Amelia Rayno blog: Tubby Smith: "Our strength probably is in our backcourt"

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I guess I agree that the backcourt is the strength of the team, because (at least for the purposes of this article) the position being played by Austin Hollins and Joe Coleman is considered a backcourt position.

I did think the strengths of the players was a little off. I think decision making (along with defense) is the area where Andre Hollins is struggling. I'd also mention defense as Austin Hollins primary strength as opposed to shooting.
 

EG#9 said:
I guess I agree that the backcourt is the strength of the team, because (at least for the purposes of this article) the position being played by Austin Hollins and Joe Coleman is considered a backcourt position.

I did think the strengths of the players was a little off. I think decision making (along with defense) is the area where Andre Hollins is struggling. I'd also mention defense as Austin Hollins primary strength as opposed to shooting.
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+19

I think the switch to a '3 guard' line-up with Rodney at the 4 has been huge. Like Amelia said, better ball movement and a more high-octane offense.

A couple games after Trevor went down Tubby said something like; 'I never could have imagined a small line-up with Rodney at the 4'(yet he played Rodney at the 2 last year). I'm still shaking my head on that one.
 

station19 said:
+19

I think the switch to a '3 guard' line-up with Rodney at the 4 has been huge. Like Amelia said, better ball movement and a more high-octane offense.

A couple games after Trevor went down Tubby said something like; 'I never could have imagined a small line-up with Rodney at the 4'(yet he played Rodney at the 2 last year). I'm still shaking my head on that one.
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I think he says that because in the B1G, Rodney at the 4 is not gonna be as effective as it has been thus far I think. That's not necessarily a lineup built to last, but hopefully, we'll be able to mitigate our lack of beef and still be able to use that quickness advantage enough to get some wins. I don't think he imagined playing a lot of Rodney at 2 either, but hey, things don't work out like you plan very often, specifically when it comes to Gopher basketball.
 

Does anyone have any knowledge about Mo playing this year?
 


Monty519 said:
I think he says that because in the B1G, Rodney at the 4 is not gonna be as effective as it has been thus far I think. That's not necessarily a lineup built to last, but hopefully, we'll be able to mitigate our lack of beef and still be able to use that quickness advantage enough to get some wins. I don't think he imagined playing a lot of Rodney at 2 either, but hey, things don't work out like you plan very often, specifically when it comes to Gopher basketball.
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If you have obvious matchup problems on defense occasionally then you play Ingram more. He's a bit more physical and you can have Rodney split time between the 3 and 4. Not sure how many teams in the B1G are going to have a PF that is physically overpowering and scores alot, Draymond Green at Mich State and Thomas at Ohio State might be problems.
 

jovs said:
If you have obvious matchup problems on defense occasionally then you play Ingram more. He's a bit more physical and you can have Rodney split time between the 3 and 4. Not sure how many teams in the B1G are going to have a PF that is physically overpowering and scores alot, Draymond Green at Mich State and Thomas at Ohio State might be problems.
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That's a good point, I might be overrating B1G post play. Cause now that I'm actually thinking about it, I'm struggling to think of a ton of guys who would beast on him in the post really. That's partly why it would have been so nice to have Trevor still, he would have been a big plus matchup in the paint with his athleticism and tenacity down there.
 

Andy Katz on the Gophers' frontcourt. From his chat this afternoon:

"The Gophers have played very well without Mbakwe, but the Big Ten will likely eat up this frontcourt. So I have them finishing eighth or ninth."
 

She loses me at "Maverick Ahanmisi is a capable option at point guard who now has a major role running the second team."

Also, I think that the new beat writer doesn't quite realize how big the gap is between non-conference competition and Big Ten play.

I will be interested to see which of these young guys continue to get minutes when Tubby shortens his bench in Big Ten play (which you know is going to happen). If I had to wager $5, I would say Coleman sees his minutes largely vanish. I also can't imagine Mav playing much in important situations.
 



anonymous said:
She loses me at "Maverick Ahanmisi is a capable option at point guard who now has a major role running the second team."

Also, I think that the new beat writer doesn't quite realize how big the gap is between non-conference competition and Big Ten play.

I will be interested to see which of these young guys continue to get minutes when Tubby shortens his bench in Big Ten play (which you know is going to happen). If I had to wager $5, I would say Coleman sees his minutes largely vanish. I also can't imagine Mav playing much in important situations.
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I can't imagine Tubby shortening his bench.
 

Gall,

Aside from a year ago when the backcourt had injuries and the Joseph transfer, Tubby has shortened his bench in the Big Ten. Usually it is a freshman or two who go from playing 10-15 minutes to playing about 5 minutes.

Tubby won't play guys bless he trusts them defensively. Because of that I think it will be interesting to see what happens. Because this team hasn't played top competition, I think the new guys will have a serious adjustment to make when they do play top teams. It will be interesting to see how that transpires.
 

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