Freeman

[Gopherbbdude]

Just took Curry's minutes

That is all

 

[Stan]

Yep. He’s got the energy and hops.

 

[TheBarnyard]

I feel for Curry but he just brings absolutely nothing to the table and is outmanned by every player he guards in the big ten.

 

[Block M]

Curry is a Tuesday night mens league player at this point in his life. Freeman should have been playing long ago.

 

[kix4kix]

Curry has zero bounce, and no aggression. He used to be our best post defender but now that we have Robbins and Johnson he doesn't even provide that. Time to move on.

 

[Spottedmuskie]

3 offensive rebounds, we need that

 

[UpAndUnder43]

Mutaf deserves these minutes IMO

 

[BarnBurner]

Been told right here on gh Freeman was so poor defensively it was limiting his minutes.

 

[bga1]

One of the things I recall Freeman's HS coach saying was how fast he picks things up. He has made a nice progression from last year and adds muscle and effort when he is in there. Saw him get beat on one specific play that got Dickenson 2 points but so did all of our bigs. Added bonus is he hits his FTs.
I hope Pitino can keep him happy and progressing. If so we are in really good shape at center for a while.

 

[alaska]

So now we are relying on a low tier recruit to replace a low tier veteran post player. Not a good combo. We can talk about how much we will improve, but it is only about how good you are and how well you perform. Not how good you "could" be. That will never matter.

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

So now we are relying on a low tier recruit to replace a low tier veteran post player. Not a good combo. We can talk about how much we will improve, but it is only about how good you are and how well you perform. Not how good you "could" be. That will never matter.

So Oturu should have been ready for the NBA after his first game? Really! Or Carr?

Player development takes time no matter how talented a player may be. Some take less time, some take more time. Some never get there. IMO, Freeman has a lot more upside than Curry.

 

[BarnBurner]

So now we are relying on a low tier recruit to replace a low tier veteran post player. Not a good combo. We can talk about how much we will improve, but it is only about how good you are and how well you perform. Not how good you "could" be. That will never matter.

IIRC, Curry was a pretty high level recruit.

 

[Zeppelin Gopher]

Freeman certainly has the body and athleticism, but mentally he looks completely lost on the defensive end. I don't imagine he'll get too much tick until he cleans that up.

 

[tmvander]

So now we are relying on a low tier recruit to replace a low tier veteran post player. Not a good combo. We can talk about how much we will improve, but it is only about how good you are and how well you perform. Not how good you "could" be. That will never matter.

I mean we're talking about a backup. If you're expecting the gophers to have a top 50 player in the country coming off the bench at every position you're not going to be a very happy camper. Freeman just needs to eat minutes (same as what Curry does). Grab some boards, play solid D, and maybe make a shot here and there.

 

[BarnBurner]

Freeman certainly has the body and athleticism, but mentally he looks completely lost on the defensive end. I don't imagine he'll get too much tick until he cleans that up.

Disagree. He got beat once pretty bad, but overall his D looked good to me - for someone who hasn't even logged 20 minutes of game clock.

 

[GopherBlood666]

Disagree. He got beat once pretty bad, but overall his D looked good to me - for someone who hasn't even logged 20 minutes of game clock.

Freeman actually forced Dickinson to miss a shot

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

Remember when people were calling him another worthless Pitino recruit,

 

[alaska]

So Oturu should have been ready for the NBA after his first game? Really! Or Carr?

Player development takes time no matter how talented a player may be. Some take less time, some take more time. Some never get there. IMO, Freeman has a lot more upside than Curry.

Correct, in order to win games the players need to be good. Period. If we are in a continual space where we are always saying that there is potential, when does the potential ever get realized. And yes you need more than one good play. Big Dan was good, but did that help them win a ton of games....no......Did it help us win top tier games....no. We have not won big games other than the occasional upset in a long time. Lets let Freeman develop for three years and then get maybe one decent year out of him. Great plan. Why don't we get some actually player in here that can play. Freeman cant play. Curry Cant play. but we have to play them because it is all we got. Did you see the depth of Michigan last night???

 

[alaska]

I mean we're talking about a backup. If you're expecting the gophers to have a top 50 player in the country coming off the bench at every position you're not going to be a very happy camper. Freeman just needs to eat minutes (same as what Curry does). Grab some boards, play solid D, and maybe make a shot here and there.

Freeman was ranked #405 coming out of HS.

 

[alaska]

2019 recruiting class....50% of them were desperate recruits, 50% do very little and play a lot of minutes.

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

Correct, in order to win games the players need to be good. Period. If we are in a continual space where we are always saying that there is potential, when does the potential ever get realized. And yes you need more than one good play. Big Dan was good, but did that help them win a ton of games....no......Did it help us win top tier games....no. We have not won big games other than the occasional upset in a long time. Lets let Freeman develop for three years and then get maybe one decent year out of him. Great plan. Why don't we get some actually player in here that can play. Freeman cant play. Curry Cant play. but we have to play them because it is all we got. Did you see the depth of Michigan last night???

This is the problem. Reality.

Based on RP's record that will be very difficult to accomplish. He has been able to get a Carr, Oturu, Coffey once every three years or so. And we can say that for the majority of programs and not just basketball. Will PJ ever get to the recruiting level of Bama or OSU? He is still behind WI and Iowa after four years.

I think most fans recognize that the U of M has a huge uphill battle to become a powerhouse and probably never will. Even winning a West title and make it to the Sweet Sixteen once every 4-5 years are reasonable goals for some fans and wishful thinking for the rest.

 

[Zeppelin Gopher]

Disagree. He got beat once pretty bad, but overall his D looked good to me - for someone who hasn't even logged 20 minutes of game clock.

I'm not talking about 1 on 1 post defense (which was fine) but his reactions, reads, and rotations off the ball were painfully bad.

There's a reason he hasn't played much thusfar.

 

[BarnBurner]

I'm not talking about 1 on 1 post defense (which was fine) but his reactions, reads, and rotations off the ball were painfully bad.

There's a reason he hasn't played much thusfar.

He is much quicker to/from spots imo. I am guessing, based on what I see, those items you mention will be much better with more PT.

 

[CentralGopher]

Remember when people were calling him another worthless Pitino recruit,

I'll admit to being one of those. Based on his limited action seemed slow footed to me. Didn't think he played terrible last night so maybe there's hope.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

I'll admit to being one of those. Based on his limited action seemed slow footed to me. Didn't think he played terrible last night so maybe there's hope.

I appreciate your transparency.

I think his physicality is vastly improving and he can give us a nice contribution moving forward.

 

[UpAndUnder43]

Remember when people were calling him another worthless Pitino recruit,

I was certainly saying that and still can’t say he is a viable option in the B1G

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

I was certainly saying that and still can’t say he is a viable option in the B1G

TIme will tell - like your dog btw.

 

[Livingat45north]

Freeman has improved a LOT from last year. This conversation is the same as what people were saying at the beginning of the season about Robbins and how he was going to be worthless. Now he's National Player of the Week. It takes some time to adjust from high school ball to the B1G. He's putting in solid minutes now, and will continue to improve.

 

[UpAndUnder43]

TIme will tell - like your dog btw.

Thank you. He died in June, was my best bud so will remain the profile pic forever.

 

[Chico Gopher]

Freeman certainly has the body and athleticism, but mentally he looks completely lost on the defensive end. I don't imagine he'll get too much tick until he cleans that up.

A lot of times, that's pretty much it. Seen it a bunch of times. A player needs to be able to understand and apply offensive/defensive concepts and requirements consistently in practice before they get a lot of run in (non-blowout) game situations. Having not been at any practices, I'm assuming that's where Curry has had the advantage so far this season. Guessing the coaches are thinking, at least he's always going to be in the right place and not throw everything else off. Also guessing that the closer Freeman gets to doing all the mental things correctly, the more minutes he might take from Curry.