Gopher-centric Portal Short List

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Flipper1a said:
It isn't like they have unlimited funds. Groves is the Tyson signing this year except younger. Out of the bunch they signed last year look how Reynolds, Tyson, Grove, and Durkin looked by end of the year......that is what they are trying to recruit. I hate to say Wisconsin type of guys but he is looking for shooters at every position except maybe C.
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I agree except I would think he would be looking for a shooting C as well.
 

bga1 said:
I agree except I would think he would be looking for a shooting C as well.
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Kinda feels like with centers you can only pick a couple traits. Size, shot blocking, outside shooting, athletic. Unless you have the money for an NBA prospect.

Boden Kapke for example has size and can shoot from outside but doesn’t appear to be a shot blocker (11 total blocks last year). If he was a big time rim protector, then Duke and Kansas would be courting him.

Malick Kordel averaged 3.4 blocks per 40 minutes and has great size but doesn’t appear to be an outside threat.

Grayson Grove is athletic and has shown some ability to shoot the 3 but isn’t a rim protector and is undersized.

Looking back at his offenses at CSU it doesn’t seem like his post is usually a big shooting threat.
 
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eker0016 said:
Kinda feels like with centers you can only pick a couple traits. Size, shot blocking, outside shooting, athletic. Unless you have the money for an NBA prospect.

Boden Kapke for example has size and can shoot from outside but doesn’t appear to be a shot blocker (11 total blocks last year). If he was a big time rim protector, then Duke and Kansas would be courting him.

Malick Kordel averaged 3.4 blocks per 40 minutes and has great size but doesn’t appear to be an outside threat.

Grayson Grove is athletic and has shown some ability to shoot the 3 but isn’t a rim protector and is undersized.

Looking back at his offenses at CSU it doesn’t seem like his post is usually a big shooting threat.
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We already have an athletic big with length coming in Mpoyi. We need a shooting big- Wisconsin type C.
 




eker0016 said:
Boden Kapke for example has size and can shoot from outside but doesn’t appear to be a shot blocker (11 total blocks last year). If he was a big time rim protector, then Duke and Kansas would be courting him.

Malick Kordel averaged 3.4 blocks per 40 minutes and has great size but doesn’t appear to be an outside threat.

Grayson Grove is athletic and has shown some ability to shoot the 3 but isn’t a rim protector and is undersized.

Looking back at his offenses at CSU it doesn’t seem like his post is usually a big shooting threat.
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Don't forget that Grove had some other favorable numbers: 2 steals per 40 minutes in conference games (highest rate on the team) and 3.3 assists per 40 minutes in conference games (3rd highest rate on the team and just below second place Asuma's 3.7). He also hit 65% of his 2 point attempts in conference so he didn't miss too many bunnies. He wasn't terrible on 3s in conference games (31.3%). Now, if he could just get over that mental block on free throws.

As far as Kapke, he's probably about as good of a center as we could expect to get from the transfer market. Do you know whether he's actually being pursued? I saw him listed in one article but that article just seemed to be listing multiple D1 players of Minnesota origin.
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
Don't forget that Grove had some other favorable numbers: 2 steals per 40 minutes in conference games (highest rate on the team) and 3.3 assists per 40 minutes in conference games (3rd highest rate on the team and just below second place Asuma's 3.7). He also hit 65% of his 2 point attempts in conference so he didn't miss too many bunnies. He wasn't terrible on 3s in conference games (31.3%). Now, if he could just get over that mental block on free throws.

As far as Kapke, he's probably about as good of a center as we could expect to get from the transfer market. Do you know whether he's actually being pursued? I saw him listed in one article but that article just seemed to be listing multiple D1 players of Minnesota origin.
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Kapke just seems like a perfect fit here....but yeah pretty quite on that front....

i think hes on a visit to Nebraska either currently or very soon
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
Don't forget that Grove had some other favorable numbers: 2 steals per 40 minutes in conference games (highest rate on the team) and 3.3 assists per 40 minutes in conference games (3rd highest rate on the team and just below second place Asuma's 3.7). He also hit 65% of his 2 point attempts in conference so he didn't miss too many bunnies. He wasn't terrible on 3s in conference games (31.3%). Now, if he could just get over that mental block on free throws.

As far as Kapke, he's probably about as good of a center as we could expect to get from the transfer market. Do you know whether he's actually being pursued? I saw him listed in one article but that article just seemed to be listing multiple D1 players of Minnesota origin.
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Yeah I actually loved what I saw from Grove. I wonder if his emergence is part of the reason we moved on from Vaihola, after hearing most of the year that the plan was for him to return. Good passer, screener, as you mentioned I was impressed with how well he finished around the basket off a screen. Seems to have very soft hands.

No idea on Kapke.
 

Gophs24 said:
Kapke just seems like a perfect fit here....but yeah pretty quite on that front....

i think hes on a visit to Nebraska either currently or very soon
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That's not good news. We had a hard time beating Nebraska for transfer recruits prior to this season. Now that Fred just won 28 games (the highest season total in Nebraska history) I don't think it will get easier.
 



MNVCGUY said:
Has been interesting to see the different ways people view last season. For me, the way we played, especially late after all the injuries piled up, makes me excited to see what Niko can do when he has a full roster and much better luck on the injury front.

The team we were rolling out late in the season should have been getting crushed on a nightly basis. It had no size, no depth, and was relying heavily on some very inexperienced players. And yet, night in and night out the team competed well, didn't always result in a win but they played really well against some quality teams.

There is work to do in the portal and Niko has to find some scoring especially. But so much about basketball is how the players fit together. We saw that first hand last year with how the team played in spite of all the things working against it.

We have a solid core to fill in around with the 4 returners, 3 incoming freshman and now Groves. Will be interesting to see who else Niko is able to bring in.
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I agree with this post 100%. I loved watching our fab 5 plus 1 win some games while being major underdogs. Medved made them better than the sum of their parts. Leading the nation in assists! That's awesome coaching. Effort! We have a great core coming back. Grove played a lot better by the end of the year. I'm sure he's going to learn how to shoot FTs this summer. We had no back ups. So many players on our roster didn't play any Big10 games. They were playing 40 minutes a game! It was a blast to support them. If we had the same team and they were healthy, I'm confident there would have been more games we would have won...a solid bunch of them. Also, Medved started without a core and had to each everyone from ground zero. He has a foundation this year...coaches, and JCJ, Durkin, Asuma, Grove, Shinholster and Lorenson. Last year, new coaches and one player from his system.
 

bga1 said:
We already have an athletic big with length coming in Mpoyi. We need a shooting big- Wisconsin type C.
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I would be happy to have a shooting big. I am curious overall what Niko's philosophy is on big men. At CSU he had undersized guys like Rashaan Mbemba (6'7" 250) and David Roddy (6'5" 255). I noticed that when he started at CSU he inherited Nico Carvacho (6'11" 245 lbs) and he was their leading scorer that first year. The second year when David Roddy showed up, Nico Carvacho's minutes went down from 32 mpg to 29 mpg and he scored 3 fewer points per game.

I noted last offseason that both Robert Vaihola (2.9 assists per 40 min) and Nehemiah Turner (3.4 assists per 40 min) showed evidence of being good passers for a post. Grove at 3.2 assists per 40 min also excelled there, notably in that stretch at the end of the year where he had 7, 6, 5, and 5 assists in B10 games. Niko asks a lot of his posts in the playmaking department.

I found a story from CSU with quotes about playing him at center, and how Niko regrets not playing him there more as freshman because he could pass, drive, and stretch the defense with his shooting. Check out the bolded parts (from Niko and Roddy)

Roddy’s versatility gives Medved and his team options most coaches may not see. Even at 6-foot-5, Roddy can play like a big man, and the Rams had a lot of success this year when playing him at the center position...
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It was a lineup the Rams looked at last year, but there wasn’t much room to fit it in with Nico Carvacho eating up a ton of minutes as the spot and Dischon Thomas picking up the rest as a true freshman. But the idea was always there for Medved, and this year, it became a major part of the game plan.

There isn’t one thing about Roddy which makes it work, and that’s what Medved said makes the player so unique.

“Maybe in hindsight, we should have looked at playing that more in spurts (last year), but I think it just kind of worked out for us this year,” Medved said. “I think we started to see that last year, that just with his skill level, his ability to pass and drive it and stretch the defense from that spot that he was tailor made. It’s just his versatility, and that small lineup has been really effective for us this year.”
Roddy doesn’t try to pretend he’s 6-10, either. He’s more than happy with just playing his game while giving up nearly half a foot to the person he’s guarding or trying to score against. He also doesn’t work at all with the posts in practice, Medved said. Not a single minute. He spends all of his time with the perimeter players, and in doing so, there are aspects of what assistant Ali Farokmanesh is teaching him with footwork and being able to seal off defenders that translates inside.

There’s also the fact Roddy has played as a post most of his life, and the fact he could do non-post things as a prep is part of what makes him so intriguing. And part of why he likes playing the role.

“I would say so, for sure. The five kind of dictates the offense a lot,” he said. “Just definitely showing off my passing skills, which is definitely one of the things that happens when I’m at the five, as well as bringing a big out and using my driving skills and my speed and get past guys and get my guys open shots. It’s why that lineup is so dangerous, because everybody can shoot the 3, everybody can create for everybody else. It’s kind of a fluid motion.

“Yeah, I definitely love when we go to that lineup. It’s one of my favorites, to be honest.”
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Bob_Loblaw said:
I don't think anyone thinks this.

Whether or not these are the guys you'd offer, it should not be difficult to understand why some people would like them.

Nolan Groves was a FR who was playing on an absolutely stacked Texas Tech team. Pointing to his stats in college is silly (IMO). There are tons of players who have done absolutely nothing in their FR seasons on good teams who turned into good basketball players. People look at Groves and they see a big guard who showed skill in HS. Players of his caliber against decent competition in MN usually turn out to be pretty good basketball players.

Kyan should be easy. He's been a good basketball player at Colorado State and didn't get much run at UNC. He can handle the ball, shoot, and knows Niko's system. He fits really well with Asuma and no team can have too many players who can shoot and dribble.
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Totally agree with everything you said. My problem is that they seem to be the focal points of our recruiting efforts, the emphasis, our targets in the transfer portal. 100% they are logical additions but for me as more like the 4th and 5th additions with the biggest priority coming in .... and maybe they are.
If they are using up a significant portion of our limited budget....that's concerning to me. Probably most of my angst.
We need some talent that has been more proven, more consistent on our roster.
And like I said, maybe we get there....it's just been backwards so far.
 




60's Guy said:
Totally agree with everything you said. My problem is that they seem to be the focal points of our recruiting efforts, the emphasis, our targets in the transfer portal. 100% they are logical additions but for me as more like the 4th and 5th additions with the biggest priority coming in .... and maybe they are.
If they are using up a significant portion of our limited budget....that's concerning to me. Probably most of my angst.
We need some talent that has been more proven, more consistent on our roster.
And like I said, maybe we get there....it's just been backwards so far.
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We don't have enough money to keep the guys we have and for those guys to be the 4th and 5th additions.
 

eker0016 said:
I would be happy to have a shooting big. I am curious overall what Niko's philosophy is on big men. At CSU he had undersized guys like Rashaan Mbemba (6'7" 250) and David Roddy (6'5" 255). I noticed that when he started at CSU he inherited Nico Carvacho (6'11" 245 lbs) and he was their leading scorer that first year. The second year when David Roddy showed up, Nico Carvacho's minutes went down from 32 mpg to 29 mpg and he scored 3 fewer points per game.

I noted last offseason that both Robert Vaihola (2.9 assists per 40 min) and Nehemiah Turner (3.4 assists per 40 min) showed evidence of being good passers for a post. Grove at 3.2 assists per 40 min also excelled there, notably in that stretch at the end of the year where he had 7, 6, 5, and 5 assists in B10 games. Niko asks a lot of his posts in the playmaking department.

I found a story from CSU with quotes about playing him at center, and how Niko regrets not playing him there more as freshman because he could pass, drive, and stretch the defense with his shooting. Check out the bolded parts (from Niko and Roddy)
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Interesting bit- thanks for posting. I think the key is to find guys at the 5 who can be a threat anywhere. Obviously the bigger the better. If it is a 6-5 guy, so be it, but a taller guy gives you more defensive stopping ability- especially in the Big Ten. I am hoping we don't have to play much zone next year to cover our deficiencies- as Niko was forced into this year.
 

GophersInIowa said:
We don't have enough money to keep the guys we have and for those guys to be the 4th and 5th additions.
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If true, we are in trouble. We think we know we have somewhere in the $7M range for a budget.
How much of it do the 4 returnees take up? I have no idea. Pretty sure JCJ would get more than the other 3? If Grove, Asuma and Durkin get paid a lot of money your premise is correct.

Here's the thing though...if the same people who say $7M is the budget say we are middle or just above in our amount to spend among Big Ten teams then it seems we allocated poorly with the budget if we have no money for 1, 2 and 3?

But, when you look at the standings...the teams ahead of us seem very likely to have more money than we do...and a few behind us surely have more money...Oregon, USC and Maryland. So, I doubt we are middle of the conference in budget. But, Niko's comments were seeming to confirm we were in the middle....so maybe we got more than 7? We have too little information to analyze and know what's what.

Our actions suggest your explanation is correct.
 

60's Guy said:
If true, we are in trouble. We think we know we have somewhere in the $7M range for a budget.
How much of it do the 4 returnees take up? I have no idea. Pretty sure JCJ would get more than the other 3? If Grove, Asuma and Durkin get paid a lot of money your premise is correct.

Here's the thing though...if the same people who say $7M is the budget say we are middle or just above in our amount to spend among Big Ten teams then it seems we allocated poorly with the budget if we have no money for 1, 2 and 3?

But, when you look at the standings...the teams ahead of us seem very likely to have more money than we do...and a few behind us surely have more money...Oregon, USC and Maryland. So, I doubt we are middle of the conference in budget. But, Niko's comments were seeming to confirm we were in the middle....so maybe we got more than 7? We have too little information to analyze and know what's what.

Our actions suggest your explanation is correct.
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I don't think it means we're in trouble. As I posted earlier, spending the most and getting the highest ranking transfers didn't guarantee success. We have a limited budget so you find the guys that fit the most and the guys with connections (previous player with coach, hometown kid, etc) that might allow a discount.

Michigan is the success story of the portal last year but multiple programs spent a ton of money and didn't even make the tournament.
 


They are likely waiting for the dust to settle for the Cade Tyson replacement. My guess is that player will get the largest chunk of $$ of the current portal players, but we have to let the big $$ schools pick their guys first. Tyson signed fairly late last year. Budget is probably something like this:

-Evans/Other PG $1m
Ausma: $750K
Durkin: $750K
Portal F: $1.5 m
JCJ: 1.25m

N Groves: $500K
G Grove; $250K
Shinholster: $250K
Last Portal Addition: $250K

Freshman $200K
Freshman: $200K
Freshman $200K

Total: $7.1m
 

howeda7 said:
They are likely waiting for the dust to settle for the Cade Tyson replacement. My guess is that player will get the largest chunk of $$ of the current portal players, but we have to let the big $$ schools pick their guys first. Tyson signed fairly late last year. Budget is probably something like this:

-Evans/Other PG $1m
Ausma: $750K
Durkin: $750K
Portal F: $1.5 m
JCJ: 1.25m

N Groves: $500K
G Grove; $250K
Shinholster: $250K
Last Portal Addition: $250K

Freshman $200K
Freshman: $200K
Freshman $200K

Total: $7.1m
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If that’s how it is…that’d be great! And add 3 guys who just get a scholarship or token money.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I don't think it means we're in trouble. As I posted earlier, spending the most and getting the highest ranking transfers didn't guarantee success. We have a limited budget so you find the guys that fit the most and the guys with connections (previous player with coach, hometown kid, etc) that might allow a discount.

Michigan is the success story of the portal last year but multiple programs spent a ton of money and didn't even make the tournament.
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I get that but you need athletes. The contrast versus Baylor in athletes was startling. And ya, they didn’t make the tournament either.
Fit, personality, identifying needs critically important but you gotta have some athletes. Somebody has to guard somebody, somebody has to board, you need some quickness and physicality to blend fit.
 

howeda7 said:
They are likely waiting for the dust to settle for the Cade Tyson replacement. My guess is that player will get the largest chunk of $$ of the current portal players, but we have to let the big $$ schools pick their guys first. Tyson signed fairly late last year. Budget is probably something like this:

-Evans/Other PG $1m
Ausma: $750K
Durkin: $750K
Portal F: $1.5 m
JCJ: 1.25m

N Groves: $500K
G Grove; $250K
Shinholster: $250K
Last Portal Addition: $250K

Freshman $200K
Freshman: $200K
Freshman $200K

Total: $7.1m
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I certainly would not be paying Evans 1 million- and I like him. But not a million.
 



bga1 said:
Interesting bit- thanks for posting. I think the key is to find guys at the 5 who can be a threat anywhere. Obviously the bigger the better. If it is a 6-5 guy, so be it, but a taller guy gives you more defensive stopping ability- especially in the Big Ten. I am hoping we don't have to play much zone next year to cover our deficiencies- as Niko was forced into this year.
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I'm not sure we played zone to cover player deficiencies, I think it was because we were limited players (which is a team deficiency) and zone defense has fewer fouls (no fouling out which we couldn't afford) and takes less energy that MtM...which if you are playing 40 minutes matters. If we have a bench, I'm confident we'll be in MtM most of the time.
 

60's Guy said:
I get that but you need athletes. The contrast versus Baylor in athletes was startling. And ya, they didn’t make the tournament either.
Fit, personality, identifying needs critically important but you gotta have some athletes. Somebody has to guard somebody, somebody has to board, you need some quickness and physicality to blend fit.
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Baylor's athleticism was probably greater than most teams they faced, yet didn't make the tourney which means teams can overcome that difference.

I don't disagree that we need more athleticism. But the NIL budget is what it is and they have to do the best they can with what they have.
 

howeda7 said:
They are likely waiting for the dust to settle for the Cade Tyson replacement. My guess is that player will get the largest chunk of $$ of the current portal players, but we have to let the big $$ schools pick their guys first. Tyson signed fairly late last year. Budget is probably something like this:

-Evans/Other PG $1m
Ausma: $750K
Durkin: $750K
Portal F: $1.5 m
JCJ: 1.25m

N Groves: $500K
G Grove; $250K
Shinholster: $250K
Last Portal Addition: $250K

Freshman $200K
Freshman: $200K
Freshman $200K

Total: $7.1m
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Rumor is portal invites are asking for 1 million and people kept aren't getting quite as much. My guess is 800k for Ausma, Durkin, and JCJ. 1 million for Evans and N Groves. I believe the first 4 million that isn't NIL $$$ is shared pretty evenly---so at around 300k for the rest.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Baylor's athleticism was probably greater than most teams they faced, yet didn't make the tourney which means teams can overcome that difference.

I don't disagree that we need more athleticism. But the NIL budget is what it is and they have to do the best they can with what they have.
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I love the comment from Nedved. Athleticism is important but when you don't recruit good shooters/scorers it fails. So there you have it with Tyson and Durkin.
 
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howeda7 said:
They are likely waiting for the dust to settle for the Cade Tyson replacement. My guess is that player will get the largest chunk of $$ of the current portal players, but we have to let the big $$ schools pick their guys first. Tyson signed fairly late last year. Budget is probably something like this:

-Evans/Other PG $1m
Ausma: $750K
Durkin: $750K
Portal F: $1.5 m
JCJ: 1.25m

N Groves: $500K
G Grove; $250K
Shinholster: $250K
Last Portal Addition: $250K

Freshman $200K
Freshman: $200K
Freshman $200K

Total: $7.1m
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If you're close to correct, I would be pissed if I were Grayson Grove who played 659 minutes last year and getting half of what a guy who played 133 minutes for a different team is getting. Maybe Nolan Groves does have higher upside but he hasn't shown anything yet.
 

howeda7 said:
They are likely waiting for the dust to settle for the Cade Tyson replacement. My guess is that player will get the largest chunk of $$ of the current portal players, but we have to let the big $$ schools pick their guys first. Tyson signed fairly late last year. Budget is probably something like this:

-Evans/Other PG $1m
Ausma: $750K
Durkin: $750K
Portal F: $1.5 m
JCJ: 1.25m

N Groves: $500K
G Grove; $250K
Shinholster: $250K
Last Portal Addition: $250K

Freshman $200K
Freshman: $200K
Freshman $200K

Total: $7.1m
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Rob Brezinski Jr
 

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