• You do not need to register if you are not going to pay the yearly fee to post. If you register please click here or log in go to "settings" then "my account" then "User Upgrades" and you can renew.

HuskerMax readers can save 50% on  Omaha Steaks .

12', 7", 430lb Center Jordy Tshimanga signs with Nebraska.

I get it that we're in the B1G and so sometimes you need a big guy or two like this, but I would love to see us utilizing Shields at the 5 more and trying to get out and run on teams. I know its an extremely far stretch, but it could be Golden State-esque. Shields has some of Draymond Green's game to him.. now granted we don't have anywhere close to the shooters, but if Tai, AW3, and Parker/McVeigh would be surrounding him? It would be pretty entertaining to watch.
 



I've been wondering if this would work out: I thought that since they offered Coprew that maybe there was no chance with this big guy. Maybe what it means instead is that Fuller or Hammond is going to move on?

GBR :N:
 
I get it that we're in the B1G and so sometimes you need a big guy or two like this, but I would love to see us utilizing Shields at the 5 more and trying to get out and run on teams. I know its an extremely far stretch, but it could be Golden State-esque. Shields has some of Draymond Green's game to him.. now granted we don't have anywhere close to the shooters, but if Tai, AW3, and Parker/McVeigh would be surrounding him? It would be pretty entertaining to watch.

I admire your enthusiasm, but there are a few flaws in that scenario. First off, you can't run, pass and gun like GSW if you aren't first and foremost a great shooting team. We also don't pass the ball nearly as well as we need to for a really uptempo, ball movement offense. Second, and I mean this in the nicest way, Shields inside would be one royal woodshedding. He's not particularly physical, he doesn't have amazing hops, and I can't see him being anything but target practice for any of the decent centers in the B1G.
 
This would be really nice. NU has been missing a true big man for quite awhile now and it has absolutely killed us... watching opposing teams be able to grab offensive rebound time and time again is pretty frustrating. Honestly now that I think about it who was our last true Big? LOL Aleks Maric from like a decade ago????
 



I've been wondering if this would work out: I thought that since they offered Coprew that maybe there was no chance with this big guy. Maybe what it means instead is that Fuller or Hammond is going to move on?

GBR :N:

I hope Hammond can improve but he is really over-matched right now, mentally and physically.
 
I admire your enthusiasm, but there are a few flaws in that scenario. First off, you can't run, pass and gun like GSW if you aren't first and foremost a great shooting team. We also don't pass the ball nearly as well as we need to for a really uptempo, ball movement offense. Second, and I mean this in the nicest way, Shields inside would be one royal woodshedding. He's not particularly physical, he doesn't have amazing hops, and I can't see him being anything but target practice for any of the decent centers in the B1G.

Creighton finished 14-4 in the big East playing a good chunk of the time with Ethan Wragge at the 5. So it can be done...but....like you said at the beginning of your post you better shoot lights out and move the ball with great efficiency. CU was, of course, able to do that with that team. Wragge generally posed a bigger problem for their 5 than the other way around. The other team had to chose putting a bigger, slower center type on him in order to take advantage at the other end. Problem was wragge was lethal from the perimeter...and beyond. CU was willing and able to absord the defensive shortcomings.

Shields, while an ok perimeter shooter, isn't nearly good enough of a shooter to create that dilemma for opposing coaches. NU simply doesn't have the tools to go with that kind of game plan.
 
Last edited:
I admire your enthusiasm, but there are a few flaws in that scenario. First off, you can't run, pass and gun like GSW if you aren't first and foremost a great shooting team. We also don't pass the ball nearly as well as we need to for a really uptempo, ball movement offense. Second, and I mean this in the nicest way, Shields inside would be one royal woodshedding. He's not particularly physical, he doesn't have amazing hops, and I can't see him being anything but target practice for any of the decent centers in the B1G.

Well aware, which is why I started the comment with "I know its an extremely far stretch"... and also followed it up with "now granted we don't have anywhere close to the shooters..."

But I also don't believe it would be quite that bad with Shields at the 5 for periods of the game, especially when it seems our offense is bogging down. There aren't exactly any world beaters in the B1G at center either - Hammons, Stone and Bryant are the only ones currently averaging double digits in scoring.

I know its not something that would be sustainable by any means, but I also think if we tried it for small stretches of the game, it might be more positive than a person thinks. When our offense bogs down, put this lineup out on the court and we're going to be more apt to run because the players on the floor are more athletic and surround him with what equates to our best shooters.

Sure GS's system works because of the shooting, but it also works because of Green's versatility. When he is at the 5 and is playmaking from the top of the key, most other 5s in the game can't compete with that... And that's where I'm going with the Shields comparison. If Shields is able to go downhill without someone else clogging the lane (Jacobsen, Morrow, Hammond), he's either going to be able to get to the rim or find an open shooter when someone rolls to him. I would be more worried about rebounding than I would be with Shields being able to body up with most of the sloths playing the 5 in the B1G.
 
Last edited:



Short periods could be doable.

Honestly not sure it's in mile's wheelhouse though

He's done it before @ NDSU when I was there, so its definitely in his wheelhouse... not for long stretches but in times of foul trouble or trying to change things up/juice the offense, he would have 2 guys that were 6'7'' as his 4 and 5. Like I said above, rebounding is/was the worry, not if they were capable of defending. The scenario was a little different as his best player was his PG, 2nd best was one of those 6'7'' guys and 3rd was the SG, but he definitely could do it.

I'm not trying to argue to argue, I'm just saying it could be a positive attempt to amp up the offense when things aren't going great.

Throwing the GS thing out there was an attempt to give a brief visual, not saying by going to that could turn Nebraska into a comparison with the most dominant team in the NBA. Sorry for making it sound that way.
 
Last edited:
You then have your best/only scorer most times, exhausted from banging inside on dudes twice his size. I think just the opposite. If you had serviceable center then Shields and White wouldn't have to cover bigs. Shields is a natural small forward and he still has to guard the 4 every time. By doing this they will be fresher and in White's case wouldnt foul out with 7 points against MST because he is trying to do something he cant.
 
Last edited:

Creighton finished 14-4 in the big East playing a good chunk of the time with Ethan Wragge at the 5. So it can be done...but....like you said at the beginning of your post you better shoot lights out and move the ball with great efficiency. CU was, of course, able to do that with that team. Wragge generally posed a bigger problem for their 5 than the other way around. The other team had to chose putting a bigger, slower center type on him in order to take advantage at the other end. Problem was wragge was lethal from the perimeter...and beyond. CU was willing and able to absord the defensive shortcomings.
33
Shields, while an ok perimeter shooter, isn't nearly good enough of a shooter to create that dilemma for opposing coaches. NU simply doesn't have the tools to go with that kind of game plan.

Look, I'm not trying to be argumentative, but Creighton got away with it because you had the bomb squad killing people from 3 range and McD scoring from about everywhere. We don't have those assets. I'm not saying you can't try it for very short stretch3s, but we don't have the skills to be what some are suggesting, at least not with the current group. All I'm saying is suggesting some of the centers in the conference aren't dominating completely ignores they would be against a softer kid who's not much over 6'6".

So, we aren't great perimeter shooters, we need to improve on our passing, and we don't have a tough match up for opposing centers. Creighton got away with it because they were great with ball movement, and forced mismatches who were lethal scorers. The centers had no one to cover. We have players that opposing centers could cover adequately.

In other words, we pretty much agree, we don't have the tools.
 
Last edited:

GET TICKETS


Get 50% off on Omaha Steaks

Back
Top