Way too early take

[IGNORE2]

Boo, Lang and Preston will be gone. Berry and MN could also depart. In that case, we likely run out one of the newer guys from 23 or 24, BB, Mart and Hunger - no real PG.

I’m not convinced Clayton will be ready, if he ever becomes the starting PG. So I would think QB would be top portal focus with another big if MN follows Preston out.

But if Berry and MN stay, then simply a veteran QB is all we need next year.

I will be curious to see who gets the PT among Straus, Mullins, Barkley and frosh. They all appear to be wild cards and I have to think at least two will be hits of varying degrees.

 

[stpaulcat]

WTF? Who cares, this is this year. Live in the present for Pete's sake (whoever he is) and at least try to enjoy it.

 

[IGNORE2]

WTF? Who cares, this is this year. Live in the present for Pete's sake (whoever he is) and at least try to enjoy it.

Multitask, by good friend stp. It’s not like this board has ten fun, thriving threads or a rant board to enjoy…

 

[stpaulcat]

Multitask, by good friend stp. It’s not like this board has ten fun, thriving threads or a rant board to enjoy…

Could you please translate?

 

[IGNORE2]

Could you please translate?

Yes - this place is pretty dead in general. Adding a thread to consider next year allows folks that might want to have something to talk about another option. We used to have a rant board that distracted from the frequent periods of dead sports boards. It’s gone. So why poo poo on something simply seeking discussion?

 

[clarificationcat]

Yes - this place is pretty dead in general. Adding a thread to consider next year allows folks that might want to have something to talk about another option. We used to have a rant board that distracted from the frequent periods of dead sports boards. It’s gone. So why poo poo on something simply seeking discussion?

Maybe not immediately after a huge win? Maybe provide some insight about how Collins out-coached Izzo? Seems like we have enough to discuss tonight.

 

[hdhntr1]

Boo, Lang and Preston will be gone. Berry and MN could also depart. In that case, we likely run out one of the newer guys from 23 or 24, BB, Mart and Hunger - no real PG.

I’m not convinced Clayton will be ready, if he ever becomes the starting PG. So I would think QB would be top portal focus with another big if MN follows Preston out.

But if Berry and MN stay, then simply a veteran QB is all we need next year.

I will be curious to see who gets the PT among Straus, Mullins, Barkley and frosh. They all appear to be wild cards and I have to think at least two will be hits of varying degrees.

Let's just enjoy what is happening with this team now,. Plenty of time for speculation about next year later

 

[ballerog711]

Boo, Lang and Preston will be gone. Berry and MN could also depart. In that case, we likely run out one of the newer guys from 23 or 24, BB, Mart and Hunger - no real PG.

I’m not convinced Clayton will be ready, if he ever becomes the starting PG. So I would think QB would be top portal focus with another big if MN follows Preston out.

But if Berry and MN stay, then simply a veteran QB is all we need next year.

I will be curious to see who gets the PT among Straus, Mullins, Barkley and frosh. They all appear to be wild cards and I have to think at least two will be hits of varying degrees.

We should enjoy this year,

But if you were the coach, would you be talking to Clayton, Barkley and Strauss about transferring since you have have not faith???

 

[IGNORE2]

We should enjoy this year,

But if you were the coach, would you be talking to Clayton, Barkley and Strauss about transferring since you have have not faith???

I don’t think it’s binary. Sit or start. I think you use practice and non conference to get them minutes off the bench to set your rotation for season. Unless ccc has seen something that indicates one of them has little chance to see the floor.

I would think Clayton would need to be a heavy minutes guy through the end of next season or ccc looks in a different direction for the next QB.

 

[GatoLouco]

Personally I don't get as agitated by lack of a PG as the norm around here. I do agree that the college game is more of a guard game than the pro game. But I don't believe it's necessarily a PG game. It's a backcourt game and we start 4 of those as it is right now..

That is to say, I don't expect to be a tourney team next year, but believe we have plenty of raw material to work with, be fun to watch while being decently competitive. I really, really want to believe we are past 3 win seasons, ever.

 

[ballerog711]

I think the team will change and there will be more ball movement. Running more pin downs, might even see more horns action. Less iso.

I think Ty will be back. MN is doubtful as he would be a role player. Just a guess.

Clayton has potential to be fine. He is just behind a bunch of upper classman this year. When he plays seems to fit right jn, makes the same mistakes in defense the other guards do.

Barkley has potential, needs to gain some muscle to be able to defend and grab some boards. Runs the floors well and can shoot the ball

 

[TheC]

Personally I don't get as agitated by lack of a PG as the norm around here. I do agree that the college game is more of a guard game than the pro game. But I don't believe it's necessarily a PG game. It's a backcourt game and we start 4 of those as it is right now..

That is to say, I don't expect to be a tourney team next year, but believe we have plenty of raw material to work with, be fun to watch while being decently competitive. I really, really want to believe we are past 3 win seasons, ever.

I worry about PG for next year as under Collins, NU has good teams when it has a strong point guard. When it doesn't, we struggle. Unless we get a top notch PG transfer (and we don't usually land those kinds of transfers), we will not have a strong point guard next year.

But, that's next year's problem to worry about. Today, let's worry about finally beating a Penn State team that, on paper, we should be able to beat.

 

[hdhntr1]

Personally I don't get as agitated by lack of a PG as the norm around here. I do agree that the college game is more of a guard game than the pro game. But I don't believe it's necessarily a PG game. It's a backcourt game and we start 4 of those as it is right now..

That is to say, I don't expect to be a tourney team next year, but believe we have plenty of raw material to work with, be fun to watch while being decently competitive. I really, really want to believe we are past 3 win seasons, ever.

If you think that then tell me where you think we would be without BOO (or Macintosh in the first tourney run)

 

[GatoLouco]

If you think that then tell me where you think we would be without BOO (or Macintosh in the first tourney run)

Pretty irrelevant. Discussion is not about how we would have been in the past, or this season, it's about whether we will be competitive next year. IMO, we will have enough quality and experience to not be embarrassing as we were 2 years ago. And building towards even more than just being competitive.

 

[clarificationcat]

Pretty irrelevant. Discussion is not about how we would have been in the past, or this season, it's about whether we will be competitive next year. IMO, we will have enough quality and experience to not be embarrassing as we were 2 years ago. And building towards even more than just being competitive.

How were we embarrassing 2 years ago? We were in almost every game in the last 5 minutes. If we make our free throw in the last couple of minutes, we would have won 9 or 10 conference games in a very good year in the conference. That’s competitive.

 

[GatoLouco]

How were we embarrassing 2 years ago? We were in almost every game in the last 5 minutes. If we make our free throw in the last couple of minutes, we would have won 9 or 10 conference games in a very good year in the conference. That’s competitive.

I think finishing 11th is embarrassing. I think going 2-10 against tournament teams is embarrassing. But that is a bit beyond the point, how about 3 years ago? how about 4? We won 3 games that year. Does that qualify to make the point we were embarrassing not that long ago and I hope we are not going back to such low levels?

 

[IGNORE2]

How were we embarrassing 2 years ago? We were in almost every game in the last 5 minutes. If we make our free throw in the last couple of minutes, we would have won 9 or 10 conference games in a very good year in the conference. That’s competitive.

Mmhmm…which is why Gagg publicly put ccc on notice.

 

[IGNORE2]

I think finishing 11th is embarrassing. I think going 2-10 against tournament teams is embarrassing. But that is a bit beyond the point, how about 3 years ago? how about 4? We won 3 games that year. Does that qualify to make the point we were embarrassing not that long ago and I hope we are not going back to such low levels?

But to your earlier point - looking to the future. I see the play v MSU after UoI as evidence that ccc is evolving for the better. Different starter, twist to the D system - these are very good things.

But as others state above, a very good QB is essentially a prerequisite to dance. Clayton may get there, but would anyone here bet substantial money on him next year…especially in light of his PT trends lately.

Says to me that CCC and Co should be scouring the NCAA for potential targets in the portal and lining up some NiL money. This team will have some horses to ride next year but need a serious field general.

 

[GatoLouco]

But to your earlier point - looking to the future. I see the play v MSU after UoI as evidence that ccc is evolving for the better. Different starter, twist to the D system - these are very good things.

But as others state above, a very good QB is essentially a prerequisite to dance. Clayton may get there, but would anyone here bet substantial money on him next year…especially in light of his PT trends lately.

Says to me that CCC and Co should be scouring the NCAA for potential targets in the portal and lining up some NiL money. This team will have some horses to ride next year but need a serious field general.

I agree. I don't think we are a March team without an experienced PG. But we are not a bad team either, and that's my point. Every year in the league there are close to 50% of teams without a clear leader at the point. Sure, they have a guy who brings the ball to the offensive end of the floor, but that is not a PG, it's a ball carrier.

Furthermore I have more faith in CC than in the past the team will get coached to depend less on Boo iso's or heroics. Boo, Langborg, Preston, gone. But Berry, Barnhizer, Martinelli, Hunger, 1 year older and more experienced? Not too shaby.

Our recent success and returning talent should make us more attractive in the portal anyway.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

How were we embarrassing 2 years ago? We were in almost every game in the last 5 minutes. If we make our free throw in the last couple of minutes, we would have won 9 or 10 conference games in a very good year in the conference. That’s competitive.

It was not good.
Especially compared to expectations.
We were 2-8 in the Big Ten at the end of January.
We finished up the season with a humiliating beatdown by Iowa. 107-74.
Collins had a baaad year running the team, players didn't seem to get along.
We lost several games we should have won.
So maybe more painful than embarrassing, with plenty of embarrassing outcomes.

I recently heard that "the best player on the team" was a terrible teammate and gave crap nonstop to the guy he played alongside (in the frontcourt).
There was no joy in Mudville that year - although we played better than the two prior seasons.

 

[clarificationcat]

I think finishing 11th is embarrassing. I think going 2-10 against tournament teams is embarrassing. But that is a bit beyond the point, how about 3 years ago? how about 4? We won 3 games that year. Does that qualify to make the point we were embarrassing not that long ago and I hope we are not going back to such low levels?

I didn’t understand why you picked 2 years ago rather than the earlier years. That’s all. We were embarrassing in the preceding years. We were competitive 2 years ago. We couldn’t finish games because we missed free throws, Nance was not clutch or a go-to scorer and Buie hadn’t learned how to finish at the rim (and Audige was hurt and had an awful year). It was a very disappointing year because Nance and Young were in their 4th years and Buie, Beran and Audige were upper classmen. I get that. But we competed against some very good teams and lost almost all of them in the last 3 or 4 minutes of the game.

If we win 7 conference games next year, I will be pretty pleased unless we get a couple of really good guards in the transfer portal.

 

[EagerFan]

I agree. I don't think we are a March team without an experienced PG. But we are not a bad team either, and that's my point. Every year in the league there are close to 50% of teams without a clear leader at the point. Sure, they have a guy who brings the ball to the offensive end of the floor, but that is not a PG, it's a ball carrier.

Furthermore I have more faith in CC than in the past the team will get coached to depend less on Boo iso's or heroics. Boo, Langborg, Preston, gone. But Berry, Barnhizer, Martinelli, Hunger, 1 year older and more experienced? Not too shaby.

Our recent success and returning talent should make us more attractive in the portal anyway.

I'm hopeful Clayton will develop into a serviceable point by the start of next season. He did well enough this year in the non-con in terms of ball protection, he just had no offense. Berry, Barnhizer, Martinelli, Hunger, 1 year older and more experienced sounds great to me. If they remain consistent/continue developing, they'll be a very strong and experienced core.

 

[clarificationcat]

It was not good.
Especially compared to expectations.
We were 2-8 in the Big Ten at the end of January.
We finished up the season with a humiliating beatdown by Iowa. 107-74.
Collins had a baaad year running the team, players didn't seem to get along.
We lost several games we should have won.
So maybe more painful than embarrassing, with plenty of embarrassing outcomes.

I recently heard that "the best player on the team" was a terrible teammate and gave crap nonstop to the guy he played alongside (in the frontcourt).
There was no joy in Mudville that year - although we played better than the two prior seasons.

Again, not saying it was a good year. Just that we were very competitive in most games. We lost to Providence by 5 and they went to the Sweet 16. Lost to Wake Forest in overtime. The conference was very strong that year. K. Murray at Iowa, J. Davis at Wisconsin and J. Ivey at Purdue. We went 2 and 8 but lost in double overtime to Maryland when Nance missed a free throw to win the game, lost to Penn State in the last minute after they hit a bunch of ridiculous 3’s (like always) and Michigan when Nance and Young missed free throws in the last 2 minutes. We also played a great game at home against top 10 Wisconsin where Davis banked in a huge 3 and Young went ice cold in the 2nd half. Easily could have been 5 and 5 and we went on to win 3 straight.

Buie was not very good at finishing at the basket. People behind me would rip him every time he took a floater. Audige shot 25 percent from 3 and 33 percent overall and was not as explosive defensively. Berry was ok at best. Not a great backcourt, which you usually need to win close games.

 

[ballerog711]

To win in college you needs good guards, watching Boo and Ty grow over the years, I believe in the coaching staff to develop or identify guards to help.

I am more concerned with the 5, Hunger is doing a good job and we are all excited to be getting points from that position. But can he man it. He has committed 19 fouls in 126 minutes this year. At that pace would not finish to many games without fouling out.

Martenelli should be fine.

The 2 PGrad centers that have been added have been avg at best.

 

[IGNORE2]

To win in college you needs good guards, watching Boo and Ty grow over the years, I believe in the coaching staff to develop or identify guards to help.

I am more concerned with the 5, Hunger is doing a good job and we are all excited to be getting points from that position. But can he man it. He has committed 19 fouls in 126 minutes this year. At that pace would not finish to many games without fouling out.

Martenelli should be fine.

The 2 PGrad centers that have been added have been avg at best.

MN was a foul machine his first year with PT and improved last year

 

[stpaulcat]

Multitask, by good friend stp. It’s not like this board has ten fun, thriving threads or a rant board to enjoy…

I love you Bob, despite being a pain in the a**. (you, not me)

 

[JimStarr777]

I think finishing 11th is embarrassing. I think going 2-10 against tournament teams is embarrassing. But that is a bit beyond the point, how about 3 years ago? how about 4? We won 3 games that year. Does that qualify to make the point we were embarrassing not that long ago and I hope we are not going back to such low levels?

Well, he made up for it with an unprecedented 2nd place conference finish last year.

 

[Falcon86]

Boo, Lang and Preston will be gone. Berry and MN could also depart. In that case, we likely run out one of the newer guys from 23 or 24, BB, Mart and Hunger - no real PG.

I’m not convinced Clayton will be ready, if he ever becomes the starting PG. So I would think QB would be top portal focus with another big if MN follows Preston out.

But if Berry and MN stay, then simply a veteran QB is all we need next year.

I will be curious to see who gets the PT among Straus, Mullins, Barkley and frosh. They all appear to be wild cards and I have to think at least two will be hits of varying degrees.

I think the kid from Mt. Carmel will play lots next year.

 

[ballerog711]

MN was a foul machine his first year with PT and improved last year

We can agree to disagree on that one. Lots of fouls, low production out of the 5. They do play hard and try. Hunger does have a chance, but depends on work he puts in during the spring spring and summer workouts.

Same with Barkley.

 

[IGNORE2]

Boo, Lang and Preston will be gone. Berry and MN could also depart. In that case, we likely run out one of the newer guys from 23 or 24, BB, Mart and Hunger - no real PG.

I’m not convinced Clayton will be ready, if he ever becomes the starting PG. So I would think QB would be top portal focus with another big if MN follows Preston out.

But if Berry and MN stay, then simply a veteran QB is all we need next year.

I will be curious to see who gets the PT among Straus, Mullins, Barkley and frosh. They all appear to be wild cards and I have to think at least two will be hits of varying degrees.

I know you all love my looks to the future. I’m loving this season and thinking that these guys really like each other. Unlike years past, seems like the rotation guys really gel. I’m feeling good about everybody returning except MN - hope I’m wrong, but can see him taking the parchment and hanging it up.

Next year - BB, Berry, Mart and MN or Hunger is a pretty darn good group that have lots of minutes together. Would rather see a quality ball handler come in and force Clayton / Straus to earn a starting position. I’m thinking the RS frosh, Mullins and incoming frosh should reset the bench and give us at least two more quality rotation guys.

Go get a ball handler and another big guy. I would think players that aren’t in the nba talk would definitely finding NU appealing. Pretty good program, pretty good grad offerings.

Most important - open the coffers and pay the assistants. I think we have a good group.

 

[ballerog711]

Need MN back or Hunger to put in 10 pounds of muscle. He is struggling with the physicall play jn the BIG10. Could not use him against Illinois.

But I agree with you this has future potential