Reusse column: First glimpse of Richard Pitino's Gophers is a much-improved outfit

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BleedGopher

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per Pat:

Coach Richard Pitino's fourth team was impressive in all the areas in which it was dreadful in the 8-23 catastrophe that was his third.

It started up front, where Reggie Lynch, the 6-10 transfer from Illinois State, gave the Gophers a defensive presence near the basket that will make life much easier for sophomore Jordan Murphy.

As a freshman, Murphy was forced to try to play that role. It now appears that he can roam about and take a swat at shots that aren't redirected by Lynch. Murphy was almost in cruise in the first half as Lynch did the heavy work.

And the Gophers, well, I haven't been the No. 1 booster for young Pitino, but this bunch is going to double last season's victory total of eight, and we'll see what happens from there.

http://www.startribune.com/first-gl...-gophers-is-a-much-improved-outfit/400909751/

Go Gophers!!
 


Reusse is a stud. He's positive when it warrants, has fantastic historical references, interweaves humor and wit and then absolutely shreds phonies and underachievers. His staying power is commensurate with his vast talent. Love the guy's work.
 

He has always been gifted with the pen. Its his cynicism and pessimism that weigh him down. Many sportswriters seem to suffer this affliction over time; he more than others.
 

TheMetroTheFaust said:
Reusse is a stud. He's positive when it warrants, has fantastic historical references, interweaves humor and wit and then absolutely shreds phonies and underachievers. His staying power is commensurate with his vast talent. Love the guy's work.
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Pat's sockpuppet? These is hyperbole.
Pat can write a good and occasionally great column. Becoming a talk personality ruined his writing discipline - much of his stuff just sounds like a rant he made on his phone. The first paragraph is always telling.
 



If he gets dumped on for piling on Pitino on the reg, he should also get praised for writing this, with no backhandedness or self-congratulations.
When he stops writing for the paper there will be a huge void to fill. Like his takes or not, nobody at his paper does it like him anymore. I wonder who will get to be a columnist when he retires. The next most-skilled writers, with the ability to not have either dunderheaded or overly simplistic takes, are LaVelle, Blount, and Joe C. They ain't no Reusse though!
 


When will people learn that there is a difference between journalism and copywriting what marketing executives hand you?

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 



citywok said:
If he gets dumped on for piling on Pitino on the reg, he should also get praised for writing this, with no backhandedness or self-congratulations.
When he stops writing for the paper there will be a huge void to fill. Like his takes or not, nobody at his paper does it like him anymore. I wonder who will get to be a columnist when he retires. The next most-skilled writers, with the ability to not have either dunderheaded or overly simplistic takes, are LaVelle, Blount, and Joe C. They ain't no Reusse though!
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Blount already has a column
 


bemidjigopher said:
Blount already has a column
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Yes, but it seems she covers a beat of some sort most of the time, and writes columns with the rest of her time. The others (PR, Souhan, Chip, etc.) don't do any actual reporting.
 

CentralGopher said:
Reusse predicting 16 wins?. Wth
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lol thank you i was dying thinkin in what universe is a floor of 16 wins somehow considered positive - lets be real though reusse didnt drop trow and take a **** on the program ill take it but he still sucks
 



I can't help it...I, too am a Reusse fan. Don't agree with all of his takes, but he brings that ascerbic wit just about every column. He's a Minnesotan.
 

westcoastgopher11 said:
lol thank you i was dying thinkin in what universe is a floor of 16 wins somehow considered positive - lets be real though reusse didnt drop trow and take a **** on the program ill take it but he still sucks
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????

I think 16 wins after last year's mess would obviously be a step in the right direction. You don't?
 

20 wins. Pitino kept saying this was the year. For years.

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GopherJake said:
????

I think 16 wins after last year's mess would obviously be a step in the right direction. You don't?
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They have some talent this year, they need to learn to play for 40 minutes but I think 20 wins is a possibility, high end they could win 10 B1G games this year. Lets see if Pitino can get them playing to their potential.
 

gobbles03 said:
20 wins. Pitino kept saying this was the year. For years.

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This is year 4. His first year he had 25 wins- the most in "recorded" history for Minnesota
 


gobbles03 said:
20 wins. Pitino kept saying this was the year. For years.

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Can him if he only leads the team to 19, amiright?


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As the dew gathered and the early morning sun chased a bit of the chill from the air, the old Duffer considered his third shot at the long par five of the Pierz Rod and Country Club. He recalls a time, must have been 1967, when playing with Ollie and Old Luke that a fellow competitor played one hard and low and the heavy moisture on the green held it and allowed a routine par. As the Duffer stood over his ball, he thought how he could pull off the same feat, and how he still hated the Gophers!
 

GopherJake said:
????

I think 16 wins after last year's mess would obviously be a step in the right direction. You don't?
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team has much improved depth especially in the frontcourt i expect a fairly large jump in wins north of 20 - the real measuring stick will be whether he's north or south of .500 in B1G play
 

westcoastgopher11 said:
team has much improved depth especially in the frontcourt i expect a fairly large jump in wins north of 20 - the real measuring stick will be whether he's north or south of .500 in B1G play
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Literally playing 3 people in the front court.

Scary that you're not wrong with your comment on it being improved depth.
 

westcoastgopher11 said:
team has much improved depth especially in the frontcourt i expect a fairly large jump in wins north of 20 - the real measuring stick will be whether he's north or south of .500 in B1G play
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There is definitely more talent, quickness and size. But I've been around long enough to understand a lot can happen to bring a season down. I'm going to enjoy this one game at a time. And I'm going to hope you are right. But we aren't as deep as a few here think. We need to have few injuries, no suspensions, no mid-season transfers and no home videos.

Beat St John's!
 

GopherJake said:
????

I think 16 wins after last year's mess would obviously be a step in the right direction. You don't?
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That's a borderline NIT team. Obviously a step up from last year....but this team gained several good pieces which will improve the front court by a ton. With the injuries and suspensions from last year.....as well as starting Konate.....I don't see why 16 wins would be considered a success. Especially for a fourth year coach. Based on what I've seen thus far....this team is VASTLY improved. The St. Johns game will give us a much better idea of what to expect.
 

GopherJake said:
There is definitely more talent, quickness and size. But I've been around long enough to understand a lot can happen to bring a season down. I'm going to enjoy this one game at a time. And I'm going to hope you are right. But we aren't as deep as a few here think. We need to have few injuries, no suspensions, no mid-season transfers and no home videos.

Beat St John's!
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cant wait for this contest man - want to see what pitino can do to outdual mullin
 

GraniteCityGopher said:
As the dew gathered and the early morning sun chased a bit of the chill from the air, the old Duffer considered his third shot at the long par five of the Pierz Rod and Country Club. He recalls a time, must have been 1967, when playing with Ollie and Old Luke that a fellow competitor played one hard and low and the heavy moisture on the green held it and allowed a routine par. As the Duffer stood over his ball, he thought how he could pull off the same feat, and how he still hated the Gophers!
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Well done, Granite. This is a great post!
 

Winasota Gopher said:
Literally playing 3 people in the front court.

Scary that you're not wrong with your comment on it being improved depth.
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I know we were happy to get Konate, but not good he hasn't developed to be at least a good defensive player worthy of 20 mins a game. I see Anas Mahmoud, who Rick Pitino chose over Konate is contributing off of the bench. So looks like we were on the wrong side of that.

And I think Diedhou is perfect of example of banking a scholarship if a big ten player isn't available and not taking a chance. I know there are solid examples of developing players (Damian Johnson, Miles Tarver, etc.), but this staff hasn't shown the ability to develop players, especially big men.
 

JimmyJamesMD said:
I know we were happy to get Konate, but not good he hasn't developed to be at least a good defensive player worthy of 20 mins a game. I see Anas Mahmoud, who Rick Pitino chose over Konate is contributing off of the bench. So looks like we were on the wrong side of that.

And I think Diedhou is perfect of example of banking a scholarship if a big ten player isn't available and not taking a chance. I know there are solid examples of developing players (Damian Johnson, Miles Tarver, etc.), but this staff hasn't shown the ability to develop players, especially big men.
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Disagree with the last part. When this staff got here, Mo Walker was an over weight one trick pony. I would say they developed him into a solid Big Ten level player. Also, Dupree has developed very well so far. I would also argue that Konate has developed. He seems much more comfortable and effective. That doesn't mean he is a starting Big Ten center, but that may have never been his ceiling.
 

JimmyJamesMD said:
I know we were happy to get Konate, but not good he hasn't developed to be at least a good defensive player worthy of 20 mins a game. I see Anas Mahmoud, who Rick Pitino chose over Konate is contributing off of the bench. So looks like we were on the wrong side of that.

And I think Diedhou is perfect of example of banking a scholarship if a big ten player isn't available and not taking a chance. I know there are solid examples of developing players (Damian Johnson, Miles Tarver, etc.), but this staff hasn't shown the ability to develop players, especially big men.
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it's really interesting you chose Damian Johnson as an example here. One could argue he didn't improve but instead just got more playing time. Check out his career stats next to each other on sports reference.

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/damian-johnson-1.html

I'll argue that very few players actually improve in college vs. just getting an opportunity on the court.

Edit: Okay Johnson's percentages actually did change a bit junior to senior year but that soph. to junior year was no improvement at all.
 

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