Chip not playing football and is committed to program

Donate To GopherHole

It is better for Chip and the U that he stays for another year at least to see how things go. No doubt about his potential. Good to hear.
 

I really hope he can step up his defense so he can get more playingn time. Love his ability to beat people off the dribble and get to the rim.
 

He's going to have a tuff time getting more minutes with the guys we have coming in. I was never afraid of him leaving the team to play D1 football.
 

I don't know about the guys coming in but he has, by far, the most talent and potential of the three perimeter players that Tubby brought in last year. I'm glad that he's staying.
 


jamiche said:
I don't know about the guys coming in but he has, by far, the most talent and potential of the three perimeter players that Tubby brought in last year.
Click to expand...

By far, I prefer Austin. It's clear Tubby does also.
 

If they go to a more uptempo game then Armelin would be very important, he gets up and down the floor better than anyone else comming back.
 

jovs said:
If they go to a more uptempo game then Armelin would be very important, he gets up and down the floor better than anyone else comming back.
Click to expand...

Uptempo could be either the full scale open court game or transition. If open court game, yeah Chip will be very nice to have. If transition game off great defense, his value may not be as great assuming that it takes time to develop good defense.

BTW, I don't think Tubby meant an open court game by uptempo because an open court game is built upon tempo, maneuver and firepower. We do have a couple of mobile power forwards. We may or may not have athletic slashing guards/wings. We probably do not have enough firepower from the perimeter. So, Tubby may be emphasizing transition game next season.
 

"Start The Freshmen!"

Since Al’s surgery, Hoffarber at point guard has been and continues to be the best option. I didn’t mention Chip Armelin and Maverick Ahanmisi in December when talking about team depth for a reason.

While I would have been starting fellow freshman Austin Hollins (along with Hoffarber at the point, Williams, Mbakwe and Sampson) consistently since Nolen’s surgery, there has been a constant clamor from certain folks that Maverick Ahanmisi and Chip Armelin should be starting and/or getting significant minutes. I am still missing what so many apparently can see.

I appreciate the effort of these kids, but there are better options. Ahanmisi’s astronomical turnover rate of 40% is a concerning figure. When you consider what little he’s been asked to do and review some of the turnovers, it’s that much more troubling. Perhaps people are impressed with his 8/26 (30.8%) three-point shooting. I’ll admit, while for the average guard it’s a bad percentage (not to mention one of those makes was a half court buzzer beater and another was a 30-foot prayer as the shot clock expired), it’s relatively lofty when compared to most of his teammates.

Chip can be very entertaining to watch and I understand why some would be big fans of his. Before the season started, my thoughts on him were as follows:

"He likes to shoot the ball when on offense. Has good spring to his step and will have his moments against lesser competition in limited minutes this early winter. However, his offensive tendencies may not work well in this offense and unless his defensive play is consistently impressive, I could see him getting a quick hook when he does make appearances in games. True, the Gophers do need go to scorers, but I don’t think Chip is the answer this year.

At a minimum, a fun player to watch that will occasionally impress during limited appearances… at best, a contributor who adds a scoring punch and aggressiveness on offense."

With hindsight, I wouldn’t change any of those comments. Armelin is fearless with the ball - when on the floor, he takes almost 25% more shots than anyone else. I can appreciate that to some degree, but his jump shot is… not good at the present moment. Sure, he can get to the rack, but how many of the missed layups are bad luck? How about drawing some contact? Excluding the scoreless Dominque Dawson, Armelin has the worst Points Per Shot average on the team.

At any rate, there are a number of areas that I can understand disagreeing with Tubby on, but for me, neither moving Hoffarber to the point nor the perceived lack of usage of Armelin and Ahanmisi are one of those areas. Nonetheless, it appears that Ahanmisi will get a third consecutive start on Thursday. Good luck, young fella.

I tend to agree with GW.
 



Here's my take - I like Chip, but I think we've seen what he can be; an athletic sparkplug off the bench, but never a consistent, reliable contributor. He's going to have games where he looks great, and then games where you wonder why he's on the court. I think Hollins has more potential as a basketball player.
 

rychart45 said:
Here's my take - I like Chip, but I think we've seen what he can be; an athletic sparkplug off the bench, but never a consistent, reliable contributor. He's going to have games where he looks great, and then games where you wonder why he's on the court. I think Hollins has more potential as a basketball player.
Click to expand...

I'm gonna cut some slack for a true freshman who also played football the previous year, that came in with irregular minutes, and no point guard for the last 1/2 of the games.

Let's see how he can develop with a year of BB only training before we throw him out with the bath water.
 

Armelin is fearless with the ball - when on the floor, he takes almost 25% more shots than anyone else. I can appreciate that to some degree, but his jump shot is… not good at the present moment. Sure, he can get to the rack, but how many of the missed layups are bad luck? How about drawing some contact? Excluding the scoreless Dominque Dawson, Armelin has the worst Points Per Shot average on the team.
Click to expand...

Thanks for digging up GW's story, good points.

I like Chip, just not as much as most posters. I will never buy the argument that playing 3-4 months of football his senior year somehow diminished his freshman year with the Gophs.
 

Love Chip. Love this news. If nothing else, he brings a sorely needed mentality of "I'm going to score." Whether he is able to do it or not, we could use more guys thinking that way. Imagine if Rodney (and I fully support Rodney) took the ball to the rim with Chip's authority!
 




I enjoy reading Marcus Fullers coverage of the Gophers, nice article. It is great to have Tubby as our coach even when we lose players to injury, academics, and or transfers the Gophers are fun to follow. All I can say about Chip is competition will be fierce and we will be a strong team. I am expecting Andre, Julian to get the most minutes at guard followed by Austin and maybe Joe but we will play many players at guard including Chip.
 

Jon said:
I enjoy reading Marcus Fullers coverage of the Gophers, nice article. It is great to have Tubby as our coach even when we lose players to injury, academics, and or transfers the Gophers are fun to follow. All I can say about Chip is competition will be fierce and we will be a strong team. I am expecting Andre, Julian to get the most minutes at guard followed by Austin and maybe Joe but we will play many players at guard including Chip.
Click to expand...

I would temper your expectations a bit. Westbrook came in averaging 40pts a game or something in high school. He did not exactly light it up his freshman year, division one competion is a little different.

I think returning players will get at least equal minutes as the new players.
 

jovs said:
I would temper your expectations a bit. Westbrook came in averaging 40pts a game or something in high school. He did not exactly light it up his freshman year, division one competion is a little different.

I think returning players will get at least equal minutes as the new players.
Click to expand...

Not saying either of our incoming guards will light it up, but Westbrook didn't get his 40 points against Findlay Prep or top teams from Memphis. I'm guessing his competition was weaker than Andre's. Andre will get his minutes. Not sure what to expect from Welch since I have't seen him play, but I would guess he'll be solid and get plenty of playing time as well.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom