Lineup Next Year

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MadtownGopher said:
I'll go:

Dorsey
Mason
Murphy
King
Konate

Pitino seemed extra excited about the Murphy signing so I think he's a starter from day one. Could end up being at the 4 if King is unimpressive and another wing develops quickly.
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I would go with yours as well and I agree that Murphy's commitment here over a pretty good list of offers probably gives him a little extra consideration.
 

MadtownGopher said:
I'll go:

Dorsey
Mason
Murphy
King
Konate

Pitino seemed extra excited about the Murphy signing so I think he's a starter from day one. Could end up being at the 4 if King is unimpressive and another wing develops quickly.
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With a lot of substituting early and often. Playing the Gophers this year will be a lot like kicking a hornet's nest. The hot hand get plenty of PT on that night.
 


Anybody who thinks losing the only real physical presence in this lineup next year doesn't matter is smokin' something... because Konate and Diedhou are simply two lean kids learning how to play basketball.
On the plus side, I think the small forward lineup SHOULD defend the three better (a weakness last year) but any smart team will take the ball straight to the paint against our underweight, underexperienced 4 and 5.
Can we change Nwankwo's name and reinroll him?
 

beat bucky said:
Anybody who thinks losing the only real physical presence in this lineup next year doesn't matter is smokin' something... because Konate and Diedhou are simply two lean kids learning how to play basketball.
On the plus side, I think the small forward lineup SHOULD defend the three better (a weakness last year) but any smart team will take the ball straight to the paint against our underweight, underexperienced 4 and 5.
Can we change Nwankwo's name and reinroll him?
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Konate and Diedhiou are not small/lean and are old sophomores (21 I believe).
 


beat bucky said:
Anybody who thinks losing the only real physical presence in this lineup next year doesn't matter is smokin' something... because Konate and Diedhou are simply two lean kids learning how to play basketball.
On the plus side, I think the small forward lineup SHOULD defend the three better (a weakness last year) but any smart team will take the ball straight to the paint against our underweight, underexperienced 4 and 5.
Can we change Nwankwo's name and reinroll him?
Click to expand...

You're smokin' something if you think Konate and Diedhou are small and lean.
 

MadtownGopher said:
I'll go:

Dorsey
Mason
Murphy
King
Konate

Pitino seemed extra excited about the Murphy signing so I think he's a starter from day one. Could end up being at the 4 if King is unimpressive and another wing develops quickly.
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I got Buggs at the 3. If he develops his ball-handling this summer and become a consistent scoring threat he has the size and shooting to become a legit prospect... huge summer for him.
 

JoshuaT81 said:
You're smokin' something if you think Konate and Diedhou are small and lean.
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I never said they were small, you did. Mostly they're just underskilled in the low post. I'd trade another Dusty Rychart for either/both of them.
 

gopherboy03 said:
I got Buggs at the 3. If he develops his ball-handling this summer and become a consistent scoring threat he has the size and shooting to become a legit prospect... huge summer for him.
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This year there is great competition at every position except center. That's going to make everyone improve. We are going to find out who wants to get on the floor. Lots of talent coming in. Raw? Probably. But this is not like the old days where frosh aren't ready to play.
 



beat bucky said:
I never said they were small, you did. Mostly they're just underskilled in the low post. I'd trade another Dusty Rychart for either/both of them.
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Yep, lets replace a 6'11" C and a 6'9" C/PF with a 6'7" PF. Pitino would be eaten alive on here if he did that no matter the skill of the PF. Watching youtube highlights of Rychart, I think that Joey king could roughly match his senior year production(Dusty averaged 13.1-ppg 6.6-RPG 2.0-APG his Senior year.). King is a better shooter, Rychart the better rebounder. it'll be interesting to compare those two players this year. remember King hasn't been the focus of the offense yet. rychart was the focus his jr. year Rick Richert took over rycharts sr. year.
 

beat bucky said:
Konate and Diedhou
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Why do they always get lumped in together as if they are the same player or the same skill level?

Konate showed some skill and physicality.

beat bucky said:
smart team will take the ball straight to the paint against our underweight
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You should be a coach... because it's just that easy.

I guess all the teams we played last year were 'not smart' because when King and Konate were on the court together or even Gas on Konate (limited times) this did not happen.
 

Mo Walker plays like Okafor compared to Konate. Dusty Rychart played like McHale compared to Diedhou/King. But best of luck to us.
 




WanderingGopher said:
Fall from what? We were 6-12 last year. Our interior depth would be a problem if we were a legit contender in 2015/16 trying to win nearly every game, but isn't a priority when you're looking at winning 5-6 games again, getting young guys experience for the future, and adding another 6-10 beast in the middle next year.

I think Konate's going to be good. Pitino thinks Konate's going to be really good (he's said so). We'll probably lose some games this year because he gets in foul trouble and the smaller backups have to play too many minutes at the 5. But I think the coaching staff looks at this as a building year and isn't concerned with a couple extra losses. Basically they chose to add high-upside Fitzgerald (who can't help this year) with the last scholarship instead of a low-upside freshman or grad transfer C who could've provided another body in the middle this year.
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Call it whatever you want, last year we were 6-12 but competitive against almost everybody. We finished 58th in Pomeroy, but 342nd in "luck", or the difference between our efficiency and our record. We were an 8-9 win Big Ten team who, whether it was bad luck or poor play in close games, finished with 6 wins.

This year we might win 4 games and rank outside the Top 100 in efficiency.

And really, LOL at the comments who think that Konate is a better post presence than Dusty Rychart just because he is 4 inches taller, as if that is what the folks bringing up the frontcourt are worried about. Just height in a vacuum, no context whatsoever. The frontcourt is a problem, and coming up with nonsense that doesn't account for whether said height is actually reliable on the basketball court doesn't get anybody anywhere. The "troll" is 100% correct in this case.
 


beat bucky said:
Mo Walker plays like Okafor compared to Konate. Dusty Rychart played like McHale compared to Diedhou/King. But best of luck to us.
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Beat Bucky- I'm a little confused about you. I think it was you about a month back that was saying that you thought we were going to have a big year with the kiddie corps. Now with the loss of Nwankwo (who I think would have helped a lot long term) you seem to be throwing in the towel. What's up?
 

Beat Bucky is right on. We are really thin up front and all teams (Cardinal Stritch included) are smart enough to know this. They can get the ball down to the paint and score all day long. I hope the BIGS can defend, but from what I saw of them as Freshman it could be a loooong 2015/2016 season. Hopefully our guards can carry our scoring load.
 

Dusty Rychart averaged less than 4 points per game as a freshman and then took a couple steps forward in his remaining three years. Is there any reason to believe that we won't see a progression from Konate this year and into the next couple years? It's not even remotely a fair comparison at this point.
 

bobmartinfan said:
Beat Bucky is right on. We are really thin up front and all teams (Cardinal Stritch included) are smart enough to know this. They can get the ball down to the paint and score all day long. I hope the BIGS can defend, but from what I saw of them as Freshman it could be a loooong 2015/2016 season. Hopefully our guards can carry our scoring load.
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I mean, Konate was the best defender the Gophers had against POY Frank Kaminsky. But yeah, he probably sucks.
 

jwhoops said:
Call it whatever you want, last year we were 6-12 but competitive against almost everybody. We finished 58th in Pomeroy, but 342nd in "luck", or the difference between our efficiency and our record. We were an 8-9 win Big Ten team who, whether it was bad luck or poor play in close games, finished with 6 wins. This year we might win 4 games and rank outside the Top 100 in efficiency. And really, LOL at the comments who think that Konate is a better post presence than Dusty Rychart just because he is 4 inches taller, as if that is what the folks bringing up the frontcourt are worried about. Just height in a vacuum, no context whatsoever. The frontcourt is a problem, and coming up with nonsense that doesn't account for whether said height is actually reliable on the basketball court doesn't get anybody anywhere. The "troll" is 100% correct in this case.
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Didn't you spend an entire thread saying the 6-7 (7-1 wingspan, Rivals top 150) Jordan Murphy couldn't play PF? Now you think 6-7 Dusty Rychart could actually play Center?
 


News flash to many. The chances of the Gophers running straight post ups in offense next year are probably pretty slim.

The reason they did last year is that was Mo Walkers best skill and he was our most reliable scoring option. If you think the Gophers offense won't change with having the more defensive minded Konate, Gaston, and eventually lynch at C you must think Pitino is a pretty dumb guy.

All we need from Konate is to rebound and rim protect. That's it. I can't say he will be other worldly at it, but considering EE could effectively do it in the 13-14 season, I think Konate can at least be adequate next year and Lynch will only help in 16-17.
 

scher215 said:
I mean, Konate was the best defender the Gophers had against POY Frank Kaminsky. But yeah, he probably sucks.
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+1. Did alright against Purdue too if I recall correctly.

Konate will be a good defender by his senior year, whether he is top 10 in the big ten next year is irrelevant.
 

bobmartinfan said:
Beat Bucky is right on. We are really thin up front and all teams (Cardinal Stritch included) are smart enough to know this. They can get the ball down to the paint and score all day long. I hope the BIGS can defend, but from what I saw of them as Freshman it could be a loooong 2015/2016 season. Hopefully our guards can carry our scoring load.
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It could be a long season. Or it could be really fun watching the future come together. I don't disagree that we have question marks up front (and elsewhere) I am just a little confused at how down beat bucky got when Nwankwo couldn't come here. He was no more proven (less actually) than Konate.
 

jwhoops said:
Call it whatever you want, last year we were 6-12 but competitive against almost everybody. We finished 58th in Pomeroy, but 342nd in "luck", or the difference between our efficiency and our record. We were an 8-9 win Big Ten team who, whether it was bad luck or poor play in close games, finished with 6 wins.

This year we might win 4 games and rank outside the Top 100 in efficiency.

And really, LOL at the comments who think that Konate is a better post presence than Dusty Rychart just because he is 4 inches taller, as if that is what the folks bringing up the frontcourt are worried about. Just height in a vacuum, no context whatsoever. The frontcourt is a problem, and coming up with nonsense that doesn't account for whether said height is actually reliable on the basketball court doesn't get anybody anywhere. The "troll" is 100% correct in this case.
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...and then again, we might win 6...or 8...or 10.

(And I love that you think the "troll" is 100% correct. Since you say so, it must be true. Can't you at least admit that he may be exaggerating a little?)
 

Winasota Gopher said:
+1. Did alright against Purdue too if I recall correctly. Konate will be a good defender by his senior year, whether he is top 10 in the big ten next year is irrelevant.
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Yup. People are upset we are probably not a tourney team next year. Both Pitino and NT have said it's a rebuilding year, let guys develop and have fun watching it.
 

You can defend the post with just about anybody...if you front the post and put constant, relentless pressure on the passers attempting to get it into the post. Coach that sometime, see how many people you have who can successfully make the entry pass.
 

60's Guy said:
You can defend the post with just about anybody...if you front the post and put constant, relentless pressure on the passers attempting to get it into the post. Coach that sometime, see how many people you have who can successfully make the entry pass.
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That's how I like to play it! Have to make sure the weak side defense is in position and it's a bit of a challenge on the defensive boards.

We'll likely play a lot of 2-3 zone anyway. Our 2-headed center manning the middle with our athletes flying all over around them. I think our zone will be especially effective this year.
 

golfing18now said:
Dusty Rychart averaged less than 4 points per game as a freshman and then took a couple steps forward in his remaining three years. Is there any reason to believe that we won't see a progression from Konate this year and into the next couple years? It's not even remotely a fair comparison at this point.
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Why on earth would he be comparing him to freshman year Rychart?
 

scher215 said:
Didn't you spend an entire thread saying the 6-7 (7-1 wingspan, Rivals top 150) Jordan Murphy couldn't play PF? Now you think 6-7 Dusty Rychart could actually play Center?
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So your logic goes something like...."Rychart was 6'7 and was successful in the paint, therefore Murphy will be successful". Good luck with that...
 

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