Pitino's Offensive Style

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XMan

XMan

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With Pitino saying he wants to run more of an up and down, push the pace offense, which players do you feel will really benefit from that? I can see great benefits for Andre and also for Wally to grow and showcase some of his athleticism.
 


Joe is significantly better in an uptempo game. Would imagine Austin and Buggs will like it as well. This roster is built for a fast-paced offense.
 

I hope it is true that the Gophers get out and push the pace, but we've heard that line for a long time around here. Joe Coleman is a completely different player in an up and down game than he is in a half court game. He benefits more than any player on the team from a more wide open game. Andre Hollins benefits from not having to face a "set" defense as well. Whoever ends up playing PF will benefit from a faster paced game because their advantage (if they have one) will be speed over whoever is playing the PF at most B1G schools.

I think Austin is the one guy on the roster who seems similarly comfortable playing in both the half court and the open court.

Obviously, Mo Walker will struggle with a faster pace unless he really transforms his body this off season. Elliott runs the floor ok, but he's still 7 foot and can't consistently run for a long stretch.

With the way the roster stands now, the Gophers certainly don't profile as a physical/tough team, so their best chance to win will be to push the pace through the "superior conditioning" that Richard Pitino espouses. They'll need to attempt to grind teams down by running them, thus making fatigue a factor. Time will tell if the Gophers can find a way to dictate such a pace and if they will have enough guys on the roster that are able to play that style.
 

I agree with most of EG#9's post. I actually think Elliot is great at running the floor (for a 7ft big man). There were a few times in B10 play where he beat good big men (Zeller, Berggren) down court and got a layup in transition or on the secondary break
 



Unless Pitino can get some good new players in here this spring he may be forced to play the same style as Tubby his first year because this roster has no depth. Huge drop off when Dre, Austin and Joe go to the bench and a running team needs fresh legs.
 

I don't want to be a downer, but being an up and down team is easier said than done in the big ten. I love the hire, but I'm keeping my expectations a little lower for the first few years.
 

If you consider that Tubby talked about wanting to play like that, it's not surprising that his roster is basically constructed of pieces better suited for the wide open attack. The only missing piece is a true point guard, which unfortunately is a crucial piece. Dre is solid, but if he was combo'd up with a pure ball handler where it wasn't on him to have both duties all game, it would really diversify our attack. And jamiche is right, there is an issue with dropoff at the bench. Maybe Pitino can find a little more out of those guys, they say he relates to players quite well.

Let's not fool ourselves though, it's unlikely in conference play you're just gonna see us flying all over the place. It's just not common in B1G play that teams can do that with regularity. But by early accounts, it appears Pitino might have a little "adjustability" to his coaching, something we've been disappointed with in the past. I'll be interested to see how he attacks things in conference.
 



Love the up and down style of play just don't think we possess the pure point guard to be highly efficient.
 

An up and down team needs a stud rebounder so the guards know that they can release. There isn't one on this roster.
 

Maybe we can pick up a few more players to help fill those voids.
 

My guess is that Mo Walker, after a summer of practice under Richie will show up at Midnight Madness weighing in at about 220 lbs. He will devistate the 3 pt contest. Unfortunately he will then claim it was Jenny Craig's doing and will leave the team for a $10 million TV advertising contract.
 



ncgo4 said:
My guess is that Mo Walker, after a summer of practice under Richie will show up at Midnight Madness weighing in at about 220 lbs. He will devistate the 3 pt contest. Unfortunately he will then claim it was Jenny Craig's doing and will leave the team for a $10 million TV advertising contract.
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Nice like subway jerad.
 

jaymil said:
I don't want to be a downer, but being an up and down team is easier said than done in the big ten. I love the hire, but I'm keeping my expectations a little lower for the first few years.
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Yeah, being in the Big 10, people should expect us to play faster, but we won't be playing at an incredibly fast pace. As long as it's faster, it gives some of the Big 10 teams problems. But you're right, it's hard to run in the Big 10 (teams crash the offensive boards and slow down the game).
 

jamiche said:
Unless Pitino can get some good new players in here this spring he may be forced to play the same style as Tubby his first year because this roster has no depth. Huge drop off when Dre, Austin and Joe go to the bench and a running team needs fresh legs.
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I think we have the depth to run. We have a lot of guys who can play multiple positions. Our biggest area of concern with depth is going to be at the #4 and #5. I expect to see Oto pretty much getting his minutes as a stretch 4 (assuming he remembers how to shoot), we have Buggs, Foster, and Elliot.
 

Boys need to spend offseason working on shooting and ball handling. Just go and play boys, don't think so much.
 

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