Who is your 2013-2014 Gophers MVP?

Who is your 2013-2014 Gophers MVP?

  • Austin Hollins

    Votes: 26 22.0%

  • Andre Hollins

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Deandre Mathieu

    Votes: 90 76.3%

  • Other (please list)

    Votes: 2 1.7%
  • Total voters
    118
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Ahh... I think Kendal Shell wins for best attitude. No offense.
 


LakerFan said:
Five games into the season I felt he looked like he might be the best point guard we've had since Bobby Jackson, now I would say that was the best season for a point guard I've seen in 20+ years since I started following the Gophers.
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Nothing personal, but this is an absurd comment for two reasons. One, Bobby Jackson wasn't a point guard for the University of Minnesota. Two, Bobby Jackson was the best player in the past 25 years, hands down. I love Mathieu. In fact, he's my favorite player since Bobby Jackson, for all the reasons mentioned, but let's not pretend he is at the same level Bobby was - particularly in 96-97. You may be right though - he's a pretty good point guard. If he works on his shot, he will be tough to stop next year.
 

underground629 said:
Mathieu also wins awards for most entertaining, favorite player, favorite attitude, best playmaker, tone-setter, ability to take-over, etc.
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Mathieu scored and was fouled late in the SMU game, that was huge and his reaction...the muscle man pose had me cracking up.
 

Mathieu.....no question. If Austin had played like he did these past few weeks, the entire season......I probably would have picked him. However, I cannot even begin to imagine where we would have been without LD. Andre was supposed to be our playmaker this year. LD was instead.
 


underground629 said:
Mathieu also wins awards for most entertaining, favorite player, favorite attitude, best playmaker, tone-setter, ability to take-over, etc.
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+08


Haven't had a player with his level of tenacity since Westbrook.
 

Here are my awards:
MVP: Little Dre
Newcomer: Little Dre
Rookie: McNeil
Leadership & Sportsmanship: Austin Hollins
Most Determined: Oto
Unsung Hero: Mav

I am basing the awards off of the awards hockey gives out. They also give out a community service and a scholar-athlete award.
 

Most determined has to go to Mo. He was told to play he needed to lose the weight. He answered. Could also be most improved.
 

XMan said:
Most determined has to go to Mo. He was told to play he needed to lose the weight. He answered. Could also be most improved.
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You have a point on Mo, but knowing the shape of Oto's knees now and watching him play early in the season with the pain he must have been in has to be worth something. And the 32 minutes vs. FSU helped get the Gophers to the NIT Final.
 




I'm surprised you point out his shot as what he needs to work on in order to take the next step. I know that his percentages were probably a little misleading because he did score most of his buckets near the rim, but honestly, I think the sample size after that many games tells me that shooting isn't really a weakness of his. He shot a solid ft percentage, was clutch shooting most of the year in all areas, hit a ridiculous percentage on threes even though he didn't take a ton, and he was pretty damn good shooting midrange jumpers and finishing at the rim. It's one of those things where I almost feel like most people either underestimate Mathieu as a shooter (b/c he scored so much at the rim) or overestimate him (because his percentages were so high). The only glaring weakness in his game is his turnovers, but I think those will drop quite a bit. I also think he can make a jump into being on the all defensive team. He has all the tools. Dude can run forever, is as quick as anyone, and he has good hands and instincts. I could definitely see him harassing the hell out of people next year. He's just one of those annoying guys to play against when he's moving his feet so quickly.

GopherJake said:
Nothing personal, but this is an absurd comment for two reasons. One, Bobby Jackson wasn't a point guard for the University of Minnesota. Two, Bobby Jackson was the best player in the past 25 years, hands down. I love Mathieu. In fact, he's my favorite player since Bobby Jackson, for all the reasons mentioned, but let's not pretend he is at the same level Bobby was - particularly in 96-97. You may be right though - he's a pretty good point guard. If he works on his shot, he will be tough to stop next year.
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Hahaha, I died from that too. For being such a small guy, he's really quite ripped. I forget which Raise the Barn video it was, but he's pure muscle. Love those videos btw. Makes me wish The Journey had focused on us for the entire year like they did when Tubby first came. That would've been so entertaining. DJ was hysterical in those.

fan of Ray Williams said:
Mathieu scored and was fouled late in the SMU game, that was huge and his reaction...the muscle man pose had me cracking up.
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The amazing thing about Deandre is the way he makes you forget about his height. I liked Aaron Robinson, and he gave us some great play, but he was always an undersized pg.
Not Drizzy. We call him Lil' Dre, but as he drives through the paint to the basket, I don't think, "Too bad he isn't taller".
 



underground629 said:
I'm surprised you point out his shot as what he needs to work on in order to take the next step. I know that his percentages were probably a little misleading because he did score most of his buckets near the rim, but honestly, I think the sample size after that many games tells me that shooting isn't really a weakness of his. He shot a solid ft percentage, was clutch shooting most of the year in all areas, hit a ridiculous percentage on threes even though he didn't take a ton, and he was pretty damn good shooting midrange jumpers and finishing at the rim. It's one of those things where I almost feel like most people either underestimate Mathieu as a shooter (b/c he scored so much at the rim) or overestimate him (because his percentages were so high). The only glaring weakness in his game is his turnovers, but I think those will drop quite a bit. I also think he can make a jump into being on the all defensive team. He has all the tools. Dude can run forever, is as quick as anyone, and he has good hands and instincts. I could definitely see him harassing the hell out of people next year. He's just one of those annoying guys to play against when he's moving his feet so quickly.
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You make several good points. Particularly on his defensive potential. I know one thing, he is willing to fight through a screen by a guy twice his size.

As for his shooting. I base my comment that he needs to improve on a couple things. First, he didn't take enough shots, particularly threes. As you mention, he shot for a very nice %. I was calling for him to shoot more threes early in the Big Ten season (GW's pooh-poohing the idea notwithstanding). Secondly, he said himself that he needs to shoot more and work on shooting more to help the other parts of his game be more effective (i.e., keep the defense honest).

I absolutely love what he brought to this team. It took a month for Rich Pit to find a PG better than any that Tubby brought in. That's amazing. What a huge surprise.
 

EG#9 said:
It's Mathieu and it's not close. He brought an element of toughness/competitiveness to the Gophers that this team badly needed. With as shaky as 'Dre Hollins handle looked this year, I don't think we would have liked the results of 'Dre at point guard this year in this offense.
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I don't watch as much as I used to, but this kid is really something. Absolute heart of a lion.
 

Moonlight said:
The amazing thing about Deandre is the way he makes you forget about his height. I liked Aaron Robinson, and he gave us some great play, but he was always an undersized pg.
Not Drizzy. We call him Lil' Dre, but as he drives through the paint to the basket, I don't think, "Too bad he isn't taller".
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It's amazing how well he finishes around the basket among guys who are 9-15 inches taller than him.
 

GopherJake said:
You make several good points. Particularly on his defensive potential. I know one thing, he is willing to fight through a screen by a guy twice his size.

As for his shooting. I base my comment that he needs to improve on a couple things. First, he didn't take enough shots, particularly threes. As you mention, he shot for a very nice %. I was calling for him to shoot more threes early in the Big Ten season (GW's pooh-poohing the idea notwithstanding). Secondly, he said himself that he needs to shoot more and work on shooting more to help the other parts of his game be more effective (i.e., keep the defense honest).

I absolutely love what he brought to this team. It took a month for Rich Pit to find a PG better than any that Tubby brought in. That's amazing. What a huge surprise.
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Fair enough. I would like to see him shoot more often from outside as well. He can make them and defenders will definitely sag off him next year since they know he can blow by about anyone. I had forgotten that he has actually said he needs to work on his shot. Your comments make a lot more sense now, haha.
 

This kid is a stud.. I said this kid would be the team MVP after the first team scrimmage. Has everything u need in a PG.. My favorite player of all time.
 

You could call Eric Harris the point guard for the 96-97 season the same way you can call Maverick a point guard. They were both unable to create shots, penetrate and dish, or finish at the rim. To be a point guard you need to be able to handle single defensive coverage with no problem and also be able to beat a double team most of the time. Jackson had more assists than Eric Harris did that year, the only thing he didn't do consistently was bring the ball up the court, unless there was pressure, then he did that too. Deandre finished the season with 160 assists and averaged 12pts a game. Bobby jackson had 139 assists and averaged 15 pts a game back in 96/97. So I am not sure why you would not consider him at the same level as where Jackson was at. Probably a better ball handler, but not as good of a pure scorer.
 

LakerFan said:
You could call Eric Harris the point guard for the 96-97 season the same way you can call Maverick a point guard.
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Huh? When Maverick played the PG position is when I would call him a PG. He played both this year. Harris was the team's PG when he was on the floor. Bobby played away from the ball the majority of time.

LakerFan said:
They were both unable to create shots, penetrate and dish, or finish at the rim. To be a point guard you need to be able to handle single defensive coverage with no problem and also be able to beat a double team most of the time.
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This may be a description of what it takes to be a PG, but not so sure it's the definition. Harris was more of a QB, rather than a break their legs with a crossover dribble kind of PG.

LakerFan said:
Jackson had more assists than Eric Harris did that year
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Close, but no. Amazing anyway, since he played off the ball. He also had 6.1 RPG. Does that make him a PF?

LakerFan said:
Deandre finished the season with 160 assists and averaged 12pts a game. Bobby jackson had 139 assists and averaged 15 pts a game back in 96/97. So I am not sure why you would not consider him at the same level as where Jackson was at. Probably a better ball handler, but not as good of a pure scorer.
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Great numbers for Deandre, no question. Those aren't the only two stats on the stat sheet. Again, Deandre is terrific and I love him - and he has one more year to go. But everything you cite is short of BJ - including big differences in rebounding, TOs and steals. Also BJ was the Big Ten defensive POY. Deandre is electrifying at times though - and he is a joy to watch in the same way that BJ was. If he improves, he will knock on BJs door - but he's not there yet.
 

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