Sid: Pitino on Oturu; NBADraft.net has Oturu listed as the #24 pick in 2020

Donate To GopherHole
BleedGopher

BleedGopher

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 11, 2008
Messages
60,774
Reaction score
16,179
Points
113
per Sid:

Pitino on Oturu

Basketball coach Richard Pitino got one of the biggest victories of his career when the Gophers defeated No. 3 Ohio State 84-71 on Sunday.

Even though the Gophers (5-5, 1-1 Big Ten) have struggled this season, sophomore center Daniel Oturu has been their best player. He scored 14 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in stopping the Buckeyes.

NBADraft.net has Oturu listed as the No. 24 overall pick in the 2020 draft.

Pitino said one of the things that makes Oturu unique is his ability to not only dominate inside, but also shoot from the perimeter.

“We took our team to the Wolves game [on Dec. 13] and everybody on the court can shoot. It’s all about shot-making,” Pitino said. “The NBA wants to see guys, even if you’re 6-10, 6-11, who can stretch the court because that’s the way the game is moving. A guy like Daniel Oturu, I think, intrigues NBA people because he can make a three. It’s very, very important. It’s part of the game. You have to be able to develop your bigs to do that, but also get them to understand that they have to be able to get down low and embrace the physicality as well.”

www.startribune.com

Vikings, Everson Griffen face contract/salary cap dilemma

The standout defensive end could void his current contract and become an unrestricted free agent.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!
 

Pretty weak draft class this year as well. It may be the year to jump for Daniel if he can get a first round guarantee. Would love to have him stay but can't blame a kid to strike the iron while it's hot.
 


He'd be a viable pro player and a candidate to make a NBA roster. If he left after this year, it would make some sense.

The counterpoint is what I see in the games. He's a work in progress and on a steep improvement curve. He's unstoppable at times but hasn't become consistent yet. Give him one more year of college, and he could be a lottery pick.
 

Too Bad Tre Jones fell for the coach K hype.. Significantly higher rated recruit than Oturu,a year older...and digressed to a second round projected draft pick...Under Pitino he could be a lottery or first rounder...Just look at Oturu...The grass only seems to be greener on the other side
 


Bad Gopher said:
He'd be a viable pro player and a candidate to make a NBA roster. If he left after this year, it would make some sense.

The counterpoint is what I see in the games. He's a work in progress and on a steep improvement curve. He's unstoppable at times but hasn't become consistent yet. Give him one more year of college, and he could be a lottery pick.
Click to expand...

True but the new question is not only about draft potential but where they think they can prep best for the NBA, college or G League or maybe even overseas.

The college game will not have the level of competition that minor leagues do, but it does help produce intangibles like playing in pressure situations, learning to be a quality teammate, etc. I know a couple of guys who played minor league baseball who said it was the most selfish/self interested environment they were ever part of. Nobody cared about anyone else. Can easily see basketball as similar. You're not trying to win with your teammates, because they are your competitors for what you want. College can be a tool to purge that, and while those intangibles mean little in the minors, they are critical in the NBA, especially for the vast majority of players who are close to the edge of the league.

I'll be shocked if Daniel returns next year.
 

Holy Man said:
True but the new question is not only about draft potential but where they think they can prep best for the NBA, college or G League or maybe even overseas.

The college game will not have the level of competition that minor leagues do, but it does help produce intangibles like playing in pressure situations, learning to be a quality teammate, etc. I know a couple of guys who played minor league baseball who said it was the most selfish/self interested environment they were ever part of. Nobody cared about anyone else. Can easily see basketball as similar. You're not trying to win with your teammates, because they are your competitors for what you want. College can be a tool to purge that, and while those intangibles mean little in the minors, they are critical in the NBA, especially for the vast majority of players who are close to the edge of the league.

I'll be shocked if Daniel returns next year.
Click to expand...

Really good post HM.

Some kids are wired differently though, and they don't see the money as the only thing. If Oturu wants a Big Ten title or a run in the NCAAs and he sees that possibility for next year, then he might choose to return. A number of Big Ten players have done it when they could have been first rounders.

I think that there is a chance that Oturu could make himself into the best big man in college buckets next year and take himself from a first round pick to a top ten pick. If by the end of this year he is a lottery pick then, by all means he is almost certainly gone.
 

bga1 said:
Really good post HM.

Some kids are wired differently though, and they don't see the money as the only thing. If Oturu wants a Big Ten title or a run in the NCAAs and he sees that possibility for next year, then he might choose to return. A number of Big Ten players have done it when they could have been first rounders.

I think that there is a chance that Oturu could make himself into the best big man in college buckets next year and take himself from a first round pick to a top ten pick. If by the end of this year he is a lottery pick then, by all means he is almost certainly gone.
Click to expand...

I hope you're right.
 

Holy Man said:
True but the new question is not only about draft potential but where they think they can prep best for the NBA, college or G League or maybe even overseas.

The college game will not have the level of competition that minor leagues do, but it does help produce intangibles like playing in pressure situations, learning to be a quality teammate, etc. I know a couple of guys who played minor league baseball who said it was the most selfish/self interested environment they were ever part of. Nobody cared about anyone else. Can easily see basketball as similar. You're not trying to win with your teammates, because they are your competitors for what you want. College can be a tool to purge that, and while those intangibles mean little in the minors, they are critical in the NBA, especially for the vast majority of players who are close to the edge of the league.

I'll be shocked if Daniel returns next year.
Click to expand...
As much as I'd always criticized Terry Ryan, I have to give him this: his evaluations always included how good a teammate a guy is. Of course, then he goes and cuts Ortiz, who was a well-loved leader of the team.
 



2020 NBA Draft Sleeper Watch: Scouting Minnesota big man Daniel Oturu

He is averaging 17.6 points and 11.2 rebounds per game, highlighted by double-doubles in six of his first ten appearances as a sophomore. That kind of productivity helped him lead the Golden Gophers past then No. 1 overall Ohio State on December 15.

Given that he has a 7-foot-3 wingspan, he is a tremendous defensive stopper who currently has an absurd 3.4 blocks per game. In fact, only seven players in the NCAA have recorded more blocks in 2019-20. His block percentage (10.9 percent) and his defensive rebound percentage (26.6 percent) both rank Top 10 among all underclassmen.

But he is more than just a rim protector and defensive presence. He has been remarkably efficient on offense, shooting 81.2 percent at the rim. It was there where he first made his impact known as a prospect in high school. Oturu put down a marvelous alley-oop at the buzzer to defeat Duke’s Tre Jones for the Minnesota state title.

therookiewire.usatoday.com

2020 NBA Draft Sleeper Watch: Scouting Minnesota big man Daniel Oturu

One of the keys to building a successful NBA franchise is identifying draft talent like Minnesota Golden Gophers sophomore Daniel Oturu.
therookiewire.usatoday.com therookiewire.usatoday.com

Go Gophers!!
 

I've been saying all along he was gone and several people laughed at me. Wonder where the haters are now... :cautious:

He's too talented to stay another year and he's already showing NBA scouts the potential he has. Hopefully we can land a decent grad transfer like Reggie Lynch to fill in his minutes.
 

I contended that I do not believe he would leave after this year, clearly he has NBA potential, but unless he is a projected lottery pick I feel he will stay. It is not an outrageous or laughable take to assert he will be gone after this year, clearly the projections are there and the NBA is gaining interest with every game. Oturu just seems to really thrive as a college student, not here because he has to be but because he wants to be.
 

Parcival said:
I've been saying all along he was gone and several people laughed at me. Wonder where the haters are now... :cautious:

He's too talented to stay another year and he's already showing NBA scouts the potential he has. Hopefully we can land a decent grad transfer like Reggie Lynch to fill in his minutes.
Click to expand...
I’ve said all along Reggie lynch was not a grad transfer
 





You can get to the NBA by playing with the Gophers? Amazing, maybe more Minnesota kids should think about this option
 

Once he's in the first round projections he's gone, no reason to stay.
 

Despite a nice freshman season oturu was not projected as a second round pick and did not make the second round plus 12 next 12 list. Quite the rise for Dan the Man
 

Bad Gopher said:
Give him one more year of college, and he could be a lottery pick.
Click to expand...

I'm not so sure. NBADraft.net must have updated their rankings very recently because I didn't see him at all on their previous mock drafts (I think he should be there). If he keeps playing the way he has, he probably can move up a bit. If that happens, odds are that he should go.

Staying around to improve draft ranking is a very dicey proposition; more often than not, that doesn't work out. Last year (2019), the scale salary for #20 was $2.149 million. #30 was $1.612. Multiply that difference (with annual steps) over a 3 year contract plus a qualifying option year and you're talking between $2 and $3 million over four years. The difference would be significantly more if he fell to the second round.

Falling in the draft (which happens more often than not for forecasted first rounders staying in school) has real monetary consequences.
 


BarnBall said:
You can get to the NBA by playing with the Gophers? Amazing, maybe more Minnesota kids should think about this option
Click to expand...
They can make it from anywhere but make their college choices based on many factors. Some kids here grow up with the Gophers as their team. Others, especially in the last 30 years because of national TV exposure grow up following other brands. Borders mean very little these days to most brands. Daniel made a great choice for him and gets very good coaching.
 

BarnBall said:
You can get to the NBA by playing with the Gophers? Amazing, maybe more Minnesota kids should think about this option
Click to expand...

You can't blame them for playing the odds. Since Kris Humphries (a first rounder in 2004), the Gophers haven't had a player drafted. The best they've done since is the two-way contract to Coffey.
 



builtbadgers said:
Not so sure about that as the college experience is a really big priority for his family and for himself.
Click to expand...

Well, as Kobe Bryant once said (correctly in my view) when he was asked early in his career if he regretted not going to college: "No, I can always go to college." Believe me, I respect education (I have multiple graduate degrees) but I never had the chance to go to the NBA and make $5 million or more over 3 years. I don't know why someone would risk that opportunity for another year of college. Falling in the draft because of staying in school can make a real monetary difference.
 

builtbadgers said:
Not so sure about that as the college experience is a really big priority for his family and for himself.
Click to expand...

So you are saying a year or two more of the college experience is worth risking 3 million dollars, there isn't a cost benefit model in existence that would come to that conclusion, I would hope he looks at it objectively and comes to a logical conclusion, leave leave leave if it looks like he is guaranteed to be a first round selection.
 

I understand that there is a possibility his draft stock could fall if he stays or he could potentially get injured before getting paid, but why is it the assumption his stock will automatically fall if he returns to play his junior season? If this is a weak draft and it's his only opportunity to be taken in the first round I could understand that, but I can't believe that is true.
 

GopherBlood666 said:
but why is it the assumption his stock will automatically fall if he returns to play his junior season?
Click to expand...

Because that's what usually happens. The NBA likes them young. They just want the legit prospects to stay in school long enough to get a fair appraisal of them.

There are exceptions of course. Buddy Hield is the most notable recent one. He was drafted #6 as a senior but he was a prolific scorer and he led his team to the final four in his senior year. Oturu is unlikely to get that kind of national exposure around here next year.
 
Last edited:

cjbfbp said:
I'm not so sure. NBADraft.net must have updated their rankings very recently because I didn't see him at all on their previous mock drafts (I think he should be there). If he keeps playing the way he has, he probably can move up a bit. If that happens, odds are that he should go.

Staying around to improve draft ranking is a very dicey proposition; more often than not, that doesn't work out. Last year (2019), the scale salary for #20 was $2.149 million. #30 was $1.612. Multiply that difference (with annual steps) over a 3 year contract plus a qualifying option year and you're talking between $2 and $3 million over four years. The difference would be significantly more if he fell to the second round.

Falling in the draft (which happens more often than not for forecasted first rounders staying in school) has real monetary consequences.
Click to expand...
Not going to disagree at all except to say that Daniel is someone who's going to keep getting better and not fall, barring injury, of course.

My point is that it's not clear cut the way (I think) it is for Winfield.
 

He will absolutely enter his name after the season and see what he gets for feedback. If it's a lottery pick, he's gone for sure. Late round 1 you could debate it (if he improves his outside shot even further, he will play himself into the lottery). If it's later, he'll be back
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom