Zulgad: Gophers’ loss doesn’t take away from the fact the future looks bright

per Judd:

It’s been a long time since the future of the Gophers’ basketball program looked this bright. It’s not far-fetched to believe that this team could compete for the Big Ten title in 2017-18.

Thursday’s loss put the Gophers at 1-6 in seven tournament games in the past 20 years. But the game marked the Gophers’ first in the NCAA tournament in four years.

The Gophers won the NIT championship in Pitino’s first season in 2013-14, leading to optimism about where things might be headed. As it turned out, the Gophers were headed down a painful rebuilding path that likely came close to costing Pitino his job.

Pitino no longer has to be concerned about losing his job, but he will have to concern himself with some big expectations next season.

That should be a welcome change.

http://www.1500espn.com/gophers-2/2...ss-doesnt-take-away-fact-future-looks-bright/

Go Gophers!!

Big expectations- welcome change. Only words that were necessary in the story.

What's hitting me watching today's games (I'm also a major consumer of college basketball throughout the season) is that at virtually every position our our guys aren't particularly athletic. We have length, but we need to continue to add bettter athletes, particularly our bigs.

WindyCityGopher said:

What's hitting me watching today's games (I'm also a major consumer of college basketball throughout the season) is that at virtually every position our our guys aren't particularly athletic. We have length, but we need to continue to add bettter athletes, particularly our bigs.

Click to expand...

I would say McBrayer, Murphy and Coffey are all plus athletes. Outside of that, you're probably right.

Mason is quick enough to be very effective.

WindyCityGopher said:

What's hitting me watching today's games (I'm also a major consumer of college basketball throughout the season) is that at virtually every position our our guys aren't particularly athletic. We have length, but we need to continue to add bettter athletes, particularly our bigs.

Click to expand...

Ehhh. We don't have guys like Miles Bridges that are GREAT athletes but our bigs are athletic enough for what they are. At the college level you're always giving up something. Lynch isn't great against perimeter bigs but they can't handle him either. McBrayer and Coffey are very good athletes on the wing in terms of length and lateral quickness even though neither jumps out of the gym, and Mason, though he doesn't seem all that athletic, does a pretty good job of staying in front of guys on D and getting to the rim on O.

WindyCityGopher said:

What's hitting me watching today's games (I'm also a major consumer of college basketball throughout the season) is that at virtually every position our our guys aren't particularly athletic. We have length, but we need to continue to add bettter athletes, particularly our bigs.

Click to expand...

I'd like to know what games you watched.

WindyCityGopher said:

What's hitting me watching today's games (I'm also a major consumer of college basketball throughout the season) is that at virtually every position our our guys aren't particularly athletic. We have length, but we need to continue to add bettter athletes, particularly our bigs.

Click to expand...

I kinda think it is the opposite. We're very athletic, but the basketball IQ is low. We make a lot of bad decisions, and there are too many breakdowns on defense from time to time.