Welch

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tinyarch said:
On a side-note, I like how Welch talked about going to the gym for more practice. Funny, I thought the Gophers had no practice facility to access based upon comments from the GH. Perhaps the kids can go in and get some extra work in after all. Who'd of thought...
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Really....
 


tinyarch said:
On a side-note, I like how Welch talked about going to the gym for more practice. Funny, I thought the Gophers had no practice facility to access based upon comments from the GH. Perhaps the kids can go in and get some extra work in after all. Who'd of thought...
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He took the bus over to lifetime
 

rrjackIII said:
Blog Post by: Amelia Rayno http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/195487521.html
March 5, 2013 - 10:09 PM

What was meant to be simply an honor to this year's seniors has turned into the Gophers' potential new starting lineup as they barrel toward the NCAA tournament.

On Saturday against Penn State, Minnesota coach Tubby Smith threw out a special starting five in ode to "Senior Day" -- all four seniors started, including Julian Welch and Andre Ingram, who have come off the bench all season.

Now, after watching that group's success -- albeit against basement-dweller Penn State -- Smith is perhaps ready to give it a try again.

"Those guys that we started played extremely well together, so they may get the nod tomorrow," Smith said. "I haven’t really decided yet.. But I like the way Julian played – seven assists, no turnovers. He really defended. We were able to shut down their best players in [D.J] Newbill and [Jermaine] Marshall, and the reason was that we probably had our best defensive team on the court. Andre Ingram is one of our better, if not our best post defender. He’s probably a pretty heady player in that area."

Smith praised the ultimate size of the lineup around Trevor Mbakwe as well, noting that it gave Rodney Williams the freedom to work more from the perimeter -- where the forward spends lot of time anyway. The coach also liked the spark he got from Joe Coleman -- who had stuggled offensively until the Penn State game, when the sophomore went off for 12 points in 13 minutes -- off the bench.

The real issue would be that in that lineup, Andre Hollins, often referred to as the leader of the team, would be a reserve. On Saturday, Austin Hollins was the lone non-senior to start with the bunch. Smith has been using Andre off the ball a lot more in attempt to re-energize the other things the point guard does well, like, for instance score, an aspect that has been up-and-down for the sophomore. But bringing him off the bench is a different story.

"Dre is our leading scorer and probably our best all-around player, so it’s tough to keep a guy like him out of the lineup," Smith said.

Other notes from tonight's media access:

Smith has been dealing with a bad sore throat last week and early this week, staying home sick for most of Monday. Smith was back on Tuesday, though, saying that after a few rounds of antibiotics and steroids over the last couple days, he's feeling better.

Elliott Eliason seems to have picked up the bug, and at a bad time as Nebraska is a home-coming for the Chadron, Neb. native. He had a sore throat on Tuesday. "It's going around," he said.

If Welch does start, it will be a surprise to him. "[Coach] hasn’t said anything to me," he said. At the same time, the senior who was a starter a year ago would welcome it, saying he enjoyed his first start of the year on Saturday. "I was way more comfortable," he said. "It felt more like last year, so it was definitely a good experience ... It was a little weird, but it was a good weird."

Count Mbakwe as a fan of the Gophers' recent offensive adjustments -- Smith has basically simplified Minnesota's half-court and made a return to the flex offense that the team used successfully a year ago in the Indiana game. "Coach has been great," Mbakwe said. "I know he went to the blackboard and said ‘How can we improve offensively?’ We went through a stretch where it felt like it was hard for us to score 30 points in games. Lately we were able to score more points."

Mbakwe said his recent proliferation inside is a blend of those changes plus him making an effort to call for the ball more and aggressively go to the hoop once he has it. "I think previously, I was only shooting four or five times a game," he said. "And I made put more emphasis on myself to just be more aggressive and getting more of a feel during games. And part of it has been the change in offense and getting the ball more inside. We’ve been working the high-low to me and Elliott."


© 2011 Star Tribune
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Good grief Tubby - this is not that hard. You start both Hollins- that's a no brainer. If there is any tinkering it has to be with Coleman's spot or where you play Rodney. Against a team like Nebraska you beat them down right away- not starting Andre would be nearly a fire-able offense.

Acceptable lineups

Welch
Hollins
Hollins
Williams
Mbakwe

Hollins
Hollins
Williams
Ingram/ Elliason
Mbakwe

Or the normal starting line up.
 

He had one good game agaist a bad team.He didn't play against Indiana so we will see. He has been a major disappointment this season and I can't see how his shot could have got so flat. My hopes of him turning his game around have not not gone up much. A player who lost weight and got slower. He is an enigma to me.
 


It'd be interesting to know what other JUCO guards we could have had instead of Welch and how they ended up. This team would be a lot better off if it could have had a true combo guard come off the bench and make a consistent difference. I'm thinking of my favorite Gopher ever....Townsend Orr.
 

I think I'm in the minority here, but I like this move. Go with the hot hand and continue to adjust lineups depeding on play. I want to see Ingram (strong defense and rebounder) and Welsh (can create, riding a little momentum and not afraid to shoot) play more minutes. Dre will still get plenty of playing time and will be more fresh.
 

nokomismod said:
I think I'm in the minority here, but I like this move. Go with the hot hand and continue to adjust lineups depeding on play. I want to see Ingram (strong defense and rebounder) and Welsh (can create, riding a little momentum and not afraid to shoot) play more minutes. Dre will still get plenty of playing time and will be more fresh.
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Very good post. Thank you. I agree 100%.

Go Gophers
 

Start Welch if you want. Start Ingram if you want. But both need to be in place of Coleman. If Tubby takes Dre out of the line-up I'm truly concerned he's gone senile.
 



tinyarch said:
Funny, I thought the Gophers had no practice facility to access based upon comments from the GH. Perhaps the kids can go in and get some extra work in after all. Who'd of thought...
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I've yet to see anyone post that the team never has a place to get extra practice in.
 

Welch all of a sudden can create? Give me a break. If Maverik had passed him as the third guard it tells you how bad he has been. He really made the difference against Penn State. Without him we win by fif-teen. I'm sure glad Oto didn't score in double figures against Penn State or you guys would have had him in the lineup.
 

Blackhammer said:
I'm sure glad Oto didn't score in double figures against Penn State or you guys would have had him in the lineup.
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Get back to us when Oto has 7 assists and 0 turnovers...........
 

Blackhammer said:
Welch all of a sudden can create? Give me a break. If Maverik had passed him as the third guard it tells you how bad he has been. He really made the difference against Penn State. Without him we win by fif-teen. I'm sure glad Oto didn't score in double figures against Penn State or you guys would have had him in the lineup.
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The difference is Welch has shown he can play well in the past. Like, say, most of last year.

I'm not sure I would start him or anything but I do think a lineup of Hollins, Hollins, and Welch in the backcourt more often wouldn't be a bad thing.
 



GophersInIowa said:
The difference is Welch has shown he can play well in the past. Like, say, most of last year.
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Amen.

Seems like some folks all they want to remember about Welch last year was the key missed free throws. Yes, he missed some big ones, but he played a lot of quality basketball last season, and made some of the Gophers' most clutch shots. He hasn't been nearly as productive this season -- no question -- but Welch has proven he can perform against quality teams. It's revisionist history to say he hasn't.

Maybe Welch can build off the PSU performance, and be a little bit of a wild-card for the Gophers as they enter the B1G and NCAA tourneys. That's how I'm looking at it. He's capable.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Amen.

Seems like some folks all they want to remember about Welch last year was the key missed free throws. Yes, he missed some big ones, but he played a lot of quality basketball last season, and made some of the Gophers' most clutch shots. He hasn't been nearly as productive this season -- no question -- but Welch has proven he can perform against quality teams. It's revisionist history to say he hasn't.

Maybe Welch can build off the PSU performance, and be a little bit of a wild-card for the Gophers as they enter the B1G and NCAA tourneys. That's how I'm looking at it. He's capable.
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I agree. Welch has shown that he can play at this level...

I like the idea of Welch and Andre on the court together...with Austin in at the 3 for a spell (when Coleman goes out). While we have had many conversations on this board about our lack of bench, I actually feel okay with Elliot in the game (plays like a starter to me), Welch in the game, Mav in the game or Ingram in the game. However, I am not comfortable with all of them together.. and I think Tubby gets that now. I have not really seen the hockey sub pattern in some time. The main thing.. Trevor and Andre need to play A LOT. Rotate the other guys in as needed. I would like to have Andre play 35 minutes and keep sliding him between the 1 and 2 depending on who else is on the court.
 

While ill admit PSU isn't exactly the cream of the crop, I love people diminishing Welch's game because of the opponent.

Every Michigan player must be flat out atrocious if numbers against PSU require some sort of reduction.

Bottom line, PSU is a big ten team who beat the #4 team in the country. Julien Welch an the Gophers trounced them while Michigan lost at their place and barely won at home. Numbers against PSU still mean something.
 

scher215 said:
While ill admit PSU isn't exactly the cream of the crop, I love people diminishing Welch's game because of the opponent.

Every Michigan player must be flat out atrocious if numbers against PSU require some sort of reduction.

Bottom line, PSU is a big ten team who beat the #4 team in the country. Julien Welch an the Gophers trounced them while Michigan lost at their place and barely won at home. Numbers against PSU still mean something.
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Look at his body of work this season then. That is the bottomline. I do agree last season he was a decent player. This year he has been awful. Give him some minutes the next few games and see if he has turned it around. To say he needs to start to play well would indicate to me just that he hasn't played well. An excuse or a blame Tubby because the guy has went in the tank.
 

We need 3 pt shooters on the court when Mbakwe gets doubled. Right now that is Dre, Mav, and Welch.
 


Blackhammer said:
Look at his body of work this season then. That is the bottomline. I do agree last season he was a decent player. This year he has been awful. Give him some minutes the next few games and see if he has turned it around. To say he needs to start to play well would indicate to me just that he hasn't played well. An excuse or a blame Tubby because the guy has went in the tank.
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His shooting and defense have been awful. I will remind everyone again that he is tied for best AST/TO ratio on the team and leads the team with most assists per 40 minutes. That is with him playing a good amount with 2nd stringers.
 


Though I have bashed him. Welch was the best guard on the floor for the Gophers last night.
 

Blackhammer said:
Though I have bashed him. Welch was the best guard on the floor for the Gophers last night.
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Agreed. He played really well. Still slow on defense which sucks, but a very smart player on offense.
 

Welch can't shoot free throws especially in a tight game. He may be an ok shooter from the arc, but he can't be trusted to be on the floor in a close game in the closing minutes.
 

tap said:
Welch can't shoot free throws especially in a tight game. He may be an ok shooter from the arc, but he can't be trusted to be on the floor in a close game in the closing minutes.
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Yeah, especially because RW is such an awesome free throw shooter.
 

No one ever seems to remember the clutch three's he hit last year.
 



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