Number of Big Ten Wins -- pre-season edition

Number of wins in conference season for Gophers

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golfing18now

golfing18now

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How many games do you think the Gophers will win in the conference schedule (before the tournament)? I'll probably do another poll right before the conference schedule to see if perception has changed. Hopefully we avoid another disastrous season.
 



They can win 6-8. But the way the schedule sets up is awful. There's not one easy home game until February. They could easily lose the first 7-10 games. Starting in early February they have a stretch of winnable games, but if they're 0-10 or 1-9 there won't be many left to see it and they will be demoralized with a dead coach walking. Hopefully they can find a way to scratch out 3-4 wins in the first 10.
 




8 plus or minus 6. No one knows (including the team and coach) how this year will go.
 





howeda7 said:
They can win 6-8. But the way the schedule sets up is awful. There's not one easy home game until February. They could easily lose the first 7-10 games. Starting in early February they have a stretch of winnable games, but if they're 0-10 or 1-9 there won't be many left to see it and they will be demoralized with a dead coach walking. Hopefully they can find a way to scratch out 3-4 wins in the first 10.
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Really is a tough schedule. Looked at it again last night after you mentioned it. Went with 6 or 7, but that could be tough.
 

I'm going positive and saying 5. [emoji57]
 


I'll say 8 or 9. I gotta feeling this year will be the turning point. I think we just miss the NCAA tournament this year.
 



mnsportsgeek said:
I'll say 8 or 9. I gotta feeling this year will be the turning point. I think we just miss the NCAA tournament this year.
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I said 6-7 but they have a higher upside. They have the physical size and talent to stay in every game. They have to defend much, much better and be an adequate shooting team and they can win 9+. It boils down to the close games and defending Williams Arena. They will be a good rebounding team which is a big contrast to last year.
 





The group with the most votes is "8-9" wins. Is this hopeful/wishful/make-yourself-feel-good thinking or objective decision making? It seems to me, every (and I mean every) BIG 10 team would've been up by at least 25 at half over Bemidji. Bemidji is projected to finish at or near the bottom of a DII conference. How can that not concern you even if we were missing Mason? I know far less than all of you about our competition and the vagary of outcomes of collegiate basketball games, and I'm passionate about Gopher athletics, but I rarely see the optimism that most of you share. Without trying to be mean, I honestly do not believe Richard Pitino could out coach any of our seasoned, successful high school coaches in Minnesota and I'm confused what evidence you have that shows Richard has much of a Basketball IQ. Sure he knows the vernacular of the game and how to tell his players to drive hard to the basket and rebound. But what have you seen in our offense or defense to demonstrate that this guy can really coach? Forget about all of the crap for a moment surrounding Bobby Knight, I know he's a tough guy to like, but when you watched his teams play it looked liked sound, fundamental and disciplined basketball. To my eyes, Pitino teams look almost uncoached. Like a pick up team at the Y. Bemidji and the South Dakota's for that matter seemed better coached, to me. I just wish I could see what so many of you see in our Gophers.
 

I'm being optimistic so I say 6. I'd be shocked if we win ANY of the first five big ten games, we then play Penn St. away, and then three more likely losses. At 1-8, Pitino will be a dead man walking and the fans won't care. We have one big ten post player. One. You can only ride good guard play so far.
 

DoubleAlum said:
The group with the most votes is "8-9" wins. Is this hopeful/wishful/make-yourself-feel-good thinking or objective decision making? It seems to me, every (and I mean every) BIG 10 team would've been up by at least 25 at half over Bemidji. Bemidji is projected to finish at or near the bottom of a DII conference. How can that not concern you even if we were missing Mason? I know far less than all of you about our competition and the vagary of outcomes of collegiate basketball games, and I'm passionate about Gopher athletics, but I rarely see the optimism that most of you share. Without trying to be mean, I honestly do not believe Richard Pitino could out coach any of our seasoned, successful high school coaches in Minnesota and I'm confused what evidence you have that shows Richard has much of a Basketball IQ. Sure he knows the vernacular of the game and how to tell his players to drive hard to the basket and rebound. But what have you seen in our offense or defense to demonstrate that this guy can really coach? Forget about all of the crap for a moment surrounding Bobby Knight, I know he's a tough guy to like, but when you watched his teams play it looked liked sound, fundamental and disciplined basketball. To my eyes, Pitino teams look almost uncoached. Like a pick up team at the Y. Bemidji and the South Dakota's for that matter seemed better coached, to me. I just wish I could see what so many of you see in our Gophers.
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I wouldn't call myself a maroon colored glasses guy, but this is really harsh. Say what you want about Pitino, but there is actually some evidence he can coach. He took an undermanned team that was buried last year and had them playing hard and organized basketball on offense in the second half of the season. The off court discipline problems overshadowed that. To me, not losing a team that had so little success is an amazing accomplishment and that is a sign of good coaching. Defense is a different story. I'm hoping Conroy the new assistant can turn that around. To put them in the waste basket after one exhibition game in which they were playing with five players who did not suit up with them last year is over the top. I'm still looking for evidence they can be good, but to call them "uncoached" is unfair. Comparing the long retired Bobby Knight to a neophyte D-1 head coach in a different era also seems borderline straw man to me. He coached in an era of mostly four year players with little turnover. The world is different now and in the best of circumstances, the players on the floor have a lot less experience than they did in the 70's and 80's.

So far, he has done a good job recruiting. The talent has gotten better each year, but this team is without a shooter. It is hard to win without guys who can put the ball in the basket. As indicated in a different thread, he does have a lot to prove, but it's not like he has shown nothing in his three years here. He may or may not be a high level BT coach, but there are also 250-300 or so D-1 head coaches you can say the same thing about.

I would be ecstatic with 9 pre-tournament wins. If the freshmen step up, 7-8 is more likely. Six or below might mean another transition in our beloved program.
 

dex8425 said:
I'm being optimistic so I say 6. I'd be shocked if we win ANY of the first five big ten games, we then play Penn St. away, and then three more likely losses. At 1-8, Pitino will be a dead man walking and the fans won't care. We have one big ten post player. One. You can only ride good guard play so far.
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Are you eliminating Lynch or Curry (or both) from your analysis? I see three post players when you add in Murphy, but we may mean different things with the word "post." If anything, the close to the basket players are the biggest improvement on the team.
 

dex8425 said:
I'm being optimistic so I say 6. I'd be shocked if we win ANY of the first five big ten games, we then play Penn St. away, and then three more likely losses. At 1-8, Pitino will be a dead man walking and the fans won't care. We have one big ten post player. One. You can only ride good guard play so far.
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I am surprised by some much negativity. Great recruiting class plus very talented transfers.

konate vs lynch this is a big upgrade plus u still can get minutes from konate off the bench.
King vs Murphy Murphy is a stud definitely upgrade this year
Morris vs coffey are u kidding me Coffey all around better player
Mason vs mason always a little upgrade when your a year older
Mcbrayer vs mcbrayer if anyone who has see mcbrayer he looks much better confident. U usually improve the most from freshman to sophomore season

First guys off the bench
Curry and springs are u kidding me this is 10 times better than last year
Then u still have Hurt if he gets hot to hit 3's and konate
Whoever says this team can't get to at least 7-10 wins is crazy even with tough schedule.

Just think from a rebounding stat this team is way way better.
Protecting the rim u add 2 more shot blockers
Defense u have way more length on of defense this does make a difference closing out shots.

Making 3 's a big weakness something we all know.. does mason, mcbrayer, Coffey, springs,Hurt improve? We will find out. But I am optimistic about it.
 

gopherhoopsguy said:
I am surprised by some much negativity. Great recruiting class plus very talented transfers.

konate vs lynch this is a big upgrade plus u still can get minutes from konate off the bench.
King vs Murphy Murphy is a stud definitely upgrade this year
Morris vs coffey are u kidding me Coffey all around better player
Mason vs mason always a little upgrade when your a year older
Mcbrayer vs mcbrayer if anyone who has see mcbrayer he looks much better confident. U usually improve the most from freshman to sophomore season

First guys off the bench
Curry and springs are u kidding me this is 10 times better than last year
Then u still have Hurt if he gets hot to hit 3's and konate
Whoever says this team can't get to at least 7-10 wins is crazy even with tough schedule.

Just think from a rebounding stat this team is way way better.
Protecting the rim u add 2 more shot blockers
Defense u have way more length on of defense this does make a difference closing out shots.

Making 3 's a big weakness something we all know.. does mason, mcbrayer, Coffey, springs,Hurt improve? We will find out. But I am optimistic about it.
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OK......How many wins are you predicting?

Found it...you said 8-9
 

I just looked at the shed and, as others have said, it is brutal. They could easily be 1-8 or 2-7 at the halfway mark and Pitino is a zombie coach. I truly hope I'm wrong, but I think this is about a five win season, mostly because of the nearly impossible early B1G schedule.

I think it will help that the preseason schedule will have some challenges.
 

Will be really interesting to see how they perform against better competition in preseason to get a feel for how B10 might go. A lot of unknowns - will they gel and play well together / can they knock down 3s at a serviceable rate / can Amir find ways to be an effective scorer in half court sets? I agree with previous posts - I think defense and rebounding will be reliable strengths, hopefully they can have some success in preseason and build momentum for brutal early B10 schedule.
 



Sticking with what i said but dont recall what it was. Probly 7 or 8.
 

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