What The Gophers Need (5 things)

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Moses87

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I've got a list of about 5 things that will make the Gophers a lock for the NCAA and a top 5 finish in the Big 10.

1)Rodney Williams must become more aggressive in the half court offense. We might have to suffer through some 1 for 10 games, but he has to find some shooting touch or this team simply doesn't have enough scoring to hang in against the elite teams. Specifically, Williams needs to rise up and shoot some threes when opponents sag. Even if he misses, it'll get opponents thinking about him shooting and they'll start coming out at him which will open up the chance for him to up fake and drive into the lane.

2)Hoffarber needs to learn the up-fake and drive. He's proven that he has some passing ability and I think we need Blake to somehow take a few more opponents off the dribble. He has a tendancy to get the ball and if guarded, he gives up the ball too easy. With his shooting ability, I believe he can get more opponents up in the air or off balance if he would up fake more. Nolen needs more help from Hoffarber in creating offense.

3)Nolen must continue to be aggressive driving into the lane and look to lay the ball off for Mbawke or Ralph and Colton.

4)Ahanmisi must be converted to a shooting guard. He's shown an ability to shoot if left open but he's a turned into a turnover machine.

5)Nolen must play 35 minutes a game. We simply don't have a viable back up PG.
 

While I do agree with these I also think Ralph has to step up alot....he's got no excuses for how bad his play has been so far in the conference games. It's almost like he has taken a step back from last year. At the very least he can start with being more aggressive.
 

"W"

What they need more than anything is a "W" vs. Purdue at William Arena on Thursday. Winning helps start curing a lot of things.

Pretty, ugly, lucky, white-knuckler, blow-out. ... I don't care how it comes or how it looks. This squad needs to find a way to beat a quality (read: upper-half) Big Ten team, and Purdue certainly qualifies.
 

What The Gophers Need (5 things)

You forgot the 6th thing we need. Moses87 to take over for Tubby.
 

Dr.Don said:
What The Gophers Need (5 things)

You forgot the 6th thing we need. Moses87 to take over for Tubby.
Click to expand...

Why? Why does someone have to do this every time?

First, what is wrong with any of the things Moses suggested? He's gotten a lot of crap here before, and usually it's been well-deserved. But what is wrong with this post?

Second, did you dead it? Most of his "needs" are simply players performing better. They have little to do with Tubby.

Why do people that disagree with criticism of a coach, deserved or not, frequent message boards? What do you expect to read here? Most of it is going to be ridiculous. Are you surprised? If you can't skip over it and discriminate, then don't waste time here.

Further, much of the "criticism" of Tubby has been made by extremely reasonable posters who know their stuff and have been posting here for years and years. That's a little different than the idiots that show up for a week at a time clearly to just rile people up.

We get it. We know Tubby knows more than us and knows the team better. So did Tim Brewster. Where did that get him? So does pretty much every coach in sport. Yet coaches get criticized and fired all the time. How does that happen if they know so much and never screw up? Why isn't Tubby at UK winning multiple championships if he is infallible?

There's a difference between making observations and questioning things reasonably and being a message board troll. And frankly, this board has a lot more of the former than the latter.
 


6) After 3 years, one of the coaches needs to get through to Sampson. I know he's not an emotional leader, but man, he's got to show something out there. He works for about 1-2 seconds on his seal and if he doesn't get it from the guards, he gives up.
7) Entry passes. There are several times when Sampson and Mbawke are open on the block and our guards miss it.
7) Develop some out of bounds plays. . . this was extremely pathetic in OSU game. They looked for the first option and then stood around and tried to throw a jump ball. 2-3 turnovers at least.
8) Already been said, but mix in freshman guards instead of throwing all 3 to the fire.
9) Get Rodney involved early. I've seen some good things from him in the post if he gets a decent match-up (i.e. someone that isn't much stronger than him). I'd like to see if he can hit a turn around 8-10 ft in. No one is going to block his shot. Also could set screens for him to around the free throw lines and see if he can curl to the hoop.
10) Since we only have one shooter, run n gun a bit more. See if these guys are better in transition. No one outside of Nolen can get their own shot.
 


He's trying to quit. . .
 

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Can't agree about Ahanmisi. We are going to need a point guard and there is no reason to think that he can't score from that position.
 



I particularly agree with number 1. This team needs a scorer, and Williams is the logical choice. I wouldn't mind if that meant launching a 3 now and then (better him than Nolen, IMO), but what I'd really like to see is him have the freedom to look to drive every single time he touches the ball. It won't always be there, and sometimes he'll miss, but if he can beat his man on the first step, he's going to get a good look from somewhere inside 12 feet or so every single time, and sometimes he'll get all the way to the rim. He's shooting 49% for the year.

Right now he looks terrified every time he touches the ball that one mistake will get him yanked from the game. Let see how good the kid can be driving and elevating.
 

Good points Moses

I was thinking about the same thing with Rodney. The shot has to go up when the defense sags that much. He needs to relax because these shots will not be contested. . His sky-high jumper in the lane rattled around some, but it fell. Get the ball up on the rim and some will fall for him.

I agree about Mav; his 3pt shot looks pure; and Nolen; he needs to play pretty much every minute and drive, drive, drive. For all our poor shooting, getting to the rim and getting fouled at least partially offsets it, especially with the FT percentage creeping upward.

I think Rodney, more than any single player, stands to benefit most from the extra 26 min per game that Joseph was getting, with Austin a close second.
 

beach2133 said:
He's trying to quit. . .
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I was thinking of this one when I posted that:
scbs.gif
 

Moses87 said:
I've got a list of about 5 things that will make the Gophers a lock for the NCAA and a top 5 finish in the Big 10.

1)Rodney Williams must become more aggressive in the half court offense. We might have to suffer through some 1 for 10 games, but he has to find some shooting touch or this team simply doesn't have enough scoring to hang in against the elite teams. Specifically, Williams needs to rise up and shoot some threes when opponents sag. Even if he misses, it'll get opponents thinking about him shooting and they'll start coming out at him which will open up the chance for him to up fake and drive into the lane.

2)Hoffarber needs to learn the up-fake and drive. He's proven that he has some passing ability and I think we need Blake to somehow take a few more opponents off the dribble. He has a tendancy to get the ball and if guarded, he gives up the ball too easy. With his shooting ability, I believe he can get more opponents up in the air or off balance if he would up fake more. Nolen needs more help from Hoffarber in creating offense.

3)Nolen must continue to be aggressive driving into the lane and look to lay the ball off for Mbawke or Ralph and Colton.

4)Ahanmisi must be converted to a shooting guard. He's shown an ability to shoot if left open but he's a turned into a turnover machine.

5)Nolen must play 35 minutes a game. We simply don't have a viable back up PG.
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Re-hashing this, it looks like the Gophers successfully accomplished 2), 3), 4)he played 1 min) and 5)...

Now if we can get Rodney's offense going, we'll be tough to beat!
 



Develop an end-of-game offense focused more on scoring than burning clock.
 

The half court offense would hum if Rodney could hit the 3's ... Heck if they can find anyone to hit 3's along with Blake, it will be a thing of beauty
 

my 5 wishes

after making the 5 hour trip south to the game last night, as happy as i was i saw a few things i would like to see more of
1. i hope the gophers would be more aggressive on the offensive side of the ball. early in the game they attacked and took good shots for the most part, but they have a tendency to have dead possesions where they pass the ball around the perimeter til theres 8 seconds left on the shot clock.
2. i like ralphs jump shot.... so Ralph when ur open for the love of god shoot the ball u can make that shot plus itl open the paint up alot for the high low game with him and trevor/colt
3. the obvious one perimeter D which was better last night but still can improve, just recognizing shooters is critical.
4. rodney taking the two dribbles on the baseline and instead of getting caught under the basket, pull up elevate over your defender and drop in a ten foot bunny.. i think hes capable of that
5. i was in the upper deck and the crowd was large last night it was pretty much a full house but i do agree more student tickets should be given to the lower levels. cuz the student section was great last night would be a big home court advantage.

And by the way the blue door in St. Paul is really good!!!!
 

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