If you could add one player to the team this year...

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gopherbadgerman

gopherbadgerman

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From the 1989 team and on, who would it be? Might not be the best player, but the player that would help this team the most...

Maybe you want a steady PG like Eric Harris or Arriel McDonald...

Maybe a pure scorer like Voshon Lenard or Willie Burton or Kris Humphries...

Maybe a force in the middle like John Thomas or Jerry Holman...

Maybe you want a stud like Bobby J...

Maybe you are gay and want Rickert...:D

WHO DO YOU ADD?
 


Bobby, plain and simple. The guy was the total package on both ends of the court and had the absolute "it" factor.

I believe he was the first (could still be the only) player to be named BT MVP and BT Defensive POY in the same season.

After Bobby I'd take Willie, then Ariel McDonald, who IMO, is one of the more under-appreciated Gophers. Very few Gophers had as long of a professional career as he Ariel, and he was flat out fantastic running the show.

Go Gophers!!
 

Good posts. For the record I would go Bobby J #1, Burton #2, and Quincy Lewis as my #3...
 




I'd just go with the best player available. For me, that's Bobby Jackson. I think he'd help this team first and foremost with its biggest weakness, which if perimeter defense. I'd take Burton second. Third, I'd grab the Vanilla Gorilla.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
I'd just go with the best player available. For me, that's Bobby Jackson. I think he'd help this team first and foremost with its biggest weakness, which if perimeter defense. I'd take Burton second. Third, I'd grab the Vanilla Gorilla.
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pryz would help a lot. forgot about him...
 

1. Bobby J
2. Willie Burton
3. Quincy Lewis
4. Voshon Lenard
5. Vincent Grier

Can't go wrong with any one of them.
 



#1 Bobby Jacckson
#2 Willie Burton
#3 Imaginary girlfriend
 

One player I really think we need is a good extra inside presence like Jerry Holman. Solid player and his extra points would have helped us to beat Michigan and Indiana. IMO
 


gopherbadgerman said:
How does Man'ti Teo (sp?) help the squad?
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I didn't post it, but maybe it could give us some friendly bounces here and there, you know, like some basket interference, can't call it if you can't see the player, right?
 




Question is more interesting if it can't be a star (has to be Bobby or Willie if it can be anyone during that time frame)

If we disqualify Bobby, Willie, Sam, Quincy, Voshon, Vincent, Kris, Rick, Joel and anyone else who was considered the top player on their team, I think I would go with Eric Harris. I think Newbern/McDonald were borderline stars, but Harris never really got that same shine (to my recollection). Harris would give the Gophers a lot of interesting options and would prevent the Gophers from ever putting the ball in the hands of Maverick or Julian. The back court defense that a Harris/Austin Hollins combo could provide would be scary good and Andre Hollins might score even more if he played off the ball for significant minutes.

Other options I considered:

Blake Hoffarber- Team doesn't have a shooter, and he's also solid with the ball in his hands and a good passer.
Kevin Clark- Long forgotten but was a really fast guard who averaged almost 15 ppg as a senior and shot almost 39.6% from 3
Townsend Orr- Similar to Clark as a scoring guard
Dusty Rychart- averaged 15 ppg as a senior while shooting 50 plus from the field and 80 plus from the line, type of guy who could possibly anchor our second unit with his fundamental style of play...giving us a go to guy when we insist on the line change.

I would have loved to have mentioned a back to the basket type big man here, because I think that would greatly help this team, but there really hasn't been a guy who scored well off post moves that comes to mind. The closest might be Jeff Hagen? (from the not a star category, obviously)
 

Excellent topic. Brings to mind how many quality players we've had over the years.

Disregarding any of the 'star' players mentioned above, I'd want to go with Kevin Lynch, Minnesota Mr. Basketball in 1987 and one of the original members of Clem Haskins first recruiting class. You could measure his growth by the season, so that by the time he was a senior he'd blossomed into a first team All Big Ten performer averaging 18.1 PPG, but with the depth and richness to his game beyond just the scoring average, namely, his ability to play a very nearly often lock-down and endlessly harrassing defense, and how combined with Willie Burton, he was one of the players led us to some of our greatest tournament successes....and never mind the systemic cheating within the program, as that's irrelevant as to just how good a player he actually was for us. He was an excellent shooter both from short, mid, and long range, and just a hell of a winner and gritty ballplayer.

Secondly, I'd like Richard Coffey on this team, even though his game was somewhat a replication of Trevor Mbakwe's. He was just such a beast, an incredible physical specimen, with the former Army paratrooper being truly an original 'man amongst boys'. It was almost unfair, his physical advantages, his strength, and most especially the absolute relentlessness to his game, and how he would both attack and defend the boards as if they belonged to no one but him, and as if anything less were nothing more than an insult to him. He exemplified the word 'fierce', and how he did play oh so ever and always with such ferocity. I'm not sure I've ever seen a Gopher player who played nor worked harder than he did, night after night, game after game, and how I fricken love that guy still for that, so much he might be my favorite Gopher basketball player of all time. So God bless Mr. Richard Coffey, soldier, paratrooper, and basketball player.
 

I'm going to throw out a name that often gets overlooked, but for one season was one of my favorite Gophers, Traverus Bennett. I think he'd be a wonderful three with Coleman then coming off the bench to provide some much needed scoring pop.

The other names I haven't seen listed that could be up for consideration (as non-stars) would be Terrance Simmons and JB Bickerstaff. Would also love to have Aaron Robinson (senior year version) either leading the three guard lineup or providing steady point guard play off the bench.

Actually, let's go with A-Rob; as I see it, the biggest weakness on the team is back-up point guard help and turnovers; he would help immensely.
 

A lot of good options that you guys have already mentioned, but I'm gonna go more recent and go with Al Nolen. I thinke he would provide a little more stability at the point guard position and help us cut down on the turnovers some. I also think he would be a good fit with this team on the defensive end and really help to put some more pressure on some of the better guards in the conference. My second choice would probably be Blake Hoffarber as I think he would help to make it a little easier and open things up for guys like Mbakwe and Rodney on the inside with how dangerous of a threat he would be to score from the outside.
 

Tyus Jones....it's all about the guards baby!! Seriously, I think he could possibly play in the Big Ten right now and make everyone on the team better.
 

Goldy Gopher said:
A lot of good options that you guys have already mentioned, but I'm gonna go more recent and go with Al Nolen. I thinke he would provide a little more stability at the point guard position and help us cut down on the turnovers some. I also think he would be a good fit with this team on the defensive end and really help to put some more pressure on some of the better guards in the conference. My second choice would probably be Blake Hoffarber as I think he would help to make it a little easier and open things up for guys like Mbakwe and Rodney on the inside with how dangerous of a threat he would be to score from the outside.
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While a agree with Nolan - elite ball handler and on the ball defense, i couldn't disagree more with the Hoff. He was a great shooter, had good bball iq, but couldn't keep ANYONE from dribble penetration and breaking down the defense. He might have been one of the worst on the ball defenders i can ever remember. Re-watch the game 2 years ago against Michigan at home, and you will see how bad it was.
 


Sam Jacobson. I had a crush on him and his white-flying dunks.
 


WILLBGOPHER said:
While a agree with Nolan - elite ball handler and on the ball defense, i couldn't disagree more with the Hoff. He was a great shooter, had good bball iq, but couldn't keep ANYONE from dribble penetration and breaking down the defense. He might have been one of the worst on the ball defenders i can ever remember. Re-watch the game 2 years ago against Michigan at home, and you will see how bad it was.
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The Michigan game when Darius Morris scored what felt like 100 straight points? Ugly. I don't put that too much on Hoff though, he wasn't a great defender, but Morris is seeing playing time in the NBA. He is/was pretty good
 

WILLBGOPHER said:
While a agree with Nolan - elite ball handler and on the ball defense, i couldn't disagree more with the Hoff. He was a great shooter, had good bball iq, but couldn't keep ANYONE from dribble penetration and breaking down the defense. He might have been one of the worst on the ball defenders i can ever remember. Re-watch the game 2 years ago against Michigan at home, and you will see how bad it was.
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The thinking with adding Hoff was just to add another scoring threat and stretch the defense a little more. I will agree with you Hoff really wasn't real great in any aspect other than being an elite shooter and smart player but that really is the only reason I would add him to this team and expect him to do.
 

I'm feeling like a realist, what's on the bench? Otherwise to keep to the thread, Hoff and Coffee, players with heart.
 

EG#9 said:
Question is more interesting if it can't be a star (has to be Bobby or Willie if it can be anyone during that time frame)

If we disqualify Bobby, Willie, Sam, Quincy, Voshon, Vincent, Kris, Rick, Joel and anyone else who was considered the top player on their team, I think I would go with Eric Harris. I think Newbern/McDonald were borderline stars, but Harris never really got that same shine (to my recollection). Harris would give the Gophers a lot of interesting options and would prevent the Gophers from ever putting the ball in the hands of Maverick or Julian. The back court defense that a Harris/Austin Hollins combo could provide would be scary good and Andre Hollins might score even more if he played off the ball for significant minutes.

Other options I considered:

Blake Hoffarber- Team doesn't have a shooter, and he's also solid with the ball in his hands and a good passer.
Kevin Clark- Long forgotten but was a really fast guard who averaged almost 15 ppg as a senior and shot almost 39.6% from 3
Townsend Orr- Similar to Clark as a scoring guard
Dusty Rychart- averaged 15 ppg as a senior while shooting 50 plus from the field and 80 plus from the line, type of guy who could possibly anchor our second unit with his fundamental style of play...giving us a go to guy when we insist on the line change.

I would have loved to have mentioned a back to the basket type big man here, because I think that would greatly help this team, but there really hasn't been a guy who scored well off post moves that comes to mind. The closest might be Jeff Hagen? (from the not a star category, obviously)
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Huh?
 



WILLBGOPHER said:
I thought that was funny too, both H boys over 50% from 3 in the B10.
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Yes, both Hollins' are shooting effectively from three now, however the Gophers don't have that guy who when the ball is swung around the perimeter and the ball ends up in his hands for a good look...that roar in the crowd starts before the ball even leaves his hands. When watching the tournament last year, most teams had "that guy", the Gophers don't. It's not the number one thing this team is missing, but it would make a difference.
 

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