Trevor Best PF since McHale?

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gopherbadgerman

gopherbadgerman

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Do you think Trevor is the best PF the Gophs have had since McHale? In the since of a true PF I would say he is excellent, although Humphries was a better player, he was a tool. Better than James? Rickert or Bauer (if you consider them PF's)?
Better than Richard Coffey?

Curious to what the 'holers say on this.
 

You overlook Roland Brooks. Arguably more effective than James.
 


Trevor is better than all of them. The only 2 who come close, or that is, the next best, are Coffey, of course, and Holmes, who played on the Breuer-Tucker-Mitchell conference champs, can't remember his 1st name, sorry. In fact, those are probably 3 of the best 5 PFs ever because there was no such thing as a PF (a 2nd center) until the '60s. Well, there's Mark Olberding but he was only here 1 year.

1. McHale
2. Jim Brewer
3. Trevor
4. Ron Behagen
5. Coffey
6. Dave Winfield
7. Holmes
8. Courtney James
9. Larry Mikan
10. Dan Coleman?
 



humphries better hands down... NBA concurs as he was a 14th pick. plus he led Big Ten in scoring and boards. Trevor averaging 9.5 ppg and playing like a 2nd round pick...not even close. THESCOUT!
 


The Hump

As easy and as popular as it is to rip Humphries on this board, I still have to say he's the best Gophers power forward I've seen in my 21 years as a Gopher season-ticket holder, and I really, really like(d) what Courtney James and Trevor brought/bring to the court. We're talking pure talent and production here, not likability.

Was Hump the most likable? No. The best teammate? Probably not. Easy to cheer for? Debatable.

But his scoring & rebounding numbers (yes, I know about his low assist totals) are impossible to ignore, and his cocksure arrogance along with his numbers were about the only things that kept me from falling asleep during the 2003-04 season.
 




Humphries is easily better, but he was a hell of a talent so that isn't really a dig at Trevor. It would have been really interesting to see Humphries play on a team as talented as this year's Gopher team. The team Humphries played on was about as weak as they come, so he had to shoulder most of the scoring to keep them in games. I remember a pretty epic back and fourth WI/MN game where it was essentially Humphries vs Devin Harris.
 

MadtownGopher said:
Humphries is easily better, but he was a hell of a talent so that isn't really a dig at Trevor. It would have been really interesting to see Humphries play on a team as talented as this year's Gopher team. The team Humphries played on was about as weak as they come, so he had to shoulder most of the scoring to keep them in games. I remember a pretty epic back and fourth WI/MN game where it was essentially Humphries vs Devin Harris.
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This would be more of a legitimate question if Hump hadn't intentionally avoided playing for a good team (Duke) to play for a bad team. He wanted to be a star on a bad team. It worked out for him but that attitude likely means he wouldn't flourish on a good team.

I don't think he was better than Trevor because they are very different players but Rickert was very good the two years he was here. I think Rickert and Trevor would compliment each other and create major match-up problems.

I have never understood why most the GH seem to minimize Rickert's abilties because of his misguided early departure. I really wish I knew the backstory to his departure. It made no sense then and makes no sense now.
 

Winnipegopher said:
This would be more of a legitimate question if Hump hadn't intentionally avoided playing for a good team (Duke) to play for a bad team. He wanted to be a star on a bad team. It worked out for him but that attitude likely means he wouldn't flourish on a good team.

I don't think he was better than Trevor because they are very different players but Rickert was very good the two years he was here. I think Rickert and Trevor would compliment each other and create major match-up problems.

I have never understood why most the GH seem to minimize Rickert's abilties because of his misguided early departure. I really wish I knew the backstory to his departure. It made no sense then and makes no sense now.
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Humphries didn't choose Minnesota because they sucked (weird that you would think that is why he ended up a Gopher). Coach K said he only wanted him if he committed to staying at Duke longer than one year (at the time this was a Coach K staple, but he has obviously changed this policy since). Humphries wanted to be a one and done so he committed to the hometown team.
 




From what I recall of my youth watching James play I think he had a chance to be the best if he had been in the program longer. I remember seeing flashes of dominance at times and then the next year he was gone for some reason.;)
 

MadtownGopher said:
Humphries didn't choose Minnesota because they sucked (weird that you would think that is why he ended up a Gopher). Coach K said he only wanted him if he committed to staying at Duke longer than one year (at the time this was a Coach K staple, but he has obviously changed this policy since). Humphries wanted to be a one and done so he committed to the hometown team.
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I have no inside knowledge and you may be right about Coach K but I am pretty convinced he picked Minnesota because he would be able to star and do what he liked. Why did Monson allow that? Because we were lousy. We were coming off an 8-8 Big Ten season where we had just lost our best player (Rickert), our best guard (Burleson) and our best inside presence (Holman).

Hump could have picked a much better program and still been one and done.
 

Perhaps he picked Mn. to play in front of his friends and family and for his home state team who's coach recruited him like a madman...Like we want Jones, Travis and Vaughn to do. Nah playing for loser team to be a star rather than going to Duke makes WAY MORE SENSE! wink wink.
 

<img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OjQ0ws8ILhY/S0a0OihRZ8I/AAAAAAAAAZQ/5rwAooQqbds/s400/MilesTarver_1996-97_0001.jpg">
 

Winnipegopher said:
I have no inside knowledge and you may be right about Coach K but I am pretty convinced he picked Minnesota because he would be able to star and do what he liked. Why did Monson allow that? Because we were lousy. We were coming off an 8-8 Big Ten season where we had just lost our best player (Rickert), our best guard (Burleson) and our best inside presence (Holman).

Hump could have picked a much better program and still been one and done.
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I think these factors went together. Duke wound up going to the Final Four in 2003-04 and had Shelden Williams, a major high school star and future NBA lottery pick, penciled in at power forward. The Blue Devils also had JJ Redick and Luol Deng demanding the ball. There's no way Humphries could have executed a one and done, or possibly even a two and done, at Duke. I can see Coach K warning him off. At that point, the Gophers probably seemed like a good target and Monson a good enabler to make it to the NBA as quickly as possible with the bonus of staying home. To his credit, Humphries has stuck in the league and will have earned close to $40,000,000 in his career by the end of this season and is still only 27, so he has a lot of year still to come. I figured he'd be playing in the NBDL or a third rate overseas league by now.
 

Humphries requested release from Duke not visa versa in May a little late for Duke to recruit another player and only one recruit signed. Kentucky had 4 or 5 nba first round picks twice ,North Carolina had 4 1st rounders in 2012. If you got game and play for one of the bigs you will get drafted on your ability not your numbers
 

THE SCOUT! said:
humphries better hands down... NBA concurs as he was a 14th pick. plus he led Big Ten in scoring and boards. Trevor averaging 9.5 ppg and playing like a 2nd round pick...not even close. THESCOUT!
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I agree with THESCOUT! I'm getting my head checked. :) Go Wolves!
 

Humphries was good. But when ranking or rating a player, doesn't whoever is doing the ranking or rating of the player, usually take into account whether they help their team win or not? Humphries may have had talent, but I don't know that he made us a better team. I have 2 friends who are diehard IU fans & another who is a UNC fan, and they've pointed to Humphries as one of the worst "cancers" they've ever seen in cbb history. Everytime the topic comes up, he's the first person they mention. I'm one of those who try to see the best in everyone, including a "cancer" like Humphries, and in his defense, I believe that while one of the reasons he came to Minnesota was a selfish reason, so what? Really. I think the he believed he'd help the team. Whether he did or not, I do not think that he purposely played in a way that he felt was detrimental to the team. And honestly, that's partly the coaches fault. With a player like Humphries, who probably wanted to win as much as anyone else, you have to show him how helping out his teammates and helping to make them better players will help him and his team.
 

THE SCOUT! said:
humphries better hands down... NBA concurs as he was a 14th pick. plus he led Big Ten in scoring and boards. Trevor averaging 9.5 ppg and playing like a 2nd round pick...not even close. THESCOUT!
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The Scout has a point, as much as I hate to admit it.
 


Winnipegopher said:
I have no inside knowledge and you may be right about Coach K but I am pretty convinced he picked Minnesota because he would be able to star and do what he liked. Why did Monson allow that? Because we were lousy. We were coming off an 8-8 Big Ten season where we had just lost our best player (Rickert), our best guard (Burleson) and our best inside presence (Holman).

Hump could have picked a much better program and still been one and done.
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The story I heard & that always made sense was that Kris (and his Dad William) signed with Duke. Then they showed up, sat down & explained to Coach K. that Kris would start as a Freshman & that 25% of the shots would come through him. Coach K then said "That's not how I do things. How about I grant you & your son a release so you can go catch on somewhere else?" and Kris came home to play for us (read: he & his Dad) for a year.
 

Sports_Realist said:
I think these factors went together. Duke wound up going to the Final Four in 2003-04 and had Shelden Williams, a major high school star and future NBA lottery pick, penciled in at power forward. The Blue Devils also had JJ Redick and Luol Deng demanding the ball. There's no way Humphries could have executed a one and done, or possibly even a two and done, at Duke. I can see Coach K warning him off. At that point, the Gophers probably seemed like a good target and Monson a good enabler to make it to the NBA as quickly as possible with the bonus of staying home. To his credit, Humphries has stuck in the league and will have earned close to $40,000,000 in his career by the end of this season and is still only 27, so he has a lot of year still to come. I figured he'd be playing in the NBDL or a third rate overseas league by now.
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Wow! I had to read it a couple of times to let it sink in.
 

Do I dare mention the original "Kris Humphries" who ended up playing 12 years in the ABA/NBA?

Mark Olberding only played one season at Minnesota (in the Musselman era) and then when Musselman left he took Mark with him into the ABA. Mark was a phenomenal talent, leading Melrose to the 1971 and 1974 Class A boys championship. Olberding played 12 seasons in the ABA/NBA with his most productive years being at San Antonio.

Olberding may not be the best power forward...and he came before McHale...but he is one of the top 5 in Minnesota history.

View attachment 1917
 

I wonder what Trevor could have averaged on that team? This team is 3 times as talented. I still give it to Humphries for his scoring, especially his ability to hit the 15 foot shot. I think trevor is a better rebounder and a better defensive player though.
 

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