Three kids that will grow up by March

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MennoSota

MennoSota

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Right now Washington, Harris and Hurt are behind where this team needs them, but these three will be ready for the dance come March.
Hurt is better than last year, but a step slow against some lightning quick perimeter players for Miami. Harris got lost on defense and is still trying to figure out his spots on offense. Washington just needs to let the game slow down for him. All three will be solid by March.
 

MennoSota said:
Right now Washington, Harris and Hurt are behind where this team needs them, but these three will be ready for the dance come March.
Hurt is better than last year, but a step slow against some lightning quick perimeter players for Miami. Harris got lost on defense and is still trying to figure out his spots on offense. Washington just needs to let the game slow down for him. All three will be solid by March.
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This team is only marginally better than the team that loss to MTSU in the first round last year....Same glaring weaknesses....Three point D, cannot make outside jump shots ourselves, little depth, Pitino getting outcoached.
 

MennoSota said:
Right now Washington, Harris and Hurt are behind where this team needs them, but these three will be ready for the dance come March.
Hurt is better than last year, but a step slow against some lightning quick perimeter players for Miami. Harris got lost on defense and is still trying to figure out his spots on offense. Washington just needs to let the game slow down for him. All three will be solid by March.
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I agree with you. come march they will (hopefully) look night and day from where they are at now. If you don't believe they'll improve, why even watch and root for the gophers? These kids are the future. If they fail the future fails..
 

1997vacatedfinalfour said:
This team is only marginally better than the team that loss to MTSU in the first round last year....Same glaring weaknesses....Three point D, cannot make outside jump shots ourselves, little depth, Pitino getting outcoached.
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I wouldn't go that far. IW and Harris will get better with time. Murphy is better. Lynch is able to stay in the games. Hurt is better. Coffey is arguably better. The only loss from MTSU is Curry.
 

MennoSota said:
Right now Washington, Harris and Hurt are behind where this team needs them, but these three will be ready for the dance come March.
Hurt is better than last year, but a step slow against some lightning quick perimeter players for Miami. Harris got lost on defense and is still trying to figure out his spots on offense. Washington just needs to let the game slow down for him. All three will be solid by March.
Click to expand...

Hurt: Can't guard his own shadow, and that won't improve as the year goes on. He's just too slow and is a liability on both ends of the floor.
Harris: Not bad for a freshman, but will need a couple years to develop. His game just isn't there yet and he gets lost on defense.
IW: Can get any shot he wants, but struggling to shoot the ball. I imagine he improves by 5-10% from shooting, as it hasn't been good.

Basically, without Curry and McBrayer the team is too shallow. Next year we're bringing in some good athletes though, should solve the depth problem. Props to Miami for shooting the lights out, but with McBrayer I think we win that game.
 


McBrayer will definitely help the long ball stats - needed him tonight. Also need Hurt to focus on being a spot up long ball threat. The guy just doesn't have the tools to be a part-time slasher/all-arounder on offense. We need to let him be what he is.
 

Absolutely. Invaluable game. This is why you scheduled this team. We win if Dupree plays. Without him we still gave them everything they could handle. Freshmen learning.


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1997vacatedfinalfour said:
This team is only marginally better than the team that loss to MTSU in the first round last year....Same glaring weaknesses....Three point D, cannot make outside jump shots ourselves, little depth, Pitino getting outcoached.
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This team is much better than last year. Murphy's improvement alone makes this team better. Lynch is playing much better than last year both offensively and in terms of cutting down fouls, Amir has improved too and Mason and Mcbrayer appear to be more efficient. I don't think this team last year would have only lost by 5 against the #10 team in the country in only the 8th game of the season and I don't think last years team would have been able to go on the road and beat a borderline top 25 team by double digits in only the second game of the season. This team is much further ahead compared to where we were last year both at the beginning and even end.
 

die hard gopher said:
This team is much better than last year. Murphy's improvement alone makes this team better. Lynch is playing much better than last year both offensively and in terms of cutting down fouls, Amir has improved too and Mason and Mcbrayer appear to be more efficient. I don't think this team last year would have only lost by 5 against the #10 team in the country in only the 8th game of the season and I don't think last years team would have been able to go on the road and beat a borderline top 25 team by double digits in only the second game of the season. This team is much further ahead compared to where we were last year both at the beginning and even end.
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You are entitled to your opinion.....Come tourney time, teams that shoot the three and defend it well make deep runs....This team has never done that well.
 



1997vacatedfinalfour said:
You are entitled to your opinion.....Come tourney time, teams that shoot the three and defend it well make deep runs....This team has never done that well.
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Last years team was excellent in terms of defending the 3 and there is no reason why that won't be the case with this team as the year goes on. As for shooting the 3, I'd much rather rely on pounding the ball down low with our bigs and our guards attacking the basket as our primary offense than on 3's. All it takes is one shooting off night to fall in the tourney. Thats usually not the case with scoring most of your points in the paint as it's much more consistent. Right now, given our offensive makeup, the level of 3 point shooting is fine IMO. Nothing elite but it's not going to be the reason we lose.
 

Don’t feed the troll. His brain has vacated.
 

1997vacatedfinalfour said:
This team is only marginally better than the team that loss to MTSU in the first round last year....Same glaring weaknesses....Three point D, cannot make outside jump shots ourselves, little depth, Pitino getting outcoached.
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Can't wait til you STFU again on Sunday when we beat Rutgers.
 

I am still really high on Washington, he just needs to take what the other team gives him and think pass first until he becomes a better shooter. My biggest issue is that it doesn't seem like anyone is trying to teach him that because he's done it two games in a row. Harris is shooting good from 3, but he didn't do too well today but he knew enough to not chuck it up everytime he gets his hand on the ball. Hurt will get smarter but physically, I don't think he will improve much more. Hopefully by tournament time, they won't be liabilities.
 




Washington will be fine, little out of control tonight but he had some bad rolls as well. Personally I thought the bad break of the game was when we were down two forced a TO and the ball went through Lynch hands and landed in their center bread basket for an easy two. Hopefully pre is back soon. He brings length on D and better offensive flow to the starting five
 

MennoSota said:
Right now Washington, Harris and Hurt are behind where this team needs them, but these three will be ready for the dance come March.
Hurt is better than last year, but a step slow against some lightning quick perimeter players for Miami. Harris got lost on defense and is still trying to figure out his spots on offense. Washington just needs to let the game slow down for him. All three will be solid by March.
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I would add Fitzgerald to this list as well. He is still getting back into things after being out for quite a while. If those 4 can become a solid rotation off the bench with Konate sprinkled in, this team can be deadly with our starting 5.
 

Washington can get to the hole at any time. He needs to learn to draw contact and get to the line rather than shoot fall away dipsy doodle prayers when the traffic gets thick. His 3 point shots will start to fall. But, 17 shots is too many for a frosh with the talent we have on the floor.
 

At one point mid-way through the second half, I looked up at the scoreboard and saw that Miami was shooting 50% from the field, while we were shooting 35%. I dug into this further on my phone to see that every Gopher was shooting well except for Washington. He was 1-11 from the field. He was the entire difference in shooting % at the time. He needs to learn very quickly that when he is not hitting from outside, he needs to focus on distributing the ball and taking it to the hole when he sees an opening. Miami’s outside shooting was crazy. Every time we started mounting a comeback, they drained a three. We really missed McBrayer for his length on defense, and his poise. IW and Harris are just not there yet.


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Bordergopher said:
At one point mid-way through the second half, I looked up at the scoreboard and saw that Miami was shooting 50% from the field, while we were shooting 35%. I dug into this further on my phone to see that every Gopher was shooting well except for Washington. He was 1-11 from the field. He was the entire difference in shooting % at the time. He needs to learn very quickly that when he is not hitting from outside, he needs to focus on distributing the ball and taking it to the hole when he sees an opening. Miami’s outside shooting was crazy. Every time we started mounting a comeback, they drained a three. We really missed McBrayer for his length on defense, and his poise. IW and Harris are just not there yet.


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I saw the game late on my DVR and the thing that stuck out to me was just how much of a black hole IW is. IW must have an extremely high usage rate and it killed Coffey, Murphy and Lynch's ability to participate in the offense when IW was on the floor. I want to see 10 assists from him in one game before I say he's learning.
 

I have absolutely no faith that Hurt will develop into a good player. I hope I’m surprised. Jelly and Harris will be fine.
 

1997vacatedfinalfour said:
This team is only marginally better than the team that loss to MTSU in the first round last year....Same glaring weaknesses....Three point D, cannot make outside jump shots ourselves, little depth, Pitino getting outcoached.
Click to expand...

not even close
Murphy is better
Lynch is better
Mason is Better
McBrayer is better
Coffee is better

wish we had Curry
IW needs to learn
Hurt needs to shoot
Harris needs to shoot
 

Washington's efficiency rate killed us. If he would have shot better shots it may have been different The thing about being 1 for 10 and finishing 6 for 17 is that he went 5 for 7 in the final ten minutes. His shot selection or his stroke must have improved. Hopefully he will stop forcing and let the game come to him.
 

Otis said:
Washington's efficiency rate killed us. If he would have shot better shots it may have been different The thing about being 1 for 10 and finishing 6 for 17 is that he went 5 for 7 in the final ten minutes. His shot selection or his stroke must have improved. Hopefully he will stop forcing and let the game come to him.
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Washington was absolutely pressing early in the game and trying to do way too much which hurt us. He played much better down the stretch. He looked the part of a really talented true freshman last night. You can see the skill but he has to learn that he is no longer going to be the best player on the court and get away with anything he wants to.

Hopefully he learns from this game and it helps him going forward. There was debate on here about who should start between Washington and Dupree, pretty sure this game settled that debate, this team is much better right now with McBrayer on the floor.

All in all it was a good test against a really good team. Sucks to loose but in the grand scheme of things this is not a bad loss that will hurt us come tournament time because unless we are way off base, Miami has a look of a team that will absolutely contend in the ACC and be ranked all year.
 

This team is definitely better than last years team. You can't help the Curry situation, that is unlucky. Got hurt playing basketball.

I'd rather have Fitz, IW and Harris than Akeem Springs. He is better than anyone 1 of them, they are better as a group. Adds needed depth.

Missing McBrayer hurt a lot last night, especially on offense. He has a knack to knock down some shots when needed and has proven to be a reliable outside shooter and perimeter defender.

Things that happened that sucked:
Bank 3 by Vulilcscjevic
The random steal/scramble/through Reggie's hands/dunk for Miami
Murphy missing a layup on a great pass from IW, tapping in his own miss AND getting fouled, basket being counted as good then the basket getting waived off
IW had a 3 go in and out when down 8, then Mason had a layup do the same. Those two buckets would have been huge, obviously.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
This team is definitely better than last years team. You can't help the Curry situation, that is unlucky. Got hurt playing basketball.

I'd rather have Fitz, IW and Harris than Akeem Springs. He is better than anyone 1 of them, they are better as a group. Adds needed depth.

Missing McBrayer hurt a lot last night, especially on offense. He has a knack to knock down some shots when needed and has proven to be a reliable outside shooter and perimeter defender.

Things that happened that sucked:
Bank 3 by Vulilcscjevic
The random steal/scramble/through Reggie's hands/dunk for Miami
Murphy missing a layup on a great pass from IW, tapping in his own miss AND getting fouled, basket being counted as good then the basket getting waived off
IW had a 3 go in and out when down 8, then Mason had a layup do the same. Those two buckets would have been huge, obviously.
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This. The succession of those unfortunate plays effectively ended our chances. I would throw in the late two missed free-throws by Murphy, too. When you watch enough basketball, you can just sense the effect and importance certain plays have on the game. Those plays were huge, and involved some bad luck. Oh, well. Our group was out-talented by that bunch of McDonalds All-Americans, but we slugged it out and almost won, even missing two important players. I’m proud of our guys.


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mnsportsgeek said:
I have absolutely no faith that Hurt will develop into a good player. I hope I’m surprised. Jelly and Harris will be fine.
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I think you will be surprised. Might not happen this season, but Hurt will be fine. I'm hoping Washington and Harris can figure out how to play any defense this season as the team is going to need some from them.
 

1. 3 pt defense sucks as we play a real pf who has to chase SF on the perimeter.
2. We are shooting 37% from 3 (tied for 112th out of 351 teams). Higher than Miami's 35%.
McBrayer's 43% was missing yesterday.
3. Depth sucks but many teams play 7-8 players. Konate, Diedhiou, and possibly Hurt swing and a miss recruits.
4. Pitino should have tried a zone. He will have his ups and downs. Larranaga is a top 20 coach.
5. Miami is better than last year's MTSU team. MTSU beat Mich St the year before and was favored against us they were no joke though.
6. Murphy could win most improved player in the nation! Lynch is fouling less. We need Washington and Fitzgerald to figure things out. Hopefully the next few weeks they can do that.





1997vacatedfinalfour said:
This team is only marginally better than the team that loss to MTSU in the first round last year....Same glaring weaknesses....Three point D, cannot make outside jump shots ourselves, little depth, Pitino getting outcoached.
Click to expand...
 


He will be a dude in a couple years but last night, to me, was one of the rare times I could actually say IW single handedly lost that game for us. Couldn't make a shot but kept taking them, dribbled the air out of the ball, couldn't guard anyone, when he did decide to pass he threw it to the wrong team as often as ours.....every time he had the ball I cringed and I was justified in doing so. The entire team seemed to have no flow on offense, and I attribute that somewhat to the fact that the offense stopped every time he caught the ball.

Just call it what it was, an awful performance by him. We will move on. Don't come back with his scoring stats that reflect all his garbage time layups in the last couple minutes either. He was atrocious, but if Pitino can get him to worry more about substance than the showboating, I think he can be a program-altering guy in a couple years.
 

As for Hurt, I don't think he'll ever be a major contributor but I have no problem with Pitino taking him. He's a hometown boy that loves the Gophers and he will do anything Pitino asks him to do to help the team. Not everyone can be a star on a team, and I still think he has a role over the next 3 yrs. Given the other strings attached, I have no problem with him being on the team.

I do agree with whoever wrote they should use him more as a spot up shooter. To me, that is his most competitive skill for this level, and it would also help with one of this team's traits that is questionable, IMO.
 

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