Amir

Gophers09

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Absolutely massive result for us to survive this little opener 1-1, with some time now to hopefully work out a few kinks over the next few weeks before the real thing. Amir was just immense tonight. We were obviously dead without him. Not fair to expect him to be at that level every night, but obviously he just showed why folks have been hoping for more, and hopefully we'll see something approaching that more often than not the rest of the way. Well done!
 

Shooting comes, shooting goes. You weather the slumps from the field by finding ways to get to the basket and to the foul line. Shot 17 free throws tonight. That's impressive.
 

Amir was the Alpha tonight. Incredible sustained energy. He brings it on both ends, too. Kind of forgot how good he could be after the bust last season.
 

Amir was the Alpha tonight. Incredible sustained energy. He brings it on both ends, too. Kind of forgot how good he could be after the bust last season.

Lets ignore the fact that he was hurt (and had surgery) and just look at his stats.

His “bust” season was 14 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists while shooting over 50% on 2s and ~37% on 3s. I wish all of our players were busts I guess.
 

I was screaming at the TV, lamenting the lack of any big dog guard like Voshon L or Bobby Jackson, then Amir took over! What a night!
 


Like Pitino said in the on the court post game interview, he has been encouraging Amir to have that break through game that turns the corner. The BTN announcers couldn't say enough good things about Amir and that this is the type of play that has been expected from him for awhile. They talked about it being a season changing win.
 


Like Pitino said in the on the court post game interview, he has been encouraging Amir to have that break through game that turns the corner. The BTN announcers couldn't say enough good things about Amir and that this is the type of play that has been expected from him for awhile. They talked about it being a season changing win.
If Coffey is this assertive all year, last night was definitely a season-changing night. He finally looked like an NBA prospect.

Being able to drive to the basket as a slasher 2 or 3 is so efficient and important. You'll almost always get a hoop, and one, or foul.

I also heard an interesting point from Tollackson on the radio yesterday about how being forced to play point guard is actually better for Coffey's pro development as he needs improvement with his small guard skillset. Good chance that he's too small to play much small forward in the pros.

One minor quip was him missing two dunks tonight. I was going to be mad if MN ended up losing by 4 points or less. Should have just laid them in.
 
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Coffey probably can’t score 30 points every night but we do need him be to be aggressive, decisive and lead every night. He has to assert himself and the other guys will follow.
Very fun to watch Coffey will us to victory on an emotional night.
 



Coffey probably can’t score 30 points every night but we do need him be to be aggressive, decisive and lead every night. He has to assert himself and the other guys will follow.
Very fun to watch Coffey will us to victory on an emotional night.

I think this Nebraska Coffey stat line is a good blueprint moving forward: 15+ field goal attempts while getting to the free throw line at least 12-15+ times. He took 16 field goals against Ohio State and hit at an OK percentage, but his 7 FT attempts from that game won't cut it for this team. 16 field goal and 17 free throw attempts tonight was more like it.

In a similar vein, Murphy bumping his free throw attempts up from 6 to 10 and field goal attempts from 6 to 12 was nice.

Their bread is buttered with high usage from Murphy and Coffey.
 
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My three-word description of him in that other thread was "NBA is realistic." I'd started to feel a little sheepish about having said that, but last night confirms the potential. True stars are consistent, however. That's the next step for him.
 

Unless he wears a flack vest and bubble wrap, I fear he won’t survive the season with all he times he hits the deck.
 







Jon Rothstein chimes in:

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Go Gophers!!
 

Doogie chimes in:

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Go Gophers!!
 

Unless he wears a flack vest and bubble wrap, I fear he won’t survive the season with all he times he hits the deck.

I think he does it so much and has always done it so he is good at falling. I'm being serious.
 

Finally what I have been waiting to see is Amir taking charge and showing off his leadership. Great game, keep the faith, more good games to play
 

This was a great game for Coffee and the first time I've felt he has lived up to the expectations that were put on him when he arrived here. I had been one saying I was not impressed with the start to his season, but the other night, he really brought it. He obviously doesn't need to play that great every night, but if he can bring the energy on both ends that he did against Nebraska, the Gophers will be fine. Look what happens when you play HARD!
 

I am so much more optimistic about this team and season after that Amir performance the other night. He can't be just another contributor. Murphy is going to get his points and rebounds and will be in the mix for first-team B1G honors, but this team won't go very far without another standout. Similar to what we've seen at Wisconsin with strong play from Ethan Happ needing some help around him (Trice stepping up big time this year for them).
 




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