Shooter: "there's concern about the weight of redshirted center Mo Walker"

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BleedGopher

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per Shooter:

Trevor Mbakwe's knee should be ready for the Gophers men's basketball team's opening practice at Williams Arena in five weeks.

Meanwhile, there's concern about the weight of redshirted center Mo Walker, who underwent knee ligament replacement surgery 1-1/2 years ago and severely injured an ankle last spring. Walker is hovering around 300 pounds.

http://www.twincities.com/vikings/ci_21468949/mularkey-has-concordia-roots

Go Gophers!!
 

That's a real shame if he let himself go like that. I realize he was around the same weight his freshman year, but you'd think a guy would take his fitness level a little more seriously if he was gonna through all the work to come back from 2 years worth of injuries.
 

"Walker is hovering around 300 pounds." So he lost weight?
 

let himself go? 3 bills is what he was when he came here. He drops 10-15 on his frame and he will be relatively light. Sorry shooter... Tubby not concerned
 

This might be semantics, but I hate when people throw out a weight number. The number of pounds you weigh has very little to do with what kind of shape you are in. Especially since muscle weighs more than fat.

Just a pet peeve I guess, not a fan when people say a person weights X so he must be out of shape and fat.
 


Still unsure why anyone expects Mo to be a contributing member to the team this year...injuries aside - what have we seen from Mo, not much. I hope he comes in and gives us 'something' we are 'missing', whatever that is. But i'm not holding my breath that Mo earns many minutes (fat or not). Play EE considerable minutes at center and when he needs a blow you go small with Mbakwe at the 5; speed and atheticism are so much more important than size in todays college bball.
 

stroms7 said:
Still unsure why anyone expects Mo to be a contributing member to the team this year...injuries aside - what have we seen from Mo, not much. I hope he comes in and gives us 'something' we are 'missing', whatever that is. But i'm not holding my breath that Mo earns many minutes (fat or not). Play EE considerable minutes at center and when he needs a blow you go small with Mbakwe at the 5; speed and atheticism are so much more important than size in todays college bball.
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Mo was a top 150 recruit and seems to be a skilled passer and a decent jump shooter. He also looks to have the most polished and fluid post game and best touch around the hoop on the team. If healthy, Mo will earn minutes.

You can tell by watching Mo, even with his size and the limited sample, how fluid his game is and the touch that he has both around the basket and with his jump shot.

I think Walker is a much better player than many give him credit for.
 

I will tell you one thing, sports fans. If I am back on defense and Big Mo is coming down on a break away one on one at me...I am getting the hell out of the way.
 

scher215 said:
This might be semantics, but I hate when people throw out a weight number. The number of pounds you weigh has very little to do with what kind of shape you are in. Especially since muscle weighs more than fat.

Just a pet peeve I guess, not a fan when people say a person weights X so he must be out of shape and fat.
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Normally I completely agree with this, but in the case of Walker he can not weigh 300lbs and be in great shape for basketball. The only players I can think of who played at 300lbs or more recently (effectively) were Shaq, Yao Ming, and perhaps an aging Sabonis with the Trail Blazers.
 



EG#9 said:
Normally I completely agree with this, but in the case of Walker he can not weigh 300lbs and be in great shape for basketball. The only players I can think of who played at 300lbs or more recently (effectively) were Shaq, Yao Ming, and perhaps an aging Sabonis with the Trail Blazers.
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Agree for the most part. I have no idea what shape Mo Walker is in and it would be extremely difficult to be athletic at 300, probably not impossible tho, just more speaking in general. I just don't like "any random person weighs X so they are out of shape and slow". There have been rumors LeBron is around 260 up to 280 (depending on who you believe) and he is far from out of shape. I'd be more concerned with a players body fat percentage than his weight. Probably doesn't apply with Walker, just a personal tangent.
 

If Walker is available to play a good 15-20 mpg this year, it helps the team immensely.

Nonetheless, saying there are concerns about his weight and conditioning is like saying sometimes the sun comes out. Obvious... and it's been that way for years. Certainly was one of the risks that Tubby knowingly accepted in bringing him into the program.

I hope he can get and stay healthy because he is a helluva basketball player. His size is a part of that, but the guy's hands are NICE.
 

Stroms7 is correct. i have no idea why anyone thinks walker will have a career at the u.
 






He was contributing before he got hurt, so I think it is more then reasonable to expect the same when he returns, provided he is at a good weight that is.
 

I'm sure he can play and help this team at 3-Hundo. But, that weight will limit his minutes and increase his chances for injury. To his defense, it's not easy to lose weight on crutches and/or when you cannot run. Best case he gets down to 285 during the beginning of the season, maybe 280 towards the B1G.
 


Clem's Gophers said:
I'm sure he can play and help this team at 3-Hundo. But, that weight will limit his minutes and increase his chances for injury. To his defense, it's not easy to lose weight on crutches and/or when you cannot run. Best case he gets down to 285 during the beginning of the season, maybe 280 towards the B1G.
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I agree. However I saw big Mo at the game yesterday and he looked to be in the best shape/weight I have seen him at. No way he was over 300.
 

98VQueens said:
I agree. However I saw big Mo at the game yesterday and he looked to be in the best shape/weight I have seen him at. No way he was over 300.
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He could still be over 300 pounds if he gained muscle and lost fat.
 

Mo looks good and is bouncing around on his legs & ankle fine... but, that doesn't mean there aren't concerns about his (1) ability to stay free of serious injury and (2) conditioning. Those will likely always be concerns.
 

THE SCOUT! said:
let himself go? 3 bills is what he was when he came here. He drops 10-15 on his frame and he will be relatively light. Sorry shooter... Tubby not concerned
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+1 No reason to believe a coach nick-named Tubby would give a rip about a player's weight.
 



calminnfan said:
He was contributing before he got hurt, so I think it is more then reasonable to expect the same when he returns, provided he is at a good weight that is.
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Agree. Some people have really bad memories. He looked better than Ralph and Colton at times before he went down. If he doesn't contribute, we are in trouble.
 

GophersOnTheRise said:
That's a good comparison since gaining muscle and losing fat is also impossible for people to do.
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He looked pretty soft, no recognizable muscle gain. I'm just speculating, but he does not look like a big fan of the weight room.
 

Doogie- Smith then unprovoked gushed about center Mo Walker's comeback from knee and ankle injuries. "He's trimming down. He'll give us a real presence inside."
 

GoodasGold said:
+1 No reason to believe a coach nick-named Tubby would give a rip about a player's weight.
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He actually got the nickname because he liked playing in the bathtub when he was younger, not because of anything having to do with his weight.
 

I hope Mo is healthy, fit and able to contribute -- but i see NO issue with starting EE at the 5 and when he needs a rest we go small and athletic with Trevor at the 5. Mo and EE CAN'T play together, just ike Iverson AND RRSIII COULDN'T/SHOULDN'T have played together. College baseketball has changed - there is no need for a bunch of bigs...long,lean athletes are the ticket to success in todays basketball landscape
 

Cayman said:
He actually got the nickname because he liked playing in the bathtub when he was younger, not because of anything having to do with his weight.
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That's an interesting bit of trivia...thanks Cayman. One wonders, if he had liked playing with himself in the bathtub when he was younger, would he now be known as Chubby Smith?
 

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