Former Gopher Ben Coleman: They're not getting the proper instruction in offseason

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BleedGopher

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per Marcus article - Ben Coleman on Trevor:

"I told the guy, he should work with me," former Gophers and NBA player Ben Coleman said. "Right now it looks like he doesn't have a lot of confidence in his post moves. When that happens, you rely on one move that you're strongest at, as opposed to playing off reaction and what the defense gives you."

Coleman thinks Mbakwe could have an NBA future, like Zeller.

"He's got that warrior mentality; he just needs extra guidance," Coleman said. "From what I'm seeing, they're not getting the proper instruction in the offseason or in their spare time. If you look at all the premier players who move up each level, they all have someone they go to help them develop their skills."

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci...ball-trevor-mbakwe-hasnt-measured-up-indianas

Go Gophers!!
 

It would help if you had that thing that's open all the time during the summer. What is that called again?
 

As many people have said on this site....players DO NOT develop here!
 


Well coaches only get so much time with their players in the off season, most players have some sort of off season program and that's what Coleman is getting at, doesn't sound like a Tubby problem more of a Trevor problem IMO, not saying he's lazy because HE CLEARLY IS NOT, just not doing the right things away from the U
 


bemidjigopher said:
Well coaches only get so much time with their players in the off season, most players have some sort of off season program and that's what Coleman is getting at, doesn't sound like a Tubby problem more of a Trevor problem IMO, not saying he's lazy because HE CLEARLY IS NOT, just not doing the right things away from the U
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Not practicing is not the most egregious example of him not doing the right things away from the U.
 

Ben Coleman himself was a player who made huge improvement from freshman to senior. I don't think many people saw him as a future NBA player when he first came on campus. He transfered to Maryland because Dutcher was more enamored with Cookie Holmes. Coleman wound up being All ACC.
 

The NCAA has allowed coaches more access than ever over the off-season. During the summer there has to be a number of courts available to any player who dedicates himself to improving. I'm not sure how you can read "They're not getting proper instruction" any other way than "The coaching staff isn't doing their job!". The only other option is that Coleman has a bit of an inflated opinion about himself and his ability to train athletes and he feels slighted by no one at the U coming to him to train. What I think has little merit is the argument that there isn't a private practice facility for these kids. Most basketball players dream of being in the NBA. They are hoops junkies. If they couldn't find a gym on campus they'd find a hoop in the park. There is ALWAYS a place to play, if you are dedicated to the sport.
 

Really glad Ben helped Dan develop so successfully.

Odd cottage industry the local media has getting people loosely associated with the program to throw everyone under the bus.
 



From the Barn said:
Really glad Ben helped Dan develop so successfully.

Odd cottage industry the local media has getting people loosely associated with the program to throw everyone under the bus.
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Agreed. This is just bashing for the sake of doing it. Dumb.
 


tinyarch said:
The NCAA has allowed coaches more access than ever over the off-season. During the summer there has to be a number of courts available to any player who dedicates himself to improving. I'm not sure how you can read "They're not getting proper instruction" any other way than "The coaching staff isn't doing their job!". The only other option is that Coleman has a bit of an inflated opinion about himself and his ability to train athletes and he feels slighted by no one at the U coming to him to train. What I think has little merit is the argument that there isn't a private practice facility for these kids. Most basketball players dream of being in the NBA. They are hoops junkies. If they couldn't find a gym on campus they'd find a hoop in the park. There is ALWAYS a place to play, if you are dedicated to the sport.
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Yes, D1 athletes should be expected to play ball at a playground. I think if Tubby told that to a recruit or player they'd laugh before he could finish his sentence.

Maybe he could give park tours on official visits. "Now this court here is made from the finest tar in Minnesota, and don't get me started on the quality of steel used on these rims"
 




Also, just curious. When exactly over the summer was Trevor supposed to be working on post moves? When he was rehabbing his knee?
 

scher215 said:
Yes, D1 athletes should be expected to play ball at a playground. I think if Tubby told that to a recruit or player they'd laugh before he could finish his sentence.

Maybe he could give park tours on official visits. "Now this court here is made from the finest tar in Minnesota, and don't get me started on the quality of steel used on these rims"
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Are today's basketball players spoiled rotten? Really, we'll spend millions on a building with basketball hoops in it, but our society won't give a few extra bucks to a homeless shelter. Goodnight, kids have a basketball facility around nearly every corner in the city. If a kid is that spoiled and pampered, no wonder our society is so screwed up!

I get tired of the very lame excuses that are being used for why basketball players here are not developing. Look around the world at the international players coming into the NBA and tell me if they have access to their own personal playland as they develop their skills. The whole facility thing is so over blown and exaggerated when it comes to player improvement. The key to improvement is personal desire and proper fundamental training. If either of these two are lacking then you will get an incomplete athlete. Kids who spend all their time playing games on the AAU circuit often lack the fundamental training that makes an elite basketball player. Kids who get proper fundamental training, but haven't developed a strong work ethic will also underachieve. Using an external excuse like the lack of a SOA facility is just simply a HUGE cop-out. Will a SOA facility lure some players to a program? Yes. Will it make them better basketball players? No.
 

tinyarch said:
Are today's basketball players spoiled rotten? Really, we'll spend millions on a building with basketball hoops in it, but our society won't give a few extra bucks to a homeless shelter. Goodnight, kids have a basketball facility around nearly every corner in the city. If a kid is that spoiled and pampered, no wonder our society is so screwed up!

I get tired of the very lame excuses that are being used for why basketball players here are not developing. Look around the world at the international players coming into the NBA and tell me if they have access to their own personal playland as they develop their skills. The whole facility thing is so over blown and exaggerated when it comes to player improvement. The key to improvement is personal desire and proper fundamental training. If either of these two are lacking then you will get an incomplete athlete. Kids who spend all their time playing games on the AAU circuit often lack the fundamental training that makes an elite basketball player. Kids who get proper fundamental training, but haven't developed a strong work ethic will also underachieve. Using an external excuse like the lack of a SOA facility is just simply a HUGE cop-out. Will a SOA facility lure some players to a program? Yes. Will it make them better basketball players? No.
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If you feel this way maybe you should stop spending your free time on gopherhole and watching the U and volunteer at homeless shelters. Pretty damn hypocritical to bitch while you sit at home on your computer and not helping in the shelters...

It's not overblown to complain about facilities, they are a train wreck and its embarrassing in comparison to our peers.
 

I'm willing to be there isn't a single scholarship player in major college basketball that didn't play the AAU circuit. Not including foreign players of course.
 

tinyarch said:
Are today's basketball players spoiled rotten? Really, we'll spend millions on a building with basketball hoops in it, but our society won't give a few extra bucks to a homeless shelter. Goodnight, kids have a basketball facility around nearly every corner in the city. If a kid is that spoiled and pampered, no wonder our society is so screwed up!

I get tired of the very lame excuses that are being used for why basketball players here are not developing. Look around the world at the international players coming into the NBA and tell me if they have access to their own personal playland as they develop their skills. The whole facility thing is so over blown and exaggerated when it comes to player improvement. The key to improvement is personal desire and proper fundamental training. If either of these two are lacking then you will get an incomplete athlete. Kids who spend all their time playing games on the AAU circuit often lack the fundamental training that makes an elite basketball player. Kids who get proper fundamental training, but haven't developed a strong work ethic will also underachieve. Using an external excuse like the lack of a SOA facility is just simply a HUGE cop-out. Will a SOA facility lure some players to a program? Yes. Will it make them better basketball players? No.
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Agree on AAU not focussing enough on fundamentals, Kobe Bryant credits much of his success to growing up in Italy where they teach fundamentals. He had a leg up on the kids here who'd played AAU ball.

Now, to your other point of being pampered. Yeah. That's the way it is. I was never good enough to play college ball, but play TONS of ball now. I'd say I'm on a court 5 times every week. I would not be caught dead playing on an outdoor court. Mess up your ball, shoes, running on uneven ground, wind influences shots. No thanks. Ill stick to playing at Lifetime. Even then, you can't always get a court/hoop to yourself. If these kids really want alone time or private time to practice they need a court alone. You can't even always get that at a playground or a public gym. You can't even practice free throws a lot of the time.

I think the biggest reason for the facility is recruiting, but it certainly helps from a development stand point as well.

You can complain and complain and complain that that's the way it is, but it won't change it. A Big 10 athlete for a top 2 revenue grossing sport is considered a fairly high profile individual. Pretty Close to an NBA player in notoriety in their home state. Especially among basketball fans. Alwys run the risk when playing pick up of someone going "extra hard" at the college athleteI, personally, i don't want to hear Cody Zeller tore his ACL playing pick up out at the Indiana Community Park.

Get frustrated with folks claiming because they can shoot at a park or at the rec or wherever, a D1/BCS athlete should too. Ignoring the fact that they aren't exactly like you, and basketball speaking are a hundred times better than you and generate a heck of a lot more revenue than you or I ever will.
 



lakesgopher said:
If you feel this way maybe you should stop spending your free time on gopherhole and watching the U and volunteer at homeless shelters. Pretty damn hypocritical to bitch while you sit at home on your computer and not helping in the shelters...

It's not overblown to complain about facilities, they are a train wreck and its embarrassing in comparison to our peers.
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Great post all around. I imagine Tiny has a job, but if its not at a homeless shelter or curing cancer than he's a hypocrite. I can't stand when people throw stupid comparisons like that out there. Sports is in a vacuum of society. It's all in context. People who throw out the "there are better things to spend money on than sports" aren't wrong, but then they shouldn't care about sports and definitely shouldn't spend time on a sports message board. They should live their morals and not have a toy department in life.

If he doesn't think our current facility portfolio are bad in context to peers than he doesn't really follow sports or understand the significance of big time sports.
 

Joe Coleman spoke about the situation earlier this year...about how Williams was unavailable and he had to go play at his HS gym. How is he going to watch film, get coached up, work with his team mates, etc. when they have no facility available on campus.

I'm not defending Joe's poor jump shot because of lack of facilities...but I am going to say that without those facilities, the coach and team lose control over development. We have to have a 24/7 dedicated facility to BB if we want to compete...the team makes $5 mil plus per year for the department...if I had a business where 13 people made me $5 mil per year, they would be living like the geese that lay golden eggs...because they do!
 


From the Barn said:
I'm willing to be there isn't a single scholarship player in major college basketball that didn't play the AAU circuit. Not including foreign players of course.
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I'll take that bet. Any dollar amount you'd like.

---------------
Coleman's comments... just seems like he's saying that he is not a big fan of the coaching staff.
 



brucekaupa said:
Also, just curious. When exactly over the summer was Trevor supposed to be working on post moves? When he was rehabbing his knee?
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Yeah, he played here his first year, beasted. Came back the next year a better player IMO, clearly worked on the FT shooting for one, but then he tore up his knee. From that time till this season, he was pretty much in rehab mode the entire time. Not sure when he was gonna really refine anything or gain any confidence in anything.
 

lakesgopher said:
If you feel this way maybe you should stop spending your free time on gopherhole and watching the U and volunteer at homeless shelters. Pretty damn hypocritical to bitch while you sit at home on your computer and not helping in the shelters...

It's not overblown to complain about facilities, they are a train wreck and its embarrassing in comparison to our peers.
Click to expand...

Really...
 

Stan said:
Great post all around. I imagine Tiny has a job, but if its not at a homeless shelter or curing cancer than he's a hypocrite. I can't stand when people throw stupid comparisons like that out there. Sports is in a vacuum of society. It's all in context. People who throw out the "there are better things to spend money on than sports" aren't wrong, but then they shouldn't care about sports and definitely shouldn't spend time on a sports message board. They should live their morals and not have a toy department in life.

If he doesn't think our current facility portfolio are bad in context to peers than he doesn't really follow sports or understand the significance of big time sports.
Click to expand...

Really...
 

GopherinPhilly said:
Joe Coleman spoke about the situation earlier this year...about how Williams was unavailable and he had to go play at his HS gym. How is he going to watch film, get coached up, work with his team mates, etc. when they have no facility available on campus.

I'm not defending Joe's poor jump shot because of lack of facilities...but I am going to say that without those facilities, the coach and team lose control over development. We have to have a 24/7 dedicated facility to BB if we want to compete...the team makes $5 mil plus per year for the department...if I had a business where 13 people made me $5 mil per year, they would be living like the geese that lay golden eggs...because they do!
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How in the world did Kevin McHale, Trent Tucker, Willie Burton, Bobby Jackson, etc... ever make it to the NBA while playing at the U of M? I guess Dutcher and Haskins had no control over their development!

Are you saying that there is no place in Williams arena to watch film or schedule specific times for coaching and working with teammates? You make it sound like Augsburg College has better accommodations for goodness sake.

Please, enough with the excuses that have little to no relevance when it comes to individual improvement of a person's game.
 

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