BleedGopher
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per Marcus:
During an 8-23 season two years ago, Richard Pitino saw the Gophers men’s basketball team collapsing and decided to make a change to a smaller lineup for a different look.
Pitino put 6-7 forward Jordan Murphy in the middle.
The losses continued to pile up, but Murphy played well in a new role for a few games and earned All-Big Ten freshman honors in 2015-16.
Murphy is a few inches shorter than most Big Ten centers, but he is powerful enough to hold his own physically. He can use his length and leaping ability to score and rebound undersized.
“You’ve got to tinker and see what works,” Pitino said. “Anytime you play a smaller lineup, you’re going to give up something. You may get something, but you’re going to decide to give up something. I think it’s game by game just being able to, with practice, get guys to run the offense at different positions.”
At 250 pounds, Murphy is 20 pounds heavier than his freshman year. But he remembers having success in the short time he was the man in the middle. He recorded 12 points and 10 rebounds in his first game as a starting center, a 76-71 overtime home loss to Illinois on Jan. 23, 2016.
Playing alongside Murphy in the frontcourt then was 6-9 senior Joey King, who was primarily a shooter. The Gophers tied a school record that night for three-point attempts, going 11-for-36 from beyond the arc. They got trigger-happy vs. the Illini’s zone defense and didn’t get the ball to Murphy enough.
But in three games playing center, Murphy averaged 16.3 points and 8.3 rebounds and shot 55 percent from the field, which included a 22-point, 10-rebound performance in a loss at Illinois.
“It’s something I haven’t really done since my freshman year,” Murphy said last week. “It’s something I kind of have to look back on and remember what got me so successful at it.”
http://m.startribune.com/gophers-jo...but-willing/471714734/?section=sports/gophers
Go Gophers!!
During an 8-23 season two years ago, Richard Pitino saw the Gophers men’s basketball team collapsing and decided to make a change to a smaller lineup for a different look.
Pitino put 6-7 forward Jordan Murphy in the middle.
The losses continued to pile up, but Murphy played well in a new role for a few games and earned All-Big Ten freshman honors in 2015-16.
Murphy is a few inches shorter than most Big Ten centers, but he is powerful enough to hold his own physically. He can use his length and leaping ability to score and rebound undersized.
“You’ve got to tinker and see what works,” Pitino said. “Anytime you play a smaller lineup, you’re going to give up something. You may get something, but you’re going to decide to give up something. I think it’s game by game just being able to, with practice, get guys to run the offense at different positions.”
At 250 pounds, Murphy is 20 pounds heavier than his freshman year. But he remembers having success in the short time he was the man in the middle. He recorded 12 points and 10 rebounds in his first game as a starting center, a 76-71 overtime home loss to Illinois on Jan. 23, 2016.
Playing alongside Murphy in the frontcourt then was 6-9 senior Joey King, who was primarily a shooter. The Gophers tied a school record that night for three-point attempts, going 11-for-36 from beyond the arc. They got trigger-happy vs. the Illini’s zone defense and didn’t get the ball to Murphy enough.
But in three games playing center, Murphy averaged 16.3 points and 8.3 rebounds and shot 55 percent from the field, which included a 22-point, 10-rebound performance in a loss at Illinois.
“It’s something I haven’t really done since my freshman year,” Murphy said last week. “It’s something I kind of have to look back on and remember what got me so successful at it.”
http://m.startribune.com/gophers-jo...but-willing/471714734/?section=sports/gophers
Go Gophers!!