Obvious Observations- Gophers can be a Great team if.....

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wizardofwestwood

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The Gophers are a very good team (probably 4-5 in the Big 10) and are the best team Tubby has had at Minnesota. However, to become a great team they need to do a few of the little things a lot better....

1) Make free throws - Especially the inside guys--a 75% goal would be huge

2) Improve Perimeter Defense: Fight Through screens, tweak their D scheme and increase their D-intensity. They may need to get more Athletic on the perimeter at times which might hurt the offensive a bit.

3) Finish around the basket. yes, the ESPN Dunks look great. However, watch closely the improvement of Ralph and Colton in their aggressiveness on the offensive glass and ability to FINISH!

4) All the Frosh Play time is great. By Dec 28th, Tubby will solidify his line-up and shorten his bench by a player or two and will have the ability to make in-game adjustments with more confidence.

5) Injuries
 


The Gophers have got to find someone to drive the lane and score or drive the lane and draw fouls, drive the lane and ?
 

We need the person driving the lane to make free throws. At times fouling us is a high probablility opportunity to make a defensive stop allowing zero points. Missing the front half of 1+1s hurt a lot against VA.
 

I think the difference between good and great will be their ability to shut the other team down. With Al they were doing this well. West Virginia failed to score in the last two minutes. Hard to lose when the opponent is not scoring.
Can Al come back strong?
Can Rodney become a lock down defender?
Can Chip perform against Big Ten competition?.
 


wizardofwestwood said:
The Gophers are a very good team (probably 4-5 in the Big 10) and are the best team Tubby has had at Minnesota. However, to become a great team they need to do a few of the little things a lot better....

1) Make free throws - Especially the inside guys--a 75% goal would be huge

2) Improve Perimeter Defense: Fight Through screens, tweak their D scheme and increase their D-intensity. They may need to get more Athletic on the perimeter at times which might hurt the offensive a bit.

3) Finish around the basket. yes, the ESPN Dunks look great. However, watch closely the improvement of Ralph and Colton in their aggressiveness on the offensive glass and ability to FINISH!

4) All the Frosh Play time is great. By Dec 28th, Tubby will solidify his line-up and shorten his bench by a player or two and will have the ability to make in-game adjustments with more confidence.

5) Injuries
Click to expand...

That's a really good point. I doubt all of the freshmen will continue to see a lot of playing time when the games start to count more. It's great Tubby's been able to get them experience and go 7-1 in non-conference so far. I also think come January, a couple of them won't be seeing the floor when it counts.
 

I disagree the freshman will continue to get minutes come January, Hollins and Chip for sure, a little bit of Mo.

Favorite two unselfish plays:

Devoe penetrated and the defense collapsed on him in the lane, he hit Hollins for his only shot attempt of the game and sunk the three. Need to get him more looks.

Colton got doubled in the paint and dropped it off to Mo for the easy two points. I have seen Ralph in the same position and keeps the ball.
 

If Trevor makes all the free throws he is going to get this year we will be in very good shape.
 

NurumbiCongo said:
I disagree the freshman will continue to get minutes come January, Hollins and Chip for sure, a little bit of Mo.

Favorite two unselfish plays:

Devoe penetrated and the defense collapsed on him in the lane, he hit Hollins for his only shot attempt of the game and sunk the three. Need to get him more looks.

Colton got doubled in the paint and dropped it off to Mo for the easy two points. I have seen Ralph in the same position and keeps the ball.
Click to expand...

I saw that play too and really liked it...well mainly the unselfish play by Devoe. He is our guy that can drive the ball and make his own shots, but more importantly he can drive the ball and draw defenders and give some of the other guys good looks. I am most looking forward to see how Devoe develops his game. I am hoping he cools down on the quick shots and tries to do a little driving and scoring/passing/getting fouled. Well, he and Rodney, I guess.
 



Good Point:

Tubby may have to get a little more athletic and maybe downsize at times to guard the perimeter which will sacrifice some offense. However, it is great to have options! Very few teams in the country have the size and depth Minnesota has. We may not have a Superstar "Stud" (Trevor May become this) but we have a lot of talent, great role players, and some very good young Athletes who have a chance to become great defenders.
 

Defensive effort was better in the second half saturday. Still had a couple of lapses but better. Also helped to start hitting some freethrows.
 

75% for inside guys would be insane. That doesn't really happen in college or in the NBA. That would only really happen if we had a bunch of outside shooting (probably weak) jumpshooters as big men.

wizardofwestwood said:
1) Make free throws - Especially the inside guys--a 75% goal would be huge
Click to expand...
 

underground, being an ex coach-- a goal of 75% would be a good goal...........you have to set high goals and standards to get the focus needed....
 




They can be a great team if Joel Maturi resigns and doesn't screw up the mens basketabll program like he did with hockey, womens hoops, and football. His track record of being a leader for revenue producing sports is not very good. I hope there are not some distractions around Tubby Smiths Contract extension and BBall Practice facility that don't distract this team around February and March....Uggh....-I fear with maturi at the helm, Tubby is GONE...
 

75% is not a realistic goal for our big men. It's not a realistic goal for big men on most teams at the collegiate level or even NBA level. It may actually be easier for big men at the high school level or undersized college players. It's pretty uncommon for a player 6'10" or taller to shoot over 75%.

millions2spare said:
underground, being an ex coach-- a goal of 75% would be a good goal...........you have to set high goals and standards to get the focus needed....
Click to expand...
 

millions2spare said:
They can be a great team if Joel Maturi resigns and doesn't screw up the mens basketabll program like he did with hockey, womens hoops, and football. His track record of being a leader for revenue producing sports is not very good. I hope there are not some distractions around Tubby Smiths Contract extension and BBall Practice facility that don't distract this team around February and March....Uggh....-I fear with maturi at the helm, Tubby is GONE...
Click to expand...

Shut-up, Millions. Just shut-up.
 

millions2spare said:
They can be a great team if Joel Maturi resigns and doesn't screw up the mens basketabll program like he did with hockey, womens hoops, and football. His track record of being a leader for revenue producing sports is not very good. I hope there are not some distractions around Tubby Smiths Contract extension and BBall Practice facility that don't distract this team around February and March....Uggh....-I fear with maturi at the helm, Tubby is GONE...
Click to expand...

Valuable insight. Would read again.
 

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