***OFFICIAL MINNESOTA AT OHIO STATE IN-GAME THREAD!!!***

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This team looks rough to say the least. They play hard and usually defend pretty well but its a team of non-shooters and the offense is not geared to get shots for the only guy who can consistently shoot from the outside. I did not expect Coffey and McBrayer to have such woeful shooting percentages this far into the season.

Season could tank or could turn out ok. Team is at a fragile point in the season thats for sure.
 

EG#9 said:
If the season goes as you think it does (I am going to wait until after the Nebraska game), it further goes to show why I was vocal about making a change last Spring. At that point, the Gophers were one year removed from being a tourney team, were bringing back a Senior Jordan Murphy and had a solid (not great) recruiting class with 3 scholarships still to play with and brand new facilities to sell with a promising 2019 in state class to look forward to. With no other B1G jobs opening and few jobs opening around the country, the Gophers job was as attractive as it had been since Pitino took over. Since that point, we've had 2 of our 3 assistants jump ship, missed out on a number of Spring recruits, missed out on the local 2019 kids, and currently are dead last in recruiting. There won't be a Jordan Murphy building block for the potential next coach either. Someone could have came in this year and made a splash immediately. Next year seems to be guaranteed to be a non-tournament year unless Pitino/new coach can land at least two immediate impact players this Spring. There is still a lot of 2020 talent locally that will be enticing to coaching candidates, but the returning roster and a potential second year in a row in the bottom quarter of the conference will be major anchors on the attractiveness of the job.
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You make all good points. My hesitation with Pitino after last season was the injuries they suffered, and how his coaching performance was nearly impossible to critique with having to play Bakary and Gas for so many minutes. I gave him a pass on those recruits, and I figured he'd add a grad transfer PG to alleviate the back court situation. I never dreamed that he'd start Coffey at PG. At the time, I think it was too early to pull the plug on Pitino, but it's starting to feel different. This team has the talent to win some games this year, but it will only work if IW plays well at point and if Curry comes back healthy and effectively. IW has to start, period. But yeah, the Nebraska game will be a huge moment in RP's career.
 

CPTMidnight said:
I suppose... we got smoked, on the road, to a good #16 team and its time to give cjbfpb and LesBolstad their new coach. At least they will be making excuses for the next 4 years until they end up turning on Muss for not winning quickly enough. You should start working on your complaining about Muss now.

Its too bad we can't make fan trades - We could trade those two, some cash for a walk on fan over at Wiscy...
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I didn't say he should get fired tonight. I said he should be fired if this team tanks for the 4th time in six years. I (and most others) think that is fair. If you have some sort of man crush for him, that is your problem.
 

Can anyone make two free throws in a row???? Murphy should never leave the court unless he fouls out - only Mats and Washiington should be let in unless we are way ahead... Omeroso, Hurt, etc.. are instant liabilities and this team will never win a road game until they can shoot a three. For years we have forever been out 3d by everyone - and it kills us... recruit some shooters - more than one please... Wednesday is a must win...
 


No one has said fire Pitino. People have commented on what they believe may / should happen if the season goes they way they think it will.

Plenty of time to get things figured out. However, under Pitino what is one thing you can point to that they do well offensively or defensively?

The roster is always an issue and this year is no different. The PG situation is mess. Getting Curry back will help but he isn’t a program changing type player.

IMO some on here overestimate the actual talent on the roster. This once again looks like a bottom half of the conference team and a NIT type team. If that happens Pitino should be done.
 

Gopherbbdude said:
Just to be clear.

OSU is a pretty damn good basketball team.
They played Friday against a good team
Flew to Columbus Saturday.
Play Sunday night.
Play against a team ranked 16th
We are 6 and 2.


And we should fire Pitino?


Are u guys high?

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
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I think it has more to do with whether or not you are forecasting that Pitino will keep his job after this season. I don't think any of us has the power to impact his future one way or another. If I had to put money on it, I'd bet that he's gone after this season.

I see your points about the travel and the timing of the games. I think the disappointment has more to do with how they looked in both the OSU game and the BC game. They looked flat out bad in both. To be honest, I've thought they looked pretty bad offensively in most of their wins.

It's just starting to feel like they're not great, maybe not even very good. I would've guessed that they needed to border on great (for a Gophers team) for RP to keep his job. Of course, all of this is contingent on his recruiting of the 2019 class, which at the moment doesn't reflect positively on him.
 

The weave always works for the globetrotters. I like the misfit toys comment. Every player has a weakness. Too soft, no handle, can’t shoot, too short, and the coach is playing checkers.

They have some talent. Hopefully the gophers get jacked up for home games like OSU was tonight.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

scools12 said:
No one has said fire Pitino. People have commented on what they believe may / should happen if the season goes they way they think it will.

Plenty of time to get things figured out. However, under Pitino what is one thing you can point to that they do well offensively or defensively?

The roster is always an issue and this year is no different. The PG situation is mess. Getting Curry back will help but he isn’t a program changing type player.

IMO some on here overestimate the actual talent on the roster. This once again looks like a bottom half of the conference team and a NIT type team. If that happens Pitino should be done.
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I agree with everything you've said except that I'm not sure this is even an NIT team. I said before the season that I'd be OK with him remaining the coach if the team makes the NIT (and probably wins a game or two).
 



We are not going to win many games with Coffey at point guard. It is time to start Washington and give him the keys under the condition that he moves that ball and his threes are only wide open, preferrably late in the clock. He needs to be a pass first PG. Pitino needs McBrayer to take one for the team and be the 6th man. Murphy needs to understand the value of staying in the game. The early fouls have to stop. They were done for when he got the two early fouls. Coffey needs to commit to rebounding. 3 rebounds for a big strong athletic kid like him is not good. He needs to go back to playing as part of a team. Curry will help this team a lot. Omersa will be good someday but he isn't ready (although the ally-oop was fun). Must get Kalsheur 10 shots a game.

Pitino needs to convince this team of an identity in a hurry. Nebraska is a MUST win. Everything will look different if we beat them. Then we'd have the rest of December to work out the issues and grow this collection into a team. Good talent, but no NBA players so they have to gel as a team.
 
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cjbfbp said:
I agree with everything you've said except that I'm not sure this is even an NIT team. I said before the season that I'd be OK with him remaining the coach if the team makes the NIT (and probably wins a game or two).
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With a NIT run I could understand the argument he should keep his job.

With the rest of his resume it wouldn’t be enough for me 6 years in.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

When are we gonna not blame Pitino for this my God. We have Murphy, mcbrayer, and coffey who are upperclassmen who are all pretty much all big ten players and for the most part we get nothing out of them at times. We should be getting 50 points a night from these three. In my opinion Pitino looks bad as a coach because these three cant be consistent and step up to the table on every night. Is Pitino supposed to hold these guys hands every night? One of these days the big boys will step up every night and not every other game. Every other game doesnt work!
 

The overall talent on this team is good enough to make the NCAA tournament but the sloppy mental stuff (which reflects poorly on Pitino) has got to stop and the PG situation needs stability. Agree with most of what BGA said above.
 



CPTMidnight said:
I suppose... we got smoked, on the road, to a good #16 team and its time to give cjbfpb and LesBolstad their new coach. At least they will be making excuses for the next 4 years until they end up turning on Muss for not winning quickly enough. You should start working on your complaining about Muss now.

Its too bad we can't make fan trades - We could trade those two, some cash for a walk on fan over at Wiscy...
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cjbfbp said:
I didn't say he should get fired tonight. I said he should be fired if this team tanks for the 4th time in six years. I (and most others) think that is fair. If you have some sort of man crush for him, that is your problem.
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Naw, I just think its funny how you guys only come out after a bad showing. Where were you on Friday? Were you saving up the negative stuff for the next loss and today is the day - finally, time for some negativity. I guess you have to take what you can get. Pace yourselves so you don't overplay your hand. There be plenty more positive and negative stuff this season. Hopefully more positive...
 

We are an incredible 5-43 from three point range in our two losses. Teams are going to give us those. They are going to try to prevent Kalsheur from 3s but otherwise they are going to concentrate on stopping Murphy inside. If the coaches and the other players don't make them pay for that strategy it will be a tough year.
 

gophereric30 said:
When are we gonna not blame Pitino for this my God. We have Murphy, mcbrayer, and coffey who are upperclassmen who are all pretty much all big ten players and for the most part we get nothing out of them at times. We should be getting 50 points a night from these three. In my opinion Pitino looks bad as a coach because these three cant be consistent and step up to the table on every night. Is Pitino supposed to hold these guys hands every night? One of these days the big boys will step up every night and not every other game. Every other game doesnt work!
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Your right in the sense that players have to make plays but it is the coaches job to put a cohesive unit on the floor and mold a identity that becomes what the program is known for. After 5 years every successful coach has done that. It has to be a toughness,a precision, a blood letting defense, something. There is still not a single thing to point to. I really felt this team was poised to play great game tonight and will not give up after the opening conference game but it is alarming to be 31-60. That is historically bad and it is frustrating to watch other programs make great hires and build a identity and a foundation. Beat Nebraska
 

builtbadgers said:
Your right in the sense that players have to make plays but it is the coaches job to put a cohesive unit on the floor and mold a identity that becomes what the program is known for. After 5 years every successful coach has done that. It has to be a toughness,a precision, a blood letting defense, something. There is still not a single thing to point to. I really felt this team was poised to play great game tonight and will not give up after the opening conference game but it is alarming to be 31-60. That is historically bad and it is frustrating to watch other programs make great hires and build a identity and a foundation. Beat Nebraska
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We do put a great lineup out there. I know a coach at southern illinois that says we have a top 5 lineup talent wise in big ten. Why do we suck so bad? Why do we shoot 25% every first half. Why do we under achieve? Can blame it on Pitino, but upperclassmen should have this figured out and run the show.
 

Block M said:
The overall talent on this team is good enough to make the NCAA tournament but the sloppy mental stuff (which reflects poorly on Pitino) has got to stop and the PG situation needs stability. Agree with most of what BGA said above.
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Who are the above average Big Ten starters on this team? Murphy and who else? Coffey on occasion maybe, but that’s it. It’s just not a very talented team.
 

bga1 said:
We are not going to win many games with Coffey at point guard. It is time to start Washington and give him the keys under the condition that he moves that ball and his threes are only wide open, preferrably late in the clock. He needs to be a pass first PG. Pitino needs McBrayer to take one for the team and be the 6th man. Murphy needs to understand the value of staying in the game. The early fouls have to stop. They were done for when he got the two early fouls. Coffey needs to commit to rebounding. 3 rebounds for a big strong athletic kid like him is not good. He needs to go back to playing as part of a team. Curry will help this team a lot. Omersa will be good someday but he isn't ready (although the ally-oop was fun). Must get Kalsheur 10 shots a game.

Pitino needs to convince this team of an identity in a hurry. Nebraska is a MUST win. Everything will look different if we beat them. Then we'd have the rest of December to work out the issues and grow this collection into a team. Good talent, but no NBA players so they have to gel as a team.
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+1. As usual, Beeg, I agree with you.
 


Gold Vision said:
Who are the above average Big Ten starters on this team? Murphy and who else? Coffey on occasion maybe, but that’s it. It’s just not a very talented team.
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Agreed. Maybe one or two of the freshman later in their careers will be.
 

I'm not at practice, and I'm not in the huddle during games, so I don't know what Pitino and the coaches are telling these guys.

Some of this probably is on the coaches, but some of it is also on the players. as noted, a lot of the players on the Gophers are one-dimensional, or have a flaw in their game that other teams can scout and exploit.

My biggest issue is that this team goes into these offensive black holes for far too long - 5 or 6 minutes without making a FG against any decent opponent is going to kill you. when that happens, #1, the coach needs to be able to call a time out and set up something to run. #2, somebody on the court needs to take charge. ideally, that would be the PG, but the Gophers don't have a true PG on the roster. I'm starting to think Jelly is an undersized combo guard - at least at the major conference level.

next year's recruiting class needs to focus entirely on PG candidates and shooters. (maybe one of the 2 transfers sitting on the end of the bench will help in those areas).
 

Gold Vision said:
Who are the above average Big Ten starters on this team? Murphy and who else? Coffey on occasion maybe, but that’s it. It’s just not a very talented team.
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That's an interesting question. There are 14 teams and let's say that means that the top 28 players would be considered above average. Murphy is in there. Coffey I would think would be on the top 28 list. Kalsheur is a kid who might be in that category as the year goes along if his shooting skills remain as we have seen so far. Usually if you have two three really good players and a solid supporting cast you have an above average team. Oturu is going to be a great BigTen player some day but is a below average starting center right now. McBrayer is average for a BT starter. IW, if he were starting, is a below average (though he has better than average potential)

The Gopher Final Four team had 5 above average Big Ten players in Harris, Jackson, Jacobson, James and Thomas and the parts fit together great. Just a year prior they weren't good enough to get to the NCAAs...

I don't think we are expecting that but we have enough for a top 8 big Ten team which means an NCAA berth- but they have to be a team. Tonight they were not.
 

There are issues with complementarity on the team such that the sum of the whole is not much greater than the sum of the parts. I don't think its a chemistry issue, at least I hope not. Coffey plays hard on both ends of the court but might be trying to do too much on his own; McBrayer is playing poorly on offense, maybe because he's not getting the ball in the right spots; maybe he is distracted; IW needs Pitino to show faith in him to regain confidence, so on and so forth.

The other thing is that it is clear how much Reggie Lynch impacted this team when he was eligible. Probably half those bunnies OSU got tonight--or more--- were either erased or altered when Lynch was on the floor. Oturu can be a very good player but Lynch's shot blocking was truly unique and that ignited a lot of easy offense the other way.
 

Gold Vision said:
Who are the above average Big Ten starters on this team? Murphy and who else? Coffey on occasion maybe, but that’s it. It’s just not a very talented team.
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If there are not enough good players on this team to win that falls on the coach. I have seen plenty of coaches that have won big with less. There have been hundreds of posts about how great Coffey was, how incredible IW was, People acted like Stull was a stud. Play top 25 defense if your not good offensively !
 

Every team has a hierarchy. Players look to Murphy to lead them....when he is on the bench in foul trouble or not finishing we look lost. We look to Coffey next and Coffey is flat out playing poorly...he certainly is not making his teammates better. In the half court offense the ball just stops when it gets to him and nothing good happens. Thosw two guys have to be consistent leaders and scorers. Plus, we are not going to win many games bricking free throw after free throw.
The referees were disgustingly ridiculously horrible....it is really hard to figure out what to do when they are that inconsistent and maddening. It's just another game you gotta forget about.

Yes, absolutely we have to play better. We need a better mindset....there was too much bickering...very little nurturing. Bad coaching, bad body language, bad execution from jump street.
Again, I feel it was a scheduling problem...we had a "big" game late late Friday night...then we we hop on a plane and prepare for Ohio State...too much too quick. They looked tired, frustrated, confused three minutes in...yeah that was caused by the refs but we didn't respond to the situation at all. Unprepared, nothing in the tank.
 

The team looked in disarray and out of sync. Body language of the players tells it all. We don't have strong power forwards/center presence that can exert a strong inside game to free up outside perimeter shooters or penetrating guards.

The ball movement looked disorganized and the players looked tentative at times. A true point guard leader was absent.

Give credit to Ohio State recruiting. It is apparent they had better talent level overall.
 

60's Guy said:
Every team has a hierarchy. Players look to Murphy to lead them....when he is on the bench in foul trouble or not finishing we look lost. We look to Coffey next and Coffey is flat out playing poorly...he certainly is not making his teammates better. In the half court offense the ball just stops when it gets to him and nothing good happens. Thosw two guys have to be consistent leaders and scorers. Plus, we are not going to win many games bricking free throw after free throw.
The referees were disgustingly ridiculously horrible....it is really hard to figure out what to do when they are that inconsistent and maddening. It's just another game you gotta forget about.

Yes, absolutely we have to play better. We need a better mindset....there was too much bickering...very little nurturing. Bad coaching, bad body language, bad execution from jump street.
Again, I feel it was a scheduling problem...we had a "big" game late late Friday night...then we we hop on a plane and prepare for Ohio State...too much too quick. They looked tired, frustrated, confused three minutes in...yeah that was caused by the refs but we didn't respond to the situation at all. Unprepared, nothing in the tank.
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Ya, jump all over PJ every chance you get and then come up with all sorts of excuses for Pitino. This is a poorly coached team right now. Still feel they will get it together for a .500 season but everybody needs to be better--starting with the coach.
 

bga1 said:
That's an interesting question. There are 14 teams and let's say that means that the top 28 players would be considered above average.
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We probably could be a little more generous in classifying players as "above average." With 14 teams there are 182 scholarship players. If we broke them into quadrants, there are roughly 45 in each quadrant so we could say the highest quadrant of 45 players might be above average. Even with an expanded definition, I'm not sure we have more than two on our team though.

If you're talking about "stars" then the number is much lower. We have one on our team and some teams have none.
 

Mulligan said:
This is a poorly coached team right now. Still feel they will get it together for a .500 season but everybody needs to be better--starting with the coach.
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Given that we are likely to be 10-1 in non-conference, a .500 season (say 16-15) would mean we had a conference record of 6-14, definitely below most fans' expectations going into the season.
 

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