BleedGopher
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STrib: Gophers let Isaiah Washington know that "every freshman" has bad games
per Marcus:
With the One-and-Done era in full swing in college basketball, it’s pretty common place to see high-profile freshmen become starters as soon as they arrive on campus.
On veteran teams that isn’t always the case. Minnesota is a good example.
Freshman Isaiah Washington started for the first time in Wednesday’s 86-81 loss to No. 10 Miami (Fla.). And it only happened because junior starting guard Dupree McBrayer was sidelined with a leg infection.
Washington had 14 points on 5-for-17 shooting with five turnovers against the Hurricanes. As Gophers coach Richard Pitino and his teammates pointed out, Washington isn’t the first and won’t be the last freshman to struggle mightily at times during the first year in college.
It’s part of the growing process.
“I told him, Nate (Mason) had days like these,” Pitino said. “Dupree, (Jordan) Murphy. All the older guys have had days like you just had. Every freshmen in the country has that. But we had to play him, because we didn’t have a lot of depth at the guard spot.”
In 2013, Mason didn’t get into the starting lineup until Big Ten play. He had 17 points and four assists in his first career start in a loss against Iowa. But in the next eight games, Mason averaged just 7.1 points on 27.4 percent shooting from the field. He also returned to his role as a backup point guard while he figured things out.
That’s why Mason was the perfect teammate to talk to about Washington getting over a bad game.
“I think he’s going to recover,” Mason said. “He’s going to have to recover, because we don’t know how long Dupree is out. He’s going to be able to play major minutes. And he’s going to learn from this game and probably the next game as well. But we’re going to need him.”
http://www.startribune.com/gophers-...-that-every-freshmen-has-bad-games/461091333/
Go Gophers!!
per Marcus:
With the One-and-Done era in full swing in college basketball, it’s pretty common place to see high-profile freshmen become starters as soon as they arrive on campus.
On veteran teams that isn’t always the case. Minnesota is a good example.
Freshman Isaiah Washington started for the first time in Wednesday’s 86-81 loss to No. 10 Miami (Fla.). And it only happened because junior starting guard Dupree McBrayer was sidelined with a leg infection.
Washington had 14 points on 5-for-17 shooting with five turnovers against the Hurricanes. As Gophers coach Richard Pitino and his teammates pointed out, Washington isn’t the first and won’t be the last freshman to struggle mightily at times during the first year in college.
It’s part of the growing process.
“I told him, Nate (Mason) had days like these,” Pitino said. “Dupree, (Jordan) Murphy. All the older guys have had days like you just had. Every freshmen in the country has that. But we had to play him, because we didn’t have a lot of depth at the guard spot.”
In 2013, Mason didn’t get into the starting lineup until Big Ten play. He had 17 points and four assists in his first career start in a loss against Iowa. But in the next eight games, Mason averaged just 7.1 points on 27.4 percent shooting from the field. He also returned to his role as a backup point guard while he figured things out.
That’s why Mason was the perfect teammate to talk to about Washington getting over a bad game.
“I think he’s going to recover,” Mason said. “He’s going to have to recover, because we don’t know how long Dupree is out. He’s going to be able to play major minutes. And he’s going to learn from this game and probably the next game as well. But we’re going to need him.”
http://www.startribune.com/gophers-...-that-every-freshmen-has-bad-games/461091333/
Go Gophers!!
