Kyan Evans Commits to the Gophers!

With the amount of zone played last season due to such a short bench and because they played well when in zone, I wonder if they will incorporate that at times next season, even with a deeper bench.
I doubt it. Rebounding is hard in zone and we have enough players now to play MtM. But if we lose players to illness and injury again, I bet he goes back to it more quickly than he did this year.
 

Kyan has been effective in this system... He hasn't "thrived" as has been stated numerous times here .. he's a piece to this puzzle... He's never avg more than 10 ppg in his college career....
 

Kyan has been effective in this system... He hasn't "thrived" as has been stated numerous times here .. he's a piece to this puzzle... He's never avg more than 10 ppg in his college career....

I guess it depends on how you define "thrive" and what you think a PG should do.

The Final Four's Most Outstanding Player was a PG at Michigan. He has also never averaged more than 10 ppg in his college career. Also played at UNC.
 

With the amount of zone played last season due to such a short bench and because they played well when in zone, I wonder if they will incorporate that at times next season, even with a deeper bench.
a zone certainly helps hide some of the limitations of Durkin and Grayson have with on ball/man to man defense....and probably even guys like Kordel and evans....

especially Grayson with his on court awareness, it got him a ton of steals, hes built to play zone!

i doubt they play much zone but im one that doesnt mind teams mixing it in here and there to throw the offense something different
 

a zone certainly helps hide some of the limitations of Durkin and Grayson have with on ball/man to man defense....and probably even guys like Kordel and evans....

especially Grayson with his on court awareness, it got him a ton of steals, hes built to play zone!

i doubt they play much zone but im one that doesnt mind teams mixing it in here and there to throw the offense something different

Niko said multiple times this year that he has always mixed in some zone with his teams, but never as much as this past season.

So, I'd assume we see "some" zone in 2026-27.
 


I guess it depends on how you define "thrive" and what you think a PG should do.

The Final Four's Most Outstanding Player was a PG at Michigan. He has also never averaged more than 10 ppg in his college career. Also played at UNC.
Yeah, PG is definitely a position where you can make a huge impact on the game without scoring a bunch of points.
 

Niko said multiple times this year that he has always mixed in some zone with his teams, but never as much as this past season.

So, I'd assume we see "some" zone in 2026-27.
I would think with the success they had in playing zone last season, they would continue to use it in the future. Not a full time thing, but maybe 25% of the time for the season and depending on the team could use it more in some games over others.
 

I would think with the success they had in playing zone last season, they would continue to use it in the future. Not a full time thing, but maybe 25% of the time for the season and depending on the team could use it more in some games over others.
Agree. I’m predicting their defensive sets will be zone or man to man.
 

I would think with the success they had in playing zone last season, they would continue to use it in the future. Not a full time thing, but maybe 25% of the time for the season and depending on the team could use it more in some games over others.
I think it will also depend on what the team's strengths are, who they are playing and what kind of tempo Niko wants. Zone generally slows the game down (less possessions). If the team is healthy, and they can go pretty deep, he may want a more fast paced game in some instances.
 



I would think with the success they had in playing zone last season, they would continue to use it in the future. Not a full time thing, but maybe 25% of the time for the season and depending on the team could use it more in some games over others.
Yeah, preference will most likely be for man but this past year showed that zone can be effective for us. Last year we played a lot of zone out of necessity to keep guys out of foul trouble and what not. Assuming we have a more normal sized rotation next year they can employ zone when it is advantageous to do so as opposed to not having a choice in the matter.
 





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