Iverson....Good Kid...But...I think

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gopherbadgerman said:
Weskbrook, Hoffarber, Johnson, Nolen, and Sampson are the only guys on our team that would be in a regular rotation in a upper half B10 program, and you could argue that none of them would start on a top 10 type team.
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I should have added this to my post.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
Yeah, I'm going to disagree, I think the Gophers can wind up in one of the top 5 spots.
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Fair enough - and I do not think they can't land in the top 5 (or even 4), but talent wise I think MSU, Ohio State, Purdue, Illinois, and Wisky have them beat, but I do think that team wise we are pretty close (or better) to OSU and Illinois, because we have a better coach.

That being said, I think the one thing the gophers have lacked over the past few years (since Vincent), is a player who can takeover a game on a regular basis. LW does it once in a while, but it is much harder for a 6 foot off guard to do it than a pure point, center, or 6'7" forward. Add VG to this team and I would put them close to the drivers seat for a B10 championship.
 

gopherbadgerman said:
Dominant? Seriously, come on. If all of our players were as good as some people on this board believe they are, we'd be a top 10 program, not a borderline NCAA club. Iverson is solid at best, as is Joseph, Carter, Bostick, and Williams (for now).

Weskbrook, Hoffarber, Johnson, Nolen, and Sampson are the only guys on our team that would be in a regular rotation in a upper half B10 program, and you could argue that none of them would start on a top 10 type team.
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You'll note that I said 'he has the TOOLS to be a dominant inside player'. Not that he WAS or WOULD BE. The potential is there, IMO. Big men always take the longest to develop, Greg Oden-like freaks aside. And even he doesn't dominate in the NBA, not by a long shot (when he is actually healthy, which is pretty much never). But I digress.

I think Colton has the skills to be a double-double guy in the Big Ten, but I wouldn't bet on it happening until his senior year. If he played 35 minutes in a smaller conference he'd already be there.
 

Gopher Bandanna Guy said:
You'll note that I said 'he has the TOOLS to be a dominant inside player'. Not that he WAS or WOULD BE. The potential is there, IMO.
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my mistake - but I would say that he has a LONG LONG way to go before he is considered a dominant inside player. I guess it also depends on what you consider dominant...John Thomas was good, not dominant, in my opinion. I think of bigs like Ewing, Joel P, and Oden dominant, and I cannot see Colton reaching that level...
 

gopherbadgerman said:
my mistake - but I would say that he has a LONG LONG way to go before he is considered a dominant inside player. I guess it also depends on what you consider dominant...John Thomas was good, not dominant, in my opinion. I think of bigs like Ewing, Joel P, and Oden dominant, and I cannot see Colton reaching that level...
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Understood. 'Dominant' is a subjective term too, but for me in a league that hasn't had that many outstanding centers in the last decade, if he went out his senior year and averaged 12 points and 10 boards a game, I'd consider him to be a pretty dominant rebounder. Maybe not his overall game, as he more offensively challenged, but defensively and on the glass I can see him being a force in the Big 10. Think Mike Peplowski of MSU back in the day.
 




Come on guys, I'm a pretty big Gopher homer but right now Iverson is by far our worst player and is not playing at a Big 10 level. He is not finishing at all and looks pretty lost with the ball in his hands. I feel bad because he gives his all and is by all accounts a really good guy.

I'll be rooting for him but I don't see him ever being a good high major player.
 

gopherbadgerman said:
I am not saying that at all. I think the Gophers are the 5th or 6th most talented team in the B10

They are middle of the pack, and I am not ripping them at all, they are what they are.
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Personally, I think they're the fourth best team in the league, maybe fifth. And there is plenty of talent on this team. But if you feel differently, then that is certainly your perogative.

Edit: Sorry, didn't notice you already addressed this a few posts after my response. I will make sure to brush up on my reading comp. :eek:
 



I appreciate all the reply's about the BIG SLOW C..You cannot teach speed....
and he has very HARD hands..at best he will be a journeyman backup in the Big ten...........he would have more fun playing D2 ball ---and YES...he is tough...and a great kid.........but we need nhis scholorship a lot more then we need his turnovers........
 

Colton Iverson was probably slated to play behind Sampson, Mbwake, and White. He's a role player and I think he's developing quite well into that role. He's a guy who can play 10-25 mins a game depending on the night, the 3 players ahead of him are on, he gets 10 mins- foul trouble, injuries, or a really physical game, he might get 25. This thread is just wrong. He's supposed to be 4th on the post depth chart. If Mbwake and White weren't in the situations they are in, he's at least the best damn post in the conference that deep on the bench. Appreciate his toughness and willingness to accept his role and plays hard.
 

akgopher said:
Colton Iverson was probably slated to play behind Sampson, Mbwake, and White. He's a role player and I think he's developing quite well into that role. He's a guy who can play 10-25 mins a game depending on the night, the 3 players ahead of him are on, he gets 10 mins- foul trouble, injuries, or a really physical game, he might get 25. This thread is just wrong. He's supposed to be 4th on the post depth chart. If Mbwake and White weren't in the situations they are in, he's at least the best damn post in the conference that deep on the bench. Appreciate his toughness and willingness to accept his role and plays hard.
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I don't know if White and Trevor will hurt his PT if they were to take the court with Ralph, Iverson would still come off the bench to fill in for Sampson and possibly Mbakwe.
 

Colton and his father Chuck were tentative to commit to the Gophers because of another freshman center. They were reassured he would not be competing against Sampson, instead they would play together. I recall Tubby saying last season it didn't work to have them on the court aside each other because of foul trouble. I don't think Coach Smith was just saying what his recruit needed to hear, it just hasn't worked out that way.
 



By the time Iverson is a SR. he will be the type of player many wish he would be as a Soph. A RS year would have been ideal for his development and the team but maybe not for him. I have no problem with his play and certainly not his effort. He is what he is.
 

Hagen, Spence

We've had many gifted bigs like Thompson, McHale, etc. but in more recent years we've developed our share of bigs. Iverson has enough size and skill to contribute worthy minutes as his predecessors.
 

I hope you guys are right about the Big C.
Being an X coach there are tings you can't teach such as soft hands and speed.
He trys hard, he hussels, and he is tough and would be a stud in D2. Travis Busch had similar qualities - the only difference is that Colton is a 7 footer. If Colton can learn to Finish strong he has a chance. I just don't see the raw talent there to be able to develop.

I hope you are right--Tolicson and Hagen both had good hands---yes they were slow but developed nicely. Time will tell.
 

Iverson is not going anywhere

Believe me, as much as some on here want him off the team, he is not going anywhere, he's not going to be red-shirted (i Don't think you can), and I think he will develop into an average big ten big man. He will never be a big scoring threat but he should be a better rebounder and he gets up and down the court ok. Tubby will whip him into shape, if Tubby stays around long enough...
 


Current stats.
Name GP-GS Min Avg FG-FGA Pct FG-FGA Pct FT-FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg PF DQ A TO BLK STL Pts Avg
Sampson III, Ralph 15-14 357 23.8 46-87 0.529 0-1 0.000 21-37 0.568 35 53 88 5.9 34 0 27 20 33 9 113 7.5
Iverson, Colton 17-4 306 18.0 29-70 0.414 0-0 - 25-46 0.543 28 62 90 5.3 36 0 12 26 14 7 83 4.9

The two are averaging a bit over 40min/gm, 11 boards, 12.4 ppg., 48% FG/%, 55.4 FT/%. Ralph has a better upside but collectively they have improved over their first year. Can't we expect that from both down the road. Iverson will continue to develop into a solid back-up.
 

Bayfield,

You look at the stats but their are many more intangibles that are not reflected in the numbers. Iverson has a bad shot, he makes stupid plays, terrible free throw shooter, misses key layups (I can relate as that is my monicker). He will be an average at best backup, get used to it! He won't be shipped off like Travis Busch nor be a redshirt unless he gets injured or punched in the nose. Millions 2 spare's monicker might be referring to his own brain cells, but from the nature of his comments he is down to thousands not millions....
 

Time will tell. This is Big Time College basketball where Soft hands,footwork, toughness and speed matter. You can teach footwork and some decision making. But you can't teach soft hands, speed, and basketball instincts. I hope that I am totally wrong, but Tubby has been working with the Big Men and everyone will agree that Ralph has a brighter future. Why is that? I think anyone looking honestly knows why. If I were Colton and I just loved hoops, I would want to transfer to a program where I could be a stud --finish my college career on a high note and plain and simple have fun. As I said, we need his scholorship more than we need his turnovers. This is especially true where usually the first team to 60 wins the game in Big Ten Basketball. I love the kid, his hustle, his toughness, but sometimes people have to have the courage to be honest. Also, the posts about Race and toughness in this thread are very thought provoking.

peace out
 

Iverson showed tonight that M2S may be right after all. Once again the SD phenom could not keep his hands off of a ball that likely was going in the hoop, thus keeping us from going up by 7 and likely winning the game. He just is having trouble cutting it at this level. Not a good thinker. How come he can make a hoop when it does not count or actually takes points off the board?
 

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