Sacar Anim

[hungan1]

What was Rachard Pitino thinking? I think Sacar should have been offered a scholie after watching him play in the tournament.

 

[Tim1406]

no nebraska offer, no iowa offer no wisc. offer what were they thinking too? i don't know I've never seen Sacar play.

 

[Goldy Gopher]

First time really watching him tonight and he has had a very good game but I'm not sure how much it will translate to the college game. He really relies on driving the ball getting fouled and getting to the free throw line. He overmatches guys with his physicalness at the high school level and the question will be can he be successful doing that in college? More than a few of the drives that he has been fouled on tonight I don't see turning out real well for him at the college level. I think he could have been a nice role player off the bench but we have that and need a guy who can come in and compete to start right away like Ellison.

 

[freshtrout]

Glad Pitino has Jarvis coming, not in spite of Sacar, as they are different players. Thinking that Jarvis is a much better 'fit' for Pitino's system. Hopefully Sacar has a good career in Milwaukee. He may turn out to be a really good shooting guard / small forward - hope so

 

[die hard gopher]

All I know is that this staff has watched a ton of Sacar and never offered. It's not due to a lack of a thorough eval.

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

I'm far from settled on RP's recuiting ability/decisions thus far. He bombed out with the big three and Macura plus Alex is going to Becky. Lofton lasted a month, Martin has left the scene and McNeil is gone as well. Diedhiou and Konate are huge projects and Morris has talent but plays like an untamed Freshman. Mason is the best of the all thus far. Little Dre was great last year but he is no where near the player he was.

I trust Coach Kill's recruiting but I can't say that with RP, at least at this time. Maybe the guys coming in this Fall will be the real deal, totally want to be Gophers and are ready and capable to make his system work.

 

[Blackhammer]

Anim could be pretty decent. I did see about five underclassmen that I liked better in the tourney however. John and a soph guard for Champlin, Mitchell for Shakopee, Trent of course and I agree Tre Jones looked pretty good. Throw in Mar at DeLasalle also.

 

[Goldy Gopher]

I'm far from settled on RP's recuiting ability/decisions thus far. He bombed out with the big three and Macura plus Alex is going to Becky. Lofton lasted a month, Martin has left the scene and McNeil is gone as well. Diedhiou and Konate are huge projects and Morris has talent but plays like an untamed Freshman. Mason is the best of the all thus far. Little Dre was great last year but he is no where near the player he was.

I trust Coach Kill's recruiting but I can't say that with RP, at least at this time. Maybe the guys coming in this Fall will be the real deal, totally want to be Gophers and are ready and capable to make his system work.

Illikainen would have been a Gopher if we only would have had an open scholarship like we have now late in the fall. I really like his game too and think he would have been a very nice fit in this Gopher offense. I do believe the guys coming in this fall will be very good and fit the system well.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

I like Gary Trent, Jr's game a lot. My question is whether he is going to get any bigger. His dad was a lot bigger and stronger ("the Shaq of the Mac"). Right now, GT Jr looks like a SG - it would be nice if he could grow into a SF type. Agree on Mitchell from Shakopee - really polished player, and looks like his game will translate fairly easily to college - can step out and hit mid-range shots, so he's not dependent on working inside.

 

[Golden Yooper]

I'm far from settled on RP's recuiting ability/decisions thus far. He bombed out with the big three and Macura plus Alex is going to Becky. Lofton lasted a month, Martin has left the scene and McNeil is gone as well. Diedhiou and Konate are huge projects and Morris has talent but plays like an untamed Freshman. Mason is the best of the all thus far. Little Dre was great last year but he is no where near the player he was.

I trust Coach Kill's recruiting but I can't say that with RP, at least at this time. Maybe the guys coming in this Fall will be the real deal, totally want to be Gophers and are ready and capable to make his system work.

I would give Coach P a little more time. It was a tough year losing three players and others not reaching the heights we all wanted them to. The staff is working hard and believe they will find some players to fill some roles. He does not have the track record that Coach Kill can sell with proven success in building a program. Both have missed with recruits but with fewer players in basketball they are always going to stand out more. I trust that he is going the right direction and the program is in good hands.

 

[scher215]

I like Gary Trent, Jr's game a lot. My question is whether he is going to get any bigger. His dad was a lot bigger and stronger ("the Shaq of the Mac"). Right now, GT Jr looks like a SG - it would be nice if he could grow into a SF type. Agree on Mitchell from Shakopee - really polished player, and looks like his game will translate fairly easily to college - can step out and hit mid-range shots, so he's not dependent on working inside.

Gary Trent Jr is one of my favorite players in the state right now. He's right up there with Coffey for me as huge gets.

 

[EG#9]

I'm far from settled on RP's recuiting ability/decisions thus far. He bombed out with the big three and Macura plus Alex is going to Becky. Lofton lasted a month, Martin has left the scene and McNeil is gone as well. Diedhiou and Konate are huge projects and Morris has talent but plays like an untamed Freshman. Mason is the best of the all thus far. Little Dre was great last year but he is no where near the player he was.

I trust Coach Kill's recruiting but I can't say that with RP, at least at this time. Maybe the guys coming in this Fall will be the real deal, totally want to be Gophers and are ready and capable to make his system work.

Two years in to Coach Kill's tenure, the Gophers were 4-12 in conference play and something like 11 of those 12 losses were by double digits. I don't think if you look back you could have had more confidence in Kill's recruiting at the end of his second year than you currently have in Pitino's. Pitino's second real class is rated somewhere in the middle of the pack of the B1G (depending on the site) where Kill hasn't been to that level yet. With the benefit of hindsight, guys like David Cobb and Cedric Thompson (I assume) lead you to trust Kill's recruiting. Maybe Konate or Diedhiou or someone else will be a David Cobb or Cedric Thompson.

This roster certainly needs a lot more talent if we expect to compete on a national level. We need athletic and skill upgrades at numerous positions and hopefully the 2015 class is a big step in that direction.

 

[hungan1]

I'm far from settled on RP's recuiting ability/decisions thus far. He bombed out with the big three and Macura plus Alex is going to Becky. Lofton lasted a month, Martin has left the scene and McNeil is gone as well. Diedhiou and Konate are huge projects and Morris has talent but plays like an untamed Freshman. Mason is the best of the all thus far. Little Dre was great last year but he is no where near the player he was.

I trust Coach Kill's recruiting but I can't say that with RP, at least at this time. Maybe the guys coming in this Fall will be the real deal, totally want to be Gophers and are ready and capable to make his system work.

Illikainen would have been a Gopher if we only would have had an open scholarship like we have now late in the fall. I really like his game too and think he would have been a very nice fit in this Gopher offense. I do believe the guys coming in this fall will be very good and fit the system well.

RP is young, and I felt rushing to get Lofton cost him Illikainen which was very disappointing to me. Macura was determined to go elsewhere. Travis Reid was swayed by his parents to go to Stanford.

He is learning. A little bit of luck in how next year's incoming class turn out will help.

In all fairness, he stepped in after Tubby's firing and had not had enough time to build relationships with in state prospects like Tubby did.

Basketball is tougher to recruit for the Gophers. The new facility will drastically help.

With football, if you miss out on one recruit you can weather it out. In basketball, you miss on a recruit and the impact is much much greater.

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

Kill brought in guys like Rabe, Cedric, Wells, Goodger, Campion, etc right after he was hired 12/6/10 and his first full class were guys like Murray, Boddy-Calhoun, Johnson, Maxx, Travis, Roderick, Plsek, Lynn, Leidner, Lauer, Ekpe, etc who all contributed either their first season or second. One could see the improvement in talent and depth plus his players were sticking around. Most players RS in football compared to hoops and need a year but some of the newbies were good enough to play over upperclassmen either as FR or RSFR or RS Sophs.

Mason is the main glimmer of hope with RP's first two classes and King is improving. The other first year players are huge projects. The 3 departed players really hurt the depth but they were recruited by RP. So year three will be Mason, King, a bunch of newbies and three second year projects.

RP was younger last year and knew a lot less then than he does now so I don't buy that. Plus he hung around very successful programs. Three or four players new players can make a huge impact on a basketball program. Right now Mason is the only one that looks the part in his first two classes. I look at the frosh that Collins played at NU and they finished the year strong. Plus they will be much better next season. I doubt we will see that in year three of RP.

.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Illikainen would have been a Gopher if we only would have had an open scholarship like we have now late in the fall. I really like his game too and think he would have been a very nice fit in this Gopher offense. I do believe the guys coming in this fall will be very good and fit the system well.

Please stop this nonsense. Alex didn't want to be here. He had ample opportunity to commit and chose not to. Stop blaming it on the scholly. Pitino made a last attempt before Lofton committed and Alex chose not to go to MN.

 

[justthefacts]

First time really watching him tonight and he has had a very good game but I'm not sure how much it will translate to the college game. He really relies on driving the ball getting fouled and getting to the free throw line. He overmatches guys with his physicalness at the high school level and the question will be can he be successful doing that in college? More than a few of the drives that he has been fouled on tonight I don't see turning out real well for him at the college level. I think he could have been a nice role player off the bench but we have that and need a guy who can come in and compete to start right away like Ellison.

I have heard this before, and you know who it reminds me of? Joe Coleman. When I saw him in HS this is exactly what I though.

 

[bga1]

Kill brought in guys like Rabe, Cedric, Wells, Goodger, Campion, etc right after he was hired 12/6/10 and his first full class were guys like Murray, Boddy-Calhoun, Johnson, Maxx, Travis, Roderick, Plsek, Lynn, Leidner, Lauer, Ekpe, etc who all contributed either their first season or second. One could see the improvement in talent and depth plus his players were sticking around. Most players RS in football compared to hoops and need a year but some of the newbies were good enough to play over upperclassmen either as FR or RSFR or RS Sophs.

Mason is the main glimmer of hope with RP's first two classes and King is improving. The other first year players are huge projects. The 3 departed players really hurt the depth but they were recruited by RP. So year three will be Mason, King, a bunch of newbies and three second year projects.

RP was younger last year and knew a lot less then than he does now so I don't buy that. Plus he hung around very successful programs. Three or four players new players can make a huge impact on a basketball program. Right now Mason is the only one that looks the part in his first two classes. I look at the frosh that Collins played at NU and they finished the year strong. Plus they will be much better next season. I doubt we will see that in year three of RP.

.

Konate, at a bare minimum will be a very solid big ten center. In one year he made a lot of progress. He's got great size and good athleticism. I think there are two good pieces in place. It's way to early to tell on Gaston- but again, he made some strides in his little bit of court time and impressed me, except for two or three awful 3 pt shots.

 

[EG#9]

Kill brought in guys like Rabe, Cedric, Wells, Goodger, Campion, etc right after he was hired 12/6/10 and his first full class were guys like Murray, Boddy-Calhoun, Johnson, Maxx, Travis, Roderick, Plsek, Lynn, Leidner, Lauer, Ekpe, etc who all contributed either their first season or second. One could see the improvement in talent and depth plus his players were sticking around. Most players RS in football compared to hoops and need a year but some of the newbies were good enough to play over upperclassmen either as FR or RSFR or RS Sophs.

Mason is the main glimmer of hope with RP's first two classes and King is improving. The other first year players are huge projects. The 3 departed players really hurt the depth but they were recruited by RP. So year three will be Mason, King, a bunch of newbies and three second year projects.

RP was younger last year and knew a lot less then than he does now so I don't buy that. Plus he hung around very successful programs. Three or four players new players can make a huge impact on a basketball program. Right now Mason is the only one that looks the part in his first two classes. I look at the frosh that Collins played at NU and they finished the year strong. Plus they will be much better next season. I doubt we will see that in year three of RP.

.

Again, the Gophers were non-competitive on the field in Coach Kill's first two seasons. Campion was actually a Brewster recruit and guys like Wells, Rabe, and Goodger are no more significant than Joey King type role players. If we're talking JUCO's (like Rabe was), then Mathieu had a larger positive impact on this program in his Junior year alone than of the football kids had initially. I don't disagree with you that basketball recruiting needs to improve and that the roster (on paper) looks dicey going forward. That said, the on court results have had the Gophers playing with just about everyone through Richard's first two years. The (on paper) roster looked really bad when Pitino took over and he found a way to overachieve right out of the gate. The second year was a disappointment for sure, and the Lofton/Martin scholarships both turned out to be mistakes.