SJSU center Robert Vaihola commits to Gophers!!

Donate To GopherHole

GophersInIowa said:
Well I hope he is coming off the bench. As of this moment he's a starter because they don't have anyone else but the roster is complete yet. I would expect several other big men.
Click to expand...

Given the uncommitted big men in the portal now, I would expect him to be a starter or at least play most of the minutes at the 5. There really aren't a lot of decent or better centers available. Most of them are either relatively untested underclassmen or players who seemed destined to be "abandoned projects." My ballpark estimate is that Vaihola is in the top third anyway of available centers.

There is still time for big men to enter the portal so the landscape may improve but, let's face it, good big men are the scarcest commodity and we're not exactly a highly coveted destination. Niko might turn out to be a very good coach but he's not a John Calipari type who can substantially upgrade a program's recruiting quality overnight.
 



dannygopher9100 said:
In SJSUs last regular season game he had 19 rebounds, 13 points, 3 assists, 3 blocks, and 2 steals. In another game this year he had 8 rebounds, 7 blocks, and 5 assists.

I love seeing guys who can stuff a stat sheet. I’m excited to see how Medved will use him.
Click to expand...
I'm intrigued by the passing. He averaged 2.9 assists per 40 minutes. He doesn't shoot 3's at all but if he can keep the ball moving that is important in Niko's offense.

For reference, the per 40 minute assist rates for our squad:
Odukale: 4.9
Patterson: 3.9
Mitchell 3.5
Asuma: 3.4
Garcia: 2.3
Fox: 2.1
Mitchell: 1.9
Rigsby: 1.5

And next year's squad:

Omot: 0, or 1.6 if I use UND
Crocker-Johnson: 1.5
Durkin: 2.8

I checked to make sure he didn't massively pad his stats against the Little Sisters of the Poor (e.g. he had 17 points and 18 rebounds against Lincoln University, which has had an athletic department for 3 years and no player in their starting lineup over 6'3"). He had 5 assists each in games against USC, Wyoming, Western Illinois, and San Diego State. So that's cool. Maybe he can be our Oliver Miller.
 


eker0016 said:
I'm intrigued by the passing. He averaged 2.9 assists per 40 minutes. He doesn't shoot 3's at all but if he can keep the ball moving that is important in Niko's offense.

For reference, the per 40 minute assist rates for our squad:
Odukale: 4.9
Patterson: 3.9
Mitchell 3.5
Asuma: 3.4
Garcia: 2.3
Fox: 2.1
Mitchell: 1.9
Rigsby: 1.5

And next year's squad:

Omot: 0, or 1.6 if I use UND
Crocker-Johnson: 1.5
Durkin: 2.8

I checked to make sure he didn't massively pad his stats against the Little Sisters of the Poor (e.g. he had 17 points and 18 rebounds against Lincoln University, which has had an athletic department for 3 years and no player in their starting lineup over 6'3"). He had 5 assists each in games against USC, Wyoming, Western Illinois, and San Diego State. So that's cool. Maybe he can be our Oliver Miller.
Click to expand...
I would LOVE a Golden Gopher version of Oliver Miller.
 



Always interesting to read reactions to portal signings. No way of knowing at this point what kind of player he will be for us but two things we did know is we have spots to fill and a need for guys with some size. He checks both those boxes.

Will be interesting to see how the rest of the roster fills out. I would guess they will try and bring in some additional players with the ability to play the center spot but quality big men are definitely one of the toughest things to land in the portal because there are not a ton available and they are in high demand.

One thing that does seem certain however is that we are going to be a much better free throw shooting team next year. :)
 









Blackhammer said:
Not sure if that’s a feel good statement in regards to Vaihola. 🤔 Courtney James was another big who had passing skills.
Click to expand...
I was in undergrad during those years. His arc and development was fun to watch. I'd say he went from bungling big man to above average-ish big ten center at the end.
 


Here are a couple of assists from the USC game which I picked since he had 5 assists in this one against a high major. One is a kickout off a drive for a 3, the other is him rocketing a skip pass from the opposite baseline for a corner 3. He's got good vision. Looking forward to him kicking it out to Durkin all year.
 


You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom