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The Good, The Bad and The Interesting: The Hey We Don't Suck Edition
By ZipsOfAkron
http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/585396?referrer_id=
Aaaaaand, pause. Heading into the season, we knew there would be plenty of downs, a few ups, some growth and enough hiccups that patience would be required in Gandhi-level proportions. 7 games into the season, that forecast is holding largely true, as the Gophers have come from behind, melted down, lost games they should have won and won games they should have lost. Yet here we are at 5-2 with no bad losses and even a decent win to show for it. Kind of like a normal year, eh?
Now, beneath the surface we know the real story. The Gophers almost gave one up to Nebraska-Omaha, were outplayed end-to-end by Tubby Smith’s Texas Tech team and barely snuck by a pretty bad Missouri State team. So it’s not like we’re lacing up our Final Four sneakers or anything.
BUT. They also looked suspiciously put together against Clemson, took Temple to the final couple minutes and genuinely haven’t sucked yet this season. All I’m saying, you guys, is they’re a winnable neutral-site Oklahoma State game away from conceivably going 10-2 in the non-conference season. That would be an unbelievable start for this team.
I guess this is what passes for optimism these days. Not sucking.
GOOD: Jordan Murphy is actually really frickin’ good.
So, we all know the story. The Gophers have four true freshmen on the team and they’re all going to be good someday, yadda yadda. Yeah. Wake me up when they’ve arrived, right?
Well, it really looks like one of them already has. We all thought it was going to be Kevin Dorsey, the four-star recruit who was supposed to start out of the gate and provide some lighting in a bottle. He’s been doing his best DeAndre Mathieu impression so far this season (i.e., playing just a little too fast for his own good), so we’re still waiting for his coming out party.
Instead, we’ve been treated to Jordan Murphy, who came in a little under the radar. Originally recruited by Shaka Smart at VCU, he opened up his recruiting after Smart left for Texas and quickly turned to Minnesota. The beginning of the season was fairly innocuous, though he showed flashes of the versatility that made him such an attractive recruit in the first place. But it’s been his last two games that have really stood out, capped by a 24-point, 10-rebound night against Clemson on national television, which really got folks buzzing.
Now, is he a savior? Not yet. But when’s the last time a true Gopher freshman scored 24 points and paired it with 10 rebounds within his first 10 games? That’s exciting stuff for a team desperately seeking go-to guys and a foundation for the next few years. The next few games will be quite telling in the Murphy trend/mirage department.
BAD: We have no rebounding; and it doesn’t look like it’s getting any better
Size and strength were never going to be cornerstones of the 2015-16 Gopher squad. But really, did you expect it to be this bad?
248th – that’s currently where the Gophers check in nationally when it comes to rebounds per game. Minnesota had limited firepower down low to begin with, but Gaston Diedhiou, a guy who was expected to shoulder at least SOME of the load, has basically been AWOL, Bakary Konate is still a foul machine and, well, that’s really the extent of their size. Joey King isn’t a banger, and as much as you’d love to see Charles Buggs down low, that’s just not going to happen.
Murphy has done an admirable job filling in for Diedhiou, but the reality we’re quickly coming to grips with is we just literally don’t have the size to pull down rebounds or hang with some big dudes. Jake White from Omaha had a field day, and Jaron Blossomgame from Clemson, for instance, scored at will near the bucket.
Going forward, shooting around 50% from the field like they did their past two games isn’t going to be sustainable, and it’s the second chance points that teams like Texas Tech and Temple feasted on that will really cause problems. The question is, do they even have the personnel to do anything about it? It’s not looking good.
INTERESTING: The Gophers have 2nd longest home non-conference winning streak in the nation
One fun stat that came out of the ESPN2 broadcast during the Clemson game was a relatively dubious distinction the Gophers currently have, which is owning the second-longest winning streak at home against non-conference teams, a streak now at an unbelievable 47 games. That’s five years worth of games!
I say dubious because the Gophers have garnered the local reputation of playing nobodies at home and feasting on the likes of Coastal Carolina, but it’s still impressive nonetheless, simply considering the law of averages. For those wondering, they last lost to Virginia at home in 2010 during the B1G/ACC Challenge.
Duke currently owns the longest streak at a staggering 120 games in a row.
By ZipsOfAkron
http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/585396?referrer_id=
Aaaaaand, pause. Heading into the season, we knew there would be plenty of downs, a few ups, some growth and enough hiccups that patience would be required in Gandhi-level proportions. 7 games into the season, that forecast is holding largely true, as the Gophers have come from behind, melted down, lost games they should have won and won games they should have lost. Yet here we are at 5-2 with no bad losses and even a decent win to show for it. Kind of like a normal year, eh?
Now, beneath the surface we know the real story. The Gophers almost gave one up to Nebraska-Omaha, were outplayed end-to-end by Tubby Smith’s Texas Tech team and barely snuck by a pretty bad Missouri State team. So it’s not like we’re lacing up our Final Four sneakers or anything.
BUT. They also looked suspiciously put together against Clemson, took Temple to the final couple minutes and genuinely haven’t sucked yet this season. All I’m saying, you guys, is they’re a winnable neutral-site Oklahoma State game away from conceivably going 10-2 in the non-conference season. That would be an unbelievable start for this team.
I guess this is what passes for optimism these days. Not sucking.
GOOD: Jordan Murphy is actually really frickin’ good.
So, we all know the story. The Gophers have four true freshmen on the team and they’re all going to be good someday, yadda yadda. Yeah. Wake me up when they’ve arrived, right?
Well, it really looks like one of them already has. We all thought it was going to be Kevin Dorsey, the four-star recruit who was supposed to start out of the gate and provide some lighting in a bottle. He’s been doing his best DeAndre Mathieu impression so far this season (i.e., playing just a little too fast for his own good), so we’re still waiting for his coming out party.
Instead, we’ve been treated to Jordan Murphy, who came in a little under the radar. Originally recruited by Shaka Smart at VCU, he opened up his recruiting after Smart left for Texas and quickly turned to Minnesota. The beginning of the season was fairly innocuous, though he showed flashes of the versatility that made him such an attractive recruit in the first place. But it’s been his last two games that have really stood out, capped by a 24-point, 10-rebound night against Clemson on national television, which really got folks buzzing.
Now, is he a savior? Not yet. But when’s the last time a true Gopher freshman scored 24 points and paired it with 10 rebounds within his first 10 games? That’s exciting stuff for a team desperately seeking go-to guys and a foundation for the next few years. The next few games will be quite telling in the Murphy trend/mirage department.
BAD: We have no rebounding; and it doesn’t look like it’s getting any better
Size and strength were never going to be cornerstones of the 2015-16 Gopher squad. But really, did you expect it to be this bad?
248th – that’s currently where the Gophers check in nationally when it comes to rebounds per game. Minnesota had limited firepower down low to begin with, but Gaston Diedhiou, a guy who was expected to shoulder at least SOME of the load, has basically been AWOL, Bakary Konate is still a foul machine and, well, that’s really the extent of their size. Joey King isn’t a banger, and as much as you’d love to see Charles Buggs down low, that’s just not going to happen.
Murphy has done an admirable job filling in for Diedhiou, but the reality we’re quickly coming to grips with is we just literally don’t have the size to pull down rebounds or hang with some big dudes. Jake White from Omaha had a field day, and Jaron Blossomgame from Clemson, for instance, scored at will near the bucket.
Going forward, shooting around 50% from the field like they did their past two games isn’t going to be sustainable, and it’s the second chance points that teams like Texas Tech and Temple feasted on that will really cause problems. The question is, do they even have the personnel to do anything about it? It’s not looking good.
INTERESTING: The Gophers have 2nd longest home non-conference winning streak in the nation
One fun stat that came out of the ESPN2 broadcast during the Clemson game was a relatively dubious distinction the Gophers currently have, which is owning the second-longest winning streak at home against non-conference teams, a streak now at an unbelievable 47 games. That’s five years worth of games!
I say dubious because the Gophers have garnered the local reputation of playing nobodies at home and feasting on the likes of Coastal Carolina, but it’s still impressive nonetheless, simply considering the law of averages. For those wondering, they last lost to Virginia at home in 2010 during the B1G/ACC Challenge.
Duke currently owns the longest streak at a staggering 120 games in a row.
