Surprise, Surprise....Optimism for 2012/2013

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Moses87

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Some will be surprised to see me posting anything positive about this program, but I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised by the Gophers performance in the Big Ten Tournament. Add to the improved play, Tubby apparently leaking that the NCAA will allow Mbakwe a 6th year if he wants it and things start to look a lot rosier for next season.

My projections with Mbakwe back:

1)Michigan...With Burke and Hardaway both likely to put off the draft for one more season, they will join forces with McGary to lead the Wolverines back to the top 5 nationally.

2)Minnesota...Certainly the best front court in the Big Ten next year and possibly the nation...if Rodney becomes a little bit more proficient on his mid range jumpers and FT shooting, he'll wind up making the NBA along with Mbakwe. EE and Mo provide solid center play and the back court players will be very solid with Hollins and Hollins starting, Coleman and Welch off the bench. Oto the occasional 3 off the bench...That's a very solid rotation. Chip probably transfers out along with Ahanmisi...

3)OSU...Craft, Thomas and Renzelle Smith will lead the way.

4)MSU...I believe they lose Payne and Green....Not sure about Nix...Huge losses tho.

5)IU...They have talent and could finish higher, but I hate their zone and defensive abilities.

6)Purdue...Painter slipping?

7)Illinois...Still has potential with Myers-Leonard and Paul.

8)Wisconsin....The Grinch will be grouchy next season.

9)Iowa...Gatens and McCabe gone...Basabe a disappointment, not sure what's coming in.

10)Nebraska....New coach better recruit his ass off.

11)NW...Carmody has his work cut out.

12)PSU...Losing Frazier....gonna be tough.

Even without Mbakwe, the Gophers should be in the top 5...They could actually win it though...Now, lets hope Mbakwe decides to come back and he rehabs his ass off.
 

I don't think Tubby leaked that Trevor is allowed to play, considering the petition can't be filed until the season is over.
 

moses, after all of your incessant pissing, moaning, criticism, etc, that I don't listen to from you, I will not listen to you when you try kiss peoples' asses with your OP. Tubby never leaked anything about Trevor, all he expressed was an opinion.
 

MSU and Indiana both have top-10 recruiting classes coming in, so I'd wager they'll end up above or even with the Gophs, even with a healthy and playing Mbakwe. My guess would be, best case scenario, Gophers finish #3. More likely a 4th to 7th place finish.
 

I do think that the Gophers will benefit from the top end talent that's leaving the Big Ten - Sullinger, Taylor, Green, and to a lesser extent, Gatens and others. The Gophers only lose Sampson but EE should be able to pick up where he left off this season. With Andre emerging and the rest of the team improving, I think most of us would be very disappointed if we don't make the tourney next season. I think many of our expectations for the team are around 9-9 or 10-8, but if we learn how to close out games that could bump up a couple games. And I don't expect to have Make back.
 


UW has never finished worse than 4th in Bo Ryan's 11 years in Madison...no way are they finishing 8th next year, though I wish they would.

Go Gophers!!
 

I love how this is called "optimism". What it really is is setting up unrealistically high expectations so that when the Gophers finish in the 4th-7th range next year, Moses can say "I said before the season that they should've finished 2nd. Tubby's never gonna get it done here" or some similar variation.
 

mattw1067 said:
I do think that the Gophers will benefit from the top end talent that's leaving the Big Ten - Sullinger, Taylor, Green, and to a lesser extent, Gatens and others. The Gophers only lose Sampson but EE should be able to pick up where he left off this season. With Andre emerging and the rest of the team improving, I think most of us would be very disappointed if we don't make the tourney next season. I think many of our expectations for the team are around 9-9 or 10-8, but if we learn how to close out games that could bump up a couple games. And I don't expect to have Make back.
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+1
 

Moses87 said:
Some will be surprised to see me posting anything positive about this program, but I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised by the Gophers performance in the Big Ten Tournament. Add to the improved play, Tubby apparently leaking that the NCAA will allow Mbakwe a 6th year if he wants it and things start to look a lot rosier for next season.

My projections with Mbakwe back:

1)Michigan...With Burke and Hardaway both likely to put off the draft for one more season, they will join forces with McGary to lead the Wolverines back to the top 5 nationally.

2)Minnesota...Certainly the best front court in the Big Ten next year and possibly the nation (Best front court in the nation? C'mon Man!)...if Rodney becomes a little bit more proficient on his mid range jumpers and FT shooting, he'll wind up making the NBA along with Mbakwe. EE and Mo provide solid center play and the back court players will be very solid with Hollins and Hollins starting, Coleman and Welch off the bench. Oto the occasional 3 off the bench...That's a very solid rotation. Chip probably transfers out along with Ahanmisi...

3)OSU...Craft, Thomas and Renzelle Smith will lead the way.

4)MSU...I believe they lose Payne and Green....Not sure about Nix...Huge losses tho.

5)IU...They have talent and could finish higher, but I hate their zone and defensive abilities.

6)Purdue...Painter slipping?

7)Illinois...Still has potential with Myers-Leonard and Paul.

8)Wisconsin....The Grinch will be grouchy next season.

9)Iowa...Gatens and McCabe gone...Basabe a disappointment, not sure what's coming in.

10)Nebraska....New coach better recruit his ass off.

11)NW...Carmody has his work cut out.

12)PSU...Losing Frazier....gonna be tough.

Even without Mbakwe, the Gophers should be in the top 5...They could actually win it though...Now, lets hope Mbakwe decides to come back and he rehabs his ass off.
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Wow. Great analysis. I'm saving this one to my desktop. 2nd place finish. BOOK IT!
 



dpodoll68 said:
I love how this is called "optimism". What it really is is setting up unrealistically high expectations so that when the Gophers finish in the 4th-7th range next year, Moses can say "I said before the season that they should've finished 2nd. Tubby's never gonna get it done here" or some similar variation.
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I'll take the Gophs finishing first. I can't have Moses predicting a better finish than I do.
 

bleedsmaroonandgold said:
I'll take the Gophs finishing first. I can't have Moses predicting a better finish than I do.
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Classic. Mbakwe and Andre could be a mean combo. I think he has a 35% chance to be granted another year. Some can claim he was found guilty in Flordia, but that wasn't the case.
 

BleedGopher said:
UW has never finished worse than 4th in Bo Ryan's 11 years in Madison...no way are they finishing 8th next year, though I wish they would.

Go Gophers!!
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That's the obvious inaccurate prediction.. Completely agree, Bo could COACH a sack of marbles to a top 5 finish...
 




dpodoll68 said:
I love how this is called "optimism". What it really is is setting up unrealistically high expectations so that when the Gophers finish in the 4th-7th range next year, Moses can say "I said before the season that they should've finished 2nd. Tubby's never gonna get it done here" or some similar variation.
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"If" Trevor comes back, anything worse than a 3rd place finish would be terrible. No excuses if we get a full season out of Trevor and company. Trouble with that is that Minnesota teams must offer one of their best players to the injury gods each season.
 


tikited said:
"If" Trevor comes back, anything worse than a 3rd place finish would be terrible. No excuses if we get a full season out of Trevor and company. Trouble with that is that Minnesota teams must offer one of their best players to the injury gods each season.
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Last time the Gophers finished 3rd or better in conference? 1982. There is no good reason to expect that next year will be the year that ends a three-decade-plus drought, with or without Mbakwe. Given that Tubby's average BT finishes with healthy squads have all been 6th or 7th, I would take that as the bottom. Further, given that we actually did finish 4th once in the last decade, expecting anymore than that is unreasonable. I love the optimism (and it is genuine coming from you, unlike Moses), but expecting anything more only leads to frustration and heartbreak. All of this is assuming that Tubby keeps his knee crowbar in his desk drawer. I think we're going to have to let him go if he keeps injuring all of our best interior players.
 

Moses87 said:
Some will be surprised to see me posting anything positive about this program, but I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised by the Gophers performance in the Big Ten Tournament. Add to the improved play, Tubby apparently leaking that the NCAA will allow Mbakwe a 6th year if he wants it and things start to look a lot rosier for next season.

My projections with Mbakwe back:

1)Michigan...With Burke and Hardaway both likely to put off the draft for one more season, they will join forces with McGary to lead the Wolverines back to the top 5 nationally.

2)Minnesota...Certainly the best front court in the Big Ten next year and possibly the nation...if Rodney becomes a little bit more proficient on his mid range jumpers and FT shooting, he'll wind up making the NBA along with Mbakwe. EE and Mo provide solid center play and the back court players will be very solid with Hollins and Hollins starting, Coleman and Welch off the bench. Oto the occasional 3 off the bench...That's a very solid rotation. Chip probably transfers out along with Ahanmisi...

3)OSU...Craft, Thomas and Renzelle Smith will lead the way.

4)MSU...I believe they lose Payne and Green....Not sure about Nix...Huge losses tho.

5)IU...They have talent and could finish higher, but I hate their zone and defensive abilities.

6)Purdue...Painter slipping?

7)Illinois...Still has potential with Myers-Leonard and Paul.

8)Wisconsin....The Grinch will be grouchy next season.

9)Iowa...Gatens and McCabe gone...Basabe a disappointment, not sure what's coming in.

10)Nebraska....New coach better recruit his ass off.

11)NW...Carmody has his work cut out.

12)PSU...Losing Frazier....gonna be tough.

Even without Mbakwe, the Gophers should be in the top 5...They could actually win it though...Now, lets hope Mbakwe decides to come back and he rehabs his ass off.
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Payne and McCabe are sophomores this year....
 

In additon to the above mentioned. ...

Nix will be a senior.

Frazier will be a senior.

Do you even follow the Big Ten, or just pretend that you do?
 


Iowa has a top 10 center comming in ..woodbury.

Ohio St. has McDonald's all-americans on its bench: Scott, Williams.

Purdue loses there top 3 scorers: hummel, jackson, smith. They could drop.

Myers-Leonard probably goes pro. Illinois in trouble if this happens.

If Cody Zeller returns, Indiana will be tough..great recruiting class also. Lose a couple of bench warmers as seniors.
 

Scott and Williams will be fine players, but their talent isn't near the level of your typical All-Americans.
 

march madness said:
Purdue loses there top 3 scorers: hummel, jackson, smith. They could drop.
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They also lost Barlow. As of now, they're returning two guys that average around 9 a game (Byrd and Terone Johnson). After that, production drops off significantly. They DO have 3 ESPN 4-star recruits coming in though, including former Gopher interest A.J. Hammons.

Painter's a pretty good coach, so I could see them being alright. But replacing all that production is sure going to be tough.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Last time the Gophers finished 3rd or better in conference? 1982. There is no good reason to expect that next year will be the year that ends a three-decade-plus drought, with or without Mbakwe. Given that Tubby's average BT finishes with healthy squads have all been 6th or 7th, I would take that as the bottom. Further, given that we actually did finish 4th once in the last decade, expecting anymore than that is unreasonable. I love the optimism (and it is genuine coming from you, unlike Moses), but expecting anything more only leads to frustration and heartbreak. All of this is assuming that Tubby keeps his knee crowbar in his desk drawer. I think we're going to have to let him go if he keeps injuring all of our best interior players.
Click to expand...

Come on, don't discount the Bobby Jackson year.

I still think with a Senior influenced team, we should expect this team to do very well. No more, "it's a young team" excuses allowed. Trevor might be the best in the league. Rodney should continue to improve. Mo will be back and will add to one of the bigger front lines, etc., etc. No reason to think Tubby can't lead a team like that to bigger things than 6th or 7th place.
 

Next year if we have Mbakwe I think scUM with Burke, and Hardway Jr, Indiana with Zeller and a top recruiting class coming in and alot of guys coming back, Sparty loses Green, but the backcourt is young and they still have Nix plus a top 5 recruiting class and the Buckeyes will still be tough assuming they bring in their usual crop of All Americans, but still they lose Sullinger and Buford. After that I think Minny, Iowa, Wiscky and Illinois will be batling for the 5-8 spots. Purdue will drop off losing Hummell and Barlow, Byrd will have to lead the way, Hammons will have to make an immediate impact, NW loses Shurna I think they'll finish 10th, Nebraska and Penn State will round out the bottom. With Mbakwe We should finish 5th, we have more talant than Iowa, and Wisconsin, espcially since Wiscky loses Taylor, but Bo will have them ready, but they struggled on offense with Taylor, imagine next year without him. Illinois has talant, but they were really disorganized, on paper they should be an NCAA team, will see where they go coaching wise if Lenord leaves than I think they'llbe battling with NW and Purdue for the 8-10 spots next year. With Mbakwe we are no question 5th best team in the B1G and can give the top four teams a run for their money, without him we can finish anywhere between 5-8, but still be a tournament team as I think the B1G will be even tougher next year and 8 teams will get in
 

BleedGopher said:
UW has never finished worse than 4th in Bo Ryan's 11 years in Madison...no way are they finishing 8th next year, though I wish they would.

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

They are not finishing 8th, but they will drop back a bit next year.
 

If Mbakwe is back, a HUGE if, and an even bigger if is if he is 100%. This team could be scary good. We saw what Zeller did for an average Indiana team, if Trevor plays like the 8th overall pick he is projected as, Gophers could finish VERY high.

A lot of ifs in that though.
 

scher215 said:
If Mbakwe is back, a HUGE if, and an even bigger if is if he is 100%. This team could be scary good. We saw what Zeller did for an average Indiana team, if Trevor plays like the 8th overall pick he is projected as, Gophers could finish VERY high.

A lot of ifs in that though.
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With or without Trevor, next year's biggest issue will be perimeter ball-handling/turnovers.
 

station19 said:
With or without Trevor, next year's biggest issue will be perimeter ball-handling/turnovers.
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I think next season, another issue is to identify if we have anyone who can create a good shot for themselves in five seconds and if so who that is. If we don't have such a player, we need to stop running the prevent offense when we have a late lead. Waiting for the last 5 seconds of the shot clock and either turning it over or tossing up a prayer probably took at least two wins off the board for us. I hope minngg and whathavewedone aren't reading this, because I am not trying to just vent at Tubby, and I think that strategy can work if we have a Lawrence Westbrook type player who can find himself something in five seconds, but if not, we need to keep attacking.
 


bleedsmaroonandgold said:
I think next season, another issue is to identify if we have anyone who can create a good shot for themselves in five seconds and if so who that is. If we don't have such a player, we need to stop running the prevent offense when we have a late lead. Waiting for the last 5 seconds of the shot clock and either turning it over or tossing up a prayer probably took at least two wins off the board for us. I hope minngg and whathavewedone aren't reading this, because I am not trying to just vent at Tubby, and I think that strategy can work if we have a Lawrence Westbrook type player who can find himself something in five seconds, but if not, we need to keep attacking.
Click to expand...
If Dre keeps improving I think he'll be the guy you are looking for.
 

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