Marcus and Myron tweet about Gophers' situation

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JohnnyGopher said:
update from today was that Nolen was doing well and odds of him playing next year are looking good.
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I have been hearing this from people in the 'know' for a while now. Think Sid and others have also reported it in the paper a couple times over the past 2 months. I'm not worried about Al's grades as much as Cobbs leaving and us being spread thin at the point.
 

NurumbiCongo said:
I have been hearing this from people in the 'know' for a while now. Think Sid and others have also reported it in the paper a couple times over the past 2 months. I'm not worried about Al's grades as much as Cobbs leaving and us being spread thin at the point.
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Nolen and Devoe can handle PG if Cobbs leaves. Allen would be practice player and back-up PG most of the season.
 

Friend Of Tubby said:
Nolen and Devoe can handle PG if Cobbs leaves. Allen would be practice player and back-up PG most of the season.
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True, but there are still potential injuries to consider and two spots available if Cobbs does indeed depart. I would strongly consider a pg, which it seems Tubby has already been doing.
 

Lets hope Cobbs stays, and White finds his way back. If T. Mbakwe also makes it back we are a tip 3 big ten team.
 

Nolen will be our primary PG if he gets his academics in order. Obviously, we'd all like to Al to shoot & finish at the rim better, but there's no doubt in my mind we missed Al the second half of last season. We became much more limited on the defensive end.

Assuming we have Al & Trevor, for starters a rotation of Nolen, Joseph, Hoffarber, Sampson, Williams, Iverson & Mbakwe is one that can compete. Hoping one or two of the new guys (Hollins & Walker?) can chip in as well. My concern is we still don't have the stud or two that every good team needs. Balance is nice, but the best teams usually have a couple guys that will go out & get you 15-18 points every single night. Not sure we have that on the roster.

I'm assuming no Cobbs, as Johnny has indicated he's still likely to leave.
 


I like Myron but detest his fixation on who is on the floor as starters. Being a starter is irrelevant in Tubby's rotation system. It is much more important to be on the floor to finish games than start them.

Playing the "who are the starters" game also fails to consider match-ups. Case in point, would you rather have CI on the floor against a big, physical center or Ralph III?

In sum, who is on the floor to finish games is much more relevant than who are the starters and match ups are more crucial as well.
 

Nolen eligible makes the team's depth better, but that is about it. He doesn't make the team any better than it was last year. Al is a nice back up pg in the Big Ten. Nothing more.
 

My prediction: Al Nolen is going to be a beast this coming season.

Why? Because Al is busting his hump right now on academics and on improving his game. He is also showing good leadership with some of the younger players on the team, encouraging them to gets their lifts and improve their game.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Nolen will be our primary PG if he gets his academics in order. Obviously, we'd all like to Al to shoot & finish at the rim better, but there's no doubt in my mind we missed Al the second half of last season.
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Correlation does not imply causation. That said, SS, what do you make of the team's improvement to upper-level Big Ten after Nolen was suspended and Devoe began feeling comfortable?

I think there's a chance Devoe becomes the starting PG and Nolen gets significant minutes as lock-down defender relieving Devoe and in a 3 guard set. I could be totally wrong, however.
 



My thoughts? I like Devoe better at the 2 and think he is much more dangerous there than at the 1. Al is a true and natural PG, Devoe is not, he's much more mechanical & I think much more inclined to turn it over when we face serious pressure.

At this point, assuming Al is eligible, I think they'll be our starting backcourt. It is a major concern (if Cobbs leaves) that they're our only legitimate options at PG. Would be nice to have a PG coming off the bench, but I think they'll both need to start. ... Al to spearhead our defense & run the show, Devoe to be one of our leading scorers.

As for correlation & causation? The truth is we got hot at absolutely the last moment of truth. We weren't exactly a juggernaut after Al became ineligible. We slid into the tournament primarily because we beat both Michigan State & Purdue (the Butler win was significant as well) when we absolutely had to while most of the other bubble teams were flopping early in their tournaments. There's no need to apologize for that, but it's the reality.

I never thought we were a better team because of Al's absence. We made the NCAA despite his absence (a credit to the coaches and players), which hopefully was a valuable lesson for Al heading into his senior season.
 

SelectionSunday said:
My thoughts? I like Devoe better at the 2 and think he is much more dangerous there than at the 1. Al is a true and natural PG, Devoe is not, he's much more mechanical & I think much more inclined to turn it over when we face serious pressure.

At this point, assuming Al is eligible, I think they'll be our starting backcourt. It is a major concern (if Cobbs leaves) that they're our only legitimate options at PG. Would be nice to have a PG coming off the bench, but I think they'll both need to start. ... Al to spearhead our defense & run the show, Devoe to be one of our leading scorers.
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Hoffarber will start. 100%. So Al and Devoe only both start if we're giong 3 guards. I do think that's what will happen though. But certainly, Devoe will have to play a lot of PG either way. It will depend on cirumstances. If we're down 10 with 10 minutes left, you're probably going to play Devoe at PG and go for the offensive production.
 

Yes, I understand Devoe will see plenty of PG. I just think they'll both need to start. I have no idea whether Tubby will mostly stick with his 3-guard offense considering our lack of depth (if no Cobbs) at the guard position. Will be one of the more interesting things to watch as the season progresses. I'm hoping Rodney improves enough so that he gets major minutes. Of the returning players Rodney's the one I think could catapult the Gophers a little higher than some of us perhaps are expecting. His ceiling (pardon the cliche) is much higher than anyone else on the roster.
 

howeda7 said:
Hoffarber will start. 100%. So Al and Devoe only both start if we're giong 3 guards. I do think that's what will happen though. But certainly, Devoe will have to play a lot of PG either way. It will depend on cirumstances. If we're down 10 with 10 minutes left, you're probably going to play Devoe at PG and go for the offensive production.
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I think I pretty much agree with this. No disrespect, SS. I realize this is minority opinion around here.

Tubby loves Blake. I don't see how he goes from leading the team in minutes to bench player. <b>baller's</b> opinion aside, Blake does a lot of things well. I also look for him to drive more (at all?) this coming year. If he's not working on that, he damn well should be. If Blake continues to log big minutes, there's no way Devoe sits because of it.

We will find out who is right next year.

Also, I too hope Cobbs stays as he projects to be the only viable backup PG in '11-'12.
 



There's no question we're a better team with Nolen. I still think our best lineup would be him at pg with Devoe and Hoff as the other guards.
 

GopherJake said:
I think I pretty much agree with this. No disrespect, SS. I realize this is minority opinion around here.

Tubby loves Blake. I don't see how he goes from leading the team in minutes to bench player. <b>baller's</b> opinion aside, Blake does a lot of things well. I also look for him to drive more (at all?) this coming year. If he's not working on that, he damn well should be. If Blake continues to log big minutes, there's no way Devoe sits because of it.

We will find out who is right next year.

Also, I too hope Cobbs stays as he projects to be the only viable backup PG in '11-'12.
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Plus he and Al are the only seniors and with PC gone, Blake's the default team captain/leader, IMO. Therefore, I see no circumstance where Blake doesn't start.
 

Nolen and Hoff senior starters.

pg will be nolen if eligible
sg will be devoe
sf will be hoff

....most likely pf will be Trevor, Rodney, or Sampson if both arent eligible
c is either ralph or colt

Ralph will start no matter what. We saw that this year. Guarenteed spot.

Rodney will come off the bench, could be a great athletic 6th man. Needs to take the ball to the hole. I don't think any of the newcomers will play big minutes.

We need Cobbs, we could have a short bench next year after having a deep team. When Nolen is on the bench, if Cobbs is gone, I believe devoe would play the pt, hoff at sg, and rodney would come in at sf.
 


march madness said:
pg will be nolen if eligible
sg will be devoe
sf will be hoff

....most likely pf will be Trevor, Rodney, or Sampson if both arent eligible
c is either ralph or colt

Ralph will start no matter what. We saw that this year. Guarenteed spot.

Rodney will come off the bench, could be a great athletic 6th man. Needs to take the ball to the hole. I don't think any of the newcomers will play big minutes.

We need Cobbs, we could have a short bench next year after having a deep team. When Nolen is on the bench, if Cobbs is gone, I believe devoe would play the pt, hoff at sg, and rodney would come in at sf.
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That sums it up pretty well.
 

howeda7 said:
Hoffarber will start. 100%. So Al and Devoe only both start if we're giong 3 guards. I do think that's what will happen though. But certainly, Devoe will have to play a lot of PG either way. It will depend on cirumstances. If we're down 10 with 10 minutes left, you're probably going to play Devoe at PG and go for the offensive production.
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Or Al in there so we can apply more defensive/full court pressure.
 

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