(03-04-2023 12:16 PM)Big Red Wrote:  

(03-04-2023 09:33 AM)McG Wrote:  

(02-26-2023 09:19 PM)HuskiePride12 Wrote:  

(02-26-2023 05:57 PM)CollegeMan33 Wrote:  We have no idea if Williams will play for NIU again and if he does how good can he be. Since I believe NIU making as many threes a game as their opponents this year has been the teams no.1 improvement and most helpful improvement I’d love to see Hunter come back. Burno can’t count on Williams so he needs to find a couple scoring guards that can make a couple 3’s a game.

I think the team showing progress from year one to now will open a small window for a transfer or two to come in that might have not wanted to with how bad they were the first season.

I think the culture around the team really changed this year - especially in conference play. The players really seemed to like one another and play hard for one another, I think that will only help us attract talent from the portal.

Williams may not be your #1 option on a great team but he was our best player in non-conference play, the game he had against EIU comes to mind. If we get him back next year it only helps the ceiling of this team.

Williams is one of those odd cases where his absence may have helped the team get better. Obviously, as a whole, the team is considerably better with him starting and playing, but when he was in there, they relied on him a lot.

Now..if he does come back next year, it'll be interesting to see the dynamic between him and the other main guys (Coit, Nutter, etc) and how it works together.

One point that makes me optimistic is Willaims has never come off as an ego centric guy and almost prefers not to be the main guy. He's quiet and not much of a motivational leader. The may lend itself to a blend where he's the best player but he's not looked at to be the answer or the floor leader.

I think between guys like Nutter, Coit and even Russell they have guys with bigger personalities who can be the voice on the team leaving him to just be an amazing player who is just amazing and that's that.

One of your better player summations, imo. A jump ahead here, but looking at the whole team, depends on who Burno can bring in for next year ... and who stays. Will be fun to follow ... after the MACT.