Pitino post game presser - Was worried about Omaha, they made the Gophers better

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Pitino post game notes (not verbatim):

• That was a great win for us, because that's a really good team, a very good offensive team. I was very concerned about this game, because they are such a good offensive team. We have a lot of respect for them, we found a way to win, the FT line hurt us. We're getting beat off the bounce. Some of it is fear of fouling. Bakary and Jordan did some good things. That's a good, well coached team.
• Yes. That may have been of the tougher games to coach because of the missed free throws. That was a difficult one.
• Nate Mason - he's only a sophomore, he played a really good game.
• On Morris - he came in the game and had 2 TO's, he responded great, I got on him a little bit, but he made some really big plays.
• He should have had at least 10 rebounds, he made a big FT when he needed to (on Murphy). Jordan was really really good.
• 21 assists and 9 TO's (2 of them right away) - a focus was to move the ball better. To keep it down was important. Efficient at 49%, we got to the foul line, if we make them, different story.
• Jake (White) is a good player, a bit of a match-up problem. Bakary has got good size, he got the foul and a rebound, and we want to stick with him. He's out of shape because he was injured for 6 weeks, he asked to be subbed twice. We're high on him, he's the kind of kid that needs to play hoops everyday. He works his butt off, everyday, his body just needs to be in better shape.
• Morris was good, hit some 3's, he competed. There's things he can improve on, he's like an enigma, sometimes he does things you can't coach. As a Juco, I look him as a sophomore.
• I don't think Joey repeats the mistakes he was doing today, today he was doing a couple of wacky things. He could rebound the ball a little better, he hit some huge 3's. When I say using bench as a motivator, I'm not yanking guys, it's more for a defensive or rebounding standpoint.
• Any reservations about scheduling Omaha? Yes! I'm kidding, I knew that would be a tough game. They have a fun style, he does a good job. I would play them again, because they make us better. That team is going to give a lot of teams trouble. We're playing some guarantee games that are tough, they may not look tough…like Louisiana Monroe and Omaha. They are tough.

We didn't foul as much, because we just said "let the score" (laughing). You look at college bball, and the rules are here to benefit the offense, they want more scoring. I did think we did a better job of not fouling.
 

Thank you Gopher Lady!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


I've been hearing about "matchup problems" for years under both Tubby and Richard. We can't match up against any of the beefy, skilled players from around here that we didn't recruit. That's been one of the frustrations of recent years.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I've been hearing about "matchup problems" for years under both Tubby and Richard. We can't match up against any of the beefy, skilled players from around here that we didn't recruit. That's been one of the frustrations of recent years.
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FWIW White didn't match up defensively so great against our guys either. Not as big of a deal if we can exploit the matchup on the other end also. But still a good point.
 




ruppertflywheel said:
"That's really a good team " Maybe Nebraska, but not Nebraska-Omaha.
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Big deal. Gophers won today. They'll get ready for the next game and try to win that one. Hopefully they will be a little bit better.
I am looking to see how this team improves over the season. I'll voice concerns if these kids don't improve. Right now it's too early to tell.
 

tinyarch said:
Big deal. Gophers won today. They'll get ready for the next game and try to win that one. Hopefully they will be a little bit better. I am looking to see how this team improves over the season. I'll voice concerns if these kids don't improve. Right now it's too early to tell.
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+a lot
 




Joey King's defense was atrocious today. He hit some huge 3's but his defense is such a liability.
 

Konate - Improving
Mason - Improving
Murphy - Looks good if not great future
Dorsey - Could be a multi year starter
McBrayer - Likely a good rotational 3 position player


Those are the guys I care about.

Add in Lynch, Fitz, Coffey, Curry and Hurt next year and we are headed in the right direction.
 

Winasota Gopher said:
Konate - Improving
Mason - Improving
Murphy - Looks good if not great future
Dorsey - Could be a multi year starter
McBrayer - Likely a good rotational 3 position player


Those are the guys I care about.

Add in Lynch, Fitz, Coffey, Curry and Hurt next year and we are headed in the right direction.
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Thank you.

Young squad, players definitely aren't there yet, but moving in the right direction in general.

We'll take our lumps in conference play until we have the depth to impose our pace and style of play on other teams.
 



savagerube said:
Joey King's defense was atrocious today. He hit some huge 3's but his defense is such a liability.
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He also had one of his one rebound special performances. Luckily, he shot the ball about as efficiently as one possibly can.
 

westcoastgopher11 said:
We'll take our lumps in conference play until we have the depth to impose our pace and style of play on other teams.
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I'll believe that when I see it. Yesterday was a faced paced game (we could have reached 100 with better free throw shooting). The majority of games never seem to go that way in the Big Ten.

Indiana was the highest scoring Big Ten team last year. They averaged just over 86 points per game in regular season nonconference games but just under 72 per game in regular season conference play. They beat us 90-71, though, so that should give you at least a notion that this fast paced Pitino style that some around here seem to idealize may not be in the Gophers' best interests.
 

cjbfbp said:
He also had one of his one rebound special performances. Luckily, he shot the ball about as efficiently as one possibly can.
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Yeah, for this season
eFG% higher than anyone on the team.
PProd (point production)way higher than anyone on the team
Turnover % best on the team
OWS(offensive win share) best on the team
WS(win share) highest on the team
WS/40 best on the team

Good offensive player for the Gophers.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
Yeah, for this season
eFG% higher than anyone on the team.
PProd (point production)way higher than anyone on the team
Turnover % best on the team
OWS(offensive win share) best on the team
WS(win share) highest on the team
WS/40 best on the team

Good offensive player for the Gophers.
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Yes, when it comes to shooting, he is one of the very best in the conference. He is also in the top ten nationally for True Shooting % for all players with at least four games and averaging at least 25 minutes per game.
 

cjbfbp said:
I'll believe that when I see it. Yesterday was a faced paced game (we could have reached 100 with better free throw shooting). The majority of games never seem to go that way in the Big Ten.

Indiana was the highest scoring Big Ten team last year. They averaged just over 86 points per game in regular season nonconference games but just under 72 per game in regular season conference play. They beat us 90-71, though, so that should give you at least a notion that this fast paced Pitino style that some around here seem to idealize may not be in the Gophers' best interests.
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Playing fast paced is in your interest when you have better players. Right now it's not great for us. If we stay the course and continue to upgrade talent it will be successful and fun. Better players are attracted to up tempo play. Since we are not going to get them based on a tradition of winning, perhaps we will get them this way. In the last two recruited classes (this year's frosh and next year's group) we have done pretty well on that basis.
 

bga1 said:
Playing fast paced is in your interest when you have better players. Right now it's not great for us. If we stay the course and continue to upgrade talent it will be successful and fun. Better players are attracted to up tempo play. Since we are not going to get them based on a tradition of winning, perhaps we will get them this way. In the last two recruited classes (this year's frosh and next year's group) we have done pretty well on that basis.
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Yes, as a Pac 12 coach said a few years ago, "Players always want to play fast, even the slow ones." But the Big Ten isn't the Big 12; it's a slower paced and tough defensive league. How a team would like to play and how its opponents let them play are two different things.

As far as recruiting, I have no reason to believe that Pitino will recruit better players overall than will be recruited by OSU, MSU, Indiana, and Michigan during his tenure so I would be skeptical about our ability to impose our will on the rest of the conference based on talent. So far I wouldn't call this freshman class (and certainly not last year's) exceptional. I'll reserve comment about next year's class until I see them. Scout ratings vary; they're hardly scientific anyway; and we're not getting the most elite players who are a bit closer to sure things. Minnesota's best bet is to recruit a sufficient pool of quality big ten players, keep them around four years, and develop them better than some of the others.
 

cjbfbp said:
Yes, as a Pac 12 coach said a few years ago, "Players always want to play fast, even the slow ones." But the Big Ten isn't the Big 12; it's a slower paced and tough defensive league. How a team would like to play and how its opponents let them play are two different things.

As far as recruiting, I have no reason to believe that Pitino will recruit better players overall than will be recruited by OSU, MSU, Indiana, and Michigan during his tenure so I would be skeptical about our ability to impose our will on the rest of the conference based on talent. So far I wouldn't call this freshman class (and certainly not last year's) exceptional. I'll reserve comment about next year's class until I see them. Scout ratings vary; they're hardly scientific anyway; and we're not getting the most elite players who are a bit closer to sure things. Minnesota's best bet is to recruit a sufficient pool of quality big ten players, keep them around four years, and develop them better than some of the others.
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Are we sure, with the shot clock dropped to 30 seconds, that the B1G will remain a slower, defensive minded league? This season will be interesting to see the direction the league takes with the new rule changes.
 

Winasota Gopher said:
Konate - Improving
Mason - Improving
Murphy - Looks good if not great future
Dorsey - Could be a multi year starter
McBrayer - Likely a good rotational 3 position player


Those are the guys I care about.

Add in Lynch, Fitz, Coffey, Curry and Hurt next year and we are headed in the right direction.
Click to expand...

I realize that he needs to be a more consistent player - particularly on defense - but is there a reason that you left out Buggs? I did not get to watch this game, but he had 8 pts, 8 rebs, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block - with 0 turnovers.

He has also played well in other games at times, and for the season is averaging 8.3 pts/5 rebs on 55% FG, 46 % 3 pt, and 80% FT. For the season thus far - 63.6 effective FG %, and other advanced metrics are good as well.

https://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-basketball/team/minnesota-golden-gophers/roster - this link lays out the stats an above poster referenced (eFG%, etc)

If anything, I feel he should be more aggressive offensively. He tends to defer, and is very efficient/skilled. Would like to see rebounds more like 7-10 average as opposed to 5. Was mostly curious why Buggs was left off, when it appears that he had a solid game over 35 minutes played. He needs to play well for Minnesota to win games the rest of the year...and next as well.
 

Jmmy Chitwood said:
I realize that he needs to be a more consistent player - particularly on defense - but is there a reason that you left out Buggs? I did not get to watch this game, but he had 8 pts, 8 rebs, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block - with 0 turnovers.

He has also played well in other games at times, and for the season is averaging 8.3 pts/5 rebs on 55% FG, 46 % 3 pt, and 80% FT. For the season thus far - 63.6 effective FG %, and other advanced metrics are good as well.

https://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-basketball/team/minnesota-golden-gophers/roster - this link lays out the stats an above poser referenced (eFG%, etc)

If anything, I feel he should be more aggressive offensively. He tends to defer, and is very efficient/skilled. Would like to see rebounds more like 7-10 average as opposed to 5. Was mostly curious why Buggs was left off, when it appears that he had a solid game over 35 minutes played. He needs to play well for Minnesota to win games the rest of the year...and next as well.
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Only because I was making the point that those guys are the core of this program going forward. Although I've been a pretty vocal criticizer of Buggs I agree with most of what you've said above.
 

Jmmy Chitwood said:
I realize that he needs to be a more consistent player - particularly on defense - but is there a reason that you left out Buggs? I did not get to watch this game, but he had 8 pts, 8 rebs, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block - with 0 turnovers.

He has also played well in other games at times, and for the season is averaging 8.3 pts/5 rebs on 55% FG, 46 % 3 pt, and 80% FT. For the season thus far - 63.6 effective FG %, and other advanced metrics are good as well.

https://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-basketball/team/minnesota-golden-gophers/roster - this link lays out the stats an above poser referenced (eFG%, etc)

If anything, I feel he should be more aggressive offensively. He tends to defer, and is very efficient/skilled. Would like to see rebounds more like 7-10 average as opposed to 5. Was mostly curious why Buggs was left off, when it appears that he had a solid game over 35 minutes played. He needs to play well for Minnesota to win games the rest of the year...and next as well.
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I'm not sure why he is getting such a bad defensive rap, he's looked pretty good defensively, he generally covers the 3 and does a good job out on the wing, blocks a few shots, and is getting his fair share of defensive rebounds.

He doesn't look for his shots at all, he will take them if he is open and rarely attacks the basket which he could be a beast at, he has been pretty efficient in the shots he has taken though.

If he ever got aggressive on the offensive board he could easily add 2 or 3 more baskets a game, just adding that dimension to his game would make the Gophers a much better team. One can only dream I guess, still hoping I see that before he graduates.
 

I agree with you, but I think it is because he is unselfish by nature. I also wish he would be more aggressive. I feel that some give him a really hard time though. He has arguably been one of the best players thus far - certainly one of the most efficient.
 

cjbfbp said:
As far as recruiting, I have no reason to believe that Pitino will recruit better players overall than will be recruited by OSU, MSU, Indiana, and Michigan during his tenure so I would be skeptical about our ability to impose our will on the rest of the conference based on talent.
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Well, let's look at next year 2016 recruiting:

18. Minnesota
47. OSU
3. MSU
17. Indiana
23. Michigan

I guess you are right, we will never be able to recruit players as good as those schools you named.... We might as well give up right now, we will never be able to dictate the style of play!

Try having a little optimism and let him build his program before we dismiss the possibility.






Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

alchemy2u said:
Well, let's look at next year 2016 recruiting:

18. Minnesota
47. OSU
3. MSU
17. Indiana
23. Michigan

I guess you are right, we will never be able to recruit players as good as those schools you named.... We might as well give up right now, we will never be able to dictate the style of play!

Try having a little optimism and let him build his program before we dismiss the possibility.






Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

For what it's worth, a LOT can change before those recruiting rankings are final.
 

Jmmy Chitwood said:
I realize that he needs to be a more consistent player - particularly on defense - but is there a reason that you left out Buggs? I did not get to watch this game, but he had 8 pts, 8 rebs, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block - with 0 turnovers.

He has also played well in other games at times, and for the season is averaging 8.3 pts/5 rebs on 55% FG, 46 % 3 pt, and 80% FT. For the season thus far - 63.6 effective FG %, and other advanced metrics are good as well.

https://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-basketball/team/minnesota-golden-gophers/roster - this link lays out the stats an above poser referenced (eFG%, etc)

If anything, I feel he should be more aggressive offensively. He tends to defer, and is very efficient/skilled. Would like to see rebounds more like 7-10 average as opposed to 5. Was mostly curious why Buggs was left off, when it appears that he had a solid game over 35 minutes played. He needs to play well for Minnesota to win games the rest of the year...and next as well.
Click to expand...

Agree with this, although I would say 8 rebounds is the max as a realistic possibility (and that's largely because we have so few rebounders). I think he has the tools to be one of the better offensive rebounders in the conference though. I've been very pleasantly surprised with Buggs this year. I'm surprised he hasn't gotten more praise around here for his start. He's been one of the few bright spots and I'm encouraged that we're really finally seeing some of the improvement we've been looking for and I don't think he's done improving. I think if he caught the ball a bit closer to the hoop more often (particularly near the baseline or where he can drive with his right and be near the hoop as fast as possible).
 

alchemy2u said:
Well, let's look at next year 2016 recruiting:

18. Minnesota
47. OSU
3. MSU
17. Indiana
23. Michigan

I guess you are right, we will never be able to recruit players as good as those schools you named.... We might as well give up right now, we will never be able to dictate the style of play!

Try having a little optimism and let him build his program before we dismiss the possibility.






Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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I'm not dismissing anything. I'm just not convinced that he's going to be a conference leader in recruiting just because of one year. Even a C student can get an A every now and then. Furthermore, recruiting rankings vary by provider and you will find others that don't rank this class so highly. Finally, recruiting rankings can vary from year to year simply because of team needs. Michigan had one recruit last year because they had a virtually full roster.
 

cjbfbp said:
I'm not dismissing anything. I'm just not convinced that he's going to be a conference leader in recruiting just because of one year. Even a C student can get an A every now and then. Furthermore, recruiting rankings vary by provider and you will find others that don't rank this class so highly. Finally, recruiting rankings can vary from year to year simply because of team needs. Michigan had one recruit last year because they had a virtually full roster.
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I think the point is that he now has put together 2 solid recruiting classes in a row and that Pitino and his group are energetic recruiters. That's a start. If you get two good classes in a row- you have a chance to compete to be in the upper half of the conference. If you get to the upper half of the conference- recruiting gets easier.
 

tinyarch said:
Are we sure, with the shot clock dropped to 30 seconds, that the B1G will remain a slower, defensive minded league? This season will be interesting to see the direction the league takes with the new rule changes.
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I agree that we are likely to see some change, but I'm worried that once conference play starts, the B1G officials will go back to their old ways. I think the B1G gets in trouble in the tourney because they play a more physical style than the rest of the nation (except Wisconsin, who has consistently gotten every call). There have been too many March moments where key B1G players sit out with foul trouble and struggle to adjust to more closely called games. I hope it's different this year and the officiating remains consistent.
 

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