A peak at next year

bga1

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I am enjoying the present immensely, but I can't help but look at how good it could get next year with Fitzgerald, Washington and Harris coming in an only losing Springs.

If a scholly opened and we could fill one hole with a high end JUCO or Grad Transfer - what would it be? Or do we roll with what we have and hope that Curry becomes an established inside threat while Harris, Fitzgerald and Hurt add the shooting lost by Springs?

We certainly have great chemistry that we don't want to mess with. We have been very fortunate with Springs who has been a great add.
 

For the uneducated, please give a rundown of each new guy. I know the guy from the NYC is a point guard. What about the others?

If none of them is a center, I would target a center. Don't care if it's for offense or defense. Either way works. But if we have no incoming center, and Reggie gets hurt, that is a hole. As much as I LOVE what Konate has contributed this year, I don't think he's a Sweet 16 starting center.
 

For the uneducated, please give a rundown of each new guy. I know the guy from the NYC is a point guard. What about the others?

If none of them is a center, I would target a center. Don't care if it's for offense or defense. Either way works. But if we have no incoming center, and Reggie gets hurt, that is a hole. As much as I LOVE what Konate has contributed this year, I don't think he's a Sweet 16 starting center.

Fitzgerald is a 6'8 or so wing. Transferred from Texas A&M, I believe. Athletic, and has an okay stroke, I think. Kind of skinny. Hopefully a smarter, more motivated Charles Buggs?

Jamir Harris is a 6'2 shooting guard, who is one of the best pure shooters in the nation. Not super athletic, doesn't do much else other than shoot. But he has legit NBA range.

Isaiah Washington is Jelly Fam. And he's the Answer. That's all you need to know about him.
 

For the uneducated, please give a rundown of each new guy. I know the guy from the NYC is a point guard. What about the others?

Washington backs up Mason, Harris (shooter) backs up McBrayer, Fitzgerald if healthy gets in the front court rotation with Curry, Murphy, Lynch and Konate
 

Another interesting thing about next year.......we should get a great home matchup in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Louisville perhaps!?!?!
 


Depends on how "high caliber" the guy is. I would take any position if they're talented enough. I think the two biggest spots are SG and C. PG is set with Mason and Washington. SF is Coffey and Fitz. PF Murphy and Curry. SG we could take someone to be the 6th man or start leaving Dupree as 6th man. Center as was mentioned could bring in someone who gives us more than Bakary as the backup/default starter when Lynch fouls out.

As is though I think we will have a very good starting 5 and 3/4 high quality bench players. We are in good shape without a transfer.

Starters:
Mason
McBrayer
Coffey
Murphy
Lynch

Role Players:
Washington
Curry
Fitzgerald
Konate

Could become role players:
Harris
Hurt
Gilbert

That's a great roster
 

I am enjoying the present immensely, but I can't help but look at how good it could get next year with Fitzgerald, Washington and Harris coming in an only losing Springs.

If a scholly opened and we could fill one hole with a high end JUCO or Grad Transfer - what would it be? Or do we roll with what we have and hope that Curry becomes an established inside threat while Harris, Fitzgerald and Hurt add the shooting lost by Springs?

We certainly have great chemistry that we don't want to mess with. We have been very fortunate with Springs who has been a great add.
If a scholly opens up i would want a freshman big man to come in and compete for Konate's minutes, or could give us another body in the event of Lynch fouling out. I believe we offered Malik Ondigo, looks like a nice get, with a good offer http://247sports.com/player/malik-ondigo-45573339 Also seemed like last year we had a shot at that freshman center at Nebraska had Buggs transferred out earlier
 

Depends on if we have a transfer or not. Gaston is not going to go anywhere, cause he has zero options. Gilbert has the best chance of leaving, he is not going to see the floor much going forward. Hurt could improve with some strength and agility training and may be more of a factor than a still recovering Fitzgerald. If we could get a grad transfer for a center or a shooting guard, it would be very hard to pass up.
 

If a scholly opens up for next year, a center would be nice to add in case something happens to one of the bigs. Otherwise, Tywhon Pickford, 6'5" shooter from Maple Grove, has not yet committed. I believe he missed last season due to injury. He has been pretty good this year. Also, I bet Pitino has players in mind. :)
 



On paper, we should be really good next year. An added ball handler. An impact power forward coming off injury. Biggest question marks are whether Reggie can learn how to stay out of foul trouble, and whether McBrayer, Harris, and Hurt can make up for the void left by Akeem.
 

With the shape of college basketball as it is, an experienced group of guys that are not necessarily NBA/5 stars can make a deep run, Final Four or even the unthinkable championship. With some breaks, continued improvement and possibly the right addition, we could be that team. I have had two concerns about this team- average outside shooting and the lack of a go to post up big guy that you can feed in the clutch. Even with the loss of Springs, maybe our shooting improves next year. Then, the guy who has the upside in the low post is Curry. I am confident he will get there but will he be good enough next year to help us make a run?

This is no knock on Lynch who has been amazing as an intimadater on defense and who is improving in his low post play. Anyway, I would consider a big man if one is available and can help right away.
 

The accidentally ominous spelling error in title... :(
 

Are there any one and doners out there not yet committed? Not a big fan of those. Just thinking of options. I'd much prefer the Grad transfer.

And I think Center or PF is the thinnest spots for the team. If either Lynch or Curry gets injured, the team will struggle.
 



Depends on how "high caliber" the guy is. I would take any position if they're talented enough. I think the two biggest spots are SG and C. PG is set with Mason and Washington. SF is Coffey and Fitz. PF Murphy and Curry. SG we could take someone to be the 6th man or start leaving Dupree as 6th man. Center as was mentioned could bring in someone who gives us more than Bakary as the backup/default starter when Lynch fouls out.

As is though I think we will have a very good starting 5 and 3/4 high quality bench players. We are in good shape without a transfer.

Starters:
Mason
McBrayer
Coffey
Murphy
Lynch

Role Players:
Washington
Curry
Fitzgerald
Konate

Could become role players:
Harris
Hurt
Gilbert

That's a great roster

Assuming the new guys and guys coming off injury are ready to contribute right away that is one heck of a roster. The thing that really makes this roster go though is Murphy. When he is playing the way he is capable of (last 5 games - 17+ points, 13+ rebounds) he is a monster inside and a huge matchup problem for teams defensively.

It is exciting to think about about what guys like Coffey and Curry might develop into. And you would hope that Lynch can work on some things in the off-season to make him better at defending at this level without fouling. Assuming the roster comes back in tack and health isn't a problem, we should be one of the favorites in the conference next season and from there anything can happen.
 

Do not listen to any projections on Fitzgerald.

No one knows what he is capable of or what he will be. He hasn't seen meaningful minutes on a college basketball court in quite some time and not a single Gopher Fan has seen the minutes he has had in his career.

We lose Springs, will unlikely have an extra scholarship, I don't see Gaston or Gilbert leaving as Gaston is by all accounts quite satisfied and Gilbert I observe is a glue guy for this team and we might actually lose chemistry if he were to leave, rather he stay on the team and keep our scholarships planned and even.

We net +1 in the guard rotation and likely (Fitz should be able to play SOME minutes) add some more options to the 3/4 rotation. I think we get a lot more flexible in lineup configurations and if each young guy takes a step forward and seniors play like the seniors should we should expect similar results to this year,
 

I thought the prevailing thought was that Washington would likely start at point guard and Mason will play more as a #2?
 

Do not listen to any projections on Fitzgerald.

No one knows what he is capable of or what he will be. He hasn't seen meaningful minutes on a college basketball court in quite some time and not a single Gopher Fan has seen the minutes he has had in his career.

We lose Springs, will unlikely have an extra scholarship, I don't see Gaston or Gilbert leaving as Gaston is by all accounts quite satisfied and Gilbert I observe is a glue guy for this team and we might actually lose chemistry if he were to leave, rather he stay on the team and keep our scholarships planned and even.

We net +1 in the guard rotation and likely (Fitz should be able to play SOME minutes) add some more options to the 3/4 rotation. I think we get a lot more flexible in lineup configurations and if each young guy takes a step forward and seniors play like the seniors should we should expect similar results to this year,

But a scholarship is a year-to-year proposition, offered at the pleasure of the head coach, no? So if Pitino really wanted to clear a scholarship to give to a grad transfer of the quality of Springs, I'm sure he could "encourage" Gaston to find other options, although he may come off looking like a disloyal jerk in the process.
 

I thought the prevailing thought was that Washington would likely start at point guard and Mason will play more as a #2?

I thought so too. But there's a strong 'if it's not broke don't fix it' argument with how Mason is playing PG now.
 

But a scholarship is a year-to-year proposition, offered at the pleasure of the head coach, no? So if Pitino really wanted to clear a scholarship to give to a grad transfer of the quality of Springs, I'm sure he could "encourage" Gaston to find other options, although he may come off looking like a disloyal jerk in the process.

Unlikely, but possible. It's within reason to think that could have happened with buggs and Travis Busch most recently.
 

wondering if the OP used "peak" on purpose or by accident...
 

But a scholarship is a year-to-year proposition, offered at the pleasure of the head coach, no? So if Pitino really wanted to clear a scholarship to give to a grad transfer of the quality of Springs, I'm sure he could "encourage" Gaston to find other options, although he may come off looking like a disloyal jerk in the process.

Logistical nightmare for Gaston to transfer, especially with the current Visa restrictions being applied, he's not going anywhere. I could see Gilbert transferring to get playing time somewhere.
 

I thought so too. But there's a strong 'if it's not broke don't fix it' argument with how Mason is playing PG now.

There is also a thought of how our defense started to play really well against the 3pt shot once we got taller and longer at the guard positions and to immediately go against that might end up hurting us on defense.
 

wondering if the OP used "peak" on purpose or by accident...

It was an accident. I should have taken another "peek" at the title- which is now permanent. ;) I actually don't think the program "peaks" next year in potential. Great years are ahead, barring one of our historical scandals.

As to the questions about Washington and Mason, I think there will be an opportunity to reduce Mason's minutes to 30 with perhaps 20 of those at PG and Washington getting 20 minutes PT or more as games dictate. The roster next year gives Pitino a chance to work with a lot of different combos more and Dupree won't have to play any point guard barring injuries. We are starting to run more and do it efficiently which is why we are averaging over 80 points since the MSU blowout so I hope that the lineups continue that running trend which is great to watch and seems effective.
 

We would be fine next year as-is. However, it would be great to get a freshman true center next year to add to our recruiting class, so we have sophomore and freshman centers the following season (we already got a great 2018 commitment from Oruro, a 4-star center from MN). However, we have a chance to be even more special next year if guys stay healthy with Mason and Lynch as seniors. In that sense, wouldn't it be great to add a very skilled scoring post player or shooting guard grad transfer or JC transfer? I'm not in favor of "chasing off" anyone. But, if one of the bench guys wants to move on...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

According to a website 'informed athlete' there has been a recent NCAA rule change on players and their year by year athletic scholarship.

Copied from the article.

The Facts About “Guaranteed” Multi-year NCAA DI Scholarships

Posted June 12, 2015

In our June newsletter, I wrote a brief paragraph about a new NCAA Division I rule that becomes effective this Fall and which has the effect of “protecting” Division I student-athletes from having their athletic scholarship cancelled or not renewed for any athletics reason.
Here are several facts about this rule:
– This new rule was voted in by the universities of the “Power 5” conferences – the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, PAC-12, and SEC, as well as Notre Dame. This rule must be followed by these 65 universities.

http://informedathlete.com/the-facts-about-guaranteed-multi-year-ncaa-di-scholarships/

With regard to Fitzgerald I have not seen any discussion as to whether or not he could get an extra year of eligibility. I kind of miss those medical red-shirt, hardship, 6th year discussions.
 

Depends on how "high caliber" the guy is. I would take any position if they're talented enough. I think the two biggest spots are SG and C. PG is set with Mason and Washington. SF is Coffey and Fitz. PF Murphy and Curry. SG we could take someone to be the 6th man or start leaving Dupree as 6th man. Center as was mentioned could bring in someone who gives us more than Bakary as the backup/default starter when Lynch fouls out.

As is though I think we will have a very good starting 5 and 3/4 high quality bench players. We are in good shape without a transfer.

Starters:
Mason
McBrayer
Coffey
Murphy
Lynch

Role Players:
Washington
Curry
Fitzgerald
Konate

Could become role players:
Harris
Hurt
Gilbert

That's a great roster

This roster could win the B1G next year. It can also survive an injury or two. Deepest roster since '97
 

I thought so too. But there's a strong 'if it's not broke don't fix it' argument with how Mason is playing PG now.

I could see a third guard rotation with McBrayer, Washington, Mason
 




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