So, I finally got a chance to watch a whole game from the 2021-2022 version of NU men's hoopsters. Here are some impressions:
1) Nance is a delight to watch this year. So glad to see him coming into his own. He is poised, confident and playing with a sense of urgency. He is the clear star of this team. I hope he can keep it up when the competition gets rougher and teams start keying on him. Athletic shot blocker with three-point range? I wouldn't be surprised to see him get some serious looks in next summer's draft.
2) While I understand the frustration around here with Beran, I also see why CCC keeps sticking with him. Beran clearly has the tools to be the second best player on this team and I am fine with CCC giving him every chance to get there. He is pretty smooth for someone his size. He can finish at the rim and also has true 3-point range. I realize he can disappear at times, but one of these days this season, he's going to have a breakout 20+ point night and hopefully take off. He looks the part to me. I'm certainly rooting for him.
3) How in the heck did Ryan Young score 20 points? All night, I watched him catch the ball wide open under the basket and wait 5 seconds before doing anything. He then appeared to fumble around with the ball and miss a bunch of layups. Then, I looked at the numbers and realized he only missed one or two shots all night and had 20 points!!! The kid is unexplainable.
4) I like Casey Simmons. I think this kid is going to end up an impact player this season. He still looks a little timid and sometimes lost, but that is to be expected in November. But he also has a fluidity to him and the way he stroked his two three-pointers last night got me juiced! I see him also having a breakout game at some point this season. Next year, he will be one of our stars - you heard it here first!
5) Ah..... Boo..... that was a rough night. He just looked out of sync. Hoping that was an anomaly. He hadn't been turning the ball over too much this season, I thought. But last night.... yikes! He still clearly is the engine of this team. I wish he could finish those drives and floaters though. What I don't understand is why he never ended some of those drives by just lobbing it up to Nance or Simmons or Beran. There were a few plays where it looked like he had drawn all the defense in the paint and had an easy lob to a big man, but he forced the floating shot instead. Hopefully, he was watching closely from the bench and learned a thing or two from Dixon III and...
6) Nicholson!!! SLAM!!!!! That was fun to watch!! That had to be great for the kid's confidence. He demonstrated some athleticism for sure. Those were manly dunks!! Of course, as exciting as those plays were, he also showed why he's mired on CCC's bench. He seemed to struggle to get any kind of inside position on the smaller FDU players. And the struggles he had getting the defensive rebound outleted to his guard was rather sad. He's got a ways to go and I don't see him getting anything more than mop-up time this season, but if he can keep developing, he might be a valuable piece in a year or two.
So... good win. At times, it looked like the team still struggled to score - especially with the second unit out there. I worry a little about BIG play with this offense, but guys will get better I'm sure. We'll learn an awful lot in the next few games.
1) Nance is a delight to watch this year. So glad to see him coming into his own. He is poised, confident and playing with a sense of urgency. He is the clear star of this team. I hope he can keep it up when the competition gets rougher and teams start keying on him. Athletic shot blocker with three-point range? I wouldn't be surprised to see him get some serious looks in next summer's draft.
2) While I understand the frustration around here with Beran, I also see why CCC keeps sticking with him. Beran clearly has the tools to be the second best player on this team and I am fine with CCC giving him every chance to get there. He is pretty smooth for someone his size. He can finish at the rim and also has true 3-point range. I realize he can disappear at times, but one of these days this season, he's going to have a breakout 20+ point night and hopefully take off. He looks the part to me. I'm certainly rooting for him.
3) How in the heck did Ryan Young score 20 points? All night, I watched him catch the ball wide open under the basket and wait 5 seconds before doing anything. He then appeared to fumble around with the ball and miss a bunch of layups. Then, I looked at the numbers and realized he only missed one or two shots all night and had 20 points!!! The kid is unexplainable.
4) I like Casey Simmons. I think this kid is going to end up an impact player this season. He still looks a little timid and sometimes lost, but that is to be expected in November. But he also has a fluidity to him and the way he stroked his two three-pointers last night got me juiced! I see him also having a breakout game at some point this season. Next year, he will be one of our stars - you heard it here first!
5) Ah..... Boo..... that was a rough night. He just looked out of sync. Hoping that was an anomaly. He hadn't been turning the ball over too much this season, I thought. But last night.... yikes! He still clearly is the engine of this team. I wish he could finish those drives and floaters though. What I don't understand is why he never ended some of those drives by just lobbing it up to Nance or Simmons or Beran. There were a few plays where it looked like he had drawn all the defense in the paint and had an easy lob to a big man, but he forced the floating shot instead. Hopefully, he was watching closely from the bench and learned a thing or two from Dixon III and...
6) Nicholson!!! SLAM!!!!! That was fun to watch!! That had to be great for the kid's confidence. He demonstrated some athleticism for sure. Those were manly dunks!! Of course, as exciting as those plays were, he also showed why he's mired on CCC's bench. He seemed to struggle to get any kind of inside position on the smaller FDU players. And the struggles he had getting the defensive rebound outleted to his guard was rather sad. He's got a ways to go and I don't see him getting anything more than mop-up time this season, but if he can keep developing, he might be a valuable piece in a year or two.
So... good win. At times, it looked like the team still struggled to score - especially with the second unit out there. I worry a little about BIG play with this offense, but guys will get better I'm sure. We'll learn an awful lot in the next few games.