Westbrook off the bench

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From the Barn

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With Jamal's obvious confidence and continued stellar play, and Hoffarber with a more well-rounded game, why not bring Westbrook off the bench? He seems like he could be a very scary Townsend Orr type as a sub.

Call me crazy.
 

Not crazy at all, but IMO Westbrook has the more physical game and will be starting. He also has a better handle on the ball at the guard position. Jamal should definitely get the start, he's playing great Bball. He even looks mature on the court. Nice problem to have.
 

I'm just thrilled that the bench guys add something to the team last year. All too often it seemed that there was a net loss last year, or at best a sub was break-even. I mean, Bostick and Joseph battling to be the second to the last guy off the bench. Such a nice "problem".
 

Good Q .. It really doesn't seem to matter who 'starts' or not. Many opinions here have suggested that Blake should be the first player off the bench. His play as a starter (although yesterday he didn't have a typical good game) has been very positive. What LW brings however is different, more in your face, tough D compared to Blake. Both seem to give the offense the same amounts of pts/minutes played. It probably will depend on what Tubby wants at the start of each game. OTOH, it may not be LW or Blake. It could be Blake and LW starting...
 

As a famous coach once said:

"It doesn't matter who starts the game, just who finishes the game."
 


I think Westbrook still has an edge on Blake in terms of defense (but Blake looks better this year than last). In terms of offense, I think Blake is able to penetrate a bit better than Westbrook and finish. Tubby has always emphasized defense but lately has talked more about the need to penetrate offensively. Nice conundrum to have, IMO.
 

With Westbrook starting at the 2, Hoff and JAS playing the 2, looking like Bostick may be more of a 2 than three, and Rodney a 2 or 3 coming next year where will Joseph get his miniutes? Will he see more time at the 1 to get his pt?
 





Five new players this year and four players in next years class-that's nine. Add Westbrook, DJ, Hoff and Nolen makes 13. Even if you leave Cobbs out that's 12 players looking for miniutes next year. That's a nice problem to have But. Will that lead to some transfers. Not trying to be negative, just curious.
 

MNSnowman said:
I think Blake is able to penetrate a bit better than Westbrook and finish.
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Are you sure that's what you meant to say? I would suggest just the opposite is true.

I mean outside of the occasional three-point basket, almost ALL of Westbrook's points are a result of his own creation, penetrating, and getting the ball to the goal. Westbrook's main offensive strength is driving to the rim from the wing.

A majority of Blake's offense is the three-point shot. If he gets points around the basket it is based on a cut he's made without the ball and a pass that he's caught. I think I can count on one hand the number of times Blake has used dribble penetration to score in his Gopher career.
 

From the Barn said:
I'm just thrilled that the bench guys add something to the team last year. All too often it seemed that there was a net loss last year, or at best a sub was break-even.
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I wouldn't say our bench was terrible last year. Remember, we had Hoffarber, Nolen, and Damian coming off the bench. In fact, our bench outscored the opposition in 25 of the 34 games and held a 780-517 points scoring advantage for the season. Some of that was a result of the weak non-conference, though. The Gopher bench in Big Ten games outscored the opposition in 11 of 20 games. So, it was a good bench, not a great bench, but certainly not a net-loss bench, either.
 

MNSnowman said:
I think Westbrook still has an edge on Blake in terms of defense (but Blake looks better this year than last). In terms of offense, I think Blake is able to penetrate a bit better than Westbrook and finish. Tubby has always emphasized defense but lately has talked more about the need to penetrate offensively. Nice conundrum to have, IMO.
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Have you been watching the games? At all? Or is BH your brother?

LW is much, much more adept at penetrating to the basket.
 



TruthTeller said:
Have you been watching the games? At all? Or is BH your brother?

LW is much, much more adept at penetrating to the basket.
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What a riot! A guy with 6 posts asking Snowman if he's watched Gopher basketball games.

TruthTeller: we know you're new here, but you don't have to make yourself look ridiculous on your first day.
 

SGL

I know he has watched the games. Seems that his observations on these two players are turned around.

Dont get all worked up showgoldy. Simply an observation.

Does your # of posts indicate some sort of accuracy?

Looks like tj agrees with me.
 

stop the bickering, children. We are all Gopher fans with opinions. My opinion is the only one that counts tho. LOL. Gophers will win tonight 73-58. GO GOPHERS!!!!!!!!!
 

And to add to that previous comment, it is Tubby's job to decide who plays and when. He is the Coach, our opinions mean nothing. nuff said.
 

And to add to that, lets just close this message board down if people aren't allowed to have opinions.
 

TruthTeller said:
Have you been watching the games? At all? Or is BH your brother?

LW is much, much more adept at penetrating to the basket.
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He certainly is better at penetrating, unfortunately HE HARDLY EVER IS ABLE TO FINISH!!!!! Thus, perhaps Snowman's comments about penetrating AND finishing is accurate?
 

TruthTeller said:
Have you been watching the games? At all? Or is BH your brother?
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tjgopher said:
Are you sure that's what you meant to say? I would suggest just the opposite is true.
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Thanks to both of you for asking but I'll stand by my original statement and opinion. :p I sure wish that "points in the paint" were reported online ... but until then, I guess we'll agree to disagree.

Oh, and TruthTeller: yes. yes. and no. So how's your family? :rolleyes:
 

MNSnowman said:
I'll stand by my original statement and opinion. :p I sure wish that "points in the paint" were reported online ... but until then, I guess we'll agree to disagree.
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Points in the paint with Hoffarber is almost never a result of penetration. It is almost always a result of a cut he's made without the ball and a pass he's received. Last night, for example, he did this a couple of times, but didn't get points. He rarely, if ever, penetrates on his own. As I said, I can't remember five times in his career where Hoff has created his own shot off of dribble penetration. Yet, I can think of hundreds of shots Westbrook has done this. Heck, he must have done it 4-5 times last night alone.

I guess we will have to disagree, but of course, I'm right:)
 

???????

From the Barn said:
And to add to that, lets just close this message board down if people aren't allowed to have opinions.
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I agree with this specific post, but I have a problem with the context it was delivered in. It seems to me that it was posted as a put down against other posters that dared disagree with you. Let those posters have their opinions too, no matter how uninformed they are.
 

I love a good disagreement. Trying to bludgeon dissent into the ground is the last thing this place needs. That being said, if someone has a stupid opinion, I'll tell them, and I expect the same from them.
 

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