15 extra practices: Does it matter?

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FalconHeightsGopher

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The Gophers are Bowl eligible for the first time since 2009. As soon as we won that 6th game, the talk was about the extra practices that the "young" players will be getting and the fact that this will improve their growth process. My observation is this: In the 30 years I have rooted for them, they have always underperformed year in and year out. Some of those seasons (especially the Mason Years), we seemed to be going in the right track and getting to Mid level Bowl Games, but then would go out and field yet another average team.

Glen Mason's best team went 10-3 in 2003, yet the team's records the next 3 years were 7-,7-5, and 6-7 (the year he was fired). Mase went to Bowl games in 2003-W, 2004-W, and 2005-L. Mason did not ever build on the success of the 10 win season he had.

Tim Brewster went to Bowls in 2008-W and 2009-L. The next year he went 1-6 and was fired. He obviously was not able to build on the Bowl game experience (extra practices as well as recruiting exposure) just like Mason.

I may just be venting here, but what the heck good does it do to have 15 extra days of practice when we are seeing the same level of play here? There are huge issues with many areas of the team. Invisible WR's, QB futility, questionable OC playcalling game in and game out, even Jerry Kill is not coaching aggressively smart like he was at SI and NI.

Please Coaching staff: Use these 15 extra days of practice to actually make headway into the blackhole that is MN Golden Gophers Football.
 

15 extra practices are huge when you have a young team trying to use a year as a launching pad. game experience benefits everyone involved as well. teams only get better with more reps so the bowl could be big especially from a standpoint that guys who were hurt can get healthy and get some reps as well. a bowl is only a positive for an injury riddled, young team
 

They matter is what the coaches go with, the fans want to believe especially with the "young team" angle but as the OP points out the results aren't all that different the following year.
 

scools12 said:
They matter is what the coaches go with, the fans want to believe especially with the "young team" angle but as the OP points out the results aren't all that different the following year.
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Both you and the OP seem to think that you know what would have happened with those teams if they HADN'T gone to a bowl the year before. You don't.
Every bowl team doesn't improve their record the next season. If they did, half of college football teams would be 12-0 right now, and the other half would be 0-12 (or something...math isn't my strong suit). Progress doesn't mean one extra win every single year. This is a zero-sum game, every team wants to win every game, and just because you don't recognize the benefit of 15 practices doesn't mean it isn't there.
 



RedPoo said:
Both you and the OP seem to think that you know what would have happened with those teams if they HADN'T gone to a bowl the year before. You don't.
Every bowl team doesn't improve their record the next season. If they did, half of college football teams would be 12-0 right now, and the other half would be 0-12 (or something...math isn't my strong suit). Progress doesn't mean one extra win every single year. This is a zero-sum game, every team wants to win every game, and just because you don't recognize the benefit of 15 practices doesn't mean it isn't there.
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Just becuae you think you recognize a benefit doesn't mean it is there. You want it to be a benefit so it is in your mind. Whether it is beneficial or not is debatable.
 

There were several plays yesterday where Nelson and his receivers were off by 1-2 steps. Getting that timing ironed out will hopefully help next year and pay some dividends.
 

scools12 said:
Just becuae you think you recognize a benefit doesn't mean it is there. You want it to be a benefit so it is in your mind. Whether it is beneficial or not is debatable.
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Is there anything in life where more practice isn't helpful? Whether it translates into more wins is debatable since all the teams we lost to this year except Iowa will also get 15 more practices, but it can't hurt.
 

I don't see what the argument here is. Is anyone trying to argue that less practice is better than more practice?
 



I think I will value the opinion of every coach out there, who all stress how important those extra practices are, over the OP's opinion.
 

If we show any semblance of an offense in the bowl game then we can conclude that it helped.
 

I really hate GH after a Gopher loss. All the idiots seem to come out.
 

scools12 said:
Just becuae you think you recognize a benefit doesn't mean it is there. You want it to be a benefit so it is in your mind. Whether it is beneficial or not is debatable.
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Jesus H. Christ, are you serious? I don't think there's ever been a single play where I saw it and knew that the team made it because they had an extra practice. I'm not saying I see it, I'm saying it's common sense that most people understand when they're 5 years old. The more you work at something, the better you get at it.
 



I don't seem to recall the Gophers winning their 2008 bowl............:)

Will we see tangible improvement next year because of the extra practices? Who can say one way or the other? I don't see any reason why they would not be anything but helpful for the development of both the younger players and the returning upperclassmen.
 

scools12 said:
They matter is what the coaches go with, the fans want to believe especially with the "young team" angle but as the OP points out the results aren't all that different the following year.
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The "points" he/she showed don't prove a damn thing. Teams change from year to year. The Gophers had a new QB in 2004. I'm sure that had nothing to do with it though.
 

scools12 said:
Just becuae you think you recognize a benefit doesn't mean it is there. You want it to be a benefit so it is in your mind. Whether it is beneficial or not is debatable.
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I don't see how it is debatable. Why even practice in the first place if it's debatable if it even helps you?
 

GophersInIowa said:
I don't see how it is debatable. Why even practice in the first place if it's debatable if it even helps you?
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I didn't say they should just ignore the 15 extra practices nor did I say there wasn't any value in them. IMO it is debatable how much value these practices have for the next year which I believe was the question of the OP. I doubt if Minnesota wins their opening game next year that anyone actually points to the 15 practices they had the previous December.
 

scools12 said:
I didn't say they should just ignore the 15 extra practices nor did I say there wasn't any value in them. IMO it is debatable how much value these practices have for the next year which I believe was the question of the OP. I doubt if Minnesota wins their opening game next year that anyone actually points to the 15 practices they had the previous December.
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Actually you pretty much did.

Whether it is beneficial or not is debatable.
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Limegrover will perfect the the QB draw for the bowl game.
 


15 more practices matter for Nelson to get consistency with Crawford-Tufts and McDonald. Two guys he really needs to connect with next year.
 


Woodchuck, your OP question and Thread Title told me all I need to know about you and your thinking.

What a stupid question. And I am not bs'ing that.
 

Whether you think it matters or not, there is no way you can argue that is hurts to get more practice. It can only help, and in the particular case when you have more younger players like we do, the assumption is you will benefit even more.
 

THE dumbest thread ever. Is 15 extra practices beneficial? WTF?
 

westcoastgopher11 said:
I don't see what the argument here is. Is anyone trying to argue that less practice is better than more practice?
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Sure. I'll take a stab at it. It only helps underclassmen unfamiliar with the playbook who are non starters and will not play. They will become better practice players and therefore benefit the team in preparation for future games. And, for the upperclassmen and the many underclassmen who start, no, it will not help. The result of offensive linemen losses in the season and the lack of available replacements will preclude the Gophers from winning the bowl game. So, practice or not, the result remains the same. Until there is depth at each position in a balanced class by class load, then it doesn't matter how many extra practices you gain. The underlying problems will preclude winning.
 


Dean S said:
Sure. I'll take a stab at it. It only helps underclassmen unfamiliar with the playbook who are non starters and will not play. They will become better practice players and therefore benefit the team in preparation for future games. And, for the upperclassmen and the many underclassmen who start, no, it will not help. The result of offensive linemen losses in the season and the lack of available replacements will preclude the Gophers from winning the bowl game. So, practice or not, the result remains the same. Until there is depth at each position in a balanced class by class load, then it doesn't matter how many extra practices you gain. The underlying problems will preclude winning.
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So starting players don't need to practice? Why then do even elite players at the pro level like Drew Brees, Calvin Johnson, and Ray Lewis practice each week? I'm starting to think that a few of you have been taking your advice from Allen Iverson.
 

westcoastgopher11 said:
I don't see what the argument here is. Is anyone trying to argue that less practice is better than more practice?
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"But we're talking about practice man. What are we talking about? Practice? We're talking about practice, man. We're talking about practice. We're talking about practice. We aint talking about the game. We're talking about practice, man. When you come to the arena, and you see me play, you see me play don't you? You've seen me give everything I've got, right? But we're talking about practice right now."
 

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