This year is about plausible upside

[NUCat320]

Buie will stink for weeks at a time (he already did, in fact), and will try too hard, and will turn it over too much, and will foul too fast. Most nights, probably.

Kopp will be content to let the game come to him, and will consequently wind up with three shots in a game from time to time.

Young will look big and slow and confused some nights. Because he will be all of those things.

Nance will always be tantalizing — built like he was born specifically at this time to be the next KD — and will often be terrible.

Beran will be too skinny until March, and Jones maybe wasn’t the Pardon 2 I hoped for (to be fair, Pardon hadn’t yet debuted this time as a freshman).

But what we need to see is upside. The belief that these kids can put it together. And it’s pretty clear that the raw materials are there, in some form or another, with (many) of them.

There’s lots of upside. Sports are more fun when you can get irrationally excited. (points thumb)

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Buie will stink for weeks at a time (he already did, in fact), and will try too hard, and will turn it over too much, and will foul too fast. Most nights, probably.

Kopp will be content to let the game come to him, and will consequently wind up with three shots in a game from time to time.

Young will look big and slow and confused some nights. Because he will be all of those things.

Nance will always be tantalizing — built like he was born specifically at this time to be the next KD — and will often be terrible.

Beran will be too skinny until March, and Jones maybe wasn’t the Pardon 2 I hoped for (to be fair, Pardon hadn’t yet debuted this time as a freshman).

But what we need to see is upside. The belief that these kids can put it together. And it’s pretty clear that the raw materials are there, in some form or another, with (many) of them.

There’s lots of upside. Sports are more fun when you can get irrationally excited. (points thumb)

I was feeling good until I read this.

 

[DaCat]

Did IGNORE hijack the account of @NUCat320 ?

 

[NJCat]

Did IGNORE hijack the account of @NUCat320 ?

LOL.

IGNORE is making his MBB observations over on the Rant board. Which is where they belong

 

[NUCat320]

I haven’t seen a post from Ignore in months . I get the sense I’ve missed a lot, but not a lot, if you know what I mean.

 

[GatoLouco]

Even if a bit bleak, valid and true observations. That's why we probably won't win more than 4-6 games in conference. But, if that happens, that's more than many believed we would win.

The other side of the coin is that every one of those guys has a really high ceiling. How fast, and if they reach that ceiling, is the real question

Buie - good handles/floater/shot

Kopp - fluid shot, good pull up jumper. And he's long

Young - Makes better decisions as a Freshman than most. Fighter. Long.

Nance - Obvious

Beran - Long, with incredibly fluid shooting technique

Like you said, we can be excited about the upside. It's there for sure.

 

[NUCat320]

Perhaps I’m a terrible writer, but this was meant as an optimistic post! They’ll all spend a lot of time being awful, because young guys spend a lot of time being awful. But every first or second year player in the rotation today might just become good. That has never happened.

 

[SmellyCat]

I thought it was optimistic, for what it's worth. It's why I'm not freaking out too much about Merrimack and the like, because that's not what 2019-2020 is about. It might be disappointing to have to go through a season in which NU has no real chance at the NCAAs, but if guys like Boo and Kopp and Nance spend this year getting better, they may just reach their potential next year. I'm very excited about 2020-2021. Just hope we keep our core and people stay healthy.

 

[EvanstonCat]

I thought it was optimistic, for what it's worth. It's why I'm not freaking out too much about Merrimack and the like, because that's not what 2019-2020 is about. It might be disappointing to have to go through a season in which NU has no real chance at the NCAAs, but if guys like Boo and Kopp and Nance spend this year getting better, they may just reach their potential next year. I'm very excited about 2020-2021. Just hope we keep our core and people stay healthy.

If we play like we did against BC night in and night out, post season is a possibility. Not sure about NCAAs but we could get to the NIT with this crew. They are talented. I want Spencer to make the tomahawk throwdown. Preferably on the Illini.

 

[VirginiaWildcat]

I haven’t seen a post from Ignore in months . I get the sense I’ve missed a lot, but not a lot, if you know what I mean.

Which is strange because you used to “like” all his posts on the b-ball board.

 

[torque-cat]

If we play like we did against BC night in and night out, post season is a possibility. Not sure about NCAAs but we could get to the NIT with this crew. They are talented. I want Spencer to make the tomahawk throwdown. Preferably on the Illini.

If we hit 45% from 3, 56% overall and 90% from the FT line we will have a shot at the post-season. But those numbers are just not sustainable, particularly as we play super physical big ten teams over 18 games.

 

[lunker35]

If we play like we did against BC night in and night out, post season is a possibility. Not sure about NCAAs but we could get to the NIT with this crew. They are talented. I want Spencer to make the tomahawk throwdown. Preferably on the Illini.

Anyone have a video of the missed dunk? I missed the second half and am bummed I didn’t see it.

 

[EvanstonCat]

Anyone have a video of the missed dunk? I missed the second half and am bummed I didn’t see it.

It was in the last 30 seconds of the game. Too bad he didn't hit it, otherwise it would have made it to ESPN's Top 10 plays of the day.

 

[willycat]

I thought it was optimistic, for what it's worth. It's why I'm not freaking out too much about Merrimack and the like, because that's not what 2019-2020 is about. It might be disappointing to have to go through a season in which NU has no real chance at the NCAAs, but if guys like Boo and Kopp and Nance spend this year getting better, they may just reach their potential next year. I'm very excited about 2020-2021. Just hope we keep our core and people stay healthy.

I'm thinking that Beran might be the best of the bunch, when he adds a bit of muscle.

 

[TheC]

Perhaps I’m a terrible writer, but this was meant as an optimistic post! They’ll all spend a lot of time being awful, because young guys spend a lot of time being awful. But every first or second year player in the rotation today might just become good. That has never happened.

I got it!

 

[NUThump]

Anyone have a video of the missed dunk? I missed the second half and am bummed I didn’t see it.

You can watch it through the ESPN app. It was an impressive attack from a half court set (not on a breakaway). We haven’t had many players in the past that would have attempted it, in my opinion.

 

[Figrating]

The way the season started, it looked like we were only looking for possible upside, but after watching the BC game, NU fans have real hope for this season.

Spencer, the recruiting long, long-shot, looks strong. I don't think a single player had time to even move during his slam dunk move from behind the FT line because it was so sudden. Boo looks ready to upstage BMac. Kopp and Nance are playing better and better. Ryan Young no longer looks undernourished.

Reality awaits against Purdue, but NU looks competitive right now.

GO CATS!

 

[DaCat]

Anyone have a video of the missed dunk? I missed the second half and am bummed I didn’t see it.

I took this off my TV. New Trier alums take care of each other, right @lunker35 ? even if we don't always agree, it's all good.

 

[willycat]

The way the season started, it looked like we were only looking for possible upside, but after watching the BC game, NU fans have real hope for this season.

Spencer, the recruiting long, long-shot, looks strong. I don't think a single player had time to even move during his slam dunk move from behind the FT line because it was so sudden. Boo looks ready to upstage BMac. Kopp and Nance are playing better and better. Ryan Young no longer looks undernourished.

Reality awaits against Purdue, but NU looks competitive right now.

GO CATS!

Agree that spencer is better then anticipated but he is not a LG.

 

[lunker35]

I took this off my TV. New Trier alums take care of each other, right @lunker35 ? even if we don't always agree, it's all good.

View embedded media

My man. Thanks so much.

 

[JournCat]

I'm thinking that Beran might be the best of the bunch, when he adds a bit of muscle.

I'm starting to think Kopp might be. His threes opened things up yesterday for everyone else. If he can shoot 40% from 3 against Big Ten teams, we are going to win more games than anyone is expecting.

 

[CappyNU]

Not to temper everyone's enthusiasm, but BC is easily the worst team in the ACC, comparable to Nebraska. It was a great win last night, but let's not suddenly foresee a mid-table finish here. We let two bottom-half ACC teams shoot 56% from 2-point range in the last two games, and 17 of the 20 conference games are against teams ranked better than Pitt and BC per KenPom. Providence is also not nearly as good as we expected at the time of our victory, having since lost games to Penn, Long Beach State and Charleston while squeaking past Pepperdine.

We definitely have upside here, but I would be shocked if we were anywhere close to a post-season berth.

 

[torque-cat]

I took this off my TV. New Trier alums take care of each other, right @lunker35 ? even if we don't always agree, it's all good.

View embedded media

I can say from sitting courtside at eye level, it looked even better. From the slightly elevated angle its hard to see how high up he got.

 

[willycat]

I can say from sitting courtside at eye level, it looked even better. From the slightly elevated angle its hard to see how high up he got.

You were there?

 

[torque-cat]

You were there?

yes