Gophers Bench Exposed

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Pdiddy

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Im a die hard fan and want to offer my honest opinion, some might not like it.

1- Gaston, Konate, and Fitzgerald. Cant graduate fast enough. There is nothing more to talk about here. Swing and miss on all 3 big time.

2-Hurt... This kid cant play and nobody will convince me otherwise. O pts in 30 some minutes? He doesn't shoot. But more alarming to me today was how terrible he was on defense. Was it just me or did anyone else notice how SLOW he is?? He looks like he is running in a bowl of oatmeal. Also he was extremely tired and could hardly stand up. He cant rebound and guys walk around him. What good is he??? He cant score or play defense. Some on here are in love with the flow of his passing.. Give me a break. We stroke his feathers in hopes of getting his brother. If we land his brother we might forget about Michael. It aint happening here. Sorry. I don't see him being a good player.

3- Im optimistic on Washington and will be patient but what Ive seen so far doesn't get me too excited considering he was anointed the next coming of Stephon Marbury. His shooting percentage continues to be horrendous. Hopefully he can figure it out.

4-Lets play small ball the rest of the year- ditch the big guys(Gaston, Hurt, Konate, Fitzgerald) Play Washington alongside of Mason and hope we can get Coffey back. Not sure why Harris doesn't see the court. Is it his defense?

5- The future is still bright and I remain optimistic but once again it looks like another season is derailed and our hopes are dashed. Pitino needs to recruit and develop a serviceable bench. Last year was the same story. When Springs went down we had nobody to go to on the bench. Injuries will happen and the next man must stand up but its frustrating when the next man up is an orange cone. That's on Pitino.
 

Agree with everything you said. The only caveat I'll add is I think Hurt can score, he just is so damn passive. There was at least two occasions where if he would have shot he likely draws a foul call.

Good post!
 

I think Hurt is the kind of guy who can be a complimentary player when he has good talent around him. He and Coffey seem to work well together. And Hurt can be a decent spot-up shooter - at least he was in HS.

But, at this level, Hurt is not a guy who is going to be a major scorer or give the team a big boost. He did not play well today - seemed to take a step backwards from the games he started.

I think one thing we're learning is how important Curry was to the team last year. They really miss what he contributed - some scoring, rebounding, defense, and when Lynch was out, Curry could slide into the middle on defense without hurting the team. No question Curry would be the starting post if he was available now.
 

This season unravelled. That is all there is too it.

I am hearing Coffey may be done for the year.

I'm already looking ahead to next year. Oturu, Curry back, and Murphy. We also have the Lousville center. It won't be the brutal inside stuff we saw today.

I am very confident in the middle for years to come. We also have the Louisville transfer center whose name escapes me.

Coffey will be back.

The key is going to be guard play. We have a lot riding on Washington figuring it out. I believe he will.

I would love to see harris get some run here as we are going to lost a schit load of games. With the improved inside game next year and years to come, we will get more open 3's.

I am rather optimistic, but Oturu better be dam good. Washington better figure it out too.
 

The bench was exposed in November.

I give Pitino a pass on Gaston and Bakary. It was early in his time here and he needed bodies. There is absolutely no excuse for giving Hurt a scholarship offer. He was in your own backyard. You could see him play whenever you wanted. His brother aside, if you thought he was a Big Ten player, you and your staff failed miserably.

Gas and Konate are gone next year. If Hurt transfers, we can finally start to recover from all the wasted scholarships.
 


Goldteam said:
This season unravelled. That is all there is too it.

I am hearing Coffey may be done for the year.

I'm already looking ahead to next year. Oturu, Curry back, and Murphy. We also have the Lousville center. It won't be the brutal inside stuff we saw today.

I am very confident in the middle for years to come. We also have the Louisville transfer center whose name escapes me.

Coffey will be back.

The key is going to be guard play. We have a lot riding on Washington figuring it out. I believe he will.

I would love to see harris get some run here as we are going to lost a schit load of games. With the improved inside game next year and years to come, we will get more open 3's.

I am rather optimistic, but Oturu better be dam good. Washington better figure it out too.
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Stockman is the transfer center - don’t forget kaloushar can shoot and omersa (Thomas) might be able to contribute also.
 

Anyone pining for Hurt to start should admit their failure and post a picture of themselves hanging their head in shame.
The game went south when he came into the game and got torched on defense and threw the ball away on offense.
Apologize to McBrayer as well.
 

I think it is pretty safe to say that Hurt is here because of the Gophers needing to do all they can do to get Matthew. Maybe there is that chance that Minnesota is a little behind the blue bloods, and having Michael is just enough to get the younger hurt here for a year. Overall the bench has just been extremely disappointing. Flashback to the start of summer though, and it didn't look that bad. I'm actually happy that the Gophers took Stockman, because that late in the process we could have easily got ourselves a high school guy, but he could have turned out to be a 4 year bench warmer like Gas and Bakary. Gophers weren't in a position to sell a graduate transfer of solid minutes with Murph, Curry, and Lynch. (No foul trouble is not a real good indicator of that transfer getting solid minutes) So instead of handcuffing a roster spot for the next 4 years, Richard decided to bank that scholly for a year. Maybe we could have gotten a jucco big, but who knows if the coaching staff was ever even looking into Jucco kids.

Unlike this year our bigs look like they will be pretty solid next year. Oturu, Curry, Stockman, Murphy, Omersa.
 

Two games in a row Hurt had terrible passes giving up 3 points each time. The game was ours 4 points ahead and then that lousy pass.... Also left 4 points on free throws during crunch time with our 3 best players...
 



For what it’s worth, I heard Pitino on the post-game radio show and he didn’t directly say it, but it sure sounded to me like he was saying it was Mason who did the wrong thing on the inbound turnover.
 

GopherJake said:
For what it’s worth, I heard Pitino on the post-game radio show and he didn’t directly say it, but it sure sounded to me like he was saying it was Mason who did the wrong thing on the inbound turnover.
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Maybe Mason put Hurt in a position he didn't expect....but Hurt's decision was that of somebody who should not be the inbounder. Take a 5 count...play 5 on 5 defense. Throw it to Mason in the back court, find another receiver other than the designated intent. Do not give the other team an opportunity to go 1 on 1 for a layup, with 8 guys chasing.
 

Pdiddy said:
Im a die hard fan and want to offer my honest opinion, some might not like it.

1- Gaston, Konate, and Fitzgerald. Cant graduate fast enough. There is nothing more to talk about here. Swing and miss on all 3 big time.

2-Hurt... This kid cant play and nobody will convince me otherwise. O pts in 20 some minutes? He doesn't shoot. But more alarming to me today was how terrible he was on defense. Was it just me or did anyone else notice how SLOW he is?? He looks like he is running in a bowl of oatmeal. Also he was extremely tired and could hardly stand up. He cant rebound and guys walk around him. What good is he??? He cant score or play defense. Some on here are in love with the flow of his passing.. Give me a break. We stroke his feathers in hopes of getting his brother. If we land his brother we might forget about Michael. It aint happening here. Sorry. I don't see him being a good player.

3- Im optimistic on Washington and will be patient but what Ive seen so far doesn't get me too excited considering he was anointed the next coming of Stephon Marbury. His shooting percentage continues to be horrendous. Hopefully he can figure it out.

4-Lets play small ball the rest of the year- ditch the big guys(Gaston, Hurt, Konate, Fitzgerald) Play Washington alongside of Mason and hope we can get Coffey back. Not sure why Harris doesn't see the court. Is it his defense?

5- The future is still bright and I remain optimistic but once again it looks like another season is derailed and our hopes are dashed. Pitino needs to recruit and develop a serviceable bench. Last year was the same story. When Springs went down we had nobody to go to on the bench. Injuries will happen and the next man must stand up but its frustrating when the next man up is an orange cone. That's on Pitino.
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I got absolutely annihilated, roasted, bashed, ridiculed for saying Michael Hurt was not a Big Ten player, when he played in high school. Burns just buried me. Everybody thought I was crazy and agreed with him. There was like one guy who tentatively agreed with me. I wish it wasn't true but Michael Hurt can't play at this level. He was more talented than the opponents in high school but he never asserted himself there either, he was passive there too. Why would that change? At the end of close game he didn't have the ball. He didn't make money plays. JP Macura was a total opposite in personality. Obvious, to me, he was going to excel.
 

Good thing our highly-paid coach is such a good recruiter, or else we would have a depth problem.
 



60's Guy said:
I got absolutely annihilated, roasted, bashed, ridiculed for saying Michael Hurt was not a Big Ten player, when he played in high school. Burns just buried me. Everybody thought I was crazy and agreed with him. There was like one guy who tentatively agreed with me. I wish it wasn't true but Michael Hurt can't play at this level. He was more talented than the opponents in high school but he never asserted himself there either, he was passive there too. Why would that change? At the end of close game he didn't have the ball. He didn't make money plays. JP Macura was a total opposite in personality. Obvious, to me, he was going to excel.
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I agree. Give me the guy who has a bit of arrogance or confidence and wants to shove it down your throat. Aka Christian Laettner or Grayson Allen. Jp Macura as well. Michael Hurt is the furthest from that. Plays scared and doesn’t want to make a mistake. He’s soft.
 

GopherVotary said:
Good thing our highly-paid coach is such a good recruiter, or else we would have a depth problem.
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When I saw the news on knucklehead Lynch I was pretty POed at him and the EOAA process,.............then I remembered I already tempered my expectations for this year.

The loss of Curry to the knee injury and Akeem Springs were very under-rated. (Fitz is cooked or not yet back and the two freshmen are not A. Springs) This team could have maybe overcome this by the end or the year, but I doubt it. Another lost year.

Maybe unleashing IW, the other guards in some sort of Loyola Marymount style Paul Westphal system will change things, but for now the season is lost.

For the record, I sort of like GAS, and he did get hit on the arm on that crazy runner he took, I think he might be the surprise of the season (NIT) since he has better skills than Konate.
 

Oh yeah, Hurt, he reminds of the white guy that has all the skills needed but tightens up and does not shoot or do squat when playing in the 'hood. I used to do some of that when was 19, then I realized I could play tough defense on anyone, run the floor, rebound and get physical anywhere and I got over it. I just started driving to the hole and got fouled every time. Hurt needs to toughen up.

He sort reminds me of how I play now in my old age in pickup ball. Since I cannot jump like I used to do not go hard to the rum and I constantly pass up contact and pass.

Hurt is playing 50 year old basketball and he is what? 19 years old. He needs to go in with mentality of dunking the basketball every time and play with a very hostile attitude or transfer to St. Olaf.
 

Would Michael Hurt be the best player on a St Johns or St Thomas basketball team? Would he shoot enough to average over 6pts a game?
 


Hurt played 31 minutes. 0 points. 1 assist. 2 TOs. 4 reb. OUCH

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 

I went to a MIAC school and we used to play pickup ball almost year round (post football) in the main gym or Fhouse from 2 PM to 5 or so all the time and once the MIAC season ended the Official teams players would get in the games.

Hurt is play playing like a MIAC player from that era. Back in those days we "lesser" players would run the the MIAC Players out of the Gym, with pressure D and high tempo BB.


Hurt is playing like one of those old MIAC system players. scared and constipated The legendary coach of that time was bringing in all these slow guys from Suburban Chicago and TC Catholic HSs and we just killed them in rec basketball, since we played a looser style and generally were faster.
 

SM_25 said:
I think it is pretty safe to say that Hurt is here because of the Gophers needing to do all they can do to get Matthew.
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Sure, but that doesn't explain why Hurt decided to take this scholarship. As Clint Eastwood once said, "A man's gotta know his limitations."

Hurt had a fair number of offers. I see he was offered by Bucknell, a prestigious smaller private university that plays in the Patriot League. He might have been a fair rotational player in the Patriot League.
 

Yes, that inbound pass, Tubby style, but passed to Indiana instead of to the other side turned the game.
 

I fear Pitino's gopher teams will be going largely nowhere until he has a team that can go a legitimate 10 deep. The bench guys need to look like future starters, not guys we pray just don't F up too much while the starters rest. The team also wouldn't fold then once a few injuries inevitably happen.

The 2019 recruiting class is going to be critical and will probably tell us if Pitino is going somewhere with this program or likely going to wash out. I think it's doubtful they land anyone else significant with the one remaining scholly for this year. But one can always hope/dream, I guess.
 

GibsonSG said:
I fear Pitino's gopher teams will be going largely nowhere until he has a team that can go a legitimate 10 deep. The bench guys need to look like future starters, not guys we pray just don't F up too much while the starters rest. The team also wouldn't fold then once a few injuries inevitably happen.

The 2019 recruiting class is going to be critical and will probably tell us if Pitino is going somewhere with this program or likely going to wash out. I think it's doubtful they land anyone else significant with the one remaining scholly for this year. But one can always hope/dream, I guess.
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It’s damn near impossible to go 10 deep. Even the elite teams rarely do.

This goes for freshmen and grad transfers/jucos. For sake of example, say there’s a stud grad transfer big man. Is he going to go to Minnesota to maybe ride the pine behind Murphy, Curry, Oturu or is he going to go to a competitive school where he has a shot to start?

I agree that maybe the 7th and 8th man should be better on some of Pitino’s teams but he also just needs to avoid a nuclear bomb hitting his roster like this season or 2 years ago. Some of that is bad luck with Curry as well.
 

Why you don’t bank one and have a wasted one on a guy who averages 1.7 a game. More numbers more likely to help. Bad decision then worse now. One or the other but this was a win now season at the start and we could have used more depth.


QUOTE=RickDornsby;1501610]It’s damn near impossible to go 10 deep. Even the elite teams rarely do.

This goes for freshmen and grad transfers/jucos. For sake of example, say there’s a stud grad transfer big man. Is he going to go to Minnesota to maybe ride the pine behind Murphy, Curry, Oturu or is he going to go to a competitive school where he has a shot to start?

I agree that maybe the 7th and 8th man should be better on some of Pitino’s teams but he also just needs to avoid a nuclear bomb hitting his roster like this season or 2 years ago. Some of that is bad luck with Curry as well.[/QUOTE]
 

rivergopher said:
Why you don’t bank one and have a wasted one on a guy who averages 1.7 a game. More numbers more likely to help. Bad decision then worse now. One or the other but this was a win now season at the start and we could have used more depth.
Click to expand...

You run the risk of taking on another bad 4-year player sometimes if desperately taking on a late recruit just to fill a scholly. The Stockman move does confuse me, I’ll give you that.
 

Bottom line is that this team played today without three of their top six players.

No overcoming that.

2017 recruiting class was subpar. 2018 recruiting class is good. 2019 recruiting class will be critical.

Pitino is a solid coach but can he get the roster?
 

RickDornsby said:
It’s damn near impossible to go 10 deep. Even the elite teams rarely do.

This goes for freshmen and grad transfers/jucos. For sake of example, say there’s a stud grad transfer big man. Is he going to go to Minnesota to maybe ride the pine behind Murphy, Curry, Oturu or is he going to go to a competitive school where he has a shot to start?
Click to expand...

The elite teams don't have to go 10 deep because they have multiple future NBA players and their entire damn roster is Top 100 and better recruits. Two guys get injured...oh well...good thing they still have 3 or 4 more future pros playing. They can survive and still win plenty.

By 10 deep, I just meant that the Gophers need a competent bench that produces something most every game. Far better than what they are currently getting. The only future starter I see is Washington. Hurt only starts now because of the injuries & suspension and they don't have anyone better. If Fitzgerald is starting next year they are in a world of hurt. And what player has gone from Harris-type limited minutes/production to a major player since Pitino has been here? None. There has to be fewer recruiting misses or injuries will derail the seasons more often than not.
 

Block M said:
Bottom line is that this team played today without three of their top six players.

No overcoming that.

2017 recruiting class was subpar. 2018 recruiting class is good. 2019 recruiting class will be critical.

Pitino is a solid coach but can he get the roster?
Click to expand...

Next year we get over the bad recruit hump - konate and deidou are gone - Oturu, omersa, stockman, curry , Hurt, Murphy & Fitzgerald the bigs, mcbrayer, Washington, Harris, coffey , kalshaur as guards - looks like a 12deep rotation - finally to the point where we have competent players in at all times - it even looks like we will have a competition for minutes that will make a stronger team.
 

Watching Konate makes me cry.
 

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