Not ready to crucify this team just yet...

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Frank Grimey Grimes

Frank Grimey Grimes

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Out of the next 10...we have 7 very winnable games. Not saying we will win them, but they are games we can win if we play well. If we can steal this next game from Maryland, that would be a huge boost going into those easier games. I don't see us beating Maryland or Wisco on the road. Even if we don't make the tourney, if we get close(8 or 9) to double digit wins in the big ten, i'm counting this as a successful season. In case you were wondering.... last time we won 9 games was under Tubby in 2009-2010.
 

Agreed the talent is available. Starting to wonder what is the formula to see it?
 

macgopher said:
Agreed the talent is available. Starting to wonder what is the formula to see it?
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That's the million dollar question. It was very encouraging to see Mason playing well late tonight. If he can avoid going into another slump, I think we have a very good shot of winning those 7 games. This team is very flawed, but early in the season when they needed a basket he seemed to provide it. Maryland will be an interesting game to see if the players have given up on the season.
 

Frank Grimey Grimes said:
Out of the next 10...we have 7 very winnable games. Not saying we will win them, but they are games we can win if we play well. If we can steal this next game from Maryland, that would be a huge boost going into those easier games. I don't see us beating Maryland or Wisco on the road. Even if we don't make the tourney, if we get close(8 or 9) to double digit wins in the big ten, i'm counting this as a successful season. In case you were wondering.... last time we won 9 games was under Tubby in 2009-2010.
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If the Gophers get to 9-9 they will probably make the tournament. They've had 3 winnable games in the 4 game losing streak...and in hindsight at Michigan State doesn't look unattainable either given what they have gone 0-3 since smashing the Gophers.

Not making the tourney should never be considered a successful season for a coach in his 4th year who still hasn't made it to the tournament. This has been a comically underachieving program post Clem and it's time to turn that around. It's been over a DECADE since this program has been over .500 in conference play and more than 5 years since it was .500...No excuse for that.
 

EG#9 said:
If the Gophers get to 9-9 they will probably make the tournament. They've had 3 winnable games in the 4 game losing streak...and in hindsight at Michigan State doesn't look unattainable either given what they have gone 0-3 since smashing the Gophers.

Not making the tourney should never be considered a successful season for a coach in his 4th year who still hasn't made it to the tournament. This has been a comically underachieving program post Clem and it's time to turn that around. It's been over a DECADE since this program has been over .500 in conference play and more than 5 years since it was .500...No excuse for that.
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True
 


EG#9 said:
If the Gophers get to 9-9 they will probably make the tournament. They've had 3 winnable games in the 4 game losing streak...and in hindsight at Michigan State doesn't look unattainable either given what they have gone 0-3 since smashing the Gophers.

Not making the tourney should never be considered a successful season for a coach in his 4th year who still hasn't made it to the tournament. This has been a comically underachieving program post Clem and it's time to turn that around. It's been over a DECADE since this program has been over .500 in conference play and more than 5 years since it was .500...No excuse for that.
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You're right, I more meant that if the gophers finish 9-9 or maybe 10-8 and end up missing the tournament I would still be happy. Winning 9 or 10 games is impressive and usually gets you into the tournament, but not always.
 

Clem Haskins first 2 seasons his teams won only 2 and 4 conf games.

Thing is, the 3rd season wasn't glorious, but they got into the tourney and made a run to the Sweet 16, and then in is 4th season, with a team full of seniors, they only won 11 games in conf, 11-7, and came within 1 last second shot of making it to the Final 4.


So if you look to 1987-90, Clem Haskins first 4 seasons, then you should hold out TONS OF HOPE!!!
 

Frank Grimey Grimes said:
You're right, I more meant that if the gophers finish 9-9 or maybe 10-8 and end up missing the tournament I would still be happy. Winning 9 or 10 games is impressive and usually gets you into the tournament, but not always.
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Absolutely. I think the wins @Purdue and @Northwestern position them very well for the tournament if they can get to 9-9 and I'd go as far as saying they are a lock at 10-8. If you count @Maryland and @Wisconsin as losses, the Gophers can afford just two more losses the rest of the way to finish .500. Here are those 8 games:

Maryland- probably small underdog
@Illinois- probably small underdog
Iowa- favorite
Rutgers- favorite
Indiana- probably small favorite
Michigan- favorite
Penn State - favorite
Nebraska- favorite

Obviously those are projections based on today and I could see the Gophers being underdogs to Indiana and Michigan if their losing streak continues.
 

Pitino is the least respected coach in the B1G with the officials. The calls. on the road and the Barn have been bad enough for Richard to stand up for his team and get a technical. Clem would've been rung up 4-5 times so far. You have to stand up for your team I've watched a lot of B1G basketball this year and the officials in the B1G rank among the worst. The Bucko's should have been called for traveling tonight 3 or 4 times. The crap in the last 5 minutes was ridiculous.
 



EG#9 said:
Absolutely. I think the wins @Purdue and @Northwestern position them very well for the tournament if they can get to 9-9 and I'd go as far as saying they are a lock at 10-8. If you count @Maryland and @Wisconsin as losses, the Gophers can afford just two more losses the rest of the way to finish .500. Here are those 8 games:

Maryland- probably small underdog
@Illinois- probably small underdog
Iowa- favorite
Rutgers- favorite
Indiana- probably small favorite
Michigan- favorite
Penn State - favorite
Nebraska- favorite

Obviously those are projections based on today and I could see the Gophers being underdogs to Indiana and Michigan if their losing streak continues.
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if the losing streak continues til Michigan and Indiana its game over for tourney hopes anyway. We could win those games, but that would require a lot of close games to break our way...cause you know the games are most likely gonna be close. if we got to 8 wins and picked up a couple of wins in the tourney maybe we sneak in after sweating out conference championships??
 

Gogogopher said:
if the losing streak continues til Michigan and Indiana its game over for tourney hopes anyway. We could win those games, but that would require a lot of close games to break our way...cause you know the games are most likely gonna be close. if we got to 8 wins and picked up a couple of wins in the tourney maybe we sneak in after sweating out conference championships??
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I made a mistake and Rutgers is actually on the road. I agree that it's over for tourney hopes if the losing streak continues until Indian or Michigan. I think it's actually much more likely that the Gophers win 5/6 home games and 1/2 road games to get to 9-9 than it is for them to make it with 8 wins and a couple of wins in the tourney. In the tourney scenario, they'd likely have to beat a Maryland/Purdue/Wisconsin on a neutral floor after those teams had a bye and the Gophers played the other night. Really, if you go worse than 6-3 on your home floor in the B1G that's not a good sign for your program. If it's "tough to win on the road" as the cliche goes then you can't be going 5-4 at home.
 

I'm personally tuning this team out until they get a win. After the MSU loss I had a feeling we'd see a snowball effect and so far that's just what happened. I've seen this story play out too many times with this program, solid start to build hope then depressing losing streak to totally ruin the whole season. Doesn't even matter who the coach is.
 

MadtownGopher said:
I'm personally tuning this team out until they get a win. After the MSU loss I had a feeling we'd see a snowball effect and so far that's just what happened. I've seen this story play out too many times with this program, solid start to build hope then depressing losing streak to totally ruin the whole season. Doesn't even matter who the coach is.
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Team is exactly where we all anticipated before the start of the season and the path there has surprised us.

I wish people had to lose their gh passwords when they "tuned the team out" or "gave up".

Team plays hard, struggles on o (go figure they were abysmal last year and have one shooter) and we are patiently waiting to "crucify" them. What the **** does that even mean anyway?

Good riddance the lot of ya.
 



When was the last time we had a 7-3 stretch in the Big Ten?
 


EG#9 said:
Absolutely. I think the wins @Purdue and @Northwestern position them very well for the tournament if they can get to 9-9 and I'd go as far as saying they are a lock at 10-8. If you count @Maryland and @Wisconsin as losses, the Gophers can afford just two more losses the rest of the way to finish .500. Here are those 8 games:

Maryland- probably small underdog
@Illinois- probably small underdog
Iowa- favorite
Rutgers- favorite
Indiana- probably small favorite
Michigan- favorite
Penn State - favorite
Nebraska- favorite

Obviously those are projections based on today and I could see the Gophers being underdogs to Indiana and Michigan if their losing streak continues.
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My guess is Gophers will be favored vs. Maryland. Terpsichore are solid, but they're. Owners. Eat as dangerous as Wisconsin or Purdue.

Gophers are gonna break out Saturday. They're due, and Maryland due for a stinker.
 

this year's team is better than last year's team. How much better remains to be seen. I think a lot of people, including myself, got a little too excited during the non-conf schedule. Once again, the B1G schedule is very unforgiving - if you have flaws as a team, they will be exposed in conference.

The Gophers just have too many "dead" possessions on offense. They get into foul trouble and wind up playing from behind for most of the game.

yes, there are some young, promising players. I would like to see more of Curry - but you never know - playing more minutes might expose some issues that don't crop up in more limited playing time.

Bottom line right now - this team hasn't figured out how to make plays to win a tight game. Hopefully, they will figure it out before the end of the season. But, unless they turn things around real soon, this is looking like an NIT season. (after last year, some NIT experience might not be the worst thing in the world.) But next year, with a year of experience and two more recruits, Pitino needs to not only make it to the NCAA tournament, but win a tournament game.
 


We can't go on these super long streaks of no offense to start the game or in the middle of the game anymore. It's really tough when you dig yourselves these deep holes that are hard to come out of.
 

Winasota Gopher said:
Team is exactly where we all anticipated before the start of the season and the path there has surprised us.

I wish people had to lose their gh passwords when they "tuned the team out" or "gave up".

Team plays hard, struggles on o (go figure they were abysmal last year and have one shooter) and we are patiently waiting to "crucify" them. What the **** does that even mean anyway?

Good riddance the lot of ya.
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This team has more than one shooter. The offense is abysmal and a portion of that is coaching and getting guys in position to succeed.
 

EG#9 said:
Absolutely. I think the wins @Purdue and @Northwestern position them very well for the tournament if they can get to 9-9 and I'd go as far as saying they are a lock at 10-8. If you count @Maryland and @Wisconsin as losses, the Gophers can afford just two more losses the rest of the way to finish .500. Here are those 8 games:

Maryland- probably small underdog
@Illinois- probably small underdog
Iowa- favorite
Rutgers- favorite
Indiana- probably small favorite
Michigan- favorite
Penn State - favorite
Nebraska- favorite

Obviously those are projections based on today and I could see the Gophers being underdogs to Indiana and Michigan if their losing streak continues.
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You can predict the lines based on KenPom, and the Gophers are currently favored in every game other than @Maryland and @Wisconsin. The advanced stats systems do not like Maryland and their string of very close wins.
 

Way too early to give up. I'm enjoying this season immensely. Seriously, if I don't enjoy this, even with its ups and downs, I should just stop watching sports. It's been a blast to follow this program's huge leap in success from last year and watch a young team grow, even though it can be two steps forward and one back at times. I expect them to get their legs back under them and have a nice run the rest of the conference schedule.
 

Bad Gopher said:
Way too early to give up. I'm enjoying this season immensely. Seriously, if I don't enjoy this, even with its ups and downs, I should just stop watching sports. It's been a blast to follow this program's huge leap in success from last year and watch a young team grow, even though it can be two steps forward and one back at times. I expect them to get their legs back under them and have a nice run the rest of the conference schedule.
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Agree, this team can be really frustrating to watch at times but you can see the talent and with a little more experience this could be a team capable of making some serious noise. I think they said during the broadcast that in terms of experience the Gophers rank in the low 300's out of 350 some teams in terms of youth. We all want them to win now but anyone that can't see the drastic improvement over last year's squad isn't paying attention.
 

Yes the team has made drastic improvement over last year. That should be noted.

As far as youth depends on how you want to define it. IMO a team that starts a 5th year senior and 2 juniors isn't as young as some want to believe. Even the sophomores have played plenty of minutes.
 


Why, as Minnesota fans, do we always end back on the mediocre road. Why cant we ever just have a team that beats 95% of the teams we should beat and lose the games we are suppose to lose. little frustrated. Want so badly for our team(s) to be good/great but theres always so much disappointment. I feel like with the young guys we have and the recruits coming we will be legit very soon. Please someone tell me im just not seeing through the fogged MN glasses.
 

rsgopher said:
Why, as Minnesota fans, do we always end back on the mediocre road. Why cant we ever just have a team that beats 95% of the teams we should beat and lose the games we are suppose to lose. little frustrated. Want so badly for our team(s) to be good/great but theres always so much disappointment. I feel like with the young guys we have and the recruits coming we will be legit very soon. Please someone tell me im just not seeing through the fogged MN glasses.
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Almost no teams beat 95% of the teams they're supposed to. That's sports.

The 1995-96 team started 3-6 in the conference and finished 7-2 as they gained experience and confidence. The following year they won 30 games and went to the Final Four with the same squad. Unless you're the Fab Five, Rome doesn't get built in a day.
 

Bad Gopher said:
Way too early to give up. I'm enjoying this season immensely. Seriously, if I don't enjoy this, even with its ups and downs, I should just stop watching sports. It's been a blast to follow this program's huge leap in success from last year and watch a young team grow, even though it can be two steps forward and one back at times. I expect them to get their legs back under them and have a nice run the rest of the conference schedule.
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+all the points

This season is all about one thing and one thing only... perspective

This team is infinitely more enjoyable to watch than any Gophers team in the past number of years (maybe not 2012-13 (at times)). They are clearly building something here.

Now for a brief rant... who are the people posting on this board about Pitino's future being in danger?? Boy, you know what sucks? Getting 4-star recruits to commit each of the past three classes... rough! Maybe it's just me, but I'm sure excited to see what an upper class Amir Coffey looks like alongside Eric Curry. Washington running the offense, Oturu down the road. The '18 recruiting class looks like it will inevitably shape up to be Pitino's best yet. Recruiting is at least 80% of equation to success in basketball, and this group has the ability to get it done. He clearly can coach, and will undoubtedly improve as his players do the same. Can everybody please accept that this season is gravy? If this team hasn't shown marked improvement by 2018-19 then go ahead and call for everyone's head, but do people seriously want to reinvent this program for the umpteenth time? Goodness... just enjoy what this team brings to the table... hustle, talent, mult-dimensional ability...

Lastly. Any team that is dishing out significant minutes to a player like Bakary Konate is going to struggle for long periods during games. This team is hamstrung by a wishful high-risk decision to bring in two very inexperienced players for the front court. When the Konate/Gas scholarships are off the books, this team will have a legitimate roster for the first time under Richard's tenure. At that time will I begin to judge the man and the job he has done/is doing... BECAUSE, apart from that, they have located talent and shown the ability to coach players into better players.. that's all I can ask for at this juncture
 

GopherHoopsFan said:
+all the points

This season is all about one thing and one thing only... perspective

This team is infinitely more enjoyable to watch than any Gophers team in the past number of years (maybe not 2012-13 (at times)). They are clearly building something here.

Now for a brief rant... who are the people posting on this board about Pitino's future being in danger?? Boy, you know what sucks? Getting 4-star recruits to commit each of the past three classes... rough! Maybe it's just me, but I'm sure excited to see what an upper class Amir Coffey looks like alongside Eric Curry. Washington running the offense, Oturu down the road. The '18 recruiting class looks like it will inevitably shape up to be Pitino's best yet. Recruiting is at least 80% of equation to success in basketball, and this group has the ability to get it done. He clearly can coach, and will undoubtedly improve as his players do the same. Can everybody please accept that this season is gravy? If this team hasn't shown marked improvement by 2018-19 then go ahead and call for everyone's head, but do people seriously want to reinvent this program for the umpteenth time? Goodness... just enjoy what this team brings to the table... hustle, talent, mult-dimensional ability...

Lastly. Any team that is dishing out significant minutes to a player like Bakary Konate is going to struggle for long periods during games. This team is hamstrung by a wishful high-risk decision to bring in two very inexperienced players for the front court. When the Konate/Gas scholarships are off the books, this team will have a legitimate roster for the first time under Richard's tenure. At that time will I begin to judge the man and the job he has done/is doing... BECAUSE, apart from that, they have located talent and shown the ability to coach players into better players.. that's all I can ask for at this juncture
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Great post. Nailed it.
 

GopherHoopsFan said:
Lastly. Any team that is dishing out significant minutes to a player like Bakary Konate is going to struggle for long periods during games. This team is hamstrung by a wishful high-risk decision to bring in two very inexperienced players for the front court. When the Konate/Gas scholarships are off the books, this team will have a legitimate roster for the first time under Richard's tenure. At that time will I begin to judge the man and the job he has done/is doing... BECAUSE, apart from that, they have located talent and shown the ability to coach players into better players.. that's all I can ask for at this juncture
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This exact thought occurred to me today, driving to work. Pitino and staff are doing great work nursing quality minutes out of Bakary. Bless his heart, but he's never looked like a D1 player to me.
 

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