AP: Tubby Smith says Gophers will get better (some interesting quotes)

[The-Real-Truth]

It might just be more excuses, but I enjoy reading this type of information. I am enjoying reading all of these Tubby interviews because I feel like I am either learning a new piece of information about the team last year or gaining an increased understanding of Tubby's thought patterns in each interview.

One thing that does bother me when Nolen (or to a lesser extent Devoe's) is brought up as an excuse from last years team is that Tubby had plenty of time to recruit another point guard. Further, he took two lightly regarded guards last Spring. Neither was capable of playing in the Big Ten to the point where Tubby had to move his best shooter to the primary ball handler. This was Tubby's fault and was a major recruiting error.

Please stop beating the dead horse and move on to 2011-2012 season. Al and Devoe were supposed to be options 1 and 2 at the PG position when Cory decided to go to UT. At that point, Mav was going to be used as a backup for Devoe.


This has been covered 10000000000000000000000 times.

Go Gophers

 

[dpodoll68]

One thing that does bother me when Nolen (or to a lesser extent Devoe's) is brought up as an excuse from last years team is that Tubby had plenty of time to recruit another point guard. Further, he took two lightly regarded guards last Spring. Neither was capable of playing in the Big Ten to the point where Tubby had to move his best shooter to the primary ball handler. This was Tubby's fault and was a major recruiting error.

A player that was good enough to step in and start after 420 left and Nolen was hurt was not going to come to Minnesota with a Sr and Jr PG in front of him. It's not as easy as Tubby snapping his fingers and making this quality freshman PG materialize in front of him. If you have hypothetical PG X, and his choices are to A. immediately be in the rotation at a Summit/Horizon/MAC-type school or B. come to Minnesota and likely never see the floor until you're a sophomore (at least), I know which option 99.9% of players would choose.

 

[notagopherfan]

A player that was good enough to step in and start after 420 left and Nolen was hurt was not going to come to Minnesota with a Sr and Jr PG in front of him. It's not as easy as Tubby snapping his fingers and making this quality freshman PG materialize in front of him. If you have hypothetical PG X, and his choices are to A. immediately be in the rotation at a Summit/Horizon/MAC-type school or B. come to Minnesota and likely never see the floor until you're a sophomore (at least), I know which option 99.9% of players would choose.

I agree with this. I don't know many teams in the Big Six conferences that have 3 capable point guards. Most don't even have 2, some are lucky enough to have 2 but this is why he took some under the radar guys, you might get lucky if one of them develops into a really good player if not you just keep recruiting over them. But it will help create a competitive practice atmosphere which can do nothing but help. I know we(UK) didn't have even 1 other capable pg, Brandon Knight gets hurt, UK would have barely made the tournament maybe not at all depending how long he would have been out.

 

[notagopherfan]

Your best line up next year is going to be 5.mbakwe 4.Williams 3.Hollins 2.Coleman 1.Hollins
Tubby loves to press and pressure the ball to get teams out of a flow on offense. They won't be able to get the ball inside and every shot the from outside will be highly contested. He'll play 10 guys to wear the other team out as well.

If he can get the freshmen to buy in on defense you'll be really good with that line up on the floor and you'll have mismatches on the other end of the floor, so you're likely to see a lot of zone. Getting your young guys schooled on how to break down a zone defense will be key. You don't have to shoot people out of it, you can dunk them out of it if you attack it properly. Then one on one you're going to have quickness advantage most nights with that line up on the floor at both ends.

 

[GoFerit]

Nothing in basketball is perfect just like about everything in life. In basetball, anything can be critiqued (especially when losing), and nothing can be indefensible (especially when winning). An objective middle should say, well both sides make sense (especially when well argued by both ). An open minded perhaps does not get too extreme. Of course, there must be a guy like me who knows it all. Ha...

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Your best line up next year is going to be 5.mbakwe 4.Williams 3.Hollins 2.Coleman 1.Hollins

I'm tempted to ask if you're kidding, but I'm afraid you're serious.

You honestly think the "best lineup" will have a PF, SF, and 3 SG? Because that's what you have there. Yes, it's an athletic group - but you have to have some balance, too. And, if you watched Coleman in the MN State Tournament, you'd know that he is going to have to do a lot of work to develop an outside game. He's not going to score most of his points in the paint in the Big 10.

Best guess (and it's strictly a guess)

Next year's starting Lineup - Sampson, Mbakwe, Williams, Welch (juco guard), Austin Hollins
2nd 5: Mo Walker, Eliason, Oto O, Andre Hollins, Maverick
Fighting for playing time: Coleman, Ingram, Chip,

 

[EG#9]

A player that was good enough to step in and start after 420 left and Nolen was hurt was not going to come to Minnesota with a Sr and Jr PG in front of him. It's not as easy as Tubby snapping his fingers and making this quality freshman PG materialize in front of him. If you have hypothetical PG X, and his choices are to A. immediately be in the rotation at a Summit/Horizon/MAC-type school or B. come to Minnesota and likely never see the floor until you're a sophomore (at least), I know which option 99.9% of players would choose.

You don't bring in guards who cannot handle the ball better than Blake Hoffarber. If guys can barely get on the floor when 2 players are gone in front of them, maybe we didn't need to reach to just fill the scholarships? I think most of us expected for Tubby to recruit a point guard that was superior to Al Nolen at some point prior to Al exhausting his eligiblity. I don't consider Devoe a point guard, but he's been our best option outside of Al.

 

[notagopherfan]

Your best line up next year is going to be 5.mbakwe 4.Williams 3.Hollins 2.Coleman 1.Hollins

I'm tempted to ask if you're kidding, but I'm afraid you're serious.

You honestly think the "best lineup" will have a PF, SF, and 3 SG? Because that's what you have there. Yes, it's an athletic group - but you have to have some balance, too. And, if you watched Coleman in the MN State Tournament, you'd know that he is going to have to do a lot of work to develop an outside game. He's not going to score most of his points in the paint in the Big 10.

Best guess (and it's strictly a guess)

Next year's starting Lineup - Sampson, Mbakwe, Williams, Welch (juco guard), Austin Hollins
2nd 5: Mo Walker, Eliason, Oto O, Andre Hollins, Maverick
Fighting for playing time: Coleman, Ingram, Chip,

Yes I'm serious. Alot of teams in the Big 10 are playing 3 guards anyway. I know the scouting report on Coleman says he's not a great outside shooter right now but that doesn't mean he won't play. He's a 6'4 wing who can defend the 1/2/3 in the Big 10. If he can get get 6 points a game by slashing or getting to the free throw line and defend like crazy that's all you're going to need from him this year. If he proves he can play defense at a high level early on Tubby will put him out there, trust me.

I think you're counting on Welch to be the PG, but I've seen Andre play in person since I live in TN. He can play PG in the Big Ten and probably has a higher ceiling. He's a real blue collar kid that'll do anything to win, the kind of player every coach loves. Who ever plays better will see the most minutes.

You don't need a creator at PG on certain types of teams. You just need a guy who can guard the other teams PG, get you into your offense and score the ball. Duke won a national championship without a true PG. Nolan Smith is a 2 guard and can be a lead guard but he's no John Wall, Bobby Hurley or John Stockton with the ball.

 

[The-Real-Truth]

Yes I'm serious. Alot of teams in the Big 10 are playing 3 guards anyway. I know the scouting report on Coleman says he's not a great outside shooter right now but that doesn't mean he won't play. He's a 6'4 wing who can defend the 1/2/3 in the Big 10. If he can get get 6 points a game by slashing or getting to the free throw line and defend like crazy that's all you're going to need from him this year. If he proves he can play defense at a high level early on Tubby will put him out there, trust me.

I think you're counting on Welch to be the PG, but I've seen Andre play in person since I live in TN. He can play PG in the Big Ten and probably has a higher ceiling. He's a real blue collar kid that'll do anything to win, the kind of player every coach loves. Who ever plays better will see the most minutes.

You don't need a creator at PG on certain types of teams. You just need a guy who can guard the other teams PG, get you into your offense and score the ball. Duke won a national championship without a true PG. Nolan Smith is a 2 guard and can be a lead guard but he's no John Wall, Bobby Hurley or John Stockton with the ball.

Great points. Just to add to your list, OSU didn't have a true PG last year but they had Turner. What happened to the Gophers was not just lack of a true PG. It was a combination of factors.

Go Gophers