What we learned from the exhibition...

[Medill90]

Players:

Gaines got better. More assertive, if that's possible. Better handle.

Ash looked good to me. Settled. Comfortable. Effective on both ends.

Greer ain't gonna red shirt. Not happening. Really nice handle. Great vision.

Taylor has a beautiful shot.

Turner is perhaps the most effective distributor on the team. If tonight is representative, he's got to play a ton.

Kopp looked very solid to me. Did not really convert on O, but that'll happen. But he's everywhere he's supposed to be and an intensity and physicality.

Nance. Oh my. Light on his feet. Skilled. Covers a ton a ground. With his length can shoot any time and hit it. He'll have on nights and off nights, but he's really something.

Collins was rotating two teams of five in. Not a lot seemed to be lost when the second unit was in. Struck me early in the game, NU has never had so much talent. Have to convert that into wins, but it's pretty startling if you've been following the team forever.

Offense:

Transition offense looked ok...some conversions....good decisions and bad (giving Benson the ball above the free throw line) The half court offense has a long way to go.

The passing isn't happing quick enough with the cuts. I think they are so focused on....am I in the right position, am I picking the right guy....that they aren't anticipating the off the ball cutters so guys receive the pass late when a defender has squared up.

Nance adds another dimension when he's in with tips, put backs, rebounds. He changes the game. This was a small team, but he's something.

A lot of talent, a lot of shooters so I think it can get there. But plenty of awkwardness. I think they have to get used to one another and they have to feel comfortable with a couple bail out guys (Taylor and Law).

Lots of bad passes out of the post. That'll settle down and they'll get a few threes instead of throwing it ten rows up. Fortunate that older woman is going home in one piece.

The Frosh:

It's just one game, right? But you can't rule out Kopp, Nance and Greer all starting by year-end. These were three really nice pick ups. NU very fortunate to get Greer there at the end.

 

[Medill90]

The D looked pretty solid all game.

Nice intensity, nice switching, good communications. Ash, Pardon and Law all really good with their teammates.

I thought strong in the post. So hard to tell because NU had a massive size and athleticism advantage.

Taylor disappeared a bit first half...maybe Turner some too. Miller Kopp does not take plays off on D.

 

[scru]

Players:

Gaines got better. More assertive, if that's possible. Better handle.

Ash looked good to me. Settled. Comfortable. Effective on both ends.

Greer ain't gonna red shirt. Not happening. Really nice handle. Great vision.

Taylor has a beautiful shot.

Turner is perhaps the most effective distributor on the team. If tonight is representative, he's got to play a ton.

Kopp looked very solid to me. Did not really convert on O, but that'll happen. But he's everywhere he's supposed to be and an intensity and physicality.

Nance. Oh my. Light on his feet. Skilled. Covers a ton a ground. With his length can shoot any time and hit it. He'll have on nights and off nights, but he's really something.

Collins was rotating two teams of five in. Not a lot seemed to be lost when the second unit was in. Struck me early in the game, NU has never had so much talent. Have to convert that into wins, but it's pretty startling if you've been following the team forever.

Offense:

Transition offense looked ok...some conversions....good decisions and bad (giving Benson the ball above the free throw line) The half court offense has a long way to go.

The passing isn't happing quick enough with the cuts. I think they are so focused on....am I in the right position, am I picking the right guy....that they aren't anticipating the off the ball cutters so guys receive the pass late when a defender has squared up.

Nance adds another dimension when he's in with tips, put backs, rebounds. He changes the game. This was a small team, but he's something.

A lot of talent, a lot of shooters so I think it can get there. But plenty of awkwardness. I think they have to get used to one another and they have to feel comfortable with a couple bail out guys (Taylor and Law).

Lots of bad passes out of the post. That'll settle down and they'll get a few threes instead of throwing it ten rows up. Fortunate that older woman is going home in one piece.

The Frosh:

It's just one game, right? But you can't rule out Kopp, Nance and Greer all starting by year-end. These were three really nice pick ups. NU very fortunate to get Greer there at the end.

All good notes and reflect what I saw as well. The cross-court skip passes were horrendous. Gotta clean that up.

Not sure I see Taylor as a guy who creates his own shot, but perhaps we just didn't see it tonight. He can certainly stroke it when he has a shooting window. Much quicker release than Lindsay... more like Shurna release time.

This team will need to get a lot of points in transition to win games, though. I agree with you that the half court offense is a work in progress. But with the potential this team has on D and the athleticism to get out and run, if they bring energy, stay healthy, and leverage the depth, I think they should be able to stay in games.

 

[Alan Smithee]

All good notes and reflect what I saw as well. The cross-court skip passes were horrendous. Gotta clean that up.

Not sure I see Taylor as a guy who creates his own shot, but perhaps we just didn't see it tonight. He can certainly stroke it when he has a shooting window. Much quicker release than Lindsay... more like Shurna release time.

This team will need to get a lot of points in transition to win games, though. I agree with you that the half court offense is a work in progress. But with the potential this team has on D and the athleticism to get out and run, if they bring energy, stay healthy, and leverage the depth, I think they should be able to stay in games.

Collins was exhorting the team EVERY time to push aggressively on every possession, until they did it. Certainly that was partly due to opponent, but he was not having it when they failed to run.

 

[Sec.112]

Just a few things to add so far. I'm not sure you can tell much playing against this team.

Nance - Agree with what everybody has said. Showed a lot inside and outside. I don't know how you keep him out of the starting lineup.

One thing I'm not sure anyone mentioned was how vocal he was on defense. He was loudly calling out everything - a good sign.

Turner and Gaines had a nice chemistry together. They seem to know each other's game well. I wonder if they will be paired together a lot.

Taylor didn't open my eyes a whole lot, but it's early. I wouldn't be surprised if he had some jitters or wasn't totally in the flow.

Ryan Young- Dressed but DNP

Hall and Malnati were both in street clothes.

 

[ricko654321]

Just a few things to add so far. I'm not sure you can tell much playing against this team.

Nance - Agree with what everybody has said. Showed a lot inside and outside. I don't know how you keep him out of the starting lineup.

One thing I'm not sure anyone mentioned was how vocal he was on defense. He was loudly calling out everything - a good sign.

Turner and Gaines had a nice chemistry together. They seem to know each other's game well. I wonder if they will be paired together a lot.

Taylor didn't open my eyes a whole lot, but it's early. I wouldn't be surprised if he had some jitters or wasn't totally in the flow.

Ryan Young- Dressed but DNP

Hall and Malnati were both in street clothes.

Yeah. Focusing my comments on the new guys mostly since the others we already know.

Nance looks like a unique talent. That fadeaway he made from the post... haven’t seen that from anyone in an NU bball jersey in quite a while. And he is LONG. Got his hands on lots of balls on defense and rebounds. And quick enough to guard some (not all, yet) perimeter players. Him and Pardon in the game together is powerful.

Also was really impressed by Turner. Just does every part of the game well. He’s like a Sanjay plus potentially. Excellent defender (could guard 4 positions with his 6’7 or 8 size and quickness), passer, rebounder, runs the floor, helps on D, can drive and finish, looks like a decent shooter (though probably more off the pass than the dribble). He and Vic combined could be an awesome combination to frustrate guards and wing players on D when we get to conference play.

Taylor.... didn’t have a great night. He looks like he will be a good scorer but the other parts of his game may be lacking. Quick release and drained a couple early ones before cooling off later. Seemed like a notably bad passer (just isn’t looking for others), may need more time to get used to playing with a team of good players vs just being the guy. And on defense he looked to have slow reaction, got out of position a number of times. That said, with all the other talent we have on defense we can hide that. And he seems like the kind of guy that will go off for 25 a couple times against B1G teams and basically win us a game or two on his own.

Greer looks fine. Perfect to eat 10-15 minutes in a backup PG role. Looks like he will be in the right place, make smart plays, score if given an opening, play solid defense. And then hopefully he can develop over the course of his time.

Kopp hard to say. Seems like a fluid athlete. Missed a few shots today he probably will make in the future. Seems like an okay to decent defender, not great but solid. Might not be anything he does exceptionally well on offense but a lot of things he does pretty well.

Dererk looked to be a bit better though hard to say against this competition. Vic looks just as good as before, sluggish in 1H but played a great 2H. Gaines is STRONG attacking the rim and he can JUMP. Ash looked a bit more confident on offense and with his shot. Benson was okay, looks to be about the same player, will be worth 5-10 mins to spell Dererk, his movement on D seemed improved to me.

Overall- the biggest takeaways I have are (1) length, (2) potentially depth? and (3) defense. We have a ton of long players. I’m sure the rotation will thin out when we play real teams (and unfortunately potential injuries), but last night we looked awfully deep with lots of interchangeable parts. And then on D... really impressive individual defense (we must have had >15 steals and nearly 10 blocks), but just as impressive was the team defense. The rotations, help, flexing in and out. We looked to be in midseason form (with the exception of a sequence mid 1H), unlike last year where our team struggled with all that stuff. On the individual side, there just seem to be a lot of plus defenders out there.

Combining 1 and 3, there are some absurd defensive lineups we could play.... eg Pardon Nance Turner Law Gaines. Enormous amount of size and quickness with that group, might not score a ton but jeez could they guard. Or even Greer or Ash at PG look like they will fight on D. There were long arms everywhere, and the defensive intensity even in an exhibition was at a level above what we saw in regular season all last year. There was a point mid 2H where we were just suffocating them and it looked like the McKendree players sort of didn’t want to be there anymore. Hope it continues, and we’ll see whether it translates to higher competition.

Fun night. And the arena- it lived up to and exceeded all the hype. They did a heck of a job.

Go Cats!

 

[mikewebb68]

Just a few things to add so far. I'm not sure you can tell much playing against this team.

Nance - Agree with what everybody has said. Showed a lot inside and outside. I don't know how you keep him out of the starting lineup.

One thing I'm not sure anyone mentioned was how vocal he was on defense. He was loudly calling out everything - a good sign.

Turner and Gaines had a nice chemistry together. They seem to know each other's game well. I wonder if they will be paired together a lot.

Taylor didn't open my eyes a whole lot, but it's early. I wouldn't be surprised if he had some jitters or wasn't totally in the flow.

Ryan Young- Dressed but DNP

Hall and Malnati were both in street clothes.

Was Falzon on the bench? Eamet stated he was injured.

 

[Pasadena Bound]

Was Falzon on the bench? Eamet stated he was injured.

Falzon was in a boot on the bench

 

[loyolacat]

Was not there plus didnt watch...but what hit me from all the reviews is that NU has a lot of options....not just options in terms of depth of squad but depth of abilities...which should allow NU to match up and take advantage of different styles of play.....in the back of my head,,,nope not gonna say it.

 

[NJCat]

Falzon was in a boot on the bench

Collins said in the post-game that Aaron has an ankle injury and is out "indefinitely".....didn't seem very optimistic about an imminent return.

 

[catcrazy]

Too bad. He may be a guy who we may never see fulfill his potential due to injury.

 

[scru]

Too bad. He may be a guy who we may never see fulfill his potential due to injury.

Also seems like CCC expects him back and to contribute this year. Could be a nice mid-season addition to the roster. Hope he keeps his chin up!

 

[freewillie07]

Yeah. Focusing my comments on the new guys mostly since the others we already know.

Nance looks like a unique talent. That fadeaway he made from the post... haven’t seen that from anyone in an NU bball jersey in quite a while. And he is LONG. Got his hands on lots of balls on defense and rebounds. And quick enough to guard some (not all, yet) perimeter players. Him and Pardon in the game together is powerful.

Also was really impressed by Turner. Just does every part of the game well. He’s like a Sanjay plus potentially. Excellent defender (could guard 4 positions with his 6’7 or 8 size and quickness), passer, rebounder, runs the floor, helps on D, can drive and finish, looks like a decent shooter (though probably more off the pass than the dribble). He and Vic combined could be an awesome combination to frustrate guards and wing players on D when we get to conference play.

Taylor.... didn’t have a great night. He looks like he will be a good scorer but the other parts of his game may be lacking. Quick release and drained a couple early ones before cooling off later. Seemed like a notably bad passer (just isn’t looking for others), may need more time to get used to playing with a team of good players vs just being the guy. And on defense he looked to have slow reaction, got out of position a number of times. That said, with all the other talent we have on defense we can hide that. And he seems like the kind of guy that will go off for 25 a couple times against B1G teams and basically win us a game or two on his own.

Greer looks fine. Perfect to eat 10-15 minutes in a backup PG role. Looks like he will be in the right place, make smart plays, score if given an opening, play solid defense. And then hopefully he can develop over the course of his time.

Kopp hard to say. Seems like a fluid athlete. Missed a few shots today he probably will make in the future. Seems like an okay to decent defender, not great but solid. Might not be anything he does exceptionally well on offense but a lot of things he does pretty well.

Dererk looked to be a bit better though hard to say against this competition. Vic looks just as good as before, sluggish in 1H but played a great 2H. Gaines is STRONG attacking the rim and he can JUMP. Ash looked a bit more confident on offense and with his shot. Benson was okay, looks to be about the same player, will be worth 5-10 mins to spell Dererk, his movement on D seemed improved to me.

Overall- the biggest takeaways I have are (1) length, (2) potentially depth? and (3) defense. We have a ton of long players. I’m sure the rotation will thin out when we play real teams (and unfortunately potential injuries), but last night we looked awfully deep with lots of interchangeable parts. And then on D... really impressive individual defense (we must have had >15 steals and nearly 10 blocks), but just as impressive was the team defense. The rotations, help, flexing in and out. We looked to be in midseason form (with the exception of a sequence mid 1H), unlike last year where our team struggled with all that stuff. On the individual side, there just seem to be a lot of plus defenders out there.

Combining 1 and 3, there are some absurd defensive lineups we could play.... eg Pardon Nance Turner Law Gaines. Enormous amount of size and quickness with that group, might not score a ton but jeez could they guard. Or even Greer or Ash at PG look like they will fight on D. There were long arms everywhere, and the defensive intensity even in an exhibition was at a level above what we saw in regular season all last year. There was a point mid 2H where we were just suffocating them and it looked like the McKendree players sort of didn’t want to be there anymore. Hope it continues, and we’ll see whether it translates to higher competition.

Fun night. And the arena- it lived up to and exceeded all the hype. They did a heck of a job.

Go Cats!

Interesting points about Taylor. I think he will get better as the season goes on and he gets used to the new team.

If he doesn’t, though... wonder how he’d be in a Tre Demps role, coming off the bench first and providing instant offense (maybe paired with Greer or Ash who aren’t really scorers).

 

[scru]

Interesting points about Taylor. I think he will get better as the season goes on and he gets used to the new team.

If he doesn’t, though... wonder how he’d be in a Tre Demps role, coming off the bench first and providing instant offense (maybe paired with Greer or Ash who aren’t really scorers).

I see it exactly as you have it here, and am less concerned about starting roles as CCC is strongly emphasizing that rotations will be fluid.

Ash plays with Taylor
Turner plays with Gaines
Greer based on match-ups and game time needs (i.e. foul trouble)

Ash's ball handling and defense compliment Taylor. I can't see splitting up the former AAU teammates and clear friends of Turner and Gaines. They will run the break better than the other pair, but might not be as good in the half court sets.

I think the starters will depend heavily on the game plan for individual teams. All of these options should make for a fun season and opportunity for adjustments in-game unlike anything we've seen to-date.

 

[Katatonic]

Take out LeBron and an excellent distributing PG (who struggles w/ his shot) and this team sounds alike like the Lakers; except, I expect that they'll play better D.

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

All good notes and reflect what I saw as well. The cross-court skip passes were horrendous. Gotta clean that up.

Not sure I see Taylor as a guy who creates his own shot, but perhaps we just didn't see it tonight. He can certainly stroke it when he has a shooting window. Much quicker release than Lindsay... more like Shurna release time.

This team will need to get a lot of points in transition to win games, though. I agree with you that the half court offense is a work in progress. But with the potential this team has on D and the athleticism to get out and run, if they bring energy, stay healthy, and leverage the depth, I think they should be able to stay in games.

Turner seemed to me a bit better than Taylor on both ends of th floor. I have Turner as our second best player behind Nance right now.

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

Yeah. Focusing my comments on the new guys mostly since the others we already know.

Nance looks like a unique talent. That fadeaway he made from the post... haven’t seen that from anyone in an NU bball jersey in quite a while. And he is LONG. Got his hands on lots of balls on defense and rebounds. And quick enough to guard some (not all, yet) perimeter players. Him and Pardon in the game together is powerful.

Also was really impressed by Turner. Just does every part of the game well. He’s like a Sanjay plus potentially. Excellent defender (could guard 4 positions with his 6’7 or 8 size and quickness), passer, rebounder, runs the floor, helps on D, can drive and finish, looks like a decent shooter (though probably more off the pass than the dribble). He and Vic combined could be an awesome combination to frustrate guards and wing players on D when we get to conference play.

Taylor.... didn’t have a great night. He looks like he will be a good scorer but the other parts of his game may be lacking. Quick release and drained a couple early ones before cooling off later. Seemed like a notably bad passer (just isn’t looking for others), may need more time to get used to playing with a team of good players vs just being the guy. And on defense he looked to have slow reaction, got out of position a number of times. That said, with all the other talent we have on defense we can hide that. And he seems like the kind of guy that will go off for 25 a couple times against B1G teams and basically win us a game or two on his own.

Greer looks fine. Perfect to eat 10-15 minutes in a backup PG role. Looks like he will be in the right place, make smart plays, score if given an opening, play solid defense. And then hopefully he can develop over the course of his time.

Kopp hard to say. Seems like a fluid athlete. Missed a few shots today he probably will make in the future. Seems like an okay to decent defender, not great but solid. Might not be anything he does exceptionally well on offense but a lot of things he does pretty well.

Dererk looked to be a bit better though hard to say against this competition. Vic looks just as good as before, sluggish in 1H but played a great 2H. Gaines is STRONG attacking the rim and he can JUMP. Ash looked a bit more confident on offense and with his shot. Benson was okay, looks to be about the same player, will be worth 5-10 mins to spell Dererk, his movement on D seemed improved to me.

Overall- the biggest takeaways I have are (1) length, (2) potentially depth? and (3) defense. We have a ton of long players. I’m sure the rotation will thin out when we play real teams (and unfortunately potential injuries), but last night we looked awfully deep with lots of interchangeable parts. And then on D... really impressive individual defense (we must have had >15 steals and nearly 10 blocks), but just as impressive was the team defense. The rotations, help, flexing in and out. We looked to be in midseason form (with the exception of a sequence mid 1H), unlike last year where our team struggled with all that stuff. On the individual side, there just seem to be a lot of plus defenders out there.

Combining 1 and 3, there are some absurd defensive lineups we could play.... eg Pardon Nance Turner Law Gaines. Enormous amount of size and quickness with that group, might not score a ton but jeez could they guard. Or even Greer or Ash at PG look like they will fight on D. There were long arms everywhere, and the defensive intensity even in an exhibition was at a level above what we saw in regular season all last year. There was a point mid 2H where we were just suffocating them and it looked like the McKendree players sort of didn’t want to be there anymore. Hope it continues, and we’ll see whether it translates to higher competition.

Fun night. And the arena- it lived up to and exceeded all the hype. They did a heck of a job.

Go Cats!

Great summary. My feeling is that AJ Turner can be All Big Ten! We got that kid for two more years. He has to start and play the same minutes as Law. Turner is every bit as good as Law, if not better. I just don’t see any drop off next year as I love all of our frosh, even Greer, who is beefy enough to handle the quick ,Big Ten guards. The team defense is what amazed me. Wisconsin Hoops was great for years because of their defense. Ours can be better. Nance has to play 25 minutes along with Turner. Give Kopp 20-25

 

[ricko654321]

Take out LeBron and an excellent distributing PG (who struggles w/ his shot) and this team sounds alike like the Lakers; except, I expect that they'll play better D.

Ha. Haha.

 

[hdhntr1]

Players:

Gaines got better. More assertive, if that's possible. Better handle.

Ash looked good to me. Settled. Comfortable. Effective on both ends.

Greer ain't gonna red shirt. Not happening. Really nice handle. Great vision.

Taylor has a beautiful shot.

Turner is perhaps the most effective distributor on the team. If tonight is representative, he's got to play a ton.

Kopp looked very solid to me. Did not really convert on O, but that'll happen. But he's everywhere he's supposed to be and an intensity and physicality.

Nance. Oh my. Light on his feet. Skilled. Covers a ton a ground. With his length can shoot any time and hit it. He'll have on nights and off nights, but he's really something.

Collins was rotating two teams of five in. Not a lot seemed to be lost when the second unit was in. Struck me early in the game, NU has never had so much talent. Have to convert that into wins, but it's pretty startling if you've been following the team forever.

Offense:

Transition offense looked ok...some conversions....good decisions and bad (giving Benson the ball above the free throw line) The half court offense has a long way to go.

The passing isn't happing quick enough with the cuts. I think they are so focused on....am I in the right position, am I picking the right guy....that they aren't anticipating the off the ball cutters so guys receive the pass late when a defender has squared up.

Nance adds another dimension when he's in with tips, put backs, rebounds. He changes the game. This was a small team, but he's something.

A lot of talent, a lot of shooters so I think it can get there. But plenty of awkwardness. I think they have to get used to one another and they have to feel comfortable with a couple bail out guys (Taylor and Law).

Lots of bad passes out of the post. That'll settle down and they'll get a few threes instead of throwing it ten rows up. Fortunate that older woman is going home in one piece.

The Frosh:

It's just one game, right? But you can't rule out Kopp, Nance and Greer all starting by year-end. These were three really nice pick ups. NU very fortunate to get Greer there at the end.

I think Gaines has something special to offer. The work he put in on his D last year and this year he looks bigger and stronger... If he can develop a bit of on outside shot, .... Agree on Nance and I do like the transfers. Greer has some work to do But I also feel that this is the most talent we have seen. Question is if it we have all the pieces needed to fit together. Still a little concerned at the point but the other positions are pretty well covered.

Thought we would see something of Hall and Malnotti but I guess both were hurt

 

[Medill90]

I think Gaines has something special to offer. The work he put in on his D last year and this year he looks bigger and stronger... If he can develop a bit of on outside shot, .... Agree on Nance and I do like the transfers. Greer has some work to do But I also feel that this is the most talent we have seen. Question is if it we have all the pieces needed to fit together. Still a little concerned at the point but the other positions are pretty well covered.

Thought we would see something of Hall and Malnotti but I guess both were hurt

agree

Gaines is just different than anyone else on the roster

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

agree

Gaines is just different than anyone else on the roster

Loved the chemistry between Gaines and Turner. They looked to be a formidable combo whether starting or off the bench.