View From 107: Player Grades

[Turk]

This is like the PSAT. No grades for this game. However, a few things to say

Team: Lacks confidence right now. Will have to develop confidence to win in the Big otherwise I'm uncomfortable thinking about our half court offense since it's nothing wow. We have the depth and shooters and all game Collins kept telling them why are you going so slow? And "Run". "Quicker". We have pure shooters and they need to take shots instead of wondering if they are the guy on a particular possession. McKendree will be the worst team they play.

Ash: Very comfortable out there. No doubt in my mind he is our staring PG and if he is under appreciated now, he won't be at the end of the year. Fact is, we need him and I hope he stays healthy.

Law/Pardon -Rock!. Nuff said

Benson - seems more fluid and is growing as a basketball player. Interesting

Kopp - He is picking up where Skelly left off. He should give us some minutes for sure.

Gaines: Workmanlike. Don't get overly excited about his play today. He had a great exhibition last year. Think Sanjay Lumpkin. Solid player and good defender but don't get overly hyped about him slamming bamming and taking things to the rim against the big boys in the BigTen like he did tonight.
That said, solid 6th man off the bench no doubt albeit not a great scorer.

Nance; Easily the purest basketball player on the team. Already. I know Gocatsgo didn't think he was ready, but my eyes didn't deceive me, he is going to be a clear starter for us starting this year. Does it all. And he isn't skinny like some dopes said on here. He will be fine banging in the Big. Really impressed. Holy Cow! Very emotional player as well. Will pump up the fans and the players. Standing next to benson and Pardon, he is just as tall as Benson. Easily 6'10. We are going to be tall and long this year.

Greer: Should provide quality minutes. Very smart player I can tell. A quicker version of Dave Sobelowski. Should back up Ash nicely.

Taylor: Maybe our best pure shooter. Dude got a sweet shot. I've seen players like him on Indiana, Purdue, Michigan. Look out!

Falzon: he better get better quick because we are so deep that he will lose his minutes if he lets some others settle in. IMO, the new players are more complete than Falzon. Taylor, Nance, Kopp all have inside/outside games.

Turner: pure shooter. Definitely a good shot coming off the bench.

BTW, the arena is truly a dream. That's how unbelievable it is. Wow. They packed 10 pounds of potatoes in a 5 lb sack. Every seat is close to the court. Wow.

 

[scru]

This is like the PSAT. No grades for this game. However, a few things to say

Team: Lacks confidence right now. Will have to develop confidence to win in the Big otherwise I'm uncomfortable thinking about our half court offense since it's nothing wow. We have the depth and shooters and all game Collins kept telling them why are you going so slow? And "Run". "Quicker". We have pure shooters and they need to take shots instead of wondering if they are the guy on a particular possession. McKendree will be the worst team they play.

Ash: Very comfortable out there. No doubt in my mind he is our staring PG and if he is under appreciated now, he won't be at the end of the year. Fact is, we need him and I hope he stays healthy.

Law/Pardon -Rock!. Nuff said

Benson - seems more fluid and is growing as a basketball player. Interesting

Kopp - He is picking up where Skelly left off. He should give us some minutes for sure.

Gaines: Workmanlike. Don't get overly excited about his play today. He had a great exhibition last year. Think Sanjay Lumpkin. Solid player and good defender but don't get overly hyped about him slamming bamming and taking things to the rim against the big boys in the BigTen like he did tonight.
That said, solid 6th man off the bench no doubt albeit not a great scorer.

Nance; Easily the purest basketball player on the team. Already. I know Gocatsgo didn't think he was ready, but my eyes didn't deceive me, he is going to be a clear starter for us starting this year. Does it all. And he isn't skinny like some dopes said on here. He will be fine banging in the Big. Really impressed. Holy Cow! Very emotional player as well. Will pump up the fans and the players. Standing next to benson and Pardon, he is just as tall as Benson. Easily 6'10. We are going to be tall and long this year.

Greer: Should provide quality minutes. Very smart player I can tell. A quicker version of Dave Sobelowski. Should back up Ash nicely.

Taylor: Maybe our best pure shooter. Dude got a sweet shot. I've seen players like him on Indiana, Purdue, Michigan. Look out!

Falzon: he better get better quick because we are so deep that he will lose his minutes if he lets some others settle in. IMO, the new players are more complete than Falzon. Taylor, Nance, Kopp all have inside/outside games.

Turner: pure shooter. Definitely a good shot coming off the bench.

BTW, the arena is truly a dream. That's how unbelievable it is. Wow. They packed 10 pounds of potatoes in a 5 lb sack. Every seat is close to the court. Wow.

I think you are wildly undervaluing Turner. He was much more of a facilitator than a shooter tonight. Brings good length, D, handles, and passing. I'd say he starts, but the combo of he and Gaines coming off the bench together seems too good to break up right now. As a result, I'd agree that Ash gets the start. Based on one exhibition game, id say:

Starters:
Ash
Taylor
Law
Nance
Pardon

Next 2:
Turner (Ash)
Gaines (Taylor)

Next 2:
Benson (Pardon)
Kopp (Nance)

Next:
Greer (depending on matchups)

I think Law and Pardon play most minutes on the team until Falzon returns to provide another option to spell Nance.

As CCC said post game, though, who starts isn't really important. It is going to be a lot of players rotating. High energy D, get out and run like hell to score points in transition.

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

I think you are wildly undervaluing Turner. He was much more of a facilitator than a shooter tonight. Brings good length, D, handles, and passing. I'd say he starts, but the combo of he and Gaines coming off the bench together seems too good to break up right now. As a result, I'd agree that Ash gets the start. Based on one exhibition game, id say:

Starters:
Ash
Taylor
Law
Nance
Pardon

Next 2:
Turner (Ash)
Gaines (Taylor)

Next 2:
Benson (Pardon)
Kopp (Nance)

Next:
Greer (depending on matchups)

I think Law and Pardon play most minutes on the team until Falzon returns to provide another option to spell Nance.

As CCC said post game, though, who starts isn't really important. It is going to be a lot of players rotating. High energy D, get out and run like hell to score points in transition.

I agree on the starting five,but we need the next four guys in four twenty minutes a game

 

[Turk]

I think you are wildly undervaluing Turner. He was much more of a facilitator than a shooter tonight. Brings good length, D, handles, and passing. I'd say he starts, but the combo of he and Gaines coming off the bench together seems too good to break up right now. As a result, I'd agree that Ash gets the start. Based on one exhibition game, id say:

Starters:
Ash
Taylor
Law
Nance
Pardon

Next 2:
Turner (Ash)
Gaines (Taylor)

Next 2:
Benson (Pardon)
Kopp (Nance)

Next:
Greer (depending on matchups)

I think Law and Pardon play most minutes on the team until Falzon returns to provide another option to spell Nance.

As CCC said post game, though, who starts isn't really important. It is going to be a lot of players rotating. High energy D, get out and run like hell to score points in transition.

If I'm undervaluing Turner, it is only because I sensed Taylor being a bit better yesterday. Both are solid shooters. Turner is perhaps the most complete player out of the two as Taylor stumbled a few times on ball control, while Turner has good ball handling skills.

Things will be interesting this year as Collins truly is 10 deep and wants to push it. Nance plays with a high intensity/energy game so I"m guessing he plays about 24-27 minutes a game.

 

[ricko654321]

I think you are wildly undervaluing Turner. He was much more of a facilitator than a shooter tonight. Brings good length, D, handles, and passing. I'd say he starts, but the combo of he and Gaines coming off the bench together seems too good to break up right now. As a result, I'd agree that Ash gets the start. Based on one exhibition game, id say:

Starters:
Ash
Taylor
Law
Nance
Pardon

Next 2:
Turner (Ash)
Gaines (Taylor)

Next 2:
Benson (Pardon)
Kopp (Nance)

Next:
Greer (depending on matchups)

I think Law and Pardon play most minutes on the team until Falzon returns to provide another option to spell Nance.

As CCC said post game, though, who starts isn't really important. It is going to be a lot of players rotating. High energy D, get out and run like hell to score points in transition.

Based on entirely overextrapolating from a small sample size in an exhibition against McKendree... I think our best 5 are Gaines Turner Law Nance Pardon. I think Turner will play 25+ mins a game, after Law and Pardon he might be our best complete player. Vic and Dererk will play as much as their conditioning can take. Nance is slightly raw but not that much... you can’t keep him off the court, he should play at least 20 if not 25. After those 4, I’m open on the rest of the rotation. Gaines is solid, Kopp I think some time in a backup role (though he started last night), Greer and Ash mix in occasionally at backup PG or maybe one of them starts, Benson 5-10 mins, and then Taylor could vary depending on the night or how the season develops... wouldn’t be shocked if he plays 30 and wouldn’t be shocked if he plays 10.

A lot of guys to try to get minutes...

 

[Turk]

Based on entirely overextrapolating from a small sample size in an exhibition against McKendree... I think our best 5 are Gaines Turner Law Nance Pardon. I think Turner will play 25+ mins a game, after Law and Pardon he might be our best complete player. Vic and Dererk will play as much as their conditioning can take. Nance is slightly raw but not that much... you can’t keep him off the court, he should play at least 20 if not 25. After those 4, I’m open on the rest of the rotation. Gaines is solid, Kopp I think some time in a backup role (though he started last night), Greer and Ash mix in occasionally at backup PG or maybe one of them starts, Benson 5-10 mins, and then Taylor could vary depending on the night or how the season develops... wouldn’t be shocked if he plays 30 and wouldn’t be shocked if he plays 10.

A lot of guys to try to get minutes...

There were times when Turner was our point guard last night. I'm not even sure we can say that offense had a point guard but there wasn't any listed PG in our lineup. I think it was Turner and Taylor as our guards in a lineup. Taylor imo struggled with ball handling. I may be wrong but he appeared to have several turnovers unless he regained the ball on a few of those.

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

There were times when Turner was our point guard last night. I'm not even sure we can say that offense had a point guard but there wasn't any listed PG in our lineup. I think it was Turner and Taylor as our guards in a lineup. Taylor imo struggled with ball handling. I may be wrong but he appeared to have several turnovers unless he regained the ball on a few of those.

I actually liked Turner a bit more than Taylor! Turner was solid on both ends of the court. Taylor is offensive,with a great shot. Taylor shot 50 percent from three point land!

 

[Turk]

I actually liked Turner a bit more than Taylor! Turner was solid on both ends of the court. Taylor is offensive,with a great shot. Taylor shot 50 percent from three point land!

IMO, Turner is truly more well rounded, especially better ball control which will be key if we go big and have him and Taylor as our guards on the floor.
Not sure if we have ever fielded such a big lineup.

 

[CatsScratch67]

I think Ash started the exhibition game primarily to give him the respect that he deserve as one of the captains on the team. I think it was very important and symbolic that Ash, Law, and Pardon opened up the new facility with all the sweat equity they have accumulated over the years. Ash has been a major ambassador for the program for several years. Every time a potential recruit is interviewed Ash name comes up. Ash sounds very personable and perhaps a future recruiter or coach.

Second, there is no doubt in my mind that CC knows the talent that he has and I strongly believe he is being a bit coy or evasive about his starting five. If you listen closely to his most recent interviews he has been steadfast in not saying too much about the two open positions. He does not want to play his hand or provide any tape or information about his starting five until the season starts.

I believe Turner and Nance will join Law, Pardon, and Taylor in the starting lineup. And, teams will be surprised of the size and length of our team on the floor. Preseason write ups have unanimously been unflattering and lacking nuance. The punditry have no clue of our personnel and I believe the coach would like to keep it that way as long as he can to surprise his opponents with a suffocating style of defense never seen at NU. He will not be able to hide those two for very long. Look for their coming out party this Thursday. Turner's play and role will surprise a lot of people because he is a forward with guard skills and is ideally suited for the role requested of him. It is going to be fun to watch them jell as a unit and team.

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

If I'm undervaluing Turner, it is only because I sensed Taylor being a bit better yesterday. Both are solid shooters. Turner is perhaps the most complete player out of the two as Taylor stumbled a few times on ball control, while Turner has good ball handling skills.

Things will be interesting this year as Collins truly is 10 deep and wants to push it. Nance plays with a high intensity/energy game so I"m guessing he plays about 24-27 minutes a game.

I tgthi Turner needs to start over Taylor. Better defense by Turner!

 

[EvanstonCat]

I tgthi Turner needs to start over Taylor. Better defense by Turner!

I don't think it's Turner or Taylor. Your boy Ash isn't starting, but he will have a role to play.

 

[Medill90]

I thought Ash looked really good. Especially given the fact that he is recovering from major knee surgery.

Ash, Gaines and Greer all looked like they could dribble out of some trouble. On that very narrow capability, I'd put Greer at the top.