McBrayer getting benched for Springs, Gophers in search of more offense

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One thing we know: Springs brother will approve!
 

Thumbs up to this decision.

I'd also consider starting Curry over Murphy right now.
 

I disagree with this move. McBrayer is a slasher and provides skills Springs doesn't have. Seems like a desperate move by Pitino simply to show he's doing something. Instead, learn how to run an offense. These guys just walk by rote through their few sets and the defense is well aware of what they're running. We have a baby-bottle offense.
 

Both guys will get about the same minutes. Which one will be in the game at crunch time?

I like the move simply because playing at the little sister in Milwaukee may put a chip on Springs shoulder for this game. We need someone who will refuse to lose.
 


MennoSota said:
Both guys will get about the same minutes. Which one will be in the game at crunch time?

I like the move simply because playing at the little sister in Milwaukee may put a chip on Springs shoulder for this game. We need someone who will refuse to lose.
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Good move for now. I think they both sometimes jack the ball up too early in the shot clock but Springs is always looking for the 3. Murphy seems to disappear if his 1 spin move to the basket and shots are not falling. We need all these players to be more consistent for us to go dancing.
 

DoubleAlum said:
I disagree with this move. McBrayer is a slasher and provides skills Springs doesn't have. Seems like a desperate move by Pitino simply to show he's doing something. Instead, learn how to run an offense. These guys just walk by rote through their few sets and the defense is well aware of what they're running. We have a baby-bottle offense.
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I don't have a problem with shaking things up at this point. As mentioned above, their minutes played probably won't change much.
 

I personally don't care about who starts because as mentioned, McBrayer's minutes will probably still be around 30ish.

But it will be interesting to see how each player handles this perceived "promotion/demotion" because that's how a lot of people view it. Does Dupree view it as a demotion and if so, does that make him play better or worse?

Basketball, more than any sport I can think of, seems to be a lot about status. Starting matters to a lot of guys - especially sophomores in college - so I'm curious to see what McBrayer plays like. He seems like a kid who says the right things, works hard and plays with a chip on his shoulder. Will this move have any effect on him?

Strictly from an on-the-court perspective, I don't mind this move. Gophers need more shooting and Springs either provides a lot of that, or none of that. Might as well figure out if he can provide a lot of it earlier. If he can, he can fill it up in a hurry. They might have to live with some heat-check type shots (hot or not) but they kind of need a guy who will just say "screw it" and make something happen.
 





DoubleAlum said:
I disagree with this move. McBrayer is a slasher and provides skills Springs doesn't have. Seems like a desperate move by Pitino simply to show he's doing something. Instead, learn how to run an offense. These guys just walk by rote through their few sets and the defense is well aware of what they're running. We have a baby-bottle offense.
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Agreed. 10th grade concepts run at 8th grade speed. Our guys look half-interested in running their half-court sets.
 

I like it. maybe McBrayer will have more juice playing with the 2nd unit, which can look very stagnant on offense at times.
 

Block M said:
Agreed. 10th grade concepts run at 8th grade speed. Our guys look half-interested in running their half-court sets.
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Wow. Someone agrees with me on Gopherhole. I guess there's a first time for everything. [emoji2] [emoji2]

Sent from my SM-G360V using Tapatalk
 



ruppertflywheel said:
Not a bad idea. Murphy needs a wake-up call. He is the most unfocused player on the team right now.
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Murphy's head down, no kick out, spin move in the paint is really hurting them offensively.
 

MennoSota said:
Both guys will get about the same minutes. Which one will be in the game at crunch time?

I like the move simply because playing at the little sister in Milwaukee may put a chip on Springs shoulder for this game. We need someone who will refuse to lose.
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Let's not forget Springs has beaten the Badgers more recently than the Gophers have:

Dec. 9, 2015: UWM 68 - Wisconsin 67
 

DoubleAlum said:
I disagree with this move. McBrayer is a slasher and provides skills Springs doesn't have. Seems like a desperate move by Pitino simply to show he's doing something. Instead, learn how to run an offense. These guys just walk by rote through their few sets and the defense is well aware of what they're running. We have a baby-bottle offense.
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True. However.....the way I see it.....Pitino wants to get Springs open as much as possible early in the game.....before halftime defense adjustments. McBrayer's slashing abilities work way better against tight defense than Springs....which as we've seen....have been far more prevalent in the second half.
 

I don't know if the offense will change much unless guys like Curry and Murphy can start hitting outside shots. They run the pick and roll almost every possession and both defenders will fall back to stop Mason, Coffey, McBrayer, or whoever the ball handler is. Until the D has to respect a 3 point shooter that can both roll to the hoop and shoot our offense will be a little clogged with 4 people (ballhandler, screener, 2 defenders) all heading to the rim.
 

I am pretty sure, that in an effort to make Space Jam 3 for the Cartoon Network, the Monstars came down from Moron Mountain and stole Murphy's ability to play basketball. That is the only explanation that I have.
 

I really do not care about the half court set issue, although I'd like to see better execution. Murphy has been a pile of something lately and needs to get it together. Back to the main point; Shooters like Springs and slashers like Coffey can fix a lot, if Murphy and Lynch are getting offensive rebounds. I think this team can be a 10 deep team and that helps.

My view is that this team needs to focus more on pressure defense, turning the ball over and pushing the ball up the floor hard where Coffey, McBrayer and others can shine.

This is sort of a "40 minutes of hell" throwback idea, but if this team can turn it into a track meet with pressure defense starting it, the ugly half court offense become no issue. Ricky Jr. needs to focus on playing Izzo like pressure defense and then change the tempo of the game on our terms.
 

The 40 minutes of hell thing works if you play 9 or 10 guys. Gophers play 7 guys. They play Konate and Hurt technically but neither of those guys are what most would consider main rotation players.

They play 4 guys for 3 spots on the perimeter with Mason, Dupree, Coffey and Springs and they mainly play 3 bigs with Murph, Curry and Lynch.

Mason isn't a great fit for the intense pressure defense and with the way the bigs foul, the last thing we need is for the guards to pick up cheapies too.

the defense has been fine. It's been stingy and it gets them going in transition in spurts of games. Good teams can't just rely on defense turning into offense for an entire season - outside of the few outliers i.e. Press Virginia
 

The 40 minutes of hell idea was probably just a projection of the kind of basketball I would like to see in a perfect world.

I agree that Konote and Hurt are not capable of being part of some full blown Nolan Richardson curtain of press defense. I do think that Gilbert could but utilized more and the team needs to push the tempo whenever possible, though. Then again I wanted to see a 1980 throwback Dutcher 2-3 zone last year at the bitter end with biggest lineup possible (#21, #41), King, Murphy, with the #15 being the only ball handler! - not exactly 40 minutes of hell
 

Biggsohnasty said:
The 40 minutes of hell thing works if you play 9 or 10 guys. Gophers play 7 guys. They play Konate and Hurt technically but neither of those guys are what most would consider main rotation players.

They play 4 guys for 3 spots on the perimeter with Mason, Dupree, Coffey and Springs and they mainly play 3 bigs with Murph, Curry and Lynch.

Mason isn't a great fit for the intense pressure defense and with the way the bigs foul, the last thing we need is for the guards to pick up cheapies too.

the defense has been fine. It's been stingy and it gets them going in transition in spurts of games. Good teams can't just rely on defense turning into offense for an entire season - outside of the few outliers i.e. Press Virginia
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Hard to say Konate isn't a main rotation player. He has had a good season if you ask me.
 

Rouser said:
Hard to say Konate isn't a main rotation player. He has had a good season if you ask me.
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BK has played in every game, but there is also a significant drop off in minutes between him and the rest of the rotation guys. Curry averages the fewest minutes of anyone in our top 7, and he still almost double the amount of minutes BK averages. Konate is a rotation player, but not a main one. And I think his minutes are largely based on how long (not if) it takes Lynch to get into foul trouble. No doubt BK has done a good job in the limited minutes he has seen, but I don't think Pitino would want to be in a situation where he was counting on him for 15+ minutes
 

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