I am a firm believer that the best players to recruit are the talented ones that have the attitude of "what can I do to help my team win the game I am playing right now??" as opposed to "I will do what is in my interests to make me look good". Minnesota has those types of players. The Gophers are playing very well as a team... Who would have predicted this type of turnaround after last season??
The talent influx is a big reason and guys are so comfortable with each other. It is amazing to see how each of the starters and bench players have played huge roles.. In scoring, Nate Mason had a 31 point game but struggled scoring in the next 2 games.. Nate had double figures the Northwestern game because he hit free throws at the end of the game, which was huge.. That patience is impressive as he struggled offensively the rest of the game.. Jordan Murphy had a huge scoring game at the beginning of the year, yet when he struggled the next games, the guards took over. Jordan has given the constants of rebounding, defense, and intensity.. Huge part of our success. Dupree and Nate struggled the last couple games a bit but were patient with their own games and did not lose confidence.. A BIG STEP forward...
Springs got hot from the 3 point line and he looked for his shot during the time he was hot.. That is being a 'TEAM PLAYER'. One of the misconceptions is a guy looking to score is NOT a team player. I would contend that if a guy gets hot, he is BEING A TEAM PLAYER by looking for his shot without forcing it. Amir Coffey is everything I expected and is the consummate team player.. He hasnt always scored well but he always looks for ways to help the team win games.... Reggie Lynch has looked to his own offensive game to help the team, which is exactly what happened.. Bakary Konate has given us some of the best minutes he has played since becoming a Gopher.. Eric Curry has a mountain of potential to be tapped.. This is exciting to see. Defensively, the new guys have changed this team 180 degrees from last year and are a good team that plays good team defense.
Looking at the schedule at the beginning of the year, I thought after the first 7 conference games we would be in decent shape with a 4-3 conference start.. This is a tough stretch of games. We have 3 wins now and each of the next 3 games could legitimately go either way(win or loss). The league is pretty balanced and cant afford a letdown in effort.. But I give RIchard Pitino and staff a lot of credit as the guys are responding well.
AS FAR AS FANS..... OPIE, I give you credit for sticking with Pitino throughout the process of the team growth. Whether that is about a 'practice season' or not, you have taken a lot of abuse(sometimes understandably, sometimes not) on this board by everyone yet stuck to your guns. I respect that even if I disagree with your points or delivery at times.. You were right in that Pitino has this team turned in the right direction. Lets all enjoy this great year together and pray injury or off-the-court incidents are things of the past.
The talent influx is a big reason and guys are so comfortable with each other. It is amazing to see how each of the starters and bench players have played huge roles.. In scoring, Nate Mason had a 31 point game but struggled scoring in the next 2 games.. Nate had double figures the Northwestern game because he hit free throws at the end of the game, which was huge.. That patience is impressive as he struggled offensively the rest of the game.. Jordan Murphy had a huge scoring game at the beginning of the year, yet when he struggled the next games, the guards took over. Jordan has given the constants of rebounding, defense, and intensity.. Huge part of our success. Dupree and Nate struggled the last couple games a bit but were patient with their own games and did not lose confidence.. A BIG STEP forward...
Springs got hot from the 3 point line and he looked for his shot during the time he was hot.. That is being a 'TEAM PLAYER'. One of the misconceptions is a guy looking to score is NOT a team player. I would contend that if a guy gets hot, he is BEING A TEAM PLAYER by looking for his shot without forcing it. Amir Coffey is everything I expected and is the consummate team player.. He hasnt always scored well but he always looks for ways to help the team win games.... Reggie Lynch has looked to his own offensive game to help the team, which is exactly what happened.. Bakary Konate has given us some of the best minutes he has played since becoming a Gopher.. Eric Curry has a mountain of potential to be tapped.. This is exciting to see. Defensively, the new guys have changed this team 180 degrees from last year and are a good team that plays good team defense.
Looking at the schedule at the beginning of the year, I thought after the first 7 conference games we would be in decent shape with a 4-3 conference start.. This is a tough stretch of games. We have 3 wins now and each of the next 3 games could legitimately go either way(win or loss). The league is pretty balanced and cant afford a letdown in effort.. But I give RIchard Pitino and staff a lot of credit as the guys are responding well.
AS FAR AS FANS..... OPIE, I give you credit for sticking with Pitino throughout the process of the team growth. Whether that is about a 'practice season' or not, you have taken a lot of abuse(sometimes understandably, sometimes not) on this board by everyone yet stuck to your guns. I respect that even if I disagree with your points or delivery at times.. You were right in that Pitino has this team turned in the right direction. Lets all enjoy this great year together and pray injury or off-the-court incidents are things of the past.
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