PiPress: Young team's struggles figure to continue in Big Ten play, but there's hope

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Marcus:

The Gophers could be underdogs going into every game the rest of the season. They're among the worst teams in Division I in several statistical categories, most notably ranking 309th nationally in three-point shooting defense (38.8 percent), 254th in rebounding margin (minus-2.2) and 270th in field-goal shooting (41.4 percent).

Those weaknesses were first exposed in Puerto Rico in losses to Temple and former Minnesota coach Tubby Smith's Texas Tech team. Then they were further exploited by quality mid-major teams at the Barn.

A lack of experience made matters worse.

But Minnesota isn't even the youngest team in the Big Ten. Wisconsin, Rutgers and Ohio State are actually younger, so blaming that can only go so far.

"The lack of experience is always going to be there," freshman forward Jordan Murphy said. "The truth is we are young. We accept that. It's a challenge. ... I think we have to trust the process, like our coaching staff always says. It's a long process, but it's going to be worth it in the end."

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

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
per Marcus:

The Gophers could be underdogs going into every game the rest of the season. They're among the worst teams in Division I in several statistical categories, most notably ranking 309th nationally in three-point shooting defense (38.8 percent), 254th in rebounding margin (minus-2.2) and 270th in field-goal shooting (41.4 percent).

Those weaknesses were first exposed in Puerto Rico in losses to Temple and former Minnesota coach Tubby Smith's Texas Tech team. Then they were further exploited by quality mid-major teams at the Barn.

A lack of experience made matters worse.

But Minnesota isn't even the youngest team in the Big Ten. Wisconsin, Rutgers and Ohio State are actually younger, so blaming that can only go so far.

"The lack of experience is always going to be there," freshman forward Jordan Murphy said. "The truth is we are young. We accept that. It's a challenge. ... I think we have to trust the process, like our coaching staff always says. It's a long process, but it's going to be worth it in the end."

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

Go Gophers!!
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I knew Wisconsin lost some great players, but I didn't know that they and Ohio State were younger than the Gophers. That doesn't paint us in a good light at all.
What is making our growing pains so much worse?
 

MennoSota said:
I knew Wisconsin lost some great players, but I didn't know that they and Ohio State were younger than the Gophers. That doesn't paint us in a good light at all.
What is making our growing pains so much worse?
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Well for starters, we only have ten scholarship players for the season, and a few of those players are extremely raw. That really limits your options. The two Seniors we have are very flawed basketball players. Joey is not very athletic, which makes him a poor rebounder and defender. He is one of the worst rebounders, at the PF position, in the entire NCAA. Morris is a very bad defender as well and when his shot isn't falling, he will shoot you out of games. Our only other upperclassman has talent, but still has too many mental lapses. Buggs gets lost on defense way too much for my liking.

We have some nice young pieces in Mason, Dorsey, and Murphy. I hesitate to put Dupree in that group, because his shooting has been abysmal so far. He does some nice things on defense, but if he doesn't improve his shot, he is going to get less playing time next year, when we add Amir, Fitzgerald, and Hurt to the mix on the wing.
 

Very little inside presence, which we knew would be a problem, is a back breaker. The B1G season looks very challenging because virtually every team will have a superior post player.
 

MennoSota said:
I knew Wisconsin lost some great players, but I didn't know that they and Ohio State were younger than the Gophers. That doesn't paint us in a good light at all.
What is making our growing pains so much worse?
Click to expand...

That is a little deceiving, Wisconsin has two juniors in Koenig and Hayes that are ahead of anyone on the Gophers, they also have Brown who is a Junior that is starting, depth wise they are young but they have more quality experienced players than the Gophers.
 



jovs said:
That is a little deceiving, Wisconsin has two juniors in Koenig and Hayes that are ahead of anyone on the Gophers, they also have Brown who is a Junior that is starting, depth wise they are young but they have more quality experienced players than the Gophers.
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Good point. The inside presence hurts but to me the biggest problem with this and it seems like every team we have had for years is three point shooting and three point shooting defense. In today's game that is what defines a team's success. How going back to Tubby we can assemble such poor shooters without the foot speed to defend the perimeter is amazing? You can compete without great post players but not without shooters. In regards to young players it would seem to be a better excuse we have too many bad players. Next year is make or break for Pitino so not much sense in chewing on firing him after every game.
 

Not much hope for this year. I'm more coffeydent about next year though
 

with all due respect - the "wait till next year's recruiting class gets here" argument gets old after a while. People were excited about this year's recruiting class, and so far, only Murphy is really making an impact, with Dorsey showing some promise. Mc Brayer has a ways to go, and Gilbert can't get off the bench.

What makes anyone think next year's recruiting class is going to walk in and make an immediate impact next year? I would bet that Lynch has more impact immediately than any of the FR.
 



Isn't Coffey one of the top High School players in the nation and our best recruit since Royce, or maybe Humphries ? Lynch and Fitzerald should be starters along with Coffey. Mason and Murphy along with them should give us a much different look than this year. There is a couple of guys that should be asked to leave and maybe add another player and the talent level should be much higher along with more experience especially because of the transfers. Curry could be a huge addition as well.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
with all due respect - the "wait till next year's recruiting class gets here" argument gets old after a while.
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What blackhammer said, just Amir from the incoming group. I don't expect much from hurt and curry until they are juniors
 

Amir

Amir has a chance to be a McDonald's All American. He will be one of our top 3 players next year as a freshmen. He will be our best passer, most versatile defender. Unfortunately he is not yet a 3pt shooter. Curry could help by his sophomore year after adding 20lbs.

GopherOhana said:
What blackhammer said, just Amir from the incoming group. I don't expect much from hurt and curry until they are juniors
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march madness said:
Amir has a chance to be a McDonald's All American. He will be one of our top 3 players next year as a freshmen. He will be our best passer, most versatile defender. Unfortunately he is not yet a 3pt shooter. Curry could help by his sophomore year after adding 20lbs.
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True, I could see Curry playing 10-15 minutes next year. Like McBrayer he could be a player once he balks up. Hurt probably won't get a ton of run next year, but should be solid rotation guy as an upperclassmen. Amir is a stud!
 



Reading that OSU and Wisconsin are younger than the Gophers made me laugh! The talent level of their few upper classmen is so much higher than Morris, King and Buggs. If Lynch and Fitzgerald were eligible this season, you could argue that not one of those three would start. Lynch will be a much better defensive anchor next year and Coffee and Fitz will add length and quickness to our perimeter defense instead of just speed.

However, if Pitino doesn't get them in the right sets it most likely won't matter. I've been dissatisfied with the Gophers offense since Clem left. Passing around the perimeter with little movement until late in the shot clock sucks! We need rebounding so we can break more!
 

bemidjigopher said:
True, I could see Curry playing 10-15 minutes next year. Like McBrayer he could be a player once he balks up. Hurt probably won't get a ton of run next year, but should be solid rotation guy as an upperclassmen. Amir is a stud!
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Hurt may be the best shooter on campus next year. He'll get some playing time because of that. How much he gets will depend on how well he plays defense.
 

Otis said:
However, if Pitino doesn't get them in the right sets it most likely won't matter. I've been dissatisfied with the Gophers offense since Clem left. Passing around the perimeter with little movement until late in the shot clock sucks! We need rebounding so we can break more!
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It also won't matter if we keep letting people have both wide open threes and back door cuts over and over. Defense is the thing I've been most disappointed in. I've sort of resigned myself to the fact Pitino isn't going to be able to deliver on the pressing, disruptive defense that generates points on turnovers. For all the B.S. about getting "longer and more athletic", there's very little evidence that's going to be effective. Only tangible so far is absolutely no inside game and horsesh*t rebounding.
 

BOUNDOUTPASSDUNK said:
Very little inside presence, which we knew would be a problem, is a back breaker. The B1G season looks very challenging because virtually every team will have a superior post player.
Click to expand...

Might have to come up with a new adjective to do this justice. Saying other teams will have post players superior to ours falls short of the mark. Someone else commented about King's lack of athleticism handicapping his rebounding stats as a power forward. At least Joey has some positive attributes. Our centers have to be bottom end of on every defensive AND offensive statistic.
 

We have yet to see an athletic team without muscle and skill win anything in the big ten. A team needs size/muscle/weight in this league. You need to battle for spots to rebound, you need to set physical picks. Be physically strong to get bumped and not lose the ball. One underrated quality of our final four team was the physical size of C James, J Thomas, and Winter. I haven't seen Lynch play but I hope he is that type of player, because we need it!
 

You need to have size/weight/muscle in the frontcourt in the big ten, not only for position and rebounds but for things like setting picks. You have to be physically strong to get bumped and not lose the ball. One underrated quality of our final four team was the physical size of C James, J Thomas, and Winter. I haven't seen Lynch play but I hope he is that type of player, because we need it!
 

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