Marcus tweets on Trevor and Rodney

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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Marcus Fuller tweets today:

"Mbakwe has a chance to really boost his stock this summer. First at Stoudermire's camp later this month and then possibly LBJ camp in July."

"Williams is headed to Kevin Durant Skills Academy later this month. That could be huge, too, if Rodney can show some improved skills there."

"I also heard Mbakwe was invited to tryout for World University Games team in July. The team is coaced by Matt Painter. Busy summer for Trev."

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
"Williams is headed to Kevin Durant Skills Academy later this month. That could be huge, too, if Rodney can show <strike>some improved</strike> any skills at all there."
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Just had to fix Marcus' tweet for him.
 

You are cold dp lol. Rodney has shown some skill, the problem is, he's a post player trapped in a perimeter player's body, since that's mostly what he did in high school. I was hoping he could improve his handles and shot a little more than he has to this point, but then again, I also thought he was gonna redshirt, so perhaps he's right on track. If he was a redshirt sophomore coming into this year, things would look a little differently.
 

Monty519 said:
You are cold dp lol. Rodney has shown some skill, the problem is, he's a post player trapped in a perimeter player's body, since that's mostly what he did in high school. I was hoping he could improve his handles and shot a little more than he has to this point, but then again, I also thought he was gonna redshirt, so perhaps he's right on track. If he was a redshirt sophomore coming into this year, things would look a little differently.
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I agree with this post. But if this post is true - here's where I get ticked off at Tubby. The kid obviously needed to play close to the basket to have an impact - yet there he stood on the perimeter looking like a lost puppy all year long.
 

I wonder if Rodney had played in the post how many balls he would have been forced to eat? Doesn't he need a runway to have lift-off?
 



Get ticked at Tubby all you want, if a kid can't shoot by the time his is 16ish (in many circumstances) a coach/player can't fix that.

Young basketball players need technique early. Period.
 

NurumbiCongo said:
Get ticked at Tubby all you want, if a kid can't shoot by the time his is 16ish (in many circumstances) a coach/player can't fix that.

Young basketball players need technique early. Period.
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False, look how j. Kidd has improved his shooting in his 30's
 

bga1 said:
I agree with this post. But if this post is true - here's where I get ticked off at Tubby. The kid obviously needed to play close to the basket to have an impact - yet there he stood on the perimeter looking like a lost puppy all year long.
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The thing is, in the Big Ten, I don't think that will work very well for him. He's still in that wing player's body, remember. Though, there are times when he's matched up on smaller guys, and that's when I definitely would like to see him pound it a little bit and go over the top of them.
 



NurumbiCongo said:
Get ticked at Tubby all you want, if a kid can't shoot by the time his is 16ish (in many circumstances) a coach/player can't fix that.

Young basketball players need technique early. Period.
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I don't think that's true at all. Shooting can be improved at any time, IMO. Do you make it far easier on yourself at a young age, than trying to undo years of bad habits? Yes, but I wouldn't call shooting something that can't be fixed once you've left high school. Too many people (for example Kidd, as noted above) have improved their shot in college and the NBA.
 

Monty519 said:
I don't think that's true at all. QUOTE]

if a kid can't shoot by the time his is 16ish in many circumstances a coach/player can't fix that.

Sure there are a few exceptions, but far more examples of players that have had little to no improvement. They are among the thousands of player that have short careers in the nba.
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I just returned from an elite camp in Ca watching 16's and 17's and I would say the vast majority of kids will need their shots retooled in order to be consistent "makers". These kids are NO different than where Rodney was 4 years ago. The kids are much more interested in highlight dunks than their form. So CAN a kid do it? Sure. Will kids that are very athletic do it until they get to college? Probably not because they don't see the forrest through the trees at young ages.

And quite frankly recruiting services are as much to blame for this as anyone. I sat and watched a kid from I believe NorCal drop 3 after 3 during games, put the ball on the floor and create some. He is a mid 80's grade (assuming I had the right kid it was hard to confirm) because he can't jump out of the gym at the two position. Another kid that was about 6'3" and couldn't go anything but dunk had a mid 90's rating. The path is clear for these kids, don't bother about learning skills because your rating won't be affected.

Of course, in general these all star camps aren't trying to teach anything.
 

NurumbiCongo said:
Monty519 said:
I don't think that's true at all. QUOTE]

if a kid can't shoot by the time his is 16ish in many circumstances a coach/player can't fix that.

Sure there are a few exceptions, but far more examples of players that have had little to no improvement. They are among the thousands of player that have short careers in the nba.
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Well obviously it goes both ways and like I said, if you don't learn it early, you're putting yourself behind the 8-ball, but my point was, I think shooting is something that is a coachable skill (Corey Brewer comes to mind as well). Things like proper takeoff, elbows in, etc., seems like that can be coached. Maybe I'm wrong on that, but well, that's how I see it lol.
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NurumbiCongo said:
I don't follow the NBA much, Brewer learned to shoot? Last I watched the guy was Mr. Front of the rim clunker.
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Oh, he's far better than he was his early in his career. When he's open, you actually believe the shot will go in. He worked with Freddy Hoiberg on better balance on his shot and it improved immensely.
 

bga1 said:
I agree with this post. But if this post is true - here's where I get ticked off at Tubby. The kid obviously needed to play close to the basket to have an impact - yet there he stood on the perimeter looking like a lost puppy all year long.
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Is there anything that you don't get ticked off at Tubby? Like the other poster said, Rod has small frame so he easily gets pushed back from the basket. Why is this Tubby's mistake? Please explain.

Go Gophers
 

As fun as it is to rip on Rodney's shooting, don't you think it is his lack of ball handling that ultimately limits his potential? I mean, there are countless players who are suspect/poor shooters that dominate offensively with their athleticism because defenders cannot keep them from getting to the rim. If Rodney could beat his man off the dribble, he'd be more than effective. Plus, I think it would be easier to improve this aspect of his game rather than becoming a threat from the outside. Just my two cents
 

GopherHomer said:
As fun as it is to rip on Rodney's shooting, don't you think it is his lack of ball handling that ultimately limits his potential? I mean, there are countless players who are suspect/poor shooters that dominate offensively with their athleticism because defenders cannot keep them from getting to the rim. If Rodney could beat his man off the dribble, he'd be more than effective. Plus, I think it would be easier to improve this aspect of his game rather than becoming a threat from the outside. Just my two cents
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Good point. I'm not comparing Rodney to Evan Turner, but he wasn't a good three point shooter and he dominated in college. I would personally rather see Rodney work hard on his mid-range game and ball handling.
 

Great point Homer. I don't get to see the Gophers on a consistent basis anymore, but whenever I watch Williams play it's his mediocre ball handling skills that stood out to me. Lots of perimeter guys exist without the outside shot in college, but overcome it with the ability to make moves in traffic. If Williams could improve there, he would become a much more confident and valuable player.
 

I think Rodney has a big upside if he works hard in the summers. He does need to improve his ball handling. He doesn't have to be great at it, just learn how to be strong with the ball and put it on the floor when needed. He can explode past or over 95% college players which is why he has NBA potential. If he comes into the fall and the staff notices he hasn't worked on his ball handling, then they should make him do it in practice or make him show up at 6am every day to work on it.
 

notagopherfan said:
I think Rodney has a big upside if he works hard in the summers. He does need to improve his ball handling. He doesn't have to be great at it, just learn how to be strong with the ball and put it on the floor when needed. He can explode past or over 95% college players which is why he has NBA potential. If he comes into the fall and the staff notices he hasn't worked on his ball handling, then they should make him do it in practice or make him show up at 6am every day to work on it.
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This is one of the most outrageous comments I've heard about him so far, I'm assuming you meant 9.5% of college players....He has NO NBA skills beyond the fact he can dunk and if he's not working on his ball handling right now then he might as well start researching house prices in Turkey or Cambodia cuz that's where he will be playing, if anywhere.

And no I don't care what he or anybody looks like in the HP league. It doesn't matter. Open gym with a scoreboard.
 

Duthasmon Smith said:
. ... I don't care what he or anybody looks like in the HP league. ... Open gym with a scoreboard.
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Amen.

I still have high expectations for Rodney's Gopher career. But what he or anyone else does or how they look in Pulley matters nadda to me.
 

Duthasmon Smith said:
This is one of the most outrageous comments I've heard about him so far, I'm assuming you meant 9.5% of college players....He has NO NBA skills beyond the fact he can dunk and if he's not working on his ball handling right now then he might as well start researching house prices in Turkey or Cambodia cuz that's where he will be playing, if anywhere.
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To be fair to what he said (which I still disagree with, %-wise), I'm assuming he meant physically he could blow by 95% of the players, but that would be dependent on him having the handles to actually complete the move, which he currently doesn't. Athletically, he's up there with the best, so yeah, if you gave him ball handling, you would expect that he could get by a lot of guys out there who can't stick with him. But again, basketball isn't built on physical tools only, you have to have the skill sets to utilize your physical gifts.
 

Duthasmon Smith said:
This is one of the most outrageous comments I've heard about him so far, I'm assuming you meant 9.5% of college players....He has NO NBA skills beyond the fact he can dunk and if he's not working on his ball handling right now then he might as well start researching house prices in Turkey or Cambodia cuz that's where he will be playing, if anywhere.

And no I don't care what he or anybody looks like in the HP league. It doesn't matter. Open gym with a scoreboard.
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Pretty sure he's talking about athleticism and explosiveness. Name on player in college basketball with more athleticism than Rodney. One of the commentators during one of the Gopher games last season compared him to LeBron in that regard, so no, not outrageous. We all agree he needs to improve his skills, but that's not what he was saying.
 

Duthasmon Smith said:
And no I don't care what he or anybody looks like in the HP league.
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Reports on Mav and Mbakwe from people that attended HP seemed pretty accurate. I'm interested to hear from people who attend how Elliot, Andre and Julian look.

If you don't care, don't open the HP threads. Simple concept.
 

GophersOnTheRise said:
Pretty sure he's talking about athleticism and explosiveness. Name on player in college basketball with more athleticism than Rodney. One of the commentators during one of the Gopher games last season compared him to LeBron in that regard, so no, not outrageous. We all agree he needs to improve his skills, but that's not what he was saying.
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I've heard Rodney compared to Gerald Green more than Lebron.
 




9194Gophs said:
Reports on Mav and Mbakwe from people that attended HP seemed pretty accurate. I'm interested to hear from people who attend how Elliot, Andre and Julian look.

If you don't care, don't open the HP threads. Simple concept.
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Plan to make it to a game or two, have never attended. I want to see Oto shoot from deep and find out how athletic he is.
 

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