Player Evaluations

[ECisGod]

Eduardo Andre - Second year freshman.  Only been playing basketball for 5-6 years.  Shows flashes, but needs to be more consistent.  Hustles most of the time.  Goes for rebounds, but doesn't always get into the right position to actually get them.  Seems to show a decent shooting touch in warmups, but rarely actually shoots in games.

 

Wilhelm Breidenbach - True freshman.  Kind of looked like a bull in a China shop at times before his season ending knee injury.  Always hustled, but needed to pull it back a bit at times.  Has an unusual looking shot, but showed some touch.  Needs to be a bit quicker & work on his shooting accuracy.  Game seemed to move to quickly for him at times, but that comes with most freshmen.  Would probably look better at this point in the season if he hadn't gotten injured.

 

Jackson Cronin - Freshman walk-on.  Not much to say because he's played a total of 6 minutes this season.

 

Denim Dawson - True freshman who joined the team at beginning of second semester.  Redshirting.  OK shooter based on warmups.

 

Keon Edwards - Second year freshman.  Transferred from DePaul.  Not sure what to make of him.  Looks kind of lost at times.  Seems to have a decent shooting touch, but also seems scared to shoot.  Really athletic - he can jump out of the gym based on dunks in warmups.  Would like to see him get more minutes to help his confidence & understanding of the game at this level.

 

Sam Hoiberg - Freshman walk-on.  Redshirting.  Seems to have a decent shooting touch based on warmups & is built like a brick s-house.

 

Oleg Kojenets - True Freshman.  Redshirting.  Needs to put on some weight to play in the B1G (thus the redshirt).  Seems to have pretty good handles for a 7-footer (again, based on warmups).  

 

Trevor Lakes - Super Senior.  Could ask for a medical redshirt based on only playing eight games this year.  Decent shooter, but the game is too fast for him at the high major level.  Probably needs to move on to the next phase of his life.  Could probably make some money playing hoops in Europe if he's willing to go to a lower-level league.

 

Lat Mayen - Fifth year Junior (two at Texas Tech, one at JUCO & second season at NU).  Streaky shooter.  Kind of slow footed, so he gets burned on defense a lot.  Pretty poor ball handler.  Doesn't get enough rebounds for his size.  I feel like I should have more to say about him based on the minutes he plays, but I'm not sure what else to say.  Will be able to go back to Australia and make money as a pro.

 

Bryce McGowens - True Freshman.  Very talented, but the ball sticks in his hands at times.  Outside shooting is improving as he recognizes what is a good shot.  Decent defensively, but could be much better based on his length & quickness.  Above average ball handler, but could be better.   Doesn't always look like he's giving 100%, but I think that's because the game seems to come so easily to him.  Could be a better rebounder.  Could be a one & done, but probably should come back for a second year because he needs to get stronger to play at the next level (NBA).  Game seems to have slowed down for him in the last couple of weeks.

 

Trey McGowens - Fourth year junior (Two at Pitt, two at NU).  Really good defensively, but sometimes takes too many chances going for steals.  Not a great shooter, but shows signs of improvement at times.  Good straight-line driver.  Very athletic.  Decent ball handler, but needs to work on his point guard skills to play at the next level (high level Europe/G-league).  Decent rebounder for a guard.

 

Chris McGraw - Fourth year sophomore walk-on (one at Ohio, one at DIII Otterbein, two at NU).  Not much to say because he's played a total of 8 minutes each of his two seasons at NU.

 

Quaran McPherson - True freshman.  Redshirting.  OK shooter based on warmups.  Not much else to say.

 

Jace Piatkowski - Third year freshman.  Not sure he's really on the team. Haven't seen him in warmups or on the bench during games.  Played 18 minutes last year after redshirting his first year in the program.

 

Keisei Tominaga - Third year sophomore.  Should be a better shooter than he's shown in games.  Unlimited range.  Ball of energy - sometimes plays with too much emotion.  Quicker than he looks.  OK ball handler, but will have to improve to play at the next level (high level Europe/G-league).  OK defensively because he understands positioning & has quick hands.  Decent rebounder for his size.

 

Alonzo Verge - Super Senior.  Really quick with the ball, but not a point guard.  Really slow shot, but decent accuracy if he has all day to shoot.  Black hole with the ball in his hands most of the time.  Would rather make the spectacular pass than the safe one.  Pretty good rebounder for his size.  Good finisher at the rim, but takes a lot of really bad shots.  Tries for steals too often on defense and gets burned when he doesn't get them, otherwise doesn't really seem to give effort on defense.

 

Derrick Walker - Fifth year junior (two at Tennesse, three at NU including sitting out a year as a transfer before the NCAA rule change).  Undersized post.  Decent ball handler for his size.  Good finisher around the rim.  Has a decent mid-range jumper based on warmups.  Good rebounder.  Hustles most of the time.  Pretty good defender in the post.

 

Kobe Webster - Super Senior.  Decent ball handler, but not a point guard.  Decent shooter - better off the dribble or a screen than catch & shoot.  OK defender.  OK rebounder for his size.  Hustles most of the time.

 

C J Wilcher - Second year Freshmen.  Transferred from Xavier.  Pretty good shooter, but takes some bad shots at times.  Kind of slow footed which hurts him on defense. Strong so he does OK as a post defender if he isn't way shorter than the player he's guarding (kind of reminds me of Ryan Anderson 06/07 - 09/10).  OK rebounder.  Good cutter & is able to finish at the rim through contact.

[seaofred92]

9 hours ago, ECisGod said:

Eduardo Andre - Second year freshman.  Only been playing basketball for 5-6 years.  Shows flashes, but needs to be more consistent.  Hustles most of the time.  Goes for rebounds, but doesn't always get into the right position to actually get them.  Seems to show a decent shooting touch in warmups, but rarely actually shoots in games.

 

Wilhelm Breidenbach - True freshman.  Kind of looked like a bull in a China shop at times before his season ending knee injury.  Always hustled, but needed to pull it back a bit at times.  Has an unusual looking shot, but showed some touch.  Needs to be a bit quicker & work on his shooting accuracy.  Game seemed to move to quickly for him at times, but that comes with most freshmen.  Would probably look better at this point in the season if he hadn't gotten injured.

 

Jackson Cronin - Freshman walk-on.  Not much to say because he's played a total of 6 minutes this season.

 

Denim Dawson - True freshman who joined the team at beginning of second semester.  Redshirting.  OK shooter based on warmups.

 

Keon Edwards - Second year freshman.  Transferred from DePaul.  Not sure what to make of him.  Looks kind of lost at times.  Seems to have a decent shooting touch, but also seems scared to shoot.  Really athletic - he can jump out of the gym based on dunks in warmups.  Would like to see him get more minutes to help his confidence & understanding of the game at this level.

 

Sam Hoiberg - Freshman walk-on.  Redshirting.  Seems to have a decent shooting touch based on warmups & is built like a brick s-house.

 

Oleg Kojenets - True Freshman.  Redshirting.  Needs to put on some weight to play in the B1G (thus the redshirt).  Seems to have pretty good handles for a 7-footer (again, based on warmups).  

 

Trevor Lakes - Super Senior.  Could ask for a medical redshirt based on only playing eight games this year.  Decent shooter, but the game is too fast for him at the high major level.  Probably needs to move on to the next phase of his life.  Could probably make some money playing hoops in Europe if he's willing to go to a lower-level league.

 

Lat Mayen - Fifth year Junior (two at Texas Tech, one at JUCO & second season at NU).  Streaky shooter.  Kind of slow footed, so he gets burned on defense a lot.  Pretty poor ball handler.  Doesn't get enough rebounds for his size.  I feel like I should have more to say about him based on the minutes he plays, but I'm not sure what else to say.  Will be able to go back to Australia and make money as a pro.

 

Bryce McGowens - True Freshman.  Very talented, but the ball sticks in his hands at times.  Outside shooting is improving as he recognizes what is a good shot.  Decent defensively, but could be much better based on his length & quickness.  Above average ball handler, but could be better.   Doesn't always look like he's giving 100%, but I think that's because the game seems to come so easily to him.  Could be a better rebounder.  Could be a one & done, but probably should come back for a second year because he needs to get stronger to play at the next level (NBA).  Game seems to have slowed down for him in the last couple of weeks.

 

Trey McGowens - Fourth year junior (Two at Pitt, two at NU).  Really good defensively, but sometimes takes too many chances going for steals.  Not a great shooter, but shows signs of improvement at times.  Good straight-line driver.  Very athletic.  Decent ball handler, but needs to work on his point guard skills to play at the next level (high level Europe/G-league).  Decent rebounder for a guard.

 

Chris McGraw - Fourth year sophomore walk-on (one at Ohio, one at DIII Otterbein, two at NU).  Not much to say because he's played a total of 8 minutes each of his two seasons at NU.

 

Quaran McPherson - True freshman.  Redshirting.  OK shooter based on warmups.  Not much else to say.

 

Jace Piatkowski - Third year freshman.  Not sure he's really on the team. Haven't seen him in warmups or on the bench during games.  Played 18 minutes last year after redshirting his first year in the program.

 

Keisei Tominaga - Third year sophomore.  Should be a better shooter than he's shown in games.  Unlimited range.  Ball of energy - sometimes plays with too much emotion.  Quicker than he looks.  OK ball handler, but will have to improve to play at the next level (high level Europe/G-league).  OK defensively because he understands positioning & has quick hands.  Decent rebounder for his size.

 

Alonzo Verge - Super Senior.  Really quick with the ball, but not a point guard.  Really slow shot, but decent accuracy if he has all day to shoot.  Black hole with the ball in his hands most of the time.  Would rather make the spectacular pass than the safe one.  Pretty good rebounder for his size.  Good finisher at the rim, but takes a lot of really bad shots.  Tries for steals too often on defense and gets burned when he doesn't get them, otherwise doesn't really seem to give effort on defense.

 

Derrick Walker - Fifth year junior (two at Tennesse, three at NU including sitting out a year as a transfer before the NCAA rule change).  Undersized post.  Decent ball handler for his size.  Good finisher around the rim.  Has a decent mid-range jumper based on warmups.  Good rebounder.  Hustles most of the time.  Pretty good defender in the post.

 

Kobe Webster - Super Senior.  Decent ball handler, but not a point guard.  Decent shooter - better off the dribble or a screen than catch & shoot.  OK defender.  OK rebounder for his size.  Hustles most of the time.

 

C J Wilcher - Second year Freshmen.  Transferred from Xavier.  Pretty good shooter, but takes some bad shots at times.  Kind of slow footed which hurts him on defense. Strong so he does OK as a post defender if he isn't way shorter than the player he's guarding (kind of reminds me of Ryan Anderson 06/07 - 09/10).  OK rebounder.  Good cutter & is able to finish at the rim through contact.

Great breakdown

[ECisGod]

7 hours ago, seaofred92 said:

Great breakdown

Thanks.  I'm kind of hoping others will join in.  Not necessarily on all the players but at least some of them.  Others on this board may disagree with my analysis because everyone sees something different.

[BigRedBuster]

20 hours ago, ECisGod said:

Alonzo Verge - Super Senior.  Really quick with the ball, but not a point guard.  Really slow shot, but decent accuracy if he has all day to shoot.  Black hole with the ball in his hands most of the time.  Would rather make the spectacular pass than the safe one.  Pretty good rebounder for his size.  Good finisher at the rim, but takes a lot of really bad shots.  Tries for steals too often on defense and gets burned when he doesn't get them, otherwise doesn't really seem to give effort on defense.

He is absolutely not a point guard with the way he hogs the ball and takes horrible shots.  I think the guy has the athleticism to be a very good player.  But, his head prevents his body from being as good of contributor as he could be.

 

20 hours ago, ECisGod said:

Trey McGowens - Fourth year junior (Two at Pitt, two at NU).  Really good defensively, but sometimes takes too many chances going for steals.  Not a great shooter, but shows signs of improvement at times.  Good straight-line driver.  Very athletic.  Decent ball handler, but needs to work on his point guard skills to play at the next level (high level Europe/G-league).  Decent rebounder for a guard.

Fred just needs to make him the point guard.  He's not fantastic at it, but at least he tries to get others involved.  His skills would improve if he played it more.  I think the team's attitude on the court would be totally different if Fred made this commitment too.  

 

20 hours ago, ECisGod said:

Bryce McGowens - True Freshman.  Very talented, but the ball sticks in his hands at times.  Outside shooting is improving as he recognizes what is a good shot.  Decent defensively, but could be much better based on his length & quickness.  Above average ball handler, but could be better.   Doesn't always look like he's giving 100%, but I think that's because the game seems to come so easily to him.  Could be a better rebounder.  Could be a one & done, but probably should come back for a second year because he needs to get stronger to play at the next level (NBA).  Game seems to have slowed down for him in the last couple of weeks.

If Trey were the point guard and that would cause our offense to work better setting up outside shots for players like Tominaga, Bryce could thrive.  I think other teams realize that nobody else is a threat, so they can guard him closer.  Create offense for other players and Bryce's game could improve.

 

20 hours ago, ECisGod said:

Derrick Walker - Fifth year junior (two at Tennessee, three at NU including sitting out a year as a transfer before the NCAA rule change).  Undersized post.  Decent ball handler for his size.  Good finisher around the rim.  Has a decent mid-range jumper based on warmups.  Good rebounder.  Hustles most of the time.  Pretty good defender in the post.

One of my favorite players on the team.  But, you can't coach size.  He just get overpowered when going up against Big Ten centers.

 

The entire team needs to get better at rebounding.  It's horrible and that comes down to effort and attitude.  I think the lack of success on offense, brings the team down and that hurts effort in this area.

 

The biggest problem is Verge at point.  The strange thing is, I've said this about Fred's teams for at least two years now.  Bryce should have played point way more last year too.  We have some very good players on this team.  But, they don't play as a team....and that starts at the point.

[BigRedBuster]

21 hours ago, ECisGod said:

Oleg Kojenets - True Freshman.  Redshirting.  Needs to put on some weight to play in the B1G (thus the redshirt).  Seems to have pretty good handles for a 7-footer (again, based on warmups).  

7 foot is what we need.  Hopefully he puts on weight and has the right attitude to rebound.  It seems like when we get a foreign player, they tend to have an adjustment period to playing the US and the Big Ten with how big and physical it is.  Hopefully the redshirt year can help him with that.

 

21 hours ago, ECisGod said:

Keisei Tominaga - Third year sophomore.  Should be a better shooter than he's shown in games.  Unlimited range.  Ball of energy - sometimes plays with too much emotion.  Quicker than he looks.  OK ball handler, but will have to improve to play at the next level (high level Europe/G-league).  OK defensively because he understands positioning & has quick hands.  Decent rebounder for his size.

He is one of the more frustrating players to come in. However, it's a symptom we have seen way too often with Nebraska.  We recruit a great shooter, only to have them come in and not be the great shooter they were.  To me, that has to do with the offense and being able to create shots for them that are, for the most part, uncontested.   This has been a problem even before Fred got here.  He has the fire and attitude to contribute.  But, needs other players around him to help him create his shooting opportunities.  I like his emotion on the court, but sometimes it gets the best of him.  Two games ago, he had a great block only to be called for a bogus foul.  He ended up getting T'ed up for his reaction.  A symptom of both is great emotion in the game and immaturity.  

 

21 hours ago, ECisGod said:

Lat Mayen - Fifth year Junior (two at Texas Tech, one at JUCO & second season at NU).  Streaky shooter.  Kind of slow footed, so he gets burned on defense a lot.  Pretty poor ball handler.  Doesn't get enough rebounds for his size.  I feel like I should have more to say about him based on the minutes he plays, but I'm not sure what else to say.  Will be able to go back to Australia and make money as a pro.

A player that just seems to not be able to ever get in a groove and contribute like he should.  I don't see that changing.

[admo]

@ECisGod Nice evals Clapton!

 

The obvious things that stand out to me - rebounding problems (team thing), can't hit shots (team thing) and the ball should probably go through Trey or Bryce to facilitate the offense.