Wally #3

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Bayfieldgopher

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I really enjoy watching Wally when he gets in.

Anyone doubting his ability to dunk should have been convinced last night. But there is more to his game that caught my eye.

My take is that he is active, has good mobility, hands and has the potential to score from outside and inside. It looks like he has a hitch in his shot which may need to be corrected. At least once his man got to the hoop but so did other NU players against the Gophers last evening. He lacks quickness while defending and his footwork needs work. But I think his D was OK and will get better.

He looks comfortable out there considering he has seen such little PT.

It will be interesting to see if Wally's work in practice will convince Tubby to gradually give him more PT.
 

Agreed. I love this kid. He appears to be another big under the radar get for Tubby and staff. His athleticism and outside shooting will make him a potential all-big ten player by the time he's a senior. And yes his defense does need work, but that will come. He did have a defensive lapse under the basket and turned the ball over on the ensuing offensive possession, but this is expected for a freshman, especially considering it was in his first few minutes of big ten play.
 

"I doubt Wally's ability to dunk" said nobody ever.
 

His minutes will expand as his comfort level, and contributions expand through B10 play.

It's a totally different animal, but I see him handling Wally like he handled Trevor coming back from his knee injury. Make sure he's in game shape, spoon-feed him some time, and increase his minutes along the way.
 

Gophers should send Wally......

to the Blake Hoffarber 3 pt shooting school! I need another lefty hero, and this guy could be it. He has alot of basketball savvy, great athleticism, and the ball just seems to find him.

I would like to see him be early off the bench if Joe is in foul trouble. If Joe can play the 3, Wally can fill that role too and possibly add some outside shooting.
 



I thought he looked a little lost out there. There was one possession he was lost and standing on top of Oto, then finally moved to the corner. I believe that's where he shot his 3. I think he needs more game-type experience but he's buried on the bench.

His defense was terrible, but so was everyone elses on the court at that point - especially Mo Walker. So you can't really knock him on that.

Kid sure can jump though. Is he on the track team?
 

I wasn't too impressed with his offensive showing at the end of the game. Missed an easy reverse lay-up, missed a pull up jumper in the lane, and miss a three in the corner with less than a minute left in the game when the shot clock was nearly full (Tubby couldn't have been happy with that). I agree, he needs more time, but I'm not sure who he can snipe time from at this point. Show some consistency when he's in the game, and then it may be worth considering.

I do like that he's not afraid to pull the trigger.
 

stocker08 said:
I wasn't too impressed with his offensive showing at the end of the game. Missed an easy reverse lay-up, missed a pull up jumper in the lane, and miss a three in the corner with less than a minute left in the game when the shot clock was nearly full (Tubby couldn't have been happy with that). I agree, he needs more time, but I'm not sure who he can snipe time from at this point. Show some consistency when he's in the game, and then it may be worth considering.

I do like that he's not afraid to pull the trigger.
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That was actually probably as tough as a lay up can get. He was going for a reverse jam, wasn't high enough and just threw up a prayer.
 



afurry91 said:
That was actually probably as tough as a lay up can get. He was going for a reverse jam, wasn't high enough and just threw up a prayer.
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I suppose I was watching on my computer so I couldn't really tell. It looked to me like he could have easily layed it in. I may have been mistaken. That was probably the biggest gripe I had.
 

stocker08 said:
I suppose I was watching on my computer so I couldn't really tell. It looked to me like he could have easily layed it in. I may have been mistaken. That was probably the biggest gripe I had.
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He made it more difficult than it needed to be, but in his 3rd collegiate game, I'm not gonna hold it against him just yet.
 

leftyslefty said:
to the Blake Hoffarber 3 pt shooting school! I need another lefty hero, and this guy could be it. He has alot of basketball savvy, great athleticism, and the ball just seems to find him.

I would like to see him be early off the bench if Joe is in foul trouble. If Joe can play the 3, Wally can fill that role too and possibly add some outside shooting.
Click to expand...

Joe was the first one to the bench Monday as he was playing like crap. Oto came in for him. If anyone's minutes increase significantly it will be Oto's.

Ellenson is a true freshman that missed all of the non-conference schedule, on an experienced and deep team. The chances of him playing any significant minutes this year are minimal.
 

Bayfieldgopher said:
I really enjoy watching Wally when he gets in.

Anyone doubting his ability to dunk should have been convinced last night. But there is more to his game that caught my eye.

My take is that he is active, has good mobility, hands and has the potential to score from outside and inside. It looks like he has a hitch in his shot which may need to be corrected. At least once his man got to the hoop but so did other NU players against the Gophers last evening. He lacks quickness while defending and his footwork needs work. But I think his D was OK and will get better.

He looks comfortable out there considering he has seen such little PT.

It will be interesting to see if Wally's work in practice will convince Tubby to gradually give him more PT.
Click to expand...

So your saying he looks like a left-handed Sam Jacobson...
 



I thought he looked like a guy behind in the schemes of the offense and defense. He was active, made some nice above the rim plays (yeah, not sure who doubted his dunking ability either lol), but he also did look a little lost on both sides when it came to halfcourt stuff. I don't anticipate him contributing much this year, but I'm sure he'll get valuable minutes at some point (whether injury or just to see where he's at a little) that will prove beneficial for him next year. I still think it will feel a little bit like a lost year, but I won't count out game experience as a good teacher.
 

tinyarch said:
So your saying he looks like a left-handed Sam Jacobson...
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I was literally just about to post this.

He is a left handed Sam Jacobson and not in the way that every white WR is like Eric Decker.
 

I see his minutes increasing as the year progresses. The one time I concentrated on his defense I was impressed with his quickness. I think he's more talented than any of the 2nd team guys.
 

SJUgopher said:
I thought he looked a little lost out there. There was one possession he was lost and standing on top of Oto, then finally moved to the corner. I believe that's where he shot his 3. I think he needs more game-type experience but he's buried on the bench.

His defense was terrible, but so was everyone elses on the court at that point - especially Mo Walker. So you can't really knock him on that.

Kid sure can jump though. Is he on the track team?
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Wally high jumped 7ft in high school, # 1 in the nation for preps I believe. He is going to high jump for the Gophers as well. I am sure he triple jumps as well. Wally could likely be an Olympian if he worked at it.
 

Halsey Hall said:
I see his minutes increasing as the year progresses. The one time I concentrated on his defense I was impressed with his quickness. I think he's more talented than any of the 2nd team guys.
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After watching Mav get beat to the hole two times in a row and almost falling over the top of S********ski, I can hardly wait for Wally to play defense!
 

Wally made it pretty clear in the Strib interview that he didn't want to be here 5 years...he plans on playing pro ball somewhere after college...so this isn't a lost year if he is planning on leaving after 3 or 4 anyways...any time he gets now is found time to make him better next year and hopefully much better his Jr and if we are lucky, his Sr year.
 

My descriptive of his game.

Fluid.

He seems to glide across the court effortlessly. Watch someone like Welch in transition and then watch Wally, one is trying to run, the other is gliding down the court.

He looks uber athletic, and that is exactly what Tubby likes. If the kid can knock down a jumper at any rate he will be a threat.

I think his ceiling is becoming the 3 we always wanted Rodney to be, one that can guard an athletic wing and compete in the boards as well as get out on the break and move our fast break.

As a freshman, he just looks smooth, and you can work with smooth.
 

tinyarch said:
So your saying he looks like a left-handed Sam Jacobson...
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I was not going to respond to your garbage posts but I can't help it. If your goal in life is to prove that you are right, you will have a very sad life. You are just trying to say that your points were valid about Tubby's offense and Mav...... I know you are a just a kid. When you become a man, sometimes you have to admit that you are wrong. Mav. had a bad 1st half and so did everybody else. He was great during the 2nd half.

I said that Michigan was not going to be good this year and man I was wrong. See, there is nothing wrong with being wrong. Stop these bashing posts. When you grow up, you will look back and realize what I am saying.

Go Gophers
 

I mainly like his confidence and enthusiasm. He's going to screw up, but it looks like he just loves being out there and isn't scared to make a move as a freshman. I hope Tubby doesn't try to rein him in too much. But I think Oto is going to limit his minutes. Outside of his still cringe-inducing 3 pointers, Oto is being a contributor.
 

The kid's got unlimited talent & confidence, but needs to be reigned in. You can see he's natural gunner who wants to jack one up and/or slam one home every time he touches the ball. At this level though he'll have to play within the team concept. His game right now reminds me a little of how Chip's game was. Exciting, but undisciplined.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
The kid's got unlimited talent & confidence, but needs to be reigned in. You can see he's natural gunner who wants to jack one up and/or slam one home every time he touches the ball. At this level though he'll have to play within the team concept. His game right now reminds me a little of how Chip's game was. Exciting, but undisciplined.
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I agree. The difference is, this team has players who can make their own shot. Chip was one of the few players willing to drive and put something up. We don't need Ellenson to do that.
 

stocker08 said:
I agree. The difference is, this team has players who can make their own shot. Chip was one of the few players willing to drive and put something up. We don't need Ellenson to do that.
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Exactly right! I never had a problem with chuck-it-up-Chip because he was the only guy with the stones & athleticism so get a shot off on that 2nd unit. This year we have a lot more depth & Wally needs to play within the system, unless he's specifically subbed in to be the scorer on that 2nd unit & even then you gotta keep the upperclassmen involved.
 




He has potential but aside from the 2 dunks he missed a FT, had a TO, got beat on defense and missed jumper. He needs court time to get better. That said it is good he burned his redshirt because the experience he gets this year, though limited, will give him a chance to be a contributor next year.
 

Will only see garbage time this season... that is why Smith preferred to redshirt him. Jumping high get people excited but only a part of having game. Quickness way more valuable and Wally lacks it for a high major off guard
 

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