recruiting services look at a player in a vacuum.. in a vacuum, Rodney is very talented. Quite a ways off from where he will hopefully get to, but still, very talented. Put him on the right team and he could produce right away.
I've got no doubts that Rodney will develop into a very good player for the gophers, but our lack of outside shooting was our biggest weakness last year, and between Royce and Mbakwe coming in, and Ralph and Colton improving in the paint, I think it'll be a bit tough to put Rodney in the game for long period of time, at least this coming year.
I wouldn't want to see Nolen and Rodney on the floor at the same time, but if Cobbs' jumpshot is more reliable, or if Devoe improves his PG skills, we can run more sets where there are other shooters around Rodney to stretch the floor and allow him to better utilize his athleticism.
While there's no denying Rodney's talent or physical abilities, our team is just in a position right now that puts a premium on the ability of our players to hit their jumpshots.
In a perfect world, Devoe improves his ball handling and finds the right balance of looking for his shot and looking for his teammates, Nolen at least starts to hit the wide open 3's, Cobbs' scoring abilities are as good as I think they are, Westbrook reigns himself in a bit, Damian continues to work on his midrange game cutting to the hoop, Ralph starts hitting that elbow jumper and Hoffarber finds his mojo.
Any and all of those things would allow us more room to play Rodney, but the fact of the matter is that with Nolen unable to hit a shot outside of the paint and unable to finish inside the paint, Westbrook shut down by larger defender, Damian playing passively on the offensive end and Ralph unable to hit those elbow jumpers despite his consistency at the free throw line, we just don't have much for floor spacing sometimes. Play a zone and we're toast, and Rodney only adds to that, except for it opening lanes for him to offensively rebound.
But our guys will improve, and some of the guys I mentioned will be leaving after this coming season. I expect to see Rodney play much more as a sophomore, and in the meantime, I hope he will have developed his skills. He's got all the potential in the world and Tubby is a great coach to help him realize that potential.