Best set of guards since...

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I think this might be the best group of offensively talented guards we've had in a long, long time. Welch has been an absolute revelation. How did Tubby get in on this kid? Well done Coach Smith! Not a good Assist/turnover ratio, but everything else he does out there looks great. Good team guy too.

I really, really like Andre Hollins as well. This kid is quick and can flat out shoot. Also a good team guy.

Joe Coleman: could be a great two guard down the road. Has the size and strength and plays hard. Awesome.

Chip Armelin: like him too! Does things athletically that few can, even in the B1G.

Austin Hollins? Love the kid at either SF or SG.

And then there is Mav. He takes some lumps on this board, but he is a dependable back-up PG, which is valuable thing to have in the B1G.

Overall, a very good group of guards. Best since Bobby J and Co?
 

Ha - will bookmark this thread for B1G play. Not doubting them - but I feel people get ahead of themselves after the team beats mediocre teams at home.
 

Overall, I like our emerging talent and depth as well. Not sure I put them over the quad of a healthy nolen, hoff, westbrook, and pre-issues joseph yet, but I believe before the season is out that they may surpass them in overall production. If they can get the turnovers under control, they will definitely become the strength of this team.

I too love Welch. Interesting that he wasn't recruited by more Big-6 schools out of juco, but i am definitely glad tubby saw something there. great under the radar get for us.

Overall, the guards make this team much more fun to watch than tubby's previous teams. I think we are going to be the surprise team in the B1G this year in light of Mbakwe's injury. (edit--Surprise in the sense that we will make the tourney and win a game)
 

best since.... last year.

many holers put Blake in the starting backcourt ALL TIME GOPHER... and still bring up '2nd best rebounder on the team' ( despite the fact they were all bunnies )...

Al was also an 'all time point guard' to some.. 'disrupts passing lanes', 'when he went down, so did the team'.

( of course, Blake allowed as many 3's as he hit and Al couldn't throw the ball in the ocean. ).

so GH officially puts the current 'set of guards' 2nd in the past two years.
 

hendo59 said:
Overall, I like our emerging talent and depth as well. Not sure I put them over the quad of a healthy nolen, hoff, westbrook, and pre-issues joseph yet, but I believe before the season is out that they may surpass them in overall production. If they can get the turnovers under control, they will definitely become the strength of this team.

I too love Welch. Interesting that he wasn't recruited by more Big-6 schools out of juco, but i am definitely glad tubby saw something there. great under the radar get for us.

Overall, the guards make this team much more fun to watch than tubby's previous teams. I think we are going to be the surprise team in the B1G this year in light of Mbakwe's injury. (edit--Surprise in the sense that we will make the tourney and win a game)
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Did these four ever even play together? Joseph started to shine in January or February 2010, probably because of Nolen's academic ineligibility. Then when Nolen came back for the beginning of the 2010-11 season, Westbrook had graduated and Joseph's issues were starting, and some might say Joseph regressed. If they did play together, it wasn't extensively, which is unfortunate; I think they could have been very good.

I really like Welch and Andre Hollins though, also Austin Hollins, he's becoming a very solid, well-rounded player. I actually remember watching @Indiana last season, a game in which Austin's play was one of very few bright spots, and thinking to myself, "Is he the only Gopher player this season to hit a 3-pointer and a dunk in the same game?" I'm glad we have him around for this season and the next two.

I'd really like to see what you think our Big Ten record will be, just so there's at least one more poster in that thread who thinks this team has a ceiling above 7 wins.
 


Cayman said:
Did these four ever even play together? Joseph started to shine in January or February 2010, probably because of Nolen's academic ineligibility. Then when Nolen came back for the beginning of the 2010-11 season, Westbrook had graduated and Joseph's issues were starting, and some might say Joseph regressed. If they did play together, it wasn't extensively, which is unfortunate; I think they could have been very good.

I really like Welch and Andre Hollins though, also Austin Hollins, he's becoming a very solid, well-rounded player. I actually remember watching @Indiana last season, a game in which Austin's play was one of very few bright spots, and thinking to myself, "Is he the only Gopher player this season to hit a 3-pointer and a dunk in the same game?" I'm glad we have him around for this season and the next two.

I'd really like to see what you think our Big Ten record will be, just so there's at least one more poster in that thread who thinks this team has a ceiling above 7 wins.
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austin needs to work on his D... off the dribble... like Rodney, they get beat almost every time on that first step but are able to recover a bit with their length.. will be trouble in big10 however where guys know how to finish better.
 

Watch out what you say about Joe Coleman, a GH expert seems to think he's a D2 basketball player.
 





I don't watch much hoops anymore as it doesn't resemble the lead-legged white boy ball I played in high school in the 1960s. Game has changed a lot and although the rules are the same, I often feel unqualified to critique the team.

Last night was the first game I watched extensively this season and the one thing that really struck me is that we sometimes look like a team full of "tweeners." Our inside guys--except for Williams (and Mbakwe when he was healthy)--don't play that "big" and our outside guys don't play that "quick." My only other observation is that there doesn't appear to be a pure shooter on the team.

That said, they move the ball well. There doesn't seem to be a selfish bone in any players' body and they work very hard. This may be a team that improves as the year goes on unlike the past couple of editions that have a great non-conference run and then peter out midway through the B1G schedule.

Should be an interesting remainder of the season.
 

Love the unselfishness. I saw some good ball movement last night. We were able to get the defense to move to one side then quickly move the ball back to the open man and hit easy buckets. The announcer sure gave Mav a lot of praise last night.
 

FG% is very solid right now, and our players are hitting the open 3. If they continue to move the ball well in the half court set they should continue to get open looks vs. B1G opponents.

Turnovers will be the Gophers Kryptonite this season. If they can find a way to limit the TO's they should be competitive in most games.

GopherHoopsFan
 

GopherHoopsFan said:
FG% is very solid right now, and our players are hitting the open 3. If they continue to move the ball well in the half court set they should continue to get open looks vs. B1G opponents.

Turnovers will be the Gophers Kryptonite this season. If they can find a way to limit the TO's they should be competitive in most games.

GopherHoopsFan
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B1G teams will pressure the guards on the perimeter to force to's and limit 3pts.
 



The turnovers were mostly off a combination of terrible passing and poor hands. There weren't that many TO's off the dribble that I remember.
 

I think a lot of people on this board have some unrealistic idea of how good Big10 teams are. They are certainly better than Central Michigan, but many act like OSU is the worst team in the conference and the Gophers will be facing 11 teams even better than them that won't ever screw up once and the Gophers will be lucky to even inbound the ball successfully.
 

Maverick has improved a lot this year. Last year I didn't think he could play in the MIAC, but he can now get the ball up the court, get the offense into a set, and hit a shot if he's open.
 

Cayman said:
Did these four ever even play together? Joseph started to shine in January or February 2010, probably because of Nolen's academic ineligibility. Then when Nolen came back for the beginning of the 2010-11 season, Westbrook had graduated and Joseph's issues were starting, and some might say Joseph regressed. If they did play together, it wasn't extensively, which is unfortunate; I think they could have been very good.

I really like Welch and Andre Hollins though, also Austin Hollins, he's becoming a very solid, well-rounded player. I actually remember watching @Indiana last season, a game in which Austin's play was one of very few bright spots, and thinking to myself, "Is he the only Gopher player this season to hit a 3-pointer and a dunk in the same game?" I'm glad we have him around for this season and the next two.

I'd really like to see what you think our Big Ten record will be, just so there's at least one more poster in that thread who thinks this team has a ceiling above 7 wins.
Click to expand...

I'll put it up over there now. I definitely think our ceiling is higher than 7 B1G games, especially if our guard play continues to progress. Solid backcourt play is always the key to a successful season, imo.
 

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