Hardwood Elite: Breaking Down The Big Ten 2011 Recruiting (Hollins All-BT Frosh)

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Mike Shaw, being no better than the 16th best freshman coming into the Big 1?? Crazy talk.
 

I doubt he'll see too much time behind Egwu, Leonard, Griffey etc.
 

Mike Shaw

Perhaps it's a case of bad luck and we happened to catch him at the wrong times, but each event we saw Mike Shaw he was extremely unproductive. It's clear that he has talent, hence his borderline top 100 grade, but it was difficult to justify ranking him highly when he was almost invisible at every game we saw him play in Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Cleveland. Needs to improve his motor and assertiveness and float around the perimeter a little less. Perhaps he will change these things when he gets to college and prove us wrong.
 

HWElite - I enjoyed the writeup.

You have both Joe and Andre ranked higher than most other ranking agencies, especially Andre. Would you mind elaborating on, a) Where you've seen each of them play and b) what you've seen that makes you so positive on their games. (Again, esp. Andre since I've seen Joe play fairly often but obviously not Hollins.)

I'm excited for both to be Gophers and can't wait to see them on the floor.

Thank you. I'll hang up and listen.
 


Joe and Andre

ColNathanJessup said:
HWElite - I enjoyed the writeup.

You have both Joe and Andre ranked higher than most other ranking agencies, especially Andre. Would you mind elaborating on, a) Where you've seen each of them play and b) what you've seen that makes you so positive on their games. (Again, esp. Andre since I've seen Joe play fairly often but obviously not Hollins.)

I'm excited for both to be Gophers and can't wait to see them on the floor.

Thank you. I'll hang up and listen.
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We've seen Andre play in person in Minneapolis and Las Vegas (several games at both events) and online as well. During the summer we loved his shooting ability and athleticism among other things, but we had only seen him play off the ball and given his size we weren't quite as high on him at the time. What we realized during his high school season was not only does he potentially have a future at point guard, but his scoring ability was severely underrated. He seemed to accept his role behind Adonis Thomas and never forced his way into the spotlight during the summer so he never truly displayed his full capabilities. Once his high school season began it was a whole different story. Joe Jackson was gone and his role was no longer as a supporting player, but as the go-to-scorer which allowed him to showcase what he's truly capable of. His 46-point performance against Findlay Prep really opened our eyes to this. Whether he plays point guard, shooting guard, or a combination of both, we are confident he will be a good Big Ten player before all is said and done.

We've seen Joe Coleman at the Sabes Invitational in 2009 and 2010 as well as Los Angeles in 2010. We've also seen him at a few winter events including one during his junior year playing against Christian Faith Center Academy (who featured elite 2014 prospect Andrew Wiggins). Coleman likely has the best motor of the incoming Big Ten freshmen, which is a great attribute to combine with his strength, explosiveness, and ability to finish at the rim (which is arguably the best of the incoming Big Ten freshmen guards/wings). He is far from a finished product though, as his shooting and ball handling need improvement, but his shooting form is more than adequate and we are confident he will improve in this area. If/when he improves his shooting and ball handling we think he can be an excellent scorer in the Big Ten. There is also the looming possibility that he could grow given the size of his brother, but that had little bearing on where we ranked him.

It is also worth mentioning that both players appear to have great attitudes and work ethics, which obviously bodes well for them.

Hope this helps.
 

Thanks for all the info. That's all good to hear.

HardwoodElite said:
We've seen Andre play in person in Minneapolis and Las Vegas (several games at both events) and online as well. During the summer we loved his shooting ability and athleticism among other things, but we had only seen him play off the ball and given his size we weren't quite as high on him at the time. What we realized during his high school season was not only does he potentially have a future at point guard, but his scoring ability was severely underrated. He seemed to accept his role behind Adonis Thomas and never forced his way into the spotlight during the summer so he never truly displayed his full capabilities. Once his high school season began it was a whole different story. Joe Jackson was gone and his role was no longer as a supporting player, but as the go-to-scorer which allowed him to showcase what he's truly capable of. His 46-point performance against Findlay Prep really opened our eyes to this. Whether he plays point guard, shooting guard, or a combination of both, we are confident he will be a good Big Ten player before all is said and done.

We've seen Joe Coleman at the Sabes Invitational in 2009 and 2010 as well as Los Angeles in 2010. We've also seen him at a few winter events including one during his junior year playing against Christian Faith Center Academy (who featured elite 2014 prospect Andrew Wiggins). Coleman likely has the best motor of the incoming Big Ten freshmen, which is a great attribute to combine with his strength, explosiveness, and ability to finish at the rim (which is arguably the best of the incoming Big Ten freshmen guards/wings). He is far from a finished product though, as his shooting and ball handling need improvement, but his shooting form is more than adequate and we are confident he will improve in this area. If/when he improves his shooting and ball handling we think he can be an excellent scorer in the Big Ten. There is also the looming possibility that he could grow given the size of his brother, but that had little bearing on where we ranked him.

It is also worth mentioning that both players appear to have great attitudes and work ethics, which obviously bodes well for them.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
 


HardwoodElite said:
We've seen Andre play in person in Minneapolis and Las Vegas (several games at both events) and online as well. During the summer we loved his shooting ability and athleticism among other things, but we had only seen him play off the ball and given his size we weren't quite as high on him at the time. What we realized during his high school season was not only does he potentially have a future at point guard, but his scoring ability was severely underrated. He seemed to accept his role behind Adonis Thomas and never forced his way into the spotlight during the summer so he never truly displayed his full capabilities. Once his high school season began it was a whole different story. Joe Jackson was gone and his role was no longer as a supporting player, but as the go-to-scorer which allowed him to showcase what he's truly capable of. His 46-point performance against Findlay Prep really opened our eyes to this. Whether he plays point guard, shooting guard, or a combination of both, we are confident he will be a good Big Ten player before all is said and done.

We've seen Joe Coleman at the Sabes Invitational in 2009 and 2010 as well as Los Angeles in 2010. We've also seen him at a few winter events including one during his junior year playing against Christian Faith Center Academy (who featured elite 2014 prospect Andrew Wiggins). Coleman likely has the best motor of the incoming Big Ten freshmen, which is a great attribute to combine with his strength, explosiveness, and ability to finish at the rim (which is arguably the best of the incoming Big Ten freshmen guards/wings). He is far from a finished product though, as his shooting and ball handling need improvement, but his shooting form is more than adequate and we are confident he will improve in this area. If/when he improves his shooting and ball handling we think he can be an excellent scorer in the Big Ten. There is also the looming possibility that he could grow given the size of his brother, but that had little bearing on where we ranked him.

It is also worth mentioning that both players appear to have great attitudes and work ethics, which obviously bodes well for them.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

How tall would you say Andre really is?

OT question, a friend of mine saw him on campus (or so he says) and said he was about 5'10" or even 5'9". Personally, I think he's crazy but just wanted to ask.
 




I stood next to him, and said hi. Im 5'11. hes about 6'2 id say. Austin is about 6'4
 

Feel better? I still feel the same way. Your statements were unrealistic and nothing has changed that.

Joe hasn't played a minute of college basketball and you somehow already think he can drive better that anyone in the BT. He was a fairly high recruit but he's not expected to be some kind of star right away. He's not even predicted to start at the 2, yet you already have him rated higher than one of the best shooters and passers in gopher history.

Best 3 position in BT with Rodney and Austin? I think we'll see a lot of improvement from Austin but we had one of the worst 3 spot rotations last year. Pretty high expectations to state we'll have the best SF combo next year.

I don't know what it means exactly to say Mav will deliver. In any case, I think most objective and realistic observers don't see him ever being more than a solid backup.

Anyway, I'm actually one of the optimistic guys around here. I think we'll surprise a lot of people. Mbakwe is a beast (obviously), Sampson is much better than he gets credit for, I think we'll actually see improvement in players this year, and the BT will blow.

"1. Joe can go to the basket better than anyone in Big10. Therefore, we will be better at 2.
2. Austin is a very smart player. Combine his game with Rodney; we will have the best position 3 combo in Big10.
5. I don’t know much about PGs. I know one thing, Mav will deliver this year."

The-Real-Truth said:
Do you feel better about my last week's post now? We will be very good this year.

Go Gophers
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