Payton Willis named Big Ten Player of the week

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Go4 said:
+o4
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This is a different Payton Willis than a few years ago. Kid is getting it done and has great confidence. Credit to him and the coaches. It was a head scratcher for me when he announced transferring back here but boy....glad he did.

Everything about this so far is crazy to me. Is it possible to have another AROB, Coleman, Lawson, Hagan, Grier year?????
 



bga1 said:
This is a different Payton Willis than a few years ago. Kid is getting it done and has great confidence. Credit to him and the coaches. It was a head scratcher for me when he announced transferring back here but boy....glad he did.

Everything about this so far is crazy to me. Is it possible to have another AROB, Coleman, Lawson, Hagan, Grier year?????
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Yesterday when Battle and Willis were going off, Spencer mentioned on the radio broadcast that one of the big differences he's seen is the players are not afraid to make mistakes, not afraid to be pulled right away like Pitino did, so they are playing looser. Obviously part not being afraid of being pulled is the fact we don't have much depth yet, but Johnson appears to be fostering an environment of playing loose, learn from mistakes and play confident.

Go Gophers!!
 

bga1 said:
This is a different Payton Willis than a few years ago. Kid is getting it done and has great confidence. Credit to him and the coaches. It was a head scratcher for me when he announced transferring back here but boy....glad he did.

Everything about this so far is crazy to me. Is it possible to have another AROB, Coleman, Lawson, Hagan, Grier year?????
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In fairness to him, he did play injured for most of the season he was with us on the first round.
 

bga1 said:
This is a different Payton Willis than a few years ago. Kid is getting it done and has great confidence. Credit to him and the coaches. It was a head scratcher for me when he announced transferring back here but boy....glad he did.

Everything about this so far is crazy to me. Is it possible to have another AROB, Coleman, Lawson, Hagan, Grier year?????
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That thought ran through my head yesterday as well. I would love to believe that, but part of my memory suggests the league wasn't as strong as it is now, making it a tougher accomplishment this time. The key difference maker between then and now is Hagen. No bangers in this group like Jeff was.
 

Well deserved. Willis is playing with a TON of confidence right now and it's being reflected on the stat sheet and in the win/loss column. Obviously Battle is playing like an absolute stud right now too. Those two....along with contributions from quite a few other solid players are going to catch some B10 teams off guard.
 



BleedGopher said:
Yesterday when Battle and Willis were going off, Spencer mentioned on the radio broadcast that one of the big differences he's seen is the players are not afraid to make mistakes, not afraid to be pulled right away like Pitino did, so they are playing looser. Obviously part not being afraid of being pulled is the fact we don't have much depth yet, but Johnson appears to be fostering an environment of playing loose, learn from mistakes and play confident.

Go Gophers!!
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Pitino somehow managed to have a full doghouse AND a short bench. It was quite a feat.
 

I think that there’s also some aspect where being “the guy” allows guys to get in a better rhythm, pick their spots a bit more because they’re confident that they’re going to continue to have opportunities. When you’re the 4th option in the offense like Willis was the first time he was here, guys can tend to force up shots, because they’re not sure how many more chances they’re gonna get. Looks like Willis has adjusted well to being a primary scoring option.
 

Holy Man said:
In fairness to him, he did play injured for most of the season he was with us on the first round.
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Agreed. People forget that he was playing pretty well for us until that bad ankle injury. Was never the same the rest of the season.
 

Holy Man said:
That thought ran through my head yesterday as well. I would love to believe that, but part of my memory suggests the league wasn't as strong as it is now, making it a tougher accomplishment this time. The key difference maker between then and now is Hagen. No bangers in this group like Jeff was.
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Hagen is a big difference. I wonder what this team would look like with Robbins at center.
 



bga1 said:
Hagen is a big difference. I wonder what this team would look like with Robbins at center.
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I wonder what this team would look like if Fox and Ihnen were able to play.
 

I don't want to make a thread about it because I don't want to jinx it, but if you look at Willis and Carr's numbers, it's pretty crazy how much Willis is outperforming him this season. Like not even in the same league really.
 

Lakers612 said:
I don't want to make a thread about it because I don't want to jinx it, but if you look at Willis and Carr's numbers, it's pretty crazy how much Willis is outperforming him this season. Like not even in the same league really.
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Carr is no longer the best player on his team. Ball is out of his hands more now
 

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