Is it time to plan for next year?

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GopherinPhilly

GopherinPhilly

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0-4 start in the Big Ten and really not looking good. Our Seniors are just not getting the job done.

Is it time to call this season what it is...a transition year and focus on playing time for the under classmen especially the bigs? Let Big Mo and EE watch turn overs from the bench instead of making turn overs on the floor? Let Buggs lose his man on D while Joey watches rather than Joey hand the ball to the D and watch his man blow by him time and again?

Yes I am a bit down and I don't think these guys have the run in them the way they are playing...time to focus on making sure next year we aren't playing King 28 minutes per game...no B1G team can make the NCAA with King playing that much on their team.
 

GopherinPhilly said:
0-4 start in the Big Ten and really not looking good. Our Seniors are just not getting the job done.

Is it time to call this season what it is...a transition year and focus on playing time for the under classmen especially the bigs? Let Big Mo and EE watch turn overs from the bench instead of making turn overs on the floor? Let Buggs lose his man on D while Joey watches rather than Joey hand the ball to the D and watch his man blow by him time and again?

Yes I am a bit down and I don't think these guys have the run in them the way they are playing...time to focus on making sure next year we aren't playing King 28 minutes per game...no B1G team can make the NCAA with King playing that much on their team.
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It's not time to blow it up, but it is time to mix it up and try different things and different guys. I don't know that there is anything to lose by giving Konate some of Eliason's minutes. Elliot is not going to take you anywhere. I can't see the problem with giving Buggs and King and even split in minutes. Buggs is getting better- King is at his ceiling. If Gaston can rebound give him some minutes- we need some size and attitude out there- it is so disheartening to see a little team like Michigan get a bunch of second chances on the boards, and it has been happening all season.
 

I am looking toward the '15-'16, '16-17 season. If Gas-Tone and Konate develop for next year along with Mason. Who knows what Lukashewich can be and the incoming class of Dorsey, McBrayer, Nwankwo, Johnson etc. If we can jell as a smooth operating team with smart passing, interior play, rebounding and some outside shooting.....
 


SelectionSunday said:
Absolutely not.
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Agreed.

If we loose 2 out of the next 5 I would start thinking about playing some guys more minutes. It's a long ass season

And I still don't think this team is that bad. We are playing bad, but we aren't that bad.
 


bga1 said:
It's not time to blow it up, but it is time to mix it up and try different things and different guys. I don't know that there is anything to lose by giving Konate some of Eliason's minutes. Elliot is not going to take you anywhere. I can't see the problem with giving Buggs and King and even split in minutes. Buggs is getting better- King is at his ceiling. If Gaston can rebound give him some minutes- we need some size and attitude out there- it is so disheartening to see a little team like Michigan get a bunch of second chances on the boards, and it has been happening all season.
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Whaaaaat? Elliot is literally the only player taller than 6'2" that wants to rebound the ball. He was the spark plug for our comeback against OSU the other night. He's an imperfect player, but he's the ONLY toughness we have up front. I can forgive a guy who's motor revs too high like Elliot, before a guy like Mo, who's go-to move is getting the ball stripped and hoping for a call.
 


No, absolutely not. We play the guys that give us the best chance to win this season. We owe that to the ticket holders, the players and the University. Once we can not get into the tourney, then open the flood gates.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Whaaaaat? Elliot is literally the only player taller than 6'2" that wants to rebound the ball. He was the spark plug for our comeback against OSU the other night. He's an imperfect player, but he's the ONLY toughness we have up front. I can forgive a guy who's motor revs too high like Elliot, before a guy like Mo, who's go-to move is getting the ball stripped and hoping for a call.
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lol yep, this. bga1 likes individual scoring. To some, that's all that matters.
 




Costa Rican Gopher said:
Whaaaaat? Elliot is literally the only player taller than 6'2" that wants to rebound the ball. He was the spark plug for our comeback against OSU the other night. He's an imperfect player, but he's the ONLY toughness we have up front. I can forgive a guy who's motor revs too high like Elliot, before a guy like Mo, who's go-to move is getting the ball stripped and hoping for a call.
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Elliot has heart and height but is a senior with no talent and no upside. The other team can ignore him when we are on offense while Walker draws the double team. I'd rather see Konate in there who has upside and has shown the desire to go to the boards.
 

bga1 said:
Elliot has heart and height but is a senior with no talent and no upside. The other team can ignore him when we are on offense while Walker draws the double team. I'd rather see Konate in there who has upside and has shown the desire to go to the boards.
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The only time drawing a double-team pays off is if the center can pass it back out to the open man/men. But he is not a good passer, so...so what?
 

bga1 said:
Elliot has heart and height but is a senior with no talent and no upside. The other team can ignore him when we are on offense while Walker draws the double team. I'd rather see Konate in there who has upside and has shown the desire to go to the boards.
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I'm ok with Bakary getting some minutes if he's the better player. I think Elliot does have talent, just not individual scoring talent. What about Mo though? Does setting pillow-fight screens, sleep walking through box outs, never leaving his feet for a rebound, but outscoring his guy 16-15 have upside?
 



bga1 said:
Elliot has heart and height but is a senior with no talent and no upside. The other team can ignore him when we are on offense while Walker draws the double team. I'd rather see Konate in there who has upside and has shown the desire to go to the boards.
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? EE doesn't wanna rebound?
 

GopherinPhilly said:
0-4 start in the Big Ten and really not looking good. Our Seniors are just not getting the job done.

Is it time to call this season what it is...a transition year and focus on playing time for the under classmen especially the bigs? Let Big Mo and EE watch turn overs from the bench instead of making turn overs on the floor? Let Buggs lose his man on D while Joey watches rather than Joey hand the ball to the D and watch his man blow by him time and again?

Yes I am a bit down and I don't think these guys have the run in them the way they are playing...time to focus on making sure next year we aren't playing King 28 minutes per game...no B1G team can make the NCAA with King playing that much on their team.
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No. And weeks from now I bet people will look back on this topic thread with a completely different outlook. Gophers will find their stride.
 

What would you consider as finding their stride? I guess one could say going 6-8 the rest of they way and another NIT is finding their stride
 

Winasota Gopher said:
? EE doesn't wanna rebound?
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Yes of course he does- my point is that Konate ALSO does and has potential and we need him to be ready next year. Just want to see him get a chance to develop. We know EE.
 

LittleBrownJug said:
No. And weeks from now I bet people will look back on this topic thread with a completely different outlook. Gophers will find their stride.
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I think they will find their stride. They have put themselves behind a huge 8 ball now that requires them to do more than find their stride- they need to go into flight to erase this and it needs to be over the next 7-8 games a streak with perhaps only one loss. It can be done. The end of the schedule is not promising.

Meanwhile, what would be great while finding our stride would be to discover some talent that gives us hope beyond this year. Mason is a start.
 

GopherinPhilly said:
0-4 start in the Big Ten and really not looking good. Our Seniors are just not getting the job done.

Is it time to call this season what it is...a transition year
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No, this isn't the NBA where tanking gets you a better draft pick and fans can get behind other objectives besides winning. When you have miserable seasons in college basketball, fans disengage and are often slow to return, players sometimes transfer, and recruits sometimes back out of their commitments. The kind of approach you're describing could work in a coach's first year or the year after a very successful year where a veteran lineup exited the program. In a year with four returning seniors from an NIT championship, sitting the seniors isn't going to make the coach any friends (other than Buggs, Konate, and Gaston).

This year shouldn't be a transition year, but some could call it that because the coach made some recruiting errors and isn't getting the most out of his lineup. It's up to him to figure out how to improve the performances of the team. My other question is: Transitioning to what? Are you that confident that next year will be far better, because I'm surely not.
 

GopherinPhilly said:
0-4 start in the Big Ten and really not looking good. Our Seniors are just not getting the job done.

Is it time to call this season what it is...a transition year and focus on playing time for the under classmen especially the bigs? Let Big Mo and EE watch turn overs from the bench instead of making turn overs on the floor? Let Buggs lose his man on D while Joey watches rather than Joey hand the ball to the D and watch his man blow by him time and again?

Yes I am a bit down and I don't think these guys have the run in them the way they are playing...time to focus on making sure next year we aren't playing King 28 minutes per game...no B1G team can make the NCAA with King playing that much on their team.
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More like 2 years from now. No chance this team is big time next year. The freshman might be good, but they are not program changing players. They will need a year or two...
 

Sadly, I don't seen anyone riding in on a white horse to save the season. There's a reason why the starters start, and the guys on the bench are on the bench. When push comes to shove, the coach plays the players who - in his opinion- give the team the best chance to win.

I see nothing so far that indicates that Buggs, Konate or anyone else on the bench is suddenly going to transform into a difference-maker, simply because he gets a few more minutes. It's wishful thinking.
 

I know I'm always an optimist, but we still have 8 home games left. That's a ton. If we would've guessed our record through these first 4 games a month ago, a lot of us would have said 1-3. So we're only one game behind that pace anyway. One upset and back on track. Long season.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Sadly, I don't seen anyone riding in on a white horse to save the season. There's a reason why the starters start, and the guys on the bench are on the bench. When push comes to shove, the coach plays the players who - in his opinion- give the team the best chance to win.

I see nothing so far that indicates that Buggs, Konate or anyone else on the bench is suddenly going to transform into a difference-maker, simply because he gets a few more minutes. It's wishful thinking.
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+1 I think it speaks loads that as weak as we are at power forward that Konate hasn't seen the floor. And as frustrating as Joey is, Buggs doesn't get more minutes. Charlie and Joey shoot about the same from the field. Joey has a higher FT% by about 20. Didn't do statistics, but Buggs rebounds a little bit more--Joey also turns the ball over more. From the eye test, it looks like the ball moves better with Joey on the floor. Unless he's completely overmatched, Joey seems to be a better defender. Can't recall Buggs ever being in position to take a charge. Guessing Joey leads the team in that.

Team game and King is taking way too much heat for this loss. He wasn't the only one throwing passes to God knows where. Mo has improved, but is still unbelievably soft down low. Andre bounced back sort of, but another big miss at the end and a turnover that was killing. And little Dre had a really poor game. We are what the record says. A team that teases, but at the end doesn't have the players who will simply grab the win. Oh for a Bobby Jackson or even a Lawrence Westbrook.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Sadly, I don't seen anyone riding in on a white horse to save the season. There's a reason why the starters start, and the guys on the bench are on the bench. When push comes to shove, the coach plays the players who - in his opinion- give the team the best chance to win.

I see nothing so far that indicates that Buggs, Konate or anyone else on the bench is suddenly going to transform into a difference-maker, simply because he gets a few more minutes. It's wishful thinking.
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Quick, someone give Rivergopher a white horse!! In a year and 1/2, he's figured out exactly what is wrong with this team and knows how to fit it.
 

We're in full on rebuilding mode right now. Time to get Bakary some minutes and decide whether or not we're red shirting Gaston. I don't think we should. This is basketball, if we don't have a guy to replace Gaston in 4 years we've got bigger problems. Give more minutes to the freshmen and let the seniors finish off their careers with a bunch of minutes as well.

But the expectations for this team are gone. If they salvage this season and win 7 or 8 more games, then that's great. But do it with the future of this program on the floor.
 

You always play your best players to the end. Playing for next year sets up a bad precedent that breeds an atmosphere of losers. Coach Pitino will evaluate every game and do what is best for the program for the next game ahead. None of the underclassmen are ready for significant minutes besides Mason. Keep plugging away. If we win, so be it. If we lose, then the underclassmen can learn through observation and be resolved not to let the same things happen when they get their chance to play.
 

afurry91 said:
We're in full on rebuilding mode right now. Time to get Bakary some minutes and decide whether or not we're red shirting Gaston. I don't think we should. This is basketball, if we don't have a guy to replace Gaston in 4 years we've got bigger problems. Give more minutes to the freshmen and let the seniors finish off their careers with a bunch of minutes as well.

But the expectations for this team are gone. If they salvage this season and win 7 or 8 more games, then that's great. But do it with the future of this program on the floor.
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-1.....talk about demoralizing the individuals, team and program.
 


GopherPop said:
-1.....talk about demoralizing the individuals, team and program.
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Yes, Kanote getting 10 minutes per game will do this...not the 4 straight loses, leading the B1G in turnovers or playing like a third grade JV class in the last 5 minutes of each game.
 


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