Pitino said he will tinker with the lineup

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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Go Gophers!!
 

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Go Gophers!!
 

It's always interesting being a Gopher fan. Nothing is ever safe. The coach is either on his way to being fired or we are certain he will get snatched away by someone else. We are a perennial bubble squad - unless the coach is about to be fired- so we are on the edges of our seats as every game is a must win. The lineup is always in question because the players we have are never quite good enough. Everyone has a theory about who might be great if they played and also about which starters should really be D2 players. We almost never have a player who anyone else would want but at times we think all of our guys should be All Big Ten and the coach should win every game. I cannot imagine the boredom of being a Duke fan.

Anyway, I look forward to the tweaks, I'd start Mason and Buggs (Iowa hates Buggs) and let lil Dre and Joey come off the bench for a game just to see if it gets the team fired up. I'd get Gaston 2-3 minutes and if he does well- expand it.
 

bga1 said:
It's always interesting being a Gopher fan. Nothing is ever safe. The coach is either on his way to being fired or we are certain he will get snatched away by someone else. We are a perennial bubble squad - unless the coach is about to be fired- so we are on the edges of our seats as every game is a must win. The lineup is always in question because the players we have are never quite good enough. Everyone has a theory about who might be great if they played and also about which starters should really be D2 players. We almost never have a player who anyone else would want but at times we think all of our guys should be All Big Ten and the coach should win every game. I cannot imagine the boredom of being a Duke fan.

Anyway, I look forward to the tweaks, I'd start Mason and Buggs (Iowa hates Buggs) and let lil Dre and Joey come off the bench for a game just to see if it gets the team fired up. I'd get Gaston 2-3 minutes and if he does well- expand it.
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Lol. Well said.
 

bga1 said:
It's always interesting being a Gopher fan. Nothing is ever safe. The coach is either on his way to being fired or we are certain he will get snatched away by someone else. We are a perennial bubble squad - unless the coach is about to be fired- so we are on the edges of our seats as every game is a must win. The lineup is always in question because the players we have are never quite good enough. Everyone has a theory about who might be great if they played and also about which starters should really be D2 players. We almost never have a player who anyone else would want but at times we think all of our guys should be All Big Ten and the coach should win every game. I cannot imagine the boredom of being a Duke fan.
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+1.
 


bga1 said:
It's always interesting being a Gopher fan. Nothing is ever safe. The coach is either on his way to being fired or we are certain he will get snatched away by someone else. We are a perennial bubble squad - unless the coach is about to be fired- so we are on the edges of our seats as every game is a must win. The lineup is always in question because the players we have are never quite good enough. Everyone has a theory about who might be great if they played and also about which starters should really be D2 players. We almost never have a player who anyone else would want but at times we think all of our guys should be All Big Ten and the coach should win every game. I cannot imagine the boredom of being a Duke fan.

Anyway, I look forward to the tweaks, I'd start Mason and Buggs (Iowa hates Buggs) and let lil Dre and Joey come off the bench for a game just to see if it gets the team fired up. I'd get Gaston 2-3 minutes and if he does well- expand it.
Click to expand...

Nice post. I still think that DeAndre, whatever his inconsistencies this season, deserves to continue as the starting point. He's earned the faith of the coaches and fans. He had a very good game against Iowa at the barn last year as I recall. All of the guards play a lot anyway, Mason deserves significant minutes, and he gets them.
 

Again, I hope he doesn't tinker too much with the starting lineup. I hope he tinkers with who he trusts in the last ten minutes of games. Whoever has been on the floor and making mistakes for the Purdue and Michigan meltdowns should not be seeing late game action until they prove they can handle the pressure.
 

bleedsmaroonandgold said:
Again, I hope he doesn't tinker too much with the starting lineup. I hope he tinkers with who he trusts in the last ten minutes of games. Whoever has been on the floor and making mistakes for the Purdue and Michigan meltdowns should not be seeing late game action until they prove they can handle the pressure.
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Totally agree with this. The starting lineups haven't proven to be the problem. We led big at halftime against St. John's, Purdue, and had a big lead in the 2nd half against Michigan. What he needs to tinker with is who is playing late in games or who is in the game when the other team starts to catch fire and go on a run.
 

tmvander said:
Totally agree with this. The starting lineups haven't proven to be the problem. We led big at halftime against St. John's, Purdue, and had a big lead in the 2nd half against Michigan. What he needs to tinker with is who is playing late in games or who is in the game when the other team starts to catch fire and go on a run.
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I think that the starting 5 are probably the best 5 we can put out there together. However, I think at some point you have to make a symbolic statement that things have to be different. Our best 5 players are Walker, Hollins, Morris, Matheui and Mason. But we can't put 4 guards out there due to depth issues- if we had depth- that's exactly what I'd do. McNeil and Martin have hurt us badly- I just can't believe how stupid Martin's move was...
 



tmvander said:
Totally agree with this. The starting lineups haven't proven to be the problem. We led big at halftime against St. John's, Purdue, and had a big lead in the 2nd half against Michigan. What he needs to tinker with is who is playing late in games or who is in the game when the other team starts to catch fire and go on a run.
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I tend to agree with this. At this point I pretty much want Mason and Hollins on the floor no matter what (even if they've had an off game) when the game's being decided. The other 3 go with the hotter hands that night. Usually that'll be Mo as the big guy, but there are nights when EE's energy really helps this team.
 

Well then!!!...

per Marcus: Freshman Gaston Diedhiou may start Tuesday in debut

Pitino is considering replacing several starters, most likely starting with freshman Gaston Diedhiou over King at power forward.

King, a junior from Eagan, had four turnovers, including a couple down the stretch when Minnesota blew a nine-point lead late in the second half at Michigan.

Pitino said he would have to see how Diedhiou worked with the other starters during Monday's practice.

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci...rce=rss&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
Well then!!!...

per Marcus: Freshman Gaston Diedhiou may start Tuesday in debut

Pitino is considering replacing several starters, most likely starting with freshman Gaston Diedhiou over King at power forward.

King, a junior from Eagan, had four turnovers, including a couple down the stretch when Minnesota blew a nine-point lead late in the second half at Michigan.

Pitino said he would have to see how Diedhiou worked with the other starters during Monday's practice.

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci...rce=rss&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Go Gophers!!
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That's what I like to hear. Throw the freshmen in.
 

per Amelia:

As much as anything, the moves would be to create a spark rather than reward bench warmers.

"I don't think Gas has done a whole lot to deserve playing time just because he hasn't played," Pitino said. "That's the difficult part of our team right now. The guys on the bench don't necessarily deserve it and vice versa. I think more than anything, it's just trying to get out of this rut a little bit."

Pitino named Mason, shooting guard Andre Hollins and center Mo Walker as the three who have been the most consistent, but wouldn't call anyone "safe."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/288312831.html

Go Gophers!!
 



How about Pitino mixes things up a little too? I want to see him wearing his dad's all white suit.
 

SelectionSunday said:
I tend to agree with this. At this point I pretty much want Mason and Hollins on the floor no matter what (even if they've had an off game) when the game's being decided. The other 3 go with the hotter hands that night. Usually that'll be Mo as the big guy, but there are nights when EE's energy really helps this team.
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Definitely agree with you on the hot hand, but defending a late lead isn't necessarily when I want EE in the game. I think I'm generally higher on him than most on this board and I value his rebounding and defense (though I know I can be quite vocal about his whining, which as you pointed out in another thread seems more scaled back as of late). However, if blowing leads is a problem, and then we stick a sub-50% FT shooter on the floor with a late lead, the other team will play Wack-A-Goose every time he gets his hands on the ball. If I am trying to pull off a late 10 point comeback and Elliot gets a defensive rebound, I'd definitely take him shooting two free throws and no time going off the clock to letting the Gophers run a possession (even considering the likelihood one of our players blindly throws the ball out of bounds in that kind of situation).
 

bga1 said:
It's always interesting being a Gopher fan. Nothing is ever safe. The coach is either on his way to being fired or we are certain he will get snatched away by someone else. We are a perennial bubble squad - unless the coach is about to be fired- so we are on the edges of our seats as every game is a must win. The lineup is always in question because the players we have are never quite good enough. Everyone has a theory about who might be great if they played and also about which starters should really be D2 players. We almost never have a player who anyone else would want but at times we think all of our guys should be All Big Ten and the coach should win every game. I cannot imagine the boredom of being a Duke fan.

Anyway, I look forward to the tweaks, I'd start Mason and Buggs (Iowa hates Buggs) and let lil Dre and Joey come off the bench for a game just to see if it gets the team fired up. I'd get Gaston 2-3 minutes and if he does well- expand it.
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The only problem that I have with this is blowing Gaston's red shirt year with so few games left. If he is only going to get 2-5 minutes a game, is it worth losing a year?
 

minny01 said:
The only problem that I have with this is blowing Gaston's red shirt year with so few games left. If he is only going to get 2-5 minutes a game, is it worth losing a year?
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I say do it (start him sub him, whatever). I have this theory: Either A- Gaston is ready to help a toughness and rebound starved club and he has talent or B) Gaston is not able to help and though he might develop in the future we are confident that the arc of the team's recruiting will be such that we can replace him in 4 years with a better player anyway. Honestly - I see no point in holding a kid his age out for another year. Let's find out what we have and get him ready for next year when we will desperately need him.
 

tmvander said:
How about Pitino mixes things up a little too? I want to see him wearing his dad's all white suit.
Click to expand...

No way, white is not a school color!

I'm definitely for the change of pace... But I do wonder what this does to the confidence of King. He seems to be shaky to begin with, I just hope he doesn't lose assertiveness in his shot or overall game after this move. He is going to be eating a scholarship for another whole year after all.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

You either play Gaston starting this week or redshirt him. Plain and simple. Don't waste a year of his eligibility for 11,12,13 games at 5-10 mins a game.
 

minny01 said:
The only problem that I have with this is blowing Gaston's red shirt year with so few games left. If he is only going to get 2-5 minutes a game, is it worth losing a year?
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I don't know minny01, he'll be 22 , I believe, in September.
 



minny01 said:
The only problem that I have with this is blowing Gaston's red shirt year with so few games left. If he is only going to get 2-5 minutes a game, is it worth losing a year?
Click to expand...

Yes, he's probably too old to redshirt anyway. One way or another, you only get four years of playing time from someone and to borrow a phrase from the great George Allen, the future is now. If we're hurting three years from now because we don't have another season of Gaston, the program won't be in such great shape anyway.

Who knows how much he'll play? Could be more than we think in a double overtime game or if Joey or Buggs is injured. Wisconsin is now missing two starters and one for something like 6 weeks.
 

So what is the highest expectation we should have for gas? Like 5 rebounds would be just fantastic right?
 

Winasota Gopher said:
So what is the highest expectation we should have for gas? Like 5 rebounds would be just fantastic right?
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Hope I'm wrong, but I have very low expectation. Seems like sort of a desperation move to give a guy who hasn't played a bit a start against a decent opponent.
 

I saw him shooting around before practice today and he was working on 20 foot jumpers from the top of the key area. That was not what i expected from all previous reports of him being a big physical rebounder kind of guy. The shot did look ok but i can just imagine the groan from the crowd if that is his first shot tomorrow night.
Then again, Buggs kind of snuck up on Iowa last year too.
 

Starting a player that hasn't yet played in a college game sounds desperate to me. If he is good enough to be considered a starter tomorrow night, he should have seen game action before now.
 

bga1 said:
It's always interesting being a Gopher fan. Nothing is ever safe. The coach is either on his way to being fired or we are certain he will get snatched away by someone else. We are a perennial bubble squad - unless the coach is about to be fired- so we are on the edges of our seats as every game is a must win. The lineup is always in question because the players we have are never quite good enough. Everyone has a theory about who might be great if they played and also about which starters should really be D2 players. We almost never have a player who anyone else would want but at times we think all of our guys should be All Big Ten and the coach should win every game. I cannot imagine the boredom of being a Duke fan.
Click to expand...

9df.gif
 

I am against lineup changes at this time. This game against Iowa is very winnable without any changes, and making lineup changes puts this game more in doubt. The two rumored changes (Diedhiou for King from Marcus and Mason for Mathieu from Amelia) don't make a lot of sense for the match up against Iowa. King matches up better with Iowa than he does against most of our B1G opposition and Mathieu could have a field day against Gessell and company.

This feels like change for change sake and doesn't really address the issues this team has with choking away leads.
 

Either way, the bulk of the minutes aren't really going to change. I just wish this team had some depth. I think our end of the game problems have more to do with fatigue (and lack of a closer) than anything.
 

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