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cheeseheadgophfan

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They are undersized. They are ridiculously short-handed. They lack a ton of talent...but

They play so hard. They play within the system. They share the ball. They seem to have great chemistry. They all know their roles and play it to the best of what they have.

I watched the San Fran and Santa Clara and was never so disgusted watching Gopher basketball. I predicted they would go winless in B10 and I was dead serious. They have surpassed my expectations 100 times over. I didn't think Langston Reynolds was worthy of playing at the YMCA and he is now one of my favorite players to watch. He's down low on FT's boxing out against 7 footers and playing his ass off.

How many really good Gopher teams have we seen go into Illinois and get blown off the court? A lot. And they got ZERO help from the refs today.

We have a coach. He has a system that I think would think would be very attractive to play in. If we can at least be competitive in terms of NIL, we are about to return to some good times for Gopher basketball. I've forgotten what March Madness is like. We will be there soon.
 



Six guys that battle their asses off, what could have been without the injuries
 

cheeseheadgophfan said:
They are undersized. They are ridiculously short-handed. They lack a ton of talent...but

They play so hard. They play within the system. They share the ball. They seem to have great chemistry. They all know their roles and play it to the best of what they have.

I watched the San Fran and Santa Clara and was never so disgusted watching Gopher basketball. I predicted they would go winless in B10 and I was dead serious. They have surpassed my expectations 100 times over. I didn't think Langston Reynolds was worthy of playing at the YMCA and he is now one of my favorite players to watch. He's down low on FT's boxing out against 7 footers and playing his ass off.

How many really good Gopher teams have we seen go into Illinois and get blown off the court? A lot. And they got ZERO help from the refs today.

We have a coach. He has a system that I think would think would be very attractive to play in. If we can at least be competitive in terms of NIL, we are about to return to some good times for Gopher basketball. I've forgotten what March Madness is like. We will be there soon.
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100%
 




Agree with everything in the op. They play so hard and play as a team! Extremely well coached and the effort is always there. Of course I wish the USC and Wisconsin games turned out differently, but the foundation is really being set by this squad for the future.
 

We could easily have 2,3 more wins in conference. Lost by a total 14 points in the last 3 games. This team is fun to root for. It really is Team Together.
Out west, I was so frustrated that I shut the Santa Clara game when it was a 30+ point deficit. I know i don't speak for myself either.
But they turned a corner, developed some real great chemistry, they share the ball and they get the most out of the talent they got. Do I wish they would have a slightly bigger rotation with Turner clogging up the paint or just providing some size? Absolutely. But I trust Niko. If we can get to some post season tournament, I'd say that's a massive overachievment. The style plus the NIL should be able to attract some real nice talent and bigger crowds. Fans like us appreciate hustle and playing the game the right way.
 




What seems to clear to me is guys get better during the season under Niko and during his previous stops guys got better year to year. You look at Roddy, Clifford, Stephens and Tonje, none of them were obvious NBA guys or the top contributer on the team when they got to CSU. JCJ may be challenging Tyson for best player on the team now, I would expect him and Asuma to take steps as leaders next year with Durkin, Shainholster and Grove being solid role players. I did think Willis provided good energy at the start of the year and Vailola he had a six sense for the ball when it came to rebounding, and was a good passer with good hands to run the offense through. It'll depend how well they both bounce back from their injuries. Omot a complete wild card, I doubt he's the same guy he was at UND after two years of injuries. I think Anderson will be the most ready of freshman to contribute. The big man is raw and will need a year but very athletic and great potential, will bring more to the table than Turner but not enough for major minutes. Tomes has an abily to fill it up that none of our guards currently possess. As Clem would always say you can run all the offense you want but against good teams you need a guy who can bail you out when the offense breaks down. We don't have a shooter like that right now and Tomes won't be that next year, but if he can adjust to the level of play and play good defense, he's small and that's inevitably going to hurt him at times, but if he's in the right spots, I think he can be a really good player as an upperclassmen. Still think 7-13 with how depleted our roster is but if Niko can continue to develop guys like he did at CSU and factoring in how Tyson has done, that will be a good selling point in the portal, I think he can increase the talent level here. Thorson knows defense, Niko knows offense, we are in good hands.
 







It’s the first time since NIL started I don’t feel helpless. Yes, more money obviously makes things easier, but the right mix of quality players (not necessarily even elite) bought into the system will get us back to the tournament.
 

I hope wealthy gopher fans are watching and see what Niko could do with a little bigger budget.

Same with potential transfers and recruits. I am optimistic that a lot of guys will want to play for Niko.
 




FinnGopher said:
The what if in this season is four guys who are all out for the season that could have significantly helped.
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I'd agree probably would be a better 2nd half team with more depth. I dont think its a significant talent upgrade, but would for sure allow for more rest and eliminate some of the overuse of players.
 

Some observations:
Through the Thanksgiving tournament, we had one guy who could make 3s. JCJ, Durkin and Asuma were terrible from 3. Somehow Niko has turned them all into confident (and capable, if not stellar) shooters. Reynolds was a turnover machine, utilizing the infamous behind the back dribble in the paint (slightly ahead of the spin move in the paint that still doesn’t get him by the big man). Niko’s got him playing under control and bullying smaller defenders. Surprising growth from Shinholster and Grove. But, despite how it added to our shorthanded roster problems, I think the loss of Willis was addition by subtraction. Maybe his loose handle and errant passes would have settled down (like Reynolds) as the season progressed. But we’ve become a much better passing team now that we don’t have a dribble penetrator who has to attemp to get to the rim through traffic 4-5 times a half.
 




This team reminds me a little of Johnson's first squad in terms of being undersized and outgunned most games but still putting up a great fight night in and night out.

But of course that is where the similarity ends. That team was built as a one and done roster with only a few guys able to come back the next year. Our current squad can return a ton of players and with the way the NCAA is right now I wouldn't even rule out guys like Tyson and Reynolds getting another year as crazy as that seems.

The other massive difference is that you can clearly see the system that Medved wants to run and he seems to have a good eye for finding the players he needs to run it.

Based on how they are playing right now it would be really interesting to know what could have been had Willis, Vaihola, Omot, and Stephens all been able to contribute. Very well may have been in contention to make the NCAA tournament.
 

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