Marcus Reports Mo Walker Working Cory Joseph To Package


Who since Tubby has been here has averaged 25-30 minutes?

This year?

Westbrook - 26.4
Hoffarber - 27.8
Johnson -25.5
Joseph - 25.5 (was well over 30 after Nolen went out)
Sampson III - 25.6
Nolen - 25.4
 

I hope Cobbs stays. He did well for a freshman. When he signed it was between him and Darius Smith. Cobbs got a lot of playing time with Al out, but regardless, his numbers (TO/A) were much better than D. Smith at UConn. Of course maybe it is not fair since Darius had to play in the Big East.;)

Cobbs worked hard and contributed. He will get better with experience.
 

I think our starting lineup would look a lot more like:
PG: C. Joseph / Nolen
SG. D. Joseph / Hoff / Hollins
SF: P. Carter / Williams / Dawson
PF: Mbakwe / White
C: RS3 / Iverson / Walker

I like Loblaw's line up. Wow, that is a great team.

I would bet that this would eventually be the starting team with White taking over Carter's spot against certain teams and Iverson taking Ralphs spot against more physical teams.

The second team listed is pretty strong. Many weapons and options for Tubby to choose.

Now we just need to sign two of them, get one to return to school and stay out of trouble and one to be found "not guilty" in court. Looks like a lot to overcome.
 

I too would like to see Cobbs stay. I would rather see White back on the team, but if Tubby could swing that and keep Cobbs, that would be great.
 


I too would like to see Cobbs stay. I would rather see White back on the team, but if Tubby could swing that and keep Cobbs, that would be great.

That's pretty impossible to keep both.

We have 3 scholarships available (D. Johnson, L. Westbrook, D. Bostick) and Royce's for a total of 4. Austin Hollins and Elliot Eliason have committed, so we have 2 left. If we get BOTH Cory Joseph and Maurice Walker, then we don't have any left... WITHOUT ROYCE! So, if Cobbs does transfer, then Royce could take that one.

I was thinking about it earlier and I wonder what the chances are that Cobbs stays and we use our 4 scholarships on Hollins, Eliason, C. Joseph, and M. Walker and Royce wants to come back. What are the chances that Tubby says "well you quit on us last season, so I'll let you play, but not on scholarship, you'll have to earn it!"... this is feasible because I know Dom Dawson isn't on scholarship, but he's on the roster.
 


I want Royce to play, but will he qualify if he is not in class? Does he have to be enrolled for a semester in good standing before he can play (I don't know the answer to this)? Do you think he could stand to wait one semester to play (sit out until 2nd semester)?
 




I think Royce would have to enroll in 12+ credits in summer school to be eligible to play first semester, or do the same while sitting out first semester in order to play second semester.

But I'm not exactly sure on how the summer school thing works as far as eligibility, so don't quote me on that.

If CJ and Walker both committed and no one transferred, Royce would be out of luck unless he paid his own way and walked on.
 


No but Ramel Bradley did (he was also PG then). Ditto Patrick Sparks (also PG).

They weren't 2 year starters who spent 3 years in the system and had gained respect of other teams throughout the conference before Rondo came, I might be a tad off but I think Rondo's freshman year was also Bradleys, and Sparks was coming off a redshirt year as a transfer.
 

They weren't 2 year starters who spent 3 years in the system and had gained respect of other teams throughout the conference before Rondo came, I might be a tad off but I think Rondo's freshman year was also Bradleys, and Sparks was coming off a redshirt year as a transfer.

Cory Joseph will start regardless of the past Rondo situation.
 



They weren't 2 year starters who spent 3 years in the system and had gained respect of other teams throughout the conference before Rondo came, I might be a tad off but I think Rondo's freshman year was also Bradleys, and Sparks was coming off a redshirt year as a transfer.

Regardless of that, Rondo had competition for PG spot in 2005 and 2006 at UK.
 


FOT or Johnny...either of you hearing anything with your sources behind the scenes with the validity of this "package" deal? CoJo won the 3-point contest tonight and man is his jumper sweet. This thread is a breath of fresh air compared to all the crap we've had on here lately!
 


Look, I'm not hating on Nolen. I like all of our players. But Nolen screwed the pooch by getting himself ineligible. He let down the team, the coaching staff, the fans, and just about everyone else you can imagine. He's not a star, and I've always thought that he'd be better off the bench when the opponents aren't expecting some of his quickness and pressure and may forget the fact that they don't have to guard him.

Cory is just on a different level talent-wise, and will start the moment he (hopefully) puts on a gopher uniform. He's a complete offensive player, has a great feel for the game and running an offense, is one of the better shooters in the country and one of the better defenders in the country. Nolen will not steal any minutes from him.
 


Good observation, but I thought we were comparing cojo coming in and starting over Nolan and Rondo coming in as a freshman and starting over fellow newcomers. Apples and oranges I think.

Yeah, the comparison between Cory and Rondo starting at their respective colleges are like comparing apples to oranges, which is why I don't think it matters what happened in Kentucky with Rondo. Cory Joseph should start from day 1 and I think that he probably will. I love Nolen's defense as much as anyone, so if people are worried about losing his defensive pressure, then maybe when the team is in a pressing situation we could have Nolen at point guard and Cory at shooting guard with Rodney at small forward. Imagine trying to break that press.
 

Everyone seems to be assuming that White will just accept Tubby's inevitable invitation to re-join the team. First of all, no one knows for sure if coach Smith will reach out to White. Secondly, he would need to be re-admitted to the University. I honestly don't see him ever playing for the Gophers. He hasn't exactly displayed an un-ending desire to play college ball. His passion seems to be hip-hop and his "Wetball Nation."
 

FWIW we are fans so we are supposed to want an exciting offensive team, but its up to the coach who plays and its no secret that successful coaches know defense is where winning begins. If Kalen Lucas is 100%, McCamey stays,and we face Taylor Battle, Rivers(IU),Hughes(wisky) ect. and Cory can hold them down better than Nolan and do what we expect offensively I think It'd be asking alot. Who besides John Wall has come in and made that type of impact as a freshman(only because he ran a simple system while Rondo and Tubby bumped heads for 2 years). Are we asking him to be John Wall or will we allow him to come into his own, since he will be surrounded by so much talent
 

Everyone seems to be assuming that White will just accept Tubby's inevitable invitation to re-join the team. First of all, no one knows for sure if coach Smith will reach out to White. Secondly, he would need to be re-admitted to the University. I honestly don't see him ever playing for the Gophers. He hasn't exactly displayed an un-ending desire to play college ball. His passion seems to be hip-hop and his "Wetball Nation."

When asked if he would re-join the team next year in a video interview with the Star Tribune Royce responded with, "If I was offered a million dollars, I would probably take it, yeah." Meaning at the time he didn't think it would happen, but if he was given the opportunity, he would take it. He's said time and time again how much he loves the Gophers and the Twin Cities as a whole and how much he wants to be a part of the team. If Tubby offers his spot back I'd be shocked if he turned it down.
 

When asked if he would re-join the team next year in a video interview with the Star Tribune Royce responded with, "If I was offered a million dollars, I would probably take it, yeah." Meaning at the time he didn't think it would happen, but if he was given the opportunity, he would take it. He's said time and time again how much he loves the Gophers and the Twin Cities as a whole and how much he wants to be a part of the team. If Tubby offers his spot back I'd be shocked if he turned it down.

Royce can say that he wants to be a Gopher and be a part of the team as much as he wants, I don't buy it. If he truly wanted to be a Gopher and apart of the team then he wouldn't have done all of the idiotic things he did, including dropping out of school. The only reason Royce didn't play this year was Royce.
 

I like Loblaw's line up. Wow, that is a great team.

I would bet that this would eventually be the starting team with White taking over Carter's spot against certain teams and Iverson taking Ralphs spot against more physical teams.

The second team listed is pretty strong. Many weapons and options for Tubby to choose.

Now we just need to sign two of them, get one to return to school and stay out of trouble and one to be found "not guilty" in court. Looks like a lot to overcome.

Couldn't have said it better myself, however I would prefer to see Royce in Carter's spot. I realize it is a lot to overcome, but we can be grateful to even have it be a legit possibility of happening. It is about time something goes right with this program for all the crap we have had to put up with in recent history. We deserve a few seasons of potential "greatness."

My gut hunch tells me Gopher Gods will pull through on this one.

The (non-starting) lineup I would like to see most...

Cory
Devoe
Royce
Mbakwe
Sampson
 

I think Mbakwe is the starter at the 4 spot from day one. But, I love he idea of Walker coming here for 2 reasons. The need for someone to back up Mbakwe and I think White would be much moore effective at the 3 spot. I know Royce has the size but, I don't think I likes banging with the other big guys.
 

That's pretty impossible to keep both.

We have 3 scholarships available (D. Johnson, L. Westbrook, D. Bostick) and Royce's for a total of 4. Austin Hollins and Elliot Eliason have committed, so we have 2 left. If we get BOTH Cory Joseph and Maurice Walker, then we don't have any left... WITHOUT ROYCE! So, if Cobbs does transfer, then Royce could take that one.

It is more complicated than you make it seem. We have at minimum 3 available (Johnson, Westbrook, Bostick) and three that are somewhat unknown (Nolen, Mbakwe, White). We truly don't know if Nolen will become eligible, what the outcome of Mbakwe's court case will be and when, and what will happen with White. The possibility of Cobbs transferring is just one more question mark surrounding the scholarships next year.

I was thinking about it earlier and I wonder what the chances are that Cobbs stays and we use our 4 scholarships on Hollins, Eliason, C. Joseph, and M. Walker and Royce wants to come back. What are the chances that Tubby says "well you quit on us last season, so I'll let you play, but not on scholarship, you'll have to earn it!"... this is feasible because I know Dom Dawson isn't on scholarship, but he's on the roster.

Dawson is a walk-on. Is it possible that White walks-on? I guess it could happen but there is so much up in the air right now it has to be tough to be in Tubby's shoes to recruit players w/out a total understanding of how many you can bring in.
 

Speaking of Cobbs, I saw him tonight at Ted Mann concert hall with Williams and Dawson attending a speaker on rape awareness. The content of the speaker isn't what I wanted to bring up (there were lots of athletes there from all sports, they're not in trouble), but it seemed like one of those things that someone not planning on coming back next year would just skip, but someone trying to stay in the U's good graces would attend.
 

Speaking of Cobbs, I saw him tonight at Ted Mann concert hall with Williams and Dawson attending a speaker on rape awareness. The content of the speaker isn't what I wanted to bring up (there were lots of athletes there from all sports, they're not in trouble), but it seemed like one of those things that someone not planning on coming back next year would just skip, but someone trying to stay in the U's good graces would attend.

Hmm... good insight! We'll have to wait and see... I see Dom all the time, as I work with him, and he doesn't think anyone's transferring.
 

So what happens if Cobbs leaves, TM and RW and AN all do not return...

Then we have 7 openings and only 2 players signed? What the hell does Tubby do then?
 




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