PiPress: Mason, Morris giving Minnesota a freshman boost

[BleedGopher]

per Marcus (who doesn't write the headlines, and apparently whomever does, doesn't realize that Morris isn't a freshman)

The 2014 recruiting class of Gophers basketball coach ranked near the bottom of the Big Ten, but guards Nate Mason and Carlos Morris already have proven that those rankings were off the mark.

If not for Pitino's two top newcomers, the Gophers (10-2) likely wouldn't be carrying a seven-game winning streak into Saturday's nonconference finale against UNC Wilmington (5-4) at Williams Arena.

Morris, a junior starter, is averaging 12.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.4 steals. Mason, a freshman reserve, is averaging 10.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.2 steals.

Mason and Morris have a shot to be the Gophers' first pair of newcomers to average double figures in points in the same season since Mark Landsberger and Mark Olberding in 1974-75.

"I feel like we've made a pretty good impact," Mason said. "We just have to keep getting better and better every day and improving our weaknesses and help the team the best we can do."

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci...rce=rss&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Go Gophers!!

 

[DeathClutch]

The way both of them have been playing gives me a little more hope that next year may not be as much of a rebuilding year that we thought it would be.

 

[bga1]

I was looking at the performances of Vaughn and Jones the other day and wondering - what if. Obviously Jones is off the charts and would have helped for sure. Vaughn will be a big time pro but for efficiency, Morris and Mason are right there with him when you look at steals, assists and shooting percentages. Really, the guy we needed to get that would have launched this team to another level is Reid Travis. Mason and Morris have been great additions.

 

[Winasota Gopher]

I was looking at the performances of Vaughn and Jones the other day and wondering - what if. Obviously Jones is off the charts and would have helped for sure. Vaughn will be a big time pro but for efficiency, Morris and Mason are right there with him when you look at steals, assists and shooting percentages. Really, the guy we needed to get that would have launched this team to another level is Reid Travis. Mason and Morris have been great additions.

Not only because he was the only realistic chance we had, but because he filled a major need, Reid was the one that hurt the most. Seriously was SAD about him choosing Stanford.

 

[SelectionSunday]

Yep. Knowing what we know now, specifically Mason's emergence and lack of quality depth on the front line, of the Big 3 Travis is the guy that would look really good on this roster. Jones would look great on any roster, obviously, but kind of glad Vaughn and his handler went to UNLV.

Macura (another shooter) would look good on this roster, too.

 

[SKOOKM]

If Amelia Rayno had the same title for an article she would be ridiculed endlessly.

 

[Winasota Gopher]

If Amelia Rayno had the same title for an article she would be ridiculed endlessly.

I thought it was her article because she's already made that mistake. Didn't bother saying anything as we all feel sorry for her.

 

[jamalo]

Others have said it on the board, and I also hope that we bring in at least 1 JUCO big for next year Morris and Mason plus the newcomers will form an exciting (if inconsistent) core but I'm worried about the depth and experience that we'll have in the frontcourt

 

[Winasota Gopher]

Others have said it on the board, and I also hope that we bring in at least 1 JUCO big for next year Morris and Mason plus the newcomers will form an exciting (if inconsistent) core but I'm worried about the depth and experience that we'll have in the frontcourt

Mo has been a plus leftover from the prior regime. This offensive scheme does my recruit for that type of player. Unless Pitino adapts to continue having a bigger big like mo but i would expect to see multiple tweeters rather than the conventional big 10 post. Point being is I'm expecting us to be consistently concerned with front court depth in the sense we don't have a point scoring option in the post. I'm not concerned as long as they can rebound, bakery can, now the question will be can gas?

Like I said though, Richard could completely change the "style" to accommodate his conference style and be more flexible with that.

 

[MinneStoa]

I'm not concerned as long as they can rebound, bakery can, now the question will be can gas?

Just my two cents from today's game, but Bakary looked absolutely terrible in terms of rebounding. At least a couple times during the game, he had an easy rebound that either slipped through his hands or was swatted away.

I have no problem believing that he'll get stronger and be able to pull in those easy boards. But as it stands right now, I'm not sure I'd say that he's a good rebounder.

 

[underground629]

Apparently you missed this: "per Marcus (who doesn't write the headlines, and apparently whomever does, doesn't realize that Morris isn't a freshman)."

If Amelia Rayno had the same title for an article she would be ridiculed endlessly.