The "Supposed" Depth of the Gopher basketball.

[JackyHemmingway]

If we all know that the Gophers bench is so deep, then why do we have a hard time building leads? I believe the Gophers have 2 starting fives. If the 2nd Five is playing well, then what’s the problem with leaving them in once they build a lead? Numbers talk! Statistically when the bench enters the game they are plus 7+. But game after game we see the "Legendary" coach take everyone out EVEN IF THEY ARE BUILDING A LEAD!

Most Recent Example:

Purdue/Minn... Paul Carter entered the game and quickly ignited the team’s offense with 7 pts in 4 mins. That gave the Gophers there first lead of the night on a 13-3 run. Coming back from the TV timeout. All the starters are back on the court and that lead has dwindled. Interesting. Our leading scorer for the night was Carter with 15pts in 14MINS!!! Its scary to imagine what kind of productivity the Gophers could get going if he would play 25+ mins.

There was one point during the game where we had 4!!!!!!!!! Guards on the court and Johnson (6'7) at CENTER! against one of the biggest teams in the conference? Are you serious? I hope we could get it together come tourney time.

 

[rosevillegopher]

your point is not very clear and doesn't seem to match your title.

 

[rcpratt]

Purdue is actually fairly average in terms of height. They are 9th out of 11 Big Ten teams in "effective height", which is weighted based on the minutes each player gets.

 

[SonOfTheVarsity]

I have a hard time getting your point, and I don't think your Purdue examples are very strong. We were missing RSIII, so, for better or worse, we had to play some stretches of the game with a small line-up. And it seemed like Tubby was trying to get Paul into the game for more minutes, but he was in foul trouble for most of the night. I also don't see how one could expect either of our units to build a lead against Purdue.

At times I am also frustrated by Tubby's group subs, but I don't think they have been as costly as you seem to think.

 

[Gopher Bandanna Guy]

I'm not sure that good depth actually translates to 'building leads'. Rather it means there is less dropoff when our 6,7,8,and 9th players off the bench are in relative to other teams. Depth doesn't mean as much if the starting 5 you are up against are plenty effective (i.e. Purdue), and their bench doesn't need to spend much time matching up with yours. When fouls and fatigue come into play for the other team, that's when our depth should effectively build leads. With Purdue, that didn't seem to be an issue.

 

[Moses87]

The title for this thread should read: PLAY CARTER MORE!!!!

And I agree that Carter has been under-used by Tubby in the 2 seasons I've seen him.

 

[Gopher Bandanna Guy]

I like Carter a lot too, but he sometimes lets his shot selection is iffy. I like the way Tubby manages his minutes for the most part, and he keeps him on the bench as a spark off the bench.

 

[Schnoodler]

Deep teams usually don't dominate until later in the game. It can be true and was for Clems teams that your talent isn't as good for any five and you may actually fall behind early in the game. It's not until you wear down your opponent that you gain an advantage. Purdue is a very good team and our best five doesn't match up with theirs yet. Sometimes you just can't wear down an opponent either.

 

[Dampshoe]

Paul Carter ...year 2

Carter definitely sparked the team when he entered the Purdue game. In fact, it may have been his most aggressive play to date as a Gopher. I have seen Paul' athleticism before in lots of games but most of the time he misses his shots and more often than not ...he misses them badly. BUT against Purdue he was awesome.

Tubby clearly likes Carter. He always says great things about Paul ...but I feel we as fans haven't had that many great Paul Carter basketball moments to remember ...at least no so far.


Paul has had some odd injuries that have always slowed his progress. But against Purdue he was like a man possessed. I hope it continues.

As for Tubby switching the rotation ...at times, I agree, it appears that it slows down whatever momentum we had going. But if these two rotations keep playing with the speed, defensive tenacity that I have seen, we are going to be winning a lot games and have a talented tourney team come March.