Gator Country

chipleygator · 01-14-2013, 10:32 PM

Played Chipley (last year's state champs) tonight. My take is this: Very skinny, very athletic, good attitude, can't see him having extensive playing time next year. Will be very good in the future. Stud by his junior year. Needs to work on his shot. Most of his points are dunks. Good free throw shooter. Drove full length of the court a few times. Got pushed around by Chipley's 6'1'' fullback who plays center for Chipley. Chipley won by around 20. Walker scored around 30, I think. Don't know exact stats. Bonifay does not have a whole lot of help for him. Look forward to seeing what Gator coaches can do with him.

madgator · 01-14-2013, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chipleygator

Played Chipley (last year's state champs) tonight. My take is this: Very skinny, very athletic, good attitude, can't see him having extensive playing time next year. Will be very good in the future. Stud by his junior year. Needs to work on his shot. Most of his points are dunks. Good free throw shooter. Drove full length of the court a few times. Got pushed around by Chipley's 6'1'' fullback who plays center for Chipley. Chipley won by around 20. Walker scored around 30, I think. Don't know exact stats. Bonifay does not have a whole lot of help for him. Look forward to seeing what Gator coaches can do with him.

Chris Walker.....junior year????

chipleygator · 01-14-2013, 10:37 PM

Junior year at UF

**wci347** · 01-14-2013, 10:39 PM

Do we need to say one and done in another language for you?

chipleygator · 01-14-2013, 10:44 PM

Chipley's tallest man is 6'1''. He should have dominated in the paint. He did not. If he is one and done someone is giving him really bad advice.

**toddsevans** · 01-14-2013, 10:49 PM

He's a starter next year and a high probability of 1-2 yr college career. I've watched him play a lot. Maybe he had the flu.

chipleygator · 01-14-2013, 10:58 PM

Maybe he was sick. Chipley ran he and the Devils ragged. He looked very tired at points in the game. He came alive in the second half, though and did pull them closer than I realized. Just checked the final score, 82-70. I know some of you have seen him more than I. I'm just giving my observations from tonight. If Young stays next year, he will easily push him around in practice.

akaGatorhoops · 01-14-2013, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chipleygator

Chipley's tallest man is 6'1''. He should have dominated in the paint. He did not. If he is one and done someone is giving him really bad advice.

ummm..... didnt you say he scored about 30???

LetItFly · 01-14-2013, 11:10 PM

Walker scored 35 pts and had a "monster" night according to the news.

rserina · 01-14-2013, 11:17 PM

Never take too much from one game, especially when you are talking about a post player at this level.

Tebowism0823 · 01-14-2013, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by akaGatorhoops

ummm..... didnt you say he scored about 30???

Yeah, he should've scored 32

InstiGATOR1 · 01-14-2013, 11:43 PM

I think Chipleygator is under estimating how quickly an athletic young big can progress. I think C. Walker will play 18+ minutes next year but may come off the bench behind Yeguete.

Walker certainly wants to be one and done. We shall see if he has that opportunity or not.

UFG8rGuy3283 · 01-15-2013, 09:57 AM

I think you have to be very careful when evaluating talent at the high school level with big guys. One of the things that struck me was that Chipley said he had a good attitude. I have often heard this is one of the things that he needs to improve on. Hopefully he has and it's showing.

According to their website, Chipley's tallest player is 6'4 and they have a few guys that are 6'3. One of the other things I've found watching high school basketball is kids who are tough, like a high school fullback usually is, will take playing against a guy like Walker as a huge challenge and will get physical and will be given the benefit of a lot of calls because of the height difference. Not saying this was the case, but it's seems probable.

Walker has little to no talent around him at Holmes. He played AAU with Hill and some others and he really excelled. He is raw but a freak athlete for his size. Playing with guys like Hill, Graham and Frazier, who he is familiar with, along with the other talent in Harris, Finney-Smith, etc and Chris is going to be just fine. I'd be very surprised, based on his height and athleticism alone if he is not a one and done. Two year max at worst.

Thanks for the report though. That Chipley team I have heard is a scrappy bunch that likes to run a lot and can score in bunches.

madgator · 01-15-2013, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by InstiGATOR1

I think Chipleygator is under estimating how quickly an athletic young big can progress. I think C. Walker will play 18+ minutes next year but may come off the bench behind Yeguete.

Walker certainly wants to be one and done. We shall see if he has that opportunity or not.

Another factor is motivation. For example, I was not really impressed with Anthony Bennett. Saw him play 2-3 times on TV last year. He never really shined.

big difference watching him at UNLV.

Just 2 years ago, many of the services had Walker as a top 2 player in this class. Being at 10, you can argue that he still is. He certainly is one of the most dynamic talents and is certainly more scarce considering his blend of size, athleticism, and skill set.

he is potentially a prototypical 4 man in todays NBA offenses.....think Chris Bosh

**Marshall** · 01-15-2013, 12:25 PM

If we have one/two physical guys inside, what a pleasure to have a "wing" and "press point" with that size/talents. If his shot isn't great, I'm sure he can still do the Prather/Yeguette stuff. Billy can do a lot for him and if he's willing to be a "student" of the game, just like others, they can see when another year would benefit them. Realize Beal loved it so much he wanted to come back, but he was so developed it's obvious he was NBA ready.

REM08 · 01-15-2013, 12:29 PM

Gotta say I'm not quite as high on Walker as some of you are. I hope he does great, but I'm a little skeptical of what he's shown, not on the court, but between the ears I guess. I've always said this is something he can shed and that UF is a great fit for him. With what you guys return next year, you won't NEED him and Donovan should be effective at curbing some of the personality traits that rub me the wrong way. I think big coaches at big programs are often better at knocking a guy down a few pegs than having to boost him up.

Not trying to bash the kid (after all, I'm guessing he's what, 17?). I hope and think he can mature. I just don't have these worries with Hill.

gatormoe1 · 01-15-2013, 12:40 PM

lolz

gatordd · 01-15-2013, 01:03 PM

One and Done

GatorPlanet · 01-15-2013, 01:11 PM

Two and through.

UFG8rGuy3283 · 01-15-2013, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by REM08

Gotta say I'm not quite as high on Walker as some of you are. I hope he does great, but I'm a little skeptical of what he's shown, not on the court, but between the ears I guess. I've always said this is something he can shed and that UF is a great fit for him. With what you guys return next year, you won't NEED him and Donovan should be effective at curbing some of the personality traits that rub me the wrong way. I think big coaches at big programs are often better at knocking a guy down a few pegs than having to boost him up.

Not trying to bash the kid (after all, I'm guessing he's what, 17?). I hope and think he can mature. I just don't have these worries with Hill.

I've seen some of this with Walker as well. It sort of goes back to my surprise when the original poster said that he had a good attitude because this is the knock I have heard on him.

I think a lot of his frustration comes from not having high quality players around him, something that will not be an issue when he gets to college. When a kid goes from playing with Kasey Hill and Michael Frazier to playing with no other D1 prospects and they get beat soundly by other teams, it can wear on the psyche of a kid that age.

UF has had attitude issues before and Billy has either corrected them or they've parted ways. I have a feeling Walker will be just fine once he gets here. Billy has never been one to pull punches with star players. Hopefully Walker talks to Rosario, as I think Mike has finally gotten it this year (or at least has matured greatly playing at UF).