RandBall: As transfer portals close, Gophers basketball is thriving

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march madness said:
Anyone surprised Niko went with young, unproven players in 3 of his transfer pickups, with the outlier being his former player in Sr to be Evans? Shows he is confident in his system, and if the players are healthy, they are likely to stick around. I like it for the long-term potential more than an improvement for next year (I hope there is still). There may be but the unknowns on how ready those three are will be big. Having to replace Tyson and Reynolds. More likely to replace what Tyson brought by the eye test, then Reynolds. We are less athletic for sure, unless Niko has a late signee.

Great shooters: Durkin, Evans, Nolen Anderson, Grady
Great high school scorers: Grove, Tomes

In addition, JCJ shooting can pull big men away from the basket. Asuma fired up too many and was fatigued last year, he shot a respectable 36% as a freshmen, but he could be better.

Addes size with Mpoyi and Kordel. Positional size with Grady and Groves.
Above average defenders: Asuma, JCJ, and possibly Grady and Groves.
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Serious question - how do you consider Anderson a great shooter?

I agree it seems like a downgrade in athletes, which is a serious issue IMO...
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
Look, I watched the entire season (almost anyway, I missed a game or two). There's no question that when his scheme was working, it was a thing of beauty. But, I'm going to throw out a quote from one of the most venerable coaches in college basketball history, Dean Smith, who reflected back on his career with his characteristic modesty:

"I'd call a time out and diagram a play. Now, whether the ball went in the hoop or not, well, that's where recruiting came in."

I have to admit that I'm underwhelmed by the offseason acquisitions. Sure, there's potential there but we lost two guys who produced 31.2 points per game between them and picked up 3 guys who combined for 5 points a game last season. Then, we picked up a player who has some record of accomplishment and started for Niko before but I don't think he's likely to do as much as either of the two players we lost.

This can work but this isn't the way most high major coaches are approaching the transfer portal.
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When they committed last year were you thrilled by the pickups of Tyson and Reynolds?

Tyson was a mid-major player who was a complete non-factor at UNC and Reynolds wasn't even supposed to be a starter for us prior to all the injuries. Niko clearly saw something in them and they both ended up working out great.

There is definitely a lot of unknown with Groves, Winters and Kordel because they haven't yet proven it at the college level but given the teams they were on it was understandable why they had a tough time getting on the floor as true freshman.

Evans was more successful at UNC then Tyson was (which I know isn't saying much) and comes in having a couple years with Niko under his belt meaning he should be able to quickly hit the ground running.

In the end I guess it boils down to how much you trust the coaches ability to evaluate talent and get the players they need. To me, Niko gets high marks in that area because even with a roster decimated by injuries he was able to put a competitive team on the court. So I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that the guys he is bringing in will fit his system and make an impact for us.
 


gopherbadgerman said:
Serious question - how do you consider Anderson a great shooter?

I agree it seems like a downgrade in athletes, which is a serious issue IMO...
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How is our current roster a downgrade in athletes from what we had last year?

Tyson, Reynolds, Willis, Vaihola were all guys that got little to no interest from high major programs out of high school. None of them were even had a 247 ranking when they committed to their first school.

Our new players don't have proven college track records, that is a little concerning, but from a raw talent perspective they are a definite upgrade over the guys they are replacing.
 

MNVCGUY said:
When they committed last year were you thrilled by the pickups of Tyson and Reynolds?

Tyson was a mid-major player who was a complete non-factor at UNC and Reynolds wasn't even supposed to be a starter for us prior to all the injuries. Niko clearly saw something in them and they both ended up working out great.

There is definitely a lot of unknown with Groves, Winters and Kordel because they haven't yet proven it at the college level but given the teams they were on it was understandable why they had a tough time getting on the floor as true freshman.

Evans was more successful at UNC then Tyson was (which I know isn't saying much) and comes in having a couple years with Niko under his belt meaning he should be able to quickly hit the ground running.

In the end I guess it boils down to how much you trust the coaches ability to evaluate talent and get the players they need. To me, Niko gets high marks in that area because even with a roster decimated by injuries he was able to put a competitive team on the court. So I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that the guys he is bringing in will fit his system and make an impact for us.
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You may forget that Stephen's and Turner were complete busts, so not all of Niko’s NIL pickups worked out.
I still saw enough to believe in Niko’s system, but there were some duds.
 


gopherbadgerman said:
Serious question - how do you consider Anderson a great shooter?

I agree it seems like a downgrade in athletes, which is a serious issue IMO...
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Unless they have watched all these new players actually play in games, would anyone conclude that the team has gotten less athletic?
 

FinnGopher said:
You may forget that Stephen's and Turner were complete busts, so not all of Niko’s NIL pickups worked out.
I still saw enough to believe in Niko’s system, but there were some duds.
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Absolutely, there is always risk that guys aren't going to pan out.

The good news is that heading into the current season we at least have a foundation of guys to fill in around whereas last year we were basically starting from scratch in terms of players who had proven they could play at the Big Ten level.

25-26 - Asuma
- Tyson, Stephens and Omot all came from high major programs but had minimal success or had gotten injured.

26-27 - Asuma, JCJ, Durkin, Grove
- Shinholster could probably be listed above but isn't totally proven yet and the 4 transfers all come from high major programs so at least they have been competing against quality players.
 

FinnGopher said:
You may forget that Stephen's and Turner were complete busts, so not all of Niko’s NIL pickups worked out.
I still saw enough to believe in Niko’s system, but there were some duds.
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I think that it's unfair to call a player a complete bust if they were injured. Stephens was injured the entire season. Turner was injured for a large chunk of the season.

Omot missed the whole season. Willis and Vaihola missed almost the entire season- playing only in the non-conference portion of the schedule when the team struggled. Are they also busts?
 

ecoperson said:
I think that it's unfair to call a player a complete bust if they were injured. Stephens was injured the entire season. Turner was injured for a large chunk of the season.

Omot missed the whole season. Willis and Vaihola missed almost the entire season- playing only in the non-conference portion of the schedule when the team struggled. Are they also busts?
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Turner probably deserves the bust label as he looked out of shape and struggled prior to getting hurt but agree on the other 4.

Viahola and Willis were both starting before getting hurt so tough to say what kind of seasons they would have had as they adjusted fully to this level and the other two never got a chance to take the court.

The bummer of course on Omot and Stephens is that those spots could have potentially gone to someone else but I'm sure at the time the staff thought they would be able to play.
 



ecoperson said:
I think that it's unfair to call a player a complete bust if they were injured. Stephens was injured the entire season. Turner was injured for a large chunk of the season.

Omot missed the whole season. Willis and Vaihola missed almost the entire season- playing only in the non-conference portion of the schedule when the team struggled. Are they also busts?
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Turner was a bust. Before he got injured, he was in poor shape and it was pretty clear he was not a factor and wasn’t trusted by the coaches. We learned nothing about the injury, and it could have been conditioning related.

Beyond him, no, it’s not fair to call the injured players busts. However, the team had such a crazy number of debilitating injuries I have to wonder if any of them were played up in order to give guys that weren’t fitting in a right to a medical RS. Stephens fits this “was injured because he wasn’t playing”, rather than “wasn’t playing because he was injured” profile best.
 

FritoPendejo said:
Turner was a bust. Before he got injured, he was in poor shape and it was pretty clear he was not a factor and wasn’t trusted by the coaches. We learned nothing about the injury, and it could have been conditioning related.

Beyond him, no, it’s not fair to call the injured players busts. However, the team had such a crazy number of debilitating injuries I have to wonder if any of them were played up in order to give guys that weren’t fitting in a right to a medical RS. Stephens fits this “was injured because he wasn’t playing”, rather than “wasn’t playing because he was injured” profile best.
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The coaching staff has been very tight-lipped about injuries this year. It is frustrating as a fan but it seems like this must be getting more scrutiny as it must fall under protected and confidential health information under HIPAA.

I wonder whether Turner had a nagging injury the whole season which contributed to his poor conditioning in the few games he tried to appear in. The staff may have simply pulled the plug when they realized that he just couldn't play through whatever injury was affecting him.

I was always hoping that someone in the media would ask about him and the other mystery members of the roster. It would seem like a logical question when the short bench became such a talking point. Makes we wonder whether Medved told the media in advance that he wouldn't talk about some personnel-related matters.

Your suggestion about Stephens is an intriguing one. It used to be that coaches would say that PLAYER X needed to earn playing time by showing this or that at practice. That said, most coaches would have thrown in PLAYER X if they had even a chance of performing at a serviceable level once the bench had gotten so short. It would be interesting to hear the real scoop on the Stephens situation.
 

ecoperson said:
I was always hoping that someone in the media would ask about him and the other mystery members of the roster. It would seem like a logical question when the short bench became such a talking point. Makes we wonder whether Medved told the media in advance that he wouldn't talk about some personnel-related matters.
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I'm sure it was made clear to the media either through Niko or the media relations director that he wasn't going to talk about injured players. Definitely frustrating as fans but it is just the way a lot of coaches chose to handle it these days in regards to injuries. Probably safer to say nothing then to say the wrong thing and end up creating more issues.
 

gopherbadgerman said:
Serious question - how do you consider Anderson a great shooter?

I agree it seems like a downgrade in athletes, which is a serious issue IMO...
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Anderson is a skilled perimeter forward with extreme gravity from behind the arc. He shot 45% from three during the 3SSB season, including a whopping 50% on unguarded catch-and-shoot threes, and 90% at the free-throw line. He also has a feel for the game to really thrive in offensive structure. He’s fluid putting the ball on the floor to attack close-outs, passes well (including while going through the lane), and knows how to move without the ball. He’s more athletic in space than among bodies right now, but he has solid size at 6-foot-7, especially if he can evolve into a true big wing, and a sturdy build. Defensively, he might be best suited at the four right now but gives a diligent effort, contests shots, and generally keeps people in front.

Also every game I watched on tv he hit 3-5 three's. It was fresh coast hoops, so they mostly only show the makes, so I have no idea the amount he attempted. I heard he was way cold in the semi-final upset.
 



I think when you evaluate the 8 man rotation based on what limited information we have, the starting line-up is a push or slight downgrade (depending on Tyson vs who replaces him) but the bench will be much better.

On a spit-ball 1-10 scale:

1. Reynolds 6.5 to Kyan Evans 7: +0.5. Evans is not as good on D but should be an upgrade on Offense.

2. Asuma 6.5 vs Asuma 7.5 (we need him to step up). +1

3. Durkin 7 vs Durkin 7.5 Mostly based on playing better in November/December +0.5

4. Tyson 9 vs Winters 6. Very hard to project this but it's a drop off. -3

5. JCJ 7.5 vs JCJ 8.5. Hopefully he misses less games and is more consistent. I think the foot effected him for the last several games he played in. +1.

Net starting line-up change: 0

Bench:

6. Greyson Grove (5) vs Greyson Grove (6). He should naturally be bigger/stronger. And maybe can get the FT % from 25% to 50%? +1

7. Shinholster (4) vs Nolan Groves (6). I think this is a big upgrade spot. +2

8. Chansey Willis (3 adjusted for playing hardly at all) vs Cedrick Tomes (5). Just having an 8th guy, even if it's not Tomes is huge. It's amazing that Willis still ended up 8th in minutes only playing 7 games. +2

I think the superior depth is worth at least 2-3 more B1G wins.
 
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MNVCGUY said:
Johnson brought in a handful of decent portal guys beyond just Garcia, but he was never able to keep any sort of roster continuity and obviously the team failed to find any sort of success on the court as well.

Thriving might not be the right word, especially as far as the men are concerned, but both the men's and women's programs seem to be trending in the right direction at least.
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From my perspective, I think the perception that the coaching staff has a clear vision and is organized is contributing to the uptick in interest and optimism. Whether that transfers into a better W/L remains to be seen, but it's been more than a decade since we've had a coach that can project the kind of competence that Medved can.
 


howeda7 said:
I think when you evaluate the 8 man rotation based on what limited information we have, the starting line-up is a push or slight downgrade (depending on Tyson vs who replaces him) but the bench will be much better.

On a spit-ball 1-10 scale:

1. Reynolds 6.5 to Kyan Evans 7: +0.5. Evans is not as good on D but should be an upgrade on Offense.

2. Asuma 6.5 vs Asuma 7.5 (we need him to step up). +1

3. Durkin 7 vs Durkin 7.5 Mostly based on playing better in November/December +0.5

4. Tyson 9 vs Winters 6. Very hard to project this but it's a drop off. -3

5. JCJ 7.5 vs JCJ 8.5. Hopefully he misses less games and is more consistent. I think the foot effected him for the last several games he played in. +1.

Net starting line-up change: 0

Bench:

6. Greyson Grove (5) vs Greyson Grove (6). He should naturally be bigger/stronger. And maybe can get the FT % from 25% to 50%? +1

7. Shinholster (4) vs Nolan Groves (6). I think this is a big upgrade spot. +2

8. Chansey Willis (3 adjusted for playing hardly at all) vs Cedrick Tomes (5). Just having an 8th guy, even if it's not Tomes is huge. It's amazing that Willis still ended up 8th in minutes only playing 7 games. +2

I think the superior depth is worth at least 2-3 more B1G wins.
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So 10-11 B10 wins at least this year?
 


gopherbadgerman said:
So 10-11 B10 wins at least this year?
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We won 8 last year with our decimated roster so expecting a step up from that is very reasonable with a full compliment of players.

We had 10 Big Ten games (9 regular season and 1 BTT) decided within 5 points. Of those 10 we went 4-6 and 2 of the 4 wins came after our roster was completely gutted (no JCJ).

So not all that hard to see how we could improve on our Big Ten record as long as some of the new guys pan out.

To me, a reasonable goal for the 26-27 season is to make the NCAA tournament. Anything beyond that is really tough to say until the dust settles and we actually get to see how we look in comparison to the rest of the conference on the court not just on paper.
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
Look, I watched the entire season (almost anyway, I missed a game or two). There's no question that when his scheme was working, it was a thing of beauty. But, I'm going to throw out a quote from one of the most venerable coaches in college basketball history, Dean Smith, who reflected back on his career with his characteristic modesty:

"I'd call a time out and diagram a play. Now, whether the ball went in the hoop or not, well, that's where recruiting came in."

I have to admit that I'm underwhelmed by the offseason acquisitions. Sure, there's potential there but we lost two guys who produced 31.2 points per game between them and picked up 3 guys who combined for 5 points a game last season. Then, we picked up a player who has some record of accomplishment and started for Niko before but I don't think he's likely to do as much as either of the two players we lost.

This can work but this isn't the way most high major coaches are approaching the transfer portal.
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And one of those players produced 2.6 points per game the year before at UNC. Tyson might be the poster child for belief in Niko Medved.
 




MNVCGUY said:
When they committed last year were you thrilled by the pickups of Tyson and Reynolds?
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I was very happy by Tyson's commit. In fact, I posted here that I thought he was about as good of a pickup as we could have hoped for at that time of the summer. I also thought Reynolds was a good bet since he was first team All Big Sky. I figure that if a player is one of the most elite players in a mid-major league, there's a good chance he can compete well enough at the Big Ten level. I felt the same way about Elijah Hawkins when he committed despite coming from one of the lowest rated D1 leagues.
 

Mulligan said:
And one of those players produced 2.6 points per game the year before at UNC. Tyson might be the poster child for belief in Niko Medved.
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Ridiculous comparison. Tyson was a double figure scorer in his first two seasons at Belmont (a pretty good mid-major program) and earned All-League honors both seasons.
 

I think Medved did great in the portal. Filled some needs for us and a handful of guys have mulitple years of eligibility. Cade Tyson was a portal guy last year and he didn't produce at North Carolina. Under Medved's system and the development program, Cade really thrived. I think the guys we picked up have the same opportunity. Two guys coming from Michigan tells you what type of HS players they must have been. Now they have one good year of development at Michigan. I think Goves has a big upside and Evans might have a bust out senior year. With the returning guys, I am very pumped for next season. I may be one of very few but I love what is happening with Medved. Go Gophers!
 
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There is no 100% guarantee that Willis, Stephens, Viahola, Omot WON’T be gophers next year. All/some will very likely sign somewhere but as of now none have (as far as I know, been golfing). Not sure how I would feel about that other than pleased to have them back at reasonable cost. Weirder things have happened. Until the summer practices start I assume nothing. Big Ten bb is a pretty good gig and it beats sitting on the couch…
 

SplitDecision said:
There is no 100% guarantee that Willis, Stephens, Viahola, Omot WON’T be gophers next year. All/some will very likely sign somewhere but as of now none have (as far as I know, been golfing). Not sure how I would feel about that other than pleased to have them back at reasonable cost. Weirder things have happened. Until the summer practices start I assume nothing. Big Ten bb is a pretty good gig and it beats sitting on the couch…
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It's close to zero. Stephens is zero. Viohola won't come here with the Michigan big in that spot. Omot bailed early, he's a zero. Willis is the only one I could possibly see, but he's not coming back to be Evans back-up IMO. That's likely why left.
 



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