Pitino post game presser - Was worried about Omaha, they made the Gophers better

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Winasota Gopher said:
The lineup of Mason, Morris, Buggs, Murphy, King isn't that "small" it just plays really small, which is quite unfortunate.

You put Dorsey out there instead of Morris and then you get a bit smaller, but only in the backcourt. There aren't a lot of teams that are bigger than a 6'9" 3, 6'6" (long) 4 and a 6'9" 5.
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6'9" 5?
 

Moonlight said:
I'm liking what I see from McBrayer - some great defensive plays and pressure last night - which this team really needs. Sometimes being present at the games makes a big difference in evaluating play - seeing the away from the ball contributions. Or lack thereof.

It was great to see the freshmen trio out there for lengthy minutes gaining confidence. Great decision on Pitino's part imo.
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Same here. I think before we enter the BT we will see McBrayer have a breakout game where he scores an efficient 10-14 points and gets 3 or 4 assists. His shot just hasn't been there at all but you can see the potential. His defense (and lack of deep competition for PT) will get him on the court enough to have chances. I like that Pitino plays the hot hand. Not to bring up a negative about Tubby (alert, Tubby defenders), but it drove me crazy when we had a player going off and the hockey sub came in and stalled the offense.
 

MadtownGopher said:
I think Dorsey's play thus far has been extremely encouraging. Sometimes I think people on this board forget how difficult it can be for a PG to come in as a freshman and play heavy minutes. Which is odd considering we had to deal with Maverick Ahamisi, who couldn't even handle PG duties as a senior. Dorsey does not seem phased one bit by the big stage. He has a very good handle, even better quickness, and his shot seems to be coming around a little bit. His D is already above average as well. I think he's going to turn into quite the weapon off the bench by the end of the season, particularly against teams that lack a solid back up PG.
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Agreed. As long as he plays within himself on offense, he should help us out a lot this year. He can change games defensively individually and by his effort being contagious. He just needs to avoid dribbling into too much traffic and forcing difficult and/or quick shots. I hope he continues to limit the number of contested shots away from the rim like he did against Clemson
 

go_gophers said:
I'm very excited about the possibilities on both ends of the floor moving forward. Adding long, versatile athletes like Coffey, Curry and Hurt (heard he's an underrated defender...is that true?) can only help. I like the idea of throwing out a lineup of mostly 6'6" to 6'9" athletes that can switch any time and still have some perimeter scoring punch. There's a lot of lineup flexibility.

Just for fun line-up that could switch on anything and probably cause a lot of problems:

Coffey
Buggs
Fitzgerald
Murphy
Curry

I know there's a lack of ball handling to help Coffey, but that's still a pretty neat set of athletes that could cause issues.

Side note: Would anyone be surprised or upset if Diedhiou and/or Gilbert transfer after this year?
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That is a lot of length, athleticism, and versatility. That will certainly help our zone and press.

I honestly don't think either will transfer, especially not Gilbert. I feel like he probably knew coming in that he wasn't going to get much playing time this year, and I think he will get some chances throughout the year. Pitino has shown that he will give everyone a chance, even in BT games. I don't think Gas will transfer because I don't think he will find a good program or conference to transfer to.
 

rrjackIII said:
Just to get in a good word about Gaston: He has looked good to me in his limited minutes the last 2 games. In 5 minutes of playing time he has 4 pts 2 rbs and 1 blk. Check out his bucket at 11:45 in the 1st half if you can. It should have made the hilite reel imo. He has been active on defense too. Hopefully NO defections this year. If you are looking for spots to open up it would be next year when the only departing senior is Buggs. That's when you might want some room for more scholarships imo.
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Gaston has certainly shown a few impressive moments. He does have size, strength, and athleticism; however, he has so many awful moments that it's hard to see him being consistent anytime soon. I could see him developing into an Andre Ingram, who wasn't all that bad (besides the missed dunks that drove us all nuts). When he does get into games, he mainly needs to focus on his defense and rebounding effort. He should be able to score a few buckets simply from hustle.
 



A lot of people have their minds made up about a lot of things only 7 games into the season. This should be titled the Josh Martin thread.
 

dtrain19 said:
A lot of people have their minds made up about a lot of things only 7 games into the season. This should be titled the Josh Martin thread.
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Enjoy the excitement while you can. No reason fretting a future loss when you can enjoy the positive energy right now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

underground629 said:
6'9" 5?
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Not that far off of a lot of teams not named Purdue. Wisconsin is starting a 6-9 center, MSU is starting a 6-10 center(D. Davis), OSU(6-10), Nebraska(6-10), Michigan(playing 4 gaurds with a 6-9 f), Rutgers (6-9), Penn st. 6-10, Illinois (was 6-11, now 6-10). Purdue, Iowa, and Northwestern all have 7' centers and Indiana and Maryland are listed at 6'11". As such a 6'9" 5 can at least defend, height wise, 8/13th of the other BIG teams with no issues and one could argue for being close enough to defend 10/13 comfortably
 



Tim1406 said:
Not that far off of a lot of teams not named Purdue. Wisconsin is starting a 6-9 center, MSU is starting a 6-10 center(D. Davis), OSU(6-10), Nebraska(6-10), Michigan(playing 4 gaurds with a 6-9 f), Rutgers (6-9), Penn st. 6-10, Illinois (was 6-11, now 6-10). Purdue, Iowa, and Northwestern all have 7' centers and Indiana and Maryland are listed at 6'11". As such a 6'9" 5 can at least defend, height wise, 8/13th of the other BIG teams with no issues and one could argue for being close enough to defend 10/13 comfortably
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Also, it's not like Konate isn't going to see the floor. He and Gaston played 20 minutes against Clemson.
 


fan of Ray Williams said:
Also, it's not like Konate isn't going to see the floor. He and Gaston played 20 minutes against Clemson.
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Konate's biggest problem is not ability. He has it. Right now- he's just not instinctive. Slow to defensive position and slow to roll to the spot on offense. He could have had a couple of buckets on nice passes had he been more instinctive. He's thinking. He's going to get better as the year goes on and he will help us a lot this year and in the years ahead.
 

bemidjigopher said:
Mbakwe was like 6'8" He did alright at the five
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Yeah, Mbakwe has a ridiculous combination of length and athleticism though. His wingspan is 7'4 and he has a 36" vert. Joey has alligator arms and doesn't have a great vert. Still, he is a great offensive player, but those two things hinder him defense and rebounding wise.
 



DeathClutch said:
Yeah, Mbakwe has a ridiculous combination of length and athleticism though. His wingspan is 7'4 and he has a 36" vert. Joey has alligator arms and doesn't have a great vert. Still, he is a great offensive player, but those two things hinder him defense and rebounding wise.
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True not making the case for Joey just pointing out it can be done with the right player. Heck Murphy might be able do it, 6'6" is really cutting it close. Buggs would be able to pull it off better than Joey
 


Tim1406 said:
Not that far off of a lot of teams not named Purdue. Wisconsin is starting a 6-9 center, MSU is starting a 6-10 center(D. Davis), OSU(6-10), Nebraska(6-10), Michigan(playing 4 gaurds with a 6-9 f), Rutgers (6-9), Penn st. 6-10, Illinois (was 6-11, now 6-10). Purdue, Iowa, and Northwestern all have 7' centers and Indiana and Maryland are listed at 6'11". As such a 6'9" 5 can at least defend, height wise, 8/13th of the other BIG teams with no issues and one could argue for being close enough to defend 10/13 comfortably
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I see what you're saying but King certainly isn't 6'9" and doesn't exactly have the athletic ability to make up for his height.
 

underground629 said:
You don't actually think that's accurate, do you? What do your eyes tell you? Mine tell me he's a slightly undersized 4.
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Joey is tall, I don't know if he's 6'9" or not, neither do you. I don't trust anyones listed heights, but what does it matter? Of course he isn't a 5, and of course he doesn't "play" 6'9", my comment was in regard to our lineup being "small", when in reality, it's actually quite big/long by numbers alone at 3 (4 if Morris plays the 2) spots on a consistent basis.
 

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