Dartmouth transfer Taurus Samuels will visit Gophers May 5-6

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jovs said:
Much easier to play a freshman SG than a PG, might not be as high of a priority for Johnson to get a veteran SG.
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We have 2 freshmen SGs. I think Ben wants to keep both happy, especially Carrington who was the first domino of recruiting
 



Holy Man said:
History suggests Ihnen is not a perimeter player. His success was almost all playing inside.
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Not really. He can guard on the perimeter and coaches were really high on him last summer/fall before injury, intending to play him on perimeter. Very poorly used by previous staff, and recruited hard by Ben to stay.
 

Tucker32 said:
Not really. He can guard on the perimeter and coaches were really high on him last summer/fall before injury, intending to play him on perimeter. Very poorly used by previous staff, and recruited hard by Ben to stay.
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I think you are right he can defend anywhere. The problem he had a couple years back, was that he did float on the perimeter and do nothing but shoot threes and he was really uncertain about driving to the bucket. I do believe confidence is a big thing with him and Ben was probably seeing a whole different guy in practices over last summer than he saw on film from games.
 


fan of Ray Williams said:
Well, today is the 5th. Hopefully adding some depth shortly.
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Samuels looked solid against Stanford. He showed good ball handling skills and is a smart player. Only forced it one time. Ended up with 22pts. He is a good defender and being just 6-0 he held his own on D. I saw one time when a taller player posted him and up and scored easily.

From what I saw he would be a good addition and could push Cooper for minutes. He can play and I question if he will be happy with a back-up role versus the guy at PG.

 
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Bayfieldgopher said:
Samuels looked solid against Stanford. He showed good ball handling skills and is a smart player. Only forced it one time. Ended up with 22pts. He is a good defender and being just 6-0 he held his own on D. I saw one time when a taller player posted him and up and scored easily.

From what I saw he would be a good addition and could push Cooper for minutes. He can play and I question if he will be happy with a back-up role versus the guy at PG.
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Going to assume if we don’t get the Denzel “boom” by tomorrow afternoon your last sentence is probably true.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
Going to assume if we don’t get the Denzel “boom” by tomorrow afternoon your last sentence is probably true.
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Where can guys go to play that they don't have to compete for time? If they want to play at the highest level of college basketball, this is as good of a shot as they are going to get. I like what I hear about Talon but I don't think his PT is cemented if this kid is as good or better. If these guys are good they have some level of confidence that they are going to beat somebody out for enough playing time.
 

bga1 said:
Where can guys go to play that they don't have to compete for time? If they want to play at the highest level of college basketball, this is as good of a shot as they are going to get. I like what I hear about Talon but I don't think his PT is cemented if this kid is as good or better. If these guys are good they have some level of confidence that they are going to beat somebody out for enough playing time.
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Also, would you come in for a visit knowing the situation and then come to such a conclusion? Unless you just wanted to visit the Mall of America or something like that, can’t see it.
 
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bga1 said:
Where can guys go to play that they don't have to compete for time? If they want to play at the highest level of college basketball, this is as good of a shot as they are going to get. I like what I hear about Talon but I don't think his PT is cemented if this kid is as good or better. If these guys are good they have some level of confidence that they are going to beat somebody out for enough playing time.
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I don't think that is a problem as he excelled at Dartmouth and they are many other places where minutes are available.

I am certainly not an expert, but I watched tape on both Cooper and Samuel and feel comfortable that both can fill the PG spot. Neither would likely be near the top 1/3 of BT guard talent but would be serviceable. My main concern for both is lack quickness to contain quick, strong PG's. Samuel actually looked better in that role and appeared to be a bit stronger.
 






Oh, oh...it's 2:00...you still okay, Ray?
Do we have a rim protector to ward off these driving point guards?
Ja Morant is a problem but the Big Ten doesn't have too many lightning quick penetrating point guards do they?
I still like us as a zone team.
 


1. Henley has probably gotten better at ball handling...that's a quicker fix than most anything in basketball skills.
2. If Ben is saying he could handle the point some...that confirms that.
3. He'll definitely be better by season's start.
The only fly in the ointment...instincts and making decisions are a huge part of being a point guard.
Just because you can handle the ball doesn't make you a point guard. But hopefully...and at 6'7 it'd be a nice weapon. Guessing with his length and quickness he can defend smaller point guards.
 

Any word? I’m in the “at least one more experienced, adept ball handler” camp. Plus what better names than Ta’lon and Taurus?
 
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Bayfieldgopher said:
I think they lost their Sr PG and leading scorer as well as a Sr backup and another transfer. So they may have lots of available PT to offer.
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Ahhhh, that's where Camren Wynter was at before transferring to Penn State.
Wynter was mentioned as a possible interest by the Gophers by someone if my recollection serves me correct. Good pick up for Penn State. Great numbers at Drexel.
Understand what you are getting at.
 

Bayfieldgopher said:
Samuels looked solid against Stanford. He showed good ball handling skills and is a smart player. Only forced it one time. Ended up with 22pts. He is a good defender and being just 6-0 he held his own on D. I saw one time when a taller player posted him and up and scored easily.

From what I saw he would be a good addition and could push Cooper for minutes. He can play and I question if he will be happy with a back-up role versus the guy at PG.

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Is there any reason they can't play together? I like Carrington but I think this anointing him the starting 2 guard in May is a bit over the top. Even if he doesn't start, there's probably 15-20 minutes/game to be had backing up both.
 

howeda7 said:
Is there any reason they can't play together? I like Carrington but I think this anointing him the starting 2 guard in May is a bit over the top. Even if he doesn't start, there's probably 15-20 minutes/game to be had backing up both.
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Good question! Samuel is just 6ft so prob have to defend the 1 and Cooper the 2. Neither are shoot first, pass second types nor, IMO, shut down type defenders. Both shot under 35% from 3 and under 40% FG so not big threats to score. If he comes here, that gives Ben another experienced option and takes some pressure of Carrington or any other FR who ends up playing or defending the 1. In lieu of better prospects, I hope he decides to be a Gopher.
 

Gophers need that backup point guard. There is a role and minutes for him! I hope he signs. Minnesota is going to be a dark horse in the Big 10 this season.


This is the last role the team needs.
 

GopherPlaya said:
We have 2 freshmen SGs. I think Ben wants to keep both happy, especially Carrington who was the first domino of recruiting
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I would disagree a bit that he wants to keep them happy. He thinks they can contribute. If one of the freshmen turn out along the line of Thiam he won't mind if he transfers after a year.
 

bga1 said:
I think you are right he can defend anywhere. The problem he had a couple years back, was that he did float on the perimeter and do nothing but shoot threes and he was really uncertain about driving to the bucket. I do believe confidence is a big thing with him and Ben was probably seeing a whole different guy in practices over last summer than he saw on film from games.
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Pitino had no offense. If you wanted to steal a shot from Carr better jack up any shot you could.
 




UnFadeable21 said:
Gophers need that backup point guard. There is a role and minutes for him! I hope he signs. Minnesota is going to be a dark horse in the Big 10 this season.


This is the last role the team needs.
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I'm not super concerned about backup PG. I'd like to add one but I think Cooper will get a lot of minutes. I also think Carrington (if surrounded by other ball handlers) isn't that much different than Willis or Loewe in terms of being able to bring the ball up. I didn't really even consider Henley until this thread as an option to backup some minutes.

For me, the backup PG is really a position of need in terms of depth. IMO, all of the wing positions need quite a bit more depth. I'm a bit concerned that we are now considering (it seems) Battle as a wing and not a stretch 4. I hope I'm wrong, but I think Battle should be getting significant run as our stretch 4 (playing with three other wing/guard types).
 

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