19-20 Gopher Line up speculation thread

bga1

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While we wait for four star recruits to become Gophers, it is also speculation time regarding this year's team. Who will get the minutes early, mid season and late season?

Barring injury- here's my wild guess:

Early
Start
Carr- 30
Gabe-30
Oturu -27
Willis -25
Demir- 20

Bench
Williams-15
Ihnen- 12
Curry-12
Omersa -10
Hurt -10
Greenlee -6
Freeman -3

Big Ten start/late preseason
Start
Carr -30
Gabe -32
Oturu -29
Willis -25
Demir -18
Bench
Ihnen -17
Williams - 17
Curry -16
Hurt -6
Omersa -10

Latter third of season
Start
Carr -30
Gabe -30
Oturu -30
Ihnen -20
Curry -20
Bench
Willis -20
Williams -20
Demir -15
Omersa -10
Hurt - 5
 

I think Hurt's minutes will stay in double digits. I can't see him only playing 5 minutes a game in the home stretch.

My gut on Curry is he'll either barely play, or will be a big part of the team depending on his health and recovery.
 

I think Hurt's minutes will stay in double digits. I can't see him only playing 5 minutes a game in the home stretch.

My gut on Curry is he'll either barely play, or will be a big part of the team depending on his health and recovery.

Being the optimistic homer that I am, I am almost never right on these predictions. :) I am building my prediction off of the concept of the question: What would the highest potential lineup be, by years end. In my optimistic scenario, Ihnen comes along fast in the system and Curry stays healthy and gets more and more comfortable as the year goes on. My line up for late in the year would be athletic, long and a pretty good shooting team- if it all worked out. Hurt is what he is and I see his floor and a ceiling being nearly the same. I just can't see him playing big minutes on a top half of the Big Ten team unless he finds three point range consistently and is willing to fire when open.
 

Later in the season opinions:
I largely agree with your hopes...
Carr, Gabe, Oturu, Ihnen and Curry. Big caveat for both of us is Curry healthy? If not Demir and Omersa's minutes go up.
Willis seems as though he'll play big minutes based on Italy reports.
Williams and Hurt's minutes ....for me I have to see them play early. But, on Hurt, I agree with your take....more in the camp of he's gotta play well to get 5 minutes versus none in some games. I hope Williams earns that many minutes or does he not earn any?
I think Greenlee may carve some minutes in there? Guessing totally. Defense and ball handling and maybe free throw shooting. State champion top high school program.

Here's what I think is likely...we usually only play 8 guys? I think those 8 are up for grabs with Curry's health and lots of unknowns because of not having seen more than half our roster play.

But, I would think Carr, Gabe, Oturu and Willis play often.
We want Ihnen to play a lot because he's excelling and exciting.
We want Curry to play a lot because he's healthy and confident and moving well.
Demir and Omersa seem like they'll "need" to play.
That's 8.... don't know...easily different...based on performance.
 
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I am hopeful for a big enough step forward for Omersa that he can get more than 10 minutes game.
 


This is one of the stranger teams I can remember, at least in recent years.

A ton of unknowns: Ihnen, Demir, Williams, Curry, Willis, Omersa and to a lesser extent Carr. I don't expect much from Freeman and Greenlee (but I'm wrong a lot) so I left them off the unknowns because I know to expect very little.

Really, the guys I *think* I know what to expect are: Oturu, Gabe and Hurt

Hard to predict the lineup but I am very excited for the 2019-2020 team. Not sure why but I like this team.
 

This is one of the stranger teams I can remember, at least in recent years.

A ton of unknowns: Ihnen, Demir, Williams, Curry, Willis, Omersa and to a lesser extent Carr. I don't expect much from Freeman and Greenlee (but I'm wrong a lot) so I left them off the unknowns because I know to expect very little.

Really, the guys I *think* I know what to expect are: Oturu, Gabe and Hurt

Hard to predict the lineup but I am very excited for the 2019-2020 team. Not sure why but I like this team.

Well stated. We have gone from a poor shooting, bully you in the paint team, to what might be a good shooting finesse team in one year. To me, the key will be how hard and together they play defense. Coffey was an on and off defender and Murphy was okay but often undersized down low. Oturu was learning and Gabe and McBrayer were solid. If this team can be better defensively than last year, we should be fine.
 

This is one of the stranger teams I can remember, at least in recent years.

A ton of unknowns: Ihnen, Demir, Williams, Curry, Willis, Omersa and to a lesser extent Carr. I don't expect much from Freeman and Greenlee (but I'm wrong a lot) so I left them off the unknowns because I know to expect very little.

Really, the guys I *think* I know what to expect are: Oturu, Gabe and Hurt

Hard to predict the lineup but I am very excited for the 2019-2020 team. Not sure why but I like this team.

I’ll give you a reason: More shooters. Should be a lot more made threes, which is a good thing.


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What a crapshoot this is so I'll hold off on predicting any starters or playing time but barring injury it appears we have a fairly deep team this year. With last years departures we have little choice but to rely on newcomers which adds to the depth. Hopefully we have no major injuries this year.


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I'm still thinking Tre Williams surprises with more minutes than we'd think.
 

I'm still thinking Tre Williams surprises with more minutes than we'd think.

He is a very legitimate B1G player, I am very excited to see how he develops but I believe he will add an instant scoring punch off the bench that we were sorely missing last year
 

He is a very legitimate B1G player, I am very excited to see how he develops but I believe he will add an instant scoring punch off the bench that we were sorely missing last year

Once Curry went down, Pitino had 5 guys he trusted last year. We'll have to see how deep he can go this year but the bench should be a major improvement this year.
 




I'm still thinking Tre Williams surprises with more minutes than we'd think.

Me too. I think he'll be the Gabe K. surprise this season. The guy I thought need time to figure it out, but turns out to be ready to plug and play.
 

Oturu: Obviously. Will he put up better numbers this year as he grows? Or will he put up worse numbers without Murphy next to him, as teams now focus their best defensive bigs on him now? Want to hear a real downer? What if Oturu gets injured early in the season? How bad would this team be? Sorry, had to be asked?

Demir: By default. Demir is going to be a love-hate relationship. He's skilled. He can score the ball. He passes very well. But...he can't bunny hop over a stick of gum & is going to be a liability defensively his entire career.

Sam Freeman: I've warmed up to Sammy after watching a couple Italian friendlies. He's athletic enough for a big, to play right away. Add in our lack of depth,height/rebounding & Sammy might end up seeing a LOT of minutes.

Curry: I don't think Curry was ever going to be a dominant player, even before the injury. I thought he was a good player. Especially for a Freshman. But I also thought he was a guy with limited athleticism, who was already maximizing most of his talents. A guy who came up big, in big moments, but a guy who was a better fit as an complimentary player, rather than the lead pony. With this knee, what's the best case scenario? A durable starter, who's a middle-of-the-pack B1G player? I'm guessing it doesn't go that well.

Hurt: If you liked Otto Osenieks, you'll like Mike Hurt.

Omersa: An easy guy to cheer for, but had a looooooong way to go still at the end of last year. Hustle & our l;ack of physical presence will get him minutes, but he's Andre Ingram, not Royce White.
 

Isaiah Ihnen: He's a skinny, project. If this was HS, he'd be on JV this year.

Tre Williams: Looks like he can step right in and have an impact as an all-round, player. Much like Gabe did last year.

Gabe: Gabe's good. Good shooter, good defender, good passer, good all around. Functional athleticism, but not particularly athletic by B1G standards.

Willis: One of our top guys. Versatile.

Carr: Pretty good. Not an elite B1G PG though.

Greenlee: Better than you think he is. Will play right away.

--- Overall, this is just not a great team. Look at the potential starters and ask yourself "When we line up against Mich St, would our best players be starters on this team? Would they get meaningful minutes?
 
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Isaiah Ihnen: He's a skinny, project. If this was HS, he'd be on JV this year.

Tre Williams: Looks like he can step right in and have an impact as an all-round, player. Much like Gabe did last year.

Gabe: Gabe's good. Good shooter, good defender, good passer, good all around. Functional athleticism, but not particularly athletic by B1G standards.

Willis: One of our top guys. Versatile.

Carr: Pretty good. Not an elite B1G PG though.

Greenlee: Better than you think he is. Will play right away.

--- Overall, this is just not a great team. Look at the potential starters and ask yourself "When we line up against Mich St, would our best players be starters on this team? Would they get meaningful minutes?

There is a wide variety of opinions about Ihnen. I certainly am far more optimistic than you on him...

Highlights from that class include three-star guards Tre’ Williams and Bryan Greenlee, and three-star center Sam Freeman. Perhaps the biggest get for Pitino was a four-star power forward from Germany, Isaiah Ihnen. Pitino recently called Inhen “immensely talented” and “the fastest guy on our team.”

Quote is from the Inside the Hall article. Ihnen has the ability to shoot, get steals and run the floor. I will be surprised if he doesn't get good minutes as the year goes on.
 




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