Gophers basketball: Pitino wants his players to compete in Pulley Pro-Am

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BleedGopher

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per the Pioneer Press:

The Howard Pulley Pro-Am league has long been the destination spot for Gophers fans during the summer to watch newcomers and returning players for the upcoming season.

This year won’t be any different because new Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino is encouraging his players to compete in the league, which runs from June 29 until early August at High Performance Academy in Eagan.

“He says that they all need to play somewhere,” Rene Pulley, who is the league’s founder, said. “He’s excited about having them play and get some competition.”

Summer practice started Tuesday at Williams Arena, but that’s closed to the public. If you want to get a glimpse of members of next season’s team then the Pulley League is the spot.

Here’s the list of Gophers’ players who will be playing together in the league this year (their teams have not been determined yet):

Maverick Ahanmisi
Mo Walker

Wally Ellenson
Joey King

Andre Hollins
Charles Buggs

Austin Hollins
Elliott Eliason

Malik Smith
Daquein McNeal
Dre Mathieu

Kendal Shell
Oto Osenieks

– The three newcomers (Smith, McNeal and Mathieu) are expected to be on former NBA player Troy Bell’s team in the Pulley league this summer. But Mathieu probably won’t be joining the Gophers until August because he has to finish summer school at Central Arizona Community College.

– Pulley said that his top AAU team led by Apple Valley’s Tyus Jones and DeLaSalle’s Reid Travis would be participating in the Pro-Am to prepare for the Nike Peach Jam championships next month.

The Pulley League might be the last opportunity for fans to see Jones and Travis playing locally on the same team.

Jones and Travis both will be invited to elite camps this summer, so they might not be available for every game. But they should be playing a few times this summer. And the gym shouldn’t be as jam packed as AAU games were at the Nike EYBL (where Howard Pulley went 5-0) in Eagan over Memorial Day weekend.

http://blogs.twincities.com/gophers...ants-his-players-to-compete-in-pulley-pro-am/

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
per the Pioneer Press:

The Howard Pulley Pro-Am league has long been the destination spot for Gophers fans during the summer to watch newcomers and returning players for the upcoming season.

This year won’t be any different because new Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino is encouraging his players to compete in the league, which runs from June 29 until early August at High Performance Academy in Eagan.

“He says that they all need to play somewhere,” Rene Pulley, who is the league’s founder, said. “He’s excited about having them play and get some competition.”

Summer practice started Tuesday at Williams Arena, but that’s closed to the public. If you want to get a glimpse of members of next season’s team then the Pulley League is the spot.

Here’s the list of Gophers’ players who will be playing together in the league this year (their teams have not been determined yet):

Maverick Ahanmisi
Mo Walker

Wally Ellenson
Joey King

Andre Hollins
Charles Buggs

Austin Hollins
Elliott Eliason

Malik Smith
Daquein McNeal
Dre Mathieu

Kendal Shell
Oto

http://blogs.twincities.com/gophers...ants-his-players-to-compete-in-pulley-pro-am/

Go Gophers!!
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So just curious, why are the gophers so separated, who decides this? Why can't 5 of them be on one team? Or four or three? Might it not be useful to have 3 or 4 guards on one team working on unique or unusual sets that could be needed occasionally (arguably rarely but nice to have the scenario tested in a summer league) in the Big Ten?
 


BleedGopher said:
Richard Pitino is encouraging his players to compete in the league, which runs from June 29 until early August at High Performance Academy in Eagan.
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If UofM players show up on a more regular basis, this is going to be a great month of summer hoops!
 



Monty519 said:
So I'm assuming since Mathieu is technically still at his JC, that's why they can have the three of them on the squad. But yeah, it's 2 per squad. Interesting how they broke out though. That Dre Hollins/Buggs combo is probably most intriguing to me just because I'm very intrigued to see Buggs in action, and of course, Dre is Dre.
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With summer access having changed, and the NCAA's rules on this being outright bizarre, I could see a change in the near future.

Nonetheless, the 2 max per team does not include transfers. It makes little sense - maybe I'll break it down a little more in the future... but, here's essentially the deal: you could have a TON of guys from the same team playing together in a certified summer league if you have a bunch of guys transferring in.

West Virginia did it a couple of years ago when they had a million transfers.. I think they had 7 or 8 guys playing together.

NCAA rules don't have to make sense and sometimes they don't.

There's a chance he could, but I wouldn't expect Mathieu to play at all in Pulley. The reason for this relates to geography rules related to certified summer leagues. Again, I'll probably expand on this in the near future... but, there's a good chance you won't get to see Mathieu this summer in HP action.
 

Interesting, didn't know transfers didn't count. I thought it was strange tho, that Mathieu would be in HP when he's still finishing school in Arizona, not for any rules reason, but just simply proximity.
 

Monty519 said:
So I'm assuming since Mathieu is technically still at his JC, that's why they can have the three of them on the squad. But yeah, it's 2 per squad. Interesting how they broke out though. That Dre Hollins/Buggs combo is probably most intriguing to me just because I'm very intrigued to see Buggs in action, and of course, Dre is Dre.
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Pairing Buggs with Hollins means to me that Pitino has high hopes/expectations for Buggs. Meanwhile Oto is paired with Shell. May mean nothing, or maybe not.
 

bga1 said:
Pairing Buggs with Hollins means to me that Pitino has high hopes/expectations for Buggs. Meanwhile Oto is paired with Shell. May mean nothing, or maybe not.
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I thought the same thing when I saw that.
 



per Shooter:

The popular Howard Pulley pro-am basketball league that runs through July begins with four games at 1 p.m. Saturday at the High Performance Academy in Eagan and will feature incoming and returning Gophers players.

Playing on one team will be incoming recruits Daquein McNeil, Malik Smith and Nick Pellar, as well as returning Gophers Austin Hollins and Elliott Eliason. Former Boston College star Troy Bell will anchor that Pat Madison-named team.

On the Information Investors Group team will be Andre Hollins and Charles Buggs from the Gophers. Teammates include Mitch Ohnstad, Ryan Amoroso and Anthony Tucker.

Incoming Gophers transfer Joey King and returning Gopher Wally Ellenson will play for the Miller Time team.

Returning Gophers Mo Walker and Maverick Ahanmisi will play for the Tony Geer Gazette team with Jordan Taylor. Gopher Oto Osenieks will play for the Sutherland Raiders.

After Saturday's games, the pro-am league will play two games Monday through Thursday evenings beginning at 7 p.m. at High Performance Academy.

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci...ters-will-nikola-pekovic-be-bait-timberwolves

Go Gophers!!
 

bga1 said:
Pairing Buggs with Hollins means to me that Pitino has high hopes/expectations for Buggs. Meanwhile Oto is paired with Shell. May mean nothing, or maybe not.
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I think you're right....these parings mean something. Starters and bench.
 

Parski1 said:
I think you're right....these parings mean something. Starters and bench.
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I'm guessing King and Wally are on the same team because they are friends ... Not sure about the others.
 

Judging from some tweets looks like some Gopher players had a good first day of the Pulley league.

Ryan James‏@RyanJamesMN2h
Malik Smith had 24 points for the game making 7 of 19fgs, 5 treys, 5of6 Fts. Austin Hollins scored 22 making 8 of 12 fgs.
Ryan James‏@RyanJamesMN2h
Elliott Eliason barely touched the ball but scored on 4 of 5 chances for 8pts with a dozen boards. Moving really well
Ryan James‏@RyanJamesMN2h
Daquein McNeil scored on 3 of 6 shots for 6 points including a really nice contested pullup off a ball screen.
Ryan James‏@RyanJamesMN1h
Andre Hollins put down a nasty one hander on the break that can only be classified as LOUD. Has 10 first half points.
Ryan James‏@RyanJamesMN52m
Tyus Jones finished with 43 points making 18 of 27 shots, 6 of 7 free throws, and a three plus grabbed 9 rebounds and 4 assists.
Ryan James‏@RyanJamesMN51m
Rodney Williams had 13 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocks. Charles Buggs made 4 of 7 looks for 10pts/3rbs. Jake Wright 10pts
Ryan James‏@RyanJamesMN50m
Andre Hollins shot 6 of 17 for 17 points and 5rbs. Maverick Ahanmisi collected a game high 13 rebounds plus scored 8pts on 4-10 shooting.
Ryan James‏@RyanJamesMN48m
Mo Walker was a big story scoring on 8 of 14 FG for 19 points with 11 rebounds, Zach Lofton scored 23 points, Darrion Strong had 18 points.
 



Goldy Gopher said:
Maverick Ahanmisi collected a game high 13 rebounds plus scored 8pts on 4-10 shooting.
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Maybe the answer to our PF problem has been right in front of us the whole time...
 

My thoughts from todays Pro-Am play-- (to be taken with a grain of salt because of my insistence that Devron Bostick was going to be Big Ten Newcomer of the year after watching about 3 games at the Sal)

It is no longer the HP Academy- It looks like they have renamed it the Sports Depot (saw this on a poster for the volleyball league being run there- didn't get around to asking Rene what that was all about)

Missed the first game- which was disappointing because I love watching Trevor play this style of basketball-- from what I heard around me Oto was Oto

Austin Hollins is really good when he is aggressive offensively.
Elliot's length is really going to be crucial this year. He "played on" much better than in college games. didn't bother to complain about calls or lack of call.

Charles Buggs is going to be fun to watch-- jumps out of the gym, hit a couple 3's-- then didn't play down the stretch and didn't even stay on the bench for the last quarter or so of the game.

Mo Walker is virtually unrecognizable-- looks fit, moves well, dunks in the warmup line and everything. Starting to look like a basketball player. Still shoots with sideways rotation

Malik Smith's 7 for 19 felt more like 5 for 25. and if he wouldn't have made 3 in a row to start the 2nd half would have felt worse. looks like he is built for the Big Ten though--solid.

some non-Gopher notes-- Joe Scott has really developed well since his college days, much more complete game-- Jefferson Mason is still a really good leaper but now has range out to the 3 pt line-- the reporters tweeting updates kept calling Tom Hannon, Tom Hanson, Cameron Rundles has more "will to win" than most players in this league and he can score the basketball.
 

Saw big mo at the Twins game the other night, definitely looks slimmer. Still not muscular, though, some more work to do.
 

Maybe I should take back what I said about Moe...he looks like a totally different player.
 

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Gophers&src=hash">#Gophers</a> center Mo Walker lost 44 pounds since last season (weighed 310 previously). Easier for him to dunk here. <a href="http://t.co/SGvlr93RGv">http://t.co/SGvlr93RGv</a></p>— PiPress Gophers Now (@GophersNow) <a href="https://twitter.com/GophersNow/statuses/351149619222286337">June 30, 2013</a></blockquote>
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Goldy Gopher said:
Judging from some tweets looks like some Gopher players had a good first day of the Pulley league.

Ryan James‏@RyanJamesMN2h
Malik Smith had 24 points for the game making 7 of 19fgs, 5 treys, 5of6 Fts. Austin Hollins scored 22 making 8 of 12 fgs.
Ryan James‏@RyanJamesMN2h
Elliott Eliason barely touched the ball but scored on 4 of 5 chances for 8pts with a dozen boards. Moving really well
Ryan James‏@RyanJamesMN2h
Daquein McNeil scored on 3 of 6 shots for 6 points including a really nice contested pullup off a ball screen.
Ryan James‏@RyanJamesMN1h
Andre Hollins put down a nasty one hander on the break that can only be classified as LOUD. Has 10 first half points.
Ryan James‏@RyanJamesMN52m
Tyus Jones finished with 43 points making 18 of 27 shots, 6 of 7 free throws, and a three plus grabbed 9 rebounds and 4 assists.
Ryan James‏@RyanJamesMN51m
Rodney Williams had 13 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocks. Charles Buggs made 4 of 7 looks for 10pts/3rbs. Jake Wright 10pts
Ryan James‏@RyanJamesMN50m
Andre Hollins shot 6 of 17 for 17 points and 5rbs. Maverick Ahanmisi collected a game high 13 rebounds plus scored 8pts on 4-10 shooting.
Ryan James‏@RyanJamesMN48m
Mo Walker was a big story scoring on 8 of 14 FG for 19 points with 11 rebounds, Zach Lofton scored 23 points, Darrion Strong had 18 points.
Click to expand...

If I have the pairings right- that would mean that Tyus scored his 43 points going against Maverick. Is that correct? If so - wow- not real good D by Mav.
 

bga1 said:
If I have the pairings right- that would mean that Tyus scored his 43 points going against Maverick. Is that correct? If so - wow- not real good D by Mav.
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A lot of work on Dre, actually.

But, defense is optional in these games. Looking at stats from these games is like looking at how a guy scores in mini-golf and then projecting that into a score at Pebble Beach.
 


Gopher Warrior said:
A lot of work on Dre, actually.

But, defense is optional in these games. Looking at stats from these games is like looking at how a guy scores in mini-golf and then projecting that into a score at Pebble Beach.
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Still- Dre should have the mindset to not let the kid drop 43 on him- regardless.
 

katze019 said:
Same as EYBL.
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Not even close.

Skill level (EYBL: age max; Summer Leagues: all over the board), rosters (EYBL: relatively steady; summer leagues: ever changing), goals (EYBL: Peach Jam, recruiting; summer league: ?) on and on... completely different.

EYBL stats have relevance. Need to be careful with them, but there is usefulness in some.
 

bga1 said:
Still- Dre should have the mindset to not let the kid drop 43 on him- regardless.
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That was my thought as well. Summer league or no, I would think Andre would want to show Tyus who's boss.

Maybe he wasn't "trying" because even if he tried he couldn't stop Tyus. Which would be very disappointing for Gopher fans. I'd like to see little Tyus put in his place.
 

I still check in, just haven't been posting much... Oto surprised me for a couple reasons; he has added wight and grown. He had 1.5-2" on Mbakwe. He has PF size (must be 6'-10" or 6'-9.5" min.), posted up and had some decent inside moves, problem is he hangs out on the three point too much when he is not that good of a shooter. I believe he air-balled one and completely bricked the other two.

Other surprise, he girlfriend is smoking hot.
 

Gopher Warrior said:
Need to be careful with them, but there is usefulness in some.
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Same with summer league, you think Bell, Rundels, etc. aren't giving it all? Not all, but many of those guys are playing hard and very competitive players. It applies the same in pro-am as you are quoted above. To say pro-am numbers & performance are completely meaningless is clueless.
 

Sorry if it's out there, but can someone post the schedule? If it doesn't exist, any information would be helpful like days and times the games run. Thanks in advance.
 

Are we still banned from using the name Zach Lofton here?
 

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