Could the Gophers be better than last year's NCAA tourney team?

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Matthew:

Last year, the Minnesota Golden Gophers had arguably their best season this century. It’s true! They beat Wisconsin in Madison for the first time in a decade, won multiple Big Ten tournament games for the first time under Richard Pitino, and upset Louisville in the first round of the NCAA tournament for just their second tournament win since 1997 before falling to Michigan State. And unlike last time, the coach wasn’t fired after the season.

While Louisville and Michigan State both enter this season with national title aspirations, the Gophers face a different outlook. Gone to the NBA are leading scorer Amir Coffey and leading rebounder Jordan Murphy, the best recruit and player under Pitino, respectively. Three-year starter Dupree McBrayer and fan favorite Matz Stockman graduated, Brock Stull finished his eligibility, and Isaiah Washington transferred. Throw in Eric Curry’s recent injury, and just four players from the team’s 11-man rotation remain. Disaster? Not quite.

The Gophers could actually be better this year.

https://bringmethenews.com/minnesot...s-be-better-than-last-years-ncaa-tourney-team

Go Gophers!!
 


Better, meaning more athletic? Yes
Better, meaning improved record and tourney outcome? Doubtful
 

Yes they can. Last years team underachieved in some ways imo. This team will shoot it better and defend better. May not be better right away but by the end of the year they will grow and be better my opinion.
 



Amir Coffey: Gone
Jordan Murphy: Gone
Dupree McBrayer: Gone

... NO!
 

I personally don't think the Gophers will be better this year, but I hope it doesn't get so ugly that Pitino gets back on the hot seat. I want to see what this group does next year. They are a power forward away from having talented players at all positions with good depth/experience.

Not all years are created equal in terms of scholarships available per class. They are really young this year after losing Coffey a year early and Washington not living up to expectations. All of the talent on this team is in the freshman/sophomore classes with at least two nice players coming in next year.
 

golfing18now said:
I personally don't think the Gophers will be better this year, but I hope it doesn't get so ugly that Pitino gets back on the hot seat. I want to see what this group does next year. They are a power forward away from having talented players at all positions with good depth/experience.

Not all years are created equal in terms of scholarships available per class. They are really young this year after losing Coffey a year early and Washington not living up to expectations. All of the talent on this team is in the freshman/sophomore classes with at least two nice players coming in next year.
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This. We need a stud PF and we will be in nice shape. I’m still hoping that will be Garcia, in spite of what has been speculated of late.


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Zero percent they are equal to or better than last year...ZERO
 



Let's just say all the preseason national media says no and I do also.
 

McBrayer and Coffey were at least average veteran defenders. Not sure Carr, Willis, and the others can replace that right away.
 

march madness said:
McBrayer and Coffey were at least average veteran defenders. Not sure Carr, Willis, and the others can replace that right away.
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All I heard from people last year is we didn’t have a PG. Willis and Tre will be upgrades defensively on the wing over Coffey and McBrayer. Gabe will be better and we have a supposed PG!
 

The question isn’t are we, it is could we be? Yes, I think we can but Curry’s injury is a significant handicap to our fortunes. I think we need Ihnen to (1) be healthy and (2) to explode onto the college basketball scene. Then, I think with good health and normal progression we could evolve into a better team than last year.

Oturu, Gabe, Willis, Carr all need to be consistent double figure neighborhood scorers. Williams and Greenlee surprise and contribute regularly and we are a pretty tough out.
 



I think they will be deeper this year with the best depth since pitinos been here. Shooting all around will be better, mcbrayer, Coffey and Murphy all couldn’t shoot very well and from a small sample size Willis, Carr and demir Are upgrades in shooting. If Carr, Willis and demir can play defense anywhere near the level of what we had lastyear there’s a chance they can be better this year, it may take until later in the year, but the potentials there..
 

60's Guy said:
The question isn’t are we, it is could we be? Yes, I think we can but Curry’s injury is a significant handicap to our fortunes. I think we need Ihnen to (1) be healthy and (2) to explode onto the college basketball scene. Then, I think with good health and normal progression we could evolve into a better team than last year.

Oturu, Gabe, Willis, Carr all need to be consistent double figure neighborhood scorers. Williams and Greenlee surprise and contribute regularly and we are a pretty tough out.
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This. We can be better. Last year’s team had limitations. I think it’ll need to be Ihnen that needs to surpass expectations to get the team to that level. Looking at the roster and hearing how the team has looked so far, I feel this will be a more balanced team offensively and equal to or better defensively. Whether that translates to better overall, we’ll see.
 

We’ll have a bunch of chuckers a la Lawrence Westbrook on the perimeter. When we’re on we’ll beat anybody.
 

60's Guy said:
The question isn’t are we, it is could we be? Yes, I think we can but Curry’s injury is a significant handicap to our fortunes. I think we need Ihnen to (1) be healthy and (2) to explode onto the college basketball scene. Then, I think with good health and normal progression we could evolve into a better team than last year.

Oturu, Gabe, Willis, Carr all need to be consistent double figure neighborhood scorers. Williams and Greenlee surprise and contribute regularly and we are a pretty tough out.
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Could be was the question and the answer is yes. That team was under .500 in the conference. This team will shoot it better and play better defense. Plus, Pitino finally buys into efficiency !
 


If you read the whole article that was linked in the OP, it basically comes down to if....if.....if....if....if.

So, sure - If every single question is answered affirmatively, there is a scenario where the Gophers could be better than last year.

And all that needs to happen is:

Carr becomes the true PG the Gophers need.
All of last year's FR take big steps forward as Sophs.
Demir plays a key role as a PF who can stretch the floor.
Willis picks up the scoring and ball-handling slack.
at least 2 of the incoming FR become significant contributors.

That's like saying if I pick the right 6 numbers, I can win the Powerball. Could it happen - sure? is it likely to happen - well, you know the odds on winning the Powerball.
 

Most of the years Pitino has been here, his teams have improved thru the end of the season. Carr should be a better answer to the Point than what we had last year. Willis is underrated and my pick for MVP for the team by years end. I put him a notch above Mc Brayer. Oturu better or same as last year as will be Gabe. Coffee could take over a game or sometimes not show up. His consistency improved as the year progressed. Maybe more shooting and possibly better overall team defense could equal Murphy's output, but probably not. Demir will not be a liability. I think we could be deeper. There could be some players not mentioned that could step up, that, and Pitino's ability to coach a completely different team might give a reason for optimism.
 

I'm going against the flow and saying yes. They will win double digit BIG games and make the sweet 16. Just a feeling that the completely different makeup of this team will get it done. This all depends if they practice free throws...…….
 

Had Curry stayed healthy I would have answered yes, as he was the key to the PF position. Without him, a number of things all have to fall into place for this team to be better. Not likely these all happen together, but it could happen:

1. Demir has to play at least at least a serviceable BIG10 PF level. He didn’t show that in the exhibition game, but it was just one game, and a weird one, at that.

2. The freshman all need to develop rapidly and contribute significantly. I think Greenlee is the most ready from the start, but we desperately need C and PF help, so the other two must surprise, and in a big way, for this team to be better. Let’s hope Ihnen’s wrist/hand is not broken. I think he especially needs to surprise offensively for us to be better. I know he is not a PF, but he will likely need to play a fair bit at that spot if we want to have offensive production from all positions.

3. Omersa must show huge improvement offensively. I think he will do OK defensively, but for this team to be better, I don’t think we can afford to have a player out there that is a huge liability at the free throw line, and can’t convert close-in opportunities. He made his first free throw at the exhibition, and it looked nice! (Missed the second).

4. The “Iron Four” key players must stay healthy. They are Carr, Willis, Kalscheur and Oturu. I could see these guys logging HUGE minutes this year, and I think we will need them to, in order to be better.

This is asking for a LOT of things to happen, and all at the same time. Impossible, NO! Improbable, yes. I’ll be cheering for them regardless.


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I don't see how they will be as good defensively, Coffey and Mcbrayer were key players on that end of the court last year, who is going to be the lock down defender that Coffey was at times.
 

Can they be?

Yes. It's not like the bar (9-11 Big Ten, 2-1 Big Ten Tournament, 1 NCAA win) is raised super high. I'd argue the Big Ten will be slightly weaker than it was last season, and there appears to be a solid core 4, so it wouldn't be a huge stretch.

Will they be?

My inclination is to think no, for me too many unknowns + now the Curry injury to feel comfortable saying they'll eclipse what last year's team accomplished. I'd be pleasantly surprised if they match 2 of the 3 things listed above. Early impression is this squad, as currently constructed, would do well to garner a NIT bid.
 

jovs said:
I don't see how they will be as good defensively, Coffey and Mcbrayer were key players on that end of the court last year, who is going to be the lock down defender that Coffey was at times.
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Wasn't Gabe the best on ball defender last year?
 


Parcival said:
Amir Coffey: Gone
Jordan Murphy: Gone
Dupree McBrayer: Gone

... NO!
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We all love Dupree. But I'm fully expecting both Carr and Willis to be better this season and to have better overall careers.
 

jovs said:
I don't see how they will be as good defensively, Coffey and Mcbrayer were key players on that end of the court last year, who is going to be the lock down defender that Coffey was at times.
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I really like Coffey, but him and lockdown defender do not go hand and hand. Very frustrating because he could've been and if he was he would be on a guaranteed contract. McBrayer was a good defender, Willis looks to be at least that good. Carr for his offensive wildness looks to be a very good on the ball defender

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bemidjigopher said:
I really like Coffey, but him and lockdown defender do not go hand and hand. Very frustrating because he could've been and if he was he would be on a guaranteed contract. McBrayer was a good defender, Willis looks to be at least that good. Carr for his offensive wildness looks to be a very good on the ball defender

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Agreed, both were average/below average position guys too. An older Kalsch and Oturo, Willis and Carr will be significant upgrades defensively. Tre Williams, Greenlee, and an older Jarvis will also better than last years group. I find it hard to believe how people don't see how this team will defend better. I do see and understand why people worry about the offense.
 

Was I watching a different Gopher team last year then some of you? Coffee was a below average defender. The defensive effort wasn't there to be great on that end. Now, we did need him many times to take over games on offense, so I'm not going to judge him on that, even though it seems he has the physical tools to be a really good two-way player.

This team absolutely will be better on defense. The assistant coaches are now settled in, our two best defensive players from last year (Gabe and Oturu) are a year older, and we have the longest and most athletic team we've seen in a really long time. If Pitino can get this team to play aggressive, they will give teams headaches on the defensive end.

My keys to the year:
Oturu - has to stay out of foul trouble. Need the big guy on the floor as much as possible.
Demir - like one poster said earlier, must at least be a serviceable Big Ten PF. So many Gopher fans are down on grad-transfers now because of Stull last year. For whatever reason, Stull didn't seem like he cared much last year. Came into the season out of shape, looked listless when he played, and he didn't seem like he was having any fun. I don't think we'll have that with Demir.
Omersa - must become a more complete defender. Curry's injury puts pressure on him to play well off the bench. He REALLY struggled on defense last year until the final game, when he played average defense against MSU. His positioning must improve. He won't be looked on to score a lot this year, so he needs to bring energy, rebounds, and blocks on the defensive end.
Rebounds - going into this year, I think this will be our biggest weakness. Guards need to step up and help out the big guys. Last year, it seemed like everyone backed off to let Murphy do his thing. Team effort rebounding will be needed this year.

I'm not doom and gloom about this team like a lot of you. There is plenty of potential.
 
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