BleedGopher
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per Marcus:
When Richard Pitino assembled the pieces for his NCAA tournament team two seasons ago, he believed he had something special but didn’t know how well his Gophers would fit together.
Four newcomers were joining a few returning players who had just suffered through an eight-win season. That ensemble ended up being the right mix of talent and experience to finish fourth in the Big Ten, win 24 games and earn a No. 5 seed in the tournament.
Trying to whip up that same recipe for success again in his sixth season as Minnesota’s coach, Chef Pitino will use most of the same main ingredients. Upperclassmen Jordan Murphy, Dupree McBrayer, Amir Coffey and Michael Hurt, along with third-year sophomore Eric Curry, were part of the best turnaround season in Gophers history in 2016-17.
That quintet knows what it’s like to go through the grind of a Big Ten season, handle curves in the road and still finish strong. These players will have to be the Gophers’ guides through another tough league slate that resumes Thursday night against No. 22 Wisconsin (10-3 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) in Madison.
“If we want to do what we’re trying to do, it’s those five guys,” Pitino said. “Those five guys are the key to our team. Those five guys know what it takes to win in this league. Those guys went a whole month of February and did not lose in this league. They were a [No. 5] seed and had one of the best regular seasons here in a long, long time.”
http://www.startribune.com/as-big-t...ive-players-from-turnaround-season/503828362/
Go Gophers!!
When Richard Pitino assembled the pieces for his NCAA tournament team two seasons ago, he believed he had something special but didn’t know how well his Gophers would fit together.
Four newcomers were joining a few returning players who had just suffered through an eight-win season. That ensemble ended up being the right mix of talent and experience to finish fourth in the Big Ten, win 24 games and earn a No. 5 seed in the tournament.
Trying to whip up that same recipe for success again in his sixth season as Minnesota’s coach, Chef Pitino will use most of the same main ingredients. Upperclassmen Jordan Murphy, Dupree McBrayer, Amir Coffey and Michael Hurt, along with third-year sophomore Eric Curry, were part of the best turnaround season in Gophers history in 2016-17.
That quintet knows what it’s like to go through the grind of a Big Ten season, handle curves in the road and still finish strong. These players will have to be the Gophers’ guides through another tough league slate that resumes Thursday night against No. 22 Wisconsin (10-3 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) in Madison.
“If we want to do what we’re trying to do, it’s those five guys,” Pitino said. “Those five guys are the key to our team. Those five guys know what it takes to win in this league. Those guys went a whole month of February and did not lose in this league. They were a [No. 5] seed and had one of the best regular seasons here in a long, long time.”
http://www.startribune.com/as-big-t...ive-players-from-turnaround-season/503828362/
Go Gophers!!