ECisGod

Not that is is a surprise to anyone, but Hunter Dickinson didn't chose Nebraska. https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/37405520/michigan-center-hunter-dickinson-transfers-kansas

I hope he proves me wrong, but I don't think he is the solution at PG. Yes, his TO ratio was almost 2:1, but he only averaged an assist every 10.7 minutes on a team that scored 80 points per game. Iowa's assist to TO ratio was about 1.7:1 and if you remove Connor McCaffery who lead the country in assist to TO ratio multiple times it was 1.4:1. I think he can be a depth piece, but to expect him to be a true starting PG is not something I see.

He has to do something other than just facilitate the offense otherwise there is no reason to guard him. Most teams just ignored him on the offensive end of the floor because they knew he wasn't much of a threat for all three years at Iowa. I'm not saying he has to score 15 points per game, but he has to be some kind of threat or we will essentially be playing 4 on 5 on the offensive end of the floor.

Based on what I saw if Iowa last year, I'm not sure if he's better than the options we already had. Maybe better ball security but he doesn't seem to drive to the hoop or shoot 3's. He started, but only played 22.5 min/game. If we are only expecting 20-ish minutes/game, then OK. If we are expecting him to put in starter minutes (at least 30), then I don't see it.

Another point guard in the portal. MAC player of the year. Would be using his covid year. https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/36297682/toledo-rayj-dennis-enters-college-basketball-transfer-portal

For him to have a shot at the being anything other than "instant offense" in the NBA, he will have to work on his point guard skills and get stronger. His ball handling is OK, but he doesn't really make passes that set up other players. Most of his passes are to move the ball and hopefully get it back to take a shot, not to get someone else a shot. He's listed at 6'2", 175 & Steph Curry is 6'2", 185, so I get the comparisons (the shooting is just the most obvious part). But Curry's ball handling skills are miles ahead of where Tominaga's are. As a rookie Curry averaged 4.5 rebounds & 6 assists in 36.2 minutes per game. Does anyone really see Tominaga averaging 6 assists/game if he got to play 36 minutes/game in the NBA? He's always going to be a defensive liability because of his size, but so is Curry so that's not a big deal. I think he can play in the NBA next season, but he wouldn't play much. He's much better off coming back to NU next year & working to become a point guard.

It sounded like McPherson would have been the backup point last season if he hadn't blown out his knee, so I have him penciled in as the starting PG unless they bring someone else in to play the point. I agree that they need someone with experience. Look at Purdue, they had two Freshmen starting at the 1 & 2 and it really hurt them at the end of the season - both the regular season and the NCAA's.

May not make much difference. Hugley is more of a 5 & Mast is a stretch 4 (like Breidenbach is supposed to be).

Looks like it was 13.8 & 8. Played 3 years at Bradley so might have 2 years left with a covid year. https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/stats/_/id/4592677/rienk-mast

I'm not sure he has an NBA future unless he starts shooting 3's effectively. He didn't get much of a chance to shoot them at NU, but his stroke looks OK based on what I saw in warmups. He definitely can play in Europe and make a lot of money with the skills he has shown.

He's been invited to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. https://omaha.com/sports/huskers/mens-basketball/nebraskas-derrick-walker-gets-invite-to-portsmouth-invitational-event/article_be2b0180-75cf-5ce2-a0b1-ef5a2a28e33a.html#tracking-source=home-sports

Ryan Nembhard from Creighton is entering the portal. Would be great to see him move 50 miles southwest. Would help NU and hurt Creighton (and possibly align the planets). https://omaha.com/sports/college/creighton/creightons-ryan-nembhard-enters-transfer-portal/article_553e9f12-d401-11ed-b2d6-7bcf6132f13f.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

He is at this point in his career, but he's 6'3" 185 lbs. He's going to need point guard skills to play at the next level - especially if he wants to play in the NBA.

Not sure if that's good or bad. Clearly a really good player, but maybe a little too much like Verge. Everyone says they need a point guard, but before he blew out his knee they were saying Quaran McPherson had made a huge leap over the summer and was in line to be the back up point. I know he doesn't have any experience at this level and will be coming off an injury, but he should be a viable option. Tominaga is going to have to become a point if he wants to play anywhere other than Japan as a pro (one reason he should come back) & it appeared that Jamarques Lawrence was taking over some point duties when Griesel was on the bench by the end of the season. I think they have options as it stands - they just don't have a lot of experience.

Hunter Dickenson from Michigan is in the portal. https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/36019466/michigan-center-hunter-dickinson-enters-transfer-portal

She's using her covid year

Looks like Penn State is losing their coach to Notre Dame... https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/35920114/sources-notre-dame-hire-penn-state-coach-micah-shrewsberry

Which is why he lost playing time late n the season & the solution is to put in time in the off-season working on his shot. Unless he transfers to a mid-major school, it won't change anything in his PT.

I get it from his point of view, but if he was more consistent as a three point shooter, he'd get plenty of PT as a 3 & D guy. I think he would have played 15+ minutes per game next year.

My season tickets are right behind the opposing team's bench. The opposing team's fans usually are sitting a few rows in front of me & didn't hear anything directed toward their fans during the game (or Chucky's family specifically). That doesn't mean there wasn't or that it didn't happen outside, in the concourse or while they waited for Chucky to come out of the locker room and greet them after the game or any other time. It was pretty clear he had a subpar game and it appeared that the student section (and other parts of the crowd) booing him affected his game. I rarely yell anything directly at an opposing team's player unless he is constantly complaining about the way the game is being called or is acting like a complete a$$. I do a lot of yelling, but it is usually encouragement for the Huskers, complaining to the ref's or directed toward the opposing team's coach. Fran McCaffrey & Juwan Howard are easy targets because Fran whines about every call against Iowa & you can tell when you get under Juwan's skin.

Alphabetically by class: Henry Burt - Freshman walk on. Will be a redshirt freshman next year because he redshirted this year. Didn't really see anything in warmups that indicates he will get much playing time next year, but I thought the same thing about Sam Hoiberg after last season so you never know. Denim Dawson - Redshirt freshman. Will be a third year (really 2.5 since he joined the team in January 2021) sophomore next year. Should have some good upside if he can become a consistent three point shooter. Long & very athletic. Good defender. If his shooting becomes consistent, he could be a 3 & D guy off the bench next year. His role seemed to diminish as the season progressed and if he doesn't improve his shooting, it will be similar next year. Jeffrey Grace III -Redshirt freshman walk on. Will be a sophomore next year. Same as Henry Burt - didn't really see anything indicating he will play much next year, but could see him becoming a crowd favorite in mop up time. Sam Hoiberg - Redshirt freshman walk on. Will be a third year sophomore next year. Pleasant surprise when everyone started going down with injuries. May not play as much next season, but certainly deserves to be in the rotation. Good shooter, instinctive defensively - typical "coaches kid". If he had his dad's height, he would probably be on scholarship somewhere. Cale Jacobson - Freshman Walk on. Will be a redshirt freshman next year. Same as Henry Burt & Jeffrey Grace III - didn't see anything showing that he will play much next year. Oleg Kojenets - Redshirt freshman. Will be a sophomore next year. Tall, but needs to put on at least 20-25 pounds (7', 232). Looks kind of awkward at times, but seemed to improve as the season progressed. Looks to have a decent outside shot (based on warm ups). Decent rebounder at times, but would be better with more strength so he didn't get pushed around as much. I'm not sure how much he will play next year, but two years ago I wondered what Purdue was thinking with Zach Edey, so who knows. I'm not saying he will turn into a national POY, but he could become much better since he's still a project. Jamarques Lawrence - Freshman. Will be a sophomore next year. Really improved as the season progressed. Good three point shooter & seemed to be a willing driver. Will need to develop a floater to make his driving bear fruit. Seems pretty instinctive defensively. Will probably have to become a point guard, because he's only 6' 3", but I don't see any reason why that can't happen because he seems to be a pretty good ball handler. He just needs to be able to set up teammates, but there were times toward the end of the season he seemed to play point (or something similar) when Greisel was out. Ramel Lloyd Jr. - Freshman. Will be a redshirt freshman next year. Was highly rated out of HS & sounds like he was pretty good on the scout team this year. Didn't really see much in warmups, but hopefully he gets some PT next year. Quaran McPherson - Redshirt freshman. Will be a third year sophomore next year, but could apply for a medical hardship. Blew out his knee in preseason practice, but indications were that he would get a lot of PT as the backup point. Might have forced Lawrence to redshirt if he hadn't been injured. Hopefully he comes back 100% next year & picks up where he left off before the injury. Wilhelm Breidenbach - Sophomore. Will be a junior next year, but could apply for a medical hardship because he only played 10 games last year before blowing out his knee. Seemed to improve as the season went, at least from a rebounding standpoint and understanding what a good shot is (fewer threes & more put backs). Seems to be able to make three pointers in warmups, but doesn't translate to games. Maybe it will come as he gets older and the game slows down for him. Always hustles, but needs to pull it back a little at times as he gets fouls that could be easily avoided. He won't wow anyone with his athleticism (looks awkward a lot). Needs to get stronger in the post, especially on defense. Has the ability to put the ball on the floor, but needs to keep his dribbling more under control as he too frequently dribbles off his foot or too far from his body leading to steals/turnovers. Blaise Keita - Sophomore. Will be a fourth year junior next year. Seemed to be more comfortable with his role as the season went on. Needs to be a defense/rebounding guy right now, but shows some ability on the offensive end. This season was slowed by multiple ankle injuries - hopefully he can take some time off in the next couple of weeks and get it back to 100%. At times looks a little awkward, but I think that had to do with comfort with the speed of the game and his role. Hopefully he makes a big step forward next year since he should be used to the size/speed of the B1G. C J Wilcher - Sophomore. Will be a fourth year junior next season. His three point shot never really got on track this year, but did start to drive more and has developed a floater & some craftiness around the basket. Better defensively this year than last, but it is still an area he needs to work on. If he can get back to a 40% three point shooter like he was in 21/22, he could be very dangerous next season. Juwan Gary - Junior. Will be a fifth year senior next year. Crazy athletic. Great rebounder for his size (6' 6", 220). Great perimeter defender. Needs to become a more consistent three point shooter. Really need him to come back from his shoulder injury next year. Hopefully some if his shooting issues were due to the shoulder which wasn't 100% before the season ending injury to it. Keisei Tominaga - Junior. Will be a fifth year senior next season (if he comes back). Great shooter with unlimited range. Great enthusiasm. Very crafty in the paint so he can get his shot up without it being blocked. His defense got better as the season went along, but he's never going to be great because of his size (listed as 6' 2', 175). Would be great to get him to use his covid year and come back next year. Needs to become a point guard because at his size he is too small to be a shooting guard in most professional leagues. Seems to have a pretty good handle, but most of his passes are just to move the ball from point A to point B, not really set up teammates for scoring opportunities. Still has a tendency to take "bad" shots, but with his range it is sometimes hard to judge good from bad.

His feelings were hurt because he got booed? If that hurts his feelings, then we don't want him. He needs to "suck it up buttercup".

Through two days of the tournament only one higher seed has won. Maryland beat Minnesota in the last game last night.

Either Rutgers or Michigan was guaranteed to be in the NIT after they played today, so they didn't really "take" a bid from Nebraska. Rutgers could still end up there depending on what they do tomorrow & it wouldn't really be "taken" from Nebraska either. They pretty much handed their NIT bid back to the NCAA by losing last night.

This and a couple of replies is what made me make the thread.