PP: Are Niko Medved’s Gophers an NCAA tournament team?

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BleedGopher

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Per Greder:

Can Medved’s second squad break a seven-year drought and reach March Madness in 2027? They will need to stay healthier in order to make a jump in Year 2.

“Boy, it’s hard to say,” Medved replied. “I mean, that’s obviously the goal. You (reporters) will get tired of me. Every year, no matter what anyone’s expectations are, if somebody says we’re preseason this or that, I’ve been picked to win the league. I’ve been picked in the bottom of the league in every place I’ve been."

www.twincities.com

Are Niko Medved’s Gophers an NCAA tournament team?

Minnesota returns five players and added talent through the transfer portal.
www.twincities.com www.twincities.com

Go Gophers!!
 

We don't have the game experience as we did last year.. my initial thought is no... If medved can get the production out of this roster like he did last year I think we sneak in. I'm not counting on it for another season however
 

Off-GridTNgopher said:
We don't have the game experience as we did last year.. my initial thought is no... If medved can get the production out of this roster like he did last year I think we sneak in. I'm not counting on it for another season however
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I agree that we are not a lock but have the coach who could sneak us in there, but explain to me how we have less experience going into this year than last.
 





Off-GridTNgopher said:
Because the players medved brought in his first year had a lot more in game experience
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Trade off is he has a few guys who return that had starter/sixman type of minutes in the bigten, he also brought in two guys who played a lot of minutes in the ACC and the Big East. They should be okay in that regard, it's not clear who will step up and be the alpha, but Nikos CSU teams also had a record of guys setting better both in season and from season to season, Roddy, Stephens, Tonje, Clifford weren't alphas when they walked in, but turn themselves into those types of players as they got older. Will be on the bubble I think, but we will be playing meaningful basketball in February.
 

My feeling is this season we will be better than last, but it's really the following year when our high-upside younger guys should be ready for prime time & we could be dangerous. Obviously we'll lose some of these guys to the portal or attrition but on paper we could go nine-deep that would all be upperclassmen.

Asuma Sr
Evans Sr (5th year)
JCJ Sr (5th year)
Durkin Sr (5th year)
Grove r-Jr
Kordel Jr
Palmer Sr
Shinholster Sr
Groves Sr
Grady r-So
Anderson So
Mpoyi So
 

The bad news is the team is unlikely to have anyone as talented as Cade Tyson. The good news is that it's unlikely that injuries are going to deplete the roster down to six playable guys. The tourney will have 76 teams next year and Medved can coach. Unless he puts together another putrid preseason schedule, ten B1G wins gets him in comfortably.

I say yes.
 



I don’t think they are. I think Niko will get more out of the talent on the roster than most coaches, but in my opinion the talent has not been upgraded enough. Maybe one of the newcomers surprises though…
 

I think we’re bubbly, and in Niko’s Year 2, unless we’re ravaged by injuries, we need to be bubbly. Being bubbly represents upward trajectory. If we’re not at worst a bubble team, we probably wound up in the 7-9 B10 wins range again, and it means the talent level didn’t upgrade enough. And for all of Niko’s tactical acumen, with no upward trajectory, NIL is not likely to change, buzz around the program won’t grow, and there’s just no reason to expect a talent upgrade in Year 3 either. And I think building for Year 3 is a doomed strategy - assume everyone who doesn’t get playing time leaves + Durkin + JCJ + 1 unpleasant surprise. These days, the future is always now.

Having said that, I hold out hope that we’re a better team and the conference isn’t quite as good. While the B10 floor is improving, the ceiling has to lower.
 

FritoPendejo said:
I think we’re bubbly, and in Niko’s Year 2, unless we’re ravaged by injuries, we need to be bubbly. Being bubbly represents upward trajectory. If we’re not at worst a bubble team, we probably wound up in the 7-9 B10 wins range again, and it means the talent level didn’t upgrade enough. And for all of Niko’s tactical acumen, with no upward trajectory, NIL is not likely to change, buzz around the program won’t grow, and there’s just no reason to expect a talent upgrade in Year 3 either. And I think building for Year 3 is a doomed strategy - assume everyone who doesn’t get playing time leaves + Durkin + JCJ + 1 unpleasant surprise. These days, the future is always now.

Having said that, I hold out hope that we’re a better team and the conference isn’t quite as good. While the B10 floor is improving, the ceiling has to lower.
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Spot on. This is a huge year for the program to really begin to change course.
 

I think we are definitely a bubble team. Most experts didn't rank us very high in our transfer ranking, but we saw firsthand what Niko did with a patchwork limited roster last year. Not many coaches could have coaxed 15 wins out of that roster with the injuries we dealt with. Niko addressed major needs and retained a lot of our core. I see us with 20, 21 wins potentially. This team has more depth and height in the front court.
 



gopherbadgerman said:
I don’t think they are. I think Niko will get more out of the talent on the roster than most coaches, but in my opinion the talent has not been upgraded enough. Maybe one of the newcomers surprises though…
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A sentiment occasionally expressed in the past was that NCAA basketball was a coaches' game while the NBA was a players' game. I do wonder in the age of unlimited free agency and well-paid college players if the NCAA has become less of a coaches' game and more of a players' game.

I'm often reminded of the venerable Dean Smith's words in an interview after he retired: "I'd call a timeout and diagram a play. Now, whether the ball went in the hoop or not, well, that's where recruiting came in."

The trouble right now is that we simply do not have enough information to get a good idea of how much this team may be improved. Sure, having more healthy bodies should help but last year's team actually played better after the active scholarship roster was reduced to 7 players. Perhaps there is something to be said for the greater familiarity between players and the fact that everybody is needed and will play.

It would be easier to feel more confidence if we recruited a demonstrated producer like we got with Tyson and, to a lesser extent, with Reynolds last season. Two of our recruits were freshmen on a loaded national championship team and there were few minutes for them. They could be good but we simply don't know much about their effectiveness at the collegiate level. If nothing else, Kordell is definitely bigger than anyone we've had in a long time. Reynolds took a big jump from his soph to junior year and perhaps Palmer could do the same. He's already shown that he's a good shooter but hasn't generated impressive numbers in anything else so far.
 
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JZABR said:
This team has more depth and height in the front court.
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Compared to last year's team once the roster of active scholarship players was reduced to 7 players, absolutely. The only players who could be called 4s or 5s were JCJ and Grove and then we had just Grove. Still, there are only 4 players that you could call 4s or 5s on this team (Durkin doesn't count and I doubt Palmer does either). I would call that about the minimum for most P4 rosters. Granted, we do have the tallest player we've had in some time.
 

Niko can make it happen but even he isn't sure in June if they can make the tournament. Jon Rothstein has a Top 45 in the country he updates daily for Fanduel. 12 Big Ten teams are in his Top 37 teams ...12 Big Ten teams might make the tourney? Would the Gophers be in any of these guys Top 100? So, the Gophers starting line is well back to get into that pack of 12. But, Maryland didn't make his list...that'd be a solid 13 if they get the big guy a waiver or probably even without.
Rothstein Too many teams better than the Gophers on paper. Very tough schedule to find 8 Big Ten wins... maybe Winters Grady is Keaton Wagler?
 

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