Springfield

[TheC]

I have to agree with TheC. His nice move was fun to watch, but it was painfully slow. In my mind I try to translate any action in a game like this to Big Ten speed and size. I don't think that move works against many D1, let alone Power 5, teams. There's no doubt, he has size, and perhaps he can be a contributor in Big Ten games, but I have not seen anything to make me think so. As for the rebound thing, I commented on that in a previous post.

That's how I felt. I just didn't see anything he did last night working against BIG level competition. Even that "jump" hook the other poster celebrated was kind of funny looking. He brought the ball down and almost shot-putted it toward the basket, instead of high arching hook. That likely would have been disrupted against most BIG centers.

My hope for him is that he can be effective enough to take up space in the paint on defense without fouling and can grab a few offensive rebounds to extend possessions. I certainly don't think he'll ever be an effective scorer in the BIG, which means at best, he'll be a bench player who gives your starting centers a few minutes rest.

 

[willycat]

Not sure if you are referencing me as one of those posters criticizing Nicholson, but this is literally the first time I have commented on him. And it's more of a reference to how often he is discussed compared to how little he plays. Having a discussion or two about it? Sure. But it comes up A LOT. It's just odd to me.

And for me, I am rooting hard for him. He's got great size of course and every indication is he is working really hard to get better and become a contributor. I'm all for it. Just skeptical at this point if he'll ever get there and be a regular contributor against Big Ten competition. And the "against Big Ten competition" is the key part there. Since you brought up Benson, when he went down to SIU for a year, he started and actually was a reasonable player averaging 10.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. I saw him play in person in a game against Drake here in Des Moines and he had a great game (18 points/10 boards) against Liam Robbins when he was a freshman at Drake before transferring to Minnesota.

I feel Nicholson could probably do that in a conference like the MVC or Horizon League, but the question is whether he can do it at the top level of college basketball. That's where I'm still a skeptic. Doesn't mean I'm not rooting for him though.

And he will likely be playing in one those leagues you mentioned next season.

 

[wildcatpn]

I have to agree with TheC. His nice move was fun to watch, but it was painfully slow. In my mind I try to translate any action in a game like this to Big Ten speed and size. I don't think that move works against many D1, let alone Power 5, teams. There's no doubt, he has size, and perhaps he can be a contributor in Big Ten games, but I have not seen anything to make me think so. As for the rebound thing, I commented on that in a previous post.

Painfully slow? Guess we'll just have to disagree. Everyone can take a look at it at 4:35 in the video posted above in this thread. Like I said, he needs much more development to be a large contributor in the Big 10 but that move was not "painfully" slow. It showed he has some ability.

 

[wildcatpn]

That's how I felt. I just didn't see anything he did last night working against BIG level competition. Even that "jump" hook the other poster celebrated was kind of funny looking. He brought the ball down and almost shot-putted it toward the basket, instead of high arching hook. That likely would have been disrupted against most BIG centers.

My hope for him is that he can be effective enough to take up space in the paint on defense without fouling and can grab a few offensive rebounds to extend possessions. I certainly don't think he'll ever be an effective scorer in the BIG, which means at best, he'll be a bench player who gives your starting centers a few minutes rest.

Everyone needs to take what you say with a grain of salt since you are extremely negative just by nature.

 

[TheC]

Everyone needs to take what you say with a grain of salt since you are extremely negative just by nature.

No one has to take anything I say at all. I am just some dude with an opinion.

 

[ubercat]

Good start for the Cats, but nobody is here. Major energy from the PA guy.

Nobody?? Hey, I was there! Along with maybe 500 faithful. ; )

And the PA guy was a sub, who imho had way too much red bull before the game. He was loudly and hyper-excitedly welcoming guys into the game from off the bench. Way over the top.

 

[DaCat]

No one has to take anything I say at all. I am just some dude with an opinion.

An opinion that seems strongly influenced by confirmation bias. I definitely see an improvement in Nicholson vs. last year. He has a B1G body now, and practicing every day against Young and Nance has made him develop his footwork and some moves. He missed his first two free throws, then made his next two, and seemed to have a decent shooting form. There is hope for him yet. Oh, and you can't teach size.

 

[ThatadultfromHolland]

You can have all the size and athleticism in the world but you will look slow and lost if you haven’t caught up to game speed yet. I’ve seen Nicholson make some terrible decisions passing. He has the body, frame and athleticism, if he develops amazingly, to give a solid 10-15 min a game. He doesn’t seem super quick for 7’0 but I’m chalking that up game speed. Needs to work on his hands and poisoning for rebounding. Needs to work on a lot defensively. We’ll see if he’s quick enough to play help d or if we’ll see more zone defense when he’s in. (Collins has showed with Olah and Young that centers who aren’t quick enough for help D he will go zone)

He’s not close to 10-15 min a game yet. Of course he’s gonna get rebounds when the other team doesn’t have a guy over 6’6”. He’s gonna have a few dunks too.

Against this opponent there were going to be no enlightening positive takeaways. They were and should be outmatched. Anything less would have been really worrying.

Im rooting for the kid. I root for every NU player just some takes are silly. I hope in 2 years he becomes an absolutely banger in the B1G, eating glass and sending back shots. I just don’t think he’s close rn.

 

[GatoLouco]

Saying MN is slow is evaluating him on the standards of backcourt players. I have no idea where that idea comes from. How are Hunter Dickinson or Zack Eddy faster? MN actually moves above average for a 7 footer. Reading the game, is where he needs work. And that comes through experience and playing. The old cliche of getting to the “game has slowed down for him”.

Opinions on players based just on how “smooth” and polished one’s game is are very unfair to big men.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Not sure if you are referencing me as one of those posters criticizing Nicholson, but this is literally the first time I have commented on him. And it's more of a reference to how often he is discussed compared to how little he plays. Having a discussion or two about it? Sure. But it comes up A LOT. It's just odd to me.

And for me, I am rooting hard for him. He's got great size of course and every indication is he is working really hard to get better and become a contributor. I'm all for it. Just skeptical at this point if he'll ever get there and be a regular contributor against Big Ten competition. And the "against Big Ten competition" is the key part there. Since you brought up Benson, when he went down to SIU for a year, he started and actually was a reasonable player averaging 10.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. I saw him play in person in a game against Drake here in Des Moines and he had a great game (18 points/10 boards) against Liam Robbins when he was a freshman at Drake before transferring to Minnesota.

I feel Nicholson could probably do that in a conference like the MVC or Horizon League, but the question is whether he can do it at the top level of college basketball. That's where I'm still a skeptic. Doesn't mean I'm not rooting for him though.

I wasn't counting you among the Nicholson bashers. But since you took the time to ask, here's the story. I was critical of Collins last season for refusing to get Nicholson any minutes in order to develop him as a backup for Young. I have often stated my strong belief that Young and Nance should be playing together and that Beran should be backing up Nance at the 4. The facts/stats from last season bear this out quite clearly. I blamed the coach, not the players. That was my sin.

Gato Luoco has expressed a similar position about Nicholson coming off the bench for 5 minutes a game.

This triggered a bizarre sequence of events where Collins apologists/defenders/supporters decided that Nicholson and I were both the devil. Me for questioning anything that Collins does (and backing it up with real data). Nicholson for being a big white guy from the midwest who sang the national anthem once.

The mocking of Nicholson has been relentless. CoralSpringsCat and PurplePileDriver are the biggest offenders.

 

[Username Not Available]

I don't see anyone seriously mocking Nicholson, they seem to be mostly mocking you via him.

Nicholson looks like he needs another year to develop into a good complimentary off the bench guy for B1G play. I haven't seen anything that suggests he's better, or worse, than Benson - other than he isn't getting the minutes Benson did. But I suspect that's more because the team is overall better.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

I don't see anyone seriously mocking Nicholson, they seem to be mostly mocking you via him.

Nicholson looks like he needs another year to develop into a good complimentary off the bench guy for B1G play. I haven't seen anything that suggests he's better, or worse, than Benson - other than he isn't getting the minutes Benson did. But I suspect that's more because the team is overall better.

PWB just doesn’t get it. Nobody has anything against Nicholson. He just doesn’t like that his position on Nicholson getting more minutes is ever challenging. He asks for stats, knowing they can’t be provided because Matt has been glued to the bench.

 

[SimpsonElmwood]

Nicholson has already improved a lot. I know this is a low bar but he is already better than Dan Kreft or Chier Ajou. He's aggressive and even though his moves look slow and awkward, his size literally takes him places others cannot go. If CCC, Coach James and he are patient, within a year or two he could be a significant factor.

 

[SimpsonElmwood]

I noticed Dylan Sandhu is no longer on the roster. He's still on the season stat sheet but his name is not linked to his bio page. This is at least the second time a walk-on has left mid-season. I wish CCC would let these guys play a little bit more.

 

[GatoLouco]

I don't see anyone seriously mocking Nicholson, they seem to be mostly mocking you via him.

Nicholson looks like he needs another year to develop into a good complimentary off the bench guy for B1G play. I haven't seen anything that suggests he's better, or worse, than Benson - other than he isn't getting the minutes Benson did. But I suspect that's more because the team is overall better.

That’s a great observation. Truth is that we saw a fair amount of Benson early on, and we have not seen enough of MN to have a proper evaluation.

Nicholson seems to me like he moves better. Anything else? I don’t know if he defends better or worse, though I suspect his offensive skills are not worse than Benson’s considering those were close to zero.

It makes zero difference Benson played on a worse or better team, though in his freshman year we had a decent roster that should have won at least 3 more games. What makes a difference was the Benson was the backup to Pardon. So he has to play. As far as this year’s team, Nance is the five and, therefore, his backup will always be Young. MN will see no playing time unless there’s serious foul trouble.

He might be much better than Benson, which is somewhat like saying I am nicer than a serial killer, but he will see no minutes.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

I wasn't counting you among the Nicholson bashers. But since you took the time to ask, here's the story. I was critical of Collins last season for refusing to get Nicholson any minutes in order to develop him as a backup for Young. I have often stated my strong belief that Young and Nance should be playing together and that Beran should be backing up Nance at the 4. The facts/stats from last season bear this out quite clearly. I blamed the coach, not the players. That was my sin.

Gato Luoco has expressed a similar position about Nicholson coming off the bench for 5 minutes a game.

This triggered a bizarre sequence of events where Collins apologists/defenders/supporters decided that Nicholson and I were both the devil. Me for questioning anything that Collins does (and backing it up with real data). Nicholson for being a big white guy from the midwest who sang the national anthem once.

The mocking of Nicholson has been relentless. CoralSpringsCat and PurplePileDriver are the biggest offenders.

Hey White Boy, I didn’t even know Matt sang the National Anthem. I guess being a thin skinned quant requires you to call out people by name. However, I have to confess that I knew he was a “big white guy from the Midwest”. Must be why me and Coral don’t like him .

You can call me an Apologist all you want. Bravo! Coming from a guy that turns every thread into an opportunity to question the lineups and the Coaches decision to not play the third string big in EVERY thread, I will take that as a compliment.

put away your calculator and put on your eye glasses.

 

[GatoLouco]

This board’s obsession with Matt Nicholson is bizarre. He’s barely played and really shown nothing other than being tall, so I’m not sure why there is so much discussion about him. And it’s not just this thread. It comes up in a lot of threads.

Starting to remind me of when Wrassler was oddly obsessed with Jordan Ash for whatever reason.

Start a discussion about any player. I guarantee you I will jump on it. Any discussion is good for a board that can get pretty dead. Not even a game thread yesterday.

I’ll give another less obvious player: Barnhizer. Not advocating he should play more, and he was derailed on getting some minutes by being sick, but he appears to have a really good touch. Hurt by some lack of speed, but really nice flashes that, to me, make it very easy to understand how he was a very prolific scorer in HS

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

I don't see anyone seriously mocking Nicholson, they seem to be mostly mocking you via him.

Nicholson looks like he needs another year to develop into a good complimentary off the bench guy for B1G play. I haven't seen anything that suggests he's better, or worse, than Benson - other than he isn't getting the minutes Benson did. But I suspect that's more because the team is overall better.

Thats a good theory, but it doesn't work.
They are mocking Nicholson and hoping I take offense.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Hey White Boy, I didn’t even know Matt sang the National Anthem. I guess being a thin skinned quant requires you to call out people by name. However, I have to confess that I knew he was a “big white guy from the Midwest”. Must be why me and Coral don’t like him .

You can call me an Apologist all you want. Bravo! Coming from a guy that turns every thread into an opportunity to question the lineups and the Coaches decision to not play the third string big in EVERY thread, I will take that as a compliment.

put away your calculator and put on your eye glasses.

Dude you continue to hallucinate and you can't read.
Check the thread.
I didn't bring up Nicholson and YOU brought up +/-.
Stop being such a tool.

 

[Jonny2TheP]

Start a discussion about any player. I guarantee you I will jump on it. Any discussion is good for a board that can get pretty dead. Not even a game thread yesterday.

I’ll give another less obvious player: Barnhizer. Not advocating he should play more, and he was derailed on getting some minutes by being sick, but he appears to have a really good touch. Hurt by some lack of speed, but really nice flashes that, to me, make it very easy to understand how he was a very prolific scorer in HS

Again, I'm cool with discussions about anything related to the team. Just think it's funny how often Nicholson is discussed as it relates to how much he is actually playing. That's all.

 

[TheC]

Start a discussion about any player. I guarantee you I will jump on it. Any discussion is good for a board that can get pretty dead. Not even a game thread yesterday.

I’ll give another less obvious player: Barnhizer. Not advocating he should play more, and he was derailed on getting some minutes by being sick, but he appears to have a really good touch. Hurt by some lack of speed, but really nice flashes that, to me, make it very easy to understand how he was a very prolific scorer in HS

I agree.... Barnhizer is the one we should be talking about. He must have fallen behind and is now struggling to get into an already large rotation, but he seems to have a little spark when he's out there. I don't know if he'll be a star in this league, but I expect he'll contribute somewhere down the road - maybe even this year.

 

[CSCatFan1]

That’s a great observation. Truth is that we saw a fair amount of Benson early on, and we have not seen enough of MN to have a proper evaluation.

Nicholson seems to me like he moves better. Anything else? I don’t know if he defends better or worse, though I suspect his offensive skills are not worse than Benson’s considering those were close to zero.

It makes zero difference Benson played on a worse or better team, though in his freshman year we had a decent roster that should have won at least 3 more games. What makes a difference was the Benson was the backup to Pardon. So he has to play. As far as this year’s team, Nance is the five and, therefore, his backup will always be Young. MN will see no playing time unless there’s serious foul trouble.

He might be much better than Benson, which is somewhat like saying I am nicer than a serial killer, but he will see no minutes.

C’mon Gato, the coaches see MN in practice every day! Does that not count for something? If he’s not getting it done in practice, why would you risk playing him in games? This isn’t CYO ball, it’s the B1G.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Dude you continue to hallucinate and you can't read.
Check the thread.
I didn't bring up Nicholson and YOU brought up +/-.
Stop being such a tool.

I am only a consistent tool to one Poster on any of the 3 boards and I’ll been around here a lot longer than you. Go figure out why?

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Nicholson has already improved a lot. I know this is a low bar but he is already better than Dan Kreft or Chier Ajou. He's aggressive and even though his moves look slow and awkward, his size literally takes him places others cannot go. If CCC, Coach James and he are patient, within a year or two he could be a significant factor.

Agree. I saw Young at a few open practices when he was a true Frosh. I couldn’t believe how much he improved before his redshirt Frosh year. Young and the staff did a great job getting better over the course of that year. There is no reason Matt can’t improve too.

 

[Alan Smithee_rivals156293]

Agree. I saw Young at a few open practices when he was a true Frosh. I couldn’t believe how much he improved before his redshirt Frosh year. Young and the staff did a great job getting better over the course of that year. There is no reason Matt can’t improve too.

This is kind of where I am. It’s perfectly fair to argue that someone should (or shouldn’t) get more minutes based on how they’re playing or how they look right now.

Even though there are many people here who are more basketball-savvy than I am (that’s a low bar), I don’t see what is to be gained by saying one of our guys will never be able to contribute positively. The guy could work his tail off, his body could develop further, receive the right coaching that connects with him, or just see something click into place.

Even if you’re smart enough to be right and have the correct insight, I don’t think there’s all that much to be gained by suggesting, or saying, that “X will never amount to anything,” particularly when he’s one of us. Maybe it’s gratifying to be first with the bad news.

 

[GatoLouco]

C’mon Gato, the coaches see MN in practice every day! Does that not count for something? If he’s not getting it done in practice, why would you risk playing him in games? This isn’t CYO ball, it’s the B1G.

You could be right. But if I had decided that Nance was going to play 5, and had Young on the team, I would not play MN either. No way it would justify giving Young even less minutes.

 

[hdhntr1]

Nobody?? Hey, I was there! Along with maybe 500 faithful. ; )

And the PA guy was a sub, who imho had way too much red bull before the game. He was loudly and hyper-excitedly welcoming guys into the game from off the bench. Way over the top.

Same here. I have not seen you yet this year. I actually found someone else who had graduated from both schools

 

[hdhntr1]

An opinion that seems strongly influenced by confirmation bias. I definitely see an improvement in Nicholson vs. last year. He has a B1G body now, and practicing every day against Young and Nance has made him develop his footwork and some moves. He missed his first two free throws, then made his next two, and seemed to have a decent shooting form. There is hope for him yet. Oh, and you can't teach size.

Not so sure about that good shooting form on FTs. Shot was pretty flat. I too want him to succeed. And while he is better than last year, still not there. We had 12 guys with at least 10 minutes last night including him so it was good he got time on the floor. That is what having a 35 point lead will allow you to do

 

[hdhntr1]

I agree.... Barnhizer is the one we should be talking about. He must have fallen behind and is now struggling to get into an already large rotation, but he seems to have a little spark when he's out there. I don't know if he'll be a star in this league, but I expect he'll contribute somewhere down the road - maybe even this year.

Thought I heard he was ill and that prevented him from getting any time. Liked what I saw. Maybe as deep as we are he gets RS this year

 

[hdhntr1]

I wasn't counting you among the Nicholson bashers. But since you took the time to ask, here's the story. I was critical of Collins last season for refusing to get Nicholson any minutes in order to develop him as a backup for Young. I have often stated my strong belief that Young and Nance should be playing together and that Beran should be backing up Nance at the 4. The facts/stats from last season bear this out quite clearly. I blamed the coach, not the players. That was my sin.

Gato Luoco has expressed a similar position about Nicholson coming off the bench for 5 minutes a game.

This triggered a bizarre sequence of events where Collins apologists/defenders/supporters decided that Nicholson and I were both the devil. Me for questioning anything that Collins does (and backing it up with real data). Nicholson for being a big white guy from the midwest who sang the national anthem once.

The mocking of Nicholson has been relentless. CoralSpringsCat and PurplePileDriver are the biggest offenders.

Nobody said Nicholson was the devil

 

[hdhntr1]

That’s a great observation. Truth is that we saw a fair amount of Benson early on, and we have not seen enough of MN to have a proper evaluation.

Nicholson seems to me like he moves better. Anything else? I don’t know if he defends better or worse, though I suspect his offensive skills are not worse than Benson’s considering those were close to zero.

It makes zero difference Benson played on a worse or better team, though in his freshman year we had a decent roster that should have won at least 3 more games. What makes a difference was the Benson was the backup to Pardon. So he has to play. As far as this year’s team, Nance is the five and, therefore, his backup will always be Young. MN will see no playing time unless there’s serious foul trouble.

He might be much better than Benson, which is somewhat like saying I am nicer than a serial killer, but he will see no minutes.

You are?

 

[Username Not Available]

That’s a great observation. Truth is that we saw a fair amount of Benson early on, and we have not seen enough of MN to have a proper evaluation.

Nicholson seems to me like he moves better. Anything else? I don’t know if he defends better or worse, though I suspect his offensive skills are not worse than Benson’s considering those were close to zero.

It makes zero difference Benson played on a worse or better team, though in his freshman year we had a decent roster that should have won at least 3 more games. What makes a difference was the Benson was the backup to Pardon. So he has to play. As far as this year’s team, Nance is the five and, therefore, his backup will always be Young. MN will see no playing time unless there’s serious foul trouble.

He might be much better than Benson, which is somewhat like saying I am nicer than a serial killer, but he will see no minutes.

Perhaps I should have said 'a deeper team' because I agree that Benson played because he was the only other guy at that position. And he didn't look too bad in most of the non-con games. Had some nice moves, reach, and awareness. But once the game sped up to B1G speed, he was really just five fouls worth of rest for DP in most games. It's too bad, I thought he was a nice guy and hoped for his success. I think him moving on was good for everyone.

Thats a good theory, but it doesn't work.
They are mocking Nicholson and hoping I take offense.

Do you realize you're basically agreeing with me here?

Nicholson has already improved a lot. I know this is a low bar but he is already better than Dan Kreft or Chier Ajou. He's aggressive and even though his moves look slow and awkward, his size literally takes him places others cannot go. If CCC, Coach James and he are patient, within a year or two he could be a significant factor.

Man, yeah Chier is a seriously low bar. I was never convinced he'd played basketball before he showed up at NU. Dude was freakishly tall and athletic, but he just did not move like a basketball player and seemed puzzled by the ball and the game.

I wasn't watching the team when Kreft was there, so I've got nothing on him.

 

[NUCat320]

Nicholson is better now than Barret Benson ever was.
Benson was a positive contributor to our NCAA tournament team back in 2016-17 as a freshman.

Whats bizarre is the overwhelming desire of certain regulars to criticize Nicholson at literally every opportunity, then blame that obsessive malice on other people.

Litigating the past is realllly dumb, but so am I.

Your posts about Nicholson are annoying. Your earliest posts called CCC an idiot for not playing him last season. He was not ready then and, while I would prefer he saw minutes in blowouts or two-minute spurts, he is not ready now. That’s okay. He got good coaching in high school, and he is tall, and so the game was easy there. I’m optimistic that he’ll be a productive player at NU eventually.

That said, I am surprised / disappointed that our biggest homer, CoralSprings, chooses to take potshots at Nicholson. I don’t know if CSP is a moderator or a friend of a moderator, but doing something about repetitive posting would be a far more productive use of time than criticizing a player that, like me, he should hope for 12 and 8 in two years.

Terrific performance by Nicholson. The future is bright. Can’t wait to see him in next season’s pre-season exhibition opener.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Litigating the past is realllly dumb, but so am I.

Your posts about Nicholson are annoying. Your earliest posts called CCC an idiot for not playing him last season. He was not ready then and, while I would prefer he saw minutes in blowouts or two-minute spurts, he is not ready now. That’s okay. He got good coaching in high school, and he is tall, and so the game was easy there. I’m optimistic that he’ll be a productive player at NU eventually.

That said, I am surprised / disappointed that our biggest homer, CoralSprings, chooses to take potshots at Nicholson. I don’t know if CSP is a moderator or a friend of a moderator, but doing something about repetitive posting would be a far more productive use of time than criticizing a player that, like me, he should hope for 12 and 8 in two years.

My first post was on Feb 25, 2021.
I said Collins needs to play Nance, Young and Audige 30 minutes a night.
I said Beran and Buie should be benched.
Lastly, I said Collins should find a way to get Matt Nicholson some minutes because we get our butts kicked rebounding and if a 7 footer doesn't play he is likely to transfer.

You'll have to find the posts where I called Collins an "idiot." It certainly wasn't right away. Everybody knows I think he is a below average "in-game" coach. I've said that several times and I'm still waiting for him to prove me wrong.

It wasn't until I got access to the box scores with the play by play that I corrected some of my opinions about Buie and Audige.

But the usual suspects accused me of shilling for Nicholson after my very first post. Its pretty funny looking back and seeing how quickly the defenders/apologists sprang into action. By "funny" I mean in a pathetic way.

 

[DaCat]

Again, I'm cool with discussions about anything related to the team. Just think it's funny how often Nicholson is discussed as it relates to how much he is actually playing. That's all.

The third string is always the fan favorite. But I hold out hope that he'll continue to improve steadily, because who doesn't want a 7-1 guy dominating the paint?

 

[Dugan15]

This thread is strange. Go ‘Cats!

 

[hdhntr1]

Litigating the past is realllly dumb, but so am I.

Your posts about Nicholson are annoying. Your earliest posts called CCC an idiot for not playing him last season. He was not ready then and, while I would prefer he saw minutes in blowouts or two-minute spurts, he is not ready now. That’s okay. He got good coaching in high school, and he is tall, and so the game was easy there. I’m optimistic that he’ll be a productive player at NU eventually.

That said, I am surprised / disappointed that our biggest homer, CoralSprings, chooses to take potshots at Nicholson. I don’t know if CSP is a moderator or a friend of a moderator, but doing something about repetitive posting would be a far more productive use of time than criticizing a player that, like me, he should hope for 12 and 8 in two years.

Where do you get that he is taking potshots at Nicholson? He is just saying that he is not yet ready to play at this level

 

[EvanstonCat]

Hey, it would be awesome if Nicholson turned into a good player for us, even if it's just a rotational guy that gives 10-15 minutes. That's very valuable in a conference that historically has a lot of good big men. And yes, you can't teach size...but there is a LONG list of guys that have been really tall and never put it together in basketball. At this point, while I am obviously hoping the kid keeps working hard and becomes a contributor, there's zero evidence indicating he'll "probably" be "pretty good". Not trying to be a jerk about it, just being realistic.

As it is, just based on the HS video from IMG, my bet is that Luke Hunger passes Nicholson on the depth chart day one after he arrives to Evanston.

 

[EvanstonCat]

Nicholson is better now than Barret Benson ever was.
Benson was a positive contributor to our NCAA tournament team back in 2016-17 as a freshman.

Whats bizarre is the overwhelming desire of certain regulars to criticize Nicholson at literally every opportunity, then blame that obsessive malice on other people.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. I'd say he's better than Dan Kreft was as an underclassman. Kreft is probably the best analogy I can think of. Played himself into the rotation by his senior year, but basically was just a really tall guy with not much skill. Kreft did play himself into NBA camps with that size, and maybe Nicholson can too.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

This thread is strange. Go ‘Cats!

Yep, that happens when you have the most polarizing poster I have seen in my 8 years here continue hyper-post and take personal shots at people. You can have a dozen people weigh in that it is annoying, but Mr . Lack of self awareness keeps ticking, polluting nearly every thread.

I just have to be better too, and not respond to the comments, but unfortunately they dominate every thread and I fear they will only multiple when the team suffers some losses. A new thought every year would be nice.