cncmin
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Exciting win, great game played by a lot of Gophers tonight. But not all was good, and there are reasons for a little concern. The starters were great tonight and have been all year. The problem from my standpoint is that, had they needed help, this game may have had a different result. What I saw from the bench tonight:
Elliot was shaky with the ball. But he doesn't concern me. His game is strength and hustle, and I have a lot of confidence in his ability to play a lot of good minutes on most nights. I'd like to see him get more minutes before he starts hanging his head.
Oto played some solid minutes again. It's not clear to me why he's not getting more playing time right now, especially when Rodney begins to tune out a bit - seems to me Rodney has a tendency to get lost sometimes. In those cases, I have a lot of confidence in Oto spelling him some minutes, though I'd rather see Oto on the floor with other starters as opposed to the line change thing. Both Oto and Elliot are a coaches dream in terms of how hard they play every minute they're on the floor.
The rest of the bench is where I get a bit concerned.
Ingram can bring a good deal of energy, but every time he touches the ball I feel like he's a turnover waiting to happen. Ingram will play some good minutes for the Gophers before the year is out, but I'd be worried if at some point (injury or foul trouble) he needs to be relied upon in a close game.
Mav has had a few really shaky games in a row, and it appears that he has no confidence at this time and can't stop from making poor decisions. His shot and FT shooting have been pleasant surprises this year, but his role is as a ballhandler, and he's struggling there. He needs to shake off his rust and get his confidence back before playing any significant minutes; however exactly when is the next place in the schedule to do this? Mav should see little playing time the rest of January, after which hopefully an ease in the schedule may allow him to get some good playing time.
Mo is doing very little for this Gophers team. He doesn't move, rebound, move his feet to defend, or catch the ball, he can't score against guys half his size, and worst of all he doesn't look like he's exerting much effort. I understand his injury is tough to come back from, particularly for a big man, but at this point he shouldn't see the floor the rest of this season except in junk time. His +/- ratio is awful - every time he's on the court the Gophers lose ground, and I'd argue the Gophers are playing 4 on 5 when he's in the game right now.
Finally there's Welch - I haven't ever had much confidence in Julian - he often doesn't seem to play very hard, sometimes seems disinterested, and turns the ball over often with suspect decision making. But then you'll see him play some solid minutes, like he did against Mich. St., and his solid minutes tonight were simply invaluable with Dre in foul trouble and Mav shaky. He has a decent skill set...if he just exerted more effort on the floor he'd see that floor more often.
If I were Tubby, for the foreseeable future I'd limit the team to an 8-man rotation in big games - the 5 starters with some significant minutes given to Eliason, Oto, and Welch. Ingram should see a little playing time as well, as needed here and there. And perhaps Wally should see the floor if he can prove that he has the whole offensive and defensive schemes down - certainly he displays athleticism, but I'm not convinced he's familiar with the schemes yet. I like Mav but Welch should be the prime backup for Dre right now. And Mo simply should not step on the floor outside of junk time.
Thoughts?
Elliot was shaky with the ball. But he doesn't concern me. His game is strength and hustle, and I have a lot of confidence in his ability to play a lot of good minutes on most nights. I'd like to see him get more minutes before he starts hanging his head.
Oto played some solid minutes again. It's not clear to me why he's not getting more playing time right now, especially when Rodney begins to tune out a bit - seems to me Rodney has a tendency to get lost sometimes. In those cases, I have a lot of confidence in Oto spelling him some minutes, though I'd rather see Oto on the floor with other starters as opposed to the line change thing. Both Oto and Elliot are a coaches dream in terms of how hard they play every minute they're on the floor.
The rest of the bench is where I get a bit concerned.
Ingram can bring a good deal of energy, but every time he touches the ball I feel like he's a turnover waiting to happen. Ingram will play some good minutes for the Gophers before the year is out, but I'd be worried if at some point (injury or foul trouble) he needs to be relied upon in a close game.
Mav has had a few really shaky games in a row, and it appears that he has no confidence at this time and can't stop from making poor decisions. His shot and FT shooting have been pleasant surprises this year, but his role is as a ballhandler, and he's struggling there. He needs to shake off his rust and get his confidence back before playing any significant minutes; however exactly when is the next place in the schedule to do this? Mav should see little playing time the rest of January, after which hopefully an ease in the schedule may allow him to get some good playing time.
Mo is doing very little for this Gophers team. He doesn't move, rebound, move his feet to defend, or catch the ball, he can't score against guys half his size, and worst of all he doesn't look like he's exerting much effort. I understand his injury is tough to come back from, particularly for a big man, but at this point he shouldn't see the floor the rest of this season except in junk time. His +/- ratio is awful - every time he's on the court the Gophers lose ground, and I'd argue the Gophers are playing 4 on 5 when he's in the game right now.
Finally there's Welch - I haven't ever had much confidence in Julian - he often doesn't seem to play very hard, sometimes seems disinterested, and turns the ball over often with suspect decision making. But then you'll see him play some solid minutes, like he did against Mich. St., and his solid minutes tonight were simply invaluable with Dre in foul trouble and Mav shaky. He has a decent skill set...if he just exerted more effort on the floor he'd see that floor more often.
If I were Tubby, for the foreseeable future I'd limit the team to an 8-man rotation in big games - the 5 starters with some significant minutes given to Eliason, Oto, and Welch. Ingram should see a little playing time as well, as needed here and there. And perhaps Wally should see the floor if he can prove that he has the whole offensive and defensive schemes down - certainly he displays athleticism, but I'm not convinced he's familiar with the schemes yet. I like Mav but Welch should be the prime backup for Dre right now. And Mo simply should not step on the floor outside of junk time.
Thoughts?
