Shooter: Jim Dutcher expects Oturu to be an all-conference center before his college career ends.

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per Shooter:

Jim Dutcher, the retired Gophers men’s basketball analyst whose 1982 Gophers men’s basketball team is the last in school history to win an official Big Ten championship, expects 6-feet-10 Minnesota sophomore Daniel Oturo from Cretin-Derham Hall to be an all-conference center before his college career ends.

Meanwhile, Dutcher, who resides in Edina, is 86 years old and sharp as ever. He said he doesn’t miss his traveling days as a TV analyst.

“I couldn’t get excited about going to Iowa City or traveling to Bloomington, Indiana,” he said. “It was great to go down to Williams Arena and do those games. But you also had to get on an airplane and go to those other places.”

Dutcher’s son Brian, a Bloomington Jefferson grad, this season has coached San Diego State to an 12-0 start.

www.twincities.com

Charley Walters: Playoff win likely required for new deals for Kirk Cousins, Mike Zimmer, Rick Spielman

Minnesota Vikings contract extensions for quarterback Kirk Cousins, head coach Mike Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman? Had the Vikings not played so poorly in their 23-10 home-field loss to …
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Go Gophers!!
 




Yourwhathurts22 said:
Oturu is way to soft to be in the NBA
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He’s maybe 40 games into his college career, leading the conference in rebounding and just put up the first 20-20 game since the 60s. Labeling him soft may be a tad premature.
 


GopherJake said:
He’s maybe 40 games into his college career, leading the conference in rebounding and just put up the first 20-20 game since the 60s. Labeling him soft may be a tad premature.
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Let me clarify...I think he is one hell of college player and has improved a ton from last year and should continue to improve I just question if he has the mindset to physically dominate at the next level. I don’t see the intensity/ emotion from him. He seems to pout and put his head down a lot which by leads me to think he’s too soft for the NBA. Not questioning his skills
 

Yourwhathurts22 said:
Let me clarify...I think he is one hell of college player and has improved a ton from last year and should continue to improve I just question if he has the mindset to physically dominate at the next level. I don’t see the intensity/ emotion from him. He seems to pout and put his head down a lot which by leads me to think he’s too soft for the NBA. Not questioning his skills
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He's borderline leaving after this season, so I think it's a jury is still out argument here. Let's get a look at the full body of B1G conference play come March.
 


Yourwhathurts22 said:
Let me clarify...I think he is one hell of college player and has improved a ton from last year and should continue to improve I just question if he has the mindset to physically dominate at the next level. I don’t see the intensity/ emotion from him. He seems to pout and put his head down a lot which by leads me to think he’s too soft for the NBA. Not questioning his skills
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Sounds like he's ready for the NBA to me
 



Love Oturu. I think he still lacks explosiveness a bit. But that's nitpicking. He could easily go pro next year - maybe not a really high pick, but certainly get drafted. I think he really enjoys being a Gopher and in college, so it'll be interesting to see how long he sticks around. I sure hope at least one more year.
 


Yourwhathurts22 said:
Oturu is way to soft to be in the NBA
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BS. As he continues to improve this year (and hopefully next year as a Gopher) he will be more than ready for success in the NBA. The question is how soon. I hope we get one more season.
 

macgopher said:
Sure if he doesn’t go pro early.
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He is going to be 1st team all conference this year. He's the best big in the Big Ten. His game is growing each week and he's already much better than he was at the start of the year.

I thought, three weeks ago that there was a chance that he needed another year. I now don't think so. I hope he stays just for the fun and experience of it, but in my view he is ready.
 



Yourwhathurts22 said:
Let me clarify...I think he is one hell of college player and has improved a ton from last year and should continue to improve I just question if he has the mindset to physically dominate at the next level. I don’t see the intensity/ emotion from him. He seems to pout and put his head down a lot which by leads me to think he’s too soft for the NBA. Not questioning his skills
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He has a bit of Elliot Eliason in him when it comes to pouting. He lets his emotions show when there is a screwup. He needs to learn to let it go.
He is otherwise playing at an elite level so far, but he has room to mature mentally.
 

MennoSota said:
He has a bit of Elliot Eliason in him when it comes to pouting. He lets his emotions show when there is a screwup. He needs to learn to let it go.
He is otherwise playing at an elite level so far, but he has room to mature mentally.
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True, but he is getting better with this as well. I have noticed the last couple games it is much less pronounced, less often and more brief.
 


Yourwhathurts22 said:
Oturu is way to soft to be in the NBA
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Sounds like he’d be a perfect fit according to you since he’ll be playing in the softest era of basketball. It’s not fun watching games that are 136-132. What happened to defense and fundamentals? Let’s not forget the rulebook needs to be amended for traveling. I never knew you can drive from the 3 point line to the rim without dribbling.
 

Flash30 said:
Sounds like he’d be a perfect fit according to you since he’ll be playing in the softest era of basketball. It’s not fun watching games that are 136-132. What happened to defense and fundamentals? Let’s not forget the rulebook needs to be amended for traveling. I never knew you can drive from the 3 point line to the rim without dribbling.
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There's so much wrong with this post I don't even know where to begin. I mean everybody says stupid shit from time to time but you really doubled down.

There are many more fundamentals in todays NBA than whenever you enjoyed watching it... I'm guessing the 80s. Every player on the court needs to be able to shoot at a reasonable clip, bigs need to be able to put the ball on the floor, guards are undoubtedly craftier and more creative scorers than previous eras etc.
 


bga1 said:
He is going to be 1st team all conference this year. He's the best big in the Big Ten. His game is growing each week and he's already much better than he was at the start of the year.

I thought, three weeks ago that there was a chance that he needed another year. I now don't think so. I hope he stays just for the fun and experience of it, but in my view he is ready.
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I was just going to say this. He's gonna be all big ten this year. Also, most likely this is his last season wearing maroon and gold.
Unless he just decides to stay because he likes it, he is looking projected towards the end of the first round.
 

Go Gophs said:
I was just going to say this. He's gonna be all big ten this year. Also, most likely this is his last season wearing maroon and gold.
Unless he just decides to stay because he likes it, he is looking projected towards the end of the first round.
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The kid has astounded me with his improvement. I expected him to be really good this year, but I didn't expect this level of improvement. He still has a ton of upside left. He can learn to be a better passer and he is going to continue to get stronger. I'll get criticized for this but he reminds me a LOT of Mychal Thompson.
 

Does he mean first team all conf, because if the gophers are middle of the pack, I would be hardpressed to find 2 centers better than him in the B1G. Wesson and Garza are the only ones in the conversation.
 

If Oturu goes pro after this season, I see him as a late 1st-round pick or early 2nd-round. I suspect the pros will want to see him show a better outside shot.

Just checked three mock drafts for fun. One mock had Oturu going 17th in the 1st round. the other two mocks did not have him in the 1st round. FWIW, all three mocks had Zeke Nnaji from Hopkins going in the 1st round.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
If Oturu goes pro after this season, I see him as a late 1st-round pick or early 2nd-round. I suspect the pros will want to see him show a better outside shot.

Just checked three mock drafts for fun. One mock had Oturu going 17th in the 1st round. the other two mocks did not have him in the 1st round. FWIW, all three mocks had Zeke Nnaji from Hopkins going in the 1st round.
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If he is lower than 20 or so- then I'd think it would be best for him to play one more year in college. He has a very high ceiling and even though it is the trend to go earlier, he deserves to be a top 10 pick when he goes out.

This is an interesting chart- the NBA rookie scale.

NBA Rookie Scale - RealGM

NBA Rookie Scale - RealGM
basketball.realgm.com
5th pick gets three years at 17 million total
The 10th pick in the draft will get a three year contract in the range of 11 million
The 25th (for example) will get three years for 5.5 million

I think Oturu's decision is based on more than just whether or not he can make it into the first round- for him it might be more about how high his potential can be. His situation is a lot different than Coffey's for example.

There are a couple of examples he can look at- last year Hachimuro of Gonzaga was the 9th pick as a junior and the year before Mikal Bridges was the 10th pick as a Junior.
 
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