All Things Chet Holmgren Recruitment Thread (Class of 2021, Gophers Have Offered)

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RealU said:
Why would that matter? The ultimate goal is to win an NCAA title. The Big10 hasn't won it all in 20+ years. The Big10 was the best conference during the regular season and that resulted in two #1 seeds and two #2 seeds. Yet, only 1 of those seeds made it past the first weekend. Don't fault the young man for putting himself in the best position to succeed.

If anything, be frustrated with Minnesota's athletic department. They took a risk and hired Pitino solely off his name and it didn't pan out. They have done nothing to improve the antiquated Williams Arena and they simply don't have the budget to compete for even upper middle tier coaches. They have taken another risk on an unproven head coach in Ben Johnson but I'd rather they do that and try to strike gold, then hiring a middle-aged retread.
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its a question I'm not faulting him for anything, Its hard to imagine a 7 foot 195lb player competing against grown men night in night out
 

SanDiegoGopherFan said:
I guess he's not a fan of "gritty" basketball. So there should be a lot of happy posters who only want gritty basketball players to play for the gophers.

Per Star Tribune:

Holmgren said Gonzaga's style of play was a big factor in the decision and also fits his long-term goal of eventually playing in the NBA.

"It's a perfect fit, the way they play in space and play with pace," he said. "I don't want to end up getting bogged down and stuck in the half-court stuff. I want to get out and run, get out and play fast. It's more of an NBA-type style of play, which I want to learn and excel at."
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Not a grinder.
 





They all are whether it’s Holmgren, Suggs, or Bueckers. Once they’re gone they are indeed gone period.
 



SanDiegoGopherFan said:
I guess he's not a fan of "gritty" basketball. So there should be a lot of happy posters who only want gritty basketball players to play for the gophers.

Per Star Tribune:

Holmgren said Gonzaga's style of play was a big factor in the decision and also fits his long-term goal of eventually playing in the NBA.

"It's a perfect fit, the way they play in space and play with pace," he said. "I don't want to end up getting bogged down and stuck in the half-court stuff. I want to get out and run, get out and play fast. It's more of an NBA-type style of play, which I want to learn and excel at."
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Good for him & Gonzaga basketball, wish him well, lets move on and save the press clippings for future Gopher players....My hope Ben Johnson can unite our top state talent to have desire & pride to play for Minnesota, with the wealth of local 4-star players we lost thru the years we could easily be a perennial top 20-team....
 



howeda7 said:
Not a grinder.
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lol, funny but there is a lot of truth in that. BJ wants to build a gritty, grinder team. Chet does not fit that profile. I'm not sure why he didn't just pull the offer when he got the job.

Why go after someone that wants NBA type ball, when we are not planning on playing that.
 


SanDiegoGopherFan said:
lol, funny but there is a lot of truth in that. BJ wants to build a gritty, grinder team. Chet does not fit that profile. I'm not sure why he didn't just pull the offer when he got the job.

Why go after someone that wants NBA type ball, when we are not planning on playing that.
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There are 0 college coaches that are going to pull an offer for the #1 rated recruit. Ben Johnson would've been through the roof had Holgrem had a change of heart and wanted to stay home. He would've adapted and ran the offense through Chet as guys like that can change programs. He went elsewhere and life goes on.

The Gophers will take their lumps this year but hopefully Ben can set the foundation and build on it in year 2 with an influx of better talent than the mid major hodgepodge he had to through together on the fly for this season.
 

Plus they were at least 12-1 against ranked teams and the 12 wins were all by double digits. The Gonzaga program is a great story.
 



alchemy2u said:
The Zag used a very specific formula in order to rise up the ladder and gain the overrated status that they enjoy today. Of course it is based upon adequately good coaching, but it all starts with the players. Gonzaga was able to build a successful pipeline to Europe and get much better players than they could attract in the US. With the best players in their conference, they dominated and continued to win the automatic bid for that conference. They continued at that stage and piled up a string of NCAA tournament appearances and a few wins here and there in the tourney. This inflated record attracted some better US players and that helped them become an even better team. Suggs was a breakthrough for them in actually getting a top tier recruit. This year they have expanded upon that and look to be a top level team. But let us all not forget that it all began by having a decent coach, getting hidden gems of players that were overlooked by most everybody else (European) and playing in a weak conference that and inflated their record. The current Zags would be a top end P5 conference team, they would not be one of the best teams in the country.
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He is more than a decent coach. Made a huge impact on USA basketball, has had very good players from the US. Does great against power 6 teams. He is going to the hall of fame.
 

alchemy2u said:
But let us all not forget that it all began by having a decent coach, getting hidden gems of players that were overlooked by most everybody else (European) and playing in a weak conference that and inflated their record. The current Zags would be a top end P5 conference team, they would not be one of the best teams in the country.
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http://guboards.spokesmanreview.com/showthread.php?66983-Gonzaga-vs-Power-6-this-decade

I suspected your view was "off", so I dug a tiny bit. I found this. No idea if it's accurate, but I bet it is. Not sure if it proves anything - well, other than that they have hardly been some patsy to the P6.

As of 12/11/2019

Gonzaga vs Power 6 this decade​

With 2 games remaining some of this can change. We still have to settle scores with Zona this week and UNC next week but wanted to share what I came up with in my research.

Gonzaga vs Power 6 (ACC, Big Ten, Big East, Big 12, SEC and the Pac 12)

I had to double check conference affiliations on Butler, UCONN and Xavier at time of our games and most if not all I cannot remember all had to go back to non power 5 but that’s okay.) EDIT: 2017 Xavier was Big east and was already calculated for this as well. That game is under the Big east record

I came up with an overall record of 58-25 which is a 69.8% WIN PCT.

Breakdown by conference

17-5 Pac12: 77.2% WIN PCT
14-3 v Big 12: 82.3%WIN PCT
8-2 vs Big East 80% WIN PCT
6-6 vs Big 10 50% WIN PCT
5-6 vs ACC 45.4% WIN PCT
8-3 vs SEC 73.7% WIN PCT

Cheers

62
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Also - this is the guy's signature (which is current, obviously):

Qualified for 23 Straight Big Dances

12 Straight Round of 32s

11 Sweet Sixteens (6 Straight)

4 Elite Eights

2017 AND 2021 FINAL FOUR

2 Winningest Players in college basketball history (Karnowski 137, Perkins 134)

2021 Undefeated Regular Season

The Best Point Guard to ever play the game: John Stockton, most assists, most steals.
 


kix4kix said:
Kevin Durant is, Kevin Durant. Name 1 thing he does even half as good as Durant.
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Confidence. Holmgren thinks he is better than Durant. He is the number one rated high school player. He expects to be drafted number 1 in the NBA Draft when he enters. He is fueled by people who doubt him. He puts no ceiling on his performance. He wants to be the best at basketball.
The starting lines are in different places. Durant has a wealth of training, seasons of experiences to form who is he is today. Give Holmgren a chance. In 10 years you can compare.
But apples to apples, April 19th, 2021 you can can bet his confidence equals Durants.
Comparing skills and performance is going to require some time.
 

SanDiegoGopherFan said:
lol, funny but there is a lot of truth in that. BJ wants to build a gritty, grinder team. Chet does not fit that profile. I'm not sure why he didn't just pull the offer when he got the job.

Why go after someone that wants NBA type ball, when we are not planning on playing that.
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I'm sure the local media and our fellow GH'ers would have taken that well....
 


SanDiegoGopherFan said:
lol, funny but there is a lot of truth in that. BJ wants to build a gritty, grinder team. Chet does not fit that profile. I'm not sure why he didn't just pull the offer when he got the job.

Why go after someone that wants NBA type ball, when we are not planning on playing that.
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Get real. Ben has said he wants gritty competitors that will not stop, not let up, not back down. He did not say we will play slow down basketball like sconny. That tough gritty style fits the NBA. A style that is more like Baylor showed in the championship game.
 

SanDiegoGopherFan said:
I guess he's not a fan of "gritty" basketball. So there should be a lot of happy posters who only want gritty basketball players to play for the gophers.

Per Star Tribune:

Holmgren said Gonzaga's style of play was a big factor in the decision and also fits his long-term goal of eventually playing in the NBA.

"It's a perfect fit, the way they play in space and play with pace," he said. "I don't want to end up getting bogged down and stuck in the half-court stuff. I want to get out and run, get out and play fast. It's more of an NBA-type style of play, which I want to learn and excel at."
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It is pretty easy to play a wide open, run and gun style when play a very weak schedule and have way more talent than your competitors. Unfortunately, the Zags found out what it is like when you play a gritty team.
 


builtbadgers said:
He is more than a decent coach. Made a huge impact on USA basketball, has had very good players from the US. Does great against power 6 teams. He is going to the hall of fame.
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If he does it should come with an asterisk*

*75% of team wins were against the equivalent of DII or DII schools. *Never played in a real conference.
 

l understand the frustration with losing top rated players to other programs but I just don’t understand the belittling of Gonzaga’s program & think it is a really bad look for our fan base. It doesn’t make sense for us as Gopher fans to make fun of a program that has made 2 of the last 5 National Championship games and continues to trend upwards as a program. I’d be thrilled to have the level of success that the Zags have had. Despite not playing in a P5 conference they are legitimately a top national program. I think many Gopher fans view the program as stronger than it is because we are a Big 10 school when our on court performance doesn’t merit that type of arrogance.
 

GopherJake said:
http://guboards.spokesmanreview.com/showthread.php?66983-Gonzaga-vs-Power-6-this-decade

I suspected your view was "off", so I dug a tiny bit. I found this. No idea if it's accurate, but I bet it is. Not sure if it proves anything - well, other than that they have hardly been some patsy to the P6.

As of 12/11/2019

Gonzaga vs Power 6 this decade​





Also - this is the guy's signature (which is current, obviously):

Qualified for 23 Straight Big Dances

12 Straight Round of 32s

11 Sweet Sixteens (6 Straight)

4 Elite Eights

2017 AND 2021 FINAL FOUR

2 Winningest Players in college basketball history (Karnowski 137, Perkins 134)

2021 Undefeated Regular Season

The Best Point Guard to ever play the game: John Stockton, most assists, most steals.
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You do realize that many of those stats are directly related to being a big fish in a little pond. It is the fallacy of playing in a very weak conference.

We have had these discussion many times in the past so I looked up some of the old discussions.

I posted a thread back in Nov of 2018 where I admitted that Gonzaga finally has became a good team

https://www.forums.gopherhole.com/boards/threads/ok-i-have-to-admit-that-zags-are-a-good-team.85430/

But before that in a thread about Geno Crandell, myself and other pointed out how the Zags reputation was inflated and over hyped.

https://www.forums.gopherhole.com/boards/threads/geno-crandall.82514/post-1565664

Here is the one post:

Gonzaga qualified 14 out of the last 18 years as an automatic bid!. Also, Gonzaga schedules some good non-conference opponents because they typically do not play many in their conference. Going back through the years, their non-conference games are not much more difficult than a typical B1G conference schedule and they consitently do not win a majority of them.

Let's just go with the last 11 years and their record versus top twenty five teams: underlined teams are in the Tourney
2007-08: 1-5 beat StM, lost to Wash St, Tenn, Memphis, StM, Davidson
2008-09: 3-3 beat Tenn (twice), StM, lost to uConn, Memphis, NC
2009-10: 0-3 beat nobody, lost to MSU, Duke, Syracuse
2010-11: 2-5 beat StJohns, Baylor, lost to SDSU, Kstate, Ill, ND, Baylor, BYU
2011-12: 1-1 beat StM, Lost to OhioSt
2012-13: 1-2 beat OKst, lost to Ill, Butler
2013-14: 0-2 beat nobody, lost to Memphis, Arizona
2014-15: 1-2 beat SMU, lost to Arizona, Duke
2015-16: 3-3 beat uConn, Setonhall, Utah, lost to Texas A&M, Arizona, SMU
2016-17: 6-1 beat IowaSt, Arizona, StM (three time), WVirg, lost to NC
2017-18: 2-2 beat StM, OhioSt, lost to FL, Nova

Like I said before, Gonzaga has been a good team, but a lot of it has to do with the conference that they are in and the ease they have in getting into the Tourney. Their non-conference record is nowhere near among the best in the country.

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It sure makes your record look good when you have a free ride to the tourney by being in a weak conference. There is more, you can go back and read the discussion if you would like.
 

GopherND725 said:
l understand the frustration with losing top rated players to other programs but I just don’t understand the belittling of Gonzaga’s program & think it is a really bad look for our fan base. It doesn’t make sense for us as Gopher fans to make fun of a program that has made 2 of the last 5 National Championship games and continues to trend upwards as a program. I’d be thrilled to have the level of success that the Zags have had. Despite not playing in a P5 conference they are legitimately a top national program. I think many Gopher fans view the program as stronger than it is because we are a Big 10 school when our on court performance doesn’t merit that type of arrogance.
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I do think Gonzaga has improved greatly since 2018. It is just a natural knee jerk reaction to the "Zags are Gods" reaction that everyone seems to follow.
 

kix4kix said:
Kevin Durant is, Kevin Durant. Name 1 thing he does even half as good as Durant.
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I love Kevin Durant, but I never saw him play in high school. Someone said that they had never seen anyone built like Holmgren play well in College. I mentioned KD.
 

LakevilleBro said:
Kevin Durant was close to 7' in high school and weighed 204. He played well in college.
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Durant is a good comparison. Going back to 2006 for that one shows how rare it is. Add him in the batch with Livingston, Prince, Chandler as a guy that scouts knew would be fine in the NBA over time.
 


GopherJake said:
http://guboards.spokesmanreview.com/showthread.php?66983-Gonzaga-vs-Power-6-this-decade

I suspected your view was "off", so I dug a tiny bit. I found this. No idea if it's accurate, but I bet it is. Not sure if it proves anything - well, other than that they have hardly been some patsy to the P6.

As of 12/11/2019

Gonzaga vs Power 6 this decade​





Also - this is the guy's signature (which is current, obviously):

Qualified for 23 Straight Big Dances

12 Straight Round of 32s

11 Sweet Sixteens (6 Straight)

4 Elite Eights

2017 AND 2021 FINAL FOUR

2 Winningest Players in college basketball history (Karnowski 137, Perkins 134)

2021 Undefeated Regular Season

The Best Point Guard to ever play the game: John Stockton, most assists, most steals.
Click to expand...
Does this begin the moment we take shtpile monson? Cripes
 

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