Zach Lofton Update

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MadtownGopher said:
Has Lofton ever officially committed? None of these Spring recruits have signed yet, so that is still something to watch. I believe all 3 are still trying to get thier paperwork in order and/or get a qualifying test score.
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I think Lofton and Konate are pretty much locks. Konate sounds really close to qualifying. The question mark for me is Gaston. It sounded like he'd sign a day or two after committing but apparently that hasn't happened yet. I'm not sure if it's a qualifying or paperwork issue or what. I still think the door is slightly cracked open for Justin Martin if he wants to come here.
 


Down with Goldy said:
The anti-Lofton people just baffle me.
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I think there's middle ground. I'm much more excited about the potential of a few other recruits, but Lofton's a Gopher now, and he's as excited to be a Gopher as I wish all Minnesota kids are. And he clearly has range on his jumper, and the sort of athleticism and size that we've been looking for. So, I look forward to seeing what he can do. I just wish Pulley was around this summer for all these new kids.
 

jmag21 said:
I think there's middle ground. I'm much more excited about the potential of a few other recruits, but Lofton's a Gopher now, and he's as excited to be a Gopher as I wish all Minnesota kids are. And he clearly has range on his jumper, and the sort of athleticism and size that we've been looking for. So, I look forward to seeing what he can do. I just wish Pulley was around this summer for all these new kids.
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I think a lot of people see the low shooting percentage at a non high major conference and think Malik Smith, but Lofton is very different.

For one thing, Malik Smith was a three point shooter and that's basically it. His final year at FIU he took 71% of his shots from behind the 3-point line and only 12% at the rim. Lofton took 52% from behind the arc and 19% at the rim last season - those are marked differences. Smith went a little more extreme with the Gophers at 78% and 10%, but even if Lofton shifts more towards a 3-point shooter role (I don't expect this to happen) he would probably wind up with similar splits as Dre Hollins last year, a vastly different type of player than Malik Smith.
 

Down with Goldy said:
The anti-Lofton people just baffle me.
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It's the Minnesota nice crowd. They're typically 44 years old and will often be heard talking about the 1991 World Series. They'd rather have a passive player like Ralph Sampson and Rodney Williams.

A guy with an attitude and competitive edge belongs somewhere ridiculous like Boston or New York to these people.
 


Down with Goldy said:
I think a lot of people see the low shooting percentage at a non high major conference and think Malik Smith, but Lofton is very different.

For one thing, Malik Smith was a three point shooter and that's basically it. His final year at FIU he took 71% of his shots from behind the 3-point line and only 12% at the rim. Lofton took 52% from behind the arc and 19% at the rim last season - those are marked differences. Smith went a little more extreme with the Gophers at 78% and 10%, but even if Lofton shifts more towards a 3-point shooter role (I don't expect this to happen) he would probably wind up with similar splits as Dre Hollins last year, a vastly different type of player than Malik Smith.
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Which might be inspiring if Lofton wasn't equally bad at converting at the rim.
 

Down with Goldy said:
The anti-Lofton people just baffle me.
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Wasn't a 4* recruit so he can't be that good. He brings that passion and a little bit of the cockiness that the Gophers need, Mathieu showed a little of that this year, hoping that Lofton can continue the trend.
 

Plinnius said:
Which might be inspiring if Lofton wasn't equally bad at converting at the rim.
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Lofton made 66% of his shots at the rim. Smith was at 41% his last year at FIU and 27% last year. Lofton's 66% would have been just slightly below the Gophers team average last year, but better than the national average.
 

Was gonna leave the message board alone,but it's my guilty pleasure
"I'm back"
Opinions are Opinions,their all bias
I'm pro Lofton and Obama so let's just get that out the way
Clean slate is always nice and so is common ground
#GoGophers
 




Down with Goldy said:
Lofton made 66% of his shots at the rim. Smith was at 41% his last year at FIU and 27% last year. Lofton's 66% would have been just slightly below the Gophers team average last year, but better than the national average.
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I notice he only shot .339 from the field last year. You would think his shooting percentage would be better if he is "better than the national average" for shots at the rim. Makes me wonder what kind of jump shooter this kid is.
 


afurry91 said:
It's the Minnesota nice crowd. They're typically 44 years old and will often be heard talking about the 1991 World Series. They'd rather have a passive player like Ralph Sampson and Rodney Williams.

A guy with an attitude and competitive edge belongs somewhere ridiculous like Boston or New York to these people.
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What an ignorant statement. The older crowd isn't the one making these recruiting threads mildly entertaining with insights based on rumors, tweets, some rating service, or intense analysis of 5 minutes of highly edited YouTube video. So we get to read arguments about how much a guy weighs based on pictures maybe a year old; is he a 4 or a 5 in Rich's system; does he have an attitude problem; or what a tweet actually means which is sometimes hard to figure out if it's a year old. Then we always have the "I'd rather have so and so," or the "I'm okay with him," like who the hell cares?

What's amazing is how these opinions about a recruit can change so dramatically. Same guys who damn near wet themselves over some guy they've never actually seen play, will be the first ones who say they suck or let's get rid of them. It ain't us older folks who do that. I remember 1991 because that's the last time a Minnesota team ever one a championship that was meaningful to the rest of the country. Sorry, puck fans, but it's true.

Generally, we don't pretend to know more about what Pitino sees or is thinking than we do. So I'm not sure why the older fans are being dragged into this because you're frustrated in some back and forth with some other guy who twitters and tweets. FYI, virtually everyone 44 years (or older) wants a Richard Coffey, a Bobby Jackson, a Russell Westbrook, or a DeAndre Mathieu than a Ralph Sampson. We tend to base our opinions on actual games; not on what we wish.
 



Mulligan said:
What an ignorant statement. The older crowd isn't the one making these recruiting threads mildly entertaining with insights based on rumors, tweets, some rating service, or intense analysis of 5 minutes of highly edited YouTube video. So we get to read arguments about how much a guy weighs based on pictures maybe a year old; is he a 4 or a 5 in Rich's system; does he have an attitude problem; or what a tweet actually means which is sometimes hard to figure out if it's a year old. Then we always have the "I'd rather have so and so," or the "I'm okay with him," like who the hell cares?

What's amazing is how these opinions about a recruit can change so dramatically. Same guys who damn near wet themselves over some guy they've never actually seen play, will be the first ones who say they suck or let's get rid of them. It ain't us older folks who do that. I remember 1991 because that's the last time a Minnesota team ever one a championship that was meaningful to the rest of the country. Sorry, puck fans, but it's true.

Generally, we don't pretend to know more about what Pitino sees or is thinking than we do. So I'm not sure why the older fans are being dragged into this because you're frustrated in some back and forth with some other guy who twitters and tweets. FYI, virtually everyone 44 years (or older) wants a Richard Coffey, a Bobby Jackson, a Russell Westbrook, or a DeAndre Mathieu than a Ralph Sampson. We tend to base our opinions on actual games; not on what we wish.
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Fantastic post.
 

Mulligan said:
What an ignorant statement. The older crowd isn't the one making these recruiting threads mildly entertaining with insights based on rumors, tweets, some rating service, or intense analysis of 5 minutes of highly edited YouTube video. So we get to read arguments about how much a guy weighs based on pictures maybe a year old; is he a 4 or a 5 in Rich's system; does he have an attitude problem; or what a tweet actually means which is sometimes hard to figure out if it's a year old. Then we always have the "I'd rather have so and so," or the "I'm okay with him," like who the hell cares?

What's amazing is how these opinions about a recruit can change so dramatically. Same guys who damn near wet themselves over some guy they've never actually seen play, will be the first ones who say they suck or let's get rid of them. It ain't us older folks who do that. I remember 1991 because that's the last time a Minnesota team ever one a championship that was meaningful to the rest of the country. Sorry, puck fans, but it's true.

Generally, we don't pretend to know more about what Pitino sees or is thinking than we do. So I'm not sure why the older fans are being dragged into this because you're frustrated in some back and forth with some other guy who twitters and tweets. FYI, virtually everyone 44 years (or older) wants a Richard Coffey, a Bobby Jackson, a Russell Westbrook, or a DeAndre Mathieu than a Ralph Sampson. We tend to base our opinions on actual games; not on what we wish.
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Standing Ovation - great post
 

Down with Goldy said:
Lofton made 66% of his shots at the rim. Smith was at 41% his last year at FIU and 27% last year. Lofton's 66% would have been just slightly below the Gophers team average last year, but better than the national average.
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As Plinnius pointed out, your numbers look incorrect.

46.6% of shots at the rim for Lofton, not 66% (Looks like you might have got him mixed up with Bobby Hunter)
Smith actually looks to be at 57.1% for this year
The year at FIU on Smith looks to be correct
 


Ditto.

Thanks Mulligan for some actual insight. Yes, there are some of us old farts in our 40's who prefer to withhold our "bed-wetting"/damnation about/of a player until we at least see him play in person a few times.
 

afurry91 said:
It's the Minnesota nice crowd. They're typically 44 years old and will often be heard talking about the 1991 World Series. They'd rather have a passive player like Ralph Sampson and Rodney Williams.

A guy with an attitude and competitive edge belongs somewhere ridiculous like Boston or New York to these people.
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No the 1987 series..
 


These same folks who are dragging Lofton over the coals are the same ones who dragged King over the coals. All we need is players who can play minutes….either as starters or off the bench. Would Pitino prefer a 5-star recruit over Lofton? Sure, but guess what, he is a new coach, didn't have much time to build relationships with the big dogs, didn't have a long track record, and is trying to draw kids to a school without a decent practice gym, weight room, training table etc., in a state with lousy weather. So Pitino doesn't complain about what he doesn't have, brags about what he does have and goes out and gets the best recruits he can. Then he coaches them up, like great coaches do and we all see the results.
Most the guys this year decided where they were going before Pitino coached a single game. His success this year will probably enable him to reel in more highly recruited players next year. In the meantime, with half the scholarships available and another 4 opening up next year, he needed to get guys to fill holes. We are losing Andre next year and Zach will fill that role as a starter or off the bench. Will he be as good as Andre? Probably not, but if he is, Minnesota players are going to notice what Pitino can do with a player and more seriously consider becoming gophers. The truth is, we are getting a lot more than we are losing with this recruiting class and that makes me really excited about next year because this year was awesome!
 

Count me in as someone excited to see Lofton hit the court for the Gophers. I think he'll be a good player.
 

CoMn said:
These same folks who are dragging Lofton over the coals are the same ones who dragged King over the coals. All we need is players who can play minutes….either as starters or off the bench. Would Pitino prefer a 5-star recruit over Lofton? Sure, but guess what, he is a new coach, didn't have much time to build relationships with the big dogs, didn't have a long track record, and is trying to draw kids to a school without a decent practice gym, weight room, training table etc., in a state with lousy weather. So Pitino doesn't complain about what he doesn't have, brags about what he does have and goes out and gets the best recruits he can. Then he coaches them up, like great coaches do and we all see the results.
Most the guys this year decided where they were going before Pitino coached a single game. His success this year will probably enable him to reel in more highly recruited players next year. In the meantime, with half the scholarships available and another 4 opening up next year, he needed to get guys to fill holes. We are losing Andre next year and Zach will fill that role as a starter or off the bench. Will he be as good as Andre? Probably not, but if he is, Minnesota players are going to notice what Pitino can do with a player and more seriously consider becoming gophers. The truth is, we are getting a lot more than we are losing with this recruiting class and that makes me really excited about next year because this year was awesome!
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That is an excellent commentary on the situation.Thanks!
 

My thoughts on Lofton.

First off it's nice that he's a huge Gopher fan, but flattery means little to nothing. If he can get a medical waiver because his cousin has a migraine or something & play this year, then he's an upgrade at the 3 or a contributor at minimum. If he can't, then I'm a little confused. With Pitino's recruiting prowess & 18 months to recruit, why couldn't we find a better 3 (a position that's easy to recruit) with 4 years of eligibility & no questions surrounding his behavior?
 

CoMn said:
These same folks who are dragging Lofton over the coals are the same ones who dragged King over the coals. All we need is players who can play minutes….either as starters or off the bench. Would Pitino prefer a 5-star recruit over Lofton? Sure, but guess what, he is a new coach, didn't have much time to build relationships with the big dogs, didn't have a long track record, and is trying to draw kids to a school without a decent practice gym, weight room, training table etc., in a state with lousy weather. So Pitino doesn't complain about what he doesn't have, brags about what he does have and goes out and gets the best recruits he can. Then he coaches them up, like great coaches do and we all see the results.
Most the guys this year decided where they were going before Pitino coached a single game. His success this year will probably enable him to reel in more highly recruited players next year. In the meantime, with half the scholarships available and another 4 opening up next year, he needed to get guys to fill holes. We are losing Andre next year and Zach will fill that role as a starter or off the bench. Will he be as good as Andre? Probably not, but if he is, Minnesota players are going to notice what Pitino can do with a player and more seriously consider becoming gophers. The truth is, we are getting a lot more than we are losing with this recruiting class and that makes me really excited about next year because this year was awesome!
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Assuming Lofton won't be eligible to play this coming season, wouldn't that give Pitino 18 mos to build some relationships?
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
As Plinnius pointed out, your numbers look incorrect.

46.6% of shots at the rim for Lofton, not 66% (Looks like you might have got him mixed up with Bobby Hunter)
Smith actually looks to be at 57.1% for this year
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Can we swap him for Bobby Hunter?

Way to just pull numbers out of your can Down.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
My thoughts on Lofton.

First off it's nice that he's a huge Gopher fan, but flattery means little to nothing. If he can get a medical waiver because his cousin has a migraine or something & play this year, then he's an upgrade at the 3 or a contributor at minimum. If he can't, then I'm a little confused. With Pitino's recruiting prowess & 18 months to recruit, why couldn't we find a better 3 (a position that's easy to recruit) with 4 years of eligibility & no questions surrounding his behavior?
Costa Rican Gopher said:
Assuming Lofton won't be eligible to play this coming season, wouldn't that give Pitino 18 mos to build some relationships?
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I see your point, but with the same thought process, Zach evens out the recruting classes as well. In your scenario we would have a really young team in 2015 with 4 senior graduating and only Morris and King as seniors. The Junior group would also be 2 players (baring JuCO signings next year) and then you would have a class of 4 and 4 in freshman and sophomores. (I might be off on the exacts, but the point remains we would be young)

Bringing in Zach gives him another scholarship to recruit with after next year, which with the logic we are using right now that Pitino needs time to sell his brand, would give him 30 months to recruit a wing.
 


Costa Rican Gopher said:
My thoughts on Lofton.

First off it's nice that he's a huge Gopher fan, but flattery means little to nothing. If he can get a medical waiver because his cousin has a migraine or something & play this year, then he's an upgrade at the 3 or a contributor at minimum. If he can't, then I'm a little confused. With Pitino's recruiting prowess & 18 months to recruit, why couldn't we find a better 3 (a position that's easy to recruit) with 4 years of eligibility & no questions surrounding his behavior?
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18 months, so he was recuiting for the gophers before he coached a single game at FIU
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
My thoughts on Lofton.

First off it's nice that he's a huge Gopher fan, but flattery means little to nothing. If he can get a medical waiver because his cousin has a migraine or something & play this year, then he's an upgrade at the 3 or a contributor at minimum. If he can't, then I'm a little confused. With Pitino's recruiting prowess & 18 months to recruit, why couldn't we find a better 3 (a position that's easy to recruit) with 4 years of eligibility & no questions surrounding his behavior?
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We'll still have at least 4 open spots for next year's class. And even if Pitino got a talented 3 next year, it'd still be a freshman. Even the best freshmen in the country are inconsistent. Lofton has experience and evens out the classes. I don't understand people not liking this move because it takes up a scholarship next year. Like I said, we still have at least 4 left. That's plenty. We needed to supplement the King and Buggs classes so we aren't insanely young in 2015.
 

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