STrib: Gophers' Daniel Oturu motivated by not making All-Big Ten freshman team

per Marcus:

Daniel Oturu made it pretty clear where he thought he and Gophers teammate Gabe Kalscheur belong among a loaded class of Big Ten freshmen this season.

“Personally, I feel like me and Gabe had a really good season,” Oturu said after Minnesota’s 69-60 loss at Maryland to finish the regular season.

“We both played really well throughout the season. We did some things that people thought we couldn’t do. We showed why we were two of the best freshmen in the class.”

Neither Oturu nor Kalscheur were selected to the All-Big Ten freshman team Monday, which included Michigan’s Iggy Brazdeikis (freshman of the year), Indiana’s Romeo Langford, Illinois’ Ayo Dosunmu, Maryland’s Jalen Smith and Iowa’s Joe Weiskamp.

Oturu, who arguably was the biggest snub of any freshmen in the league, posted Monday night on his Instagram that “they just added more fuel to my (fire emoji).”

The former Cretin Derham-Hall star averaged 10.8 points and led all Big Ten freshmen in rebounding (7.2), field goal percentage (54.7) and blocks per game (1.4) this year. His seven double-doubles were also the most for any freshman in the conference.

"At the end of the day, all that matters is that this team continues to move in a positive direction!" Oturu posted Monday on Twitter after followers were upset he was left off the Big Ten all-freshman team.

Gophers coach Richard Pitino addressed Oturu not getting selected as one of the top five freshmen in the league by the coaches. This was the second year with no Gophers picked as all-league freshmen after back-to-back seasons with Jordan Murphy in 2016 and Amir Coffey in 2017.

"I think he was close," Pitino said. "But Jalen Smith had a terrific year. Weiskamp or Daniel could’ve gone either way, but Iowa finished ahead of us.I’m sure Daniel’s not happy about it, but get over it. You’ve got bigger goals. Amir probably thinks he’s a little bit higher (was picked All-Big Ten third team), but move on."

What was Pitino's advice to Oturu and Coffey if they were upset about the All-Big Ten picks?

"If awards matter to you and personal recognition matters, win more, play better," he said. "Nobody’s out to get you."

http://www.startribune.com/gophers-...t-making-all-big-ten-freshman-team/507054462/

Go Gophers!!

Take your frustrations out on PSU young man.

BleedGopher said:

Gophers coach Richard Pitino addressed Oturu not getting selected as one of the top five freshmen in the league by the coaches. This was the second year with no Gophers picked as all-league freshmen after back-to-back seasons with Jordan Murphy in 2016 and Amir Coffey in 2017.

"I think he was close," Pitino said. "But Jalen Smith had a terrific year. Weiskamp or Daniel could’ve gone either way, but Iowa finished ahead of us.I’m sure Daniel’s not happy about it, but get over it. You’ve got bigger goals. Amir probably thinks he’s a little bit higher (was picked All-Big Ten third team), but move on."

What was Pitino's advice to Oturu and Coffey if they were upset about the All-Big Ten picks?

"If awards matter to you and personal recognition matters, win more, play better," he said. "Nobody’s out to get you."

http://www.startribune.com/gophers-...t-making-all-big-ten-freshman-team/507054462/

Go Gophers!!

Click to expand...

I love that line by Pitino. That is an older school mentality for someone as young as he is. But it strikes out against this current generation and this sense of entitlement so many have these days.

BleedGopher said:

per Marcus:

Daniel Oturu made it pretty clear where he thought he and Gophers teammate Gabe Kalscheur belong among a loaded class of Big Ten freshmen this season.

“Personally, I feel like me and Gabe had a really good season,” Oturu said after Minnesota’s 69-60 loss at Maryland to finish the regular season.

“We both played really well throughout the season. We did some things that people thought we couldn’t do. We showed why we were two of the best freshmen in the class.”

Neither Oturu nor Kalscheur were selected to the All-Big Ten freshman team Monday, which included Michigan’s Iggy Brazdeikis (freshman of the year), Indiana’s Romeo Langford, Illinois’ Ayo Dosunmu, Maryland’s Jalen Smith and Iowa’s Joe Weiskamp.

Oturu, who arguably was the biggest snub of any freshmen in the league, posted Monday night on his Instagram that “they just added more fuel to my (fire emoji).”

The former Cretin Derham-Hall star averaged 10.8 points and led all Big Ten freshmen in rebounding (7.2), field goal percentage (54.7) and blocks per game (1.4) this year. His seven double-doubles were also the most for any freshman in the conference.

"At the end of the day, all that matters is that this team continues to move in a positive direction!" Oturu posted Monday on Twitter after followers were upset he was left off the Big Ten all-freshman team.

Gophers coach Richard Pitino addressed Oturu not getting selected as one of the top five freshmen in the league by the coaches. This was the second year with no Gophers picked as all-league freshmen after back-to-back seasons with Jordan Murphy in 2016 and Amir Coffey in 2017.

"I think he was close," Pitino said. "But Jalen Smith had a terrific year. Weiskamp or Daniel could’ve gone either way, but Iowa finished ahead of us.I’m sure Daniel’s not happy about it, but get over it. You’ve got bigger goals. Amir probably thinks he’s a little bit higher (was picked All-Big Ten third team), but move on."

What was Pitino's advice to Oturu and Coffey if they were upset about the All-Big Ten picks?

"If awards matter to you and personal recognition matters, win more, play better," he said. "Nobody’s out to get you."

http://www.startribune.com/gophers-...t-making-all-big-ten-freshman-team/507054462/

Go Gophers!!

Click to expand...

Hit the nail on the head here.

MNVCGUY said:

I love that line by Pitino. That is an older school mentality for someone as young as he is. But it strikes out against this current generation and this sense of entitlement so many have these days.

Click to expand...

Problem is, Oturu played pretty damn well all year, leading all conference freshmen in rebounding, FG%, blocks and double-doubles. He deserved to be on the all-freshman team.

MNVCGUY said:

I love that line by Pitino. That is an older school mentality for someone as young as he is. But it strikes out against this current generation and this sense of entitlement so many have these days.

Click to expand...

Agree, its so easy for people today that lead others to play the pity card, not fair, or disrespect card.

I agree with Pitino on this. That is a pretty impressive list of freshmen, all of which appear deserving. Maybe I could have seen Oturu surpassing Weiskamp, but Oturu has definitely had some struggles over the past few games. Hopefully, he works hard and realizes his full potential.

I think it will just motivate the kid, so I'm not too worried about it. I think he had a very, very nice freshman season and I'm sure he was right on the cusp of getting the award. How bout a couple wins this week then and a couple in the dance then Daniel? Let's see it eh??

At the Maryland game Oturu reminded me of Kevin Garnett.

We were playing pick-up opposite the court where Flip and McHale were working out KG. A buddy of mine said, "look, there's KG". I looked and couldn't see him and was told he was behind McHale. McHale's side was facing me and the only part of KG I could see was the top of his head! No arms, legs or anything else were visible blotted out by the man sized form of McHale.

This is exactly how Oturu looked next to Fernando.

When Daniel puts 20 lbs. of muscle on his frame he will be near unstoppable. Eat and lift young man! And you will never worry about missing out on an all-conference team again!

WindyCityGopher said:

Problem is, Oturu played pretty damn well all year, leading all conference freshmen in rebounding, FG%, blocks and double-doubles. He deserved to be on the all-freshman team.

Click to expand...

I have not watched enough of the other teams to compare Oturu with the other guys that did make the team but from what I have read it sounds like there were a number of deserving freshmen and Oturu just didn't make the cut. Tough choices have to be made for things like this and clearly the powers that be felt there were better options then him in the conference this year.

Hey, if it motivates him to work even harder to prove them wrong then that is great news for us as well. I also don't think that not making the freshman team in any way makes his rookie season any less impressive. Really excited to see what he is going to develop into.

Otis said:

At the Maryland game Oturu reminded me of Kevin Garnett.

We were playing pick-up opposite the court where Flip and McHale were working out KG. A buddy of mine said, "look, there's KG". I looked and couldn't see him and was told he was behind McHale. McHale's side was facing me and the only part of KG I could see was the top of his head! No arms, legs or anything else were visible blotted out by the man sized form of McHale.

This is exactly how Oturu looked next to Fernando.

When Daniel puts 20 lbs. of muscle on his frame he will be near unstoppable. Eat and lift young man! And you will never worry about missing out on an all-conference team again!

Click to expand...

I was about to nominate you for the preposterous statement tournament before I read the rest of your post

watertown 1987 guy n said:

Agree, its so easy for people today that lead others to play the pity card, not fair, or disrespect card.

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I don't mind if Oturu uses it as motivation. Some players need that to get fired up mentally. I think Oturu has the ability to be dominant. Hopefully this fires him up on the court and in the weight room.

I wonder if Oturu is still growing a little bit. Would love to see him sprout up another inch or two and eat some spinach. Seems like a great kid and excited to see him get better. During the middle of the conference season he looked like the best player on the team for a few games.

What hurt Oturu was not having a full summer and fall to prepare physically for the season. His shoulder injury limited what he could do. I suspect we see a much different build next year assuming he has a healthy offseason.

I love Pitno's reaction to all of this. Things break both ways on these types of things. I was pleasantly surprised to see Nate Mason selected to the first team. I'm sure there was alot of angst in other locales about his inclusion.

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