Friday, November 16, 2007
You ask, You shall receive
Husker Basketball '07-'08
It's Doc-ball year 2, and i promise you all that Nebraska basketball is on the up and up. Doc is that good, I think you all owe it to yourself to take an hour out of your schedule sometime and go watch one of his practices (yes he opens them to the public). It's intense, it's exciting, and you can't help but come away from one not thinking Doc is the type of coach that will always succeed.......even at a football school. Add in the fact that outside of KU the Big XII is very average and the future looks incredibly bright. Did i mention that possibly the biggest recruit since Andre Woolridge just resigned (stupid NCAA clearinghouse or he'd be starting this year as well) and will be playing on the wing for the next 3 years. Roburt Sallie is going to be a stud, i'd go out on a limb and say that if he was playing this year you would have an NCAA tourney team.
On with the predictions..the squad looked great in the first half and poor in the second half against some school with a mascot of the Blue Hose....i shit you not, and came away with a less than inspiring 15 point win last saturday. Tomorrow, Alabama A&M comes to the Bob, after that you get to see them take on Norfolk State. See a pattern? Yes the non-conference schedule is pathetic (insert Creighton jab) and our RPI is going to be attrocious, but i think Doc put toghether this schedule to get some confidence and build for the future, but with this schedule it will take 10 conference wins to get to the dance, and boys that just ain't going to happen. This should be an NIT team, which will be a step for next year.
The Squad:
5-spot: Maric, The big Aussie is back for his senior year (only sr. on the team), will be dominant again and should have more shooters to take off some pressure than he had around him last year. He will get close to 18ppg and 10 rpg. He is far and away our best player and the team will go as he goes. Chris Balham is back again but still isn't healthy. Maric's main backup will be a JUCO transfer named Shang Ping. He's about 6'10 and has very good touch around the rim out to 15 ft, has a decent build but is not a banger. Will be a serviceable replacement and should give Doc more options to play with 2 bigs.
4-spot: This is a weak spot again this year. Ryan Anderson is a great player and ideally would be starting at the 3, but it again looks like he will star t at the 4. He's great on the offensive end and is a tough matchup, but extremely undersized and slow on the defensive end. Alonzo Edwards is a newcomer with a very high ceiling but hasn't looked good in the games so far. If he comes on it would be a great help as Anderson could move back to the 3.
Guards: Much improved this year...Sek Henry and Jay-R Strowbridge are both back and look to be greatly improved but the newcomers are why i'm excited. Ade Dagunduro (yep, Ola's brother) looks like a Div-1 player. 6'5, 190 and long. He's great defensively and is a slasher. Cookie Miller is a 5'7 bug in a jar, he should be the starting PG in my opinion. He's Charles Richardson, but much quicker. He's fun to watch and could be the key to a successful season. Finally their is Steve Harley, came in as the most highly touted recruit in the class but has looked fairly avg to this point. He's a great talent offensively but won't see the floor until he learns to play D.
Here's my fearless prediciton:
I'm saying 11-2 non-conference, wins @ Creighton and @ W. Kentucky but losses to 2 of these 3: Oregon, Rutgers, Arizona State
In conference i'm hoping for 8-8:
Wins - @CU, Baylor, ISU, Tech, Mizzou, OU, @OSU, CU
Losses- KU, @ KU, @ Mizzou, @ KSU, @ aTm, @ OSU, @ Texas
8-8 would get us a favorable seed in the conference tourney, 1 win there and you are looking at a very successful 20 win season and being on the tourney bubble but not getting a bid.
There it is boys, give me yours....
PS...Creighton sucks, Kentucky Blows
It's Doc-ball year 2, and i promise you all that Nebraska basketball is on the up and up. Doc is that good, I think you all owe it to yourself to take an hour out of your schedule sometime and go watch one of his practices (yes he opens them to the public). It's intense, it's exciting, and you can't help but come away from one not thinking Doc is the type of coach that will always succeed.......even at a football school. Add in the fact that outside of KU the Big XII is very average and the future looks incredibly bright. Did i mention that possibly the biggest recruit since Andre Woolridge just resigned (stupid NCAA clearinghouse or he'd be starting this year as well) and will be playing on the wing for the next 3 years. Roburt Sallie is going to be a stud, i'd go out on a limb and say that if he was playing this year you would have an NCAA tourney team.
On with the predictions..the squad looked great in the first half and poor in the second half against some school with a mascot of the Blue Hose....i shit you not, and came away with a less than inspiring 15 point win last saturday. Tomorrow, Alabama A&M comes to the Bob, after that you get to see them take on Norfolk State. See a pattern? Yes the non-conference schedule is pathetic (insert Creighton jab) and our RPI is going to be attrocious, but i think Doc put toghether this schedule to get some confidence and build for the future, but with this schedule it will take 10 conference wins to get to the dance, and boys that just ain't going to happen. This should be an NIT team, which will be a step for next year.
The Squad:
5-spot: Maric, The big Aussie is back for his senior year (only sr. on the team), will be dominant again and should have more shooters to take off some pressure than he had around him last year. He will get close to 18ppg and 10 rpg. He is far and away our best player and the team will go as he goes. Chris Balham is back again but still isn't healthy. Maric's main backup will be a JUCO transfer named Shang Ping. He's about 6'10 and has very good touch around the rim out to 15 ft, has a decent build but is not a banger. Will be a serviceable replacement and should give Doc more options to play with 2 bigs.
4-spot: This is a weak spot again this year. Ryan Anderson is a great player and ideally would be starting at the 3, but it again looks like he will star t at the 4. He's great on the offensive end and is a tough matchup, but extremely undersized and slow on the defensive end. Alonzo Edwards is a newcomer with a very high ceiling but hasn't looked good in the games so far. If he comes on it would be a great help as Anderson could move back to the 3.
Guards: Much improved this year...Sek Henry and Jay-R Strowbridge are both back and look to be greatly improved but the newcomers are why i'm excited. Ade Dagunduro (yep, Ola's brother) looks like a Div-1 player. 6'5, 190 and long. He's great defensively and is a slasher. Cookie Miller is a 5'7 bug in a jar, he should be the starting PG in my opinion. He's Charles Richardson, but much quicker. He's fun to watch and could be the key to a successful season. Finally their is Steve Harley, came in as the most highly touted recruit in the class but has looked fairly avg to this point. He's a great talent offensively but won't see the floor until he learns to play D.
Here's my fearless prediciton:
I'm saying 11-2 non-conference, wins @ Creighton and @ W. Kentucky but losses to 2 of these 3: Oregon, Rutgers, Arizona State
In conference i'm hoping for 8-8:
Wins - @CU, Baylor, ISU, Tech, Mizzou, OU, @OSU, CU
Losses- KU, @ KU, @ Mizzou, @ KSU, @ aTm, @ OSU, @ Texas
8-8 would get us a favorable seed in the conference tourney, 1 win there and you are looking at a very successful 20 win season and being on the tourney bubble but not getting a bid.
There it is boys, give me yours....
PS...Creighton sucks, Kentucky Blows
Labels: Creighton, Creighton sucks, Doc Sadler, Nebraska, Nebraska basketball
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