Realistic goals before the start of the season?

[SelectionSunday]

Before the season started, I set 6 goals for this Gopher team, all of which I thought were reachable, non-homer/maroon-and-gold-glasses expectations for an experienced squad. As you might imagine with a 3-7 conference record, the Gophers have major work to do to accomplish even 1 of these 6 goals:

The Goals
1. 3-1 record vs. Louisville, Saint John's/Georgia/Gonzaga, Wake Forest. (goal not met; Gophers go 2-2)

2. 16-2 record @ Williams Arena. (Gophers must win remaining 4 home games to achieve this one)

3. 6-7 road/neutral record (Gophers currently are 2-7 & need to win all 4 remaining road games to hit the mark)

4. Earn a "big boy" win on the road. Prior to the season a "big boy" win was defined as Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, or Michigan State. (the Gophers lost in Ann Arbor, but still have 3 opportunities in Iowa City, Madison, and East Lansing)

5. Advance to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals (at this point I think this one looks the most attainable; hopefully it only requires 2 wins to get there)

6. Advance to the NCAA Round of 32 (not holding my breath here)

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

You are right, when I think about who we returned and the momentum we had from last year, those all seem like they would have been pretty reasonable goals (number 1 might be a bit of a stretch, splitting against Gonzaga and Louisville would have been tough plus a chance to slip up against St. Johns and Wake Forest). This really illustrates how disappointing the season has been.

I know a lot of people think it is unfair to be as angry as I am about 3-7. However, I feel like if I would have said at the start of B1G play that I thought we would be 3-7 ten games in, those same people would have told me that my prediction was unreasonably pessimistic and I am a naysayer. Barring a major turnaround, this season is a failure and should be viewed as a black mark on Pitino's resume. Doesn't mean he won't have good seasons in the future and maybe even go down as one of the great Gopher coaches ever, and hopefully this is the low point for his time here.

 

[SelectionSunday]

I agree that #1 was the toughest (or perhaps #4?) but my thought process was, 2-2 would be status quo, so why not shoot for the Louisville/Gonzaga split to make it 3-1? Instead it ends up 2-2, and we didn't even play Gonzaga.

 

[Unregistered User]

All reasonable, and so far quite the disappointment. I'll put on my homer/maroon-and-gold-glasses looking forward and expect the best.

 

[Bad Gopher]

Nice articulation, SS, and I echo everyone's comments. Qualitatively, I simply expected them to play better than they've played - individually and as a group - and that started right off the bat in the game against Louisville. They played that game scared, un-confident and success averse. That has foreshadowed most of the ensuing season, save for a few decent, tantalizing performances.

 

[SelectionSunday]

. ... Qualitatively, I simply expected them to play better than they've played - individually and as a group - and that started right off the bat in the game against Louisville. They played that game scared, un-confident and success averse.

That sums it up well. For me, however, it was the Purdue meltdown. Gophers had no business losing that game the way they did, but blowing that double-digit lead screamed out and yelled, "Nothing has changed," and unfortunately nothing has happened since then to change that first (Big Ten) impression.

Gophers have been trudging uphill ever since, and have even slid backwards in their quest for a road victory vs. a cast of beatable/average (Big Ten) characters (Michigan, Nebraska, Penn State).

 

[Winnipegopher]

This year's team is an odd team. I think they look awful every time I watch and yet they remain close in most games. They both win and lose ugly but it is always close.

A lot of it comes down to players. For Gophers to be successful they need to outplay their expectations. So far that has not been the case.

My take:

Better than expected:
Nate Mason- a bright light in a not so bright season

As expected:
Andre Hollins- some great games, some not so great. He is not the solution nor the problem.
Mo Walker- He is what we thought he was. A decently talented, somewhat soft big man
Joey King- Tries hard, does some things right but over his head at times.

Below expectations:
Matthieu: So good last year, not so good this year. I was hopeful he was an all Big player, he isn't
Morris: Erratic like most JUCOs. Hoped for Vincent Grier got Devron Bostick with more minutes.
Eliasson: Very disappointing season. I would play him more and hope for the best.
Buggs: Will likely graduate as an enigma. Looks like he should be much better than he is.
Konate: This might seem unfair but if you are not getting minutes on this team, you are not meeting or exceeding expectations.
Diedhue: See Konate
Martin: How bad was he that he could not envision getting minutes? Major disappointment.
McNeill: Hard to know what to say without minimizing the horribleness of what he is accused of doing but this was a huge loss basketball wise.

So when you have one player exceeding expectations and only 3 meeting expectations (and I believe arguments can be made that all three are not really meeting expectations, at least for large parts of the year) you are looking at a mediocre to terrible season. My bright light is that it is Mason, a true freshman and the only real traditionally recruited freshman on the team. Hopefully next year's class will also exceed and we will have a fun year.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

This year's team is an odd team. I think they look awful every time I watch and yet they remain close in most games. They both win and lose ugly but it is always close.

A lot of it comes down to players. For Gophers to be successful they need to outplay their expectations. So far that has not been the case.

My read on players:
Better than expected:
Nate Mason- a bright light in a not so bright season

As expected:
Andre Hollins- some great games, some not so great. He is not the solution nor the problem.
Mo Walker- He is what we thought he was. A decently talented, somewhat soft big man
Joey King- Tries hard, does some things right but over his head at times.

Below expectations:
Matthieu: So good last year, not so good this year. I was hopeful he was an all Big player, he isn't
Morris: Erratic like most JUCOs. Hoped for Vincent Grier got Devron Bostick with more minutes.
Eliasson: Very disappointing season. I would play him more and hope for the best.
Buggs: Will likely graduate as an enigma. Looks like he should be much better than he is.
Konate: This might seem unfair but if you are not getting minutes on this team, you are not meeting or exceeding expectations.
Diedhue: See Konate
Martin: How bad was he that he could not envision getting minutes? Major disappointment.
McNeill: Hard to know what to say without minimizing the horribleness of what he is accused of doing but this was a huge loss basketball wise.

So when you have one player exceeding expectations and only 3 meeting expectations (and I believe arguments can be made that all three are not really meeting expectations, at least for large parts of the year) you are looking at a mediocre to terrible season. My bright light is that it is Mason, a true freshman and the only real traditionally recruited freshman on the team. Hopefully next year's class will also exceed and we will have a fun year.

I was already thinking that before I got to the bolded part. Andre has had some great games like you said, but I expected more consistency out of a senior leader who has logged significant minutes all four years.

Mo is probably closes of your "meeting expectations" guys to what I expected. I had hoped that an extra year getting used to his new body and athleticism would have made him more aggressive under the hoop, but he only seems to want to use his strength when he can dunk. I believe the sky could be the limit if he could develop the attitude that "I'm the strongest guy down here, any ball that comes off the rim is mine, and God help anyone in my way".

Joey does try hard, but after NIT last year and out of conference this year, I expected him to be a three point threat that made up for his rebounding shortcomings, and that just hasn't materialized in conference play.