The problem with a super small lineup in the big ten.

You can tell me on paper Uthoff has only 2 inches on Morris, but i will tell you on tv he looked 4 inches taller and with his reach there was no way Morris is going to alter Uhtoff's shot. I will probably get called an idiot to say it but Buggs actually played decent defense on Uthoff and maybe should have been in with King at forward. I would have had Mason and Morris in the backcourt.

Our small quick lineup either has to force turnovers and get steals or we get killed physically. We forced 14 turnovers, not that great. We had 6 stls to there 7. We actually werent killed on the boards 33-30. It seemed it was the post defense that was horrible. That and a horrible 3pt shooting team in Iowa getting wide open looks and hitting 8-16. Iowa with 9 blocks to our 1. I thought we were the defensive team?

What worries me about next year is we have a 5-11 pg, a 6-1pg, and a 6-3 wing comming in joining our two best players at 6-1, and 6-4. We dont have decent size or athleticsm from the frontcourt. This is why playing an unathletic king at pf kills us. No rip on him he tries hard. We are playing a super skinny sf and our centers cannot rebound.

march madness said:

You can tell me on paper Uthoff has only 2 inches on Morris, but i will tell you on tv he looked 4 inches taller and with his reach there was no way Morris is going to alter Uhtoff's shot. I will probably get called an idiot to say it but Buggs actually played decent defense on Uthoff and maybe should have been in with King at forward. I would have had Mason and Morris in the backcourt.

Our small quick lineup either has to force turnovers and get steals or we get killed physically. We forced 14 turnovers, not that great. We had 6 stls to there 7. We actually werent killed on the boards 33-30. It seemed it was the post defense that was horrible. That and a horrible 3pt shooting team in Iowa getting wide open looks and hitting 8-16. Iowa with 9 blocks to our 1. I thought we were the defensive team?

What worries me about next year is we have a 5-11 pg, a 6-1pg, and a 6-3 wing comming in joining our two best players at 6-1, and 6-4. We dont have decent size or athleticsm from the frontcourt. This is why playing an unathletic king at pf kills us. No rip on him he tries hard. We are playing a super skinny sf and our centers cannot rebound.

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I don't think you're an idiot at all. I thought a similar thing about Buggs' on-the-ball defense when he was in. He also quickly grabbed some needed defensive rebounds in traffic, a task that seems to be more difficult than it should be for our front line players.

I agree with you that we are too small to be successful in the Big Ten. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw some of the mismatches Iowa had last night. I'm surprised Iowa didn't exploit more of them. It should have been easy for their guards to see that their interior players were guarded by guys 8 inches shorter and significantly lighter. You're right about Morris vs. Uthoff or White, too. The listed height differential doesn't tell the whole story.

Pitino has to decide whether he is comfortable going into next season with a front line mix of Joey, Buggs, Bakary, Gaston, and freshman Nwankwo. If not, he needs to do something about it. I believe he has three scholarships left (maybe more if someone transfers). He should use at least two of them (three if he can nab a 5th year transfer) and get at least one or two more big men. This season should have taught him that you never have as many players as you thought you had before the season started.

cjbfbp said:

Pitino has to decide whether he is comfortable going into next season with a front line mix of Joey, Buggs, Bakary, Gaston, and freshman Nwankwo. If not, he needs to do something about it. I believe he has three scholarships left (maybe more if someone transfers). He should use at least two of them (three if he can nab a 5th year transfer) and get at least one or two more big men.

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Spot on.

SelectionSunday said:

Spot on.

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Thanks! Let's hope he feels the same way as us. Even picking up a bigger guard would help. There's a good one who is an immediate transfer from U of Binghamton.

It has less to do with length and height and more to do with toughness and grit.
Elliot E is taller than everyone and he managed 0 rebounds last night.



What I am saying is:
You can play small, but you can't play weak.
You can play small, but you can't play bad.

I agree that the small lineup is problematic in some areas. However the Gophers had a significant quickness and talent advantage at the guard spots last night which allowed them to be really effective in the second half against Iowa. The Gophers lost last night because they choked in the clutch. This team could easily be 3-2 if not 4-1 if it just made the easy plays near the end of games. They wouldn't need to be great down the stretch to have a winning conference record right now, they just had to avoid being terrible.

I think the lack of length really hurts our ability to force turnovers though. A team like Iowa, though not quick, is not really that bothered by a press or a trap from the Gophers because they can see over the defenders and make a high pass to another player who also has a height advantage.

The real killer is on the boards though. I know the stats showed a close battle, but there were several possessions down the stretch where the Gophers just couldn't get a rebound to save their lives. The Gopher guards are actually do a decent job on the boards (Morris could be better with his box outs), but the bigs just don't get it done. It's a killer when guys are not especially athletic AND not especially mean.

I am fine with 3 guys 6'4 or smaller on the court at all times, but we need a glass eater at PF and a C who can block shots to make that work. Mo and Joey with 3 small guys is tough, especially when that lineup isn't scoring effectively to make up for the defensive issues.

march madness said:

You can tell me on paper Uthoff has only 2 inches on Morris, but i will tell you on tv he looked 4 inches taller and with his reach there was no way Morris is going to alter Uhtoff's shot. I will probably get called an idiot to say it but Buggs actually played decent defense on Uthoff and maybe should have been in with King at forward.

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Certainly don't agree with Buggs, but.. that's opinion. As for the 'on paper' comment...what paper were you looking at? Gophers list Morris at 6'5".. Hawkeyes list Uthoff at 6'9". That's 4 inches. On paper.

tape measures

Morris was reportedly a 6-6 guy in lots of articles. Didn't realize gophers had him at 6-5. Uthoff is listed on espn as 6-8. Either way you have a guy who is really a 6-5 175lb sg trying to guard a combo foward 6-9 210 with at least a 7' reach and he was kiling us. Thus a problem.

Gopher Warrior said:

Certainly don't agree with Buggs, but.. that's opinion. As for the 'on paper' comment...what paper were you looking at? Gophers list Morris at 6'5".. Hawkeyes list Uthoff at 6'9". That's 4 inches. On paper.

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