Best Gopher basketball players of past five seasons.

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Otis

Otis

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Lots of talk about the new freshmen possibly being Coffey like made me think how would you rate the players of the past five seasons.

Here’s mine:

1. Coffey - and I don’t think this is even close.
2. Murphy - a guy you could always count on.
3. Oturu - He left too early, still was a beast.
4. Battle - first team B1G preseason is rare around here.
5. Carr - almost as bad for the team as he was good. Which is saying something.
6. McBrayer - streaky but also helpful.
7. Kalesheur - freshman Gabe is top five, after that, pretty awful shooting.
8. Garcia - could easily jump up into the top 5, has all the talent.
9. Nate Mason - solid transfer.
10. Liam Rollins - tough defender had one good season.

Any one of the four freshmen this year could very easily push a few of these guys out. Carrington and Henley are the most likely but will face competition next year from Christie. I’d argue Payne should be starting now! TT is a waste and Payne could be Murphy like if he used his body effectively to board. No reason for him to begin games on the bench. JOJ is a surprise! I feel everyone leaves him last just like I just did! Looks pretty darn good so far!

Would love to see all these guys blossom and make it hard for Johnson to find them minutes!

Go Gophers!
 




I'll do this in roster building form
1) Amir Coffey was the most well rounded
2) Jordan Murphy Most dominant
3) Nate Mason First team All Big Ten as a Junior, straw to stir the drink in that turn around year, wish he had taken a medical red shirt five years ago, but still dominant his Sr year.
4) Daniel Oturu Made incredible strides offensively from year one to two, believe he was H.M All American
5) Marcus Carr. Could have been our Carson Edwards if he had a coach who held him accountable
6) Gabe K. Shut Edwards down twice as a Freshman, his defense gets him here.
7) Jamison Battle, I think he will climb this list when it's all said and done, but his chapter still unfinished.
8) Payton Willis, Incredible individual efforts on offense last season, can't believe Pitino didn't have him Spell Carr for a few minutes a night at PG
9) Dupree McBrayer Really enjoyed Dupree as he wound up being the bright spot of Kimani Young's recruiting. Lot of respect for embracing the six man role his Sophomore year. Showed his toughness when his mom died and for battling through mrsa and all the leg injuries his Junior year, probably deserves better than nine on here.
10) Liam Robbins great transfer pick up, wish he was still here
11) Reggie Lynch Big Ten DPOY was technically here for a little bit five years ago
12) Dawson Garcia Nice Start, think he can climb the latter of these rankings if it goes to plan
13) Luke Loewe. Love me some Luke Loewe hustle plays
Walkons Will Ramburg and Brady Ruud
 



Do the Gophers really have 10 or 13 "BEST" players over the last five years? Not from what I remember. And, can we already count someone who has played 2 games?
 

All right, last five years, I'll give mine.

#1: Jordan Murphy. Gave all he had to this program. He had occasional downs here and there but he was a very consistent performer. Every time I saw him walk on the court with that sleepy eyed look and that Jimi Hendrix hairdo I had to smile.

The others in no particular order:

Coffey
Carr
Oturu
Battle
Willis (second go-round of course)
Mason - belongs on this list for the length and depth of contributions to the program but I'm not as high on Mason as many others. Yes, I know he was 1st team all conference as a junior but Pitino was also conference coach of the year that season. Does anyone really believe that Pitino was ever the best Big Ten coach while he was here?
 

Otis said:
Lots of talk about the new freshmen possibly being Coffey like made me think how would you rate the players of the past five seasons.

Here’s mine:

1. Coffey - and I don’t think this is even close.
2. Murphy - a guy you could always count on.
3. Oturu - He left too early, still was a beast.
4. Battle - first team B1G preseason is rare around here.
5. Carr - almost as bad for the team as he was good. Which is saying something.
6. McBrayer - streaky but also helpful.
7. Kalesheur - freshman Gabe is top five, after that, pretty awful shooting.
8. Garcia - could easily jump up into the top 5, has all the talent.
9. Nate Mason - solid transfer.
10. Liam Rollins - tough defender had one good season.

Any one of the four freshmen this year could very easily push a few of these guys out. Carrington and Henley are the most likely but will face competition next year from Christie. I’d argue Payne should be starting now! TT is a waste and Payne could be Murphy like if he used his body effectively to board. No reason for him to begin games on the bench. JOJ is a surprise! I feel everyone leaves him last just like I just did! Looks pretty darn good so far!

Would love to see all these guys blossom and make it hard for Johnson to find them minutes!

Go Gophers!
Click to expand...

I’ll take the career leader in
boards at the U and in the B10 over Coffey, Richard.
 



I love Murphy, he was awesome!

But he was unable to win a game by himself or get a bucket by himself.

Coffey was a sheer force of nature when he was clicking!
 

Otis said:
I love Murphy, he was awesome!

But he was unable to win a game by himself or get a bucket by himself.

Coffey was a sheer force of nature when he was clicking!
Click to expand...

He scored plenty of put backs- that’s the definition of getting a bucket by yourself.
Also Murphy maximized his ability, I never thought Coffey did.
Lastly to say it isn’t close is nuts 🌰 🥜
 

Coffey
Murphy
Oturu
Carr


Even with all of them on the same team probably don’t win the Big 10
 

Mason needs to move way way up. Too 5 for sure. No issue with Coffey, Murphy and Oturu although I too put Murphy at one. I think Garcia will be right up near top fife soon too
 



I just glanced that the rosters, and to me it's very clear cut:

In no particular order, Carr, Oturu, Coffey, Mason, Murphy.
 


gopherbadgerman said:
Coffey
Murphy
Oturu
Carr


Even with all of them on the same team probably don’t win the Big 10
Click to expand...

What you don't have on that list is a traditional "2" guard and that's not surprising because the predominate "2" guards of the last five years (McBrayer and Kalscheur) were nowhere close to those players on your list. We haven't had a high performing "2" guard since Austin Hollins. I don't count Willis in his second stint because he was our de facto starting point guard last season.
 

balds said:
I just glanced that the rosters, and to me it's very clear cut:

In no particular order, Carr, Oturu, Coffey, Mason, Murphy.
Click to expand...
Probably not your best starting lineup unless Carr is shackled to play like he has at Texas. Give me these guys:

Pg: Mason
SG: Coffey
SF: Battle
PF: Murphy
C: Oturu

6th man: Carr
7th: Gabe
Rollins and Garcia round out the guys getting PT.

Johnson is the head coach.

These guys could do some damage.
 

cjbfbp said:
What you don't have on that list is a traditional "2" guard and that's not surprising because the predominate "2" guards of the last five years (McBrayer and Kalscheur) were nowhere close to those players on your list. We haven't had a high performing "2" guard since Austin Hollins. I don't count Willis in his second stint because he was our de facto starting point guard last season.
Click to expand...
Agree. And he was a decent player but not a great one by any stretch
 

Nate Mason is superior to Carr because he made his teammates better, and we won far more games when he was on the court.

I got the sense teammates were frustrated with Carr, his over-dribbling, and looking for his shot before passing (usually so late in the shot clock, chances of a clean look were minimal).

Mason was also a better shooter (less volume) and defender. I can't quantify the defense, but although he was undersized and lacked elite footspeed, I recall his defensive intensity as top-notch.

A game that stands out to me is Mason smothering Carsen Edwards at Mackey.

www.espn.com

Minnesota 91-82 Purdue (Jan 1, 2017) Box Score - ESPN

Box score for the Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Purdue Boilermakers NCAAM game from January 1, 2017 on ESPN. Includes all points, rebounds and steals stats.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

Carr took defensive possessions off (although Mason got breathers while Carr essentially did not). Carr maybe didn't have as formidable of a supporting cast as Mason, but going under .500 with Oturu, Willis, and Kalschuer in the 19/20 season is an underachievement.

I'd also speculate that Kalsheur and Willis transferred due to the high Carr usage (mainly on Pitino), but it wasn't a formidable strategy and didn't cut it when it came to wins and losses.

There are a lot of happy memories from when Nate Mason was running the Gopher's offense. While Carr is undoubtedly a talented player whose skill is undeniable, I mostly recall his era as frustrating and underwhelming.
 

topos said:
Nate Mason is superior to Carr because he made his teammates better, and we won far more games when he was on the court.

I got the sense teammates were frustrated with Carr, his over-dribbling, and looking for his shot before passing (usually so late in the shot clock, chances of a clean look were minimal).

Mason was also a better shooter (less volume) and defender. I can't quantify the defense, but although he was undersized and lacked elite footspeed, I recall his defensive intensity as top-notch.

A game that stands out to me is Mason smothering Carsen Edwards at Mackey.

www.espn.com

Minnesota 91-82 Purdue (Jan 1, 2017) Box Score - ESPN

Box score for the Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Purdue Boilermakers NCAAM game from January 1, 2017 on ESPN. Includes all points, rebounds and steals stats.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

Carr took defensive possessions off (although Mason got breathers while Carr essentially did not). Carr maybe didn't have as formidable of a supporting cast as Mason, but going under .500 with Oturu, Willis, and Kalschuer in the 19/20 season is an underachievement.

I'd also speculate that Kalsheur and Willis transferred due to the high Carr usage (mainly on Pitino), but it wasn't a formidable strategy and didn't cut it when it came to wins and losses.

There are a lot of happy memories from when Nate Mason was running the Gopher's offense. While Carr is undoubtedly a talented player whose skill is undeniable, I mostly recall his era as frustrating and underwhelming.
Click to expand...
Kalscheur transferred with the rest of the roster exodus following the Pitino firing. Many on here stated Kalscheur gone for change of scenery regardless of the new coach/team he would be playing for. Probably right on Willis though since he left the season before and Carr was definitively going to be on the roster.
 

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