Best Freshman?

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khoffman43

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I think of the guys we have seen this year that Mo Walker is the best player of the 4 (Walker, Armelin, Ahanmisi and Hollins) but I will say that of the three guards I prefer Armelin over the others. I know Walker is hard to compare but his basketball IQ, physical presence and shear size make him the most likely to be a standout from this class (of the guys who weren't redshirted)

He has the never back down attitude, he isn't scared to shoot (or miss) and he is the best athlete of the three. Also, as was posted on this site a couple of months ago he has the most upside because he was a football player first and never focused all of his time and attention on hoops. Thoughts from anyone else?
 

Chip was not a football player first, he always played hoops and added football his senior year. Not a big deal to me, tons of athletes play two sports, if not three.
 

I agree about Mo. He was looking very good early in the year. Hopefully he recovers well and loses some more weight. I don't know if I agree about Chip being the preferred guard. He's a great slasher, but Hollins is by far the superior defender. That being said, I'm looking forward to those guys being in Minnesota uniforms for 3 more years.
 

MotherNight said:
I agree about Mo. He was looking very good early in the year. Hopefully he recovers well and loses some more weight
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My biggest concern with Mo is his weight gain. When I tore my ACL I gained 20-25lbs and I was only about 190 to start. Mo could gain 30-40 and he doesnt need to.

I agree Hollins is the best defender of the crew, but he doesn't seem to use his length very well on defense.
 

Love Chip as a slightly taller West type, gutty slashed. Not the same range yet and Tubby has publicly spoke of needing to get a lot better on D.

I see the most upside in Mo and Austin.
 


khoffman43 said:
I think of the guys we have seen this year that Mo Walker is the best player of the 4 (Walker, Armelin, Ahanmisi and Hollins) but I will say that of the three guards I prefer Armelin over the others. I know Walker is hard to compare but his basketball IQ, physical presence and shear size make him the most likely to be a standout from this class (of the guys who weren't redshirted)

He has the never back down attitude, he isn't scared to shoot (or miss) and he is the best athlete of the three. Also, as was posted on this site a couple of months ago he has the most upside because he was a football player first and never focused all of his time and attention on hoops. Thoughts from anyone else?
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Hard to say who will be best- but this class is pretty solid with some nice upside. Each guy has a what if to him.

I have been heavy in Armelin's corner for a good while on here but I am just as high long term on Walker and Hollins. Walker has the potential to be the power of Iverson but with the addition of finesse and a shooting touch. That's exciting. With Armelin, man if he develops a jump shot, which isn't easy to do, there is no limit on him. Hollins has a little Q Lewis in him.

Ahanmisi could be the kind of glue guy you need on a good team. Limited but solid. Who knows, maybe better than that.
 


The best players in the freshman class may not have even seen the floor this year. Eliason and Osieniks could be big time contributors in a year or two.
 

the last few weeks of the season will tell, one of them might really come through and help carry the team along
 



I have thought from the start that Armelin is the best freshman (also like Mo but he needed to get more athletic and with the knee problems that could be a big issue). I realize that Tubby claims that Armelin needs to improve defensively but I would argue that he is a decent on ball defender. Most freshman will struggle mightly with help side defense which Tubby stresses. (Hollins is an exception and is a very good defensive player because of his length and high IQ). I think in time chips superior athleticism can make him one of the better defenders in the league. What seperate him from westbrook is that he seems to have the attitude to get down and dirty on D but its pure speculation at this point.

Chips Ahoy!
 

IMO it is Walker and it's not even close. Hollins has a chance to be a decent starter some day. Chip has a chance to be a solid bench guy. It wouldn't surprise me if Mav doesn't last. Mo is the real deal-hopefully he comes back just as strong.
 

I liked walker a lot.. not as a star, but as a very good all around player. I hope he keeps the weight down and comes back strong next year.

Austin and Chip are both so inconsistent... both have the upside to be very good. Austin just needs his shooting touch back. He was a very good shooter in high school, but his shot has been way off for most of the year. If he gets his mojo back and gets more aggressive, he could be very good

Chip is very aggressive and is the best finisher around the rim that this team has had for quite a while. His progress will depend largely on his shooting also. I hope both of those guys shoot a LOT of jumpers this summer!

Maverick.. I wish him the best, but I hope he's never a starter.
 

Mo walker and its not close IMO. He, as a Freshman, had nearly the best touch, jump shot, and post moves of all the big men (Ralph and him might be tied). He plays aggressive.

He just needs to get his endurance (not his weight) to a level where it needs to be and he will be a major player on this team. People talk about wanting a combination of Ralph and Colton, well, I think down the road Mo Walker is just that.

I also expect Oto to be a nice surprise. Austin has the intelligence to play but really needs to get his jump shot back on track and Chip has a great mentality but also needs to fix his jump shot and improve defense.

Maverick isn't there yet, he has shown glimpses of what he can do when he is given minutes and gets aggressive. He is not ready yet though, I'd like to see him a few years from now and he could be pretty good. He seems to have a great work ethic (based on reading about him from HS and his comments as a Gopher) so I could definitely see him contributing in the future.
 




tikited said:
IMO it is Walker and it's not even close. Hollins has a chance to be a decent starter some day. Chip has a chance to be a solid bench guy. It wouldn't surprise me if Mav doesn't last. Mo is the real deal-hopefully he comes back just as strong.
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Pretty much my thoughts.
 

1)Hollins....He seems to be the best shooter of the group.

2)Armelin...good athlete, decent defender but awful shooter thus far.

3)Ahanmisi...average athlete, turns the ball over too much and a decent shooter, not great.

4)Walker...I also fear the ACL tear, surgery and rehab will essentially cost him seasons because he'll gain a ton of weight. I tore my meniscus, had surgery and during the recovery I gained 20 to 30 lbs...ACL is a far more serious and lengthy process. I wouldn't be surprised if Walker gains 30 or 40 lbs from when the injury happened until November. It was hard to assess Walker's potential because of the limited minutes he was getting. Tubby should get him started shooting FT's ASAP! Being a big guy with decent footwork, he should get to the FT line a ton in his career...His 40% shooting from the stripe suggests he has a lot of work to do.
 

tikited said:
IMO it is Walker and it's not even close. Hollins has a chance to be a decent starter some day. Chip has a chance to be a solid bench guy. It wouldn't surprise me if Mav doesn't last. Mo is the real deal-hopefully he comes back just as strong.
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Chip has a chance to be a solid bench guy? Chip is already a solid bench guy as a Frosh and he should be starting with what we have left. If he doesn't develop a better 3 point shot -then he's a solid bench guy on a good Big Ten team. If he develops a solid 3 point shot (35%) and progresses on defense- he has a chance to be a great player and the team's leading scorer on a good Big Ten team. That's an if....
 

Moses87 said:
1)Hollins....He seems to be the best shooter of the group.

2)Armelin...good athlete, decent defender but awful shooter thus far.

3)Ahanmisi...average athlete, turns the ball over too much and a decent shooter, not great.

4)Walker...I also fear the ACL tear, surgery and rehab will essentially cost him seasons because he'll gain a ton of weight. I tore my meniscus, had surgery and during the recovery I gained 20 to 30 lbs...ACL is a far more serious and lengthy process. I wouldn't be surprised if Walker gains 30 or 40 lbs from when the injury happened until November. It was hard to assess Walker's potential because of the limited minutes he was getting. Tubby should get him started shooting FT's ASAP! Being a big guy with decent footwork, he should get to the FT line a ton in his career...His 40% shooting from the stripe suggests he has a lot of work to do.
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http://blogs.twincities.com/gophers/2011/02/tubby-smith-high-on-freshmen-p.html

"Walker is still on crutches, but Smith said the Toronto native has lost 35 pounds to get himself under 300 pounds."
 

bga1 said:
Chip has a chance to be a solid bench guy? Chip is already a solid bench guy as a Frosh and he should be starting with what we have left. If he doesn't develop a better 3 point shot -then he's a solid bench guy on a good Big Ten team. If he develops a solid 3 point shot (35%) and progresses on defense- he has a chance to be a great player and the team's leading scorer on a good Big Ten team. That's an if....
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I don't know if he is a "solid" guy yet. The lack of a jump shot scares me away from the thought that he could lead the team in scoring. The fact that he should be starting (your words) isn't really about his strength's but more about the lack of the other guys imo. I like him-just not as much as you do.
 

Moses87 said:
4)Walker...I also fear the ACL tear, surgery and rehab will essentially cost him seasons because he'll gain a ton of weight. I tore my meniscus, had surgery and during the recovery I gained 20 to 30 lbs...ACL is a far more serious and lengthy process. I wouldn't be surprised if Walker gains 30 or 40 lbs from when the injury happened until November. It was hard to assess Walker's potential because of the limited minutes he was getting. Tubby should get him started shooting FT's ASAP! Being a big guy with decent footwork, he should get to the FT line a ton in his career...His 40% shooting from the stripe suggests he has a lot of work to do.
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WHAT ACL TEAR? I have not read anywhere besides on Gopherhole that he tore his ACL. PCL, yes, he tore that. Its a different ligament and a completely different injury as those ligaments do different things to support the knee.

Please show me where it says he tore his ACL.

Interesting that he lost 30-40lbs...I guess the big man might have been aware of the risk of not working out and gaining weight and decided to go the other way. Props to him if thats true. An actually 290lb Mo would be great (he was listed at that this year, but there is no chance he was under 300)
 

khoffman43 said:
WHAT ACL TEAR? I have not read anywhere besides on Gopherhole that he tore his ACL. PCL, yes, he tore that. Its a different ligament and a completely different injury as those ligaments do different things to support the knee.

Please show me where it says he tore his ACL.

Interesting that he lost 30-40lbs...I guess the big man might have been aware of the risk of not working out and gaining weight and decided to go the other way. Props to him if thats true. An actually 290lb Mo would be great (he was listed at that this year, but there is no chance he was under 300)
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I am assuming he has lost that weight by eating better (or the Westbrook method of not eating) and possibly doing weight lifting with his arms and upper body?

How does losing weight that way (and not by running) affect his endurance? I have to imagine he will need to do some lifting and running of the lower body to get that back up.
 

Armelin is the type of creator this team needs. No one else plays that role, except for Nolen. But Chip brings a different dynamic: drive and shoot first, pass second.
 

I believe you are right, it is the PCL, but it is still 6 months of rehab. I like Hoolins a lot. I am still hoping he turns out to be the equivalent of Quincy Lewis. QL took a while to develop, but he was smart and worked hard and became a terrific player.
 

corcoran1 said:
I believe you are right, it is the PCL, but it is still 6 months of rehab. I like Hoolins a lot. I am still hoping he turns out to be the equivalent of Quincy Lewis. QL took a while to develop, but he was smart and worked hard and became a terrific player.
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Quincy was 6-7 and while Hollins is lanky with long arms, I think he's only 6-4. Both appear to be the same type of athletes though. I think Hollins could become a decent scorer for next year's team, mostly by default.

Much of his future success depends on what Tubby brings in.
 

Armelin

Armelin has the greatest potential because of his elite athleticism. He already has good handles, an uncanny knack for scoring around the basket, and a good looking J that will be more consistent once he gets more minutes and is allowed to keep shooting (missed shots never stopped Devoe- a career 39% shooter).

Hollins is also very good and Mo Walker could be a real nice big man for the Gophers. Mav is also a stable contributor. Not sure about redshirts.
 

Block M said:
Armelin has the greatest potential because of his elite athleticism. He already has good handles, an uncanny knack for scoring around the basket, and a good looking J that will be more consistent once he gets more minutes and is allowed to keep shooting (missed shots never stopped Devoe- a career 39% shooter).

Hollins is also very good and Mo Walker could be a real nice big man for the Gophers. Mav is also a stable contributor. Not sure about redshirts.
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His jump shot is not good ... he looked better against OSU shooting, but at the start of the year he had little spin and not much arc.

Devoe had a very good form jump shot. Lots of rotation on the ball, good arc, and a high release that made it difficult to deffend. Devoe had probably the best formed jump shot on the team (except Blake) and Chip is nowhere near the jump shot that Devoe had. Regardless of his transferring, he still had a nice jump shot
 

Chip reminds me of Charles Thomas. He's going to be special when all is said and done.
 

scher215 said:
I am assuming he has lost that weight by eating better (or the Westbrook method of not eating) and possibly doing weight lifting with his arms and upper body?

How does losing weight that way (and not by running) affect his endurance? I have to imagine he will need to do some lifting and running of the lower body to get that back up.
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I'm guessing eating less/healthier is the biggest key. He could get some good workouts in at this point with his arms and some people when they are injured eat less and go into a weird sort of mind frame. I had friends lose 20lbs after an ACL tear and gain it all back once they started playing sports again.

Not saying Mo Walker will be 100% but if he rehabs correctly, with no set backs, he will be a big contributor next year and even more his junior year when RS3, Colt 45 and Trevor leave...although if you believe Myron everyone associated with the Gophers is going pro ASAP, including Dawson (I am exaggerating a bit)
 

scher215 said:
His jump shot is not good ... he looked better against OSU shooting, but at the start of the year he had little spin and not much arc.

Devoe had a very good form jump shot. Lots of rotation on the ball, good arc, and a high release that made it difficult to deffend. Devoe had probably the best formed jump shot on the team (except Blake) and Chip is nowhere near the jump shot that Devoe had. Regardless of his transferring, he still had a nice jump shot
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I remember Tubby saying something about him trying to work with Blake on his jumpshot. If he can be an adverage 3 point shooter with his slashing ability he'll be special. No reason with his quickness for him to not be a great defender as well.
 

khoffman43 said:
WHAT ACL TEAR? I have not read anywhere besides on Gopherhole that he tore his ACL. PCL, yes, he tore that. Its a different ligament and a completely different injury as those ligaments do different things to support the knee.

Please show me where it says he tore his ACL.

Interesting that he lost 30-40lbs...I guess the big man might have been aware of the risk of not working out and gaining weight and decided to go the other way. Props to him if thats true. An actually 290lb Mo would be great (he was listed at that this year, but there is no chance he was under 300)
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MCL. If you are going to go crazy over the ligament, get it right.
 

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