Gaston, Konate and Mason

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bga1

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The first full Pitino recruiting class has been seen as a bit of a miss by many with the departure of Martin and Lofton. Perhaps it deserves another look. Mason is going to be a very good player. Konate is showing signs- I think he might end up being the best of the class- and Gaston has the look of a real power forward even though he is raw. The thing I like about this group is that they all appear to get it defensively and are earning their playing time with defense first. If the next recruiting class (including a few more this spring) is as good as hoped Pitino may be putting things in place for a very nice future.

Morris was a patch and a pretty good one, but he's not a good defensive player (maybe he gets better and stronger next year). I think this team will start to get good when it becomes a really good half court defensive squad, in addition to the Pitino pressure full court. As we bottom out this year, unexpectedly, I am feeling bullish about what is ahead.
 

bga1 said:
The first full Pitino recruiting class has been seen as a bit of a miss by many with the departure of Martin and Lofton. Perhaps it deserves another look. Mason is going to be a very good player. Konate is showing signs- I think he might end up being the best of the class- and Gaston has the look of a real power forward even though he is raw. The thing I like about this group is that they all appear to get it defensively and are earning their playing time with defense first. If the next recruiting class (including a few more this spring) is as good as hoped Pitino may be putting things in place for a very nice future.

Morris was a patch and a pretty good one, but he's not a good defensive player (maybe he gets better and stronger next year). I think this team will start to get good when it becomes a really good half court defensive squad, in addition to the Pitino pressure full court. As we bottom out this year, unexpectedly, I am feeling bullish about what is ahead.
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I am not optimistic. I expect the BIG to be better next year and the gophers about the same as this year. Richard needs better players. Period.
 

Section201 said:
I am not optimistic. I expect the BIG to be better next year and the gophers about the same as this year. Richard needs better players. Period.
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I agree if this is what can be expected from our recruiting classes we are in some trouble in the future. Complete miss with zero contribution from two guys, 2 big guys who knows about were definetly not impact recruits in their first year or even really contrubitors and would be suprised if both pan out. Mason agreed I think will be on some all-conference teams by the time it iso over. Morris contributor, who I actually think could be better next year I think playing on a team with Sam Cassell Jr in Juco really hurt him this year not realizing that every time he touches it does not have to go up. But having to scramble again 2 years in a row for spring recruits is not really how I think you build a program.
 

bga1 said:
The first full Pitino recruiting class has been seen as a bit of a miss by many with the departure of Martin and Lofton. Perhaps it deserves another look. Mason is going to be a very good player. Konate is showing signs- I think he might end up being the best of the class- and Gaston has the look of a real power forward even though he is raw. The thing I like about this group is that they all appear to get it defensively and are earning their playing time with defense first. If the next recruiting class (including a few more this spring) is as good as hoped Pitino may be putting things in place for a very nice future.

Morris was a patch and a pretty good one, but he's not a good defensive player (maybe he gets better and stronger next year). I think this team will start to get good when it becomes a really good half court defensive squad, in addition to the Pitino pressure full court. As we bottom out this year, unexpectedly, I am feeling bullish about what is ahead.
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Seems the posters that declared them a 'miss' are a very small group of people with huge egos that can't accept the possibility of being wrong.

Mason and Kontae will be very good players. Not sure how good Gaston will be, but he is showing no signs of being a bust. He is not a liability on the court, despite only joining the team a few months ago.

Lofton- People that thought he was worth the risk were wrong, he is a headcase and an average player at best in the B1G.

Martin- Would have and probably will turn out to be a good player. He lacked patients and willingness accepted reality. Happens, can't blame the staff for not predicting the unpredictable with a 17-18 year old kid.
 

bga1 said:
The first full Pitino recruiting class has been seen as a bit of a miss by many with the departure of Martin and Lofton. Perhaps it deserves another look. Mason is going to be a very good player. Konate is showing signs- I think he might end up being the best of the class- and Gaston has the look of a real power forward even though he is raw. The thing I like about this group is that they all appear to get it defensively and are earning their playing time with defense first. If the next recruiting class (including a few more this spring) is as good as hoped Pitino may be putting things in place for a very nice future.

Morris was a patch and a pretty good one, but he's not a good defensive player (maybe he gets better and stronger next year). I think this team will start to get good when it becomes a really good half court defensive squad, in addition to the Pitino pressure full court. As we bottom out this year, unexpectedly, I am feeling bullish about what is ahead.
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HA, bga, my father used to yell at me that I was a Bear ( before I had a clue what that was about!) but I am also bullish about this group based on the last game. Konate has responded extremely well to the coaching he's received, Gas looks like he could pass Konate, and Mason needs no explanation. Lofton was one of those damned if you do, damned if you don't cases, and Martin was a miss that apparently no one saw coming. Im prepared to ignore the reactive cries of the fan base next year as I think I like where Pitino is going.
 


Mason is legit. Gaston has a long way to go. Konate is super intriguing. He has two things you can't coach...size and desire. Watch how active and engaged he is on both ends of the court. If he figures out the game, he could be exceptional.
 

It is way too early to pick on the big guys. Remember Gaston was not able to join the team until Jan and Konate got a late start in the spring.
 

rivergopher said:
I agree if this is what can be expected from our recruiting classes we are in some trouble in the future. Complete miss with zero contribution from two guys, 2 big guys who knows about were definetly not impact recruits in their first year or even really contrubitors and would be suprised if both pan out. Mason agreed I think will be on some all-conference teams by the time it iso over. Morris contributor, who I actually think could be better next year I think playing on a team with Sam Cassell Jr in Juco really hurt him this year not realizing that every time he touches it does not have to go up. But having to scramble again 2 years in a row for spring recruits is not really how I think you build a program.
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Pretty sure that outside of the 5 star and top 50 type guys, big men generally don't make a big impact as freshmen. Frank Kaminsky averaged only 1.8 and 4.2 points per game in his freshman and sophomore years respectively. Not saying Konate and Diedhiou will be that good, but just because they didn't contribute in a big way as freshmen doesn't mean there isn't hope for them.
 

bga1 said:
The first full Pitino recruiting class has been seen as a bit of a miss by many with the departure of Martin and Lofton. Perhaps it deserves another look. Mason is going to be a very good player. Konate is showing signs- I think he might end up being the best of the class- and Gaston has the look of a real power forward even though he is raw. The thing I like about this group is that they all appear to get it defensively and are earning their playing time with defense first. If the next recruiting class (including a few more this spring) is as good as hoped Pitino may be putting things in place for a very nice future.

Morris was a patch and a pretty good one, but he's not a good defensive player (maybe he gets better and stronger next year). I think this team will start to get good when it becomes a really good half court defensive squad, in addition to the Pitino pressure full court. As we bottom out this year, unexpectedly, I am feeling bullish about what is ahead.
Click to expand...

I've said from the first time I saw either of the two African bigs was that both belong in the B1G athletically/size-wise. That's the first step. Konate is an athletic 6'11". That in itself is important as many guys that size are awkward and robotic looking as they grow into their bodies. While he's still got a ways to go, we can see he's got some post skills and maybe more importantly, he's not afraid to mix it up and be active. Gaston is still mostly an unknown due to his late start, but again you can watch the guy get off the bench and see that he's got the size to be a legit B1G PF. When you see him run the court it's obvious he's athletic enough to be effective in the B1G as well. No reason to think he can't develop into a legit PF for us in time. Mason is fearless and already a god player on both ends of the court.

I'm excited to see Nwanko learn the ropes as well. I think it's important to keep expectations realistic for him next year though. Realistically, he's not going to step in and average 8 boards a game. He's a physical player, a banger which we desperately need, but he's still a bit of a project. Expect a lot of fouls and expect some ugly turnovers, but like Bakary/Gaston, he's got the size to play in the B1G and looks to have the athleticism as well. Dorsey and Jarvis are both exciting prospects to combine with Mason as the ball handlers. McBrayer brings a different skill set to the back court and should give us some scoring from day 1.

We also have 3 more schollies to complete the class. One glaring hole is a Small Forward with legit length. If we can land Ellison who goes 6'5" or another quality 3 who stands 6'5"-6'6" it'd really help and I think it's all but certain we will. The following year we've got Hurt coming in who also fits that description at 6'6". We need size up front and Boucher is a perfect fit for what Pitino wants from a Center so hopefully we can get him signed up. That leaves one schollie and we need a physical 4 who can help immediately and this scares me. I'm not seeing any high school recruits that are realistic and worthy of the schollie. We also have to think about balancing out the classes a bit so like everyone else...we'll be looking for a rugged Juco or Senior transfer who can help immediately. Like the high schoolers though, there just doesn't seem to be any Jucos that fit the description. That means we're left with trying to lure a Senior transfer to spend his last year on a rebuilding team, which doesn't make much sense.

Perhaps I'm too pessimistic declaring next year a rebuilding year, but I'm excited to watch the young guys progress. I'd much rather win 4 conference games with a team full of promising Freshmen than win 7 conference games with a team full of mediocre Seniors. My biggest frustration this year has been the lack of heart. It's hard to root for guys with no heart. I expect that will not be a problem next year.
 



Moonlight said:
HA, bga, my father used to yell at me that I was a Bear:
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Right on! Free your mind!

reference_standard_gay_bear.jpg
 

I guess my counter to your post BGA is that most teams in the B1G can point to returning players who have either a) Accomplished more or b) Have just as much potential to be successful as the returning Gophers. Byrant McIntosh and Vic Law, for example, are nice building blocks for Northwestern. I am sure Iowa fans are excited about Peter Jok taking a step forward next year and Dom Uhl probably has shown as many flashes as Konate has of being a good player. If we move up the B1G to more traditionally successful programs, the building blocks and incoming recruits only get more impressive.

I kind of feel like people might need to pump the brakes on what Nate Mason can become. I am not sure he has the natural physical gifts (is he more athletic than Andre Hollins for example?) to be "the guy" or even the second banana on a winning B1G team. I do think he can be a very nice piece on a good team. I like what I have seen from Bakary, especially in his second time through being in the rotation after losing his spot to Eliason for a few games, but it's a big jump from some encouraging moments to solid starting center. I haven't seen enough of Gas to form an opinion, positively or negatively about his future. It is impressive that he can even get on the court and not be a total liability considering he missed the entire first semester and didn't know the playbook and certainly couldn't have had D-1 conditioning on his own.

I think the biggest concern at this point is we don't have that guy to build around. I think I can buy in to just about everyone being a piece to a successful team, but does anyone profile as an anchor (offensively) other than maybe Dupree McBrayer?

As for Josh Martin, he ended up at Cal Poly so I think that says something about what he wants out of his basketball career. Maybe he had the physical talent to be a nice piece to a B1G team, but I think it's telling that he decided to (or didn't have other options?) transfer down out of the high major level.
 

HOOP DREAMS said:
Lofton- People that thought he was worth the risk were wrong, he is a headcase and an average player at best in the B1G.

Martin- Would have and probably will turn out to be a good player. He lacked patients and willingness accepted reality. Happens, can't blame the staff for not predicting the unpredictable with a 17-18 year old kid.
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lol.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
I've said from the first time I saw either of the two African bigs was that both belong in the B1G athletically/size-wise. That's the first step. Konate is an athletic 6'11". That in itself is important as many guys that size are awkward and robotic looking as they grow into their bodies. While he's still got a ways to go, we can see he's got some post skills and maybe more importantly, he's not afraid to mix it up and be active. Gaston is still mostly an unknown due to his late start, but again you can watch the guy get off the bench and see that he's got the size to be a legit B1G PF. When you see him run the court it's obvious he's athletic enough to be effective in the B1G as well. No reason to think he can't develop into a legit PF for us in time. Mason is fearless and already a god player on both ends of the court.

I'm excited to see Nwanko learn the ropes as well. I think it's important to keep expectations realistic for him next year though. Realistically, he's not going to step in and average 8 boards a game. He's a physical player, a banger which we desperately need, but he's still a bit of a project. Expect a lot of fouls and expect some ugly turnovers, but like Bakary/Gaston, he's got the size to play in the B1G and looks to have the athleticism as well. Dorsey and Jarvis are both exciting prospects to combine with Mason as the ball handlers. McBrayer brings a different skill set to the back court and should give us some scoring from day 1.

We also have 3 more schollies to complete the class. One glaring hole is a Small Forward with legit length. If we can land Ellison who goes 6'5" or another quality 3 who stands 6'5"-6'6" it'd really help and I think it's all but certain we will. The following year we've got Hurt coming in who also fits that description at 6'6". We need size up front and Boucher is a perfect fit for what Pitino wants from a Center so hopefully we can get him signed up. That leaves one schollie and we need a physical 4 who can help immediately and this scares me. I'm not seeing any high school recruits that are realistic and worthy of the schollie. We also have to think about balancing out the classes a bit so like everyone else...we'll be looking for a rugged Juco or Senior transfer who can help immediately. Like the high schoolers though, there just doesn't seem to be any Jucos that fit the description. That means we're left with trying to lure a Senior transfer to spend his last year on a rebuilding team, which doesn't make much sense.

Perhaps I'm too pessimistic declaring next year a rebuilding year, but I'm excited to watch the young guys progress. I'd much rather win 4 conference games with a team full of promising Freshmen than win 7 conference games with a team full of mediocre Seniors. My biggest frustration this year has been the lack of heart. It's hard to root for guys with no heart. I expect that will not be a problem next year.
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I think that's a pretty good take on it CRG. I think next year is a "rebuilding year" but the question is how fast can the rebuild go? NCAAs? I doubt it. But it is possible with the right spring add ins. I agree with EG also in that Mason is probably not going to be "the guy" long term. He is just a very good player who has a top end athletically, but knows how to play the game and plays it hard nosed. I like the idea that the new team will have a more physical makeup with Nwankwo, Gaston and Bakary and it sounds like Dorsey is a real tough kid. It just feels like we are starting to build this right and that is exciting. Most coaches say that you have to stack two, three good recruiting classes in a row to build the program and my point is that the first one may have actually been a good foundation to add this second one to.

On Boucher- I had the feeling that they are recruiting him more as a PF and not a center. He is a kid that steps out and shoots the three. He is lean but it sounds like he can go up and get boards (against Big 10 competition? - that remains to be seen). But you are right - it doesn't sound like he would be the physical 4 man, if they get him then Gaston has to become that guy.
 



EG#9 said:
I guess my counter to your post BGA is that most teams in the B1G can point to returning players who have either a) Accomplished more or b) Have just as much potential to be successful as the returning Gophers. Byrant McIntosh and Vic Law, for example, are nice building blocks for Northwestern. I am sure Iowa fans are excited about Peter Jok taking a step forward next year and Dom Uhl probably has shown as many flashes as Konate has of being a good player. If we move up the B1G to more traditionally successful programs, the building blocks and incoming recruits only get more impressive.

I kind of feel like people might need to pump the brakes on what Nate Mason can become. I am not sure he has the natural physical gifts (is he more athletic than Andre Hollins for example?) to be "the guy" or even the second banana on a winning B1G team. I do think he can be a very nice piece on a good team. I like what I have seen from Bakary, especially in his second time through being in the rotation after losing his spot to Eliason for a few games, but it's a big jump from some encouraging moments to solid starting center. I haven't seen enough of Gas to form an opinion, positively or negatively about his future. It is impressive that he can even get on the court and not be a total liability considering he missed the entire first semester and didn't know the playbook and certainly couldn't have had D-1 conditioning on his own.

I think the biggest concern at this point is we don't have that guy to build around. I think I can buy in to just about everyone being a piece to a successful team, but does anyone profile as an anchor (offensively) other than maybe Dupree McBrayer?

As for Josh Martin, he ended up at Cal Poly so I think that says something about what he wants out of his basketball career. Maybe he had the physical talent to be a nice piece to a B1G team, but I think it's telling that he decided to (or didn't have other options?) transfer down out of the high major level.
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That's a good counter- I can't disagree. The key is to fit together a couple of good classes in a row and perhaps get a little lucky and find a guy who explodes as sleeper recruit.
 

Moonlight said:
HA, bga, my father used to yell at me that I was a Bear ( before I had a clue what that was about!) but I am also bullish about this group based on the last game. Konate has responded extremely well to the coaching he's received, Gas looks like he could pass Konate, and Mason needs no explanation. Lofton was one of those damned if you do, damned if you don't cases, and Martin was a miss that apparently no one saw coming. Im prepared to ignore the reactive cries of the fan base next year as I think I like where Pitino is going.
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Gopher stock is now a BUY recommendation! :)
 

bga1 said:
The first full Pitino recruiting class has been seen as a bit of a miss by many with the departure of Martin and Lofton. Perhaps it deserves another look. Mason is going to be a very good player. Konate is showing signs- I think he might end up being the best of the class- and Gaston has the look of a real power forward even though he is raw. The thing I like about this group is that they all appear to get it defensively and are earning their playing time with defense first. If the next recruiting class (including a few more this spring) is as good as hoped Pitino may be putting things in place for a very nice future.

Morris was a patch and a pretty good one, but he's not a good defensive player (maybe he gets better and stronger next year). I think this team will start to get good when it becomes a really good half court defensive squad, in addition to the Pitino pressure full court. As we bottom out this year, unexpectedly, I am feeling bullish about what is ahead.
Click to expand...

We have no idea how these guys are going to develop. How many guys on this team improved over the last year? Any of them? How many got worse?

I really hope the new guys pan out, but I see nothing at this point in time for optimism. We really are not going to know for a couple of years how they will develop and there are going to be some serious "growing pains" next year. I wonder how many fans are going to put up with another 6-12 or 7-11 B1G season next year and chalk it up to rebuilding? I hope it does not happen, but I would not be surprised.
 

I think these three are going to be better defensive players than the guys Tubby brought in, they are just a little quicker, they react to the ball and are just going to be more effective in their careers, Mo try's hard but he is a step late getting out and covering a guy like Kaminsky when he steps out to take a three, Konate doesn't have that problem.

In the Ohio State game they basically shut down Russel after they shifted Mason over to cover him rather than Hollins, it wasn't because of effort, Mason is just a little faster than Hollins and could get out and bother Russel's shot a little more.

I look across the board at the guys Pitino is bringing in and I think this is really going to express itself down the line.
 

One would have hoped that our seniors would carry us this year but they didn't. We need to be much more successful in the recruiting wars so we get to the point where we have juniors and seniors with experience backed up by freshmen and sophomores with potential. The last Gopher team that had that was the 97 Final Four team. Since then we've had thin, mid-B1G talent that had us hoping the incoming newbies would be difference-makers each year. It would be nice to feel like we are actually building a program that will be sustainable despite the variations in player development in reaching/exceeding their potential. The occasional Josh Martin doesn't hurt so bad if he's expected to sit and learn, maybe get a few garbage time minutes. When you depend on him to contribute you really roll the dice.
 

goldy93 said:
We have no idea how these guys are going to develop. How many guys on this team improved over the last year? Any of them? How many got worse?

I really hope the new guys pan out, but I see nothing at this point in time for optimism. We really are not going to know for a couple of years how they will develop and there are going to be some serious "growing pains" next year. I wonder how many fans are going to put up with another 6-12 or 7-11 B1G season next year and chalk it up to rebuilding? I hope it does not happen, but I would not be surprised.
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We don't KNOW- you are right. But there are clues.

Who got better over the course of the year? Buggs, Konate, Mason, and even Gaston all showed improvement. Among the older players, Walker is better offensively than last year but still not much defensively. Hollins is better on defense than he was and King is improved over last year.

Matheui and Elliason did not have good years. For whatever reason, lil Dre's shots would not fall this year and Elliot just never adjusted to his role off the bench. On offense people will say that Hollins took a step back but I don't think so. He shot well and took care of the ball, he just couldn't get himself open when other teams game planned him well. The key for Hollins is size and speed and he faced a lot of big ten guards who were bigger or faster or both. They were a team with little margin for error. If they had won some of the early close games we wouldn't be talking about guys getting worse.
 

rivergopher said:
I agree if this is what can be expected from our recruiting classes we are in some trouble in the future. Complete miss with zero contribution from two guys, 2 big guys who knows about were definetly not impact recruits in their first year or even really contrubitors and would be suprised if both pan out. Mason agreed I think will be on some all-conference teams by the time it iso over. Morris contributor, who I actually think could be better next year I think playing on a team with Sam Cassell Jr in Juco really hurt him this year not realizing that every time he touches it does not have to go up. But having to scramble again 2 years in a row for spring recruits is not really how I think you build a program.
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You are suck a yuck.
 

bga1 said:
I think that's a pretty good take on it CRG. I think next year is a "rebuilding year" but the question is how fast can the rebuild go? NCAAs? I doubt it. But it is possible with the right spring add ins. I agree with EG also in that Mason is probably not going to be "the guy" long term. He is just a very good player who has a top end athletically, but knows how to play the game and plays it hard nosed. I like the idea that the new team will have a more physical makeup with Nwankwo, Gaston and Bakary and it sounds like Dorsey is a real tough kid. It just feels like we are starting to build this right and that is exciting. Most coaches say that you have to stack two, three good recruiting classes in a row to build the program and my point is that the first one may have actually been a good foundation to add this second one to.

On Boucher- I had the feeling that they are recruiting him more as a PF and not a center. He is a kid that steps out and shoots the three. He is lean but it sounds like he can go up and get boards (against Big 10 competition? - that remains to be seen). But you are right - it doesn't sound like he would be the physical 4 man, if they get him then Gaston has to become that guy.
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Disagree a little on Boucher. Pitino likes long, thin guys who block shots and can run the floor at Center. It describes Boucher to a T. It's nice that he can shoot the 3, but at 6'10"-6'11" I doubt that's going to be a regular part of his game. I had a chance to chat with Ryan James for a while today and let's just say he's not very impressed with the level of competition Boucher is playing against. It might have been you who used this comparison, but when I think Boucher, I think of Jerry Holman who put up impressive numbers at MCTC, but never replicated that output in the B1G. I do think Boucher would be a nice player to compliment Bakary though. Ryan James also said today he really thinks Cullen Russo would end up here, so I think that's who they're looking at for the PF spot.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Disagree a little on Boucher. Pitino likes long, thin guys who block shots and can run the floor at Center. It describes Boucher to a T. It's nice that he can shoot the 3, but at 6'10"-6'11" I doubt that's going to be a regular part of his game. I had a chance to chat with Ryan James for a while today and let's just say he's not very impressed with the level of competition Boucher is playing against. It might have been you who used this comparison, but when I think Boucher, I think of Jerry Holman who put up impressive numbers at MCTC, but never replicated that output in the B1G. I do think Boucher would be a nice player to compliment Bakary though. Ryan James also said today he really thinks Cullen Russo would end up here, so I think that's who they're looking at for the PF spot.
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Is Russo enough of an upgrade to King to use that scholly?
 


Costa Rican Gopher said:
Disagree a little on Boucher. Pitino likes long, thin guys who block shots and can run the floor at Center. It describes Boucher to a T. It's nice that he can shoot the 3, but at 6'10"-6'11" I doubt that's going to be a regular part of his game. I had a chance to chat with Ryan James for a while today and let's just say he's not very impressed with the level of competition Boucher is playing against. It might have been you who used this comparison, but when I think Boucher, I think of Jerry Holman who put up impressive numbers at MCTC, but never replicated that output in the B1G. I do think Boucher would be a nice player to compliment Bakary though. Ryan James also said today he really thinks Cullen Russo would end up here, so I think that's who they're looking at for the PF spot.
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Boucher guarding a guy like Haas would be hilarious. I suppose Boucher could play center against smaller guys, but I doubt he would play alot of center. As far as competition goes, they did play Indian Hills CC and he had a respectable 14/6/2 statline.
 

Let me try and express something: I'm willing to give Pitino some time to develop a team, but I am getting really tired of hearing hype about recruits who don't pan out. I remember how excited people were when Tubby landed RSIII and Rodney Williams - but they did not develop into the type of game-changing players they were predicted to be.

I'm at a point now where, every time I read about how good recruit X or recruit Y is going to be, I find myself wondering, when will one of these guys really pan out? There were people on this board talking up Squirrel Morris - but when I got to watch him play, I couldn't believe this was the guy that people were excited about. When are the Gophs going to land some player who comes in and really elevates the program? Just once, I would like to see a recruit live up to the hype - or even out-perform the hype. To put it another way, when does this program catch a break?
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Let me try and express something: I'm willing to give Pitino some time to develop a team, but I am getting really tired of hearing hype about recruits who don't pan out. I remember how excited people were when Tubby landed RSIII and Rodney Williams - but they did not develop into the type of game-changing players they were predicted to be. I'm at a point now where, every time I read about how good recruit X or recruit Y is going to be, I find myself wondering, when will one of these guys really pan out? There were people on this board talking up Squirrel Morris - but when I got to watch him play, I couldn't believe this was the guy that people were excited about. When are the Gophs going to land some player who comes in and really elevates the program? Just once, I would like to see a recruit live up to the hype - or even out-perform the hype. To put it another way, when does this program catch a break?
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This team needs a Rodney Williams type guy in the worst way.
 



short ornery norwegian said:
Let me try and express something: I'm willing to give Pitino some time to develop a team, but I am getting really tired of hearing hype about recruits who don't pan out. I remember how excited people were when Tubby landed RSIII and Rodney Williams - but they did not develop into the type of game-changing players they were predicted to be.

I'm at a point now where, every time I read about how good recruit X or recruit Y is going to be, I find myself wondering, when will one of these guys really pan out? There were people on this board talking up Squirrel Morris - but when I got to watch him play, I couldn't believe this was the guy that people were excited about. When are the Gophs going to land some player who comes in and really elevates the program? Just once, I would like to see a recruit live up to the hype - or even out-perform the hype. To put it another way, when does this program catch a break?
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Based on the rest of your post you obviously are not willing to give pitino any time. He has had 1 season with his first real recruiting class and you are saying they are all busts. you sicken me
 

I agree. We're long overdue for some guys to pan out. What we really need with these last 3 scholies is 1) the next Trevor Mbakwe, 2) the next Vince Grier, and 3) the next Joel Pryzbilla (or even Jerry Holman, if you want to make it a JC transfer sweep).
 

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