Gopher offense needs to establish Robbins early in games.

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Otis

Otis

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In games where Marcus Carr has struggled, we have either lost fairly convincingly or won because of big games from Liam Robbins.

It would therefore benefit Mr. Pitino to have his team FEED THE BIG MAN early and let him establish himself. Putting the other team's bigs in foul trouble or at a disadvantage in case we can't shoot. Plus, Robbins seems to be fairly immune to shooting troubles and could help the rest of the team get going with their own shots.

Shooting is contagious!

The Gophers have an effective big and should make use of him early to establish their way in games.
 

I agree for sure.

Feeding the ball inside no matter who is down there is always good basketball.

It's also been something I have rarely seen from the Gophers. Until this year. Ball movement, spacing, getting the ball inside, setting good picks, moving without the ball. All things I have seen this season that seemed to be lacking in the past.

What's going on? Not sure, but finally things seem to be clicking.
 

Otis said:
In games where Marcus Carr has struggled, we have either lost fairly convincingly or won because of big games from Liam Robbins.

It would therefore benefit Mr. Pitino to have his team FEED THE BIG MAN early and let him establish himself. Putting the other team's bigs in foul trouble or at a disadvantage in case we can't shoot. Plus, Robbins seems to be fairly immune to shooting troubles and could help the rest of the team get going with their own shots.

Shooting is contagious!

The Gophers have an effective big and should make use of him early to establish their way in games.
Click to expand...
Yes! Feeding the ball inside reduces the chance of long scoring droughts. When we went into Robbins he more often than not scored or got fouled. Plus, he appears to be a pretty good passer as he produced at least three open threes for teammates yesterday. I loved that Marcus was willing to defer to other players while he was being doubled. The offense looked much better.
 

Otis said:
In games where Marcus Carr has struggled, we have either lost fairly convincingly or won because of big games from Liam Robbins.

It would therefore benefit Mr. Pitino to have his team FEED THE BIG MAN early and let him establish himself. Putting the other team's bigs in foul trouble or at a disadvantage in case we can't shoot. Plus, Robbins seems to be fairly immune to shooting troubles and could help the rest of the team get going with their own shots.

Shooting is contagious!

The Gophers have an effective big and should make use of him early to establish their way in games.
Click to expand...

I don't disagree with the sentiment but Robbins did struggle early against Potter and Reuvers offensively. We went to him and he wasn't able to get great positioning and had some bad attempts on those guys. He ended up with double figures but he was not good offensively in the first half and was as much to blame as any for the poor shooting performance.
 

His post position has really improved. He was catching passes damn near under the basket on offense and his guys didn't have that kind of position while he was defending. He has toughened up quickly, already in a much better stance consistently. He isn't heavy like some dudes but he is heavy enough to get and hold position.

One thing I was really excited about last night was his ability and willingness to pass out of a double team. It led to some wide open 3s and guys knocked them down.
 


Go Gophs said:
I agree for sure.

Feeding the ball inside no matter who is down there is always good basketball.

It's also been something I have rarely seen from the Gophers. Until this year. Ball movement, spacing, getting the ball inside, setting good picks, moving without the ball. All things I have seen this season that seemed to be lacking in the past.

What's going on? Not sure, but finally things seem to be clicking.
Click to expand...

Honestly, I blame a lot of the standing around on Pitino but it was caused by Murphy and Oturu. They took so long to go to work in the post, and touched the ball so often, there was no incentive to cut and move. Murphy would have the ball for 8-10 seconds consistently and wasn't a great passer out of a double team due to his lack of height. Amazing player, one of the all-time great Gophers but he wasn't conducive to the type of offense I (and most others) wanted to see. Oturu had those moments as well, less than Murphy, but also turned the ball over a lot for a big man.
 

bga1 said:
Yes! Feeding the ball inside reduces the chance of long scoring droughts. When we went into Robbins he more often than not scored or got fouled. Plus, he appears to be a pretty good passer as he produced at least three open threes for teammates yesterday. I loved that Marcus was willing to defer to other players while he was being doubled. The offense looked much better.
Click to expand...
Good point on his Passing! He had 27 points, 14 rebounds, 5 blocks and 4 assists! 1 more assist and those are KG MVP year averages! Granted it is only 1 game but it does show what he is capable of.

We have seen good assist numbers from Carr, Gach, Kalesheur, Mashburn and now Robbins! People saying this is a team willing to share the ball are really NOT just speaking coach and are reporting about a team that cares about each other!

These guys could really be something special!
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
Honestly, I blame a lot of the standing around on Pitino but it was caused by Murphy and Oturu. They took so long to go to work in the post, and touched the ball so often, there was no incentive to cut and move. Murphy would have the ball for 8-10 seconds consistently and wasn't a great passer out of a double team due to his lack of height. Amazing player, one of the all-time great Gophers but he wasn't conducive to the type of offense I (and most others) wanted to see. Oturu had those moments as well, less than Murphy, but also turned the ball over a lot for a big man.
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Right, but that is coaching. It doesn't matter what the players WANT to do, it matters what they HAVE to do in the flow of whatever offense the coach instills.

This year there is just so much more of a flow, movement, passing, recognition. Haven't seen that in the past. Maybe Pitino made some changes. Either way, this is the way to be efficient on offense. Standing still, going one on one, not setting picks or moving without the ball will lead to scoring droughts.
 




Go Gophs said:
Right, but that is coaching. It doesn't matter what the players WANT to do, it matters what they HAVE to do in the flow of whatever offense the coach instills.

This year there is just so much more of a flow, movement, passing, recognition. Haven't seen that in the past. Maybe Pitino made some changes. Either way, this is the way to be efficient on offense. Standing still, going one on one, not setting picks or moving without the ball will lead to scoring droughts.
Click to expand...
I really feel like the Illinois loss, as bad as it was, allowed Pitino the chance to get in Carr's head and help him understand how he can have a great year of winning basketball by moving the ball first. Since then Carr has done a much better job of involving the team and trusting them. It has paid off.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
His post position has really improved. He was catching passes damn near under the basket on offense and his guys didn't have that kind of position while he was defending.
Click to expand...

It sounds like that has been a point of emphasis for the coaches which is great to see. Robbins was posting up 12'-15' from the basket early in the year, and it often didn't go well. He has definitely been much deeper in the post and the benefits are easy to see.

 

Some High/Low action. Curry and Johnson dumping it down. Murphy and Oturu did it quite a bit together. Curry has hit Johnson over the top a few times this year also Ihnen has feed the post a few times that way.
 

Guards dont like to feed the post, either because they cant or dont want to. Coaches need to teach and force them to do it.

Posting up, especially to a big that can pass, really opens up the court.
 



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