Willis to Grad Transfer from Minnesota

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alchemy2u said:
Pitino is just following the PJ model. His job is to recruit better replacements for every player on the team and the players job is to improve so he can keep his spot.
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His job is to build teams that win at a high level without cheating and selling out Williams arena.
 

I would happily open up a scholarship to lose Willis. Guard whose shooting was streaky, rarely got to the line to make up for bad shooting nights, TERRIBLE defender.
 

mizzougopher said:
I would happily open up a scholarship to lose Willis. Guard whose shooting was streaky, rarely got to the line to make up for bad shooting nights, TERRIBLE defender.
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He really did get exposed on D. Carr just blatantly missed assignments last year too. You can call it tiredness, which I think it was, but then it just became a habit.
 



Bob_Loblaw said:
God, I really hope that isn't he case with Pitino.

I'm not surprised Willis left and I don't blame Pitino. Willis is looking down the barrel at being a player on an average (at best) team and likely would have lost some minutes to incoming players. It doesn't surprise me when any player in that position transfers to another school for more PT or possibly a better chance at a run.

That said, Pitino should not be forcing players out. I don't think he is, I am just responding to alchemy2u's post. It's one thing if you're a Kentucky or a Duke, but if you're a MN, you can't look disloyal. It'd be a crappy thing to do and it wouldn't benefit the program.
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I didn’t say that Pitino would be forcing out players. I like his loyalty. The point I was making is that Pitino is always trying to improve the skill level of the players he recruits.
 

alchemy2u said:
I didn’t say that Pitino would be forcing out players. I like his loyalty. The point I was making is that Pitino is always trying to improve the skill level of the players he recruits.
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Pitino does not chase guys off. End of season evals and exit interviews are usually along the lines of what the staff saw, what the player needs to work on and where they see fit as things are. The player has a say in what that means. If they sense a probable drop off in playing or they see a larger role somewhere else or perhaps wanting to work on a Masters and play for a big winner even in a limited role. Several factors but a certainty that he could have stayed.
 

I'm feeling really good about ending this spring cycle with Walton or Peterson. Lesser if we get a guy like Udeze, El-Amin, Markusson, or other. But I'm nowhere near complaining with any of that.

If it's Walton, SHUT IT DOWN!
 
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bga1 said:
Interesting stat on Willis....He shot 16 free throws all year. That's hard to do in over 800 minutes. We need our 3 man to be able to drive to the hoop a lot more than that. Willis was a solid piece but would have been better off the bench. If Ihnen ends up playing the 3, that's an area he is going to have to take a huge leap - taking guys off the dribble. Ihnen shot 2 free throws....all year.

On the free throw subject- Brandon Johnson goes to the line a ton - 168 last year- 73% shooting.
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Watching the video Marcus posted he definitely looks like a guy who can attack the rim. I hope Pitino utilize the diversity of this squad and run an offense with more player & ball movement. I feel like Gabe percentages were affected by this also
 



Urbandale said:
I understand that. My point is that half this board seems to want him to agree to leave right now. If that's the case, and he's that ineffective a basketball player, then why would we want him to redshirt and thereby add another year to his time on the team?
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I read something from Seth Greenberg the other day that rings constantly when I’m on the board. He said that the biggest jump is between freshman to sophomore year, because the player has had a chance to learn how hard you must work to be competitive at this level. To that end, I expect Greenlee to improve over time.

And for the last three years we’ve desperately needed that upperclassman/experienced point guard who can come in for 10-15 minutes a game and simply hold the fort.

3 years ago when mason was on the bench, Macbrayer was costing us games being unable to break the press.

2 years ago IW was too raw and Coffey at point was plan C.

1 year ago we simply had no back up option.

Please, please, please, let’s build some depth and benefit from upperclassman experience.
 

Why are is there so much debate over Walton vs Kalscheur as prospects?? Completely pointless given the hope is that those two are the starting wings for the next two seasons.

Walton is far and away a better prospect than Kalscheur was. That's not legitimately debateable. But really the question regarding Walton would be more based on whether or not we feel like he would be an upgrade, as a freshman, to Willis.

I tend to think he would be given what we saw out of Willis, as a fourth-year junior. Even if he is a net neutral to Willis, I'll take Walton on the belief that he'd develop and give you more the following few seasons.

As for Willis, he'll probably land somewhere decent but if he's starting or playing 20-plus minutes per game, the team he's playing for is destined for a mid-conference finish at best. Unless he goes a team that has four other starters that are legitimately awesome and all he has to do is spot up and shoot 3s, then he's useful. But he's a limited player who could be a solid 3rd wing or 5th perimeter body on a good team.
 

WriterGoph said:
Willis sees what other wings/guards the Gophers are still in on recruiting for next year - further confirmation that they don't view him as a lock to start next yea
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golfing18now said:
Out of curiosity, how many players do you think have been worthy of a scholarship during the Pitino tenure? Oturu/Murphy/Coffey Anybody else?
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Everyone accept those who ate two years of scholarship for one year of play.
 

bc2211 said:
I read something from Seth Greenberg the other day that rings constantly when I’m on the board. He said that the biggest jump is between freshman to sophomore year, because the player has had a chance to learn how hard you must work to be competitive at this level. To that end, I expect Greenlee to improve over time.

And for the last three years we’ve desperately needed that upperclassman/experienced point guard who can come in for 10-15 minutes a game and simply hold the fort.

3 years ago when mason was on the bench, Macbrayer was costing us games being unable to break the press.

2 years ago IW was too raw and Coffey at point was plan C.

1 year ago we simply had no back up option.

Please, please, please, let’s build some depth and benefit from upperclassman experience.
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The assertion is correct about the biggest jump in improvement, typically. Couple things though:
1 Gabe went backwards.
2. You gotta play, you gotta see the court. That’s why Ihnen, Greenlee and Freeman needed more consistent minutes this year. So they could be solid contributors this coming season. Confident they’ll all be better but nothing like they would have been with consistent minutes this year...just 3 or 4 minutes but every game. If they deserve more give them more but to get none (or nearly so) was extremely short sighted.
 



60's Guy said:
The assertion is correct about the biggest jump in improvement, typically. Couple things though:
1 Gabe went backwards.
2. You gotta play, you gotta see the court. That’s why Ihnen, Greenlee and Freeman needed more consistent minutes this year. So they could be solid contributors this coming season. Confident they’ll all be better but nothing like they would have been with consistent minutes this year...just 3 or 4 minutes but every game. If they deserve more give them more but to get none (or nearly so) was extremely short sighted.
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Agree. You need to be able to spoy these guys as few minutes h we re and there. Brew always left Webber in no matter what the score was/how much time on the clock ND I'd be telling at the TV to put Gray in so you can start developing him for next year.
 
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60's Guy said:
The assertion is correct about the biggest jump in improvement, typically. Couple things though:
1 Gabe went backwards.
2. You gotta play, you gotta see the court. That’s why Ihnen, Greenlee and Freeman needed more consistent minutes this year. So they could be solid contributors this coming season. Confident they’ll all be better but nothing like they would have been with consistent minutes this year...just 3 or 4 minutes but every game. If they deserve more give them more but to get none (or nearly so) was extremely short sighted.
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I hate Pitino's substitution patterns, by comparison Tubby played Maverick 10mpg his freshman year, Pitino played Greenlee 2.5 mpg, please don't tell me Mav was that much more advanced as a freshman,
 

jovs said:
I hate Pitino's substitution patterns, by comparison Tubby played Maverick 10mpg his freshman year, Pitino played Greenlee 2.5 mpg, please don't tell me Mav was that much more advanced as a freshman,
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Yeah my biggest gripe was his inflexibility in adjusting the starting lineup and failure to develop good rotations off of the starting lineup
 

I don't think Willis is that big of a loss, but he could have been a solid contributor next season.

For those saying Willis was poor defensively, go back and watch some of the early games. He was way better. Clearly things dipped with the ankle injury, and re-injuring it multiple times was a problem on defense (and offense.) If he is fully healthy next season, he will help a team out on both ends.
 

My biggest concern with Greenlee is his ball-handling. In his limited minutes, he did ok, but there was little pressure because it was mostly garbage time when he played. There were a couple of times where he looked very shaky with the ball. I don’t mind a low-ranked kid at PG to give your starter some rest, but he better have great handles. Hope I’m wrong on what I saw.
 

jovs said:
I hate Pitino's substitution patterns, by comparison Tubby played Maverick 10mpg his freshman year, Pitino played Greenlee 2.5 mpg, please don't tell me Mav was that much more advanced as a freshman,
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Well for the latter half of that season, after Devoe Joseph transferred and Al Nolen got injured, it was either Mav or Hoffarber playing point. I also don’t believe that 2010-11 team depended as heavily on the contributions of just one or two players as this team did on Carr and Oturu. If upping Greenlee’s minutes takes away from Carr’s effectiveness and jeopardizes our ability to win games, I’m a-ok with letting Carr stay on the floor. I’m kind of thinking Mashburn will get more time at point than Greenlee next year anyway.
 

mizzougopher said:
I would happily open up a scholarship to lose Willis. Guard whose shooting was streaky, rarely got to the line to make up for bad shooting nights, TERRIBLE defender.
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I really liked the kid. He played through an injury and was a capable shooter. He would've hopefully progressed some and had a nice senior season. He made a few mistakes on D, but he was a net asset out there from what I saw. I'll miss him.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I really liked the kid. He played through an injury and was a capable shooter. He would've hopefully progressed some and had a nice senior season. He made a few mistakes on D, but he was a net asset out there from what I saw. I'll miss him.
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Losing experience that can help can't be all good. They may replace him with more talent, and maybe experienced, but not in this system. He will help someone win some games.
 


Cayman said:
Well for the latter half of that season, after Devoe Joseph transferred and Al Nolen got injured, it was either Mav or Hoffarber playing point. I also don’t believe that 2010-11 team depended as heavily on the contributions of just one or two players as this team did on Carr and Oturu. If upping Greenlee’s minutes takes away from Carr’s effectiveness and jeopardizes our ability to win games, I’m a-ok with letting Carr stay on the floor. I’m kind of thinking Mashburn will get more time at point than Greenlee next year anyway.
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Mashburn will get the playing time at backup pg.
 



HOOP DREAMS said:
I can't say I'm a fan or any player being allowed to transfer twice and play at three different programs.
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Yeah, makes you wonder sometimes how people are unhappy year after year. Not happy at vandy, now unhappy at minnesota. Makes you wish they had a one transfer rule. One and that's it.
 

jovs said:
I hate Pitino's substitution patterns, by comparison Tubby played Maverick 10mpg his freshman year, Pitino played Greenlee 2.5 mpg, please don't tell me Mav was that much more advanced as a freshman,
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Except Tubby should have started Mav after Nolen got hurt and refused to do so and played everyone else out of position. If Carr and Willis had gotten hurt, I don't think Richard would have left Greenlee on the bench and played Gabe at PG.
 

gophereric30 said:
Yeah, makes you wonder sometimes how people are unhappy year after year. Not happy at vandy, now unhappy at minnesota. Makes you wish they had a one transfer rule. One and that's it.
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You may call it unhappy, I would suggest that it is looking for better opportunities. Of course, ideally you would want a player to stay at one school. But if a kid gets "over recruited", he should have a chance to try to go some place to get playing time instead of just getting stuck on the bench.

My take is that he liked it at the U and got a lot of playing time last year. He just saw the pecking order for next year and decided that he wanted to move on and get more time.
 

For some players in high school and college bouncing from school to school they are simply running from the truth.

They might not be as good as they think they are.
 

Roland Brooks said:
For some players in high school and college bouncing from school to school they are simply running from the truth.

They might not be as good as they think they are.
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That has been true in countless cases. In his case he wanted a larger role at another school or is looking to be a role player on a winner.
 

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