A Microcosm of optimism

Overtime of the victory vs. MSU in the Big Ten tournament.

First possession of OT MSU 3 point play, Damien Johnson fouls out. we Play the final 4:30 with Joseph, Hoffarber, Westbrook, Sampson and Carter.

Westbrook has a nice three point play, draws a foul and makes 1-2. He also has a bad turnover in the backcourt and gives away 2 points.

Carter grabs a few boards, gets fould and makes a few and misses a few.

Pretty much everything else positive that happens involves the other three (mostly Hoff and Joseph, ok mostly Joseph with some nice plays/passes from Hoff)

My point is that depth can be overrated (see OSU). Only 5 guys can be on the court at once.

Nolen and Joseph have plenty of stamina, as does Hoffarber (led team in minutes). Sampson and Iverson and an improved Rodney Williams would make a pretty solid 6. Add Mbakwe, a really good top 7. If Oto and Hollins can log 5-10 productive minutes a game we are at 9.

Amidst the naysayers, paint me optimistic.

balds said:

My point is that depth can be overrated (see OSU). Only 5 guys can be on the court at once.

Amidst the naysayers, paint me optimistic.

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edit: just reread your post. Still not sure what you were trying to say, but I may have misread. Perhaps you're saying we're not going to be deep but can still be good?

Gopher Warrior said:

edit: just reread your post. Still not sure what you were trying to say, but I may have misread. Perhaps you're saying we're not going to be deep but can still be good?

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Looks to me like he's saying that he is optimistic that the Gophers could have a good season next year despite what some people on this board are saying. Also that depth is overrated and even though we may not be as deep next year we can still have success. I'm still optimistic as well.

Exactly

Joseph, Nolen and Hoffarber 30 minutes plus. Iverson and Sampson 25-30+ People are going nuts because Maverick and Oto were late signings and EE and Hollins aren't 4 stars. This class isn't going to be heavily relied upon in year 1. Tubby will tighten up the rotation. We will have a lot of talent on the floor a lot of the time. How many Big Ten teams will have a more talented top 6 than us? 2, 3, 4, 5??? If Mbakwe plays, how many teams will have a more talented top 7?

balds said:

Joseph, Nolen and Hoffarber 30 minutes plus. Iverson and Sampson 25-30+ People are going nuts because Maverick and Oto were late signings and EE and Hollins aren't 4 stars. This class isn't going to be heavily relied upon in year 1. Tubby will tighten up the rotation. We will have a lot of talent on the floor a lot of the time. How many Big Ten teams will have a more talented top 6 than us? 2, 3, 4, 5??? If Mbakwe plays, how many teams will have a more talented top 7?

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I tend to agree - in that we will have an experienced core. How Tubby allocates minutes is another thing... maybe this will force him to lay off the bench use.

This is probably another middle of the pack team with a solid chance to make the tourney. Not what I hoped we would be looking at in 2010-11, but could be much worse.

While I am optimistic, there are a few "what ifs." Foul trouble, Injury, and off the court problems,(not that there would be with hoff nolen devoe RW colt and RS3)

My optimism

is predicated on a few things.

1) We will emphasize the high/low with our two big men, who will be stronger and better.

2) playing off item 1, we will open up space for outside shooting with Hoff and an improved outside shooting Joseph. Add Hollins and Oto possibly for some open treys.

3) Nolen will play 30 minutes of ball hawking defense, and hopefully not be relied upon or expected to provide much offense, unless he can learn to distribute/finish at the hole.

4) Not having Westbrook and Cobb's attitudes will help. In the MSU overtime I wrote about above, the team was on the verge of a huge win and Cobbs was on the bench looking like he was at a funeral, while everyone on the bench was beaming.



When it's all said and done, I think this team is going to live and die by the two big men and Devoe's Swagitude, and for that I'm optimistic.

One Minor Dispute

Balds, one of your premises is that Nolen has stamina, and I think that is actually not the case. In both his freshman and sophomore years he really hit the wall in the second half of the Big Ten season, and it was indicated/speculated that he has asthma, which could very well hurt his stamina.

I agree woleheartedly that this will be a competitive team next year, but the realistic expectiations of a top three finish and a nice tourney run with the recruited roster in tact are long gone. I expect a season similar to this year, with fewer distractions and more consistent play, but lacking the horses to compete with the big boys in the biggest games.