I think most people think Barnhizer will lead the team in scoring this year, but of course he's not at 100% yet, and we don't know how good he'll be when he's the focal point of opposing defenses. Who's going to be #2 this year?
I watch a lot of highlights from last couple years, and boy are we going to miss Boo and Langborg. This doesn't seem like a good three-point shooting team right now, even if we expect Barnhizer and Martinelli will improve. Berry is the threat, but he's been inconsistent throughout his career. Seems that the 2025 guys are all good shooters, but we need guys now.Of course, someone needs to be a threat from outside to keep him from getting doubled.
Agree, but I hope Leach is on that list as well. NU didn't bring him in for him to average six points a game.It seems likely to me that Brooks, Ty, Nick, and Matt will be the top scorers almost every night, and that which order they fall in will meander. I think we can expect an average of 12 ppg from each of them, again with some meandering, which doesn't bode well for lots of wins unless we get some solid help from a couple of other guys every game.
If Matt averages 12 a game we will either be top 10 in the country or bottom 4 in the B1G.It seems likely to me that Brooks, Ty, Nick, and Matt will be the top scorers almost every night, and that which order they fall in will meander. I think we can expect an average of 12 ppg from each of them, again with some meandering, which doesn't bode well for lots of wins unless we get some solid help from a couple of other guys every game.
If Matt averages 12 a game we will either be top 10 in the country or bottom 4 in the B1G.
I dunno, that's just three more dunks per game. With him, Brooks, and Nick all crowding the paint I think he gets more hand offs underneath this year.If Matt averages 12 a game we will either be top 10 in the country or bottom 4 in the B1G.
Yes, that seems very unlikely...If Matt averages 12 a game we will either be top 10 in the country or bottom 4 in the B1G.
To my surprise, Torvik also had Mullins #4 at 9.7 PPG. If that happens Cats will be strong.Torvik (who was pretty dead-on preseason about us last year) has Berry at #2 with 13.4PPG and Martinelli #3 at 11.6PPG, which reflects the vote count here pretty closely.
To my surprise, Torvik also had Mullins #4 at 9.7 PPG. If that happens Cats will be strong.
He projects 18-12, 10-10 in the BiG. I'd take that in a heartbeat.
Definitely.I mean, Mullins at 9.7 ppg is kind of out of nowhere. I'm actually surprised Leach is so low (4.6 ppg I think). Maybe switch those two?
Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. Still (fair or not), he'll have very big shoes to fill, so I would expect NU will give him every opportunity to score. He's far more likely to be replacing Langborg's production (which wasn't bad) than Boo's.My guess without knowing would be that Torvik tries to predict the difficulty of transferring up. Last year Leach played in the 25th-best conference with an SOS of 309. He only played two games against what Kenpom considers top 100 competition adjusted for location and averaged 9.5 points, 1 assist, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 turnovers in 29 mpg, including shooting 1-9 from 3. Last year was also a breakout year for him after not showing much previously in his career.
I will be optimistic, but I also remember Ryan Taylor.
I agree. I think as long as we don't expect him to fill Boo's shoes (and no one can, really), we would be thrilled if he merely filled Langborg's.Dood, if he can replace Langborg's production we will be singing his praises.
I think he’ll be a double-digit scorer. Not as one dimensional as Ryan Taylor.Leach's good shooting touch was a highlight of yesterday's practice for me.
Right, in conference he had a breakout year. Let's hope he can build off that this year and elevate his game. Believe me, I want him to succeed!Leach shot 48% last year (granted, against MAAC)
The MVC is a tough league. There were four transfers from the MVC last season to the Big Ten. Marcus Domask (Illinois), Lance Jones (Purdue), Reink Mast (Nebraska), Ben Krikke (Iowa). They were all good double figure scorers. Domask and Jones were teammates at SIU. The toughness of the MVC is one reason Ben Humrichous is projected as a key player at Illinois.Some guys translate, and some don't. Domask turned out to be really good for Illinois last year, but I would expect he would've had similar numbers and quad 3/4 games the year before (I could be wrong - I'm not looking it up). And of course we were talking about Langborg as well, who likely played a lot more Quad 3/4 games the previous year and still seemed to be fine.
If Leach turns out to be Ryan Taylor, we'll all be disappointed I suppose. If he turns out to be Langborg, we'll be thrilled. If he turns out to be Domask, we're going back to the NCAAs. You just don't know which guy you're going to get when someone transfers up.
I didn't realize that all four transfers from the Missouri Valley Conference had done so well, but yes, when comparing to the MAAC, it is definitely a superior conference. MVC to Big Ten is still a big step up, which makes Domask's performance even more impressive, but it's not quite the leap from the MAAC.The MVC is a tough league. There were four transfers from the MVC last season to the Big Ten. Marcus Domask (Illinois), Lance Jones (Purdue), Reink Mast (Nebraska), Ben Krikke (Iowa). They were all good double figure scorers. Domask and Jones were teammates at SIU. The toughness of the MVC is one reason Ben Humrichous is projected as a key player at Illinois.
Not sure I’d rely on Torvik too much. It had Kasparas Jakucionis as the 8th leading scorer at Illinois and a nonstarter. He is the best player on the team and a projected lottery pick.
Memory is a strange thing. Maybe this is Mandela Effect stuff, but I bet if you asked most big NU fans, we'd think he averaged like five points a game and did not shoot well at all. Thanks for sharing.Ryan Taylor averaged 9.8 pts at NU. His eFG% dropped from 50% to 45%. Not great, not terrible. I will be very happy if Leach averages the same.
Thing about Taylor was that expectations were much higher than that.
I mean, he averaged 21 ppg his last year at Evansville on 42% 3pt shooting, so yeah, expectations were higher.Memory is a strange thing. Maybe this is Mandela Effect stuff, but I bet if you asked most big NU fans, we'd think he averaged like five points a game and did not shoot well at all. Thanks for sharing.
This. He has to be around a 40% 3pt threat to really open things up for the offense.Agree, but I hope Leach is on that list as well. NU didn't bring him in for him to average six points a game.
I'm starting to worry about Brooks availability. It was well over a month ago in the Europe trip that they talked about his foot problem not being that big of an issue and it should be fine fairly soon. Here we are many weeks later and he's still not close to fine.I went with BB at #2 in the premise he’ll have a strong overall year providing good scoring, rebounds, ball handling, defense, etc. while spending a little more of his energy on all those things rather than scoring because Ty Berry makes it absolutely rain
Me too, but I'm holding out hope that they're just being extra careful. Would not be surprised if he sits out the exhibition this week regardless.I'm starting to worry about Brooks availability. It was well over a month ago in the Europe trip that they talked about his foot problem not being that big of an issue and it should be fine fairly soon. Here we are many weeks later and he's still not close to fine.
He may end up being the leading scorer instead of the second. Brooks has multiple functions on the team and is overcoming a current foot injury that might take a while for him to get up to basketball speed, therefore it might take him a while to score at any reasonable pace.Well, Collins did say at B1G Media Day that Nick would be the break-out player this season, following Ty(last yer) and Brooks (2 seasons ago).......