PiPress: Pitino needs more shooters in the worst way

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Marcus:

When Richard Pitino looks at the Gophers basketball team’s 0-11 Big Ten record and 12 straight losses, there are two things that frustrate him the most: the imbalance of his roster and the inability to shoot.

And there’s a correlation between both areas.

When Minnesota (6-17) and Michigan (17-7, 7-4) meet Wednesday night at Williams Arena, it will be a matchup of arguably the worst outside shooting team in the conference against the best.

The Wolverines, even with NBA prospect and senior Caris LeVert injured, rank third in the Big Ten in three-point percentage (40.3) and first in three-pointers made per game (10.3), which ranks eighth nationally. The Gophers are 13th in Big Ten games in three-point percentage (28.4) and also next to last in three-pointers per game (5.5).

“I would’ve liked the shooting to be a little bit better — it hasn’t obviously,” Pitino said during his radio show this week. “I think that part of it has been the most disappointing thing.”

http://www.twincities.com/2016/02/09/gophers-basketball-pitino-needs-more-shooters-in-the-worst-way/

Go Gophers!!
 

The poor shooting has really exposed their passive rebounding. The passive rebounding has cost them more shooting opportunities, which could help thaw the ice cold outside shooting.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 

No inside threat equals pressured outside shooters. Lil Ricky has put together quite the roster.
 


I am not sure if this is a separate interview or Marcus just taking quotes from Pitino's coaches show last night. I did find it interesting that Pitino mentioned that Fitzgerald and Hurt would help them as outside shooters next year and that he thought Dupree would get better as he got stronger. He also stated that Jarvis would have helped them this year as he could shoot it (certainly doesn't seem the case if he was just 2-6 in High School).

What I think is interesting is just how man guards/wings Pitino has recruited that have not shot it well from the perimeter: Malik Ellison is shooting just 31.6% from the field and 25.7% from three for St John's, so none of the non-posts Pitino heavily recruited in the last cyle is shooting it well. On his coaches show, Pitino mentioned that getting shooters is tough because the guys with size that can shoot it are being recruited by everybody. He certainly implied that if the roster was more complete it would be easier to take a guy who was more of a specialist. Pitino mentioned Michigan's Duncan Robinson who transferred from a D3 as an example of a shooter.

One of the more frustrating aspects of this season for me is that Pitino has clearly prioritized athleticism over shooting in his recruiting to this point. That would be fine if we then played to the strengths of the guys Pitino has recruited. A simple example is playing zone defense with Kevin Dorsey on the floor. His greatest asset right now is his ability to defend 94 feet and putting a very small guard out there as part of a zone isn't a great option. If Pitino is going to continue to recruit smaller, quicker, faster perimeter players then he's really got to be stubborn about playing man defense and creating transition opportunities off of turnovers.
 



"Pitino recently talked about the lack of depth in the 2014 in-state high school class that was headlined by the Big Three of Tyus Jones, Reid Travis and Rashad Vaughn." Really? I can't imagine Pitino saying that. 4 players that good isn't a lot of depth in MN???

"It will be a much more complete roster next year. I don’t know if it’s substantially better." Also a head-scratcher
 

underground629 said:
"Pitino recently talked about the lack of depth in the 2014 in-state high school class that was headlined by the Big Three of Tyus Jones, Reid Travis and Rashad Vaughn." Really? I can't imagine Pitino saying that. 4 players that good isn't a lot of depth in MN???

"It will be a much more complete roster next year. I don’t know if it’s substantially better." Also a head-scratcher
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Wow. It sure better be or Jr. may be hitting up dad for a job.
 

LesBolstad said:
No inside threat equals pressured outside shooters. Lil Ricky has put together quite the roster.
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McBrayer, Mason, and Dorsey driving to the paint isn't an inside threat? Who knew. Someone should tell Indiana that.

"Having an inside threat" is just as effective if it is a player driving as it is a posting big man when it comes to getting close shots and forcing reaction from the defense.
 



EG#9 said:
I am not sure if this is a separate interview or Marcus just taking quotes from Pitino's coaches show last night. I did find it interesting that Pitino mentioned that Fitzgerald and Hurt would help them as outside shooters next year and that he thought Dupree would get better as he got stronger. He also stated that Jarvis would have helped them this year as he could shoot it (certainly doesn't seem the case if he was just 2-6 in High School).

What I think is interesting is just how man guards/wings Pitino has recruited that have not shot it well from the perimeter: Malik Ellison is shooting just 31.6% from the field and 25.7% from three for St John's, so none of the non-posts Pitino heavily recruited in the last cyle is shooting it well. On his coaches show, Pitino mentioned that getting shooters is tough because the guys with size that can shoot it are being recruited by everybody. He certainly implied that if the roster was more complete it would be easier to take a guy who was more of a specialist. Pitino mentioned Michigan's Duncan Robinson who transferred from a D3 as an example of a shooter.

One of the more frustrating aspects of this season for me is that Pitino has clearly prioritized athleticism over shooting in his recruiting to this point. That would be fine if we then played to the strengths of the guys Pitino has recruited. A simple example is playing zone defense with Kevin Dorsey on the floor. His greatest asset right now is his ability to defend 94 feet and putting a very small guard out there as part of a zone isn't a great option. If Pitino is going to continue to recruit smaller, quicker, faster perimeter players then he's really got to be stubborn about playing man defense and creating transition opportunities off of turnovers.
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As usual, good analysis. Interestingly, the bolded was one of our criticisms of Tubby. His best shooting team was the one he inherited from Monson. I honestly thought the new regime would go in a direction of more skill and shooting, but it's been more of the same - guys who are good but not great athletes and can't hit a free throw to save their life.
 

Having a center who can catch and make passes in the half court should open up some shots. guys won't be able to key on the perimeter as much. Also as the young guys improve and get stronger their abilities to shoot and take contact in the lane should get better as well. Defense needs to step up next year, Lynch, Fitz, Curry and Coffey should help on that end of the floor.
 

bemidjigopher said:
Having a center who can catch and make passes in the half court should open up some shots. guys won't be able to key on the perimeter as much. Also as the young guys improve and get stronger their abilities to shoot and take contact in the lane should get better as well. Defense needs to step up next year, Lynch, Fitz, Curry and Coffey should help on that end of the floor.
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Actually my one concern on Lynch is that he has a history of not passing- at least according to the stats. He had a whopping 8 assists per year- in each of his two years at Ill. St. I hope that gets worked out in this off season. I do think he will be a good player for us.
 

EG#9 said:
I am not sure if this is a separate interview or Marcus just taking quotes from Pitino's coaches show last night. I did find it interesting that Pitino mentioned that Fitzgerald and Hurt would help them as outside shooters next year
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In his career Davonte Fitzgerald is 34-116 (29.3%) from 3 and 57-135 (42.2%) from 2. Pitino pinning the team's hopes on his shooting may not be the best bet.
 



I think Pitino is making a mistake not playing Daquan McNeil and Zach Lofton at the same time. I think together they would space the floor nicely for the rest of the team
 

I really hope Hurt comes in ready to give us 10-15 minutes a game. He'll be the best shooter on campus, hopefully he can at least hold his own on the defensive end.

Coffey is a streaky shooter, but it's not like he is terrible. If he can shoot in the mid 30's I'd be happy with that.

I really wish we could have landed Mychal Mulder. He chose Kentucky and all he does is ride the pine. The kid can shoot it and would have fit in well here.
 

DeathClutch said:
I really hope Hurt comes in ready to give us 10
Cal sold him a bill of goods. I hope Fitz can defend, 6'7" or 6'8" on the wing you would hope so. I don't see him lighting the world on fire offensively, I am sure he could be solid, but being able to guard will go along ways in getting on the court next year
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bemidjigopher said:
DeathClutch said:
I really hope Hurt comes in ready to give us 10
Cal sold him a bill of goods. I hope Fitz can defend, 6'7" or 6'8" on the wing you would hope so. I don't see him lighting the world on fire offensively, I am sure he could be solid, but being able to guard will go along ways in getting on the court next year
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Yes, we all tend to emphasize offense more than defense, but I hope Pitino recruited and/or has some guys that can guard next year. Need a guy or two who takes pride in being a stopper. Someone who can lock down on the opponents' best player or sniper, like Purdue did last night with Bryn Forbes. I'm sick of watching Gopher opponents get whatever shot they want, with nary a hand in the face.
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SelectionSunday said:
bemidjigopher said:
Yes, we all tend to emphasize offense more than defense, but I hope Pitino recruited and/or has some guys that can guard next year. Need a guy or two who takes pride in being a stopper. Someone who can lock down on the opponents' best player or sniper, like Purdue did last night with Bryn Forbes. I'm sick of watching Gopher opponents get whatever shot they want, with nary a hand in the face.
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Pretty sure McNeil was going to be that guy before he beat up his girlfriend.
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