Time to recruit an impact JUCO guard

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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Regardless if Devoe transfers or not, we need to recruit a JUCO guard. We lose Blake and Al for sure and possibly now Devoe. Assuming we lose Devoe, our guards next year are Chip, Mav, Austin Hollins, Andre Hollins and Joe Coleman. Chip/Mav/Austin will get some increased minutes with Devoe's void, but certainly not a ton of experience. Andre Hollins has a lot of hype right now and we very well may need him to start next season, but that's a big jump no matter who it is. Joe Coleman is a great athlete but will have to become a more well-rounded player before he gets big minutes in BT play.

Hopefully the staff has been recruiting JUCO guards as we definitely need someone with experience next year, otherwise we'll have one of the youngest back-courts we've had in a while - heck, I believe we should be recruiting a JUCO guard even if this latest Devoe mess gets worked out.

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
Regardless if Devoe transfers or not, we need to recruit a JUCO guard. We lose Blake and Al for sure and possibly now Devoe. Assuming we lose Devoe, our guards next year are Chip, Mav, Austin Hollins, Andre Hollins and Joe Coleman. Chip/Mav/Austin will get some increased minutes with Devoe's void, but certainly not a ton of experience. Andre Hollins has a lot of hype right now and we very well may need him to start next season, but that's a big jump no matter who it is. Joe Coleman is a great athlete but will have to become a more well-rounded player before he gets big minutes in BT play.

Hopefully the staff has been recruiting JUCO guards as we definitely need someone with experience next year, otherwise we'll have one of the youngest back-courts we've had in a while - heck, I believe we should be recruiting a JUCO guard even if this latest Devoe mess gets worked out.

Go Gophers!!
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Quite frankly and with all due respect - what took you so long to realize we need a point, and have for years?

It has been obvious for some time(years, not months) that Tubby needed to bring in a point guard that is a really good point man. Perhaps you are not referring to strictly point?
 

Agreed.

I'd argue we need a TRUE PG, not any of these "combo" guards. We need someone that will run the offense as a pass-first PG. With Nolen & Hoffarber leaving, and perhaps Joseph, I don't see any guard to just hand the ball to and say "run the offense." All of our guys are combo-type guards. Hopefully Andre Hollins can run the PG spot, but he also sounds like a Joseph-type guard who has played mostly 2, that will *maybe* convert to the 1.

If we don't get a true play maker in here in next year, it's going to be a LONG year.
 


This was an elephant in the room ever since we missed out on C. Joseph. But it's now impossible to ignore any longer.
 


If Devoe Transfers

Gophers have Austin Hollins, Joe Coleman, Andre Hollins, Chip Armelin, and Maverick Ahanmisi at G next year.

Maybe another would help but those 5 guards would be OK too.
 

You are obviously right on the elephant.
Andre' Hollins is a really smart kid, don't underestiamte him.
 

A team is only as good as its guard play.

Five guards that would consist of three sophomores and two freshmen isn't going to get it done. I can't imagine Tubby would sleep well with that situation considering how much he wants to be in control.

What the Gophers need right now more than a juco is a Division I transfer to enroll for the second semester so he is eligible next December.
 

Friend Of Tubby said:
Gophers have Austin Hollins, Joe Coleman, Andre Hollins, Chip Armelin, and Maverick Ahanmisi at G next year.

Maybe another would help but those 5 guards would be OK too.
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Only Andre and Mav are really PG's though, correct? So next year we'd have a freshman and a sophmore with a ways to go. Sorry, that's not ideal. A JUCO would be badly needed.
 



Friend Of Tubby said:
Gophers have Austin Hollins, Joe Coleman, Andre Hollins, Chip Armelin, and Maverick Ahanmisi at G next year.

Maybe another would help but those 5 guards would be OK too.
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I would hope that Tubby would want a back court that is more than just "OK".

FOT, how do you know those 5 would be "OK too"? What have you seen in the two BT games where the five have a combined 8 points in BT play?

Why do you think this 5 guard combo would be "OK" and why do you think they would just be "OK" and not better? Thanks in advance for your analysis.

Go Gophers!!
 

howeda7 said:
Only Austin and Mav are really PG's though, correct? So next year we'd have a freshman and a sophmore with a ways to go. Sorry, that's not ideal. A JUCO would be badly needed.
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Darius Smith is a promosing soph JuCo PG at College of Southern Idaho this season.
 

BleedGopher said:
I would hope that Tubby would want a back court that is more than just "OK".

FOT, how do you know those 5 would be "OK too"? What have you seen in the two BT games where the five have a combined 8 points in BT play?

Why do you think this 5 guard combo would be "OK" and why do you think they would just be "OK" and not better? Thanks in advance for your analysis.

Go Gophers!!
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2 are promising recruits. Hollins and Armelin have both played well so far this season, if not so much in last 2 games.
 






I agree, but it seems like the amount of talent coming out of the JUCO ranks over the past 5-10 years has significantly diminished with the emergence of prep schools. It would be great if there was a talented PG looking to transfer mid year who would be eligible for most of the Big Ten season in 2012. I feel strongly that nobody on the current roster is capable of playing PG in 2012. Putting all our eggs in the Andre Hollins basket is just not a good idea.
 



Here's his stats. I know nothing else about him, but his stats are solid other than only averaging 8 a game. My other problem just looking at stats is 1.7 assists/turnover ratio. That's not all that great for a 'pure' point guard who's only putting up 8 points a game. He's probably a good defender, 2.8 steals per game is impressive. Doesn't look like much of a shooter, he's only taken 10 3 pointers this year. If you click on his name it will show stats. Something is messed with the site, because it shows he has played in 15 games when you click on him, but only 5 on the other screen.

PPG 7.9
REB 4.9
AST 5.3
STL 2.8
TO 3.2
BLK .5
FG 48%
3PT 30%

Also had a 1.7 assist to turnover ratio.

http://www.njcaa.org/colleges_college_stats.cfm?sid=4&collegeid=1486&category=Stats&slid=2
 

How many impact juco guards have their been in the conference in the last 20 years? Not many. Especially point guards. The juco system is not the provider of talent that it once was. Easier said than done to get an impact guard. imo
 

Tubby and motivation?

How much of these player dissatisfaction can be attributed to Tubby? Either who he recruits or his ability to motivate players to want to play for the gophers? Also, I am not certain what kind of counseling program exists to assure that the players keep up with the academics. I do recall that this issue was an issue for Clem Haskins that got him in trouble playing social worker and doing the athletes work. The coach has to take some responsibility particularly if it is a recurrent problem for the team. At times the players do appear this year not to be that motivated. Maybe it is just that I think they can perform better.
 

Darius Smith is a point guard who was thought to become a Gopher. He visited in September of 2008, but Justin Cobbs would visited Minnesota two weekends later, committed first.
 


combes1 said:
How many impact juco guards have their been in the conference in the last 20 years? Not many. Especially point guards. The juco system is not the provider of talent that it once was. Easier said than done to get an impact guard. imo
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Really? You can't find Juco talent? Im a fan of Marquette and the gophers and the way Buzz Williams has balanced the class size mess Tom Crean left has been remarkable. Jimmy Butler, Darius Johnson-Odom, Jae Crowder, Dwight Buycks and Joe Fulce all played Juco basketball


there is plenty of talent. Casey Mitchell?
 

After watching Andre Hollins and Joe Coleman play this season, I think they will both be better than "OK". It will be interesting to see if Andre is ready to lead the team as the PG next season, but I believe both Andre and Joe will be very good players at MN. I still question whether Maverick will become a quality Big 10 PG so I wouldn't be opposed to bringing in another PG candidate for next season (especially if Devoe does transfer).
 

Okay, I have been saying we need to look at a Juco point since we recruited two high quality guards who are not natural points. The pending loss of Devoe makes that even more critical.

I am with the crowd that doubts Mav will be a fromt line Big Ten player, but I will be confident in him being a 10 minute back up. We need guys like that.

Coleman is clearly a 2, and even though we are talking about Andre being the point, I find it hard to believe he is gaining a lot of point skills while scoring 30 points a game. Looking forward to his becoming a Gopher, but not confident he can be the point. What I think about is that with our front line next year, the team has a chance to be very good, but needs a point that can do the job right away.

I suspect that if Tubby thought Chip could be a point, he would get more playing time at that spot than he is now.

Not a clue about who is available at Juco, but I hope we can find him.
 


howeda7 said:
This was an elephant in the room ever since we missed out on C. Joseph. But it's now impossible to ignore any longer.
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You can't ignore it at this point, you can only deny it and denial rarely eliminates an issue.

Does Joseph's discontent and departure bring another elephant into the room? MO?
 

MN1nAZ said:
You can't ignore it at this point, you can only deny it and denial rarely eliminates an issue.

Does Joseph's discontent and departure bring another elephant into the room? MO?
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Hope not - Mo is going to be terrific for the Gophs. Plus he and Tubby seem to be on the same wavelength. A post this past week had Tubby saying that Mo was one of the smartest players he had coached and Tubby had been giving him a fair amount of PT.
 

Chris Monter said:
Darius Smith is a point guard who was thought to become a Gopher. He visited in September of 2008, but Justin Cobbs would visited Minnesota two weekends later, committed first.
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## Player GP-GS Min--Avg FG-FGA Pct 3FG-FGA Pct FT-FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg PF FO A TO Blk Stl Pts Avg
24 Smith, Darius...... 16-14 401 25.1 49-99 .495 3-10 .300 34-45 .756 24 59 83 5.2 38 1 90 53 8 46 135 8.4


Through December 16 at the JC.
 

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