Let’s play the minutes game

[NUCat320]

What I expect to see. Last year’s mpg in ()
Boo 32 (30)
Berry 26 (22)
Audige 30 (27)
Beran 26 (22)
Hunger 20 —

Roper 24 (20)
Nicholson 10 (5)
Verhoeven 15 (25/UTEP)
Barnhizer 17 (8)

CCC will be coaching for his job, but this probably isn’t the roster to save him.

The center position is scary (for NU, not opponents). Some might expect Verhoeven to play more, but my point of comparison was Elyjah Williams, who went from 33 at FDU to 13 at NU. Hunger and Nicholson are both listed at 255, so they’re big enough, but with virtually zero experience.

I’d really like Boo to get more minutes — sit him at 9 minutes left in both halves, and that’s it — but that’s never been CCC’s way.

Audige will probably rank second on the team in shots, and I could see lineups with him playing anywhere from 1 to 4. Any Audige/Roper lineup has two offensive black holes.

Beran played less than I remembered last year. He’s not a 4, and Verhoeven is the only 4 on the roster. I originally gave Barnhizer more minutes between 2 and 4 behind Beran with mix-and-match, but I gave those to Verhoeven instead.

I don’t see Martinelli or the walk-ons making the rotation. Martinelli was Elon-bound and, while he had a great high school senior season, it seems a huge leap from Elon prospect to B1G prospect. He’s listed at 6-7/200, basically Beran but two inches shorter.

 

[CatJones]

Boo 32 (30)
Berry 26 (22)
Audige 30 (27)
Beran 26 (22)
Hunger 20 —

Roper 24 (20)

If any of these guys get injured we are in big(ger) trouble. Injuries and no depth did in Coach Carmody in his final year, as would likely be the case for Coach Collins.

 

[EagerFan]

Carmody was out the door regardless his results that year. The injuries only added a veneer of bad results to the foregone conclusion.

I'm terrible at the minutes game and have no idea what we've got in the players coming in the door new or what's happened since last season to the players we had before.

I assume the first several games will be Collins randomly subbing in three players at a time, trying every combination just to see what happens.

Here's my wag.

Audige 32
Barnhizer 2-8
Beran 34
Berry 22
Boo 34
Hunger 10-12
Hurlburt 0 - .33
Martinelli 0 - 2
Nicholson 4-8
Roper 20
Smith 0-3
Verhoeven 20-22

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Carmody was out the door regardless his results that year. The injuries only added a veneer of bad results to the foregone conclusion.

I'm terrible at the minutes game and have no idea what we've got in the players coming in the door new or what's happened since last season to the players we had before.

I assume the first several games will be Collins randomly subbing in three players at a time, trying every combination just to see what happens.

Here's my wag.

Audige 32
Barnhizer 2-8
Beran 34
Berry 22
Boo 34
Hunger 10-12
Hurlburt 0 - .33
Martinelli 0 - 2
Nicholson 4-8
Roper 20
Smith 0-3
Verhoeven 20-22

I can tell you what I would like to see... and I can tell you what I think Collins will do, although the latter is a real crapshoot.

Here are our guys natural positions...

Guards - Audige, Buie, Berry, Roper
Small Forward - Barnhizer or Martinelli
Power Forward - Beran, Verhoeven
Center - Hunger, Nicholson

Verhoeven is not a real scoring threat outside.
We have no real small forward. I'm hoping Barnhizer steps up because he has the body for it, but my guess is that he and Martinelli are not going to get much of an opportunity.

So the most likely scenario is that Collins plays 3 guards, which he did a lot last year, with unfavorable results. Berry will sub for the other 3. Audige will guard the opponent's small forward.

Nicholson will probably get ten minutes when Beran is playing. Nicholson with Verhoeven is too limited for Collins (no outside shooting). Hunger will get most of the minutes at center because he attempts shots from outside the paint. Collins will not play Hunger with Nicholson. He won't even consider it. Hunger will play minutes with Verhoeven as well.

Personally I don't want Verhoeven getting more than 10 minutes a game, but he will. Verhoeven with Beran will be consistently negative against Big Ten competition.

 

[IGNORE2]

If any of these guys get injured we are in big(ger) trouble. Injuries and no depth did in Coach Carmody in his final year, as would likely be the case for Coach Collins.

But if they don’t, Final Four, here we come….

 

[EagerFan]

Guards - Buie, Berry (Roper, Audige)
Small Forward - Audige, Roper (Barnhizer, Martinelli, Smith)
Power Forward - Beran, (Verhoeven, Hurlburt)
Center - Verhoeven, Hunger, Nicholson (Beran)

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Guards - Buie, Berry (Roper, Audige)
Small Forward - Audige, Roper (Barnhizer, Martinelli, Smith)
Power Forward - Beran, (Verhoeven, Hurlburt)
Center - Verhoeven, Hunger, Nicholson (Beran)

if Verhoeven is our best option at "center" we are going to be terrible.

Roper will be a starter, but he has to be a guard - not big enough to defend against Big Ten small forwards. That leaves an undersized Audige at the 3 most of the time... It didn't work last year.

And then if you assume correctly that Beran will be playing the 4 most of the time, we are going to get pushed around and outrebounded.

Haven't seen Luke Hunger on the court yet, so its hard to say how he will do, but physically he should not get pushed around. But, Nicholson needs to play. Dominate the paint.

If Hunger is quick enough to play power forward, I'd love to see this lineup on occasion...

Nicholson / Hunger / Beran / Roper / Buie

or

Nicholson / Beran/ Barnhizer/ Roper / Buie

 

[IGNORE2]

CCC seems to be only recruiting wings and guards for the next class. (Underwhelming players at that. ) Assume nobody transfers out, what bigs are left when the next class arrives?

Seems like CCC believes small ball is the future of the B1G.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

CCC seems to be only recruiting wings and guards for the next class. (Underwhelming players at that. ) Assume nobody transfers out, what bigs are left when the next class arrives?

Seems like CCC believes small ball is the future of the B1G.

And I just read an article saying that while the NBA moves away from traditional big centers, the NCAA teams are moving back toward the traditional center.

Rebounding matters more in college.

Duh.

 

[GatoLouco]

CCC seems to be only recruiting wings and guards for the next class. (Underwhelming players at that. ) Assume nobody transfers out, what bigs are left when the next class arrives?

Seems like CCC believes small ball is the future of the B1G.

I think he has believed that for a while. While not understanding that small ball can only have an advantage with very quick and strong players. Like Baylor 2020.

I can envision a lineup with Beran at the 5. Scoring 120 on Chicago St. And this board, drinking the announcers kool aid of how high powered the Chris Collins offense is. Oh wait, that was also 2020.

Never mind. I have no freaking idea who and how much anyone is going to play. CC probably doesn't either.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

I think he has believed that for a while. While not understanding that small ball can only have an advantage with very quick and strong players. Like Baylor 2020.

I can envision a lineup with Beran at the 5. Scoring 120 on Chicago St. And this board, drinking the announcers kool aid of how high powered the Chris Collins offense is. Oh wait, that was also 2020.

Never mind. I have no freaking idea who and how much anyone is going to play. CC probably doesn't either.

This team will be terrible. John Wooden wouldn’t coach this team to a winning B1G record. Awful. There just isn’t close to enough talent to be competitive in the B1G!

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

This team will be terrible. John Wooden wouldn’t coach this team to a winning B1G record. Awful. There just isn’t close to enough talent to be competitive in the B1G!

Well, we pretty much know what we have with Buie, Beran and Audige. Thats most of the shot attempts. Maybe Beran asserts himself more.... Maybe Audige "gets it" on offense.

I don't see anybody on the squad playing worse than last year.

I don't see how Verhoeven can be even an average Big Ten center / power forward.

Upside / improvement should come from Roper and possibly Berry. Obviously Nicholson has a better chance this year. And Barnhizer is very solidly built, wouldn't shock me if he stepped it up this year too.

That leaves "I hope Hunger can play well right away" and "Maybe Martinelli will surprise us."

Maybe some of the positives will actually happen!

 

[NJCat]

This team will be terrible. John Wooden wouldn’t coach this team to a winning B1G record.

Winning B1G record??? NU has had 1 B1G winning record since 1967-68. Mighty high benchmark for success, no?

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Winning B1G record??? NU has had 1 B1G winning record since 1967-68. Mighty high benchmark for success, no?

I am thinking 3-4 B1G wins that’s years benchmark,

 

[NJCat]

I am thinking 3-4 B1G wins that’s years benchmark,

I'll take the Under please.......

 

[cedricmelons]

I'll take the Under please.......

I agree. This is the least optimistic I have felt coming into a season in my 30 years of NU MBB fandom.

 

[GatoLouco]

It will be rough, very rough.

And yet, imagine how it would be if our best scorer had fled. Buie could have gone to a good team. Amazingly he would probably start at, let's say Purdue. Would have been more clear evidence we had talent last year.

Chances are that only did not happen because big brother is on the coaching staff.

 

[CatJones]

Chances are that only did not happen because big brother is on the coaching staff.

Yes, a smart hire for that reason. I wonder if he can coach.

 

[Troy4L]

if Verhoeven is our best option at "center" we are going to be terrible.

Roper will be a starter, but he has to be a guard - not big enough to defend against Big Ten small forwards. That leaves an undersized Audige at the 3 most of the time... It didn't work last year.

And then if you assume correctly that Beran will be playing the 4 most of the time, we are going to get pushed around and outrebounded.

Haven't seen Luke Hunger on the court yet, so its hard to say how he will do, but physically he should not get pushed around. But, Nicholson needs to play. Dominate the paint.

If Hunger is quick enough to play power forward, I'd love to see this lineup on occasion...

Nicholson / Hunger / Beran / Roper / Buie

or

Nicholson / Beran/ Barnhizer/ Roper / Buie

From what I saw from Nicholson he has no idea what he’s doing out there. Especially defensively. Hopefully he shows large strides if is getting the majority of the center minutes.

 

[FeralFelidae]

From what I saw from Nicholson he has no idea what he’s doing out there. Especially defensively. Hopefully he shows large strides if is getting the majority of the center minutes.

Throw him in the deep end. He'll learn on the job. Nothing beats experience!

 

[Troy4L]

Also I personally would be surprised if Berry is playing more than Roper. FWIW the last eight games last season Roper played 22.9 MPG while Berry played 21.3 MPG. I think Roper shows considerable improvement and gets starters minutes next season.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

I just took a look at last year's lineups to see exactly how many minutes the players on our current roster filled all 5 positions on the court.

So any 5 man combination of Nicholson, Beran, Roper, Berry, Buie, Barnhizer and Audige...

A total of 392 seconds (6:32) and we scored 20 points while allowing 17.

The two returning lineups that actually played together were

Nicholson / Beran / Buie / Audige / Roper
Nicholson / Beran / Buie / Audige /Berry

Almost all of those 6 minutes and 32 seconds were played in the victory at Michigan State - one of the few highlights of our season.

 

[IGNORE2]

Throw him in the deep end. He'll learn on the job. Nothing beats experience!

What’s to lose? Seriously, I would pass audidge. Play build cuz he stayed but had options. But play the hell out of the young guys. All of them

 

[EagerFan]

if Verhoeven is our best option at "center" we are going to be terrible.

Roper will be a starter, but he has to be a guard - not big enough to defend against Big Ten small forwards. That leaves an undersized Audige at the 3 most of the time... It didn't work last year.

And then if you assume correctly that Beran will be playing the 4 most of the time, we are going to get pushed around and outrebounded.

Haven't seen Luke Hunger on the court yet, so its hard to say how he will do, but physically he should not get pushed around. But, Nicholson needs to play. Dominate the paint.

If Hunger is quick enough to play power forward, I'd love to see this lineup on occasion...

Nicholson / Hunger / Beran / Roper / Buie

or

Nicholson / Beran/ Barnhizer/ Roper / Buie

We'll see how it plays out obviously. I expect a fair amount of small ball on the court, if only because I think our bigs will also be foul machines, so three guards plus Beran and whoever hasn't fouled out yet seems likely.

I look forward to whatever reality they manifest and hope it's fun.