The Gophers' Maroon and Gold Scrimmage featured dynamic guards

DanielHouse

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The Gophers hosted their annual Maroon and Gold scrimmage at Williams Arena Sunday night and it was the first public look at the 2017 Gophers. The team must develop more chemistry by playing in game action, but the guard play stood out.

Nate Mason was shooting the ball very effectively and drilled a notable mid-range jumper. He also added a scoop finish at the rim and played very confidently. Mason looks stronger and can handle contact better when he’s trying to attack. His jumper looks smooth and he definitely has put in work this offseason. Mason finished with 22 points and 7 assists, creating numerous opportunities for Lynch down low.

Freshman point guard Isaiah Washington opened the game with a three pointer and a coast-to-coast finish at the rim. He is really aggressive attacking the basket and is a fantastic finisher. Washington also created a nice opportunity for Reggie Lynch down low off the dribble. He is learning to become more of facilitator, but he’s so dynamic when he the ball in his hands. Washington finished the night with 20 points and four assists.

Dupree McBrayer stepped outside and hit a corner jumper and was confidently shooting his mid-range jumper. The Gophers have a talented set of scorers in the backcourt that will be a difficult matchup for many teams in the Big Ten. McBrayer finished the scrimmage with eight points.

Jordan Murphy was creating shots off the dribble and finished at the rim with a quick jump hook. He is best when he can start his moves near the elbow and use his quickness off the dribble. It’s clear to see Murphy has spent time trying to become a more polished threat on the offensive end. Murphy had 13 points and 13 rebounds in 32 minutes.

Amir Coffey got the biggest roar from the crowd when got loose in transition and dropped a windmill jam. He is still trying to create shots in the offense. Richard Pitino has noted he will need to become more of an active contributor on the offensive end. Coffey had 10 points and continues to work on his involvement in the offense.

Reggie Lynch corralled a big shot block and had several scores around the rim after the guards created off the dribble. Richard Pitino said after the scrimmage that he thinks Lynch is “primed for a big year.” He said if he can rebound, run the court, and screen, he has a chance to play in the NBA. Lynch had eight rebounds and tallied 18 points on the night. He also picked up two fouls in 28 minutes of action.

Jamir Harris tried a few threes, but didn’t make any huge splashes. He did run the floor well in transition and hit a layup. Harris was 0-for-2 from the three-point line tonight.

Michel Hurt had a great transition finish with contact at the rim against Coffey. He also had a great cut out of an offensive set to finish over Lynch. Hurt was better on the defense end and tallied a notable offensive board. He played this offseason with Larry Brown and Coach Pitino has noted his improvement.

Davonte Fitzgerald was moving well down low and stepped out and drilled a three-pointer off a ball reversal. He had seven first half boards and looked really comfortable on the floor. He was active on the glass and feels natural at the four spot because of his ability to stretch the floor. Pitino called Fitzgerald’s performance the “brightest spot” of the scrimmage and likes his rebounding ability. He had 14 boards and added 7 points. Fitzgerald and Jordan Murphy combined to tally 27 rebounds, which would be huge for the team’s success.

Center Matz Stockman is ineligible to play this year, but received action in the scrimmage. He runs the floor well for his 7’1” frame and will be able to move the floor enough in transition.

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I was impressed with the guys who will be on our bench. Hurt is stronger and more confident he will provide good minutes this year. He didn't get the bounces today but I like Harris, smooth stroke he's built and he's not afraid to drive the lane. I could see him playing point in a pinch, especially in the upcoming years. Washington is a special talent but gets out of control a bit. Konate is well Konate had some good and bad moments. Fitz will play a Joey King type role in the offense but he's a much better defender. No Gaston, wonder where he was today?
 


Thank you for the report. Pleased to hear about Hurt and especially Fitzgerald.
 


This is gonna be such a fun year. I love Nate Mason’s game so much. I know he was inefficient last year, he just plays at such a nice pace. This team is gonna have swagger, something we’ve not seen in a loong time. Between Nate, Reggie and Isaiah, there are some confident dogs on this team.
 


Loved how Washington started with a quick 5 points and Mason responded with 5 of his own. Mason looks every bit the all conference player and competitor we remember him to be. The starters did what they do. There's not much to add there. Like BG, I was encouraged by Hurt. He makes the right plays...just needs to keep shooting and growing in confidence. It was good to see him get rewarded with a hand full of buckets. Harris is like Hurt in the sense he always knows where to be. Jumper looked good in warmups..didn't get to see it a ton in game. Konate looks slightly more settled on offense. Not rushing his post moves as much as he has in the past. He should be solid when Reggie needs a breather. Fitz should calm people's nerves a bit about losing Curry. He showed great tenacity on that double block on Murphy (Ryan James has video of it on his Twitter). He doesn't have the front court versatility Eric has but should be a decent defender/rebounder and his offense should come along as he knocks the rust off. Washington looks physically ready for the Big Ten. He isn't shy at all and should be the impact freshman he's been hyped to be. Who knows if he'll get the minutes but he's an all-freshmen team talent. It's hard not to dream on this team about what could have been with Curry but wasn't meant to be.

Looking ahead...The staff has quite a bit of work to do with Stockman. Hopefully he's locked away in the weight room and comes out more of a physical presence. If he can get up to 255ish that'd be great. There's potential there for him to be difficult to handle and disruptive but he shys away from contact a bit right now. Atmosphere was kinda lacking. I would love if this scrimmage was turned into more of a night time event in the future.
 

We know what we have with most the players. Nate is the big man on campus right now and it suits him well.

Really liked what I saw from Harris and Fitz. Matz was better than I expected, not great but he'll be alright.

Mason was annoyed with Dupree not kicking it out to him on back to back drives, where as, you could really see the chemestry with Jelly and Nate from the small sample they played together. IW was quick to find him and push it up.

Our bigs need to be ready for the ball whenever IW drives and they will get plenty of easy buckets.

Word was Gas was in NY, renewing his visa or something like that.
 

Random comments from tonight:

IW was really fun to watch. From this one short viewing, he appears to be the best ball-handler and passer on the team. However, he loves driving the lane and often gets himself in trouble. He turned it over a few times because of that. He’ll have to learn to pick his spots a lot better. He is a Sports Center highlight ready to happen though with his drive and dish ability. He surprised a few teammates with passes they weren’t expecting. Mason is much better right now because of his experience and maturity, but it will be a blast to watch IW.

I too was very pleased with what I saw of Fitzgerald. He just looked like he knew where to be and seemed to have a good nose for the ball. Huge need with the Curry injury. By the way, Curry was walking around and often didn’t use his crutch. Is that normal this soon after such a massive surgery?

I thought Stockman looked decent. The biggest issue with him was how easily he is pushed out of position. He is so skinny. I don’t see that changing much next year, but I’m still glad we’ll have him with Oturu and Curry in the middle.

Harris didn’t shoot well tonight, but he also didn’t try to do too much. I thought he did OK overall and I’m glad he’s on the squad. Coach says he’s a great shooter, so I’m sure that’s true.
Murphy is a beast. Lynch is monster. What fun to have both of those guys inside!

I thought Hurt asserted himself much better and just seemed more confident. We need more of that!
This bunch is going to be really fun to watch. I left the scrimmage feeling better about our depth-mainly because of the play of Fitzgerald. Could be a great season. Can’t wait!!



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I thought Fitzgerald looked much more physical than he did a couple of years ago, doesn't move great anymore but he will add needed minutes at the 4, if he is consistent with the 3 he will be that much better.

Washington is going to play, needs control at times but the guy is going to be good.

Stockman has much better hands than Konate, like everyone else has said he needs to bulk up and get more aggressive around the basket.
 

Thanks for all the info. I find it disappointing that these scrimmages aren't events like they were for Tubby's Tipoffs. I always had so much fun attending those and meeting the players afterward. They filled most of the lower deck and the energy was pretty awesome for the year Royce was supposed to play. I understood not making them events for Pitino's first few years, but with this much hype heading into the season, why not? It's just surprising that Tubby got into those and they aren't really his personality, especially at that age, and the young, energetic Pitino prefers the empty scrimmage. It's sad seeing how few people were there. I'm glad to hear the squad looked good though.
 

Thanks for all the info. I find it disappointing that these scrimmages aren't events like they were for Tubby's Tipoffs. I always had so much fun attending those and meeting the players afterward. They filled most of the lower deck and the energy was pretty awesome for the year Royce was supposed to play. I understood not making them events for Pitino's first few years, but with this much hype heading into the season, why not? It's just surprising that Tubby got into those and they aren't really his personality, especially at that age, and the young, energetic Pitino prefers the empty scrimmage. It's sad seeing how few people were there. I'm glad to hear the squad looked good though.

"At that age"? The year that Royce was supposed to play here, Tubby was 58. Did he need a glass of Metamucil before the scrimmage?
 

A youngster's observations

Wasn't there but my 17-year-old nephew texted me these thoughts after seeing the scrimmage:

Overall (general): "From what I saw I think we can be really good. We have a lot of guard talent."

Washington/Konate: "Jelly looked smooth, and he made some really good passes. Bakary definitely wasn't ready for them, though. Bakary couldn't handle his passes, fumbled at least 3 times."

Fitzgerald: "He's going to help us. Looked good defensively."

Hurt: "Hurt doesn't seem like a threat. The Hurt we need is Matthew."
 



Washington/Konate: "Jelly looked smooth, and he made some really good passes. Bakary definitely wasn't ready for them, though. Bakary couldn't handle his passes, fumbled at least 3 times."

Fitzgerald: "He's going to help us. Looked good defensively."

Hurt: "Hurt doesn't seem like a threat. The Hurt we need is Matthew."

Funny that the one BK highlight they showed in the twitter videos was apparently the only one where he caught the pass (and dunked). smh

I'm hopeful Fitzgerald will get better and more mobile as the year goes on, as he continues to gain confidence with the knee and shake off the rust from not playing for 3 years.

Hurt needs to hit the open 3 at a high percentage, that's all there is too it. His value to us is as a guy who is in the right position, makes the right pass, and hits the open shot. I'd imagine confidence is a big part of it right now. Needs to play and have some success.
 

14 rebounds for Fitz is great news. We really need him to be able to play the 4 for ~10 min per night.
 

IW is the 2nd coming of Bobby Jackson. Team seems so confident in scoring, pushing the ball. I really liked Stockman - made shot after shot in warmups.... Should challenge for Big10 crown... Mason is great - sparse crowd though - hope they can show up Thursday and next Sunday
 

Thanks for all the info. I find it disappointing that these scrimmages aren't events like they were for Tubby's Tipoffs. I always had so much fun attending those and meeting the players afterward. They filled most of the lower deck and the energy was pretty awesome for the year Royce was supposed to play. I understood not making them events for Pitino's first few years, but with this much hype heading into the season, why not? It's just surprising that Tubby got into those and they aren't really his personality, especially at that age, and the young, energetic Pitino prefers the empty scrimmage. It's sad seeing how few people were there. I'm glad to hear the squad looked good though.
You can still meet the players afterward during their autograph session. I suspect the lack of fireworks or a dunk contest, is an intentional branding decision by Pitino.
 

It's sad seeing how few people were there.

Kid of ironic complaining about low attendance, when you weren't an attendant. Just saying.

There were a lot more students at this event during Tubby Time, about the same amount (maybe slightly more) old folks in attendance in previous years. The lower area was never close to full in my recollection... even when Tub-Tub came out on the motorcycle.

It's a great event for kids to come get their photo with Goldy, give him a high five, see players up close and get autographs.

They sold out the student section this year which is awesome. So how do you get more students to this event? Maybe had out their free t-shirt during this event? Make them pick up their tickets/passes that night? Give them a slice of pizza.. Some incentive needs to be added.
 

Washington/Konate: "Jelly looked smooth, and he made some really good passes. Bakary definitely wasn't ready for them, though. Bakary couldn't handle his passes, fumbled at least 3 times."

Hurt: "Hurt doesn't seem like a threat. The Hurt we need is Matthew."

I counted two, one IW probably should have done a bounce pass, the other one BK should have caught. There was a 3rd bullet that went right off of Reggie's face.

Honestly I thought Hurt looked the same, he woke up after he got a pass for an easy finish in the second half. Shortly after that he shot a three (missed) then later took it hard to the hole and challenged Amir and scored. Amir didn't lite him up, but it was pretty clear Hurt cannot guard Amir.

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Konate's arms seem to grow an 1"+ every year. His play was decent.

For those that said Murphy should never shoot a three, well he shot one and made it at the scrimmage. For warm-ups they split up the guards and big men, while BK, Matz and Reggie were working on post moves Murph shot 3's almost the whole time, Fitz too.
 

Wasn't there but my 17-year-old nephew texted me these thoughts after seeing the scrimmage:

Overall (general): "From what I saw I think we can be really good. We have a lot of guard talent."

Washington/Konate: "Jelly looked smooth, and he made some really good passes. Bakary definitely wasn't ready for them, though. Bakary couldn't handle his passes, fumbled at least 3 times."

Fitzgerald: "He's going to help us. Looked good defensively."

Hurt: "Hurt doesn't seem like a threat. The Hurt we need is Matthew."

I honestly wonder how much worse someone like Wozniak could be then Konate (he could clearly provide more than Gaston.) Then again, he didn't display great hands the other night either.
 

Can Stockman play in the exhibition games? I'm assuming he can, but can anyone confirm?
 


Can Stockman play in the exhibition games? I'm assuming he can, but can anyone confirm?

I wanna say I remember watching Charles Buggs play in an exhibition game during his redshirt year.

https://forum.orusports.com/index.php?/topic/8535-eligibility-for-exhibition-games/

Kind of explained here. It sounds like freshmen can play in exhibition games and then redshirt, but sophs, juniors, and seniors cannot, and neither can transfers.

So Stockman cannot play, but theoretically Jamir Harris could play in the exhibition game and still redshirt.
 

I counted two, one IW probably should have done a bounce pass, the other one BK should have caught. There was a 3rd bullet that went right off of Reggie's face.

Honestly I thought Hurt looked the same, he woke up after he got a pass for an easy finish in the second half. Shortly after that he shot a three (missed) then later took it hard to the hole and challenged Amir and scored. Amir didn't lite him up, but it was pretty clear Hurt cannot guard Amir.

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Konate's arms seem to grow an 1"+ every year. His play was decent.

For those that said Murphy should never shoot a three, well he shot one and made it at the scrimmage. For warm-ups they split up the guards and big men, while BK, Matz and Reggie were working on post moves Murph shot 3's almost the whole time, Fitz too.
Agreed - one of those passes was not catchable for BK. Don't think that Selection Sunday would have agreed with his nephew.
I remember the year BK fouled out for both sides.
IW looked confident, stepped up and scored immediately. 'Bobby Jackson' was heard murmmered in the crowd all night.
 

A bunch of the guys came into Shueng Cheng later, where I was dining with my wife and sophomore daughter. Nate ordered something fried rice.
 

Kid of ironic complaining about low attendance, when you weren't an attendant. Just saying.

There were a lot more students at this event during Tubby Time, about the same amount (maybe slightly more) old folks in attendance in previous years. The lower area was never close to full in my recollection... even when Tub-Tub came out on the motorcycle.

It's a great event for kids to come get their photo with Goldy, give him a high five, see players up close and get autographs.

They sold out the student section this year which is awesome. So how do you get more students to this event? Maybe had out their free t-shirt during this event? Make them pick up their tickets/passes that night? Give them a slice of pizza.. Some incentive needs to be added.

I totally agree with this. Why not add a few incentives to get students to the event? I love going, but maybe I’m just a little out-of-whack in my love for Gopher hoops. It seems to me that the MN Marketing staff lacks a little in creativity, and has for years. This is one event with which you could do a lot without spending a ton. Then again, I’m no marketing guru.


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I think for the first time ever I'm actually sad to miss a exhibition game, the 10th can't come sooner!
 

Pretty good takes in the thread. I made it and glad I did. I was pleasantly surprised by IW's shooting. He has a smooth stroke. He was a little out of control at times though. He will be a good one. I really liked Harris, too. He missed a few makeable shots, but he has a nice stroke and showed a willingness to take it to the basket and played strong D. He is not a one dimensional player. Kind of reminded me of guards that Michigan State churns out year after year, maybe minus some of the quickness. Both looked good defensively as well.

Agree that Hurt looked plenty assertive and better than last year. I'm not sure he is ready to make significant contributions yet, but what I saw was an improvement. Impressed with Fitz under the boards, but he has a weird hitch in his shot, and all the equipment on his legs give the appearance of prosthesis. I hope he gets completely healthy, but I'm not confident yet.

BK didn't show me enough to make me not worried about Reggie getting in foul trouble. If he needs to play more than ten minutes in a competitive game, I'm worried. I didn't see anything in Matz to make me not question the decision to block a scholarship for this year, but he has a year to get ready to be a serviceable B1G big man.
 

I wanna say I remember watching Charles Buggs play in an exhibition game during his redshirt year.

https://forum.orusports.com/index.php?/topic/8535-eligibility-for-exhibition-games/

Kind of explained here. It sounds like freshmen can play in exhibition games and then redshirt, but sophs, juniors, and seniors cannot, and neither can transfers.

So Stockman cannot play, but theoretically Jamir Harris could play in the exhibition game and still redshirt.

Huh that's kinda dumb, I don't see why they couldn't play in exhibition games, oh well!
 

for threeeee

Wow proven wrong on Murphy shooting 3's; he shot one and made it. Let's give him the green light! I'd rather him never shoot another this year. We need his size and jumping ability inside. Let him work on it over next summer if he is interested in impressing NBA scouts with his SR year approaching.



For those that said Murphy should never shoot a three, well he shot one and made it at the scrimmage. For warm-ups they split up the guards and big men, while BK, Matz and Reggie were working on post moves Murph shot 3's almost the whole time, Fitz too.
 




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