Copeland
- Thread starter kaz36_rivals189319
- Start date
Still could use a big body, but otherwise the roster is coming together nicely. I didn't really think Copeland would leave, unless he felt the clock ticking and decided to make some cash playing in Europe. Glad he decided that could wait another year.
Boom. Similar to 2015, we have 1st team and honorable mention All-Conference players returning. Hopefully we won't **** the bed with heightened expectations this time. Suffice it say, Miles has enough talent to at least make the tournament and possibly win more than a participation ribbon.
Really sets up as a perfect scenario for Moos. Either Miles kicks ***, NU is successful and he's justified in letting him continue to lead the program. Or he falls short with a team expected to win and Moos can move on without the bad PR that comes with firing a "successful" coach.
Football team on the rise. Basketball team punching above its weight class. Volleyball locked and loaded for another title run. It's an exciting time for Husker athletics. Time to take a loooong look at the baseball program though.
Really sets up as a perfect scenario for Moos. Either Miles kicks ***, NU is successful and he's justified in letting him continue to lead the program. Or he falls short with a team expected to win and Moos can move on without the bad PR that comes with firing a "successful" coach.
Football team on the rise. Basketball team punching above its weight class. Volleyball locked and loaded for another title run. It's an exciting time for Husker athletics. Time to take a loooong look at the baseball program though.
Primary difference to 2015 is that team relied on one player breaking down the opponent and getting hot. Say what you want, but that team had little support and was seriously deficient in outside shooting. This team has a lot of it.
My biggest fear is whether Watson can be unselfish enough to understand that when a big hoop is needed, that he is about 4th on the list of guys who should take it.
If Nebraska finds a strong distributor of the ball, they can live off of a body inside who doesn’t really score.
I've mentioned him before, but Colorado grad transfer Tory Miller-Stewart still doesn't have a new team:
Tory Miller-Stewart
I'm not saying he would be a huge "get" or anything, but Miller-Stewart would be a really good fit for next year's Huskers. Big, strong guy, decent hands, lots of playing experience. He would be perfect for giving Roby some relief from those defensive assignments where Roby's giving away 60-70 pounds.
Tory Miller-Stewart
I'm not saying he would be a huge "get" or anything, but Miller-Stewart would be a really good fit for next year's Huskers. Big, strong guy, decent hands, lots of playing experience. He would be perfect for giving Roby some relief from those defensive assignments where Roby's giving away 60-70 pounds.
Getting to the tourney should not be the goal with this group. They should be a serious team next year.
Looking back, the 2015 team appeared balanced on paper with Petteway, [A.White], Shields and Pitchford. But you're right. That whole season seemed to hinge on whether Petteway could continue to make hero shots with the shot clock winding down similar to the '14 stretch run.
I share your concerns on Watson. There were times last year when he forced it seemingly because he hadn't had a shot in awhile and views himself as a first- or second-option guy. As you said, this team needs a distributor at PG that takes shots within the flow of the offense. Not sure if Watson can be that guy but I hope he sees the larger picture and can embrace a less prominent scoring role.
EDIT: Jesus guys. My bad on including the very redshirted Andrew White III when discussing the 2014-15 'Brasketball team. Much like Tommy Boy, my brain is all malted hops and bong resin, apparently.
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Definitely didn’t expect either of those guys back. We should expect nothing less than an NCAA tournament bid.
Neither decision really surprised me too much. Declaring for the draft without hiring an agent gives you a free round of workouts and a chance to get to the NBA Combine. Not really much downside for the player.
I'm aware of the rule. I assumed that their declaring for the draft meant they were over college and planned to play professionally - if not the NBA, then overseas or in the developmental league.
Oh it's good news, but remember that a lot of last year's success came against an easy schedule against a weak BiG TeN. The conference should be more challenging this next year. I guess we will see how it all plays out.
Actually, I don't think the Big Ten will be more challenging next year. It might even be weaker next year than this year. All the good teams are losing a lot to the NBA Draft. We return our Top 4 scorers. No more excuses for Miles.
No excuses next year. No padding the non-con with 200 & 300 plus RPI cupcakes. No losing every game against quality opponents but one. No losing to Creighton minus Foster/Thomas at home. No 1 and done in the conference tournament. NIT is not an option.
Major difference between 2015 and 2018-19 will be the complimentary parts in place. That 2015 team had pretty ****** depth, and Tai Webster was still unprepared for the Big Ten.
Here's a dumb step into revisionist history:
Imagine if Tai redshirts in 13-14. He would've been a senior least season, and the Huskers probably beat KU, definitely beat Penn State and Illinois, and thus easily go dancing.
More likely, he would have grad transferred to another program.
The depth on next year's team is still a big concern. We were fortunate that everyone stayed healthy last season, when many other Big Ten teams suffered injuries to some of their best players. If any of our starters go down next year, it could be a long season.
Right now our bench is Thomas Allen (whose size can make him a defensive liability), Nana Akenten (who only played 3 minutes the entire season last year), Borchardt, and Thor. That is not a good bench. Incoming recruits Heiman, Harris, and Davis are all projects that aren't going to give us much as true freshmen. Miles should have tried to find a grad transfer that could give us more depth. Taylor and Gill will be big losses - Taylor was great on defense and Gill gave us a legit outside shooting threat.
Everything looks good on paper but I have doubts these players with Miles as their coach can play "Team" ball. I expect this team will be full of players thinking "This is what I need to do to improve my draft stock" and by three or four players thinking this way, next year will be a disaster of Biblical proportions if you think an NCAA appearance is guaranteed. Probably just me but I don't think Miles can get create a team atmosphere. Bottom line is I don't think Miles is a Big ten quality head coach. I hope he proves me wrong and if he does I will gladly say it.
So we have the same team as last year that went 1 and done in the B1G and NIT and now we are expected to be a top 25 team? What am I missing? Can we improve that much. Our schedule was ugly last year so that may have made us look better than we are as well.
Michigan went to the final 4 and we literally should have had a home game in the first round instead of going on the road...
That being said we also didn’t get Purdue or MSU at home and we beat Michigan at home and only played them once during the regular season.
Only a few non-con games have been announced, but the B1G conference schedule looks relatively friendly. We get tOSU, Wiscy and NW at home, UM, IU and Rutgers on the road and everyone else home and away.
The B1G schedule expands from 18 to 20 games this year, so RPI should be less of a concern unless the rest of the non-conference slate is especially pathetic. The Seton Hall home game was a nice surprise. This also might be Miles' best chance to snap the Creighton streak.
Non-Conference
TBA - Big Ten/ACC Challenge (presumed road game)
TBA - Creighton (home)
Nov. 14 - Seton Hall (home)
Nov. 19-20 - Hall of Fame Classic (KC)
B1G
Home: Northwestern, Ohio State, Wisconsin
Away: Indiana, Michigan, Rutgers
Home/Away: Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Penn State, Purdue
Q: What are the biggest changes to both the men’s and women’s basketball schedules for the 2018-19 season?
A: Beginning with the 2018-19 season, the men will move to a 20-game scheduling format, while the women will move to an 18-game format. On the men’s side, each team will play seven opponents twice (home and away) and six opponents once (three home, three away). The women’s format will see teams play five opponents twice (home and away) and eight opponents once (four home, four away). In total, the new conference schedules will feature 140 men’s games (up from 126 games last season) and 126 women’s games (up from 112 games last season), resulting in an 11% and 13% increase, respectively.
Big Ten 2018-19 conference opponent breakdown
The B1G schedule expands from 18 to 20 games this year, so RPI should be less of a concern unless the rest of the non-conference slate is especially pathetic. The Seton Hall home game was a nice surprise. This also might be Miles' best chance to snap the Creighton streak.
Non-Conference
TBA - Big Ten/ACC Challenge (presumed road game)
TBA - Creighton (home)
Nov. 14 - Seton Hall (home)
Nov. 19-20 - Hall of Fame Classic (KC)
B1G
Home: Northwestern, Ohio State, Wisconsin
Away: Indiana, Michigan, Rutgers
Home/Away: Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Penn State, Purdue
Q: What are the biggest changes to both the men’s and women’s basketball schedules for the 2018-19 season?
A: Beginning with the 2018-19 season, the men will move to a 20-game scheduling format, while the women will move to an 18-game format. On the men’s side, each team will play seven opponents twice (home and away) and six opponents once (three home, three away). The women’s format will see teams play five opponents twice (home and away) and eight opponents once (four home, four away). In total, the new conference schedules will feature 140 men’s games (up from 126 games last season) and 126 women’s games (up from 112 games last season), resulting in an 11% and 13% increase, respectively.
Big Ten 2018-19 conference opponent breakdown
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Bubble teams thrive on home games against the top teams. Nebraska had just 2 all season and performed very well in those. Three if you
Include Minnesota at the time we played them.
On paper as of May 29th, we seem to have a lot more opportunities to beat some good teams at Pinnacle.
Include Minnesota at the time we played them.
On paper as of May 29th, we seem to have a lot more opportunities to beat some good teams at Pinnacle.
Every other team not named Duke, Kentucky and Kansas says hello... You're unbelievable dude! Nebraska basketball is a legit Top 25 basketball team with Palmer and Copeland coming back.
The only teams that come close are
- 90-91 = Piatkowski, King, Scales, Chubik and Farmer
- *Closest Talent Wise* 95-96 =Lue, Strickland, Moore, Boone, Hamilton and Badgett
- 96-97 = Lue, Belcher, Moore and Hamilton
We have 5-6 players that are going to play professionally somewhere, and a few that have a legit shot at the NBA in Roby, Copeland and Palmer.
WTF kind of depth are you expecting? This is the deepest a Nebraska Basketball team has ever been... EVER
Depth means having a good bench. I said previously that we have enough talent in the starting lineup, that Miles has no excuses for not making the tournament. But also cautioned that our starters must stay healthy and avoid foul trouble, because our bench is not very good. And with 20 conferences games this year, our starters are going to get worn down if we don't have some bench guys step up.
We will greatly miss having a versatile guy like Evan Taylor coming off the bench. He was a great defender, had good size, and he was a good enough ball-handler to run the point when needed.
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Its basically the same team which went 16-5 from mid- December on (from the 1 point loss to KU to the end of the BIG Regular season. And while every game matters, keep in mind Jordy started the whole 1st semester. Roby didn't really even become a factor until late January. Hell Duby Okeke started a few games, including the loss at Penn State. By season's end, he barely saw the floor. Jack McVeigh was a regular off the bench for the first dozen games. He eventually lost any chance of PT.
My point is there is reason to believe the team has the necessary momentum to grow into something even better for 18-19.
How do you know our bench is weak? You can't say Nana and Thor are worse than Gill and Taylor, because you don't know! Same with the freshman, how do you "Know" they won't contribute and be good? There are maybe 2-3 teams every year that have known good players 9 deep. In my opinion Nana is going to be better than both Gill and Taylor before his career is done.
For the record, in the HOF Classic in KC in November, the other 3 schools are USC, Texas Tech, and Missouri State. Ideally NU would play (and beat) USC and TTech.