Tubby to trim down the rotation - Andy Katz

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Andy Katz in his blog entry this morning -

"This team does have to learn how to handle success," said Minnesota coach Tubby Smith of his young Gophers. "After Louisville, we played Michigan State and got clobbered on the boards, but then we bounced back."

Smith is hoping for the same result. But he said he's got to trim down his rotation. He said he's playing too many players  citing the 12 that saw action against the Wildcats.
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http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3848884&name=katz_andy
 

Interesting thought. I was thinking it felt like the starters weren't getting enough time in the NU game.

Hopefully the toned down rotation can produce tomorrow against Purdue.

Go Gophers!
 

I sure hope he leaves Payton in the mix. That boy's got serious game.
 




I wouldnt mind seeing a rotation like this.

Starters
Iverson
Carter
Johnson
Westbrook
Nolen

Reserves
Hoffarber
Sampson
Bostick

Spot minutes (depending on match-ups and game situations)
Busch
Joseph
Abu-Shamala
 

Will be interesting I think to see what happens. Aside from Bush, Abu Shamala, Williams, and Payton of course, who've had their minutes reduced the last few games, who does Tubby take from ?
 

why?

why the need to rip payton? the post is about the rotation - he's not part of it.
 

dingo said:
I wouldnt mind seeing a rotation like this.

Starters
Iverson
Carter
Johnson
Westbrook
Nolen

Reserves
Hoffarber
Sampson
Bostick

Spot minutes (depending on match-ups and game situations)
Busch
Joseph
Abu-Shamala
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Move Joseph up a line to "reserves" and you have it right - with spot minutes for Williams.
 



bga1 said:
Move Joseph up a line to "reserves" and you have it right - with spot minutes for Williams.
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No!!! Never Ever play Williams unless both Iverson and Sampson are dead.
 


Just find the right combinations and win us some games! In Tubby we trust.
 






Gopher4Life said:
I sure hope he leaves Payton in the mix. That boy's got serious game.
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Why do you feel the need to rip someone who comes to practice every day, works hard, is a great teammate, and is working hard for his degree?
 


Seriously, hard to have beef with the 13th man when he's being supportive. I can understand having some frustrations over his game, but dude doesn't play, so I have a hard time seeing what there is to be critical of.

As for the rotation, I've been hoping for awhile now that it would tighten up. It sucks to say because they are both seniors, but JAS and Williams should probably be sitting. I think a 10-man rotation would still give us a very deep team and allow guys like Bostick & Carter time to get into the flow of the game.
 

OK, I'll play.

Starters
Sampson ... Playing better than Iverson right now.
Carter ... Best rebounder. Good D & handle. Now about that shot?
Johnson ... Great D. Only average rebounder & shooter, yet the MVP.
Westbrook ... Toughest guy on team.
Nolen ... Get out of your funk Al

Reserves
Joseph ... Most potential of any guard.
Hoffarber ... Does a lot even when he is in a slump.
Iverson ... Has slumped (but not to Big Jon's level) since Big Ten started.
Bostick ... Very good in 2 of last 3 games.

Spot minutes (depending on match-ups and game situations)
Busch ... He's tipped the balance in at least two wins this year.
Abu-Shamala ... Anyone notice that he's over 50% from the field? Still least athletic in rotation.
Williams ... Anyone notice that he's over 50% from the field (and older than Lebron James)?
Payton ... JAS, Big Jon and Kevin were getting multiple starts in the Monson era.
 

Per the Gold Zone...Tubby met the media today....Jon Williams was hurt in practice...pulled something in his calf...Payton is suspended indefinitely for academics.
 

S@@t happens, now a deep team can still play thru it. Maybe a good thing Tubby played many during this first half of the season. It is getting CRUNCH TIME.... so let's go Gophers....
 

I agree with Mikie and wouldnt hesitate to put a quick hook on Nolen for Joseph.
 

Mikie S said:
OK, I'll play.

Starters
Sampson ... Playing better than Iverson right now.
Carter ... Best rebounder. Good D & handle. Now about that shot?
Johnson ... Great D. Only average rebounder & shooter, yet the MVP.
Westbrook ... Toughest guy on team.
Nolen ... Get out of your funk Al
Click to expand...

This is the lineup I like best also and for your reasons mentioned.

However, I still like the lineup that won the game for us at Wisconsin.

Hoff
Westbrook
Bostick
Johnson
Carter

Without this crew on the floor for nearly the last 9 minutes of the Wisconsin game, we easily could have been 0 - 2 on the Road Trip.
 

Schlic Daddy said:
Why do you feel the need to rip someone who comes to practice every day, works hard, is a great teammate, and is working hard for his degree?
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Deep down G4L misses Dan - Payton just happens to have to fill that void. :rolleyes:
 

I agree with Mikie and wouldnt hesitate to put a quick hook on Nolen for Joseph.
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I agree. Someone help me out though. When Al was in foul trouble at Wisconsin and towards the end of the game he sat and either Westbrook or Hoffarber handled the point. Tubby didn't put Joseph back in. Same thing pretty much at Northwestern. I don't understand.
 

Now is probably the right time

I've been saying all along that this season is a marathon, not a sprint; one in which the ultimate goal is to be playing your best ball at the end of the season. No one game has been ultra critical to this point, just parts of the evolution process along the way.

As a result, the Gophers have had a lot of guys log a lot of minutes, get their feet plenty wet in conference and non-conference play. Couldn't ask for a better scenario; guys getting minutes, guys staying fresh, and as of yet it hasn't cost the team any ugly losses. Perfect.

But maybe now it's time to see who the horses are that are going to carry you down the stretch. I don't know who the starting lineup should be, and quite frankly I don't think anybody knows. I do think the next couple of games are when the Jucos in particular should be given a lot of minutes to see if they're starting caliber. These are guys who are used to being "the guy" and I'm sure they'll become more and more comfortable the more minutes they're on the floor.

I'm anxious to see how the next couple of games play out as far as minute distribution.
 

Nolen Is The Best PG On The Squad

And right now it's not even close. He's only a sophomore, and he hasn't been as consistent the last few games (NW game was terrible), but the Wisky game was due to foul trouble (some lame calls, as I recall) -- and Joseph played well against the badgers.

Nolen is the PG who gives the Gophers the best chance to win night in and night out. He plays good defense, and setting up and running the offense is his main focus. Joseph and Hoff are decent reserves at PG (although I don't feel all that comfy watching Blake dribble up the court at times), but neither gives us what Nolen does.

I'm guessing that Tubby will let Nolen play through this bit of a slump, using it as an opportunity to teach and build Nolen's game. Using a "quick hook" to bring in the true Frosh (who's made his own mistakes) or a SG doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

I like the idea of tightening the rotation to 8-9 guys getting regular minutes with others getting spot reserve time.
 

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