Flip says part of Gophs success is lack of Ralph Sampson III

[El Amin Fan]

I was at a recent coaching clinic and Flip was a guest speaker. He took some Q&A on a wide number of hoops topics and someone asked him about the Gophers this year. He said the biggest difference was not having RS3 on the floor. He went out of his way to say that he was not trying to be overly critical of Ralph, but that our ball rotation is much better this year in large part because the offense would completely stall when Ralph got the ball the last few years. He said the same thing on D that we are now rotating much quicker and reacting much faster. He said Ralph didn't react like a Big Ten player needs to and that he was always thinking and never reacting. He said that it is clear how much more fluid we are in all phases and a large reason why is because Ralph is gone. He did compliment Ralph's ability to block shots and hit outside jumpers.

 

[brucekaupa]

Flip is a smart man.

 

[GuyFawkes]

I agree with flip 100%, We did make our run last year once Ralph got hurt, I don't want to bash the guy, probably is a nice guy and all, but he was not B1G material let alone a top100 recruit

 

[Bad Gopher]

I'm sure Ralph thought he was doing the right thing when he accepted the ball and then started to do his slow-motion "move," while his teammates watched, until the point at which the ball was stolen from him. And as many times as he was pickpocketed, I'll bet he was astonished each time it happened - or he would have figured out not to do it again.

Ralph's a good kid, and the sooner he moves on to something he can be a standout professional in, the better.

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

Poor Ralph. First off everything Flip (and everyone else) said is true. But still...the poor bastard was born with the name & has struggled to overcome ever since.

Then he grew to be 6'10"-6'11". Then he signed on to play in the B1G, the most rugged conference in the country. Then fate turned against him as Royce & Colt, who were supposed to do the heavy lifting underneath, leaving Ralph as the mismatch guy, crapped out. Ralph was forced to play a position/style he was never intended to play. I applaud Ralph for sticking with the team & the U when I'm sure it would have been easy to transfer somewhere smaller & closer to home.

imo he made the ultimate sacrifice for the team as his parting gift, basically stepping down after the B1G tournament to let the younger guys play. Elliot never would have gotten the minutes he did in the NIT otherwise & he shined. Oto saw important minutes against good teams & played ok & maybe most importantly, Andre Ingram was able to go from non-factor to solid role player & bring that into this season. Ralph gave us everything he had & is Ok in my book.

 

[scher215]

Poor Ralph. First off everything Flip (and everyone else) said is true. But still...the poor bastard was born with the name & has struggled to overcome ever since.

Then he grew to be 6'10"-6'11". Then he signed on to play in the B1G, the most rugged conference in the country. Then fate turned against him as Royce & Colt, who were supposed to do the heavy lifting underneath, leaving Ralph as the mismatch guy, crapped out. Ralph was forced to play a position/style he was never intended to play. I applaud Ralph for sticking with the team & the U when I'm sure it would have been easy to transfer somewhere smaller & closer to home.

imo he made the ultimate sacrifice for the team as his parting gift, basically stepping down after the B1G tournament to let the younger guys play. Elliot never would have gotten the minutes he did in the NIT otherwise & he shined. Oto saw important minutes against good teams & played ok & maybe most importantly, Andre Ingram was able to go from non-factor to solid role player & bring that into this season. Ralph gave us everything he had & is Ok in my book.

Agreed 100%.

He also was a very good shot blocker and shooter as Flip said. However, he did think too much and was just very methodical with how he played.

 

[MadtownGopher]

Ralph had all the talent in the world. He just needed to put on muscle and develop toughness, unfortunately neither happened. Pretty disappointing. He also should have developed some more legitimate post moves instead of the skyhook, that thing could look ridiculously ugly at times. Glad we aren't dealing with his ups and downs any more.

 

[tinyarch]

Ralph was just following in the footsteps of Michael Beasley...

 

[Holy Man]

Two words: Too slow. Analyze all you want, but for his build Ralph was too slow to be an effective B1G player. A bruiser can get away with lack of footspeed. A wirey post player cannot.

Ralph was a good kid and we need to appreciate that. Like others have said, the departures of the bruisers hampered his career here as a basketball player. In an era of way too much off the court garbage, Ralph was a model citizen. Good luck to him in the future.

 

[brucekaupa]

Update: Colt currently "crapping out" at Colorado St, averaging 16.5ppg, 11.2rpg, 2apg and an astonishing 2.2pfpg.

 

[THE SCOUT!]

Good kid with ok foot speed, hops and quicks for size flip makes a valis point

 

[station19]

Good kid with ok foot speed, hops and quicks for size flip makes a valis point

..........with very slow reaction time.

 

[balds]

This was my biggest fear with Mbakwe coming back, that we would try to force him to be a post scorer. He does not have the talent at this point to be effectively score one on one in the post, just like Sampson didn't. Totally crushed the motion and flow of the offense, and I'm happy we aren's attempting to use Mbakwe in that way.

 

[MadtownGopher]

This was my biggest fear with Mbakwe coming back, that we would try to force him to be a post scorer. He does not have the talent at this point to be effectively score one on one in the post, just like Sampson didn't. Totally crushed the motion and flow of the offense, and I'm happy we aren's attempting to use Mbakwe in that way.

You are severally underrating Mbakwe's post moves. He has a pretty polished post game (for college). He is pretty good with the half hook and has a knack for sealing his guy on drop steps and up and unders. Not saying we have to force it to him every possession, but when he is open there is no reason not to get it to him. He's also improved his free throw shooting which is nice because he gets fouled a lot.

 

[Moses87]

Flip was spot on with this...I thought the same thing last year during the NIT. There were times when Ralph got the ball in the low post and I prayed for him to return the pass before watching one of his awful hook shots that clanged off the back of the iron. He was about 13% lifetime on those shots and whenever he actually made one, commentators on TV would start complimenting his low post game. Never mind all the possessions he gave away for us.

 

[MadtownGopher]

Ralphs two biggest strenghts were easily shot blocking and free throws. After that everything else was pretty below average. He wasn't even a very good rebounder considering his height and position.

 

[Bad Gopher]

...the poor bastard was born with the name

He was also born with a silver spoon in his mouth, two good parents, and the money to spare no expense to send him to the best camps and other opportunities. I really don't buy the "poor Ralph" deal.

 

[fan of Ray Williams]

Flip was spot on with this...I thought the same thing last year during the NIT. There were times when Ralph got the ball in the low post and I prayed for him to return the pass before watching one of his awful hook shots that clanged off the back of the iron. He was about 13% lifetime on those shots and whenever he actually made one, commentators on TV would start complimenting his low post game. Never mind all the possessions he gave away for us.

Hmmmm.....

 

[brucekaupa]

He also should have developed some more legitimate post moves instead of the skyhook, that thing could look ridiculously ugly at times.

No offense to RSIII, but he did not have a sky hook.

This is a sky hook: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPcniUfKRlU

Ralph's hook barely made it above the rim. More of a line-drive hook.

 

[Gopher Warrior]

I think some of Flip's comments might be getting summarized/analyzed improperly in this thread.

Is the team different without Sampson on the court? Of course.

Was he a good Big Ten center? Absolutely.

Did he perform as well as he could have during his career at Minnesota? No - due to multiple factors.

 

[MadtownGopher]

No offense to RSIII, but he did not have a sky hook.

This is a sky hook: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPcniUfKRlU

Ralph's hook barely made it above the rim. More of a line-drive hook.

I only called it the skyhook because at times it appeared that is what he was trying to do.

 

[9194Gophs]

Is the team different without Sampson on the court? Of course.

Was he a good Big Ten center? Absolutely.

Corrected;

Is the team better without Sampson on the court? Of course.

Was he a average Big Ten center? Absolutely.



__________________________________________________________________
Gopher Warrior: Ralph is the most important player on this team (with Mbakwe out).

 

[THE SCOUT!]

Good starting big ten center absolutely not! Did put up serviceable stats though, one could argue he lacked instincts and aggresiveness.

 

[stocker08]

I agree with flip 100%, We did make our run last year once Ralph got hurt, I don't want to bash the guy, probably is a nice guy and all, but he was not B1G material let alone a top100 recruit

You lost me here. Ralph was certainly Big Ten material. He was a solid player despite his poor development and high expectations but that doesn't change the fact that he was a decent player. Nobody will deny that his career at the U was a letdown, but don't let that cloud your perception.

 

[march madness]

Ralph had some talent. In the big ten you either have to be a banger in the post or have good quickness to play away from the rim. Ralph had neither. I think he would have been better in the SEC or ACC. He had a small forward game in a slow 6'10" body. Yet he could not defend anyone quicker than a center. Guys taller than 6'9" are very hit or miss unless you are talking mcdonalds all americans.

 

[brucekaupa]

You don't score over 1,000 points in your Gopher career if you aren't a "Big 10" player.

Geeez.

 

[bigticket1]

Good starting big ten center absolutely not! Did put up serviceable stats though, one could argue he lacked instincts and aggresiveness.

Agreed - good Big Ten centers don't spend the majority of the time on the offensive end hanging out on the perimeter.

 

[fan of Ray Williams]

You don't score over 1,000 points in your Gopher career if you aren't a "Big 10" player.

Geeez.

True Bruce.

• Joined Kevin McHale, Randy Breuer, Michael Bauer & Mychal Thompson as the only players in program history to amass 1,000 pts, 500 rbs & 150 blks in a career.

 

[brucekaupa]

Where Ralph stands career-wise:
- 34th in scoring at 1,016
- 3rd in blocks at 203
- 7th in games played at 125
- 1 of 5 players in the 1,000pt/500rb/150blk club (get a free robe for that)
- 5th best season FT% - 86% in 2011/12
- 8th best season blocks - 63 in 2010/11
- 8th best game blocks (had 7 blocks in a game 2x)

 

[oleboy41]

I view Ralph like some of our FB players. He was who he was and it wasn't his fault that he was in the position he was in. Ideally he would've been a nice backup post that could pick and pop (although his J was never all that consistent) and play decent post D for about 15 mns a night. We relied on him way too much