Parker Fox

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Classof 66

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That is the closest he has looked to his last two seasons at Northern State (which earned him 50 D1 offers entering the portal). After two years off he is only 10 games into his return and his trajectory is still up. He looks athletic and increasingly so, and his game day basketball reflexes are returning. Any worries about the kind of chronic limitations faced by Eric Curry after his injuries should at least be decreasing.
 

Classof 66 said:
That is the closest he has looked to his last two seasons at Northern State (which earned him 50 D1 offers entering the portal). After two years off he is only 10 games into his return and his trajectory is still up. He looks athletic and increasingly so, and his game day basketball reflexes are returning. Any worries about the kind of chronic limitations faced by Eric Curry after his injuries should at least be decreasing.
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Yeah, you wouldn't know he is coming off of back to back season ending knee injuries. He had some really impressive dunks last night and has clearly not lost much of the explosiveness he had before the injuries. Hopefully he can continue to expand his role as the season goes on.

Some were concerned that Fox and Ihnen would be completely wasted scholarships this year coming off the injuries but both are clearly showing they have something to offer still.
 


MNVCGUY said:
Yeah, you wouldn't know he is coming off of back to back season ending knee injuries. He had some really impressive dunks last night and has clearly not lost much of the explosiveness he had before the injuries. Hopefully he can continue to expand his role as the season goes on.

Some were concerned that Fox and Ihnen would be completely wasted scholarships this year coming off the injuries but both are clearly showing they have something to offer still.
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Another thing about Parker. He LOVES basketball. Loves to think about it, loves to practice, loves to play, loves to perform, brings big positive energy. You can tell that Hawkins (and others) love to be on the floor with him. I think he could be a great coach down the road.
 




Fox is a limited bench role player. His shooting range is essentially no further out than 3 feet from the basket. This IUPUI team that we played last night would be beaten by a number of D2 teams and a couple of D3 teams. Fox looked good because of the competition being played.

In observation, you can still see he is slow to move, laterally, on defense and you can see his vertical limitations on both ends of the floor. Fox is a solid 3-5 minute guy to give Payne or Garcia a breather, but his offensive limitations really hamper our options on offense.

While it is clear having Fox and Ihnen back is good for our depth, both are also clearly limited by their knee injuries. I am grateful for the spot minutes they can provide, but neither should be relied upon for extended minutes. However, if Carrington is gone for a lengthy period of time, Ihnen, especially, will need to dig deep to guard the perimeter as he has the closest body type to defend bigger shooting guards. Neither Hawkins nor Mitchell can play that role. Defensively, we have a role that someone needs to step into. I don't know who that someone can be. Other than Ihnen, I would like to see Ola-Joseph dig deeper on the defensive end, but I am not sure he's ready.

Fox, however, has a limited role. If he had any range on his shot, he would be so much better, but his 3 feet and in range is really a liability to him being effective at the P6 level.
 

MonikerSchmoniker45 said:
Fox has looked great against inferior competition, but has been a complete non factor against the better teams we've played.
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He hardly played against the better teams (3 minutes against Missouri, 4 minutes against San Francisco, and 5 minutes against Ohio State). Even in the Nebraska game where Garcia went down and was a nonfactor, Fox played only 10 minutes. The last two games were the only ones where he played over 20 minutes.

You have to remember that Fox and Ihnen hadn't played in two years and were even on practice restrictions until the late summer of 2023. Fox has seemed to get stronger as the season has progressed. No, I don't think he will do as well against Big Ten teams as he's done against these last two teams but I think he will do something against them.
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
He hardly played against the better teams (3 minutes against Missouri, 4 minutes against San Francisco, and 5 minutes against Ohio State). Even in the Nebraska game where Garcia went down and was a nonfactor, Fox played only 10 minutes. The last two games were the only ones where he played over 20 minutes.

You have to remember that Fox and Ihnen hadn't played in two years and were even on practice restrictions until the late summer of 2023. Fox has seemed to get stronger as the season has progressed. No, I don't think he will do as well against Big Ten teams as he's done against these last two teams but I think he will do something against them.
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I think getting into "game shape" and learning to trust his knee again are definitely factors. When you say you think he'll "do something" what do you mean? My greatest fear is he will be a liability on defense, as he does not seem to guard well in the post.
 



MNVCGUY said:
Fox knows where his bread is buttered and I doubt many of those 23 shots have been taken from more than a foot or two from the basket.
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This...he knows his role, provide energy off the bench, play D, clean up missed shots. Probably will never be a good shooter, but a hell of a teammate and a great locker room presence.
 

Gilthorp57 said:
This...he knows his role, provide energy off the bench, play D, clean up missed shots. Probably will never be a good shooter, but a hell of a teammate and a great locker room presence.
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I'd like to see him against stronger competition. If he continues to stay in his lane and takes care of the ball, he'll be fine. If he begins to fancy himself as flashy passing point guard, like he has done a few times, he has the potential to become a turnover machine.
 

I wish Fox would have fell in love in the weight room, during his time off. Because of quickness and size limitations, he has trouble with thicker post players, and wing players, so he is best against those few teams that play a second big, or if they go small ball.

I like Fox's play better than Ihnen's. Ihnen is good when he is hitting a 3 or two. But he loves the 3 pt line, doesn't seem to fit in the big ten, and he seems to lose focus.
 

march madness said:
I wish Fox would have fell in love in the weight room, during his time off.
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I'm guessing Fox intentionally stayed leaner during his rehab and recovery.

Adding a bunch of weight to joints and knees that have already been through so much trauma would be a major risk. Plus he seems to have maintained his bounce and athleticism, which was a huge question mark.

If he comes back next season for another year, then maybe this offseason he could add a bit of muscle.
 



Holy Man said:
I'd like to see him against stronger competition. If he continues to stay in his lane and takes care of the ball, he'll be fine. If he begins to fancy himself as flashy passing point guard, like he has done a few times, he has the potential to become a turnover machine.
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The evolution of the Flying Fox continues! He needs minutes against stronger competition, remember the Mizzou, SF, and OSU game where he was on a short leash? Probably needed to be at that time, but now I think he is closer to measuring up to stronger opponents.
 

Zeppelin Gopher said:
I'm guessing Fox intentionally stayed leaner during his rehab and recovery.

Adding a bunch of weight to joints and knees that have already been through so much trauma would be a major risk. Plus he seems to have maintained his bounce and athleticism, which was a huge question mark.

If he comes back next season for another year, then maybe this offseason he could add a bit of muscle.
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Is this possible?!

I thought he only had this year. I think he's a guy you keep around as long as possible if he's cool with his role!
 




topos said:
Is this possible?!

I thought he only had this year. I think he's a guy you keep around as long as possible if he's cool with his role!
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If everybody stays who can stay, we only lose Ramberg and Wilson, but add Grayson Grove and Isaac Asuma
 




GopherBlood777 said:
I don't think Fox is coming back. It's currently his 7th year in school. I am pleasantly surprised with the minutes and production he has provided so far.
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This isn't meant to be a shot at Ben, it's been the nature of the program and college basketball, but I'd be shocked if we have a better use of all of our scholarships next year than Parker Fox.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Fox knows where his bread is buttered and I doubt many of those 23 shots have been taken from more than a foot or two from the basket.
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Or, as I heard an announcer say recently, he knows where his butter is breaded.
 

BBJones said:
Or, as I heard an announcer say recently, he knows where his butter is breaded.
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Parker led all of D2 (MORE THAN 300 TEAMS) in dunks his last year at northern states. Is it a big surprise that he is getting a lot of his points on dunks (6 total in this most recent game). Dunks are a fun piece of the game too, they add energy for one thing. JOJ dunks are great. For the wolves ANT dunks also are great. Parker dunks are a good thing, not a bad thing.
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
He hardly played against the better teams (3 minutes against Missouri, 4 minutes against San Francisco, and 5 minutes against Ohio State). Even in the Nebraska game where Garcia went down and was a nonfactor, Fox played only 10 minutes. The last two games were the only ones where he played over 20 minutes.

You have to remember that Fox and Ihnen hadn't played in two years and were even on practice restrictions until the late summer of 2023. Fox has seemed to get stronger as the season has progressed. No, I don't think he will do as well against Big Ten teams as he's done against these last two teams but I think he will do something against them.
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He's the kind of guy that can give you a hit of momentum off the bench with either a hustle play or a big dunk. Fox may not be an all-around Big 10 player, but he definitely has athleticism and he hustles. That can spark a team, and it's a helluva lot more than what we had backing up Daws last season.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Fox knows where his bread is buttered and I doubt many of those 23 shots have been taken from more than a foot or two from the basket.
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In the last 15 years how many players have we had that could miss all alone under the basket? I swear Tubby had a bunch of tall White Kids who couldn't hit a layup if they were on a ladder!
 

Dave H said:
In the last 15 years how many players have we had that could miss all alone under the basket? I swear Tubby had a bunch of tall White Kids who couldn't hit a layup if they were on a ladder!
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Fox is smart....he goes for the dunk....safer than a layup :)
 

Dave H said:
In the last 15 years how many players have we had that could miss all alone under the basket? I swear Tubby had a bunch of tall White Kids who couldn't hit a layup if they were on a ladder!
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Mo Walker's not technically in that group, but his inability to make one against Northwestern single-handedly cost the Gophers an NCAA big in Pitino's first season.
 

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