BleedGopher
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per Marcus' Q&A:
Q: In Year 8, do you have any clue what Pitino wants the identity of his program to be? I can’t get a sense of what he wants his program to be known for. He came in thinking he was going to be an up-and-down, pressure team. That has certainly changed. – Gopher Sports (@sports_gopher)
A: You bring up a great point. Let us just say Pitino gets all the pieces he needs to be a contender in 2020-21. How does he fit those pieces together? What style gets the most out of them? I think the Gophers mostly went away from his initial idea of being an up-tempo, pressuring team due to their personnel and playing in the grind-it-out and physical Big Ten. You can win consistently in the Big Ten pushing the pace. Look at teams such as Michigan State, Iowa, and Penn State this year. But you also have to execute in the half court. Pitino has not had the depth at guard to play faster for most of his tenure. The U’s talent inside has led them over the years. So, Pitino tweaked his philosophy to utilize pick-and-rolls but play more through the post, trying to win with big men like Jordan Murphy and Daniel Oturu. The Gophers shot a lot of three-pointers this year. Expect more of that with mostly guards returning. Being more disruptive with defensive pressure to create steals and force turnovers will be key to increasing the tempo, though.
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
Q: In Year 8, do you have any clue what Pitino wants the identity of his program to be? I can’t get a sense of what he wants his program to be known for. He came in thinking he was going to be an up-and-down, pressure team. That has certainly changed. – Gopher Sports (@sports_gopher)
A: You bring up a great point. Let us just say Pitino gets all the pieces he needs to be a contender in 2020-21. How does he fit those pieces together? What style gets the most out of them? I think the Gophers mostly went away from his initial idea of being an up-tempo, pressuring team due to their personnel and playing in the grind-it-out and physical Big Ten. You can win consistently in the Big Ten pushing the pace. Look at teams such as Michigan State, Iowa, and Penn State this year. But you also have to execute in the half court. Pitino has not had the depth at guard to play faster for most of his tenure. The U’s talent inside has led them over the years. So, Pitino tweaked his philosophy to utilize pick-and-rolls but play more through the post, trying to win with big men like Jordan Murphy and Daniel Oturu. The Gophers shot a lot of three-pointers this year. Expect more of that with mostly guards returning. Being more disruptive with defensive pressure to create steals and force turnovers will be key to increasing the tempo, though.
Gophers hoops mailbag: Questions on big men, local recruiting and more
Answering your questions about big men, including Chet Holmgren of Minnehaha Academy, transfers and upping the Gophers' local recruiting game.
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!