I'm not one to question Tubby very often

I'm just curious about a few points:

1). Why is it that he doesn't seem to get upset about Nolen driving out of control into the lane?
2). Why is it that Iverson doesn't play in the second half?
3). Is it our players or offensive system that refuses to give it down low and let the guys work in there a little bit? They have some moves, they just don't get to showcase them.
4). What exactly are we running on offense? Too many jumpshots.
5). What happened to cutting down the rotation? I'm a huge JAS fan as he has meant a lot to the program, but why is he still getting minutes?


I'm more curious than outraged over these things, and I'm not doubting Tubby, I'm behind him one hundred percent. What are your opinions?

I am on board with your points. I think your points about Nolen's out of control drives and the lack of post entry is the most frustrating thing about the team. Sampson and Iverson are young and need to improve over the course of the year but I think I would like to see them get more touches close to the basket. In a game like today they have just as good of chance, if not better, of scoring than anyone else on our team.

If we had something resembling a strategy on offense and it just wasn't working that would be one thing, but other than Nolen dribbling, I'm clueless.

It is also mind blowing that we don't get the bigs the ball more often. Their shooting percentages are stellar.

Coaching

WadeHokenson said:

I'm just curious about a few points:

1). Why is it that he doesn't seem to get upset about Nolen driving out of control into the lane?
2). Why is it that Iverson doesn't play in the second half?
3). Is it our players or offensive system that refuses to give it down low and let the guys work in there a little bit? They have some moves, they just don't get to showcase them.
4). What exactly are we running on offense? Too many jumpshots.
5). What happened to cutting down the rotation? I'm a huge JAS fan as he has meant a lot to the program, but why is he still getting minutes?


I'm more curious than outraged over these things, and I'm not doubting Tubby, I'm behind him one hundred percent. What are your opinions?

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Putting the kids in thge best position for them to succeed.

LW to RSIII inthe post ONCE tonight, for 2.

I totally agree about the post scoring. We have seen numerous games where there is little effort to get it inside.

Wade, agreed. I'll offer my points:

1. Because when the guys aren't getting the ball into the bigs, Al (and Carter) are the only real threats to create their own shot.

2. I love the kid. I don't understand it either. I know he has gotten into some foul trouble in the first half of some games, but why does he get pushed to the end of the pine warming KP's spot? Other than Colt not being able to guard the perimeter as well as Ralph, Carter, etc. I just don't see it either.

3. Throw the ball into the post, either get a fairly good shot (make or miss), get fouled, or collapse the D to get a better look from three. I realize that it's not that simple, but, if we even looked into the post, it would make the offense a whole lot more wide open.

4. It's begun to look like the Monson hand-off drill at the top of the key/three point line. We all know where that got us.

5. I won't say anything about Jamal or his minutes. He must be performing well in practice to be earning what he is during game time. I will say that he has been nothing but awesome for our program and a true model student athlete. Thank you Jamal Abu for everything that you have done for Gopher Hoops.

In the game thread, I have said that JAS has absolutely no business being on the floor (unless we are up by 20 with 2 mins left in the game). Nice leadership skills, good try hard guy, but not a big ten basketball player.

I am fine with Nolen driving to the basket (whether under control or not), especially when your opponent is in foul trouble with 10 mins left in a half. But he needs to shoot it, not attempt a pass into their triple team.

Love Tubby. Loved what he was doing with getting all of the players involved early in a season to find out what they can do/keep them fresh. But it's hard to get any offensive rhythm going if you are getting benched every two minutes.

This was the first game against a good opponent that i saw one of our guards get to the basket. Nolan had some good passes in the paint that our bigs couldnt handle, sometimes thats the only way we're gonna get them the ball

Great points

Nolen is a great athlete and brings a lot to the table, but for this team to take the next step he really needs to learn how to finish. Unfortunately, that probably won't happen until next season. We really need someone who can get in the lane off the dribble--we have way too many jumpshooters. After watching the Wisconsin game, it sure looked like Bostick could be that guy. I'm sure Tubby has good reasons he hasn't played, but I hope he gets more minutes in future games. I couldn't agree more about getting some shot from the inside with Sampson and Iverson.

The Nolen drive and dish to Iverson worked about 3-4 times. I do agree that we need to shake-up the offense a bit. I wish we could have gotten Westbrook some looks earlier in the 1st half.

The JAS minutes are a big problem--the three point play that he gave Purdue tonight was a big. He has played hard for the program, but it's time to give his minutes to more athletic players that can actually compete in a tough Big Ten conference.

Our bigs are not ready for prime time - Iverson can make a few shots but otherwise is problematic on defense and rebounding. Sampson has somehow passed him in readiness but neither can be the kind of inside presence needed to stand up to the best of the bid ten if we have gone ice cold in shooting.
Nolen was top scorer and still gets the loss hung on him! He actually publicly took responsibility for it (so we know he won't go into politics!). We could just as easily blame the guys like Bostick and Carter who we hoped would provide some steadying leadership.

Why don't we go into the post more often? Because Iverson still needs to develop some moves down low instead of the get-blocked-get-rebound-putback move. Sampson has decent moves down low with that baby hook but doesn't get the ball as much because he looks to score via jumpshot more than anything. We've got to figure something out in the half-court offense because aside from getting open 3's and hopefully making them, we've got really nothing there. I liked when our players started driving more and more to get more fouls on Purdue and easy free throws but by then the game was just going back and forth on FT's.

Bigs not ready for prime time

I agree, they aren't ready yet. There are other starting lineups I'd rather see but it seems Tubby has his eye on down the road when the two bigs are going to be a most formidable force.

There are other starting lineups I'd rather see but it seems Tubby has his eye on down the road when the two bigs are going to be a most formidable force.

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Right, kindofgreen. This year is a stepping stone. And in some ways there are games that have exceeded expectations. We all agreed that this year was a rebuilding year until we beat Louisville and realized this team had potential beyond the expectations. And thats Ncaa basketball - we raise our expectations about what could happen and then have to blame it on someone - apparently its going to be Tubby and Nolen.

Moonlight--if you're attempting to say I'm pinning blame on Nolen and Tubby, I must argue that that is not the point. I know you didn't call me out, but if you were insinuating that, it is simply not true. I just had questions and wanted some opinions from others. Our team is shooting awful and not executing enough on offense--that doesn't have to do with Tubby or Nolen.

1. Getting in to the lane is a good thing and more often than not good things happen when you can get the type of penetration Nolen can get. That said, he's obviously in a funk right now, but it would help if we had a veteran big man who could take advantage of his penetration.

2. I have no idea, but I don't think playing Iverson and Sampson together is a great idea against most Big Ten teams right now. I think we need Iverson's more physical presence in the 2nd half. Maybe part of the reason is that Sampson is more effective on the press, because we've found ourselves trailing frequently and needing to press in the 2nd half.

3. I don't think throwing it down low is the best strategy for this team. Neither Sampson or Iverson is very strong with the ball yet and they don't seem to finish very often. Also, neither is a good passer yet, so the turnovers will keep coming. I would like to see them get the ball when they do have favorable matchups against teams that don't have a bunch of athletic to provide help (ex Northwestern).

4. I have no idea what we are running right now, but I sure hope we stop passing the ball to Ralph at the top of the key...that needs to go. The dribble handoffs tonight were reminiscent of Monson basketball as someone else mentioned.

5. I don't think it is just Jamal who could have his minutes cut.


My only real issue with Tubby, especially tonight, is his substitution patterns. It was really brutal tonight, and I feel it was a significant contributor to the poor shooting percentage and the turnovers. Guys need to be on the court for an extended period, getting comfortable with the flow of the game. Guys coming in and out of the game frequently are far less likely to hit an open jumper than a guy who's been on the court for 6-7 minutes. Guys who are in the flow of the game are also less likely to turn the ball over than a guy coming in fresh. It just seemed like there was no rhyme or reason to the substitutions tonight and some very odd choices were made.

It's probably in the best long term interest of the program to have Iverson and Sampson play together, but I don't see the necessity to have them start together. This team is at its best when it puts 4-5 quick, athletic guys on the court. I'd like to see Tubby start the game with a quicker lineup and hope to get a fast start.

I hope this team can get it turned around as they have played 4 halves of really poor basketball in a row now.

No, I'm not calling you out at all.
This year is a learning and building year and when we do better than expected we can be very happy. When we don't it is so easy to pin it on the coach and the point guard.
I think Tubby has been pushing Nolen to drive to the basket, learning that he can either make the basket or draw the foul, which is what happened and Al was top scorer. For this team to be really good Al will need to be able to both: feed the offense and drive and score. If Nolen had a Stanley Pringle to work with, he'd be able to settle more into his own game rather than having to be whatever we need for him to be at the moment.

These are the 2 issues

EG#9 said:

4. I have no idea what we are running right now, but I sure hope we stop passing the ball to Ralph at the top of the key...that needs to go. The dribble handoffs tonight were reminiscent of Monson basketball as someone else mentioned.

My only real issue with Tubby, especially tonight, is his substitution patterns. It was really brutal tonight, and I feel it was a significant contributor to the poor shooting percentage and the turnovers. Guys need to be on the court for an extended period, getting comfortable with the flow of the game. Guys coming in and out of the game frequently are far less likely to hit an open jumper than a guy who's been on the court for 6-7 minutes. Guys who are in the flow of the game are also less likely to turn the ball over than a guy coming in fresh. It just seemed like there was no rhyme or reason to the substitutions tonight and some very odd choices were made.

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That I also have. The spacing on the floor is very very poor. I believe we are running a motion based offense with rules, rather than a pattern. (The WI flex being a motion pattern, North Carolina being a motion rules). But to do a rules based motion effectively, you need synergy with all 5 guys on the floor knowing where each other are. With the frequent subs, we never had more than 2-3 minutes of any 1 group playing together. A big hurdle to overcome with a young group.

At the start of the second half, we tried a little 1-4 low offense with a high screen. I liked that as it created some pretty good spacing and allowed for some dribble/drive penetration. But after the first round of subs, it seemed to disappear.

Oh well - I am still thrilled with the improvement and quality of basketball I am getting to watch at the Barn this year. Go Gophers!

Has anyone else noticed how often Sampson brings the ball down low so even my 5'0" little sister could grab it? He needs to keep the ball high when gets a rebound.

Ralph

Yes, Ralph does have that habit. I'm guessing the coaching staff has reminded him a few times about it. He'll figure it out eventually.

GophersInIowa said:

Has anyone else noticed how often Sampson brings the ball down low so even my 5'0" little sister could grab it? He needs to keep the ball high when gets a rebound.

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I'm glad I wasn't the only one screaming at the TV tonight (this season). He's young, with tools. It's just a minor ripple in his development.

Carter

probably should be starting due to his higher level of agressiveness and drive to the rim, seems to want it more right now than Colt or RS3.