Basketball talk: Where does the team go from here?

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.

It sounds as though this investigation began this past October


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It sounds as though this investigation began this past October


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The timing sound right. It is happening culturally around the country with women coming forward. The New York Times published the first Harvey Weinstein accusation story on October 5th,
 

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 thought about this but Coffey can play 30+ minutes per game. Reggie can't because he would be in foul trouble 1/2 the time.
 

In regards to the younger Hurt: I'm guessing he knew about this. I'd imagine all the players did. His brother is on the team. Hard to imagine it was never mentioned to him/his parents by Michael.
 

In regards to the younger Hurt: I'm guessing he knew about this. I'd imagine all the players did. His brother is on the team. Hard to imagine it was never mentioned to him/his parents by Michael.

And now that more turmoil is in the news and there is a remote chance of Pitino leaving or other recruits shying away, it may have impact. Probably not, but maybe he just goes to UNC where there are plenty of scandals but they are immune to them. All I was saying.
 


This could be the beginning of the end for Pitino. This is at least the third major incident during his tenure. I dont want him to be fired. The problems at the U —the lack of success with major sports start at the top- nothing changes until there is a purging of the administration. On the other hand- where are we 5 years into the Pitino regime with injuries snd scandals contributing? About where we were with Tubby—-nothing changes.
 

Small ball. Really need Coffey and Hurt to step up.

Konate is not a player at this level, unfortunately.


Curry's injury just sucks all the more now ...
 

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.

+1. If we don't beat MSU, Purdue or Michigan is 11-7, 22-9 still good enough?
 

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Reggie hasn't been playing at a high level until the Illinois game (perhaps now we know why) so I don't think the drop off from him to Konate is as severe as it might have been. But they will have to make the small ball line-up work if they're still going to win the games against the big boys.
 

+1. If we don't beat MSU, Purdue or Michigan is 11-7, 22-9 still good enough?

Very good question. I'd say iffy.

In my opinion, Gophers will be judged on how they play from here on out. Yes, previous game results matter, but I think the Selection Committee will evaluate the Gophers on how they play without Lynch, because that's the team that would be playing in the NCAA Tournament. Basically, I'm treating the Gophers like they're 0-0.
 

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There are 2 choices:

Act like a turtle and go into a shell and say woe is me, we are missing Lynch & Curry and we have no chance. or...

Act like it's us against the world and play with a boulder sized chip on their shoulder and turn it up. Much like the football team did vs Wazzu.
 



Where are we going? Back to the NIT and an empty Barn.

This team isn't going anywhere without Lynch. His defense is absolutely vital, and they don't have another competent player that can fill his minutes. Our interior defense goes from great to bad, to along with our bad perimeter defense. It's going to absolutely kill Murphy will have a harder time rebounding without a competent post player next to him, and a significant amount of his scoring comes off of rebounds. The effect on Murphy will put more pressure on Coffey, which I don't think is a good thing for him. He'll need to pick up some of that rebounding slack, and score more to take some pressure off Murphy on the interior. They'll need to become a better perimeter shooting team to compensate. I just don't think that's going to happen.

They'd probably have a chance if they would've made some hay up until this point, but they crapped the bed for a month and went under .500 against the top 100. There's always next year.
 

Where are we going? Back to the NIT and an empty Barn.

This team isn't going anywhere without Lynch. His defense is absolutely vital, and they don't have another competent player that can fill his minutes. Our interior defense goes from great to bad, to along with our bad perimeter defense. It's going to absolutely kill Murphy will have a harder time rebounding without a competent post player next to him, and a significant amount of his scoring comes off of rebounds. The effect on Murphy will put more pressure on Coffey, which I don't think is a good thing for him. He'll need to pick up some of that rebounding slack, and score more to take some pressure off Murphy on the interior. They'll need to become a better perimeter shooting team to compensate. I just don't think that's going to happen.

They'd probably have a chance if they would've made some hay up until this point, but they crapped the bed for a month and went under .500 against the top 100. There's always next year.

Well thanks, it's all set in stone for you. See you next season!
 

Reggie hasn't been playing at a high level until the Illinois game (perhaps now we know why) so I don't think the drop off from him to Konate is as severe as it might have been. But they will have to make the small ball line-up work if they're still going to win the games against the big boys.

Over the last two years, he's been the best shot blocker in the country, and is reigning B1G DPOY. He's one of the main reasons for last year's success. It's ridiculous to think Konate is going to even remotely replace that. He can hardly get himself up and down the court against the terrible mid-majors we played. He's going to get eaten alive in the B1G.
 

A positive I see is more minutes for Hurt. I could not understand his lack of playing time. He doesn't seem to make mistakes and plays hard and smart. I just want him to shoot more often.
 

Over the last two years, he's been the best shot blocker in the country, and is reigning B1G DPOY. He's one of the main reasons for last year's success. It's ridiculous to think Konate is going to even remotely replace that. He can hardly get himself up and down the court against the terrible mid-majors we played. He's going to get eaten alive in the B1G.

Frankly ... don't play him.

Murphy is the big man, and you do the best you can rotating Mason/Washington/McBrayer/Fitz/Coffey/Hurt around him. Hope and play for the best.
 

Definitely have to go small ball with Hurt and Fitzgerald getting extended minutes and/or pretty much going three guards with Mason/Washington/McBrayer.

Either way, Mason/Coffey/Murphy have to put this team on their back(s). And someone other than Murphy is going to have to figure out how to rebound.

I think this team still has the capability to go .500 in conference play. Then let the chips fall as they may.
 

Over the last two years, he's been the best shot blocker in the country, and is reigning B1G DPOY. He's one of the main reasons for last year's success. It's ridiculous to think Konate is going to even remotely replace that. He can hardly get himself up and down the court against the terrible mid-majors we played. He's going to get eaten alive in the B1G.

He's a prolific shot blocker (which FWIW I think is an over-rated stat). But he's been a mess on offense much of the season. I'm certainly not saying Konate isn't a drop off, just that it's not like we're going from Mason to Rudrud. And I do think they will have to play small ball when possible and give a chunk of Lynch's minutes to IW and Hurt.
 

Hurt threw a terrible pass leading to Illinois 3
 

Bakary starts. Ghaston has looked solid in the minutes he's played this season. He even looks comfortable with the ball. So I am not too worried. I think Murphy will have to play more minutes, but other then that I don't think the Gophers should change much
 

Agree completely. NIT material. Pitino is in year 5. Time running out.
 

Bakary starts. Ghaston has looked solid in the minutes he's played this season. He even looks comfortable with the ball. So I am not too worried. I think Murphy will have to play more minutes, but other then that I don't think the Gophers should change much

I wish I could believe this, but Lynch is the reigning conference defensive player of the year whose considerable rim protection abilities can't and won't be easily replaced by two lesser players. This will hurt us significantly on the defensive end.
 

I wish I could believe this, but Lynch is the reigning conference defensive player of the year whose considerable rim protection abilities can't and won't be easily replaced by two lesser players. This will hurt us significantly on the defensive end.
Lynch also got into foul trouble a lot so its not like the Gophers have never played significant minutes with Lynch out of the game. They have experience with this.

I look at it this way. How many times did Lynch get into early foul trouble, forcing Pitino to change his entire game plan? more times than I can count on both hands. that's for sure.

now Pitino can go into every game under the pretense than Lynch has simply gotten into early foul trouble and work backwards with the game plan. if anything, we will be better prepared for games going forward than we have in the past
 

Lynch also got into foul trouble a lot so its not like the Gophers have never played significant minutes with Lynch out of the game. They have experience with this.

I look at it this way. How many times did Lynch get into early foul trouble, forcing Pitino to change his entire game plan? more times than I can count on both hands. that's for sure.

now Pitino can go into every game under the pretense than Lynch has simply gotten into early foul trouble and work backwards with the game plan. if anything, we will be better prepared for games going forward than we have in the past

And how many times did it turn out badly when he got in foul trouble? The difference with Reggie in the game and out was huge last year, but not as noticeable this year because of the weak schedule. This is a huge loss on the court. Glue together a bit on the inside and small ball are the only ways to go. I think we see a lot of three/four guards with Harris and Hurt getting a lot more playing time and a few more shots.
 

And how many times did it turn out badly when he got in foul trouble? The difference with Reggie in the game and out was huge last year, but not as noticeable this year because of the weak schedule. This is a huge loss on the court. Glue together a bit on the inside and small ball are the only ways to go. I think we see a lot of three/four guards with Harris and Hurt getting a lot more playing time and a few more shots.

Curry took Reggie's minutes in many of those games last year and did great. It hasn't been as much of an issue this year. Gaston had to play a lot against Arkansas, and did OK, but that was relative to our low expectations.
 

Where are we going? Back to the NIT and an empty Barn.

This team isn't going anywhere without Lynch. His defense is absolutely vital, and they don't have another competent player that can fill his minutes. Our interior defense goes from great to bad, to along with our bad perimeter defense. It's going to absolutely kill Murphy will have a harder time rebounding without a competent post player next to him, and a significant amount of his scoring comes off of rebounds. The effect on Murphy will put more pressure on Coffey, which I don't think is a good thing for him. He'll need to pick up some of that rebounding slack, and score more to take some pressure off Murphy on the interior. They'll need to become a better perimeter shooting team to compensate. I just don't think that's going to happen.

They'd probably have a chance if they would've made some hay up until this point, but they crapped the bed for a month and went under .500 against the top 100. There's always next year.

I hope your conclusion means that you won't post on this board anymore.
 

Reggie hasn't been playing at a high level until the Illinois game (perhaps now we know why) so I don't think the drop off from him to Konate is as severe as it might have been. But they will have to make the small ball line-up work if they're still going to win the games against the big boys.

Lynch maybe wasn't playing great but the presence of an elite shot blocker on the court is a huge advantage and from a basketball standpoint this is a massive loss. We will be in a lot of trouble against any team with skilled big men (thankfully there are not a ton of those out there). Murphy will get in foul trouble if he has to guard guys that are a lot taller then him and if he gets in foul trouble we are done for in that game.

If I am getting ready to play the Gophers I plan to attack the basket early and often and go at Murphy as much as possible.

I don't really like our chances of making the tournament now but if we can string together enough wins in the regular season and a few in the BIG tournament we might sneak in. NIT feels far more likely at this point.

Added minutes for Hurt and Fitzgerald will be one upside to this as it can only help them develop. Real shame we don't have a young center that can get some experience because of this.
 

Fitz, Konate and Gaston need to raise their game. Coffey needs to show us more versatility. Harris needs to knock down 3s and both Mason and Murph just need to be themselves.
This is still a NCAA tourney team, but the bench needs to grow up.
 




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