Hoffarber and Gopherhole

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cncmin

cncmin

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It wasn't that long ago that most of the people on this board were so down on Hoffarber that many of you felt he didn't even belong in the 2-deeps; and some posters were saying he didn't deserve to be a D-1A player. Any of you change your minds yet?

Let's face it, Hoffarber remains THE most fundamental basketball player on that team, and remains one of its best players. The shooting of Hoff usually determines the outcome of a game against a quality team - if Hoff hits some 3s, they win, if he doesn't shoot or misses some, they lose. Those are not characteristics of a non-factor.

As Hoff has done the past two years, he is the team's best 3-point shooter, he is their best passer, and the best rebounding guard. He also commands at least one defender to consistently shadow him on the outside, which would suggest that even if he's taken out of the game, that the rest of the team now is in a 4-on-4 slight advantage. Unfortunately, his defense of the 3-point line still needs improvement. And let's face it, he's never going to create his own shot. And that's ok - he is what he is - one of the team's best players and a vital part to the success of the Golden Gophers.

Many of you who lost faith in him last year easily forgot that he sprained his ankle early in the season. Many an athlete's game has changed for the worse upon injury. It looks like Hoff is back, and will be key to this team moving forward in 2010.
 

cncmin said:
It wasn't that long ago that most of the people on this board were so down on Hoffarber that many of you felt he didn't even belong in the 2-deeps; and some posters were saying he didn't deserve to be a D-1A player. Any of you change your minds yet?

Let's face it, Hoffarber remains THE most fundamental basketball player on that team, and remains one of its best players. The shooting of Hoff usually determines the outcome of a game against a quality team - if Hoff hits some 3s, they win, if he doesn't shoot or misses some, they lose. Those are not characteristics of a non-factor.

As Hoff has done the past two years, he is the team's best 3-point shooter, he is their best passer, and the best rebounding guard. He also commands at least one defender to consistently shadow him on the outside, which would suggest that even if he's taken out of the game, that the rest of the team now is in a 4-on-4 slight advantage. Unfortunately, his defense of the 3-point line still needs improvement. And let's face it, he's never going to create his own shot. And that's ok - he is what he is - one of the team's best players and a vital part to the success of the Golden Gophers.

Many of you who lost faith in him last year easily forgot that he sprained his ankle early in the season. Many an athlete's game has changed for the worse upon injury. It looks like Hoff is back, and will be key to this team moving forward in 2010.
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Tubby compared him to Chuck Hayes from his UK teams. He (Hoff) makes his teammates better.
 

cnc...keep in mind that most of the criticisms came from posters who never were able to play the game decently themselves, hence the term "frustrated jocks".

Go Gophers!
 

It may be too early for homers to yell "I told you so" about Blake. We all wish him the best, but don't expect him to be given open looks like this by Big Ten defenses.
 

Gopher4Life said:
It may be too early for homers to yell "I told you so" about Blake. We all wish him the best, but don't expect him to be given open looks like this by Big Ten defenses.
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Absolutely right. Every year we get a thread like this about Blake during the non-con when he lights someone up. Winston Wolfe said it best in Pulp Fiction: "Let's not start sucking each other's _____ quite yet."

He was invisible in conference play last year because those open looks were gone. Hopefully this year he has learned to move better without the ball to get open, or we will probably see the same ineffectiveness from last season and he will be riding more pine. He is too poor of a defender to get minutes when he's not getting looks.
 


No basketball player in the history of the game has gotten more mileage out of making two baskets than Hoffarber. When the Big 10 season starts he will be taking his accustomed spot at the end of the bench.


Signed: Frustrated Jock
 

I completely disagree. Last year in B10 play he was missing many OPEN looks, and he will get some this year too. I think the choppy, whole-sale sub pattern hurt him last year. By starting and being able to play through a couple missed shots, his numbers will be improved. I sure hope so.
 

I don't think that " most " people were ever down on Hoffarber. A few people made a lot of noise. Whether he is making shots or not he has improved his defense, is always good for a few rebounds and usually seeks behind the defense for a couple of layups. For these reasons alone he is a good player. When he is hitting 3's he's a very good player.
 

GoGoGophers said:
He was invisible in conference play last year because those open looks were gone. Hopefully this year he has learned to move better without the ball to get open, or we will probably see the same ineffectiveness from last season and he will be riding more pine. He is too poor of a defender to get minutes when he's not getting looks.
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What team were you watching last year? Blake lost so much confidence in his long shot last year that he passed up many open threes. He often played inside the 3 point line for closer shots, lay ups and put backs. So far this year, he is looking like he did 2 years ago, but with more confidence in his total game.
 



I threw together a quickie blog on Hoffarber last night ... they are 11-6 when he scores in double-digits vs. meaningful opponents, so High Point, S.E. Louisiana, and Brown don't count ... When Nolen does the same, they are 5-5 ... When Devoe does the same, they are 2-4 ... Westbrook averages in double figures, so will leave him out ... maybe an odd way of getting to this point: When he is on, the Gophers are generally on, and this might be more true for him than anyone else.
 

He was brutal last year compared to what he gave us as a frosh, his FG%, 3 PT%, and FT% were pedestrian at best. He's not a shutdown defender and he can't put the ball on the floor and get to the basket.

But when his shot is falling, this team is a lot better and things open up. And yes, he does the little things like no one else on the team. I'm not getting too excited until I see if him do it against better athletes. Either way, he's good enough to play on any Big Ten team.
 

He's a must on this team because who else do you feel good about shooting the ultimate equalizer in the college game -- the 3-pointer?
 

Doogie said:
He's a must on this team because who else do you feel good about shooting the ultimate equalizer in the college game -- the 3-pointer?
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Just Devoe Joseph. He's a much better player this year and could be a 1st Team Big Ten performer before he leaves.
 




He still dribbles way way way to high. I don't know if he ever will, but if he gets better at dribbling his game will be so much better.
 

Westbrook can certainly make 3s (45% this year compared to 35% last year) as can Devoe (37% last year, 35% so far this year), but I always want Hoffarber shooting 3s (43% Fr. year, 34% last year, 42% so far this year) above everyone else.
 

I agree. Hoff is the one guy nobody wants in a game of HORSE. When he's hot, the Gophs are tough to beat. However, I'm not going to put much stock in one game against a 3-6 team from the A10. The B10 is a defense first conferfence and like someone mentioned above, those open looks will be fewer and further between once they play teams with an actual pulse.

Speaking of that, yesterday was a great day to watch the rest of the B10 on TV with some great match-ups.

OSU @ Butler
Kentucky @ Indiana
Marquette @ Wisconsin
Virginia Tech @ Penn St.
Purdue @ Alabama
Iowa @ Iowa St. (Friday)

It is possible to schedule better teams.
 

Art Vandelay said:
I agree. Hoff is the one guy nobody wants in a game of HORSE. When he's hot, the Gophs are tough to beat. However, I'm not going to put much stock in one game against a 3-6 team from the A10. The B10 is a defense first conferfence and like someone mentioned above, those open looks will be fewer and further between once they play teams with an actual pulse.

Speaking of that, yesterday was a great day to watch the rest of the B10 on TV with some great match-ups.

OSU @ Butler
Kentucky @ Indiana
Marquette @ Wisconsin
Virginia Tech @ Penn St.
Purdue @ Alabama
Iowa @ Iowa St. (Friday)

It is possible to schedule better teams.
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Perhaps you missed Gopher games against Butler, Texas A&M, and Miami - all well regarded opponents.

In many of the examples you listed, those are the FIRST tough opponents for those B10 teams.
 

None of those games were scheduled by anyone at the U.

Why didn't you list Stephen F. Austin State College University?
 

Friend Of Tubby said:
Perhaps you missed Gopher games against Butler, Texas A&M, and Miami - all well regarded opponents.

In many of the examples you listed, those are the FIRST tough opponents for those B10 teams.
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LOL! You're right. OSU, Wisconsin, Purdue, Iowa, Indiana and Penn State hadn't played anyone this year until yesterday. :cool02:
 

Doogie said:
Westbrook can certainly make 3s (45% this year compared to 35% last year) as can Devoe (37% last year, 35% so far this year), but I always want Hoffarber shooting 3s (43% Fr. year, 34% last year, 42% so far this year) above everyone else.
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After your claim that Michigan has a lot of size and that Sampson and Johnson are the best passers on the team, I know not to put too much stock in what you write.
 

The crowd goes nuts when Blake hits his three's, moreso than any other player. He's a crowd favorite and when he's hot he's the spark the team and fans need to get back into the game. Gotta love the Hoff, I'm predicting a huge B10 season for him.
 

I see from yesterday's Box Score that Blake was given credit for only 1 assist -- yet I was pretty sure that he made at least 3. The difference this year is that Hoff seems to get inside much more often and is able to make a good pass to the open player.

Will he be able to do that in B10 games? I'm not that smart to predict but I think so. And I think it's that kind of play that will make the difference. I'd love to see Hoff and Williams on the court at the same time more often -- I think Royce's jams would rise substantially.
 

Art Vandelay said:
I agree. Hoff is the one guy nobody wants in a game of HORSE. When he's hot, the Gophs are tough to beat. However, I'm not going to put much stock in one game against a 3-6 team from the A10. The B10 is a defense first conferfence and like someone mentioned above, those open looks will be fewer and further between once they play teams with an actual pulse.

Speaking of that, yesterday was a great day to watch the rest of the B10 on TV with some great match-ups.

OSU @ Butler
Kentucky @ Indiana
Marquette @ Wisconsin
Virginia Tech @ Penn St.
Purdue @ Alabama
Iowa @ Iowa St. (Friday)

It is possible to schedule better teams.
Click to expand...

I am not going to respond to your other stupid posts here just remember that Michigan barely passed by Detroit a few minutes ago. Alabama gave Purdue all they could as a young team. Our team played their best game of the season. This is a very easy formula that Tubby and many other coaches follow. Yesterday was not a fluke for both Blake and Ralph. The strategy was that you shoot the 3s until the other team defends you. Then you send it inside. This is a very easy formula. I know that might be hard for you to understand since you have no clue about basketball. I don’t care who we were playing last night. If Blake and others shoot well from the outside, there will be very few teams in Big10 that could beat Minnesota. We have some quality inside players who had no chance to play well last year because there were 4 people inside defending them. Did you see Purdue- Alabama game last night? Alabama was not a good 3-point shooting team so there were 5 Purdue players under the basket after each missed shot. I dare them to that when our guys shoot well.
 

From the Barn said:
After your claim that Michigan has a lot of size and that Sampson and Johnson are the best passers on the team, I know not to put too much stock in what you write.
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Sims can/will guard Sampson straight-up ... and who would you classify as their best passer(s)?
 

Doogie said:
He's a must on this team because who else do you feel good about shooting the ultimate equalizer in the college game -- the 3-pointer?
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There's a limit to Hoffarber in regards to creating his shots too. His offense relies on being fed the ball on the perimeter when defenses sag or lose track of him.
 

Definitely agree. He can't create his own shot, but playing against 19 and 20 year-olds, they lose track of him enough from lack of thinking.
 

Doogie said:
Sims can/will guard Sampson straight-up ... and who would you classify as their best passer(s)?
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Sims guarded Iverson last year. Their 6'4'' "forward" Novak guarded Sampson when they went man to man, and they play zone most of the time which makes you wrong again. I'll take Nolen as best passer, Hoffarber second.
 

That's when the 3-guard lineup wasn't in vogue. Michigan played the 1-3-1 a lot last year, but watching some of their game vs. Marq. and bits of 2 others, they seem to be playing man a lot more...that being said, vs. the Gophers, their zone makes sense. Point taken. We'll have to agree to disagree on Nolen as their best passer.
 

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