Fresh Start Liam Robbins Thread

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cjbfbp said:
You talk like Vanderbilt is chopped liver. It certainly is not. If you asked 100 people who have a clue about US geography and the relative rank of educational institutions to pick between Vanderbilt and Iowa, probably 75 would pick Vanderbilt.

You're also better off playing in the SEC if you want a pro career. More NBA players come from there than the Big Ten.
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My comment wasn't meant to be a swipe at Vandy in any way. I just think it is a little odd that he seems to be a package deal with Conroy. Just a general assumption that he was going to go wherever Conroy did and that turned out to be the case.
 

CentralGopher said:
Honestly I can't see Johnson sticking around for another year at this point with this much turnover. Besides Ihnen and Gatch there's nobody he played with here and not much reason to come back.
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playing time.....and maybe he has just falling in love with the city? maybe he had formed some connections in his master program and he wants to stick around....

the fact that he hasnt announced anything yet keeps me optimistic...but who knows. he would certainly help to keep around. See what happens
 

MNVCGUY said:
My comment wasn't meant to be a swipe at Vandy in any way. I just think it is a little odd that he seems to be a package deal with Conroy. Just a general assumption that he was going to go wherever Conroy did and that turned out to be the case.
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I don't doubt that Conroy going there was instrumental in Robbins taking a look at Vanderbilt and in Vanderbilt taking a look at Robbins. A cynic might argue that they were part of a package deal (it is the SEC after all) but there are plenty of reasons to find Vanderbilt more attractive than Iowa.
 

Weird. Vanderbilt is a doormat program. Why go there?
 



abrams said:
Weird. Vanderbilt is a doormat program. Why go there?
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Well, for a doormat program they've had a pretty good record of placing players in the NBA this century: 13 players including 5 currently active ones. In contrast, Purdue has placed 10 this century with 2 currently active ones.

Apparently NBA scouts prefer players from doormat SEC programs to players from more competitive Big Ten programs.
 

This movement of players might end up costing college programs much more than is realized. One of the joys of it for me is simply watching a player develop from year to year. Something about him catches your eye as a freshman even if he doesn't play much. Sophomore and junior years you see him become a contributor and you feel like you get to know him as a person a bit, especially if there are several stories in the media. Senior year he's a leader and you know what to expect and last game at the Barn with family and then the last game where ever is bittersweet. Dusty Rychart is maybe the best example for me but there are many others with Jordan Murphy being the latest.

Maybe pandemic; maybe the disappointing season; or it might be playing style or just the fact that they transferred in, but nothing invested and no emotions about seeing Carr, Robbins, Mashburn, etc. leave. Gabe, on the other hand, leaves me with a "Too bad it didn't work out," feeling. I don't think it's the Minnesota guy thing either; it's watching someone for four years. There's a danger if fans come to see their team as made up of "hired guns" who are only going to be around a year or two. (Of course, Bobby Jackson makes any Favorite Gopher team so that might shoot my theory all to hell.)
 

So Treyton Thompson is our starting center at the moment.... Yikes. Hopefully Fox gets on board and the dominoes start falling in our favor. Carr and Robbins were by far the two best players on this team last year, Mashburn was pretty good too. Hopefully Freeman renegs on the portal and comes back because we are hurting for BIGS
 

MNVCGUY said:
My comment wasn't meant to be a swipe at Vandy in any way. I just think it is a little odd that he seems to be a package deal with Conroy. Just a general assumption that he was going to go wherever Conroy did and that turned out to be the case.
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Didn't Liam have a connection with another coach at Vandy or was that Tennessee?
 



cjbfbp said:
Well, for a doormat program they've had a pretty good record of placing players in the NBA this century: 13 players including 5 currently active ones. In contrast, Purdue has placed 10 this century with 2 currently active ones.

Apparently NBA scouts prefer players from doormat SEC programs to players from more competitive Big Ten programs.
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They were 3-13 last year, 11-21, 9-23 (0-18 in conference), 12-20. . . the last few year. The feels like doormat material.
 

abrams said:
They were 3-13 last year, 11-21, 9-23 (0-18 in conference), 12-20. . . the last few year. The feels like doormat material.
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At least one of those years, they lost a five star one and done to injury in the first week of the season. Things like that don't help.
 

abrams said:
They were 3-13 last year, 11-21, 9-23 (0-18 in conference), 12-20. . . the last few year. The feels like doormat material.
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I'm not sure what argument you're addressing because I said nothing about their recent record, I know it's not very good, and I'm certainly capable of looking up the exact record if I want to know that.

I don't deny they haven't had a good record but the school still has a good track record in placing players in the NBA and is not a bad destination for a basketball player hoping to play professionally. It goes without saying that it's academic reputation is very high and its location is very appealing.
 




cjbfbp said:
I don't doubt that Conroy going there was instrumental in Robbins taking a look at Vanderbilt and in Vanderbilt taking a look at Robbins. A cynic might argue that they were part of a package deal (it is the SEC after all) but there are plenty of reasons to find Vanderbilt more attractive than Iowa.
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Maybe, but the speculation has been all along that he would leave the U if Conroy wasn't retained and he would probably follow Conroy wherever he went. Both those things ended up happening.

Maybe Robbins thought for himself but it sure feels like he was just going to go wherever his Uncle ended up.

Is what it is at this point. He's gone so we move on to the guys that want to be Gophers.
 

Gophs24 said:
playing time.....and maybe he has just falling in love with the city? maybe he had formed some connections in his master program and he wants to stick around....

the fact that he hasnt announced anything yet keeps me optimistic...but who knows. he would certainly help to keep around. See what happens
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Maybe he just wants to finish a graduate degree. Playing another year provides another free year of coursework.
 

Locks
Gach 2/3
Ihnen 3/4
Battle 3/4
Stephens 2
Sutherlin 2/3
Loewe 1/2
Thompson 4/5
Maybe
Johnson 4
Pohto 5

Urgent needs
Centers (2) and point guards (2) and a banger PF (1)
 




Good man, Liam!

I will forever respect your decision not to go to Iowa. It shows character and honor, that you respected the Gophers program enough not to transfer to one of our main rivals. 👍
 

Someone in the portal (or will be shortly) must want to be a starting center in the Big Ten?

We may be 14th, but it's still the Big Ten. That alone should get someone decent??
 

TurfGopher said:
So Treyton Thompson is our starting center at the moment.... Yikes. Hopefully Fox gets on board and the dominoes start falling in our favor. Carr and Robbins were by far the two best players on this team last year, Mashburn was pretty good too. Hopefully Freeman renegs on the portal and comes back because we are hurting for BIGS
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I believe there are centers at least as good as Freeman remaining in the transfer portal.
 



MplsGopher said:
Someone in the portal (or will be shortly) must want to be a starting center in the Big Ten?

We may be 14th, but it's still the Big Ten. That alone should get someone decent??
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P.S. There are a couple of Russian 7 footers in the transfer portal: one from Gonzaga (soph) and one from Texas Tech (fresh). Neither one played much this past season but look interesting. There is another center from Gonzaga in the portal who didn't play a lot (although more than the Russian). He's from Mali and was a pretty highly ranked recruit. Being from Mali might remind me too much of Bakary though.
 

cjbfbp said:
P.S. There are a couple of Russian 7 footers in the transfer portal: one from Gonzaga (soph) and one from Texas Tech (fresh). Neither one played much this past season but look interesting. There is another center from Gonzaga in the portal who didn't play a lot (although more than the Russian). He's from Mali and was a pretty highly ranked recruit. Being from Mali might remind me too much of Bakary though.
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No Russians.
 

MplsGopher said:
Someone in the portal (or will be shortly) must want to be a starting center in the Big Ten?

We may be 14th, but it's still the Big Ten. That alone should get someone decent??
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Bakary Konate was the best center we could find for two (2) years.
 


howeda7 said:
Bakary Konate was the best center we could find for two (2) years.
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Closer to 1 1/2. The partial year was because our starter was suspended for....well....you know.
 


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