With Amir Coffey gone, Marcus Carr will get a big chance to reach big goals for Gophs

[BleedGopher]

per Marcus:

The most decorated backcourt player for the Gophers basketball team last season is now gone, leaving a year early for the pros.

But to take Amir Coffey's place, Richard Pitino has another talented guard he can't wait to unveil next season.

Pitino saw Marcus Carr's potential when the sophomore simulated Purdue All-American Carsen Edwards in practice last season. The scout team often got the best of the starters, and Carr might have been the best player on the court.

"He was unstoppable," Pitino said of the transfer from Pittsburgh. "I'm going to have to continue to tell him he can be Carsen Edwards next year. He looked really, really good."

A talented point guard who could've been a difference maker for the U last season, Carr instead had to sit and wait. The NCAA twice declined his waiver requests to play immediately after transferring from Pitt, but he turned the disappointment into determination.

After preparing his teammates in practice last season, Carr is getting himself ready now, knowing some intense battles are coming this winter against the Big Ten's top guards.

"It's going to be a big challenge for me, but I'm ready for it," the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Toronto native said in his first interview since the middle of last season. "Definitely one of the things I'm looking forward to is going at all of the guards in the conference trying to prove not only I belong but that I belong at the top."

http://www.startribune.com/with-ami...nce-to-reach-big-goals-for-gophers/510667182/

Go Gophers!!

 

[bga1]

Great stuff. Love it. There will be lots of new pieces for the Gophers. Oturu and Kalscheur are proven players and will be better. I think Oturu will be a beast next season. What is left out of the discussion of the Gophers is that fact the 3 of the newcomers have already proven they can play at the college level and 2 of them in power conferences. Carr is going to be a huge factor. One or more of the frosh will step up as well. To me the question is not whether we have the talent but whether or not the guys we have come together and meld as a better TEAM than last year. Last year we had talent and a couple of stars but no depth. But often, our pieces didn't seem to fit. Coffey or Murph would get the ball and the team would watch them drive into the lane to make a play. We will miss them, but there is a chance that this could be as good or better team if the pieces fit right.

 

[builtbadgers]

I expect this team to be better than 9-11. Ball movement will be far better.

 

[Goldy Gopher]

I expect this team to be better than 9-11. Ball movement will be far better.

Team defense will be better as well. Murphy was a great rebounder but not a great defender and Coffey really struggled with screens and recovery.

 

[theczar]

No logical basis to believe this team will improve...losing to all big ten players...only lots of questions

 

[die hard gopher]

No logical basis to believe this team will improve...losing to all big ten players...only lots of questions

Yep. I think Carr will be a solid starting Big Ten PG and Gabe and Daniel should be better, Demir is a nice grad transfer and I think Willis, Williams and Ihnen will all be solid but considering we lost Murphy, Coffey and Dupree, I don't see how you can argue next years team will be better than the team we just had.

Going into last year I felt we had a round of 64 tourney team and thats exactly what happened. I know we made the round of 32 but we were seeded like a round of 64 team and rightfully so.

Going into next year, this team feels like a tier bellow a bubble team. I think for much of the year we'll be in the conversation to make the tourney but ultimately I don't see it happening.

 

[die hard gopher]

Team defense will be better as well. Murphy was a great rebounder but not a great defender and Coffey really struggled with screens and recovery.

Except Demir is a much worse defender than Murphy. And much worse rebounder.

 

[jovs]

That third wing position is a worry with Coffey gone, if someone steps up they can be good, such an unknown right now.

 

[Zeppelin Gopher]

Yep. I think Carr will be a solid starting Big Ten PG and Gabe and Daniel should be better, Demir is a nice grad transfer and I think Willis, Williams and Ihnen will all be solid but considering we lost Murphy, Coffey and Dupree, I don't see how you can argue next years team will be better than the team we just had.

Going into last year I felt we had a round of 64 tourney team and thats exactly what happened. I know we made the round of 32 but we were seeded like a round of 64 team and rightfully so.

Going into next year, this team feels like a tier bellow a bubble team. I think for much of the year we'll be in the conversation to make the tourney but ultimately I don't see it happening.

I agree for the most part with this, and expecting/predicting a better season next year seems silly now that Amir is gone. But there are a lot of variables at play.

*What if Marcus Carr is an all-Big Ten PG? Not out of the realm of possibility by any means.

*How much will Gabe and Daniel improve? They were already above average starters as true frosh.

*What can we expect out of Willis? (admittedly, his stats from 2 seasons at Vandy are poor)

*Will Demir's game translate to major conference play?

*Ihnen is a wildcard, but viewing even 5 minutes of film is exciting. Guy is a wildcard, who knows?

*Haven't even mentioned Curry's health, Jarvis' development, Williams, our 12th/13th scholarship, etc

It's depressing to have to write this post, as I'm crushed Amir isn't coming back and feel we would've been awesome had he done so. But we still have a good amount of talent and if a few of these things hit, we could definitely surpass last season.

 

[bga1]

I agree for the most part with this, and expecting/predicting a better season next year seems silly now that Amir is gone. But there are a lot of variables at play.

*What if Marcus Carr is an all-Big Ten PG? Not out of the realm of possibility by any means.

*How much will Gabe and Daniel improve? They were already above average starters as true frosh.

*What can we expect out of Willis? (admittedly, his stats from 2 seasons at Vandy are poor)

*Will Demir's game translate to major conference play?

*Ihnen is a wildcard, but viewing even 5 minutes of film is exciting. Guy is a wildcard, who knows?

*Haven't even mentioned Curry's health, Jarvis' development, Williams, our 12th/13th scholarship, etc

It's depressing to have to write this post, as I'm crushed Amir isn't coming back and feel we would've been awesome had he done so. But we still have a good amount of talent and if a few of these things hit, we could definitely surpass last season.

Good post.

Last year we came into the season unsure that Oturu and Kalsheuer would be impact players. The plan going in was that Curry would start at center, with Murphy, Coffey, McBrayer and Washington, Stockman and Oturu would supply good depth along with Hurt and Stull. Some thought Kalscheur might even redshirt. Things changed a lot and as happens a lot these days- freshmen play and are more ready than they used to be.

I expect Ihnen and Williams to be ready. I admit that, on paper, we should be worse than last year. I think we may surprise.

 

[XMan]

Carr should be a great player, but after losing Murphy and Coffey I expect the team to take a step backward.

 

[BballJones]

Except Demir is a much worse defender than Murphy. And much worse rebounder.

What are you basing the "much worse defender" comment on? I don't know much about Demir except from some short clips I watched and looking at his stats. The rebounding comment is a for certain! You could almost say that about anyone when comparing to Murph. Gonna miss that guy.

 

[die hard gopher]

What are you basing the "much worse defender" comment on? I don't know much about Demir except from some short clips I watched and looking at his stats. The rebounding comment is a for certain! You could almost say that about anyone when comparing to Murph. Gonna miss that guy.

I watched several Drexel games online after Demir became a primary target.

 

[theczar]

Demir put up solid numbers for a 238 RPI team ... probably translates to serviceable bench player in Big Ten

 

[#2Gopher]

Carr should be a great player, but after losing Murphy and Coffey I expect the team to take a step backward.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but Murphy is the tough guy to replace. Coffey while good, can be replace if the guys step up.

 

[Parcival]

I watched several Drexel games online after Demir became a primary target.

You're trying to tell me you actually took the time to watch Drexel basketball? I'm calling BS on that.

Personally, I saw some highlights of his and he looked like a high IQ - not incredibly athletic type player. Best case scenario Demir is a low-average tier starter in B1G play.

 

[die hard gopher]

You're trying to tell me you actually took the time to watch Drexel basketball? I'm calling BS on that.

Personally, I saw some highlights of his and he looked like a high IQ - not incredibly athletic type player. Best case scenario Demir is a low-average tier starter in B1G play.

I definitely didn't watch them live or during the actual season or anything like that but when it appeared like Demir would commit to us I wanted to watch more than just highlights and was able to find several Drexel basketball replays online to watch him specifically. Here is there database for their replays.

https://portal.stretchinternet.com/drexel/

I watched the @William and Mary game against UNC's Justin Pierce, the @Northeastern game, the Rutgers game, the Temple game and the Delaware game. The Delaware game was actually on Youtube.