Big Mo Walker dropping the weight thus far in off season

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It's going to be interesting to see what type of player Walker is in the Fall. It can't just be weight loss. His body transformation needs to include much better footwork, more explosiveness, better reaction time, etc. That will all be aided by the weight loss. Hopefully the new S&C coach is paying dividends.
 

I think a 260# Mo Walker with more muscle, upper and lower body strength and better hopes and agility is going to be a force in coming years. He has an outside touch and can stretch a defense and has soft hands and if he gets stronger, can finish inside.

Add in King and we can put 5 guys on the floor that all can shoot the three and run well.
 

GopherinPhilly said:
I think a 260# Mo Walker with more muscle, upper and lower body strength and better hopes and agility is going to be a force in coming years. He has an outside touch and can stretch a defense and has soft hands and if he gets stronger, can finish inside.

Add in King and we can put 5 guys on the floor that all can shoot the three and run well.
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I dont know if Mo will ever "run well" especially when you mention him in the same sentence of a stretch 4 like King, who is really a big 3....

Mo will be improved simply because he has a renewed interest, hes a year older, and he shed 30 pounds. Must be careful to not overstate the effect that Pitino alone is going to have on Mo. Mo will be better because Bigs generally get better with age, usually because they fill out, but in this case because he is going to trim down.
 

Winasota Gopher said:
I dont know if Mo will ever "run well" especially when you mention him in the same sentence of a stretch 4 like King, who is really a big 3....

Mo will be improved simply because he has a renewed interest, hes a year older, and he shed 30 pounds. Must be careful to not overstate the effect that Pitino alone is going to have on Mo. Mo will be better because Bigs generally get better with age, usually because they fill out, but in this case because he is going to trim down.
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Yep. I like Pitino so far, but I imagine Mo could tell last year he needed to really work on his weight. Whoever the new coach was going to be (or if it was Tubby), they would have pushed Mo to lose a lot of weight.

Good for him, he has a chance to really save his career!
 


Bob_Loblaw said:
Yep. I like Pitino so far, but I imagine Mo could tell last year he needed to really work on his weight. Whoever the new coach was going to be (or if it was Tubby), they would have pushed Mo to lose a lot of weight.

Good for him, he has a chance to really save his career!
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This kind of motivation should be credited to both Pitino and Walker. I think Pitino got Mo fired up about next season and Mo executed his plan to lose the weight. Pitino has impressed me so far with each of his steps. Can't wait to see the Gophers play next year
 

Winasota Gopher said:
I dont know if Mo will ever "run well" especially when you mention him in the same sentence of a stretch 4 like King, who is really a big 3....
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I think "running well" for a center is different than for a 3 or 3/4 guy too. Mo ran well as a FR before the injury and I expect a slimmed down version 2 years removed from the injury will run well again. That is exactly why I put him in the same sentence as King...Mo runs well for a center, King runs well for a 3/4 and Hollins x 2 and Malik will run well for guards.
 

GopherinPhilly said:
I think "running well" for a center is different than for a 3 or 3/4 guy too. Mo ran well as a FR before the injury and I expect a slimmed down version 2 years removed from the injury will run well again. That is exactly why I put him in the same sentence as King...Mo runs well for a center, King runs well for a 3/4 and Hollins x 2 and Malik will run well for guards.
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I think by November he will be 3 years removed from the injury IIRC.
 

If I remember correctly, back when Mo was a freshman, about the time the team went to Canada to play, Tubby had a lot of praise for Mo's situational awareness and understanding of the game. Maybe that's what we're in for the next couple of years?
 





Absolutely stunned by the work Big Mo has put in. He's definitely going to be a fan favorite this season. Imagine what we could have done as a team if Tubby would have lit a fire under Mo earlier in his career. Same goes fro Buggs who has put on 24 pounds in the off season, Tubby should have had him doing that during his redshirt season.
 

Happy with Buggs and Mo's commitment to working on their basketball bodies.

But are we going to have to hear about every pound Mo drops and each lbs Buggs gains until the season starts?

Though Pitino would still like Walker to slim down a few more pounds and improve his strength and explosiveness before the start of the season, the Minnesota coach admits the weight Walker has lost has already made a huge difference. Walker was tugging on his shorts and gasping for air after 10 or 15 minutes during the first workout Pitino's staff put him through, but he lasted 45 minutes Monday and finished the final drill as strong as anyone on the roster.

I'm glad to read his conditioning is catching up with his weight loss.
 



katze019 said:
Happy with Buggs and Mo's commitment to working on their basketball bodies.

But are we going to have to hear about every pound Mo drops and each lbs Buggs gains until the season starts?
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Yes. It's the offseason.
 

MadtownGopher said:
Absolutely stunned by the work Big Mo has put in. He's definitely going to be a fan favorite this season. Imagine what we could have done as a team if Tubby would have lit a fire under Mo earlier in his career. Same goes fro Buggs who has put on 24 pounds in the off season, Tubby should have had him doing that during his redshirt season.
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He was still recovering from a torn ligament, I'm not sure what Tubby could have done or if Pitino would have been able to do more with Mo given the same circumstances.
 

What great coaching to get him motivated, and much more importantly, great dedication by a young man who has had to face some adversity in his collegiate career. He will certainly be one of my favorites next year.
 

katze019 said:
But are we going to have to hear about every pound Mo drops and each lbs Buggs gains until the season starts?
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Why not? I like these updates. These are two guys who could really help us.

With respect to Mo's weight, though, it's getting to the point where he maybe doesn't need to drop more pounds. He and Eliason both need to get stronger (you see those post men on Louisville, like Dieng and Bohannon? They're ripped). The muscle's going to add weight, but it's good weight.
 


Cayman said:
He was still recovering from a torn ligament, I'm not sure what Tubby could have done or if Pitino would have been able to do more with Mo given the same circumstances.
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Tubby's "body of work" regarding players to physically develop themselves was poor at Minnesota. Ralph Sampson, Rodney Williams, etc. You can go on a diet when you have a torn ligament, but Mo did not feel motivated to do so, he thought he could survive in Tubby's game plan. I doubt either Buggs or Mo would be where they are at if Tubby were here.
 

bga1 said:
Tubby's "body of work" regarding players to physically develop themselves was poor at Minnesota. Ralph Sampson, Rodney Williams, etc. You can go on a diet when you have a torn ligament, but Mo did not feel motivated to do so, he thought he could survive in Tubby's game plan. I doubt either Buggs or Mo would be where they are at if Tubby were here.
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I'm getting a kick out of the people who are vocal about how Pitino hasn't accomplished a damn thing yet, but when anyone compliments him on the job he's done motivating and developing the players so far, they don't want to hear about it. I don't think what's happened with Mo and Buggs is any kind of coincidence or happenstance.
 

From this article it appears that Mo has a very refreshing and mature outlook. I'm glad that he is staying where his friends are.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I'm getting a kick out of the people who are vocal about how Pitino hasn't accomplished a damn thing yet, but when anyone compliments him on the job he's done motivating and developing the players so far, they don't want to hear about it. I don't think what's happened with Mo and Buggs is any kind of coincidence or happenstance.
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Agreed. Can't believe some people seem to think it is.
 

Cayman said:
He was still recovering from a torn ligament, I'm not sure what Tubby could have done or if Pitino would have been able to do more with Mo given the same circumstances.
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Apparently it takes fully intact knee ligaments to have a healthy diet. Good to know.
 

GopherJake said:
Apparently it takes fully intact knee ligaments to have a healthy diet. Good to know.
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you know what they say. Can't out train a crappy diet.

EDIT: Unless you're jacked and like 8% body fat. Then by all means shovel in the food.
 



underground629 said:
That is ridiculous. Looks photoshopped, haha. Looking at his body, it's kind of hard to believe he weighs 280. He really doesn't look that heavy at all.
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That's because he weighs 260. He lost 50 from 310. His goal weight is 250.
 

I was just going by what the quote from the paper said (the original post of this thread). Looking back now, I realize the quote was from Sid...

MadtownGopher said:
That's because he weighs 260. He lost 50 from 310. His goal weight is 250.
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Am I the only one crazy enough to think he has a shot of starting ahead of Elliot if he gets down to his target weight?
 

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