Rauno Nurger

[Aargh]

There were several early games where Nurger and Wamukota were on the court together.

Now that Morris seems to be understanding what's required of him, it's very possible that Nurger is being groomed as a 4. That could explain some of his lack of playing time. He could be transitioning into a second position, which can take some time.

I don't think Nurger is unusually "weak" for someone his height just getting into college ball. Paul Miller was unaffectionately referred to as Fifi, and only started emerging from that sometime in his Jr. year. I won't embarrass the memory of Stutz by recounting his Fr year.

[Rlh04d]

I think Kennedy was saying it was a combination of him being sick last week, and Shaq has stepped up his game. Also it was said he needs to get stronger and improve his rebounding, thats what they need from a 6'10 player. He likes to play from the outside in instead of the inside out. Nurger will be an important piece of this team in the future, he has alot of upside and there is still alot of season left.

I don't think it matters how much season is left ... Nurger's issue won't be corrected mid-season. He needs to get stronger, and that's offseason work.

Kid's got a ton of upside, though, and I think he'll be a beast by his junior year.

[Dave Stalwart]

I am fine with Nurger at this point. I still expect good things from him. If he wants to become Ethan Wragge instead of Paul Miller, then he better be the best darn Ethan Wragge he can be. A 6'10" weak-sauce, sharp-shooting forward can still create terrible matchups and win you basketball games. I am confident that Nurger will be a tougher riddle to solve than Wragge was, even if that is the route Nurger winds up going. All it means is that HCGM will want to make sure there is a Carl Hall clone on the roster as well.

On the other hand (and this is what I actually expect to see), Nurger will probably be a sharpshooting PF who also learns toughness the Marshall way. He will be dunking, rebounding, posting up/backing down, assisting and setting screens by his senior year. He will be closer to Miller and Stutz than he will be to Wragge, but he may even become strong and quick enough to guard better than those guys did. He will be a matchup nightmare in 4 years...maybe even in 1 year...

[WSUwatcher]

It's hard to imagine Marshall accepting the new Ethan Wragge. He'd be delighted with the shooting, yes -- but he'd insist on a more well-rounded game.

[Dave Stalwart]

It's hard to imagine Marshall accepting the new Ethan Wragge. He'd be delighted with the shooting, yes -- but he'd insist on a more well-rounded game.

No, HCGM will not allow any player on his roster to be as weak, unathletic, one-dimensional, slow, megastar-dependant and non-defensive as Wragge. That's why I think Rauno will blossom quite a bit.

[shockmonster]

He did begin playing 2 positions but Marshall said he was thinking too much rather than playing. I don't think he's played any 4 since. That may change later. His defense has been a problem too at 4.

[Art Bunch]

I will defer to you guys that saw him play a lot more than me, but my impression of Wragge was that he was a long-range bomber because he was a great shooter, not because he was physically weak. And he didn't go inside because he lacked a back-to-the-basket game and never really enjoyed the physical contact.

Back to Nurger, he seems to lack the core strength and the strength needed in his hands to get more minutes right now. We've seen him do some impressive things as a shooter and a passer so I'm looking forward to him getting much better next year and maybe even by the end of this season.

[Art Bunch]

Plus he has a cool name.

[WuDrWu]

Marshall would never have recruited Wragge. Marshall doesn't even like his toilet paper that soft.

[Dave Stalwart]

I will defer to you guys that saw him play a lot more than me, but my impression of Wragge was that he was a long-range bomber because he was a great shooter, not because he was physically weak. And he didn't go inside because he lacked a back-to-the-basket game and never really enjoyed the physical contact.

You pretty much summed it up. Wragge was a "power forward" who managed to perpetuate a one-dimensional, primarily three-point shooting offense for an entire 4 year career because he did not like physical contact. He was lucky enough to have one of the greatest college basketball players of all time to hide behind and slink around in the 3pt range shadows for kickouts. His style wouldn't work on just about any other team. Rather than emphasize that he was a long range bomber because he was a great shooter, I would argue that it is very FORTUNATE for him that he was able to shoot the ball well. If he was not a skilled three-point shooter, he wouldn't have been on the court much because he couldn't do anything else.

Nobody sets out to recruit a 6'7" guy to only shoot threes for 4 years. You aren't a stretch 4 if there is no inside game. Generally, the "stretch" part implies that you are a forward first who can also stretch a defense by hitting a decent percentage outside. If you never do the whole "forward" part to begin with, I don't really even know what to call you. I guess he was more like an additonal shooting guard who shot the ball so well that it usually didn't matter that he couldn't do anything else inside like a normal 4. And during the games where he couldn't hit, they would generally take a loss. This form of basketball is called horse. :)

[WuDrWu]

Rarely has a kid played to his only strength any better. He turned 1 skill into a 4-5 year basketball career and an over-bloated degree.

[Dave Stalwart]

Rarely has a kid played to his only strength any better. He turned 1 skill into a 4-5 year basketball career and an over-bloated degree.

I may be looking at him all wrong. Is he actually a legend? Parlayed a successful career out of a gimmick that was only made possible by being in the right place at the right time (playing with McD)? What he was able to do may never be done again.

Horse has a way of evening itself out in the end. It is beatable. In fact, there was another team in his conference during his career that kept eclipsing Creighton's season each time. WSU literally finished tied or higher with CU every year he was there except for the year we went to a Final 4 and they got shredded by Duke. oh well...

[Ricardo del Rio]

Marshall would never have recruited Wragge. Marshall doesn't even like his toilet paper that soft.

10 grit toilet paper will do.

[Jhook89]

I keep going back to how well Nurger shoots and how well he runs the floor for a person his size. He might have the most potential of anyone on the roster. If he can add an inside game to go with what he already naturally has.... man watch out.

[ArtVandalay]

Getting completely off topic here, but this talk about what Marshall would and wouldn't recruit, and the type of player he demands his players to be is the reason I always felt Marshall would stick around here. Think about it, Marshall tells his 5-Star All American to ride the pine until he learns to be more physical and rebound better. Not sure that works. In some of these major programs, you almost are forced to play the talented freshman or 1. They won't stick around and 2. You'll never sign another one.