New line up without Curry

[Big Ten Championship]

PG: Mason; Washington
SG: McBrayer; Harris
SF: Coffee; Hurt
PF: Murphy; Fitzgerald
C: Lynch; Konate; Diedou

With Curry and Stockman out and the possibility that Gaston D. isn't going to be a major impact, we are down to 10 active Scholarship players.

We know what we are going to get out of our starters. The second name listed at each of our positions is really going to need to step up and will make or break our season. Our starting five will make us a really good team, but the second five will determine if we are elite or average.

All should see the floor plenty just to make sure the starters have gas left in the tank come post season! Washington and Harris will play more than most Freshman! Hope they are ready!

 

[DeathClutch]

In certain matchups, when Lynch gets into early foul trouble, we could probably go with a lineup of:

Mason
Washington
McBrayer
Coffey
Murph/Fitzgerald

In small doses of course and it woukd have to be against teams with smaller frontcourts like Michigan.

 

[NotAFanOfBecky]

Fitzgerald is key. Need his length to replace Curry's. By all accounts he can, but it's a big if to assume he can stay healthy. If he can then this is a very good team. Need Washington to be legit to keep Nate fresh as we all know what happened at the end of the year. Would love to see Konate develop a bit, he's got such good size and he's a decent athlete.

 

[LakerFan]

PG: Mason; Washington
SG: McBrayer; Harris
SF: Coffee; Hurt
PF: Murphy; Fitzgerald
C: Lynch; Konate; Diedou

With Curry and Stockman out and the possibility that Gaston D. isn't going to be a major impact, we are down to 10 active Scholarship players.

We know what we are going to get out of our starters. The second name listed at each of our positions is really going to need to step up and will make or break our season. Our starting five will make us a really good team, but the second five will determine if we are elite or average.

All should see the floor plenty just to make sure the starters have gas left in the tank come post season! Washington and Harris will play more than most Freshman! Hope they are ready!

No way Diedou is in any rotation or sees any floor time. Konate picks up minutes with Curry out, otherwise he would have been severely limited this year. My guess is that you will see a regular rotation of 8 guys

Mason; Washington; McBrayer; Harris; Coffey (Pick 3 with at least one of the PG's always)
Murphy; Fitzgerald; Lynch (Pick 2)

With real limited time for Hurt and Konate and Konate getting more time if the bigs get into early foul trouble.

 

[GopherHoopsFan]

No way Diedou is in any rotation or sees any floor time. Konate picks up minutes with Curry out, otherwise he would have been severely limited this year. My guess is that you will see a regular rotation of 8 guys

Mason; Washington; McBrayer; Harris; Coffey (Pick 3 with at least one of the PG's always)
Murphy; Fitzgerald; Lynch (Pick 2)

With real limited time for Hurt and Konate and Konate getting more time if the bigs get into early foul trouble.

This is the most realistic path to the promised land. This whole thing comes down to Fitz and Bakary. I hope these next two months give them time to work it out. Murphy and Lynch WILL get into foul trouble consistently, there are going to be minutes to fill, and we can't have another Happ goes for 20 against Bakary in 12 minutes situation. Got to get better before the season.

 

[Tim1406]

I love the optimism around Harris but until I see it I am going to assume we wont be leaning on him very much this year. Konate still gets 5-20 minutes a game depending on Lynch's foul trouble.

 

[tmvander]

This is the most realistic path to the promised land. This whole thing comes down to Fitz and Bakary. I hope these next two months give them time to work it out. Murphy and Lynch WILL get into foul trouble consistently, there are going to be minutes to fill, and we can't have another Happ goes for 20 against Bakary in 12 minutes situation. Got to get better before the season.

This is the biggest thing. Curry almost averaged as many minutes per game as Lynch last year (20 for Curry, 23 for Lynch). Murphy only average about 27-28 per game. We're really going to need Lynch and Murphy on the court more or else Konate and Fitz will have to play significant minutes.

 

[watertown 1987 guy n]

I'm not big fan of Konate but if he can make another step in game awareness like he has done the last 2 years then his 5-8 minutes on the floor each game may not send the blood pressure shooting up. If he can just rebound, put a shot or two back, alter a shot or two, and box out all without fouling - its all we need (doesn't sound like much to ask from a senior but his development has been painfully slow).

 

[LakerFan]

I love the optimism around Harris but until I see it I am going to assume we wont be leaning on him very much this year. Konate still gets 5-20 minutes a game depending on Lynch's foul trouble.

I'm not expecting Fitzgerald to be a direct replacement, and even if he is then you might expect Bakary to get lots of minutes like he did last year. The change from last year is adding washington and Harris to the back court. We HAD to have two bigs on the court at all times last year because we didn't have enough quality backcourt to get Coffey off the floor ever. Now we have enough that we can get him a breather once in a while and I'd rather see lineups with Mason, Wash, Dupree or Harris, Coffey and ONE big on the floor than see Bakary out there more. I don't think we play that many teams that are that big at the 4 that Coffey couldn't handle them for 4-5 minutes a game.

 

[tikited]

I'm not big fan of Konate but if he can make another step in game awareness like he has done the last 2 years then his 5-8 minutes on the floor each game may not send the blood pressure shooting up. If he can just rebound, put a shot or two back, alter a shot or two, and box out all without fouling - its all we need (doesn't sound like much to ask from a senior but his development has been painfully slow).

Konate has the ability to have a Trevor Winter type of Sr. year imo. 10-15 minutes with 3-4 points and rebounds. At least I hope so.

 

[howeda7]

Konate has the ability to have a Trevor Winter type of Sr. year imo. 10-15 minutes with 3-4 points and rebounds. At least I hope so.

I'd take that. Heck let's not take chances, I bet Trevor can still play. No one will know the difference. That is if John Thomas is not available.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

IF, and it's a sizeable if, Fitzgerald can roughly equal Curry's production, it all comes down to this:

Who replaces Springs as the designated outside shooter? In a perfect world, Hurt would be able to help fill that role. If Hurt can't get it done, then I think you have to throw Harris in there and hope like heck he's mature enough to handle it.

2 or 3 made three-pointers at the right time can change the entire complexion and flow of a game. That is my biggest question mark about this Gopher squad. Where will the outside shots come from?

Of course, if McBrayer or Coffey are able to improve their outside shooting, that would be a plus. But, I still think either Hurt or Harris has to furnish some scoring for this time to accomplish anything significant (with the loss of Curry).

 

[schlegs]

konote is as huge as ive seen him (besides his tiny legs lol) but he seems to be moving better and will play a major backup role on this team this year....the other major impact will be fitz.. if pitino recruits a transfer they have tended to play a lot so i would expect that...especially considering he has had two years of learning the system and getting into college shape

 

[schlegs]

IF, and it's a sizeable if, Fitzgerald can roughly equal Curry's production, it all comes down to this:

Who replaces Springs as the designated outside shooter? In a perfect world, Hurt would be able to help fill that role. If Hurt can't get it done, then I think you have to throw Harris in there and hope like heck he's mature enough to handle it.

2 or 3 made three-pointers at the right time can change the entire complexion and flow of a game. That is my biggest question mark about this Gopher squad. Where will the outside shots come from?

Of course, if McBrayer or Coffey are able to improve their outside shooting, that would be a plus. But, I still think either Hurt or Harris has to furnish some scoring for this time to accomplish anything significant (with the loss of Curry).

pretty sure washington is that guy...seems to have a decent stroke...definitely has that will to win and according to himself shoots a ton a day...that being said i expect mcbrayer and coffee to not shoot as well and mason to shoot better..who knows...harris can stroke no question... and he can get his shot of.....think he is a four year general improver where as someone like kalcheaur is more streaky and is prolly gonna give us about the same production from 3

 

[schlegs]

Prolly should put this in a different thread but what from everything i watched live these are our best defenders current and future.

lynch (you dont finish top two in block percentage two years in a row for no reason)
oturu (watch live...and while the stats quite dont show it yet fundamentals and reaction is there)
dupree (quickest hands in the passing lane in the big ten)
coffee (he does so many little things well he shoul be higher on this list)
konate (hes awful to watch but pretty effective..prolly would be great in 5 years)
thomas
washington
mason (still really good just needs to focus on offense more now)
kalcheuer (got lockdown potential)
curry(very possibely could jump to the top...take risk but reads defenders very well...fouls to much but not like bakare)
harris (works hard, in the right position hes just short)
hurt (not super athletic, we will see)
diedou (nuff said)

 

[Skiumah77]

I'm assuming Curry gets a medical redshirt this year.. right?? I think it would be pretty stupid not to give him a redshirt this year so he doesn't lose a year of eligibility

 

[Keyser Söze]

I'm assuming Curry gets a medical redshirt this year.. right?? I think it would be pretty stupid not to give him a redshirt this year so he doesn't lose a year of eligibility

He will use a regular redshirt. If he happens to have another season ending injury in the future he can apply for a medical hardship waiver.

 

[goldenboy]

Jeff Hagen had the most memorable senior year performance jump that I can remember. That was pretty unexpected, too.

 

[jovs]

In certain matchups, when Lynch gets into early foul trouble, we could probably go with a lineup of:

Mason
Washington
McBrayer
Coffey
Murph/Fitzgerald

In small doses of course and it woukd have to be against teams with smaller frontcourts like Michigan.

How about at time's

One of the PG's
Hurt
Fitzgerald
Coffey
One of the Centers

 

[WanderingGopher]

I'm not big fan of Konate but if he can make another step in game awareness like he has done the last 2 years then his 5-8 minutes on the floor each game may not send the blood pressure shooting up. If he can just rebound, put a shot or two back, alter a shot or two, and box out all without fouling - its all we need (doesn't sound like much to ask from a senior but his development has been painfully slow).

His lack of mobility, range, and post up game bogs down the offense terribly, and he is bad at setting screens. He still looks lost making switches and defending the P&R on defense even after three years.

Other than that he's been great.

 

[howeda7]

His lack of mobility, range, and post up game bogs down the offense terribly, and he is bad at setting screens. He still looks lost making switches and defending the P&R on defense even after three years.

Other than that he's been great.

Well, when you put it like that. He has individual games where he looks good, like FSU last year. And so many others where he looks awful. We're probably better off hoping for a big step forward from Hurt to take Curry's minutes rather than from Konate. But hopefully they both step up.