Amelia: Wisconsin brings a model of big men development to the Barn

per Amelia:

There are, however, a lot more guys in the recruiting pool who represent what Kaminsky once was: a raw, gangly guy with lots of size and lots of passion.

The good news? The Gophers seem to be heavy on those. This season, we've gotten our first glimpses of 6-11 Bakary Konate and 6-9 Gaston Diedhiou. Both are inexperienced and still uncomfortable with the American game, having last played in Europe and Africa. But both also have great frames and strength and, seemingly, a lot of upside. Add to that mix 6-foot-10 incoming freshman Jonathan Nwankwo, and the Gophers' frontcourt certainly has room to grow (a nice way of saying its rawer than steak tartare).

"I think guys get too much credit for player development -- coaches," Pitino said. "The guys, in my opinion, that are willing to get better and willing to work, and have great upside, get better. Some have a higher ceiling that other guys."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/295054121.html

Go Gophers!!

Mmm. I agree more with Pittino than Amelia - the model is finding the right kids that want to work to get better. Wisconsin had found some hard working kids - player development is on the player - the coach can only show them the road. Its consitent with Pitino's earlier comments on Buggs - kid can have tremendous athleticism and can become very good if they put in the work to become better. Patino sees the distinction and hopefully he can continue to find players like Nate Mason and incoming players like Jarvis and Hurt that love the game, are athletic, and know how to win.

BleedGopher said:

"I think guys get too much credit for player development -- coaches," Pitino said. "The guys, in my opinion, that are willing to get better and willing to work, and have great upside, get better.

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That would seem to be a rather convenient view. Players don't get better? They should have worked harder, nothing I could do.

Pretty impressive that you could spin that into something so negative. What Pitino said is just logical. If players have the room for growth and work hard enough, they can develop how they should, and they deserve the credit for getting better. Not hard to understand. And it's actually nice that he's saying players deserve more credit than they normally get for development.

justthefacts said:

That would seem to be a rather convenient view. Players don't get better? They should have worked harder, nothing I could do.

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