Basketball talk: Where does the team go from here?

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First and foremost, let me express that the findings in regards to Reggie and his past actions are far greater than a game of basketball. I sincerely hope that the victims are able to cope with any struggles they've endured as a result and that they are able to find the strength to press forward as justice is served to Reggie. I also hope that this serves as a wake-up call to Reggie by making him re-evaluate who he wants to be as a person and hopefully he can make drastic changes to how he treats women.

That being said, this thread is meant to discuss strictly basketball implications of the team going forward as it does have a huge impact on the team we all root for.

Some questions to start some dialogue...

1) How are Reggie's minutes going to be divided now and what will the lineup look like? Is it just going to be as simple as Bakary/Gaston splitting minutes or could we see extremely small lineups at times with Murph and Fitzgerald in the frontcourt?

2) Is this still an NCAA Tournament team / do ya'll even see them having a square opportunity to even get there now?

3) Can the hardship and turmoil potentially benefit the program in any way for next year? (i.e. underclassmen stepping up to the plate and performing at a higher level because of the added responsibility?) After this season, next season is going to feel like a relief with the additions of Oturu, Curry, and Stockman back into the frontcourt.
 

Ugh

First and foremost, let me express that the findings in regards to Reggie and his past actions are far greater than a game of basketball. I sincerely hope that the victims are able to cope with any struggles they've endured as a result and that they are able to find the strength to press forward as justice is served to Reggie. I also hope that this serves as a wake-up call to Reggie by making him re-evaluate who he wants to be as a person and hopefully he can make drastic changes to how he treats women.

That being said, this thread is meant to discuss strictly basketball implications of the team going forward as it does have a huge impact on the team we all root for.

Some questions to start some dialogue...

1) How are Reggie's minutes going to be divided now and what will the lineup look like? Is it just going to be as simple as Bakary/Gaston splitting minutes or could we see extremely small lineups at times with Murph and Fitzgerald in the frontcourt?

2) Is this still an NCAA Tournament team / do ya'll even see them having a square opportunity to even get there now?

3) Can the hardship and turmoil potentially benefit the program in any way for next year? (i.e. underclassmen stepping up to the plate and performing at a higher level because of the added responsibility?) After this season, next season is going to feel like a relief with the additions of Oturu, Curry, and Stockman back into the frontcourt.

The curse of Dinkeytown, Kharma on steroids.
 

First and foremost, let me express that the findings in regards to Reggie and his past actions are far greater than a game of basketball. I sincerely hope that the victims are able to cope with any struggles they've endured as a result and that they are able to find the strength to press forward as justice is served to Reggie. I also hope that this serves as a wake-up call to Reggie by making him re-evaluate who he wants to be as a person and hopefully he can make drastic changes to how he treats women.

That being said, this thread is meant to discuss strictly basketball implications of the team going forward as it does have a huge impact on the team we all root for.

Some questions to start some dialogue...

1) How are Reggie's minutes going to be divided now and what will the lineup look like? Is it just going to be as simple as Bakary/Gaston splitting minutes or could we see extremely small lineups at times with Murph and Fitzgerald in the frontcourt?

2) Is this still an NCAA Tournament team / do ya'll even see them having a square opportunity to even get there now?

3) Can the hardship and turmoil potentially benefit the program in any way for next year? (i.e. underclassmen stepping up to the plate and performing at a higher level because of the added responsibility?) After this season, next season is going to feel like a relief with the additions of Oturu, Curry, and Stockman back into the frontcourt.

1) Combination of Konate and small ball with Murphy at the 5 and Coffey/Hurt at the 4 with McBrayer/Washington/Mason at guard.

2) NIT, no depth

3)it will give Harris, Hurt, Fitzgerald more minutes which hopefully helps us for next year. Crappy thing from a hoops perspective is we squander Mason’s senior year.


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Konate initially becomes a starter, but eventually Pitino goes all-out small ball. Jelly or Hurt becomes a starter, Coffey has to rebound more and become a night-in, night-out star, Harris plays more, Fitz plays more. 4 guards/wings surrounding Murphy.

Not giving up on NCAA berth, that's the easy route to take. The Big 10 sucks this season, so there are more opportunities for wins. Michigan State and Purdue (on the road) are the only 2 games I'd give the Gophers zero chance to win. But yes, NIT much more in the equation now, obviously.

My best-case scenario? Amir Coffey becomes a star, which he's fully capable of. He can no longer have stretches where's he not assertive. He's gotta' score, but more importantly he needs to hit the boards to give Murph some help there.
 

Regarding 3, if the younger Hurt truly had us as a serious contender to commit to, I’m not saying I make my college decision based on this, but is this another argument in favor of not joining?

Make your jokes about UNC’s program, but I’m not sure he wants to chase a championship at a place where yet another scandal is happening.
 


1) Combination of Konate and small ball with Murphy at the 5 and Coffey/Hurt at the 4 with McBrayer/Washington/Mason at guard.

2) NIT, no depth

3)it will give Harris, Hurt, Fitzgerald more minutes which hopefully helps us for next year. Crappy thing from a hoops perspective is we squander Mason’s senior year.


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I pretty much second this.

We need to get solid big men here. This lack of depth under the basket is sad.

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Nice post OP
I think the lineups going forward are situational. We will see Ghaston and Bakary against teams like Purdue and Wisconsin who have good big men and then Fitz and Hurt will get more minutes against smaller teams.
If any of those four can really step up their game I think the team could get into the ncaa.
I am looking forward to these guys getting a chance to show what they can do.
 

I am old enough to remember the Iron Five team. I can't imagine what gooherhole traffic would have been back then. I agree that this is a huge setback for the team but it's only one player and judging like losing most of the team. I think the leadership of Mason and Murphy can pull this team together to salvage the year.
 

Someone will step up and the season is not ruined. The team looks different now. It may not be a to worse but a major shift in style of play. I think Amir and Hurt are the keys to having a good season.
 



This is such a bummer. Bottom line here: This is not the fault of the remaining guys on the team. They need our full support, and not our snarky comments, as this has to be a huge downer for them. Let’s rally behind these guys, including Bakary and Gaston. They may be less-than ideal replacements for Reggie, but it is not their fault. They will work their butts off and represent the University well. Go Gophers!


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This is such a bummer. Bottom line here: This is not the fault of the remaining guys on the team. They need our full support, and not our snarky comments, as this has to be a huge downer for them. Let’s rally behind these guys, including Bakary and Gaston. They may be less-than ideal replacements for Reggie, but it is not their fault. They will work their butts off and represent the University well. Go Gophers!


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This.
 

Small ball for good chunks of time.

Mason
MacBrayer
Washington
Coffey
Murphy

Very small sample size, and in an exhibition game, but Murphy did well against Cole Aldrich in a game at the pro-am this summer.

I believe, at this point it's play your best 5 as much as possible, which is the 5 listed above.
 

Konate initially becomes a starter, but eventually Pitino goes all-out small ball. Jelly or Hurt becomes a starter, Coffey has to rebound more and become a night-in, night-out star, Harris plays more, Fitz plays more. 4 guards/wings surrounding Murphy.

Not giving up on NCAA berth, that's the easy route to take. The Big 10 sucks this season, so there are more opportunities for wins. Michigan State and Purdue (on the road) are the only 2 games I'd give the Gophers zero chance to win. But yes, NIT much more in the equation now, obviously.

My best-case scenario? Amir Coffey becomes a star, which he's fully capable of. He can no longer have stretches where's he not assertive. He's gotta' score, but more importantly he needs to hit the boards to give Murph some help there.

Konate becomes the starting center, and remains as such. It almost always makes sense to start with a traditional big, as most other teams will have one for matchup purposes, he can be more effective player with the starters, etc.

From there, expect to see a TON of small ball lineups and creative defenses in crunch time.
 



3) Can the hardship and turmoil potentially benefit the program in any way for next year? (i.e. underclassmen stepping up to the plate and performing at a higher level because of the added responsibility?) After this season, next season is going to feel like a relief with the additions of Oturu, Curry, and Stockman back into the frontcourt.

If Curry were still playing, I'd say yes as we'd get a potential snapshot of what next years starting front court would look like with him and Murphy but with him being out anyways, I don't really see how this benefits next years team. I think it would have been good for the rest of the returning players to have the experience of a multiple Big Ten win season and a deep run in the tourney. Not likely anymore although I do still think they can make the tournament.
 

They can make the tournament, but now it is going to be a battle to do so. Every player on the team has to take the mentality that each needs to give a little extra. Konate has to step up. Murphy will get posted up low more. We might see a little more zone defense. Hurt and Fitzgerald have to step up.

The biggest problem is on defense. Our guys have tended to get blown by on the perimeter and Lynch saved them.

This has to have been on Reggie's mind. I have noticed in his play a lack of focus and have wondered what was going on with him. When I heard in the car that "a university basketball player has been suspended" I immediately thought of him, just because of how he has looked on court. Oddly, his last game was one of his best of the year. Sad situation.
 

Ultimately I believe this team can still be a tournament team, but our margin for error was already razor thin. With our primary defensive presence now gone, there really is 0 room for any of the remaining four starters to have down games as there will not be help coming from the bench.

I do have hope for Konate. I've always enjoyed watching him play and maybe this'll be the kick in the butt he needs to become a force, but he hasn't capitalized on opportunities to this point so I am not banking on it.
 

Konate has given them some good minutes recently. Though only a few minutes per game he is now going to get more minutes. Gophers need him and Gaston to give them some quality minutes each night and if they do the team can still make the NCAA Tourney.
 

Team will play a lot more small ball and less half court. I see them looking to run a more than they already are. This is now an NIT team. I don’t see us going better then .500, if that, in the conference and that’s not good enough this year. You lose last years defensive POY, you can’t replace that. Man do I miss Curry now.


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I guess if I had to lose a starter, Lynch would have been my 2nd choice of who to lose (McBrayer #1)

Ultimately, this sucks. I feel bad for the rest of his team, the coaches, us fans and of course all affected by his actions. If this is true, and I believe it is, I do not feel bad for Reggie.
 

Someone will step up and the season is not ruined. The team looks different now. It may not be a to worse but a major shift in style of play. I think Amir and Hurt are the keys to having a good season.

I'm totally with you. We can (and likely will) still make the tournament. Other players will step up. We have great leaders - Mason and Murphy. I believe Konate can continue to improve as far as rebounding and defense with more minutes.
 



Dame chimes in:

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Go Gophers!!
 

I pretty much second this.

We need to get solid big men here. This lack of depth under the basket is sad.

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Just about any team will have depth issues when two big men are out.
 

They can make the tournament, but now it is going to be a battle to do so. Every player on the team has to take the mentality that each needs to give a little extra. Konate has to step up. Murphy will get posted up low more. We might see a little more zone defense. Hurt and Fitzgerald have to step up.

The biggest problem is on defense. Our guys have tended to get blown by on the perimeter and Lynch saved them.

This has to have been on Reggie's mind. I have noticed in his play a lack of focus and have wondered what was going on with him. When I heard in the car that "a university basketball player has been suspended" I immediately thought of him, just because of how he has looked on court. Oddly, his last game was one of his best of the year. Sad situation.

I agree with you, he was much more focused against Illinois, he must have known that this could be his last college game.
 

Regarding 3, if the younger Hurt truly had us as a serious contender to commit to, I’m not saying I make my college decision based on this, but is this another argument in favor of not joining?

Make your jokes about UNC’s program, but I’m not sure he wants to chase a championship at a place where yet another scandal is happening.

You realize that this isn't something new and has been in investigation for over 1 1/2 years, shortly after the first allegation was made against him.
 

Small ball for good chunks of time.

Mason
MacBrayer
Washington
Coffey
Murphy

Very small sample size, and in an exhibition game, but Murphy did well against Cole Aldrich in a game at the pro-am this summer.

I believe, at this point it's play your best 5 as much as possible, which is the 5 listed above.

Replace Washington with Hurt. Gonna have to play a lot of zone defense now. Need Bakary to continue to step up and play smart.
 

You realize that this isn't something new and has been in investigation for over 1 1/2 years, shortly after the first allegation was made against him.

Yes, but I’m saying that it’s still a strike against the program now that **** has hit the public fan. I don’t think Pitino loses his job or anything, but does it make him a little less likely to sign with more turmoil?

I’m not saying anything definitive, just throwing an idea out there.
 

I guess if I had to lose a starter, Lynch would have been my 2nd choice of who to lose (McBrayer #1)

Ultimately, this sucks. I feel bad for the rest of his team, the coaches, us fans and of course all affected by his actions. If this is true, and I believe it is, I do not feel bad for Reggie.

I'd rather lose Coffey over Lynch.

His rim protection is too valuable not to mention he is adequate offensively and as a rebounder.

Coffey is a better offensive player but still only option #3 and is a good perimeter defender but a center can have a much impact greater defensively than a wing defender not to mention Lynch is also simply better defensively. And he is a better rebounder. I also have more faith in Hurt than Konate.
 

I don't care for small ball and would not put IW in the starting lineup.....yet. Starting Bakary is like committing to having Murphy double teamed from the opening tip so I'd probably go:

PG: Mason/Washington
SG: McBrayer/Harris/Mason
SF: Coffey/Hurt/McBrayer
PF: Murphy
PF: Fitzgerald/Hurt/Konate

Offense: Post Murphy and spread out the other PF (has to be a threat to shoot) and encourage Murph to abuse bigger players with his quickness and feed the perimeter.

Defense: Switch to a 3-2 match-up zone to try to maximize defensive rebounding and keep other teams from trying to foul out Murphy. Make them beat you from deep.
 




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