Gophers 74, Crookston 57

I did not attend the exhibition game against Crookston this weekend, as I was busy.  My father, however, did.  He also texted me, "It's going to be a long season."  My father is an optimist.  This can't be good.  Since we live in a glorious time to be alive and we have this thing called the internet there are box scores and highlights.  That is neato.  I might as well take a peek at them and see what there is to see.

First, the highlights are mostly meaningless because most highlights are as an analytical tool, particularly against a school completely beneath your league, but four things standout.

1.  Gaston Diedhiou covering the distance from near top of the key to the rim in one dribble and dunking (0:38).  That is some serious distance covering skills, which taps into his athleticism.  Also, having the confidence to execute such a move gives us a hint as to how far he's come in his development.  That move was as important to the team this is year as it was shocking.  What if he's good?

2.  Ahmad Gilbert shake and bake and step back jumper (0:56).  Granted, it's generally been accepted by analytical basketball types, which I like to consider myself, that 18 foot jumpers are pretty much the worst shot in the basketball, but I liked this play.  You don't take that shot unless you consider yourself a great shooter, and I like great shooters.  Of course, not every player who considers themselves a great shooter is indeed a great shooter, but he's also a lefty so he probably is.

3.  Jordan Murphy's three pointer (1:11).  I was unaware Murphy could hit threes, but he did and his form looks good.  Perhaps you were aware and that is good for you.  I was not.

4.  Nate Mason's hair (the whole thing).  That is spectacular.


The box score, now, let's see.  Well, they held Crookston to 38% and just 0.78 points per possession (I think, I've never actually had to calculate this for myself), which are both good but expected.  The 21 turnovers is also nice to see, given that it's the whole point of Pitino's defensive style.  Allowing 13 offensive rebounds on 36 missed shots is kind of horrible.  Thats even worse than their 33.4% last season, and that number ranked dead last in the Big Ten.  And, just a quick reminder, they were playing Crookston last night.  So that's, you know, probably something to keep an eye on.

The Gopher offense wasn't much better, putting up just 1.03 points per possession which would be an ok number against a Big Ten opponent but is flat out lousy against an exhibition foe.  It turns out when you shoot 39% from the floor and 52% from the line you're not going to score a ton of points.  Only 8 turnovers is good.  35% three point shooting is fine, depending on the looks.  Diedhiou's 11 shot attempts is encouraging, but his size and athletic ability should let him dominate a team like this.  I'm still encouraged by him so far.

Thirty-four points in the paint seems kind of awful against this opponent.  Or if that's not awful, then Crookston getting 28 in the paint is awful defense.  One of those two numbers is awful.  Ugh.  Sounds like a horrible game to watch.

So we move on.  Friday night they play somebody.  Southwest Minnesota State I think.  For some reason I'm going to that one.  But I think I'll have my damn weiner kids, so at least they'll distract me enough I won't have to pay too much attention.

Fare thee Well, Josh Martin

Well that was fast.  Seven games into his collegiate career freshman power forward Josh Martin, Richard Pitino's first "real" recruit, has decided the University of Minnesota is not for him and has decided to transfer, effective immediately.  This comes as a bit of a surprise considering he was pretty spaztastic about the U after he signed on Twitter, including tweeting at a bunch of other recruits so it seemed kind of like he was a Gopher 4 Life.  On the other hand, his body language wasn't great, and he was playing just five minutes per game.  One could argue that playing five minutes per game in your first seven games for a Big Ten mid-tier team is probably about where a mid-tier recruit should expect to be, but hey, not everyone can handle something like that after being a star in high school.

I thought Martin flashed some good potential (read here) and obviously he was a big time athlete, and I was expecting him to steadily improve and be a big time player his last two years.  Obviously that's out.  If he felt like this wasn't the right fit and wanted more playing time right away, well, unfortunately that's his right and he's entitled to seek out the best situation for him, but the timing sucks for everyone involved.  The Gophers are now down to nine scholarship players and need Gaston Diedhiou to become eligible more than ever, and for Martin he's essentially wasted a half year of eligibility with nothing to show for it.  So why not finish out the year?  I suspect, and I have nothing to base this on other than the timing and my gut feel, that this is a "home sick" kind of situation.  Minneapolis is quite a ways from Seattle, and I can't think of any other reason to make such an abrupt change other than simply "I don't want to be here any more."  I'm guessing the playing time situation  didn't help, but I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up in the Pacific Northwest when his transfer gets figured out.

It sucks, and I had high hopes for him, but we move on.  Assuming Diedhiou gains his eligibility, an assumption which I have to assume at this point or I'll cry, he should be able to fill in for Martin's five minutes per game, or at least that's the hope.  It also opens up another scholarship for Pitino to fill, and with Lofton and McNeil (probably) off the team that's three spots for Spring recruiting which can be a dicey proposition.  I trust Pitino to do well, and I'd bet at least one of those spots gets filled by a transfer.  This is a bummer, but it's not crushing, at least.  Even if Gaston doesn't get to play they should be able to get by with

PG:  Mathieu (35), Mason (5)
SG:  Hollins (30), Mason (10)
SF:  Morris (30), Mason (10)
PF:  King (30), Buggs (10)
C:  Walker (25), Eliason (15)

No problem, right?  Now how about nobody gets in foul trouble?

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.

Fare thee Well, Gaston Diedhiou?

Gopher hoops 2014 commit Gaston Diedhiou was denied admission to the U, and as such will not be a Gopher - at least not for the first semester of this year.  Apparently he didn't speak/understand English well enough for the admissions department.  This despite the fact that he was cleared by the NCAA, received a good score on his ACT in English, and "would be admitted to 95% of the Universities in the country" according to a source.  Basically this is the higher ups at the University once again screwing over the basketball program (see:  White, Royce).

Diedhiou is apparently still coming and is enrolled in the English Language program at the school with the hope that he will be admitted for the second semester and join the team then.  Given that he's likely a bit of a project it may not really impact the team all that much since he's more important to the 2015 squad once Mo and Eliason are out of here, but it's still another reminder that the basketball team doesn't really mean jack to the powers that be.  A little thing that, as has been pointed out in the comments of my prior post, is not an endearing quality to a coach who is destined to have suitors come calling every offseason.  Let's hope this is simply a minor blip.

Of course, this also opens up a scholarship, although using it on another player if Diedhiou can get admitted for the second semester is a pretty big dick move.  The whole thing seems a bit silly considering Diedhiou already speaks multiple languages so handling English shouldn't be an issue and likely he's on the team come January.  If not, however - if he is unable to pass muster or decides to "F this shit" and enroll elsewhere another open scholarship isn't the worst thing in the world considering Pitino's hot start to the class of 2015.  So either way we win.  And we lose.

Welcome Aboard, Gaston Diedhiou!

In a move that seemingly nobody saw coming, the Gophers received a commitment from Gaston Diedhiou for 2014, and there is pretty much zero info out there about this guy.  Most of the recruiting sites didn't even have a page for him until he signed.  Here's what we know:

-  He's 6-9, 225 lbs (maybe, but listed anywhere from 206-240) with a long wingspan over seven feet.  He fits a need at PF, specifically a physical power forward, and hopefully he can be a rim protecting center when Eliason and Walker move on as well.  If he can play.

-  He's from Senegal and played at the Canarias Basketball Academy in Spain last season.  He's the fifth player from there in this class to sign with a D-I program (Maryland, Louisville, Pitt, and UC-Riverside got the others) so they at least seem to put out decent talent.  They've had 15 other guys sign with D-1 programs the last four years, but the best of the list is Boris Bojanovsky at Florida State.

-  He will be 21 when he starts his career.  That's right, a 21-year old freshman.

-  It's irresistible to compare him to Gorgui Dieng, given their similarities and the Pitino connection.  This kid is not Dieng.  He may become him, but he's not him at this point at all.

Given that there aren't any scouting reports out there about him all you can do is watch a couple of youtube videos and I'm cautiously optimistic here.  Keeping in mind that the level of competition looked rather sub-par and that this was a highlight video with the whole point being to showcase the best of his game, Diedhiou showed a few nice things. 

He's definitely big and athletic, and he looks strong, although we'll see how that translates to the Big Ten.  He appears to fundamentally understand rebounding and has good instincts, his free throw form and results look good, and they even showed him hitting a couple mid-range jumpers.  He's comfortable putting the ball on the floor from the top of the key to get to the rim, and looks comfortable in the post going to his right either for a lay up if he can get around his man or a smooth looking jump hook.  He only went left from the block once in the video, so that's likely something he'll need to work on.

You will hear him called a project, and maybe rightfully so, but he looked more polished in that video than I was expecting, and as a 20-year old he should be.  Again, level of competition, highlight video and all those caveats but I was impressed.  Hopefully I don't end up looking like an idiot.  I'm getting kind of tired of that.