Oturu and Carr have been carrying the team in big ten play. It appears teams have developed a strategy to slow those two - Rutgers and Ohio State both got really physical with Oturu. Carr is getting hard hedges every time a pick is set for him. Rutgers threw a lot of players at Carr and the refs let a lot of hand checking go. Ohio State really packed down into the lane against Oturu and there were open shots on the outside to be had. Demir is getting regular open looks from three, but his confidence isn’t there (he shoots with a weird lean forward on his shot) - he continually shot fakes with a open look also. Willis and kalshaur both looked great when the season started, but have fallen off (we need those two hitting outside shots, our offense gets limited otherwise) Ihnen looked more than serviceable last night, but only got one stretch in. Tre W. plays hard d and can definitely contribute more on offense. Omersa needs to add just a little ( a lot) offense to his game. Surprised Hurt isn’t getting any playing time some games. We know what we have in Oturu and Carr (everyone else is catching on) we need others to carry us thru the gauntlet that is the big ten this year.
Time for other players to step up
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BarnBurner
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Agreed. I stated a few days ago Gabe has to be a 12-15 pt a game scorer for this team to really go.
Hand checking - I noted one possession last night where (I think) Oturu was near the top of the key and Wesson had both hands on him, multiple times. I thought that was not allowed?
Tre is a good player right now, and if he can develop a consistent shot as well as the ability to take defenders off the dribble, watch out.
I sure wish Jarvis could hit a shot from15 ft. I would really like to see Ihnen, Freeman, and Greenlee get a few minutes a game. I know that is difficult, just a wish.
Hand checking - I noted one possession last night where (I think) Oturu was near the top of the key and Wesson had both hands on him, multiple times. I thought that was not allowed?
Tre is a good player right now, and if he can develop a consistent shot as well as the ability to take defenders off the dribble, watch out.
I sure wish Jarvis could hit a shot from15 ft. I would really like to see Ihnen, Freeman, and Greenlee get a few minutes a game. I know that is difficult, just a wish.
GopherBlood777
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I would really like to see Ihnen help with this, he has the most offensive ability of anyone who is not in the starting lineup and is not afraid to shoot (i.e. Demir) when he is open
Bordergopher
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I think most of us expected Kalscheur to be the leading scorer or at least top two for this team. As we all know, his shooting has been awful in league play. Such a mental game. The last two games, he hit his first three and then was lucky to even hit the rim on subsequent attempts. So strange. We need last year’s Gabe in a big way. We also need Willis to shoot better. Pitino talked about what a good shooter he was. Hasn’t been the case. Crazy we have done this well with two key players stinking it up from the outside. If they can get going, this will get real fun real fast!
I think if Ihnen can show in practice that he knows where to be on defense and is not a liability on the boards- he will play more. Good sign that he got some action last night and scored in the paint.
To underscore your point:
Gabe in the Big Ten 12-60 3pt shots 20% Points per game 7.88
Willis in the Big Ten 13-43 3 pt shots 30% Points per game 6.75
We have to be pretty happy to be 5-4 through that stretch for two key guys.
If these guys can start hitting and taking some pressure off of Carr and Oturu.....
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I couldn't agree more on how teams are scouting us. I pointed out to a friend of mine that Carr was not only receiving a hard hedge every time Oturu sets a pick for him, but his defender was actually forcefully pushing him out beyond the 3-pt line by a several feet every time. It is absolutely a foul and it was nice to see it called a few times at OSU. I have to imagine Pitino was all over the refs about this, since Rutgers was doing it the entire 40 minutes and is a cheap way to remove Carr's dribble drive from the game.
Will be interesting to see if MSU tries this at the Barn. Would have to imagine it will be called at home, but who knows with Sparty.
Izzo owns the refs. Don't count on any home cooking. For Gophers to win will require a big lead late in the game. Expect them to rough up Carr. I was surprised how soft they appeared underneath in the early going last night. Maybe that's where they are vulnerable.
leftyslefty
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Play the bench, Sparty is deep and talented and will wear us down and foul us out if we go with the iron 7. Ihnen, Hurt, Freeman and Greenlee, should all get early run, and the chance to earn more minutes!
Couldn't disagree more. We've seen nothing to indicate that any of these guys deserve to see the court more than they have. And to start messing with the rotation against the conference's best team would be a mistake.
I generally agree. However, if they are being super physical with Carr, I wouldn't mind putting Greenlee in for a few minutes to give/take a couple hard fouls.
Just begging for turnovers. If Carr can’t beat the physical defense off the dribble, at least he’ll be sure handed with the ball and run the offense. Greenlee is still a little green.
Jarvis' athleticism and hustle does help on the defensive end and I'm impressed by how he is capable of holding his ground against players much bigger but we have too many players lacking in offensive ability so I also would like to see Pitino try to get a little more offense in the lineup.
Here is the per 40 minute comparison (IN CONFERENCE PLAY) between Inhen and Omersa for shots and shooting percentage:
Shots per 40 minutes:
inhen - 10.9
Omersa - 4.6
FG%
Inhen - 66.7%
Omersa - 37.5%
Inhen's per 40 minute rebounding number in conference is also very high.
So, Inhen shoots with greater frequency and hits a much higher percentage of his shots. I get a bit irritated that he doesn't go for more shots near the bucket where his size can help him.
Admittedly, Inhen's sample is very small but we've seen enough from Omersa to know that he doesn't have enough confidence to even try to score most of the time. With this team, most of its conference victories are going to be narrow. 2 to 4 points in a game from someone like Inhen could be the difference.
Chico Gopher
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" With this team, most of its conference victories are going to be narrow. 2 to 4 points in a game from someone like Inhen could be the difference."
Or Omersa's defensive intensity and ability to deny 2-4 points per game could be the difference.
I get the feeling that Pitino's philosophy for bench minutes may hinge far more on what you give the team defensively (positioning, help, ability to get a stop) than what you give offensively.
Maybe if he believed that one of the bench guys was automatic points every time he touches the ball, he might open up more minutes. But he seems more concerned that he's able to count on a bench guy to do the right things defensively every time, before we put him out there. Don't want to risk a game on a guy you're not as confident in, being in the wrong place and not knowing what to do. That's just how a lot of coaches are. They learn to trust you in practice every day, not in a twice a week conference game situation.
Since I'm not at Gopher practices and meetings, I can't know for sure. But I've been around enough other coaches and had those discussions to know that many feel that way.
Or Omersa's defensive intensity and ability to deny 2-4 points per game could be the difference.
I get the feeling that Pitino's philosophy for bench minutes may hinge far more on what you give the team defensively (positioning, help, ability to get a stop) than what you give offensively.
Maybe if he believed that one of the bench guys was automatic points every time he touches the ball, he might open up more minutes. But he seems more concerned that he's able to count on a bench guy to do the right things defensively every time, before we put him out there. Don't want to risk a game on a guy you're not as confident in, being in the wrong place and not knowing what to do. That's just how a lot of coaches are. They learn to trust you in practice every day, not in a twice a week conference game situation.
Since I'm not at Gopher practices and meetings, I can't know for sure. But I've been around enough other coaches and had those discussions to know that many feel that way.
GopherJack
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Man, I remember as a kid watching those IA girls state tournament games on TV. It was cool to see a different type game they played with the offensive and defensive specialists, and each group only playing on their half of the court.
Bordergopher
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Maybe/maybe not. Pitino put Ihnen in briefly against OSU. Perhaps he is improving defensively in practice and we’ll see him more? I hope so. He has length and offensive skill at the forward spot-two things the current roster is lacking.
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Silly take. Absolutely not. We still have 11 games and postseason to go. Teams - not to mention ones with a bunch of new players - evolve all the time. Especially in a sport like basketball where it's all about a team gelling and getting hot at the right time.
I’m in the group that would like to see Ihnen get more minutes. Demir, Willis, Tre, Gabe all give us nothing too often for stretches. The world won’t end and the bench won’t improve without playing time. Ihnen has NBA potential. Richard said if Ihnen was a USA guy he’d have been a Top 50 4 Star. Give him an opportunity to develop. He can be our best player...potentially. Then we got something.
It isn’t like high school where the reason someone doesn’t play is because they can’t.
Greenlee has shown he can contribute. Can Freeman supplement Omersa’s role? When the other team goes two bigs with Demir in the game we are just giving them baskets. Yeah, Omersa and Freeman together would be offensive disaster but if defense is important...and more I’m talking about
foul trouble. But, if you wait for that without any previous game time...yeah the guy probably looks overmatched.
If Carr and Oturu don’t go NBA...when will Freeman and Greenlee ever play? (Based on current philosophy). Or is that the plan? Create two scholarship openings?
And the bottom line: I don’t care who plays if we beat Michigan State on Sunday. ?
It isn’t like high school where the reason someone doesn’t play is because they can’t.
Greenlee has shown he can contribute. Can Freeman supplement Omersa’s role? When the other team goes two bigs with Demir in the game we are just giving them baskets. Yeah, Omersa and Freeman together would be offensive disaster but if defense is important...and more I’m talking about
foul trouble. But, if you wait for that without any previous game time...yeah the guy probably looks overmatched.
If Carr and Oturu don’t go NBA...when will Freeman and Greenlee ever play? (Based on current philosophy). Or is that the plan? Create two scholarship openings?
And the bottom line: I don’t care who plays if we beat Michigan State on Sunday. ?
WriterGoph
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Carr is not going to the NBA after this year. He is not that big and his outside shot is not nearly reliable enough yet to play in the NBA. Think about what Cassius Winston has accomplished at MSU. If he stayed 4 years, I don't see Carr leaving early - at least definitely not after this year.
Fine, if he continues at 40 minutes a game going forward for the Gophers...nobody else gets minutes at point guard....was my point. But, if you happen to need someone don’t say he’s not capable when he finally does get a chance.
WriterGoph
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I get what you're saying but it seems like since Marcus play those heavy minutes at Purdue and against Penn State that Pitino has been giving him some breathers these last two games. If Willis can keep handling the ball like he did against Ohio State, I'm okay with that
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I am interested to hear of others watch Ihnen closely on D, admittedly I have not when he is in. He must be making mistakes because he looks smooth shooting the ball and is extremely long.
i think he had maybe 3-4 possessions against OSU, I watched him a couple.
On the first, his guy screened for the ball handler and Inhen handled it well. I think he switched out and held up? I made a mental note that he was tested and didn’t fold.
On the second, he got lost in a help d situation. Tre Williams was seen frustratingly shoving him out of the lane towards an open shooter.
Yup and one plus one equals three...in your mind
WriterGoph
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The team has already evolved a ton in the second 1/3 of the season from the first 1/3. Its just ridic to say they won't continue to evolve.
Genius...the thread is about player production...after 19 games the odds strongly favor the player production being rather static going forward
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