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Nebraska Scrimmage
- Thread starter NowherePoke
- Start date
Besides Josh Adams, he's the most experienced player (in terms of minutes played) from last year. He's the guy who won us the game in FoCo, he's the guy who put us in the national spotlight with a spectacular in-game dunk, hit other clutch shots as well (including the banked-in 3 against Boise in the tourney). He's a guard, yet tough enough to defend against some very athletic power forwards when called upon. With such a young, inexperienced team, I want a guy like that on the floor (at least in November). Sure, his ceiling may be lower than others on the team and he's the type of guy who is a long shot for post season awards, but to say we're doomed because he's on the floor? Give me a break...calpoke25 said:
Cosmic Cowboy
Well-known member
Why are we already having players get thrown under the bus on here? The season hasn't even begun and we have no idea where the guys are at. This is especially true of Trey Washington. We've only seen him play limited minutes as a freshmen 2 years ago. He had some nice flashes showing some ability to get to the hoop, but he also made a lot of youthful errors and had some shooting troubles. He redshirted and stuck with the program through some adversity. I'm excited to see him get his chance and he could really be one of the nice surprises. I think mcman is more of role player type but we absolutely need those guys and I don't want to put some ceiling on him either. I'm hopeful for the best.
We aren't gonna be some stacked college bball wet dream talented team for at least a few more years imo. I hope it happens sooner but for now its looking like we need to stack a few more recruiting classes together. The baseline starting talent seems to be increasing every time we do. What more can you ask? I feel like if Shy has Wyoming in the top 6 teams in the MWC (a serious bball conference) he's doing his job. That'll always give us a chance to win a title. I understand wanting more but we have to be realistic as well. Even when we win titles I'm not the type of fan to expect that every year. Since when did we turn into UK fans or something??
We aren't gonna be some stacked college bball wet dream talented team for at least a few more years imo. I hope it happens sooner but for now its looking like we need to stack a few more recruiting classes together. The baseline starting talent seems to be increasing every time we do. What more can you ask? I feel like if Shy has Wyoming in the top 6 teams in the MWC (a serious bball conference) he's doing his job. That'll always give us a chance to win a title. I understand wanting more but we have to be realistic as well. Even when we win titles I'm not the type of fan to expect that every year. Since when did we turn into UK fans or something??
seattlecowboy
Well-known member
I don't think anyone should jump to conclusions about this team including myself before we see them play a few games.
Most notice this, maybe some haven't but every single player seems to get better every single year under Shyatt so while I think it will take some of the younger guys half the season to get acclimated, guys like Trey and Jmac will be better this year than the last time we saw them. That is just the way it works with Shyatt teams so I wouldn't say they can't be a good team with them starting.
One thing you can say is that most every team with Shyatt has had the chance to be pretty damn good but a couple of the years we had off court issues or the injuries that somewhat derailed it so we shouldn't discount what this team could end up doing if everyone stays healthy. That goes for myself as well.
I think next year when all of these guys have had a whole year in the program they are going to be pretty tough. We will see what they can do this year and maybe they will surprise even me. Not sure how surprised I would be though since I know Shyatt is a good coach when he has all of his players healthy.
Most notice this, maybe some haven't but every single player seems to get better every single year under Shyatt so while I think it will take some of the younger guys half the season to get acclimated, guys like Trey and Jmac will be better this year than the last time we saw them. That is just the way it works with Shyatt teams so I wouldn't say they can't be a good team with them starting.
One thing you can say is that most every team with Shyatt has had the chance to be pretty damn good but a couple of the years we had off court issues or the injuries that somewhat derailed it so we shouldn't discount what this team could end up doing if everyone stays healthy. That goes for myself as well.
I think next year when all of these guys have had a whole year in the program they are going to be pretty tough. We will see what they can do this year and maybe they will surprise even me. Not sure how surprised I would be though since I know Shyatt is a good coach when he has all of his players healthy.
LanderPoke
Well-known member
I'm nervous for the season because this will be the first year under Shyatt we won't have dominant big (L. Washington, Nance). It'll definitely be interesting to see the offense this year.
JimmyDimes
Well-known member
I'm not sure we know just yet. We have some big bodies on the roster. And, Jonathan Barnes scored 8 points in that scrimmage.LanderPoke said:
Barnes played against UNLV's top recruit Zimmerman in an AAU game....and Barnes held him in check. Many rags are picking Zimmerman as the best player in the conference without even playing a game. If Barnes has improved his offense at all, he could be the answer.
ItSucksToBeACSURam
Well-known member
And Aka Gorski and Barnes and Herndon and Lieberman... There is a handful of guys that will do just fine carrying the team as the youngsters get acclimated and ready to go.seattlecowboy said:
ItSucksToBeACSURam
Well-known member
In the scrimmage a couple weeks ago, Barnes looked very good. Much more confident and smooth compared to last year. He will get his minutes alongside Herndon.JimmyDimes said:
My description of Nance & Cook's play last season is "aggressive, athletic, with size". I think we will have that with Herndon this season, but I don't know about the other bigs (including Barnes) yet. My bet is we will have at least a couple more step up by conference season or at least by the end of the season. Like some of the others have said, I want to see 3 or 4 games first.
I doubt our inside game will be as productive as last year, simply because Nance and Cooke were so good athletically and knew how to play individually and as a team. We can't replace their knowledge and experience with rookies. I didn't feel that Herndon was all that ready to contribute last year; we had what, 2 and 1/2 bigs who were ready for MWC hoops?
What we gain this year is a stretch 4 in Herndon, who should be head and shoulders better than he was at the beginning of last year, and 2 or 3 other bigs who should be able to defend and rebound - we have numbers on the interior, which is something we haven't seen in a few years. We also should have a perimeter game, which should take some of the pressure off the big guys.
So much of this year depends on how long it takes the youngsters to figure out how to play at this level, and how well these guys play together as a team.
Shyatt has a pleasant headache - how to best put the pieces put together.
What we gain this year is a stretch 4 in Herndon, who should be head and shoulders better than he was at the beginning of last year, and 2 or 3 other bigs who should be able to defend and rebound - we have numbers on the interior, which is something we haven't seen in a few years. We also should have a perimeter game, which should take some of the pressure off the big guys.
So much of this year depends on how long it takes the youngsters to figure out how to play at this level, and how well these guys play together as a team.
Shyatt has a pleasant headache - how to best put the pieces put together.
carbonpoke
Well-known member
its important to remember that this was a scrimmage and not a game. I'm positive that shyatt was teaching. meaning that he had the starting 5 on the floor so that the younger guys could see what our offense and defense is supposed to look like. The starting five in the scrimmage were a visual aid to the rest of the team. Now, I'm not saying that wont be the starting five, but minutes are going to be allocated this year too way more bodies than we have had in the past.
gonna be a strange year for us. really underweight, better overall shooting, better athleticism, but extreme youth. this team is going to be very bi-polar. it is still the best foundation we have ever had.
strange times this season... I'm telling you.
gonna be a strange year for us. really underweight, better overall shooting, better athleticism, but extreme youth. this team is going to be very bi-polar. it is still the best foundation we have ever had.
strange times this season... I'm telling you.
LanderPoke said:
This is what I think. Remember how dominating our front line of Waddel and Washington was in Year 1 of Shyatt 2.0?
I have been especially troubled by the attrition rate among the guys that were 6'8" + AND 220 lbs.+ since Coach arrived.
As for those who think it is a bad sign if Coach is not planning on starting Freshmen, the most important thing to understand about Coach Shyatt is that he absolutely cannot stand losing games because of mental mistakes. He expects good decisions, especially when the pressure is on. How many times have we watched superior athletes sit on the bench while smarter, more steady players who could defend stayed on the floor? Coach Shyatt is not someone who runs with the 5 best raw athletes. This logic alone should remind us all to expect guys who have been learning for a year or two to get more time than guys that are still trying to get up to speed mentally.
I think it is also instructive to look at which players Coach Shyatt has been willing to put into a tight game down the stretch. Those are the guys Coach thinks of as "Players." He trusts them because they have proven that their heads are where he wants them.
BeaverPoke
Well-known member
Lol... Trey Washington was at one point invited to a national all-star game in high school.
Some of the players who went to that game ended up at SDSU, Zaga, Kansas, Duke, Arizona, etc.
If he is our 6th best player, we are in a good spot.
Some of the players who went to that game ended up at SDSU, Zaga, Kansas, Duke, Arizona, etc.
If he is our 6th best player, we are in a good spot.
ItSucksToBeACSURam
Well-known member
Yeah. Not sure why he's being overlooked so quickly. He struggled his first season but I expect him to be a prominent member of this team. I am not sure where, but he will get his minutes this season. I could see him starting and I could also see him being a first off the bench type player. This may be the most enigmatic and highly speculative team theres been at UW in my time... Thats not necessarily a bad thingBeaverPoke said:
I think, as others have said, that lineups will change game to game. We'll obviously be going through Josh basically no matter what. But If we're playing a smaller team, I could see us going with 4 guard types the whole game. Against bigger teams, we should probably be seeing more Barnes and Naughton than normal. Little tweaks like that I think will be the norm
jbeiermann
Well-known member
I live in Lincoln. Find this dumb that word never got out till after!!!!
BeaverPoke
Well-known member
jbeiermann said:
You wouldn't have been able to go anyways.
WestWYOPoke
Well-known member
Exactly, scrimmages are closed door, most you could have done was stand outside the arena and wave as the bus drove by.
NowherePoke
Well-known member
jbeiermann said:
As noted previously, it wasn't open to the public anyway, but for the record it was publicly known and mentioned on multiple occasions by the beat writers.
NowherePoke
Well-known member
Coeur d' Alene said:
1. If we finish 6th, we would have out performed preseason expectations (picked 8th) by about as much as we ever have in the MWC era. IOW, it will be a good year. Remember we finished T-4th last year with 4 senior starters. Only dropping to 6th would be very, very, solid.
2. Who is better: Adam Waddell or Larry Nance, Jr? Guess who started when Nance was a freshman? Hint: It wasn't Nance.
3. In terms of Morris Marshall, I hope he turns out to be a nice player for the Pokes, but I don't think it should be an article of faith that a JC player whom we beat our Norfolk State and IPFW for is automatically better than a 4th year junior who has hit game winning shots in the border war and the MWCT. He may be, but I don't think that we can say we know that.
4. I am confident Justin James will see the floor. Keep in mind that he has an ankle injury and did not play in the scrimmage.
5. Since Shyatt has returned to Laramie we have not started the season with a freshman starter. Larry Nance, Jr. (future first round NBA draft pick) did not start for a team coming off a 10-21 season, starting a veteran big man whose injuries limited him and turned him into a ground bound center (Waddell had one of the lowest rebounding percentages you will ever see for a big man as a result). The only player that really saw significant starts as a freshman was Josh Adams, but that was a result of the Luke Martinez issue. So, even 1st team All-MWC level talents like Nance and Adams were not able to break into the starting lineup at the beginning of the season as true freshman. Failure to do so can hardly be considered an indictment of Conway, Naughton, Moemeka, or James (who I wouldn't rule out yet) or Coach Shyatt.
