Pulley Day 2

[Go Gophs eh?]

Since you asked for it. Mbakwe, same old guy. Chip, didn't play much, but you could tell hes been working on his jumper a little bit. Ahanmisi, looks bigger, faster, but pretty much the same player. Eliason, big, jumper wasn't too bad plays good D, but he isn't yet fast enough or strong enough to gaurd some of these huge guys at pulley. He could also be a better rebounder. I left before the 4th quarter, but when i left I'd put him at about 10 pts. Hollins and Troy bell lit it up for there team. Hollins must've had 6 steals, 15 transition points. When I left he prolly had 15-20 points. Rodney wasn't trying too hard as he was playing Hollins, Bell, Eliason, and the 17U B team. So there wasn't much action to go around for him. But he had a couple tip slams, couple fastbreak slams off of steals and passes, he took 3 outside shots from what I recall: 1st brick off the back board 0-1 from 3. Next swish in a guys face 1-2 from 3. Next rimmed out from deep 2 range. Id put him around 15 points, 6 boards couple blocks. Again he wasnt playing too hard. Nonchalant on D except when he was gaurding hollins, who didnt really score on rodney. Just my observations.

 

[North Country]

Since you asked for it. Mbakwe, same old guy. Chip, didn't play much, but you could tell hes been working on his jumper a little bit. Ahanmisi, looks bigger, faster, but pretty much the same player. Eliason, big, jumper wasn't too bad plays good D, but he isn't yet fast enough or strong enough to gaurd some of these huge guys at pulley. He could also be a better rebounder. I left before the 4th quarter, but when i left I'd put him at about 10 pts. Hollins and Troy bell lit it up for there team. Hollins must've had 6 steals, 15 transition points. When I left he prolly had 15-20 points. Rodney wasn't trying too hard as he was playing Hollins, Bell, Eliason, and the 17U B team. So there wasn't much action to go around for him. But he had a couple tip slams, couple fastbreak slams off of steals and passes, he took 3 outside shots from what I recall: 1st brick off the back board 0-1 from 3. Next swish in a guys face 1-2 from 3. Next rimmed out from deep 2 range. Id put him around 15 points, 6 boards couple blocks. Again he wasnt playing too hard. Nonchalant on D except when he was gaurding hollins, who didnt really score on rodney. Just my observations.

I would tend to agree with that assessment. Mbakwe was nasty early but looked to run out of gas somewhere in the 4th. Chip made a couple of nice plays including a great pass in transition that wasn't finished but also looked a little lost at times and struggled to beat his man off the dribble.

In the second game Austin was definitely the highlight. The one exception being his shooting which looks so pretty leaving his hands but just was not falling at all tonight. He was good in transition and looked to have worked on his handles during the spring. Eliason looks like a pretty solid dude and should be able to bang inside starting day 1. I only stayed through the 1st half but my thoughts were that he was a step slow basically the entire 1st quarter but started looking more comfortable and up to speed in the 2nd. He looks to have a decent 15 footer and what I loved the most was that he was mixing it up inside and not afraid to use his body. Rodney was not assertive on offense and like Go Gophs said looked a bit disinterested in general. Mav is exactly what I remember him being throughout the year. Take that for what it is.

 

[North Country]

Oh, and Troy Bell was spectacular. anybody know if he's still playing overseas?

 

[Go Gophs eh?]

Things I left out: Yes hollins did look good with the ball in his hands, his handles have come a long way, in fact he could play some point in a pinch this year I bet. He was creating 1 man fastbreaks againist 2 or more defenders with his speed and new found handles. Eliason can bang, but I want to see him get more assertive in the rebounding business. I'd place him at 10 min a game behind Sampson, Walker, Mbakwe, Oto. My feeling is that Ingram might be more ready to contribute than Eliason. Rodney again wasn't trying too hard, but in warm ups I noticed his shot isn't all that bad, he just needs to stay confident and keep practicing. Also if he really wanted, Rodney could be getting 8 boards a game with his length and athleticism like Khawi leonard or however you spell his first name. Also people probably already know, but rodney is a great passer. He is one of the most underated passer's I've seen. He made the same pass tonight (a floater over a post man's head to his bigman's hands) that andre couldn't make the night before. Chip only played like 10 minutes where he had a nice 3 pointer in some guy's face. Mbakwe didn't look like he was trying too hard either. He didn't touch the ball that much. For this years team: Press Press Press Press, Run, Run, Run, Transition baskets, transition baskets, Defense, defense. We have so many guys who destroy teams with speed and athleticism in pulley (andre hollins, Coleman, Austin Hollins, Chip, Rodney, Mbakwe, Mav) I wish the gophers could have everyone on 1 team so I only have to show up on the nights they play/

 

[matt]

Thanks for the updates, they're much appreciated.

 

[figi]

For me, day 2 was a little disappointing. None of the gopher players really stood out tonight. Austin seemed to be in good shape, running hard up and down the court. Eliason, on the other hand, was sucking wind after a few hard sprints down the floor. The games were close and lots of fun.

 

[jmag21]

Thanks for the update. I'm looking forward to see the current Gophers playing against the incoming frosh in the next few weeks.

 

[bga1]

Things I left out: Yes hollins did look good with the ball in his hands, his handles have come a long way, in fact he could play some point in a pinch this year I bet. He was creating 1 man fastbreaks againist 2 or more defenders with his speed and new found handles. Eliason can bang, but I want to see him get more assertive in the rebounding business. I'd place him at 10 min a game behind Sampson, Walker, Mbakwe, Oto. My feeling is that Ingram might be more ready to contribute than Eliason. Rodney again wasn't trying too hard, but in warm ups I noticed his shot isn't all that bad, he just needs to stay confident and keep practicing. Also if he really wanted, Rodney could be getting 8 boards a game with his length and athleticism like Khawi leonard or however you spell his first name. Also people probably already know, but rodney is a great passer. He is one of the most underated passer's I've seen. He made the same pass tonight (a floater over a post man's head to his bigman's hands) that andre couldn't make the night before. Chip only played like 10 minutes where he had a nice 3 pointer in some guy's face. Mbakwe didn't look like he was trying too hard either. He didn't touch the ball that much. For this years team: Press Press Press Press, Run, Run, Run, Transition baskets, transition baskets, Defense, defense. We have so many guys who destroy teams with speed and athleticism in pulley (andre hollins, Coleman, Austin Hollins, Chip, Rodney, Mbakwe, Mav) I wish the gophers could have everyone on 1 team so I only have to show up on the nights they play/

I agree with a lot that you say here. As to Rodney, it's great that he can do stuff if he really wants to. Now he needs to start really wanting to. I wasn't there last night but the message I am hearing is that a lot of these guys showed up and didn't play all out- including Rodney. That's a bad habit. The best players show up to win no matter whether they are playing horse or for a championship game. What I liked about the frosh on Monday night is that they all played hard all night long.

 

[figi]

I would tend to agree with that assessment. Mbakwe was nasty early but looked to run out of gas somewhere in the 4th. Chip made a couple of nice plays including a great pass in transition that wasn't finished but also looked a little lost at times and struggled to beat his man off the dribble.

In the second game Austin was definitely the highlight. The one exception being his shooting which looks so pretty leaving his hands but just was not falling at all tonight. He was good in transition and looked to have worked on his handles during the spring. Eliason looks like a pretty solid dude and should be able to bang inside starting day 1. I only stayed through the 1st half but my thoughts were that he was a step slow basically the entire 1st quarter but started looking more comfortable and up to speed in the 2nd. He looks to have a decent 15 footer and what I loved the most was that he was mixing it up inside and not afraid to use his body. Rodney was not assertive on offense and like Go Gophs said looked a bit disinterested in general. Mav is exactly what I remember him being throughout the year. Take that for what it is.

I agree with you about Austin's shooting. He has the purest form in the world. But his shots are usually to strong. This goes back to the entire second half of last season. I hope he is not another in a long line of Gophers who can't shoot.

 

[Gold Vision]

I hope he is not another in a long line of Gophers who can't shoot.

Long line? People have such short/selective memories. The 2010 squad had the best 3pt% in the Big 10, 11th in the country. The 2008 squad was 3rd in the Big 10.