Is it just me or does Blake Hoffarber seem to get a bit of a free ride on this board?

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Bronko Nagurski Gopher

Bronko Nagurski Gopher

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perhaps i am seeing something that is not there, but many of the "johnny come lately types" and even some regulars who like to post their glass half empty view of the world following a loss seem to focus a lot of their anger & frustration exclusively towards al nolen (which i admit is deserved), but often never mention that fact that blake hoffarber couldn't hit the broad side of a barn to save his life over the last month or so. wonder why this is??

maybe if everyone's mn wonder boy blake could hit a decent percentage of three's during the games, which is the primary reason he is even on this team, then perhaps al nolen, lawrence, dj, et. al wouldn't feel it is necessary to try and drive through double and triple teams all game long just to try and get to the basket.
 

I have to agree

Bronko Nagurski Gopher said:
perhaps i am seeing something that is not there, but many of the "johnny come lately types" and even some regulars who like to post their glass half empty view of the world following a loss seem to focus a lot of their anger & frustration exclusively towards al nolen (which i admit is deserved), but often never mention that fact that blake hoffarber couldn't hit the broad side of a barn to save his life over the last month or so. wonder why this is??

maybe if everyone's mn wonder boy blake could hit a decent percentage of three's during the games, which is the primary reason he is even on this team, then perhaps al nolen, lawrence, dj, et. al wouldn't feel it is necessary to try and drive through double and triple teams all game long just to try and get to the basket.
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I have to agree. While I like Blake I have to ask, has he had his eyes checked lately? I can not understand the difference from last year. Tubby obviously sees something he likes 'cuz blake gets his minutes. In these matters I bow to Tubby, but what the heck?
 

I think the big thing is that Hoff doesn't really do anything that HURTS us when he's out there. He plays steady, rarely tries to do something that he can't do, and is smart with the ball. The offense usually flows better when he plays because he reverses the ball quickly, makes the easy pass, and forces the defense to respect him and stay close to him on the wing, thus allowing for our other guys to penetrate easier.

Also, despite his shooting "woes," he's still tied with Westbrook as the 2nd best 3 point shooter on our team at 36%. He's tied with Nolen as the best rebounding guard on the team with 3/game, despite getting fewer minutes than both of them.

Say what you want about his shooting, but his passing, movement, ball handling, and especially defense have gotten much better since last year. He really doesn't make any bone-headed plays or try to do too much, which is what our main issue has been the past 10-12 games with our guards.

That's why he continues to get minutes from Tubby. It's hard to dislike a kid's game when they are working as hard as they can every second they are out there, despite not hitting the shots they normally do, while doing their best to cheer their teammates on, even when things are going badly.

Despite not getting the ball as much as he did last year, I've never seen Hoff get down on any of his teammates, nor get selfish when things aren't going well. That's why I have no issue with him.
 

ShowinGoldyLove said:
I think the big thing is that Hoff doesn't really do anything that HURTS us when he's out there. He plays steady, rarely tries to do something that he can't do, and is smart with the ball. The offense usually flows better when he plays because he reverses the ball quickly, makes the easy pass, and forces the defense to respect him and stay close to him on the wing, thus allowing for our other guys to penetrate easier.

Also, despite his shooting "woes," he's still tied with Westbrook as the 2nd best 3 point shooter on our team at 36%. He's tied with Nolen as the best rebounding guard on the team with 3/game, despite getting the 4th most minutes.

Say what you want about his shooting, but his passing, movement, ball handling, and especially defense have gotten much better since last year. He really doesn't make any bone-headed plays or try to do too much, which is what our main issue has been the past 10-12 games with our guards.
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but, imo the main reason he even plays as much as he does is to make the 3's this team needs to be competitive night in and night out. he is not out there to reverse the ball or be a primary passer. if he can't hit 3's on a somewhat regular basis (yeah everyone goes through slumps, but his is getting obsurd) then it forces our guards to have to dribble and handle the ball way too much and run the offense in a less efficient fashion.

to your other point. a lot of our issues at the guard position seem to start about the same time or soon after blake was going ice-cold from 3-pt land. just my observation.
 

Bronko Nagurski Gopher said:
but, imo the main reason he even plays as much as he does is to make the 3's this team needs to be competitive night in and night out. he is not out there to reverse the ball or be a primary passer. if he can't hit 3's on a somewhat regular basis (yeah everyone goes through slumps, but his is getting obsurd) then it forces our guards to have to dribble and handle the ball way too much and run the offense in a less efficient fashion.

to your other point a lot of our issues at the guard position seem to start about the same time or soon after blake was going ice-cold from 3-pt land. just my observation.
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Doesn't matter if he's hitting or not; teams know he can go off hitting five 3's in a row. Even when he hasn't been hitting, his defender has still had to stick on him like glue throughout the whole season. The teams in the Big 10 know who he is; and mark him every time he checks in the game.

And to your point, I'd say Hoff's shooting started hurting exactly when cncmin noted it did, when he was the 11th one off the bench and was seemingly pulled every time he missed (didn't really even think about it until cncmin brought it up). He was actually shooting a higher % this year than last year before that happened.

Plus, the kid doesn't have a shot to warm up when he only averages 3 shots a game. He is averaging the least shots by FAR out of any of the guards per min/played. Get him 5-10 shots a game like everyone else, and you'll see his % go up (which as I mentioned, is still tied for 2nd on the team with Westbrook).
 


I have said before on this blog that I don't think he has much to offer if he's not knocking down shots. While ShowinGoldyLove has a point that he doesn't do a lot of things that hurt the team, I don't think that's a great argument. We need guys who can make an impact! Sometimes a one-dimensional player can still be valuable because that one thing he does well is missing from the rest of the team or because it energizes the team (like Blake did last year with his shooting). On good teams though, one dimensional players see limited minutes. Since he makes little impact as a defender, passer (and making the easy pass is not impactful) or rebounder he needs to make an impact as a shooter or he shouldn't be getting minutes. I have not figured out though why Tubby doesn't try and run some set plays for him ala Reggie Miller w/ the Pacers. We don't have a lot of good options offensively, so even with a struggling shooter I would love to see a few set plays to get some purpose and movement on offense. If he misses his first few shots sit him.
 

gopher24 said:
I have said before on this blog that I don't think he has much to offer if he's not knocking down shots...we need guys that can make an impact!
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Exactly my point.

He averages more rebounds per minute than any guard on the team, has a better assist to turnover ratio than any guard on the team other than Nolen, and is tied for the 2nd best 3 point percentage on the team.

I'd call that offering more than just knocking down shots. Based on his playing time, it seems that Tubby agrees.
 

Nolen is the "quarterback" of the team, has the ball in his hands on every offensive play of the game (when he's in there). Just like in football, the QB usually gets the brunt of the blame in a loss.

Not saying it's right or justified, but it shouldn't be a surprise.
 

ShowinGoldyLove, I have no reason to doubt the stats that you list, but as Twain said there are lies, damn lies and statistics. Assist to turnover ratio can be misleading because as you say he usually just makes the easy pass. He is hardly making an impact as a passer. None of our guards are great rebounders and his production there certainly doesn't stand out. My eyes tell me and most posters on this board, that he needs to shoot better to play.

I tried to make an addition to my earlier post after reading your second post. I do think you make some good points. He is a threat and brings defenders to him and thus away from the lane. I also think you are right that he should get more shots, but I think he should get those shots in a shorter amount of time. He probably would shoot better with more attempts. Run some set plays to free him up because he certainly isn't capable of creating for himself.
 




This whole thread makes me laugh!!! Wasn't it just a week ago that somebody posted that Hoff gets an unfair amount of criticism???

I guess we can chalk it up to the wonders of diversity on the internet!!!:p;)
 

Bronko Nagurski Gopher said:
but, imo the main reason he even plays as much as he does is to make the 3's this team needs to be competitive night in and night out. he is not out there to reverse the ball or be a primary passer. if he can't hit 3's on a somewhat regular basis (yeah everyone goes through slumps, but his is getting obsurd) then it forces our guards to have to dribble and handle the ball way too much and run the offense in a less efficient fashion.

to your other point. a lot of our issues at the guard position seem to start about the same time or soon after blake was going ice-cold from 3-pt land. just my observation.
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He's often times the ONLY guy on the team who passes correctly. He deserves a lot more minutes than he gets. The main criticism I have of him is that he needs to work harder to shed his defender. Standing on the 3-pt. line doesn't lend him to get open much. Blake IS the Gopher's best fundamental basketball player, in the respect of passing, shooting, and guard rebounding. His latest shooting woes are probably largely to do with a lack of confidence due to something, possibly his reduced playing time since last year has a lot to do with that.
 

gopher24 said:
ShowinGoldyLove, I have no reason to doubt the stats that you list, but as Twain said there are lies, damn lies and statistics. Assist to turnover ratio can be misleading because as you say he usually just makes the easy pass. He is hardly making an impact as a passer. None of our guards are great rebounders and his production there certainly doesn't stand out. My eyes tell me and most posters on this board, that he needs to shoot better to play.
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Sorry, but this is wrong. Blake is the one person whose passes lead to open dunks in the half court set. No one else can do it. DJ just last game had a half-court set dunk when Blake did a kinda no-look lob. I realize your frustration that he isn't shooting like he did last year. We all feel the same about that. But shooting comes and goes. He still fully absorbs one defender every time he's on the court. The fact that our other 4 players can't beat the defense in a 4-on-4 game is their problem, not his. When he's in the game, the inside game should be a cinch from the pass inside from the opposite-side guard. Unfortunately, Blake is the only guy who can actually pass it inside with sufficient efficiency right now (except, maybe, Busch); so what is he supposed to do?

NEXT year, the addition of Mbakwe inside (I'm hoping for a Courtney James type of player, am I just dreaming?), and possible drive threats in White and Williams, plus potential increase in guard passing (Cobbs? Allen?) should make that 4-on-4 game easier, and I expect Hoff to get more open looks next year. When he's in the game, he's pretty much the main key of the opposing team's defense.

Funny thing, if the Gophers would guard the other team's main threats as well as other teams guard Hoff, I think we'd have about 5 more wins this year. Think Pringle (PSU), Meacham (Ill), Moore (NU), etc. How many times have we let an opposing shooter own us from outside? That's poor defensive awareness, and in that respect, I've seen Hoff get hurt on that sometimes, and that's my second fault with him - he should stick in the grill at all times of the other team's shooter, until the shot goes up. Maybe Tubby keeps him inside more for his rebounding. I don't know.

I do know this, with Tollackson a better inside threat last year (than our froshes), McKenzie a second great outside threat, and Coleman a scoring forward, teams couldn't key on Hoff as much, and he got a LOT more looks. The Gophers currently don't have another true threat, unless one of them gets hot (Westbrook, Joseph have that potential, Nolen used to before his head got messed up). Tollackson in particular got a bad rep from fans on this board...I bet many of us wish we had his scoring ability now. He'd probably make a pretty decent power forward next to Iverson...
 



Hoff

No, it's just that Nolen's ineptitude far outweighs Hoffarber's inability to score.
 


TruthTeller said:
Wow. Quite a string of posts.
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Haha! I've never attempted to hide my affinity for his game. I love what he brings to the team with his basketball IQ, floor game, and attitude. Started watching a number of his games his junior year at Hopkins, and wanted him to succeed as a Gopher ever since then, and was happy with fellow GopherHolers when he chose the U.

I'm not going to defend him to the death though; he's got to work on many parts of his game, just as everyone does. He's really poor at shedding his defender (getting open), as well as taking charge offensively by creating shots for himself (driving to the hoop). I was down on his ball defense last year, but he must've worked very hard on his lateral quickness over the summer, because his D has markedly improved (but still plenty of room to go, ie helping too deep on penetration and not getting out to the shooter quick enough, as well as getting caught in screens too easily). He's shooting 6% worse from 3 than he did last year, which is something he obviously has to get up again, because when he struggles from the field, we struggle.

Have to provide a balance of posts for ya ;)
 

I seem to recall a fair amount of criticism of Hoffarber both this year and last ... although the focus of the criticism has changed. Last year, his defense was relatively weak and that concerned a number of us who remarked on it.

This year, I think his defense has improved and I think he's shown some ability to go to the basket and actually score. However, his perimeter shooting has gone south.

What I find kinda funny is all the speculation as to why his shots are off. Eyesight? Getting pulled by Tubby? General lack of confidence? We can speculate all we want -- I'm still putting my trust in Tubby's judgment. (Besides, I've yet to see a player score a three-pointer when he's sitting on the bench ... and it's not like there are other would-be players who've demonstrated a better ability to consistently score.)
 

ShowinGoldyLove said:
Haha! I've never attempted to hide my affinity for his game. I love what he brings to the team with his basketball IQ, floor game, and attitude. Started watching a number of his games his junior year at Hopkins, and wanted him to succeed as a Gopher ever since then, and was happy with fellow GopherHolers when he chose the U.

I'm not going to defend him to the death though; he's got to work on many parts of his game, just as everyone does. He's really poor at shedding his defender (getting open), as well as taking charge offensively by creating shots for himself (driving to the hoop). I was down on his ball defense last year, but he must've worked very hard on his lateral quickness over the summer, because his D has markedly improved (but still plenty of room to go, ie helping too deep on penetration and not getting out to the shooter quick enough, as well as getting caught in screens too easily). He's shooting 6% worse from 3 than he did last year, which is something he obviously has to get up again, because when he struggles from the field, we struggle.

Have to provide a balance of posts for ya ;)
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As I have said before, his fundamentals are the best on the team, overall.

Just a riot reading your love.
 

Hoffarber will be a casualty of the talent transfusion next year. Rodney Williams will get some PT, Joseph will pass him up and get more PT at the 2, and Royce White will get a lot of minutes at 3. He could be at worst a 5 minute guy or 15 minute at best.

My prediction Hoffarber= a shorter David Grim.
 

Section201 said:
I have to agree. While I like Blake I have to ask, has he had his eyes checked lately? I can not understand the difference from last year. Tubby obviously sees something he likes 'cuz blake gets his minutes. In these matters I bow to Tubby, but what the heck?
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Shooting a basketball is just like hitting a golf ball or kicking a football or throwing a baseball. You can get the "yips." It's all mental, hopefully he'll get past it.
 


MNSnowman said:
Reminds me of a certain user last year who posted so effusively over Damian Johnson.
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Not sure who you are talking about.

However, it appears as though Damian has proven his value with steals, points, and defense. Not so much for Hoff.
 

The Gophers are a team of role players and some are either not doing their role very well (the scorers) or have gotten away from what their role is (especially Nolen).

It is the guys we really expected to be able to shoot that have been the biggest disappointments this year, the two biggest being Hoffarber and Bostick. To a lesser extent Westbrook, but not without reason as nobody else is keeping defenses honest.

So yes, The Hoff has been getting a pass. He has improved most of his game but has really not fulfilled his main function on this team ... perimeter shooting. If either Hoffarber or Bostick were doing their job the Gophers would be comfortably in the NCAA tourney now.
 

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