***OFFICIAL MINNESOTA AT ILLINOIS COVID-POSTPONED IN-GAME THREAD!!!***

Ola-Joseph might want to snag a few rebounds now and then. Kind of baffles me. Not going to mention the assists.
Funny thing about assists. If my memory is correct in order to get an assist, someone has to score a basket after you pass them the ball. Perhaps that is part of the issue with JOJ being credited with assists.
 

following the loss, up slightly on sagarin to 162. with the roster coming back to form following depletion, looks like we've gone from bad to mediocre basketball?

UILL has had a couple of bad in conference home games, but a UILL home big ten win by 9 points is typical for them
 

Henley is shooting 33% from 2 and 27% from 3. What makes you think he's a "potential perimeter shooter" outside of blind hope?

Carrington won Mr Basketball...so what? That has absolutely 0 bearing on if they will be good at college basketball.

I like how there is nothing you say that has any factual backing. 🤷‍♂️
I hate to break it to you; but you as a sports blogger are basically at the same level as Henley or Carrington are as basketball players. You're all learning and all have a hell of a long way to go. Your writing is a lot like Carrington's jump shot or one of Henley's drives. Every once in a while there is something positive, but there a lot of painful attempts and "what the f***?" moments. But I still have hope for the three of you to be ultimately successful.
 

Funny thing about assists. If my memory is correct in order to get an assist, someone has to score a basket after you pass them the ball. Perhaps that is part of the issue with JOJ being credited with assists.
Once he gets the ball, the last thing on his mind is passing.
 

Freshman numbers
Kevin Lynch 3.7ppg
Townsend Orr 4.9 ppg
Quincy Lewis 6.7 ppg
Mo Hargrow 3.6 ppg
Lawrence Westbrook 3.5 ppg
Damian Johnson 1.6 ppg
Austin Hollins 4.5 ppg (26% 3pt percentage)
Devoe Joseph 5 ppg
Justin Cobb 2.1 ppg
Willie Burton 8.7 ppg
Al Nolen 4.3 ppg

All of these guys turned out to be really good college players. All had a learning period as a freshman. To add to the issues for our current guys, our roster is unbalanced, a mess. So it is hard to put our young guys in the right positions and in some cases there is just no one on the roster to show them how its done.
I'd be curious to see those numbers normalized to per 40 minutes. A freshman putting up low raw totals because they are getting limited minutes sitting behind established starters is different than a freshman putting up low raw totals despite getting starters minutes. Certainly doesn't mean a freshman in either situation can't take a significant step forward in their second year.
 



following the loss, up slightly on sagarin to 162. with the roster coming back to form following depletion, looks like we've gone from bad to mediocre basketball?

UILL has had a couple of bad in conference home games, but a UILL home big ten win by 9 points is typical for them
Illinois was missing their leading scorer.
 

I'd be curious to see those numbers normalized to per 40 minutes. A freshman putting up low raw totals because they are getting limited minutes sitting behind established starters is different than a freshman putting up low raw totals despite getting starters minutes. Certainly doesn't mean a freshman in either situation can't take a significant step forward in their second year.
Very few of those Gophers that I noted were on good teams. Whether they got big minutes or not, they were not ready to play big minutes on bad teams. Al Nolen is an exception as he was on a team that was decent (20-14) and they had good guards. Burton did get big minutes because his team was 2022-23 level bad.

We agree on the point. Freshmen can and do improve. On the other side of the coin, we can't be pollyanna with these guys either. Other pieces are needed badly.
 

I'd be curious to see those numbers normalized to per 40 minutes. A freshman putting up low raw totals because they are getting limited minutes sitting behind established starters is different than a freshman putting up low raw totals despite getting starters minutes. Certainly doesn't mean a freshman in either situation can't take a significant step forward in their second year.
I really dislike Per 40 cause usage rates, energy, etc. would change and very very few guys play close to 40 minutes. Unless Richard is coaching...

Quincy Lewis averaged 19.9pts/40 minutes as a freshman, Westbrook 12.9, Austin Hollins 10.5, Burton 14.4...just to pull a few. Not going to do em all. Easy info to find though.

Current Gopher freshman, FWIW
Payne 13.3
Henley 8.6
JOJ 14.1
Carrington 10.5
 



Very few of those Gophers that I noted were on good teams. Whether they got big minutes or not, they were not ready to play big minutes on bad teams. Al Nolen is an exception as he was on a team that was decent (20-14) and they had good guards. Burton did get big minutes because his team was 2022-23 level bad.

We agree on the point. Freshmen can and do improve. On the other side of the coin, we can't be pollyanna with these guys either. Other pieces are needed badly.
Burton played 2-4 more minutes per game than this current crop of freshman.
 

I liked the energy and fight last night. Team has not quit. Say what you will about Henley, but he was scrapping tooth and nail until the final buzzer. Hope he stays next year.
 


I really dislike Per 40 cause usage rates, energy, etc. would change and very very few guys play close to 40 minutes. Unless Richard is coaching...

Quincy Lewis averaged 19.9pts/40 minutes as a freshman, Westbrook 12.9, Austin Hollins 10.5, Burton 14.4...just to pull a few. Not going to do em all. Easy info to find though.

Current Gopher freshman, FWIW
Payne 13.3
Henley 8.6
JOJ 14.1
Carrington 10.5
Great info!
 



Freshman numbers
Kevin Lynch 3.7ppg
Townsend Orr 4.9 ppg
Quincy Lewis 6.7 ppg
Mo Hargrow 3.6 ppg
Lawrence Westbrook 3.5 ppg
Damian Johnson 1.6 ppg
Austin Hollins 4.5 ppg (26% 3pt percentage)
Devoe Joseph 5 ppg
Justin Cobb 2.1 ppg
Willie Burton 8.7 ppg
Al Nolen 4.3 ppg

All of these guys turned out to be really good college players. All had a learning period as a freshman. To add to the issues for our current guys, our roster is unbalanced, a mess. So it is hard to put our young guys in the right positions and in some cases there is just no one on the roster to show them how its done.
Added some missing context for you (same order as above):
HENLEY:
1677010580744.png
  • more minutes per game than all the others except Burton and Al Nolen - but the others played behind much better players on the depth chart. Who is Henley competing against for minutes (the only guards on the roster are: Cooper, Carrinton (hurt a lot), Samuels, Purcell, Ramberg)...so he should be getting minutes due to roster construction, yet he is barely producing.
  • Cobb and Nolan are the only players close to Henley's overall FG% of 32%...which makes me want to vomit when I see that. Nolan shouldn't be strived for. Career 36% 2pt shooter and 31% 3pt shooter. Career Ast to Turnover ratio of 2.22 (career average assists per game of 4). He was a great defender...but very bad at offense, we should strive for better on offense - plus I wouldn't compare him to a true PG, which Nolan was.
  • Is anyone else shocked that he only average 1.6 turnovers per game?
Kevin Lynch: 10-18 overall 4-14 B10 9th overall *played behind Newbern who was a sophomore and happened to play in the NBA himself
1677003314243.png
Townsend Orr: (did he get injured?) 12-16 overall 5-13 B10 9th overall
1677003499910.png
Quincy Lewis: 19-13 overall *adjusted to 20-10 overall, 11-7 Big10 5th *depth chart behind Sam Jacobson, John Thomas (both of whom played in the NBA) *they also had another similar piece in Courtney James who put up slightly better numbers that year as a freshman forward *courtney James started 30 of 31 games and played 27 minutes per game as a freshmen
1677003628100.png
Mo Hargrow: 18-13 overall 9-7 5th in B10 *played behind Kevin Burleson (played in NBA) and SR guard Kerwin Fleming
1677003675453.png
Lawrence Westbrook: 9-22 overall 3-13 9th in B10 *pretty weak roster that year
1677003741623.png
Damian Johnson: 9-22 overall 3-13 9th in B10 *pretty weak roster that year
1677003778047.png
Justin Cobb: 21-14 Overall 9-9 in conference 6th in B10 *played behind Westbrook and Al Nolen
1677003815916.png
Willie Burton:
1677003836689.png
Al Nolen: 2007-08 Gophers were 6th in B10 20-14 overall and 8-10 (played behind Lawrence McKenzie)
1677003865075.png
 

I'd be curious to see those numbers normalized to per 40 minutes. A freshman putting up low raw totals because they are getting limited minutes sitting behind established starters is different than a freshman putting up low raw totals despite getting starters minutes. Certainly doesn't mean a freshman in either situation can't take a significant step forward in their second year.
Each player has his own story. I remember Lewis as a freshman. If memory serves, he scored 24 against Nebraska in a non-conference game; then there were games where he didn't play. There were only so many minutes to divide between him and the other freshman who could shoot, Charles Thomas. By the time they were sophomores, they were the sixth and seventh men in the rotation, getting consistent minutes. That was helped along by Mark Jones transferring in the off season.
 

Once he gets the ball, the last thing on his mind is passing
I for one like his offense mindset. He is currently 2nd on the team in FG% at 52.9 and 3FG% at 35.3%. There were times when he was open on the perimeter last night where he chose to pass when I think he should have taken the shot.
 


Henley is shooting 33% from 2 and 27% from 3. What makes you think he's a "potential perimeter shooter" outside of blind hope?

Carrington won Mr Basketball...so what? That has absolutely 0 bearing on if they will be good at college basketball.

I like how there is nothing you say that has any factual backing. 🤷‍♂️
Nothing anyone here says about future performance has any factual backing including you.
 




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