Jelly with a nice opener in Iona's exhibition victory

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I think he will do very well against this level of competition.
 

I think he will also be in a more wide open system with free reign.
 

Playing against players not as well equipped to block his finger roll.
 

Hope he does well. I thought he dealt with the situation pretty well.
 


Livingat45north said:
Hope he does well. I thought he dealt with the situation pretty well.
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Amen. IW was a class act who showed no discernible public whining when it didn't go well for him here. Will love to see him on one of those Friday night ESPNU MAAC games that I feel like I am the only one watching.
 

Holy Man said:
Amen. IW was a class act who showed no discernible public whining when it didn't go well for him here. Will love to see him on one of those Friday night ESPNU MAAC games that I feel like I am the only one watching.
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This.
 

That is part of recruiting - projecting how a player will fit in the system your school plays.

If you recruit a player like Washington - but you play a system that doesn't play to his strengths - then you're better off not recruiting him.

My belief - 1st step is to determine what system your school will play, and identify the skills that are needed to play that system.
2nd step is to identify players who have the skill sets you need.
3rd step is to convince those players to attend your school - using the sales pitch of "we play a system that will highlight your strengths."

Don't try to shove a square peg in a round hole.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
That is part of recruiting - projecting how a player will fit in the system your school plays.

If you recruit a player like Washington - but you play a system that doesn't play to his strengths - then you're better off not recruiting him.

My belief - 1st step is to determine what system your school will play, and identify the skills that are needed to play that system.
2nd step is to identify players who have the skill sets you need.
3rd step is to convince those players to attend your school - using the sales pitch of "we play a system that will highlight your strengths."

Don't try to shove a square peg in a round hole.
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Especially the Big10... We're probably the one conference that isn't automatically friendly to Top 100 recruits...
 



Glad for him and hope he is all-conference on a conference-championship team. He chose the Gophers, and behaved ok in a difficult situation for him, so like most others here, I wish him the best!


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I forgot to mention, he had some of the best handles I have ever seen. It was fun to watch him dribble his way into and through a clogged lane without turning the ball over. Too bad finishing with a basket was not often the result.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

short ornery norwegian said:
That is part of recruiting - projecting how a player will fit in the system your school plays.

If you recruit a player like Washington - but you play a system that doesn't play to his strengths - then you're better off not recruiting him.

My belief - 1st step is to determine what system your school will play, and identify the skills that are needed to play that system.
2nd step is to identify players who have the skill sets you need.
3rd step is to convince those players to attend your school - using the sales pitch of "we play a system that will highlight your strengths."

Don't try to shove a square peg in a round hole.
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It goes both ways. You can project how a player may fit, but they also have to develop into that fit. I don’t want to criticize former players, so let’s relish in IW success and thank him for his contributions at the U. We wish for him to have a outstanding year. Just don’t go thinking that the coaches don’t have your wisdom.


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IW is a high major talent.... will play pro ball.
 




For the most part he handled everything okay.

That being said, he had some stretches in the season where he appeared moody and not a great teammate after he ended up in coach's dog house. I was a huge IW supporter/apologist right up until he moped after a game and didn't even join his teammates as they huddled up after a loss.

I wish him the best and hope he succeeds as he appeared to be a solid teammate during the tourney run, but there's a reason he failed here and his attitude was a big part of that imo. Hes a young kid, hope he has matured and does well.
 

I hope he does great. That said , he was not a fit here. I had seen him taken apart by fundamentally superior players both in a structured setting and at Rucker park. He lacked offers from all the coaches who play to efficiency. Players can grow as people, change and improve. Thay is what i hope for him.
 


Great to see IW doing well. I disagree that he was necessarily a poor fit for the Gophers. IW's issues pertained to decision making, namely, taking too many shots that he converts with low efficiency, and an inability to defend the position and play good team defense. The team was at a defensive disadvantage with IW on the floor and his offense was not quite good enough to offset it. It also sounds like he was basically eclipsed by Marcus Carr.

That said I always felt Pitino was too hard on the kid.
 

Happy for IW. He was a square peg in a round hole in the B1G. The B1G is a very physical league & IW wanted no part of it. That was the gist of the problem. He would not set hard screens, would not go over screens, would not attack the basket with the reckless abandon needed by a B1G PG & he lacked defensive intensity.

Where he's at now is a perfect fit for him. They play a wide open game, low on physicality & defense. He can showcase his considerable skill, which is putting on an offensive show.
 


That recruiting class goes down as an almost complete donut, yet its hard to argue that it set the program back much. Came back with good recruiting class the next year and then the transfers and new freshmen this year hold great promise.
 

theczar said:
IW is a high major talent.... will play pro ball.
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Too small and a terrible shooter. I don't see it. I think he could be a very very nice college ballplayer though. It was all about decision making with him. Plenty of skills. Needs work
on his shooting too.
 

Go Gophs said:
Too small and a terrible shooter. I don't see it. I think he could be a very very nice college ballplayer though. It was all about decision making with him. Plenty of skills. Needs work
on his shooting too.
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Horrendous Defender as well. That will be hard for him in Europe. Will have to go a different route (China or Australia maybe)
 

Go Gophs said:
Too small and a terrible shooter. I don't see it. I think he could be a very very nice college ballplayer though. It was all about decision making with him. Plenty of skills. Needs work
on his shooting too.
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For what it's worth, Maverick Ahanmisi is still playing professional basketball.
 


Livingat45north said:
Hope he does well. I thought he dealt with the situation pretty well.
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Holy Man said:
Amen. IW was a class act who showed no discernible public whining when it didn't go well for him here. Will love to see him on one of those Friday night ESPNU MAAC games that I feel like I am the only one watching.
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Preach.

It's too bad that things didn't work out with Washington here. I don't think since the Rodney Williams and Royce White commitments did we have a more exciting and hyped recruit. With all the Jelly-Fam stuff.....and just being a street ball type player from the Bronx with shiny moves.....he was creating some buzz around the program.

I still feel that questions surrounding what happened haven't been fully answered. But to tie back to the points that you two made....Washington handled the situation with tons of class. Clearly him and Pitino had some sort of understanding....because that had to be extremely frustrating for Isaiah. But he continued to look supportive for the team....which shows really good character. For that.....I'll always be an Isaiah Washington fan.
 

After 4 games IW is struggling with shooting - he is now averaging 5.8 pts per game on 21% 3 point shooting and 30% FG shooting.

On the other hand Jamir Harris is having some fun at American where he is averaging over 14 points per game and shooting 3's at a 42% clip...
 

bga1 said:
After 4 games IW is struggling with shooting - he is now averaging 5.8 pts per game on 21% 3 point shooting and 30% FG shooting.

On the other hand Jamir Harris is having some fun at American where he is averaging over 14 points per game and shooting 3's at a 42% clip...
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Yeah he was suppose to be our shooter last year. Finding wings that can shoot at a high clip is not easy. Everybody is on them and we have to take some chances. Jamir was a worthy take to see if it could work. Gotta take some chances. If Rob Jeter was here earlier I can almost guarantee you we have either Davison or Wright instead of IW. Wright was always going to be tough to get enrolled.
 

If Harris had PG skills, he'd still be here.
 


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