must be impressing on the defensive end. Fred said he is leading the team in deflections in practice, and even commented that he considered pulling his RS last year (but concluded that would not be fair to him since he didn't arrive until after semester). I had not planned on anything from Dawson this year, but if he can give 4-8 minutes of intense defense and hustle, and just not screw up on offense, he might be able to find a small role. McPherson is out for the season with his injury and I don't see Oleg getting any meaningful minutes this year. Although I think Bando will start at SG, I think he will also be the backup PG, so Fred will have to stagger his minutes. Maybe Bando gets pulled early to get a breather, and then inserted back in at PG when Griesel comes out for a break, and so forth. Question is whether this will throw off the continuity of Griesel and Bando playing together strong starter minutes. I am not expecting a lot of Keita this year. But it sounds like he is a quick learner and is picking up the defense well. Fred said he is leading the team in taking charges (which I am not sure i want from my big man, but oh well). But if Keita can come in and be a tall and strong backup and play solid fundamental defense, that could be quite valuable for this team, especially against some of the giant centers in the B1G. I don't see him being much of a scorer, so others will have to pick up the slack on the offensive end. I don't see Keita and Walker playing together, and frankly think that would be a disaster. So Keita's minutes are going to be somewhat limited unless he could really impress enough to take some of Walkers minutes. But at this point, I just don't see him starting any games as long as Walker is healthy. If I am wrong on this, that would be great, because that would mean he is even more impactful that Walker, but that is a lot to ask of a first year juco. Wildcard: If Huskers have an injury or foul trouble, it is possible Cale Jacobson could be inserted for a few minutes to run the PG. But if it gets to this point, probably means something has gone wrong or not as expected.

The failure to secure a verbal from either Green or Friedrichson is disappointing to say the least. It does seem that Fred's status as a "hot seat" coach has caught up to him to the point that it is going to be very difficult to land quality freshmen recruits for the 2023 class. He is in the unfavorable position of needing to win to prove to recruits he is a winner and won't be fired-- but it is very difficult to get the recruits needed to win because he is on the hot seat. It is a spiral that is hard to get out of. This year's class with 3 freshmen and 1 sophomore (juco) is probably the best he could have hoped for considering his tenuous status going into his 4th year. Hopefully that core 4 will be a solid foundation for the year's ahead and make up for some of the lack of quality youth in the 2023 class. But transfers often are not as concerned about his long-term status because they are already upperclassman and only have 1 or 2 years or eligibility remaining. So unless Fred can pull a rabbit out of his hat, he is going to have to rely on transfers. He has to hope the 2022 transfers are good enough to earn him another year, then secure quality transfers for 2023 to try and get this program on track. If he can successfully do that, then maybe he can start landing quality freshmen in future classes. With that said, although this team has 3 seniors, it is not an "old" team. If some of these players can develop, they could be a foundation for a few more years: 5 Freshmen (3 RS Freshmen) 3 Sophomores 2 Juniors 3 Seniors *This does not include the 4 freshmen walk-ons

Ramel Lloyd’s dad posted a 10 second clip from Saturday’s practice. It was far away and grainy, but it looked like the red (starters?) were Griesel, Brando, Wilcher, Wilhelm and Walker. Lloyd was running PG for the whites.

Fred's recruiting classes appear to have improved each season. As we all know, his first class was a disaster. But we also know that he took over in April and had to completely revamp the entire roster. He was left with bare cupboards and could not fill them in such short time. Seems that should be somewhat a pass. Next year's recruiting class was not much better. But it was also during covid madness and coaches weren't even allowed to travel or bring in recruits. And the actual covid season was also a mess with canceled games, etc. His third recruiting class (last year's class) was much improved. The (short) McGowens era certainly did not work out well, but in addition to the 5 star, that class also included Wilcher (4 star-top 150) and Wilhelm (4 star-top 150). But as we know, Wilhelm got hurt in just his 5th game so we couldn't see him develop last year. Also had young but potential role players in Keisei, Dawson, Oleg and McPherson. This year's recruiting class looks even better. Sure, we don't know anything until they play on the court. But Lloyd (top 100 in 247sports composite), Keita (Rivals 4 star, top 5 juco) and Lawrence (top 200 recruit), to go along with the 3 transfers who all seem to be team-oriented hustle guys. If Fred could land Parker and/or Green, that would be another step up. We also see that Fred is scouting and offering high level recruits. There are also a lot of reports of Fred himself being very active on the recruiting trail. Even this seems a step up from the first few years. Does Fred now have to actually start to show improvement on the court. Absolutely. But rigid win/loss requirements may not tell the whole picture. What is the young recruits--Wilcher, Lloyd, Keita, Lawrence, Wilhelm, etc., are all playing hard, together and showing a lot of promise. Is it worth blowing everything up and starting even if the entire team is playing hard, together and as a unit, but coming up just short? Also, it seems important to remember that a possible cancer coach was removed last year. Maybe this is like starting over, giving this new coaching staff a chance to show what they can do.

13-15 wins would be a pretty high achievement all things considered. According to the bartorvic projections posted by 49r, NU is projected to be the #90 team in the country, and yet still is only favored to win 10 games all season. Bartorvic averages that out to a 13-17 record. Finishing #90 overall would mean NU should be an NIT team or at worst a bubble NIT team. Considering the past 3 years, this would be massive progress. As for 15 wins, I challenge you to list out any combination of 15 wins this season that doesn't look impressive, or are least a massive step up from the past 3 years. If NU were to get 15 wins, with only 4 cupcakes on the schedule, this would mean 10-11 wins over power 5 schools, and probably a few nice road wins. If they get 15 wins with this schedule, I imagine their Kenpom would be in the top 60, or close thereto. Of course, some of this depends on how the other B1G teams shake out this year, but based on previous years and this year's projections that seems about right. Heck, as said above, just 16 wins might even put NU on the bubble. If this team can get at least 12 wins, I think the fans will stick with them because that will mean they beat at least 8 power 5 teams with effort and scrappy play. That is a significant step up from the last 3 years and should be more than enough for Fred to return.

That is a very high bar. Considering NU's extremely difficult schedule, if NU finishes above .500 they almost certainly are an NCAA bubble team and possibly even in the tourney.

Nebraska has a brutal non-conference schedule, and it is compounded by the 20 game conference schedule. Doc used to have 13 non-conf games which included 12 cupcakes and one middling power 5 school. This year's year's schedule only has 4 cupcakes (and that includes UNO). Interesting you have NU winning the 2nd round game of the Invitational Tourney. If Nebraska loses to OK in the first round, they will play the loser of Memphis/Seton Hall. Last year Seton Hall was an 8-seed in the tourney and Memphis was a 9-seed. Oklahoma last year was in the first 4 out. The irony of the K State game is Nebraska may have a chance, but after NU compliance/medical rejected Keyontae Johnson, he committed to K State and there is a good chance he will be playing for the purple and be the difference maker in that game. It is also a road game being played in Kansas City. Indiana is projected by most to win the B1G this year, and Purdue is projected top 4 in conference by most. Creighton is projected to be at or near the top of the Big East and the game is in Omaha this year. St. John's isn't a powerhouse, but is a power 5 school projected to be in the middle of the Big East and it is a road game All things considered, unless there are losses to the cupcakes or some other massive letdown, determining Hoiberg's fate after the first 13 games seems ludicrous.

After last year's abysmal 3-9 record, Trev was lauded for renegotiating Frost's contract and conditioning Frost's return upon an agreed upon 50% reduction in his buyout. Seemingly everybody said this was the best, if not only, recourse under the circumstances. For some reason, they made the "effective" date of October 1, 2022. I am not sure if that specific "effective" date was published at the time or whether everyone just overlooked it as irrelevant. And it should be irrelevant as it is just 6 games into the season. I have no idea if a booster agreed to pay the additional $7.5M to fire frost early. Whether that is or is not the case, it still begs the question of whether that $7.5M could be put to better use, by both the AD and the booster, especially in today's college athletics environment. Does anyone really believe firing Frost now is going to dramatically change the course of this season? If not, what is the advantage gained by firing now that is greater than the alternate use case for that $7.5M? We are now in the age of NIL. Whether people (or this AD) like it or not, it is the current reality and its only going to become more and more prominent as time goes on. If this program wants to give itself the best chance to win, it must embrace the NIL aspect and figure out how to maximize its impact on both recruiting and maintaining its athletes. If a booster donated that $7.5M just to get rid of Frost 3 weeks earlier, as AD, Trev should have implored him to wait out the 3 weeks, and then donate the $7.5M to a local NIL collective. Simple math says that if NU FB has a 25 person recruiting class next season, that $7.5M could pay $300,000 to EACH and EVERY recruit next year. Or it could be distributed in other ways, with as much as $1M going to the best QB or other recruit. Or it could be spread out over the next 2-4 years for the next coach to distribute. The very small and marginal value of firing frost 3 weeks early (if there is any at all) is far outweighed by the other NIL use cases of that money. Rich people can do whatever they want with their money. But I sure hope the AD is at least strongly encouraging boosters to use those funds in a more productive manner, that is a big part of the job. And if the funds came solely out of the AD budget, then what is the rationale? For every AD dollar spent on the buyout, that is one more dollar of booster money that must replace those funds. It is not a zero sum game. For instance, if a booster later donates $7M, those $7M may have to go towards the cost of the new practice facility, but if the AD had simply waited 3 weeks and saved that $7M, then the AD could have paid for the $7M for the athletic facility and then the booster money could be used for NIL or some other purpose.

They have to make everyone taller so that Walker’s listed height of 6’9” doesn’t seem so out of place. Lol. As someone mentioned, Griesel is probably close to same height and weight, which is crazy.

i was trying to match them up where I felt it could go either way and different people would have different projections. It wouldn’t be much of of a discussion if it was Griesel vs Oleg. But I also realize some may feel completely different and they aren’t equally matched. We could just rank the players 1 to 10 in projected impact, just seemed like this might be a different twist on it. That is all. And to be clear, I am certainly not trying to denigrate any players, just projecting impact for this coming season.

Husker Hoops practice officially starts in 3 weeks. So we may as well start some completely speculative and most likely incorrect projections for players and their expected performance in the 2022-23 season. Rather that simply ranking players, let's compare how much "impact" certain players may have this season. Everyone is free to define "impact" in their own way, but the general idea of "impact" is how much that player will contribute to giving Nebraska the best chance to win IMO. So, who do you think will have the most impact this season: Griesel or Walker Wilcher or Bando Gary or Wilhelm Lloyd or Keita Keisei or Lawrence Dawson or Oleg Sam Hoiberg or Cale Jacobson Feel free to share your rationale for any of your picks

PG depth is now woefully thin. I know some think Lloyd can play some PG, but I just don't see it, especially not as a freshman. Who is next in line? Have to wonder if Keisei will get some run at PG. If not him, we may be looking at Sam Hoiberg or Cale Jacobsen getting some meaningful playing time this season.

Curious what everyone thinks on this. Hypothetically, if Johnson were to commit, and if he was cleared to play this year (health and academics, etc), and if he proves to actually be healthy and able to play, how much would that change everyone's outlook for this season? Would this actually get some of you excited about this season? How much would this increase your projections for this team? top 10 in conference? Top 7? I realize this is all a bunch of "ifs" that most likely won't happen, just curious on how much you think one really quality player could change the trajectory for this team.

One possible bonus with this hire. If Ziegler has been unemployed since March, then he essentially was not subject to any recruiting restrictions. A lot of times these assistant coaches use the time off to really develop relationships with potential future recruits and their families without any restrictions. Or maybe he just went to the the Bahamas for five months. Ha!

Well, there's also this one . . . https://saturdaytradition.com/big-ten-football/way-too-early-2022-23-big-ten-basketball-power-rankings/ 14. Nebraska (10-22, 4-16) What I like: I liked the fight the Huskers showed the last couple weeks of last season. Nebraska unexpectedly finished with 3 straight wins before falling to Northwestern by 2 at the Big Ten Tourney. And I wondered why we didn’t see it sooner. What I don’t like: None of the players most responsible for that late surge — Alonzo Verge, Trey McGowens and Bryce McGowens — are back this year. This team is going to stink so badly that it’ll come with clouds, like Pig-Pen from Peanuts.

You might be right. But context does matter. Comparing records from past years is precarious at best. For instance, the B1G how has 20 conference games. During Miles years it was 18, which meant 2 extra cupcakes on the schedule each year. During Doc's tenure, it was only 16 conference games, and Doc certainly knew how to load up on cupcakes. In Mile's first year, 9 of his 15 wins were non-conference (and he also lost by 16 to UTEP). His conference record was 5-13, and 3 of those 5 wins were against hapless Penn St and NW. The upcoming 2022-23 schedule is brutal. 20 conference games. Of the 11 non-conference games, 7 are against power 5 teams and only 1 of the 7 are home games. I would challenge anyone to find a more difficult non-conference schedule in the history of Husker Hoops, and then tack on the 20 conference games in the deepest conference in the nation. I'm not sure why Hoiberg basically dug his own grave with this non-conference schedule, but no doubt at the end of the season everybody will be comparing his end of year record to those of Doc and Collier when they aren't even remotely similar in difficulty.

It is going to be interesting to see how fans (including many on this board) react if this team plays hard, with grit, effort and cohesion, and yet still loses a lot of games because they simply do not have enough (scoring?) talent. I am curious to see if all those who repeatedly say all they want is a team to play hard and together regardless of the record really mean it. One other thought. If a team lacks talent, sometimes things may appear like "selfish" play even if it is not. For instance, if the team lacks scoring talent, at some point someone has to be the one to take the shot. It may not be a great shot or open shot because nobody has the talent to break down the defense and either get an open shot or force a double and kick to the open man, and so-forth, which results in a player having to simply "take the shot" that no one else can/will take. It may look like a bad shot and therefore a "selfish" shot, but what is the alternative, no one take a shot?

Well if it makes you feel any better in his 2nd game he shot 2-14 with 3 TOs

To have a successful season this year will require, at a minimum: 1. No major injuries. And Griesel absolutely cannot miss more than 1 or 2 games or its season over. There is no replacement at PG. Honestly am already worried about the 10+ minutes he is on the bench each game getting rest, not sure how that hole is going to be filled. 2. Good team chemistry with great effort and no (or very little) selfish play. This is a big ask in today's landscape. 3. Wilhelm must be a very solid player. We know he has potential, but the limited minutes he got last year were rough. He needs to not only "not be rough", he needs to be good/solid, and it would help if he could hit an occasional three at a decent percentage. 4. Wilcher must take a step-up, preferably a significant step up. He is the best shooter/scorer on a team that is going to have trouble scoring. A good season from his is critical. 5. It would really help if one of the true freshmen could be a solid contributor. Most likely candidates are Lloyd or Lawrence. Lawrence continues to be my dark horse, but question is whether his strong and athletic enough to play in the B1G as a freshman. 6. Keita must be a very solid player, at a minimum. To make a jump into top 10 or Top 7, he must be a beast, or at least as close to a beast as we can expect at Nebraska. Unfortunately this is probably too much to expect from as a raw prospect coming straight from juco off an injury.

Are we ranking them for how they will play this year, or over their career? Obviously, the transfers have a huge advantage over the freshmen for this coming season, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are the better "career" players or have the highest "ceiling" in their college career. Based on this upcoming season only: 1. Griesel - How could it be anyone but Griesel? He is our only legit PG. He is so valuable, if he gets hurt for any period of time, the season is pretty much over. There is no reliable backup PG 2. Gary - this was a toss-up between Gary and Bando, but I will go with Gary because he brings defense and rebounding which is desperately needed. 3. Bando - Basically a Trey replacement. Good defender, decent 3-point shooter. 4. Keita - The top 3 were easy, this is where it starts getting tougher, but I will go with Keita over Lloyd, Lawrence and McPherson just because he is almost guaranteed to have a role, even tho I don't think he will start. 5. Lloyd - This really is a complete toss-up. I want to put Lawrence because he is my darkhorse. And Q is an option because he will likely be in the rotation due to being the backup PG. But I will go with the safe pick in Lloyd based on this length and HS pedigree. For those who have Keita 1st or 2nd, what is your thinking on this. Don't we all agree that Walker will start? And if yes, then Keita is a backup center at best. And he will have competition for minutes from Wilhelm. Or do you think he will start and beat out Walker? Because if he is limited to backup minutes, there is no way he will have a greater impact than Griesel who will probably play 30+ minutes every game, or Bando and Gary who will either start or play 20-25 minutes per game. Just not seeing the logic on that call. With that said, if he is a dominant force that could beat out Walker for the starting center spot, that would be something. Walker was probably our third best player last year, and now he would be coming off the bench because the new guy is better, that would definitely be a step in the right direction, but I just don't see it happening. Regarding McPherson, I struggle with where to put him. He will most likely be in rotation next year because he is the only backup PG. But that fact he couldn't see the floor last year on a terrible team with so many holes and injuries just indicates he isn't a B1G level player, but man I hope that RS year helped him develop and now he shows he is ready for B1G play. If we are basing it on career (or at least the highest ceiling reached during their career), then: 1. Lloyd 2. Lawrence 3. Griesel 4. Keita 5. Bando

This. The improvement coincided with Trey not only returning but getting his legs back. And then Trey's energy and grit rubbed off on his teammates.

That first group might be the worst shooting team in all of college BB. Ha. Inclined to go with the 2nd group as of now. Prediction-- next year's team is going to be almost the exact opposite of this past year's team. Next year's team is going to play with grit and fire and energy and hustle, but is going to struggle in one-on-one situations and struggle to put the ball in the hoop. Then, next year, people are going to say Fred is good at getting his players to play hard, but is clueless coaching offense (the exact opposite of this year). And at some point, people are going to realize that things like grit, hustle, energy, effort, etc., are 90% about the players and about 10% the coach, even tho they thought it was the other way around all of last year. It's an interesting group. I would still prefer he found a true stretch 4 who can also defend and rebound, but this is what we have now. A lot of solid players, but no stars. A little bit of mix-and-match roster. Fred is going to have to earn his money in finding ways to help this group put the ball in the hoop. Primary areas of concern: 1. Backup PG 2. No stretch PF 3. Lack of shooters 4. Rebounding? Possible Wildcard: Lawrence. Really like his game. Only question is whether he is strong enough and athletic enough to step in and play right away in the B1G. If he can, he could be a factor with his shooting and all-around game. Questionmark: Keita. Have to admit, just wasn't that impressed based on the film I watched. Hopefully he was still recovering from the foot injury (or whatever it was) and will be quicker and more explosive than his video.

Some of it depends on which roster you considering for last year--the one where all the players were healthy and playing, or the one where Wilhelm was out almost all of the year and Trey was out (and then still getting his feet under him) over half the season.

I agree this team still has holes to fill, just not sure its primarily SG. If Bryce could average 17 points per game while shooting 27% from 3, I imagine Lloyd could score at least 13+ if he played similar minutes (although probably not as efficient at 2 point FGs). In fact, Lloyd may turn out to be a better scorer than Trey. Lloyd will be a better defender than Bryce, but not near as good as Trey. Also have Lawrence who is 6'4" and a solid all-around offensive player who purportedly can shoot well from 3. I am hoping he is a bit of a sleeper, I like his game. Smooth, confident, nice stoke, but admittedly not super athletic. His ability to defend will probably determine how much playing time he gets. Keisei is a total wild card at this point. He struggled mightily last year, but jucos do tend to take about a year to adjust to power 5 ball. There is still some potential he could improve his 3 point percentage closer to 40%, but his (lack of) defense may prevent him from getting on the court much. Also still a small chance Trey returns. Combine him with Gary and that would make for an elite defensive combo, but very poor offensive duo. Would much rather see a quality stretch PF, but that doesn't seem to be a possibility at this point.

I get what you are saying. I like the Griesel pick up. He is not a difference maker, but a solid all-around player--can shoot a bit can handle a bit, can rebound a bit, defend a bit, etc. But the hope was he would be the "role player" transfer and the next transfer would be the "difference maker". We probably differ here, but I see Walker as a solid "role" player, but not close to a difference maker. Last year we had a decent offense but struggled to defend and rebound. But let's not forget 2 seasons ago, when we had a decent defense (top 40 efficiency) but couldn't score to save our lives. On that team, we had some athletes who couldn't shoot a lick. Shamiel was an explosive strong athlete but couldn't shoot a lick. Delano Banton was 6'8" with mile-long arms, a great athletic, a great rebounder, and could handle the rock. Yet, but the end of the season he was coming off the bench because he couldn't shoot and stifled the offense. Would you rather have Banton (who is currently on an NBA roster) or Juwan? If a guy like Banton couldn't get us more than a couple wins in the B1G, how is Juwan going to make a difference? My point is not to bag on Juwan, I believe he will give great effort and hopefully be a true energy player. But that just isn't enough IMO. Plus, we already have three other players who are 6'6" in Griesel, Lloyd and Dawson. I realize they play different positions, but I am not convinced a 6'6" athlete who can't shoot is the answer to our desperate need for a stretch PF who can open up the floor for the other players to drive, etc.