Big Mo Walker

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khoffman43

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Any thoughts on this kid? He reminds me of Dexter Pittman from Texas who overpowered guys and was an absolute load to handle down by the hoop. (ask Iverson and Sampson who played him in the NCAA tourney) I think there is huge upside to him.
 

In my opinion, once this kid loses some weight and gets stronger and in shape he could very well be a dexter pittman type player for the gophers! Add Elliot to the mix with him and I think we could have a nice formable future replacement pair for when Ralph and Colten graduate.
 

Ski-U-Mah24 said:
In my opinion, once this kid loses some weight and gets stronger and in shape he could very well be a dexter pittman type player for the gophers! Add Elliot to the mix with him and I think we could have a nice formable future replacement pair for when Ralph and Colten graduate.
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In the little he's played, it seems like he has soft hands (don't get excited dboy). This is a big plus for a guy so big. Love Colt and all, but he has a bit of stone hands at times......
 

As everyone's said once he drops about 50 lbs it'll be easier to see his potential. He doesn't carry the weight all that well and has no lift right now. Still he seems to know what he's doing on the court and has been able to finish under the basket but to be an effective helpside defender he'll need to get quicker
 

Maybe a poor man's Dexter Pittman. Pittman's taller/longer and is more explosive athlete than Walker.
 


Plinnius said:
Maybe a poor man's Dexter Pittman. Pittman's taller/longer and is more explosive athlete than Walker.
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I wouldn't call either of them explosive, and Pittman's only currently listed as 1 inch taller than Mo. I wouldn't say I've seen enough to call Pittman "taller/longer" or "more explosive" as a freshman than Mo currently is. I'm not saying Mo will be another Pittman, simply that we don't know yet. Mo's ceiling is dependent on his work ethic.
 

Plinnius said:
Maybe a poor man's Dexter Pittman. Pittman's taller/longer and is more explosive athlete than Walker.
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This.

Walker is very nimble for his size and he has touch, but he's hardly a clydesdale like Pittman was with brute power. That doesn't mean Walker can't be just as, or more effective than Pittman was at Texas though.
 

Dirk Diggler said:
This.

Walker is very nimble for his size and he has touch, but he's hardly a clydesdale like Pittman was with brute power. That doesn't mean Walker can't be just as, or more effective than Pittman was at Texas though.
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Agree. Walker is not the aggressor that Pittman was. I honstly can't think of a Big Man to compare Walker too. He is a big body with good touch around the hoop, that is an asset to any team. If he can get slightly quicker or stay the same size and get more explosive, big things for him. Mo Walker is NOT Shaq, but Shaq was a pretty big guy and he did alright at that weight.
 

Walker doesnt have to Pittman or Shaq. He is a big kid (literally a kid) and he will get stronger/quicker and all that once he gets into it. Just because Pittman as a 22 year-old was quicker and stronger than Walker is now doesn't mean he cant change and grow into his body and be pushed in the weight room. I dont know enough to evaluate how strong or quick Pittman was as a college freshman. "If I can change and you can change, Everybody (Mo Walker) can change!"-Rocky
 



Dirk Diggler said:
This.

Walker is very nimble for his size and he has touch, but he's hardly a clydesdale like Pittman was with brute power. That doesn't mean Walker can't be just as, or more effective than Pittman was at Texas though.
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I'll agree that Mo Walker doesn't look to be too comparable to the Dexter Pittman we saw at the end of his career but Dexter Pittman was about at (if not lower) than where Mo Walker is when he was a freshman. He didn't look athletic at all because he wasn't conditioned to do more than get up and down the court and plant himself on the block.

Mo Walker looks more athletic right now than Pittman looked when he was a freshman. The question is if he will develop into the kind of "clydedale" that Pittman morphed into.
 


khoffman43 said:
Walker doesnt have to Pittman or Shaq. He is a big kid (literally a kid) and he will get stronger/quicker and all that once he gets into it. Just because Pittman as a 22 year-old was quicker and stronger than Walker is now doesn't mean he cant change and grow into his body and be pushed in the weight room. I dont know enough to evaluate how strong or quick Pittman was as a college freshman. "If I can change and you can change, Everybody (Mo Walker) can change!"-Rocky
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That's essentially what I was trying to say.

Everyone just keeps saying he needs to drop weight to be good, but there have been players his size who have been dominant. If he focuses on the right skills, attributes, shape, etc. for his style of play and is looking to improve he will be fine. His end-all solution and only option, however, is not "drop 50 pounds and he will be Dexter Pittman!" If he works at what he needs to for his game to be effective he will be fine, players have made it with many different sizes, heights, etc. at various positions by focusing on the skills that best suit them. My example is Shaq, he made it by being big by also having a nice touch, being a good rebounder, and overpowering people. KG made it by being smaller (weight wise) by having a strong outside jump shot and being quicker. Any size/shape player can make it as long if they work hard enough at certain skills.
 

If Walker has a career average of 12.2pts, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks while playing 24 minutes and shooting almost 54% from the field I'll take that. Athlete or not, thats not a bad stat line
 




Facts34 said:
Correct.

Athletically, Walker is more of an Oliver Miller type.
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If Walker average 12pts, 6.5 rebounds 2.5 blocks while playing only 24 minutes per game and shooting 64% from the field I'll be pretty happy with that (Those are Miller's stats from Arkansas)
 


khoffman43 said:
If Walker average 12pts, 6.5 rebounds 2.5 blocks while playing only 24 minutes per game and shooting 64% from the field I'll be pretty happy with that (Those are Miller's stats from Arkansas)
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True. Does his weight matter if he produces quality numbers? Depending on how "quality" maybe, but usually I'd say no (Unless he is having health risks, etc. but i don't know about that)
 

scher215 said:
That's essentially what I was trying to say.

Everyone just keeps saying he needs to drop weight to be good, but there have been players his size who have been dominant. If he focuses on the right skills, attributes, shape, etc. for his style of play and is looking to improve he will be fine. His end-all solution and only option, however, is not "drop 50 pounds and he will be Dexter Pittman!" If he works at what he needs to for his game to be effective he will be fine, players have made it with many different sizes, heights, etc. at various positions by focusing on the skills that best suit them. My example is Shaq, he made it by being big by also having a nice touch, being a good rebounder, and overpowering people. KG made it by being smaller (weight wise) by having a strong outside jump shot and being quicker. Any size/shape player can make it as long if they work hard enough at certain skills.
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Your game can't be effective when you're sucking wind the 3rd time up the court, shuffling your feet as you run & you're unable to jump over a deck of playing cards. Dude's gotta lose some weight to get better & see more minutes, everyone, including him can see that. He physically could not play major minutes right now if he wanted to, imo.
 

Luckily for all of us Walker doesnt have to play major minutes this year, or even next year. He is currently #4 on the depth charts of the big men so unless there is foul trouble, injuries or a blowout Big Mo won't get a lot of minutes. I think he provides a nice look off the bench and for teams that are vertically challenged he can pound against their big men, draw fouls and provide a rest for Colton, Ralph and Trevor.

One comparison he might make, though its a bit before my time, is to Stanley Roberts. Basketball fans laugh at the thought of Roberts but he was a very good big man at LSU with Shaq and there was debate (thought it turned out like a Manning-Leaf comparison later on) that he would be a better pro than Shaq. In his one year at LSU he average 14 and 10.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Your game isn't effective when you're sucking wind the 3rd time up the court, dragging your feet as you run & you're unable to jump over a deck of playing cards. Dude's gotta lose some weight, everyone, including him can see that.
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I realize their skill sets aren't the same right now and Mo is not Shaq and Shaq is a dominant center. But would you have said the same thing to Shaq at LSU? If Mo Walker could, in theory, achieve the same skills as Shaq, would he need to lose weight? I'd say no. Shaq was 7-1. 294 in college - he was the first overall pick at that height and weight. Is it ABSOLUTLEY necessary, with no other option, that Mo Walker lose weight? No. Shaq proves that with the right skill set and endurance and training you can be that weight and succeed. Should Mo Walker improve his endurance? Yup. His Vertical? Yup. But those things are not cured by weight loss. There are plenty of skinny guys with no endurance and no vertical. And plenty of big guys who have endurance and a vertical. The number in the weight column doesnt automatically equate endurance.

Shaq with the Lakers averaged 35-40 minutes a game. At around 300 Pounds. Therefore, I have to believe that if Mo Walker were to, in theory, get his skill level exactly to that of Shaq's he will be just fine at 300. Is it likely this happens? Of course not. But my point is, it is possible to be a good or contributing player at 300 pounds.

Edit: I noticed you added right now, and with that I 100% agree. He doesn't have the endurance to play major minutes yet. He could get there at his current weight in the future or get there by losing weight. Whatever he does to improve. No one is a perfect player and if he works hard enough I am confident he could contribute and play major minutes at 200 or 300 pounds, depending on his workouts and training.
 

Shaq had a different physique in college than Mo Walker. He was actually pretty cut.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Shaq had a different physique in college than Mo Walker. He was actually pretty cut.
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Exactly. But he was, in fact, 300 pounds. Mo Walker could still come in at 300 next season as well as this, but if he has endurance and more muscle? I'm not complaining that he's at 300.

My point all along has been, that number next to your height doesn't tell the whole store. It doesn't say your endurance, how much muscle you have, how high you can jump, etc. It simply says what a scale said when you stood on it. Nothing more, nothing less.
 

scher215 said:
I realize their skill sets aren't the same right now and Mo is not Shaq and Shaq is a dominant center. But would you have said the same thing to Shaq at LSU? If Mo Walker could, in theory, achieve the same skills as Shaq, would he need to lose weight? I'd say no. Shaq was 7-1. 294 in college - he was the first overall pick at that height and weight. Is it ABSOLUTLEY necessary, with no other option, that Mo Walker lose weight? No. Shaq proves that with the right skill set and endurance and training you can be that weight and succeed. Should Mo Walker improve his endurance? Yup. His Vertical? Yup. But those things are not cured by weight loss. There are plenty of skinny guys with no endurance and no vertical. And plenty of big guys who have endurance and a vertical. The number in the weight column doesnt automatically equate endurance.
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Shaq was an athletic 7'0" 294 who got up the court on fastbreaks like very few big men, got above the rim & slammed home monster dunks. Mo is 6'10" & about 320 (You don't really believe he's 290lb do ya?), is winded easy, shuffles up the court & is about as far from playing above the rim as a 6'10" guy can be.

Don't misinterpret this, I'm thrilled to have Mo Walker! I think he's got nice hands, soft touch, good court awareness, is a great sub, all that stuff. I just think that before he'll ever be a starter, he needs to lose some weight.
 


Costa Rican Gopher said:
Shaq was an athletic 7'0" 294 who got up the court on fastbreaks like very few big men, got above the rim & slammed home monster dunks. Mo is 6'10" & about 320 (You don't really believe he's 290lb do ya?), is winded easy, shuffles up the court & is about as far from playing above the rim as a 6'10" guy can be.

Don't misinterpret this, I'm thrilled to have Mo Walker! I think he's got nice hands, soft touch, good court awareness, is a great sub, all that stuff. I just think that before he'll ever be a starter, he needs to lose some weight.
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I agree completely. Shaq is currently listed in the NBA at 325 (college lists at 294), but he was in good shape. If Mo can get himself in that shape, but at the same weight (i.e. replace fat with muscle) he'd be just fine at the same weight. My point still is that if Mo gets himself into awesome shape, I couldn't care less what the number next to his height said. There are guys 150 pounds who are out of shape and guys 320 pounds who are in shape. It has nothing to do with just your weight number, but many other factors. Mo could stay at 320 or whatever he is and actually be in shape. That is not impossible. Is he right now? I don't think so. Could he be in the future? Absolutley.
 

Walker seems to have good court sense. He does know how to get and hold good position around the basket. Some big men can't/won't stake out position in the paint (drives me crazy!). And he does have good hands. IMHO he has a very bright future.

Shaq is a once in a lifetime player. Comparing anyone to him is unrealistic.
 

1. Shaq could go to coast to coast in college and look a little like Magic Johnson when doing so. Mo simply can't do that in his shape, or maybe ever.
2. To play Tubby's style of defense, Mo needs to get quicker. On D, Tubby's big men frequently find themselves defending on the perimeter. Right now, Mo is a liability out there.
3. I love Mo's court presence and determination. If he can make the same transition as Jeff Wills did for the football team, he's going to be very fun to watch.
 

I think it's really a testament to that program up in Canada "Grassrooots Whatever" that Mo & the Joseph brothers came out of. Clearly they all played a LOT of organized basketball at a very high level before coming to the U. Mo just doesn't look lost like most Freshmen. As noted he gets down in the block early, stakes out his spot, passes the ball out of a jam, knows where he needs to be on D (can't always get there) & can surprise with his quickness. i.e. After his infamous 3 point attempt he hustled his 320lb butt off to get back down the court & draw the charge. Ok they called a block on him instead, but he got jobbed :). The point is, instead of standing around like "Crap, coach is gonna yank me for that shot" he said "If I get back & make something happen on D, maybe I make up for that shot" and off he went.
 

I would bet Shaq's body fat was at under 20% at 300 lbs. Mo Walker's is likely around 30% ....a HUGE difference!
 

I hope he loses thirty more pounds by the end of the year. He cannot move at his current weight enough to be dominant in the post. With time he could be pretty good i would think.
 

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