All Things Class of 2015 Recruiting - Class Finally Complete? Nope Chris Obekpa visit

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60's Guy said:
But beyond 5 new guys there isn't much comparison. Rautins, Hall and Tucker could all score, pretty much at at will. Nobody in this group is like that. And if memory serves, somehow Darryl Mitchell was the highest rated of the 5. Cookie Holmes was talented and nimble! I especially wish we had just one of those first 3 scorers from that group.
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IIRC, Rautins never saw a shot he did't like and was master of the air ball. Did't he transfer out after freshman year? Hall was not much of a shooter but was a bull driving to the basket. Wasn't he suspended for a year or so for making long distance calls from a computer lab or some such? Wasn't the same after he came back. The rest of the group managed a B1G title in '82 but was a mess as freshman.
 

They accomplished little until Randy Bruer as added.
 

Otis said:
They accomplished little until Randy Bruer as added.
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No, Breu was just a big clod with no talent. Anybody could have put up the numbers Breu did over the course of his career (tongue firmly in cheek).
 

harrys ghost said:
IIRC, Rautins never saw a shot he did't like and was master of the air ball. Did't he transfer out after freshman year? Hall was not much of a shooter but was a bull driving to the basket. Wasn't he suspended for a year or so for making long distance calls from a computer lab or some such? Wasn't the same after he came back. The rest of the group managed a B1G title in '82 but was a mess as freshman.
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Rautins did transfer to Syracuse after freshman year and was successful there. He wanted a lot of shots and they were not coming with the lineup the Gophers had. Hall did get suspended for unauthorized long distance phone calls, but I don't remember it being a whole season. He was gone for the Championship season, though. The group definitely struggled as freshmen, but were memorable. On paper, this year's group is not comparable to that group. They were the number one recruiting class in the country that year without a doubt.

Over time, it proved to be an outstanding group of human beings, too. Mitchell is an attorney. Tucker has done well outside of basketball. I think Cookie is still around town working with youth. Rautins I think ended up running Canadian national program. Hall died prematurely of heart disease as I recall.
 


Bayfieldgopher said:
I doubt that any Gopher on the roster took more charges than Joey. And he will mix it up and go for the loose ball. He understands what he needs to do and is willing to give up his body.

King will never be a good rebounder. Its not in his make-up. I don't doubt for a minute that he tries very hard to be a good rebounder and fully understands what the coaches expect.

But he can take charges with the best. Joey just re-adjusts his mouth piece and gets ready for the next round.

Every player on the roster has limitations and weak areas. My guess is that no one works harder at them than Joey.
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Yes, every player has weaknesses. Joey's appears to be rebounding but I don't agree that he works as hard as he can to improve this aspect of the game because, as you say, "it's not in his makeup." He may have something close to a power forward's size but he has a small forward's mentality when it comes to this part of the game.

Brad Stevens had a good quote about his Celtics roster this year. He said that their staff uses their players for what they do well rather using them in roles in the hope that they improve their weaknesses. I can understand why Pitino needed Joey to fill the primary power forward role during his first season but shoehorning him in that role makes less sense as time goes on.

Yes, I like his propensity to take charges but the thing Joey does best is shoot the ball. Only 7 Big Ten players playing over 25 minutes per game last season had a True Shooting Percentage of over .600. Joey was one of them. Four of the seven were on the Wisconsin roster. Mo was over .600 for the full season but averaged slightly less than 25 minutes per game. The striking thing about Joey's TS% is that it was almost the same in Big Ten play as it was overall whereas most of the other roster player's TS% dropped in the conference. Whether his TS% would be similar with a higher volume of shots, I don't know.

Joey is a very good all around shooter (3 pointers, midrangers, and free throws). And, for all the jokes about his fakes, they were pretty effective in shaking defenders and drawing fouls.
 

Holy Man said:
Rautins did transfer to Syracuse after freshman year and was successful there. He wanted a lot of shots and they were not coming with the lineup the Gophers had. Hall did get suspended for unauthorized long distance phone calls, but I don't remember it being a whole season. He was gone for the Championship season, though. The group definitely struggled as freshmen, but were memorable. On paper, this year's group is not comparable to that group. They were the number one recruiting class in the country that year without a doubt.

Over time, it proved to be an outstanding group of human beings, too. Mitchell is an attorney. Tucker has done well outside of basketball. I think Cookie is still around town working with youth. Rautins I think ended up running Canadian national program. Hall died prematurely of heart disease as I recall.
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This group is not even in the same ball park. Mitchell was clutch down the stretch that season. Mark Hall was a talent and the least recruited of the class. His in between game with short bank shots was fun to watch. Cookie Holmes and Mitchell were elite High School recruits out of Miami. Mitchell a top ten guy. Tucker I don't believe got an offer from Michigan.
The obsession with Joey King's minutes is puzzling. He will play a lot and be a big part of hopefully a solid eight, nine man rotation.
 

I have never seen anyone use "English " on a basketball the way Mark Hall did, no angle around the basket was bad enough for him to not take a shot on a drive. Occasionally he over did it, especially late in a game, but he was fearless going inside. I don't remember him ever getting a shot blocked, even if the center was defending the play, he always took the shot even if it was an unbelievably hard shot, actually he made more hard shots than easy shots late in games. He was built like a linebacker. A really fun player to watch. If he could have managed his off court antics and studies he would have been a great college player.
He was one of the guys who probably would have benefited if Dutcher had been a tougher coach. Dutcher was a really good coach and great person, but he had a hard time with the guys who tended to stray off the court.
 




60's Guy said:
But beyond 5 new guys there isn't much comparison. Rautins, Hall and Tucker could all score, pretty much at at will. Nobody in this group is like that. And if memory serves, somehow Darryl Mitchell was the highest rated of the 5. Cookie Holmes was talented and nimble! I especially wish we had just one of those first 3 scorers from that group.
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1) Bayfield is right about Joey taking charges, I was talking about rebound positioning, but over stated the case.
2) Cookie was not nimble, but he had a lot of skills one would not expect from a PF. He actually was always a little beefy. He was built more like Mo W, but with offensive skills further away from the basket. He was a good shooter and if teams did not defend him away from the basket they were making a mistake. He became a better interior player as he got older and learned to to use his size for positioning.
 

Not Gopher related (yet anyways) but a couple Florida recruits have asked for their releases. More potential talented big men added to the recruiting pool.
 

A lot of people check this thread for 2015 recruiting updates so we will keep that on topic. We encourage those that want to talk about Rautins' transfer to Syracuse or Joey King's pump fakes to start a new thread. Thank you for understanding and hopefully we finish off the 2015 recruiting class strong!
 

GopherHole Staff said:
Joey King's pump fakes to start a new thread!
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Helluva idea!

All Things Joey Kings Pump Fakes

All Things Joey King Takes Another Charge

All Things Joey King Brings A Lunch Pail To Work

And of course...

All Things Joey Kings Sucks
 



Who has recommitted from from Florida and is there anyone that the GOphers have any interest in?
 

bobmartinfan said:
Who has recommitted from from Florida and is there anyone that the GOphers have any interest in?
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A 4-star PF has asked for his release. Can't recall who the others were. I'm sure MN would have interest if Murphy falls through here. Not sure how mutual the interest would be either.
 


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Appears Jordan is back in San Antonio.
 

So no commitment on the spot. I instantly reduce our chances by at least 30%. Who else are we after?
 

If not Murphy, maybe the forward from Texas A&M (Lawrence?)? Haven't heard his name in a long time, though. But he'd be another guy that would have to sit out a year. Would we want a second transfer sitting out?
 

SelectionSunday said:
If not Murphy, maybe the forward from Texas A&M (Lawrence?)? Haven't heard his name in a long time, though. But he'd be another guy that would have to sit out a year. Would we want a second transfer sitting out?
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That's why I quickly warmed to the idea of Cullen Russo, two years, ready to play next year.

Olivier... Hope they didn't blow this one.
 

Where is the local media on the Murphy visit? You'd think Marcus or Amelia could get some comments from someone (ie Murphy, one of his coaches, or a family member).
 

MadtownGopher said:
Where is the local media on the Murphy visit? You'd think Marcus or Amelia could get some comments from someone (ie Murphy, one of his coaches, or a family member).
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Maybe they (the Murphy family) just aren't answering the phone until they have answers. This could be bad or it could be good- they could be in decision making mode today.
 

bga1 said:
Maybe they (the Murphy family) just aren't answering the phone until they have answers. This could be bad or it could be good- they could be in decision making mode today.
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I'm going POLLYANNA!!! on this one. The longer this decision process takes, the less likely he'll be to follow Shaka to Texas. At the very least, maybe Pitino has given the kid a lot to think about.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I'm going POLLYANNA!!! on this one. The longer this decision process takes, the less likely he'll be to follow Shaka to Texas. At the very least, maybe Pitino has given the kid a lot to think about.
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Or is it because he is waiting to get a committable offer from Texas?

I hope you are right.

(not sure if that was stated on Twitter or on here -- Matt Jensen-Howard, I believe)
 

golfing18now said:
Or is it because he is waiting to get a committable offer from Texas?

I hope you are right.

(not sure if that was stated on Twitter or on here -- Matt Jensen-Howard, I believe)
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I think Texas is out of scholarships unless someone walks. If someone leaves, would Tevin Mack be the first one to fill the void? My guess is that Jordan is waiting to see how things shake out. Hopefully that will leave us as the best available option.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I'm going POLLYANNA!!! on this one. The longer this decision process takes, the less likely he'll be to follow Shaka to Texas. At the very least, maybe Pitino has given the kid a lot to think about.
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Good. Gopher basketball is the one area of life I allow myself to go into POLLYANNA!!! mode any time I please.
 

Indiana is trying to get him to visit according to Marcus.
 

Torr41 said:
I think Texas is out of scholarships unless someone walks. If someone leaves, would Tevin Mack be the first one to fill the void? My guess is that Jordan is waiting to see how things shake out. Hopefully that will leave us as the best available option.
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Texas has 2 scholarships left, Mack is a likely commit so they'll still have one left.
 



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