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Today's scrimmage

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Sec.112

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2001
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Was I really the only message-board shmuck in attendance? Oh well, it was good to be back.

Here's the quick overview.I'll do my best to keep in mind that it's only one game.

Biggest surprise - Well, Elyjah was a huge surprise for me anyhow. Pencil him in as the small forward or first guy off the bench.

He's like the anti-Kopp. He played defense. He was vocal. He has some bulk, and he has a reasonable outside shot. I want to say he was 2-3 from three.

Is it true he's the first ETHS grad to play for NU?

Best player - Boo. Fortunately or unfortunately, he had a very Buie afternoon. I want to say he popped three threes in the span of about two minutes.

However, there was some poor shot selection also.

I'd be interested to see his stats. Didn't seem like many turnovers and a decently managed game

The ugly - (3-way tie)

1) Audige - He was Kopp for a day. Did he make a basket before there were three minutes left in the game?
2) Beran - I want to say he missed his first four threes. Didn't make much after that.
3) The first 7 or 8 minutes - There was a definite difference in intensity and hustle after the first 7 or 8. Can't do that in the B10.

The freshman - Don't expect too much. I'm not sure any of them will be in the first eight. Each of them looks like they're still adjusting.

The one who easily looked like he had the longest way to go was ...

Sec.112 said:
... My understanding is the coaches have been depending hard core on Simmons since the day he signed.

... Everybody might want to start with that premise when considering the freshman minutes.
Click to expand...

Last thoughts ...

a) I'm not the biggest Berry fan at all, but he looks like he may have taken another step. Either he or Williams will take that last spot. Maybe it depends on matchups.
b) This team will go as Buie and Nance take them, but ...
c) ... Nobody stood out to me as having significantly upped their game.
d) I'm thinking this is the rotation - Buie, Audige, Nance and Williams, Young, Berry, Greer (nice minutes today) and Beran. For those of you wanting more of the Nance-Young combo, Beran's performance today is your first argument. However, Young's flips weren't exactly rolling in consistently.

We'll see if Barnhizer works his way into some time. I think Roper has too many guards ahead of him.
 
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Robbie Beran another overrated stiff. The Chris Collins special. 4 star recruit who can’t play
 
Sec.112 said:
Was I really the only message-board shmuck in attendance? Oh well, it was good to be back.

Here's the quick overview.I'll do my best to keep in mind that it's only one game.

Biggest surprise - Well, Elyjah was a huge surprise for me anyhow. Pencil him in as the small forward or first guy off the bench.

He's like the anti-Kopp. He played defense. He was vocal. He has some bulk, and he has a reasonable outside shot. I want to say he was 2-3 from three.

Is it true he's the first ETHS grad to play for NU?

Best player - Boo. Fortunately or unfortunately, he had a very Buie afternoon. I want to say he popped three threes in the span of about two minutes.

However, there was some poor shot selection also.

I'd be interested to see his stats. Didn't seem like many turnovers and a decently managed game

The ugly - (3-way tie)

1) Audige - He was Kopp for a day. Did he make a basket before there were three minutes left in the game?
2) Beran - I want to say he missed his first four threes. Didn't make much after that.
3) The first 7 or 8 minutes - There was a definite difference in intensity and hustle after the first 7 or 8. Can't do that in the B10.

The freshman - Don't expect too much. I'm not sure any of them will be in the first eight. Each of them looks like they're still adjusting.

The one who easily looked like he had the longest way to go was ...



Last thoughts ...

a) I'm not the biggest Berry fan at all, but he looks like he may have taken another step. Either he or Williams will take that last spot. Maybe it depends on matchups.
b) This team will go as Buie and Nance take them, but ...
c) ... Nobody stood out to me as having significantly upped their game.
d) I'm thinking this is the rotation - Buie, Audige, Nance and Williams, Young, Berry, Greer (nice minutes today) and Beran. For those of you wanting more of the Nance-Young combo, Beran's performance today is your first argument. However, Young's flips weren't exactly rolling in consistently.

We'll see if Barnhizer works his way into some time. I think Roper has too many guards ahead of him.
Click to expand...

What about Nicholson? He looks huge. Can he help?
 
I'll add my thoughts. I thought Roper looked like the Freshman most ready to help right away. The other two looked very raw (and thin), but a lot of low pressure pre-season games might help their development. I agree that Nance and Buie must consistently produce points for this team to win. Audige can create his own shot, but was having an off game. Still, I think he can be productive. Nicholson needs a lot of work on his offense. Young has some nice post moves but his hops are limited. Beran and Berry have to make open shots because they are going to have some. Williams will help and I go back to the 50s and he is the first Wildkit to play for the Cats. We have some Big Ten depth this year, but can these guys score enough points to win????
 
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I was there for most of the scrimmage. Here are my few thoughts:
  • Elyjah Williams proves some useful bulk. He could be more valuable than I expected.
  • Nance looked good, but still leaves you wanting more. He looks more comfortable with his outside shot and he had at least one nice rim run. Then you forget he's on the court for several minutes. He needs to be more assertive if this team is going to go anywhere.
  • Beran is so invisible out there he might as well be a ghost.
  • Berry caught my eye a few times, which is an improvement from last season.
  • My wife was able to stay for CC's comments. She mentioned that he said Elyjah Williams was the first ETHS player to play basketball at NU. I've been following NU basketball for 30 years and can't recall another, but I find it hard to believe it's literally never happened before. Either way, ETHS usually has a very good team so it would be a good connection to have.
  • The complementary concessions were a nice touch. My wife and I sampled a few things. We both agreed the Smashburger was quite good. I also tried the Street Corn Nachos (thumbs up) and the Nashville Hot Chicken tenders (meh).
 
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pschatz25 said:
  • Beran is so invisible out there he might as well be a ghost.
Click to expand...
PS, were you around when Beran finally sank a three? Did you notice the reaction from the team when he hit that shot? I thought they were encouraging and a bit overly enthusiastic. You can tell it was gnawing him at him a bit, and they tried to take some of the pressure off him. But I'm a bit bothered that a third-year guy needs to be picked up like a walk on.

Tell me you saw it and I'm completely overanalyzing.
 
EvanstonCat said:
What about Nicholson? He looks huge. Can he help?
Click to expand...
I think I need to see more of him, but nothing really stood out. If - and I emphasize "if" - he's in the conference rotation, maybe he gives a few minutes and a couple fouls.

I wish I could make the assumption that Nance will be the 4. But so far, I don't see anything about Nich that tells me to move Nance so Nicholson can get 15 minutes a game with Young.

But it's early.
 
This thread is pretty depressing. Usually, a team will come out and look great in a scrimmage like this, but reality sets in when they play better teams. But if our guys are already looking so-so now, it could be another long, dark winter.
 
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Catreporter said:
I thought Roper looked like the Freshman most ready to help right away
pschatz25 said:
Elyjah Williams proves some useful bulk. He could be more valuable than I expected.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Roper is strong, defends and is quick. He should get significant playing time, particularly with a three guard offense. Williams has a big body, good hands and quick feet. He certainly seems willing to shoot, but we have multiple better three point shooters. Nicholson didn't play much, is reluctant to shoot when he gets the ball down low, but showed he has good passing skills. Simmons is very quick. Greer is a solid player in all aspects and should increase his backup minutes this year. Young looked like he had lost weight and was a bit quicker. The success of our shooters (Nance, Buie and Audige) will reflect our team's success. Coach Collins comments reflected his optimism for this season and I would agree.
 
Obviously didn't see the the scrimmage, but keep in mind that these guys play each other every day and will often try to take away what their opponent does best.
 
Sec.112 said:
PS, were you around when Beran finally sank a three? Did you notice the reaction from the team when he hit that shot? I thought they were encouraging and a bit overly enthusiastic. You can tell it was gnawing him at him a bit, and they tried to take some of the pressure off him. But I'm a bit bothered that a third-year guy needs to be picked up like a walk on.

Tell me you saw it and I'm completely overanalyzing.
Click to expand...

I saw it! I remember because that's when I thought, 'Right, Beran's still on the team.' I'll just say that most guys on the team are not getting that enthusiastic of a reaction for making a shot in a meaningless scrimmage.

I'm looking at Beran's stats for last season and he shot 35% on 3s, which is good. He only took the 6th most on the team though. He scored more than 11 points three time while averaging 20 minutes per game. According to 247 he's our 5th best recruit of the last ~15 years. We need more from guys like that if we're going to be competitive in the Big Ten.
 
TheC said:
This thread is pretty depressing. Usually, a team will come out and look great in a scrimmage like this, but reality sets in when they play better teams. But if our guys are already looking so-so now, it could be another long, dark winter.
Click to expand...
Following NU sports is just an ongoing depressive state for you, isn’t it? I hope you can find some joy in it sometime.
 
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TheC said:
This thread is pretty depressing. Usually, a team will come out and look great in a scrimmage like this, but reality sets in when they play better teams. But if our guys are already looking so-so now, it could be another long, dark winter.
Click to expand...
Maybe our defense is just that good that it makes our offense look bad.
 
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Thanks for posting this, I appreciate the write up for those of who live out of state.

Promising report on Williams, but that's offset by your assessment on Beran/Berry. For better or worse it seems like we are going to rise/fall with Buie. We know what we are going to get from Nance and Young. I think a lot of games are going to depend on whether Buie has "it" on that particular night. We are going to surprise some teams when he's hot but we are probably going to have a Merimack or two when he shoots out of the game.
 
7th Cir. Cat said:
Thanks for posting this, I appreciate the write up for those of who live out of state.

Promising report on Williams, but that's offset by your assessment on Beran/Berry. For better or worse it seems like we are going to rise/fall with Buie. We know what we are going to get from Nance and Young. I think a lot of games are going to depend on whether Buie has "it" on that particular night. We are going to surprise some teams when he's hot but we are probably going to have a Merimack or two when he shoots out of the game.
Click to expand...

Buie and Audige. People forget how Audige took over in our win against Ohio State, just like how Buie dominated at the end against Michigan State. And I think Young is way underappreciated and hopefully will start and play 38 min a game.

We've got some players. We just need them to be more consistent, which hopefully will come with one more year of experience.
 
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PurpleWhiteBoy said:
Young is definitely underappreciated. He is a very good passer with good court awareness.
He ran into trouble last year against the beasts of the Big Ten (especially Cockburn) but Ryan Young is a winning player.
Click to expand...
Young is gonna surprise people this year! Very physical! I think NU does reasonably well this year despite being in a super tough conference
 
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