Golden Nugz - 06.28.10

by GopherNation on Jun 28, 2010 5:00 AM CDT in Golden Nuggets

The NHL and NBA Drafts came and went last week, and we'll get to that in a minute, but what is very interesting is that Chad Ford has already released his very early top 100 for next year's draft. Rodney Williams makes the list and is rather high. Williams is the #18 overall talent, according to Chad Ford, for next year's NBA Draft.

Below is Ford's analysis and his positives and negatives.

Williams was a player who shocked scouts in the early going with three big performances at the start of the season. But since then he's seen his minutes and production drop sharply. Williams has all the physical attributes you want in a small forward, but either he's just not ready to use them at the highest level or, once again, Tubby Smith doesn't know how to coach NBA prospects.

Projection	Late lottery to mid first round
Positives	Elite athlete Explosive leaper with huge vertical jump Flies up and down the floor Long wingspan and developing NBA body Great in the open court Emerging shooter with real NBA range
Negatives	Still a little raw offensively Lacks great basketball IQ

Gopher basketball is picking up a walk-on transfer. Chris Halvorson is transferring from Valpo back to Minnesota where he will walk on. Halvorson played his high school ball at Henry Sibley, spent his freshman year at Valpo and will be a sophomore back at the U this fall.
Gopher basketball has a couple exhibition games scheduled for the upcoming season in Canada. Trinity Western University and the UBC Thunderbirds will host your Golden Gophers in early September.
The NHL Draft came and went last week. Incoming Gopher center, Nick Bjugstad was drated by the Florida Panthers 19th overall. Three other incoming Gophers were drafted on the second day of the draft. Mark Alt, Justin Holl and Max Gardiner were the soon-to-be Gophers drafted in the second round.
For your Wild coverage of the NHL Draft be sure to check out HHockey Wilderness. And to get a grip on all of the Timberwolves complications go to Canis Hoopus.

Tweet Comment 11 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Rodney Williams

has great potential, but was still very green last year. He was able to use his speed and awesome leaping ability against much inferior talent but once we faced “real” teams he was ineffective. That being said I very much look forward to seeing him play this year.

"they're calling insane hogs???"

by CrowTrobot on Jun 28, 2010 8:19 AM CDT reply actions

but did he show anything

to warrant being considered a top 20 draft pick next year? that is almost fringe lottery area.

what you say here can, and will, be used against you The Daily Gopher

by GopherNation on Jun 28, 2010 8:48 AM CDT up reply actions

I’m just an average fan, I don’t “study” the game. But I have been watching the game for many years and I saw nothing that indicated “lottery” pick. I would rather have Westbrook at this point.

"they're calling insane hogs???"

by CrowTrobot on Jun 28, 2010 9:47 AM CDT up reply actions

Its all about potential.

If Rodney can put it together, I can definitely see him as a 1st round pick.

by MinnesotaCatFan on Jun 28, 2010 9:06 AM CDT reply actions

agreed he has potential

but there has to be more than 17 other players out there who also have potential but who also performed more last year.

what you say here can, and will, be used against you The Daily Gopher

by GopherNation on Jun 28, 2010 10:29 AM CDT up reply actions

Once Again?

What does " or, once again, Tubby Smith doesn’t know how to coach NBA prospects." mean? Sounds pretty harsh. I wonder if Rodney will read this and think he automatically deserves more PT.

Mark 8:36

by lonebadger on Jun 28, 2010 7:52 PM CDT reply actions

Tubby Put 19 Of His Players From Tulsa, Georgia, And Kentucky Into NBA

None (yet) from Minnesota but that’ll change.

by FortyYearCatFan on Jun 29, 2010 5:58 AM CDT up reply actions

Understatement of the year

“•Still a little raw offensively —•Lacks great basketball IQ " #18 seems ridiculous to me based on last year.

by Texas Gopher on Jun 29, 2010 7:51 AM CDT reply actions

Iti s all about playing defense

The notion that Tubby can’t teach NBA prospects is for lack a better word, dumb.

Tubby wants to put out winning teams and his formula for winning is that first and foremost you have to play great team defense. Considering how much we struggled offensively last year I think Tubby would have lived with Rodney’s rawness on offense. But the fact that he was a liability defensively kept him on the bench. Once he figures that out he will play and will play a lot.

what you say here can, and will, be used against you The Daily Gopher

by GopherNation on Jun 29, 2010 10:18 AM CDT reply actions

Esp with Hoffarber as his scorer

It’s hard to put Hoffarber and Williams on the floor at the same time. No help to rotate off Hoffarber.

by DJL44 on Jun 30, 2010 10:50 AM CDT up reply actions

Old Report

It’s been the same since about December last year when I think he had him as a top 10 draft prospect. Not much has changed. It was last updated about the first week in December.

Just shows how little goes into those rankings.

by The Sugar on Jun 29, 2010 2:17 PM CDT reply actions