Our Bench

Gopherfan1000

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I understand this team could have had Eric Curry and Isaiah Ihnen will likely be redshirted (if not already so) coming of the bench...But, zero points on 0-1 shooting last night? The depth on this team is currently scary in a very bad way. I get the season is young and I am hoping this is just growing pains with having a brand new offense and 7 new players. It really stinks to see that Hurt still lives up to his last name. All he does is hurt the teams flow and he's even appeared to regress even further into his Senior year. He's pretty much just a body that does nothing for our bench depth. Needless to say, if the bench keeps putting up these types of numbers we will be lucky to win 10 games all year...
 

I understand this team could have had Eric Curry and Isaiah Ihnen will likely be redshirted (if not already so) coming of the bench...But, zero points on 0-1 shooting last night? The depth on this team is currently scary in a very bad way. I get the season is young and I am hoping this is just growing pains with having a brand new offense and 7 new players. It really stinks to see that Hurt still lives up to his last name. All he does is hurt the teams flow and he's even appeared to regress even further into his Senior year. He's pretty much just a body that does nothing for our bench depth. Needless to say, if the bench keeps putting up these types of numbers we will be lucky to win 10 games all year...

Depth is a concern, but Ihnen isn't going to redshirt, and even if that was the plan, it wouldn't be set in stone until after the season. Tre Williams isn't going to go scoreless every night. Hurt isn't a big scorer, but he doesn't hurt the flow either. He passes the ball well and the offense usually seemed to flow better when he was in last year. You're jumping to a lot of different conclusions way too early.
 

I definitely hope you are right Keyser. I hope to see improvement. I guess scheduling this type of NC schedule will help them grow.
 

I would like to see Greenlee get some more time
 

Ihnen won't be redshirting.

I would imagine we'll see him start getting minutes vs. Central Michigan and the Fighting Sioux. Let him get his feet wet vs. lesser competition, then hopefully he's ready for a bigger role (at minimum the minutes Hurt gets) by the time we get around to DePaul, Clemson, the first two Big Ten games + Oklahoma State. If Hurt is getting more minutes than Ihnen when the conference schedule starts in earnest in January, that's not a good sign.
 
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Hurt has been with the program nearly 4 years. Ihnen a few months. Ihnen would have to be really good to be ready to start by January. Or the other options very, very bad.
 

Depth is a concern, but Ihnen isn't going to redshirt, and even if that was the plan, it wouldn't be set in stone until after the season. Tre Williams isn't going to go scoreless every night. Hurt isn't a big scorer, but he doesn't hurt the flow either. He passes the ball well and the offense usually seemed to flow better when he was in last year. You're jumping to a lot of different conclusions way too early.

Hurt ruins any offensive flow everytime he steps on the court. Nice kid but he only makes mistakes or is completely invisible. Both are bad for the flow.
 

What disappointed me last night was when Hurt came into the game in the 1st half, the offense was moving the ball around and it got to Hurt on the right wing, and he was WIDE open for a three. He could of even dribbled in a bit to take a jumper if he wanted to. Instead he just dribbled non-threateningly to the free throw line, got swarmed and threw the ball back to the top of the key. I'm not here to bash on Hurt. GH has done too much of that over the years. He's clearly a good teammate, and he passes the ball well. But it's been four years of the hesitancy and passive play. Even Omersa tried to attack the basket a few times last night, and he's the most offensively raw player we have in our rotation. Let's hope Ihnen isn't afraid to take open shots when he starts playing this year.
 

Hurt has been with the program nearly 4 years. Ihnen a few months. Ihnen would have to be really good to be ready to start by January. Or the other options very, very bad.

For clarity, speaking in terms of an overall minutes comparison between the two of them once January rolls around. Agree with you that Ihnen would have to be really impressive to be starting by January (or the other options really bad).
 



Hurt ruins any offensive flow everytime he steps on the court. Nice kid but he only makes mistakes or is completely invisible. Both are bad for the flow.

He doesn't turn the ball over and is actually really good moving without the ball. He has the ability to make cuts to open another guy up. Not all guys can be that cerebral. Do I wish he had more confidence in his shot and be more willing to take open 3s? Of course, but probably not happening.
 

In the other thread the following comment was made:


This team lost four to graduation, one to the NBA, one to transfer, and one to a catastrophic knee injury before the season even started. Only one of those losses were Pitino's fault (Washington). They have a total of two players that have played significant minutes in this program. So now you expect the first three games of "Year Seven" to be a well oiled machine right out of the gate?


And my reply was:

So is Pitino just the unluckiest coach in the P6??

Why doesn’t this seem to happen as often at other equivalent programs?



So, what say you all?
 

In the other thread the following comment was made:


This team lost four to graduation, one to the NBA, one to transfer, and one to a catastrophic knee injury before the season even started. Only one of those losses were Pitino's fault (Washington). They have a total of two players that have played significant minutes in this program. So now you expect the first three games of "Year Seven" to be a well oiled machine right out of the gate?


And my reply was:

So is Pitino just the unluckiest coach in the P6??

Why doesn’t this seem to happen as often at other equivalent programs?



So, what say you all?

Built and others have said this numerous times. He's not the unluckiest. He didn't recruit strong character kids at first. He's lucky he still has a job. He's changed that now and holds a strong line on who he brings in. Had he done that from the get go, he'd probably be in a better spot now.
 




Built and others have said this numerous times. He's not the unluckiest. He didn't recruit strong character kids at first. He's lucky he still has a job. He's changed that now and holds a strong line on who he brings in. Had he done that from the get go, he'd probably be in a better spot now.

Programs at our level go through cycles of players. Most players stay four years and are at their best as upperclassmen. (Last year) We are at a point of a cycle where we have a lot of new players (can’t control injuries or leaving early for NBA) if we had curry and Coffey this team would look completely different. As it is the talent level is good and also with good players coming in next year. (come on Garcia) we are super young with everyone decent will be back next year.(and the year after that) we are going to have some growing pains this year and the schedule isn’t doing us any favors - this team will get better (pitinos teams have historically) we just need some patience.
 

Programs at our level go through cycles of players. Most players stay four years and are at their best as upperclassmen. (Last year) We are at a point of a cycle where we have a lot of new players (can’t control injuries or leaving early for NBA) if we had curry and Coffey this team would look completely different. As it is the talent level is good and also with good players coming in next year. (come on Garcia) we are super young with everyone decent will be back next year.(and the year after that) we are going to have some growing pains this year and the schedule isn’t doing us any favors - this team will get better (pitinos teams have historically) we just need some patience.

Agreed, I have said for awhile I really like the roster.
 

Hurt has been with the program nearly 4 years. Ihnen a few months. Ihnen would have to be really good to be ready to start by January. Or the other options very, very bad.

If Pitino is thinking in the long term, he should be giving the minutes to Ihnen/Williams/Freeman over Hurt and Demir. This year's team isn't going to make any noise in March but next year's team could be very good (if Oturu is back). However, if he feels like he is coaching for his job, we will see more of Hurt and Demir.
 

In the other thread the following comment was made:


This team lost four to graduation, one to the NBA, one to transfer, and one to a catastrophic knee injury before the season even started. Only one of those losses were Pitino's fault (Washington). They have a total of two players that have played significant minutes in this program. So now you expect the first three games of "Year Seven" to be a well oiled machine right out of the gate?


And my reply was:

So is Pitino just the unluckiest coach in the P6??

Why doesn’t this seem to happen as often at other equivalent programs?



So, what say you all?

See my response to your question in the other thread.
 

I think the night before the Gopher - Badger game after the managers play they should have a bench game.

Wisconsin 4 off the bench have been Hedstrom (stiff), Wahl (yuck), Prtizl, and Anderson they can use Mcrory as the 5th man since we missed out on him too... Pritzl makes Wisconsin a small favorite.

Badgers -2 over under first one to 40.
 

Our bench is very very young, but in light of my expectations that this will be a down year, I want to see Pitino play the youngsters a lot more. They'll need that experience for later this year and next year. And there will be growing pains. A lot of them. But it's necessary.
 

If Pitino is thinking in the long term, he should be giving the minutes to Ihnen/Williams/Freeman over Hurt and Demir. This year's team isn't going to make any noise in March but next year's team could be very good (if Oturu is back). However, if he feels like he is coaching for his job, we will see more of Hurt and Demir.

Agreed.
 

These are super tough non conf games way early in the season. Butler starts 1 so, 2 jr, 2 sr's.
We have 3 so, 1 jr, 1 small school sr. We will lose nothing after this season, this team needs to build for the future.
 

These are super tough non conf games way early in the season. Butler starts 1 so, 2 jr, 2 sr's.
We have 3 so, 1 jr, 1 small school sr. We will lose nothing after this season, this team needs to build for the future.

Banking on Daniel staying another year?
 

On a positive note:
When it was painfully clear that Demir could not guard his athletic superior from Butler, Omersa came in the game and held his own. He played solid defense and that drop pass to Oturu in the second half was a thing of beauty. He is understanding his role. He got caught watching on the boards, as did others, but he was a shining spot in last night's game.
 

Ihnen is a project. He's years away from really helping us. In a perfect world, we could red shirt Ihnen, Freeman & incoming Martice Mitchell, because none of them are ready for prime time as Frosh. It would be better for those young players and the program to red shirt them all, but we have no one else & Pitino will be on the hot seat soon, so playing for the future is pointless.
 

If Pitino is thinking in the long term, he should be giving the minutes to Ihnen/Williams/Freeman over Hurt and Demir. This year's team isn't going to make any noise in March but next year's team could be very good (if Oturu is back). However, if he feels like he is coaching for his job, we will see more of Hurt and Demir.

Disagree. Ihnen & Freeman should not play, if we're thinking long term. They're just not ready & playing them now basically wastes a year of eligibility. Better to give them the extra year to get stronger & figure things out. Williams & Greenlee are both ready physically & in terms of court IQ, so they should play now. My .02
 

Ihnen is a project. He's years away from really helping us. In a perfect world, we could red shirt Ihnen, Freeman & incoming Martice Mitchell, because none of them are ready for prime time as Frosh. It would be better for those young players and the program to red shirt them all, but we have no one else & Pitino will be on the hot seat soon, so playing for the future is pointless.

How do you know Ihnen is years away from helping us? He hasn't played for us yet and I don't recall Pitino saying this, so what are you basing that on?
 

Disagree. Ihnen & Freeman should not play, if we're thinking long term. They're just not ready & playing them now basically wastes a year of eligibility. Better to give them the extra year to get stronger & figure things out. Williams & Greenlee are both ready physically & in terms of court IQ, so they should play now. My .02

If this program takes a significant step forward, it is likely due to recruiting players above the Freeman/Greenlee/Ihnen level players. In the meantime, I'd rather meaningful minutes go to players that might help us a year or two in the future. You said it yourself after the Cleveland State game that you believe this will be a long year. Under that pretense, why give significant minutes to guys that won't be here next year? I'm not sure Pitino has the luxury of having a throwaway year given how quickly the fans on this board turn on him (assuming this reflects the public at large).
 

What disappointed me last night was when Hurt came into the game in the 1st half, the offense was moving the ball around and it got to Hurt on the right wing, and he was WIDE open for a three. He could of even dribbled in a bit to take a jumper if he wanted to. Instead he just dribbled non-threateningly to the free throw line, got swarmed and threw the ball back to the top of the key. I'm not here to bash on Hurt. GH has done too much of that over the years. He's clearly a good teammate, and he passes the ball well. But it's been four years of the hesitancy and passive play. Even Omersa tried to attack the basket a few times last night, and he's the most offensively raw player we have in our rotation. Let's hope Ihnen isn't afraid to take open shots when he starts playing this year.

I agree. I think he can shoot, he needs to look for his shot and take it.
 






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