Possible, but do we anything for sure?
Yes, Steven Ortiz and Justin Walley are both CBs with a lot of expectations. Walley is already on campus and working out with the team as well.
I think 2020 was a bit of all this stuff. Inexperience, undeveloped talent, coaching. For all intents and purposes, a lot of teams had the same issues with lack of spring/fall camps, normal workouts.
Yeah I think this really played out across a lot of other sports as well. Anywhere you saw teams with a lot of new players coming together who hadn't had time to practice and gel like normal. Heck, in basketball, look at how it's impacted a ton of the blue blood programs this season.
It is dangerous to pin too many hopes on true freshman being ready to go right away. That says, Ortiz in particular comes across as someone who might be ready to go quickly. Just a gut feeling though with nothing to back that up.
Forget the blue bloods, it is on full display in our own backyard with our basketball team. We have a team with the talent to blow out Michigan and Ohio State (both currently ranked in the top 4) one night and then turn around and get destroyed by much lesser teams the next night.
*cough*coaching*cough*
Not to turn this into a basketball thread. Pitino certainly deserves plenty of blame for the way the team has played. But the point is still valid that with as many new faces as they brought in, they didn't have the time needed to really gel in the off-season and pre-season. There is clearly a ton of talent on the roster as evidenced by the teams they have destroyed....but there is zero consistency. Some of that is definitely coaching but some of that is simply the fact that these guys have not spent much time playing together.
Yeah exactly. Coaching gets you tied for the most ranked wins in the country (and school history) and it also has you winless on the road. It goes both ways, amigo
I would love to know what Pitino was able to figure out for that home win against Michigan, and why he has for some reason decided not to do that same thing in almost every other game.
Some of it is on he and his staff, but some also has to be on the players for lack of execution and confidence too. Our team is clearly way better when we make some early shots, but the shots going in is pretty clearly out of RP's control.
This is great news! Would be awesome to hear that Ortiz is enrolling early. From what I've heard Walley is an athletic stud! Him getting extra time to work with the Gopher strength coaches and trainers as well as technique coaches could really help him get a jump on the season.
Players set the tone of games more than a coach.
Unfortunately, I don't think Ortiz will be here til summer.
Sounds like a Stallone movie! Gopher Marketing should be all over this and pay you a finder's fee!
How can any coach ever be fired? It's not their fault that the players are choosing not to make plays.
There are definitely other issues with the basketball program than just making shots
I'd say he passes the eye test. He is fast and the right side --- but I am in the he has not shown a good ability to find holes camp.
Yeah I agree, a lot of those concerns might be answered by Fall. I feel like it's at least plausible, if not likely, that every one of those concerns is answered in a positive manner. I'd say WR and CB would be the two I'd be most pleasantly surprised if they were filled in the manner I'd hope they would be. From info from another site, it doesn't sound like a couple of our younger WR's (Nam for one) are living up to what the staff hoped they would be. I do like Wright a ton as a transfer and both Jackson and Emelien were said to be impressive in camp, but I think Wright is the only one of the 3 that could provide us that home run threat that Bateman brought to the table. At CB, Walley might be my favorite recruit in this class outside of Eastern, but counting on a true freshman to play a major role is dicey. Unfortunately Smith coming on seems like wishful thinking at this point.