So the Gophers are 4-0. It's probably nothing more than building up some false hope and this team's upside is still an NIT invite, but 4-0 feels good, particularly since two of the wins were against teams that aren't probably completely terrible. With three of the next four games against teams that pose an actual challenge (Arkansas, at Florida State, vs. Vandy in South Dakota) this seems like a good time to check in. I was at the game against Louisiana (but had my two weiner kids with me so it was hard to pay too much attention), half watched a replay of the game against UTSA on the computer while I was at work, and saw most of the St. Johns game on TV. Needless to say, I'm clearly qualified to have opinions. Here are some of those:
1. I LIKE this team. The last couple of seasons were made extra tough because there were just too many unlikable players. I don't mean as people because I don't know any of these guys, but to watch. From Carlos Morris to Kevin Dorsey to Bakary Konate to Gaston Diedhiou to Joey King to wondering what in the hell happened to DeAndre Matheiu it just wasn't a fun experience. But I really like this year's team thus far. I've always said the best college team you could put together would be four mostly interchangeable athletic guards/wings with one defensively dominant big man, and one of those wing types a go to scorer. I'm getting way ahead of myself I know, and I don't know who will be the scorer guy, but I like this team's makeup and they're fun to watch.
2. Reggie Lynch is amazing. I love this guy. Did you know he's ninth in the country in block rate right now? That's top 10! When is the last time the Gophers had an actual rim protector like this? Jerry Holman? And if you watch him he's more than just a shot blocker, he has an understanding of help defense and can handle a pick and roll and has a good knack for being in the right place. He's also got an extremely ugly hook shot that goes in once in a while, and I did see him drive to the rim once. Plus he's my son's favorite player. Only because he wears #22, which is also Andrew Wiggins number, but still, that helps. Big fan.
3. Also a big fan of Dupree McBrayer this year. He somewhere acquired some swagger, befitting his NYC point guard pedigree, and has seen an uptick in shots, shooting percentage, and scoring and his body language just screams team leader out there. He's putting up pretty amazing numbers efficiency wise right now and doing it while still not committing turnovers which is not what usually happens when you see an increase in usage so I'm expected a bit of a regression at some point. Still, even if the real Dupree this year is somewhere halfway between last year and what we've seen this year that's a nice leap in a sophomore season. Plus he somehow manages to be both herky jerky and smooth at the same time, something only a lefty can do for some reason.
4. The freshmen have looked really, really good. In the first couple games Amir Coffey was clearly used to being able to do whatever he wanted on the court and forced a few things that don't work against college level defense, but you could see he was on a higher level than most players. That finally all came together against St. John's with that incredible 30 point night. He's done a good job so far balancing being the best player on the floor (if not yet technically it won't be long) with not doing too much since that first game. Hopefully that continues. And how good is Eric Curry? He's the one guy on the team where I want to see him be more aggressive. More than once he's had an opportunity to look for his own shot and just passed the ball of without even exploring that option. Be aggressive Eric! You're good!
5. I've been so busy raving about all our shiny new toys I haven't even mentioned the two best players from last year, Nate Mason and Jordan Murphy, and how they've continued to do what they do. It's easy to take them for granted now while we look at what's changed from last year, but Murphy is averaging 12 and 8 while shooting 55%, and Mason is putting up a line of 13.5 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists per game - those are both really good! Both of these guys are better than they were last year, and with all the other improvements it's hard not to be optimistic. Believe me I'm trying.
6. Ok the one negative so far: Akeem Springs. Holy crap this guy is basically a cartoon character how much he completely fits the senior year transfer looking for his own shot to showcase his own value in order to hopefully have some kind of post-college basketball career. I mean he's taking a much higher percentage of shots while he's on the floor this year than ever before and he's on a much better team now! Chucker city. Since he's going to be an inefficient shooting machine, we can either hate him, or embrace him as a Malik Smith kind of guy. Since I'm in a good mood, I'll do the Malik Smith thing. Put him in as the first guy off the bench each half. If he's hitting - yay! If not, bench him for the rest of the half and give his minutes to Michael Hurt or Ahmad Gilbert. Win win.
There are a couple other potential issues like the team suddenly not creating turnovers and the usual issues defending the three pointer, but the team is 4-0. They're 4-0 with two wins over teams who could have beaten them and they're fun to watch. So I'm going to enjoy this for now. Mostly because they could be 5-3 after the end of next week and we'll be back in the dumper with a horrible season looming ahead of us - again. But I'm not going to think about that right now. I'm having fun.
Showing posts with label Amir Coffey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amir Coffey. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Monday, September 21, 2015
Welcome Aboard, Amir Coffey!!
I'm currently on a plane, drinking Woodford Reserve because why wouldn't I, and I have a really horrible internet connection but it appears that twitter says Amir Coffey committed to the University of Minnesota and holy shit dude. Not since the Rodney/Royce double pick up year has the U gotten a guy like this. ESPN ranks him as the 33rd best recruit in the entire country for 2016 and 247 Sports composite puts him at #45. That's a big deal! Dude had offers from tons of blue chippers like Arizona, Michigan State, and Texas but bam, sorry losers we got him.
The writing was pretty much on the wall that he would be a Gopher after his official visit back on September 3. He tweeted pictures of him and his dad (Richard, duh) at Williams Arena, reports came out that he kept going back for unofficials to hang with the players, and he canceled an official visit to Texas. It was still terrifying of course since, Minnesota sports, and I am glad I was on a plane and unable to load up anything to see who he chose until well after the fact, but it happened and we got him.
Coffey is a 6-7 guard, yes a 6-7 guard, and everything about him sounds awesome. They say he can play all three perimeter positions. He's smart, a good ball-handler and passer, and can hit from the perimeter or get to the rim. He can defend already. I mean everything sounds good. His negatives are he needs to build up more strength, very common for a freshman, and he could be a more vocal leader. That's all they could come up with. ESPN calls him a special player with upside off the charts and even compared him to Jalen Rose. Just the fact that he'll be able to come in and start and can already shoot and play defense puts him ahead of most freshman. This is just awesome.
None of that is even the most important part though. With Jarvis Johnson, Michael Hurt, and now Coffey Pitino has started to close the borders. This is good, but I also must clarify. The reason closing the borders is good is not because you get all the Minnesota players and if you think that way I bet you love P.A. too. The reason closing the borders is good is because when you do have an instate awesome player his thought process STARTS with I'm going to be a Gopher. It's not going to result in landing every stud, but that as the default is a much better way to start than "hey where should I go?" Pitino is on a good run right now.
The other super awesome thing is that Coffey is besties with Eric Curry. Curry is a power forward from Arkansas who visited the same time Amir did. He's not ranked as highly as Amir, but he's the 106th ranked player by 247 composite and #22 power forward and that's still pretty damn awesome. I won't get into talking too much about his abilities and what not since he hasn't committed here and may not, but it's looking better than ever right now. You know Amir is on snapchat or periscope or whatever kids use recruiting him.
In short - hell yes.
The writing was pretty much on the wall that he would be a Gopher after his official visit back on September 3. He tweeted pictures of him and his dad (Richard, duh) at Williams Arena, reports came out that he kept going back for unofficials to hang with the players, and he canceled an official visit to Texas. It was still terrifying of course since, Minnesota sports, and I am glad I was on a plane and unable to load up anything to see who he chose until well after the fact, but it happened and we got him.
Coffey is a 6-7 guard, yes a 6-7 guard, and everything about him sounds awesome. They say he can play all three perimeter positions. He's smart, a good ball-handler and passer, and can hit from the perimeter or get to the rim. He can defend already. I mean everything sounds good. His negatives are he needs to build up more strength, very common for a freshman, and he could be a more vocal leader. That's all they could come up with. ESPN calls him a special player with upside off the charts and even compared him to Jalen Rose. Just the fact that he'll be able to come in and start and can already shoot and play defense puts him ahead of most freshman. This is just awesome.
None of that is even the most important part though. With Jarvis Johnson, Michael Hurt, and now Coffey Pitino has started to close the borders. This is good, but I also must clarify. The reason closing the borders is good is not because you get all the Minnesota players and if you think that way I bet you love P.A. too. The reason closing the borders is good is because when you do have an instate awesome player his thought process STARTS with I'm going to be a Gopher. It's not going to result in landing every stud, but that as the default is a much better way to start than "hey where should I go?" Pitino is on a good run right now.
The other super awesome thing is that Coffey is besties with Eric Curry. Curry is a power forward from Arkansas who visited the same time Amir did. He's not ranked as highly as Amir, but he's the 106th ranked player by 247 composite and #22 power forward and that's still pretty damn awesome. I won't get into talking too much about his abilities and what not since he hasn't committed here and may not, but it's looking better than ever right now. You know Amir is on snapchat or periscope or whatever kids use recruiting him.
In short - hell yes.
Monday, September 8, 2014
Welcome Aboard, Jonathan Nwankwo!
I sort of feel like he has one too many Ws in his name, but it doesn't matter because those are now our Ws as Jonathan Nwankwo committed to your favorite basketball team over the weekend after registering for an account on Gopher Hole during his official visit and chatting with fans all weekend, then breaking the news on the message board. He's a 6-10, 245 lb. center with a Big Ten ready body and a 7-2 wingspan who shores up the Gophers' big man situation in case things continue to go south with Gaston Diedhiou. Not that he's any kind of back-up plan, considering he ranks as the #17 center and #147 overall by 247sports, and #23/#214 by the industry composite and by all accounts is rising up the ranks.
His highlight videos all seem to be like "oh you don't want me to dunk this basketball? Well I am very strong and jumpy and I am going to dunk this basketball and you can't stop me." I watched nearly two minutes of a highlight video and I'm not seeing a lot of offensive skills, which isn't really true because being an unstoppable dunking machine is a skill, but you know what I mean. Plus, Nwankwo fits Pitino's type. And in this case I don't mean a super athletic dude, although he is, but I mean the late blooming type who is shooting up rankings and everyone who is supposed to be an expert says things like "great get for the Gophers" and stuff like that. Assuming these guys all work out it's a great thing. Of course it could also mean that Pitino is just getting over aggressive offering guys who aren't that good. We'll find out. Right now I feel good, and I still have trust in Pitino. Because he's so freaking sweet.
The three signings - Nwakwo, Kevin Dorsey, and Dupree McBrayer - leave the Gophers with one open scholarship for 2015 (again, depending on what happens with Diedhiou) which has some people all in a tizzy because both of the top rated Minnesota kids - Jarvis Johnson and Alex Illikainen - are still out there. Seriously though, who cares? I mean, I would love the Gophers to get one or both because they're rated in the top 100-150 range depending on where you look, but as far as them being from Minnesota? Big whoop.
The whole point of recruiting home town kids is that you're supposed to have an advantage in snagging them, but how's that been working out lately? Minnesota kids have always known they can string the Gophers along and if things don't break the way they hope use them as their fall back option, partially because the fan base is so rabid in "keeping Minnesota kids home" because well, that's how this state generally thinks (why do you think Jason Kubel and Matt Guerrier were signed by the Twins this year?). Rather than holding off on signing comparable players and holding out hoping the home town kids stay home, Pitino is signing whoever he likes who is willing to sign. According to rankings Alex Illikainen is better than Jonathan Nwankwo, but why take a chance on losing both just to satisfy some bizarre yearning to build the team out of all Minnesota kids? (this ain't hockey) After all, a bush in hand is worth two birds who may end up at other schools I always say.
This being (relatively) big time basketball, nothing is guaranteed so it's possible both Johnson and Illikainen end up in maroon and gold. If they both want to be Gophers they likely will with a surprise transfer opening up a slot or something along those lines - it's a reality of big-time (relatively) college sports, and I'm ok with it. In the meantime, however, assuming Pitino doesn't have a strong positional preference at this time this puts pressure on them both to hurry up and commit. If things stay strong at only 4 new players for 2015 that means only one of them can get in, which means the Gophers said no to a quality Minnesota player because he took too long to make a decision. That's a message I can get behind, so move your ass Amir Coffey.
As of right now the Gophers have the #23 class in the country according to 247sports, and the #5 class in the Big Ten. This will likely move down as more of the high profile programs continue signing players and fill out their classes, but it's a big step the right direction for the program. Potentially, I suppose, but I'll take it.
His highlight videos all seem to be like "oh you don't want me to dunk this basketball? Well I am very strong and jumpy and I am going to dunk this basketball and you can't stop me." I watched nearly two minutes of a highlight video and I'm not seeing a lot of offensive skills, which isn't really true because being an unstoppable dunking machine is a skill, but you know what I mean. Plus, Nwankwo fits Pitino's type. And in this case I don't mean a super athletic dude, although he is, but I mean the late blooming type who is shooting up rankings and everyone who is supposed to be an expert says things like "great get for the Gophers" and stuff like that. Assuming these guys all work out it's a great thing. Of course it could also mean that Pitino is just getting over aggressive offering guys who aren't that good. We'll find out. Right now I feel good, and I still have trust in Pitino. Because he's so freaking sweet.
The three signings - Nwakwo, Kevin Dorsey, and Dupree McBrayer - leave the Gophers with one open scholarship for 2015 (again, depending on what happens with Diedhiou) which has some people all in a tizzy because both of the top rated Minnesota kids - Jarvis Johnson and Alex Illikainen - are still out there. Seriously though, who cares? I mean, I would love the Gophers to get one or both because they're rated in the top 100-150 range depending on where you look, but as far as them being from Minnesota? Big whoop.
The whole point of recruiting home town kids is that you're supposed to have an advantage in snagging them, but how's that been working out lately? Minnesota kids have always known they can string the Gophers along and if things don't break the way they hope use them as their fall back option, partially because the fan base is so rabid in "keeping Minnesota kids home" because well, that's how this state generally thinks (why do you think Jason Kubel and Matt Guerrier were signed by the Twins this year?). Rather than holding off on signing comparable players and holding out hoping the home town kids stay home, Pitino is signing whoever he likes who is willing to sign. According to rankings Alex Illikainen is better than Jonathan Nwankwo, but why take a chance on losing both just to satisfy some bizarre yearning to build the team out of all Minnesota kids? (this ain't hockey) After all, a bush in hand is worth two birds who may end up at other schools I always say.
This being (relatively) big time basketball, nothing is guaranteed so it's possible both Johnson and Illikainen end up in maroon and gold. If they both want to be Gophers they likely will with a surprise transfer opening up a slot or something along those lines - it's a reality of big-time (relatively) college sports, and I'm ok with it. In the meantime, however, assuming Pitino doesn't have a strong positional preference at this time this puts pressure on them both to hurry up and commit. If things stay strong at only 4 new players for 2015 that means only one of them can get in, which means the Gophers said no to a quality Minnesota player because he took too long to make a decision. That's a message I can get behind, so move your ass Amir Coffey.
As of right now the Gophers have the #23 class in the country according to 247sports, and the #5 class in the Big Ten. This will likely move down as more of the high profile programs continue signing players and fill out their classes, but it's a big step the right direction for the program. Potentially, I suppose, but I'll take it.
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