STrib: Richard Pitino's 'best recruits' graduate into key players for Gophers on Fri

[BleedGopher]

per Marcus:

Amir Coffey, Eric Curry and Michael Hurt exchanged text messages and had conversations throughout their senior year of high school about changing the direction of Minnesota basketball together this season.

When they watched the losses pile up for the Gophers last season, instead of rethinking their commitment, they imagined how much their presence could be a boost.

In Thursday’s exhibition victory over Bemidji State, the three Gophers freshmen made their debut in front of fans at Williams Arena. Curry led the team in rebounds. Coffey led the team in assists. Hurt led the team in three-pointers.

“We just always kept a positive mind-set about everything,” said Curry, who had 17 points and 14 rebounds. “Coming into the season, we have a new focus. This is a totally different team. I think we’re going to do big things this year.”

http://www.startribune.com/richard-...uate-into-key-players-friday-night/400341541/

Go Gophers!!

 

[macgopher]

per Marcus:

Amir Coffey, Eric Curry and Michael Hurt exchanged text messages and had conversations throughout their senior year of high school about changing the direction of Minnesota basketball together this season.

When they watched the losses pile up for the Gophers last season, instead of rethinking their commitment, they imagined how much their presence could be a boost.

In Thursday’s exhibition victory over Bemidji State, the three Gophers freshmen made their debut in front of fans at Williams Arena. Curry led the team in rebounds. Coffey led the team in assists. Hurt led the team in three-pointers.

“We just always kept a positive mind-set about everything,” said Curry, who had 17 points and 14 rebounds. “Coming into the season, we have a new focus. This is a totally different team. I think we’re going to do big things this year.”

http://www.startribune.com/richard-...uate-into-key-players-friday-night/400341541/

Go Gophers!!

So is this a team that could contend for a top five Big Ten rebounding team? If so, then how much does that translate into wins?

 

[Golden_Sloth]

So is this a team that could contend for a top five Big Ten rebounding team? If so, then how much does that translate into wins?

I think rebounding will still be a weakness for this team. Hopefully we can be average but I don't see top 5 in the Big Ten.

 

[Moonlight]

A positive article - thanks!

 

[DeathClutch]

I think rebounding will still be a weakness for this team. Hopefully we can be average but I don't see top 5 in the Big Ten.

Buggs and King were terrible rebounders. Adding guys like Spring, Coffey, Curry, and Lynch is going to greatly help our rebounding out. Maybe not top 5, but I believe we will be much improved in that area.

 

[macgopher]

Buggs and King were terrible rebounders. Adding guys like Spring, Coffey, Curry, and Lynch is going to greatly help our rebounding out. Maybe not top 5, but I believe we will be much improved in that area.

So looking at last year's Big 10 stats, the Gophers were 12th in rebound margin at a negative -3.3 per game. To just get to a positive margin the ninth ranked team in the conference made it at a +.9 margin. To get top 5, a team had to get to a +2.5 margin. That doesn't sound like that major a leap with the greater size the team has this year.

 

[woozee]

Buggs and King were terrible rebounders. Adding guys like Spring, Coffey, Curry, and Lynch is going to greatly help our rebounding out. Maybe not top 5, but I believe we will be much improved in that area.

LOL this was a very political understatement. Pitino kept Buggs on the perimeter and taught him to head back for defense after the shot and he would rarely crash the board. It was obvious in my eyes that this kind of tendency was coached and I never could understand why Buggs wouldn't crash the boards and fight for the rebounds. I believe King would have had more success with rebounds if he had more support from our centers -- man he was a pitbull.

 

[DeathClutch]

LOL this was a very political understatement. Pitino kept Buggs on the perimeter and taught him to head back for defense after the shot and he would rarely crash the board. It was obvious in my eyes that this kind of tendency was coached and I never could understand why Buggs wouldn't crash the boards and fight for the rebounds. I believe King would have had more success with rebounds if he had more support from our centers -- man he was a pitbull.

King was a bad rebounder even when he was playing next to guys like Eliason and Big Mo. He has alligator arms and is not a very good vertical leaper. Not a recipe for a good rebounder. His career rebounding % is in line with Austin Hollins, who is 4 inches shorter and was a perimeter player. Curry and Lynch are a huge upgrade over King rebounding wise.