Golden Nugz 9.24.09

by GopherNation on Sep 24, 2009 9:17 AM CDT in Golden Nuggets

Sorry for the late edition (again). JG will be posting a detailed look at Jeff Wills, it was tentatively planned for today but you can expect to see it tomorrow.

Tubby landed his second verbal commitment of the 2010 class. Austin Hollins is a 6'4" SG/SF out of Germantown, Tennessee. Austin is the son of Lionel Hollins, current head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies. On the surface this looks to be an under the radar type of commitment. Hollins has no ESPN evaluation and Rivals has not yet issued him a star rating. He had offers from Memphis, Arkansas and Oregon State but chose the Gophers after visiting this past weekend.

The current recruiting class now has a center and a shooting guard, I would expect that the last scholarship to either be 5-star guard, Cory Joseph or it will go to a small forward and fill that position of need. The incoming class will be filling the shoes of Damian Johnson, Lawrence Westbrook and Devron Bostick so getting some help on the wing has to be a priority. This class is not shaping up to be a big time class and you won't see this class on any top 25 ranking lists, but the current roster is loaded with young kids who will dominate the lineup for this year and next. I'm sure that has been a significant factor as some of the higher ranked players from around the country have not bought into the Tubby regime this year.

Let's take a look around at some of the other Gopher sports competing this fall.

Gopher Volleyball is currently ranked 9th in the country and are hosting a couple rivals this weekend. Get out and watch the Gophers defeat the Badgers on Friday and the Hawkeyes on Saturday.
Gopher Women's Soccer opens their Big Ten season hosting Iowa tonight. The team is 6-2-1 and has been ranked at times this season.
Gopher Men's and Women's Cross Country are both ranked in the top 20. The men are lead by Hassan Mead and are ranked 17th while the women are pre-season 8th in the country. This is a big weekend for both running squads as the U is hosting the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational.
I answered some questions for Lake the Posts, an outstanding Northwestern blog. I thought I should give him some insight into the Gophers beforehand so he won't feel so bad after we destroy the Wildcats on Saturday.
Also check out one of the newest SBN blogs, Sippin on Purple to get more Northwestern coverage.

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Hollins

is supposed to already have NBA range 3, good defender as he positions himself well and has decent anticipation. His stroke is pretty good as well. He has a really high BBIQ and understands the game. All of these things don’t come as a supprise given his father, but they are things that the Gophers need on the perimeter. He may have to redshirt first year to gain some weight…we will see.

by TheEvilProfessor on Sep 24, 2009 9:32 AM CDT reply actions

good to hear

love a great shooter who can defend and makes good decisions.

redshirting is great because he won’t play as a freshman anyway (especially if we land Joseph).

what you say here can, and will, be used against you

by GopherNation on Sep 24, 2009 1:09 PM CDT up reply actions

The only person who I think won't really get playing time

is Devron Bostick. Tubby just doesn’t play people who are so so on defense…which he is. If Tubby has one fault it is that he will focus on defense to the exclusion of all else. I will take that all year every year in comparison to where we have been for soooo long. But if Tubby can get some guys who can actually do both, the gophers will be very good.

by TheEvilProfessor on Sep 24, 2009 2:08 PM CDT up reply actions

but during Hollins' freshman year

PG – Nolen, Cobbs
G – Joseph
SG – Williams, Hoffarber
SF – Carter
F – White
PF – Mbakwe
C – Sampson, Iverson

I just don’t see Hollins getting any playing time over that group of 5 guards (MAYBE Hoffarber if he struggles again this year). Getting a year to redshirt would be great for the program.

btw, I LOVE that lineup.

what you say here can, and will, be used against you

by GopherNation on Sep 24, 2009 2:59 PM CDT up reply actions

Williams

can also play SF and after Hollins puts some weight on so can he. And I seriously hope that Nolen is not still the PG at that time. I can not fully express how much of a one trick pony his offensive game is. He is fine in transition…just can’t run the half court. We need CJ (Cory Joseph) so bad I can taste it.

by TheEvilProfessor on Sep 24, 2009 3:50 PM CDT up reply actions

Also

It depends on how Hoffarber performs this year. Hollins should be a better defender and higher up on Tubby’s rotation than Hoffarber for that reason. If Hoffarber can’t get his shot back then Hollins is absolutely ahead of Blake.

by TheEvilProfessor on Sep 24, 2009 3:53 PM CDT up reply actions

not as a true freshman

don’t over inflate this kid who just a few months ago wasn’t getting any major offers. He may be very good but as true freshman he won’t play a ton.

what you say here can, and will, be used against you

by GopherNation on Sep 25, 2009 9:37 AM CDT up reply actions

Sorry

I meant to imply by the end of the season, not right off. Blake was pretty bad last year. If it wasn’t for him playing smart ball by getting open for short 2’s he would have been awful IMO. Plus the reason he wasn’t getting a lot of offers had more to do with his weight…kind of like Trevor Releford who is now a top 100 player once he grew 2 more inches and added 10+ lbs. Same goes for Hollins. It had less to do with his talent and skills as it did that he had question marks with the phsical side.

by TheEvilProfessor on Sep 25, 2009 10:41 AM CDT up reply actions

Hollins

I am going to show my age here, but Lionel Hollins was a very good BB player. That 1977 NBA Portland team that won the title is was one of my all-time favorite teams. Lionel was a starting guard on that team and they were a TEAM in every sense of the word. Let’s hope the apple did not fall from the tree with his son. This is a potentially a great addition to the Gopher BB program.

by Texas Gopher on Sep 24, 2009 11:35 AM CDT reply actions

dang you are old

what you say here can, and will, be used against you

by GopherNation on Sep 24, 2009 1:09 PM CDT up reply actions

FYI

that 1977 team had Bill Walton on it and was coached by the great Jack Ramsey. It was a thing of beauty to watch them beat more talented teams. If Austin is close to his Dad in terms of BB talents, this could be a real “sleeper.”

by Texas Gopher on Sep 24, 2009 11:39 AM CDT reply actions

Tubby

There are times where I am still in awe that we have Tubby as our coach. There is no doubt in my mind that the program is headed in the right direction and is building towards the future. Great days are ahead of us my fellow Gopher fans!

by MinnesotaCatFan on Sep 24, 2009 11:45 AM CDT reply actions

I think that Tubby

may still get a PG regardless and slide Devoe over to SG. I could definitely see a lineup of both Josephs in the backcourt at the same time (If Cory commits…God I hope so).

by TheEvilProfessor on Sep 24, 2009 12:21 PM CDT reply actions

Hollins ESPN Comments

Gophers land Tenn. wing Austin Hollins
According to ESPN.com affiliate site www.memphisroar.com, wing guard Austin Hollins verbally committed to Minnesota on Wednesday night. He chose the Gophers over Memphis, Arkansas and Oregon State.

Austin is the son of Memphis Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins. He joins Elliott Eliason (Chadron, Neb./Chadron H.S.) in the Gophers 2010 class.

ESPN.com Recruiting Coordinator Reggie Rankin watched Hollins really elevate his game over the summer evaluation period.

“Austin steadily improved from the spring through the end of the summer when high-major programs really took notice. He helped himself immensely, particularly in July,” Rankin said.

“He has great bloodlines and a high basketball I.Q., which you’d expect from the son of a former NBA player turned head coach.”

Rankin describes Hollins as a long two guard with some versatility to his game.

“Austin is a lean shooting guard who can score spotting up, from penetration kick outs and with a one or two dribble pull up jumper.

“He’s really good at reading his point guard’s penetration and finding an open spot on the floor to knock down his shot. Austin also does well spotting up in transition.

“If there’s an area he needs to work on it’s his dribble drive to the rim,” continued Rankin. ""He’s a good but not great athlete so he really needs to use his long arms to get around guys in the paint and finish. He also needs to add some muscle to his frame and get stronger."

Rankin likes what the Gophers are getting, primarily because of his versatility.

“Austin will fit nicely in with Tubby Smith’s motion style offense due to his good basketball savvy and his strong passing ability,” offered Rankin. "His versatility and length will allow him to play both the two and the three on either end of the floor.

“His steady improvement should only continue next season for Minnesota.”

by TheEvilProfessor on Sep 24, 2009 12:38 PM CDT reply actions

sounds kind of like some of our other recruits

Sampson comes to mind as he has great bloodlines and really started to get more notice over the summer before his senior year. Prior to that he wasn’t getting a ton of great offers, but Tubby did his homework and scouted him well (imo).

what you say here can, and will, be used against you

by GopherNation on Sep 24, 2009 1:21 PM CDT up reply actions

I think at the start of the year

he was listed at 140 pounds. Which is rediculously light, which may indicate why we wasn’t recruited. Apparently he has got it up to 175 lbs. Assuming he can add another 15 he should be good. He looks like the kind of guy that has that extremely wiry type strength. I had heard that some of our front court players were making an effort to hit the gym hard after their taste of the NCAA tourney, so assuming we get there again, he should come into the program with the right atmosphere for him to do that.

by TheEvilProfessor on Sep 24, 2009 1:57 PM CDT up reply actions