First Thoughts:
-This team is so much longer and more athletic than last year's team. Eric Curry is a huge upgrade to the Minnesota front court. I was surprised how active he was on the glass and he was aggressive going to the hoop. He and Murphy were the best Gophers tonight.
-Rim protection will certainly be improved. Reggie Lynch has to work on not fouling, but his shot blocking will be huge for the Gophers and the shots he alters are significant as well. He is a big dude in the lane, just has to stay on the court and play without fouling and he will have a big impact.
-The rotation will be 8-9 guys most games. Mason was of course held out tonight after suffering a concussion, but he will play at least 30 minutes per night when he's healthy. The rest of the guys that will get regular minutes are Coffey, Springs, Murphy, Curry, Hurt, McBrayer, Lynch and a little Konate as well.
-Shooting was an issue for the Gophers at times tonight. The jumpshooting was horrendous and it looked a lot like last year with the amount of open jump shots they missed. A large majority of their points came off of driving layups and offensive rebound put backs. Nate Mason's shooting ability was certainly missed tonight.
-Amir Coffey is going to be a really good player, but he is going to take some time. He has all the physical traits and ability to be an All-Big Ten player, but it won't happen overnight. He is incredibly athletic and almost brought the house down with a monstrous dunk tonight, but he was fouled and it hit the back of the rim. He struggled shooting the ball tonight from the field and went 2-6 from the free throw line. He has to earn the respect of defenders by hitting jump shots as opposed to just trying to get into the lane every play.
Top Performers:
-Jordan Murphy dominated inside tonight, and was an extremely efficient 9-12 from the field for 22 points. The competition was weak tonight, and he won't have it quite as easy on the inside as he did tonight. He also has to show he can hit face up jump shots so that defenders have to respect him and not sag off into the lane. He also looked good on defense and had five blocks on that end of the floor.
-Eric Curry was fantastic tonight. He is a legit 6'9" and he attacks the glass with a vengeance. 17 points and 14 rebounds for the freshman tonight. He has a high IQ, he defends, he has a great shooting touch, the sky is the limit for him. He was the guy that impressed me most tonight.
-Dupree McBrayer had 18 points tonight, which was good for second best on the team. He looks confident and shot the ball that way, but he had a couple ugly misses. He is much better suited as a two guard than as the lead man for this Gopher offense. He has gotten quicker and he excels out in transition, he should be fun to watch this season on the wing.
Things to Improve/Slight Concerns:
-Overall shooting tonight looked very similar to the team shooting the ball last year. 4-19 from three point land, just 52% from the free throw line, that's not going to get it done in Big Ten play. It is only their first exhibition game, but there were plenty of open shots that were missed tonight that need to go down.
-Akeem Springs looked a bit disinterested tonight. I know he is a good player and will help this team this year, but he was extremely passive tonight and seemed to be going through the motions at times. He didn't score in 24 minutes and missed all five of his shots. He also had a few plays on defense where he was slow to get out and guard his man. I expect a much better effort from him when the Gophers take the floor in their first game that counts next weekend against Louisiana Lafayette.
-Staying out of foul trouble. This will be interesting this season, especially for big man Reggie Lynch. He fouled out and only played 14 minutes tonight, and that was against a lacking in size Division II team! Minnesota is much better protecting the rim with him on the court, so we will have to play without fouling quite as much.
Final Notes:
-The talent is there for this team to make at least a 7-8 win jump from last season. Building chemistry in these next few games will be big as there will be early tests in a couple weeks from UT-Arlington and a super young and talented St. John's team. Have to be ready.
-This team is full of great passers with guys like Coffey, McBrayer, Mason, and Curry. But are there enough guys that can put the ball in the hoop?
-Michael Hurt hit two late three's tonight, and that was encouraging. He will definitely play this year and his minutes could go up even more if he is knocking down jumpers with his feet set. If you can shoot, you can play, and this team will gladly take 4-7 points off the bench from Hurt this year if he is hitting his shots.
-It was good to see the Gophers respond to being down early and turning it into a 20 plus point win. Ideally they would have beat that team by 30 plus points, but with so many new pieces this team is figuring out how to play together. Definitely a long ways to go.
-This team is so much longer and more athletic than last year's team. Eric Curry is a huge upgrade to the Minnesota front court. I was surprised how active he was on the glass and he was aggressive going to the hoop. He and Murphy were the best Gophers tonight.
-Rim protection will certainly be improved. Reggie Lynch has to work on not fouling, but his shot blocking will be huge for the Gophers and the shots he alters are significant as well. He is a big dude in the lane, just has to stay on the court and play without fouling and he will have a big impact.
-The rotation will be 8-9 guys most games. Mason was of course held out tonight after suffering a concussion, but he will play at least 30 minutes per night when he's healthy. The rest of the guys that will get regular minutes are Coffey, Springs, Murphy, Curry, Hurt, McBrayer, Lynch and a little Konate as well.
-Shooting was an issue for the Gophers at times tonight. The jumpshooting was horrendous and it looked a lot like last year with the amount of open jump shots they missed. A large majority of their points came off of driving layups and offensive rebound put backs. Nate Mason's shooting ability was certainly missed tonight.
-Amir Coffey is going to be a really good player, but he is going to take some time. He has all the physical traits and ability to be an All-Big Ten player, but it won't happen overnight. He is incredibly athletic and almost brought the house down with a monstrous dunk tonight, but he was fouled and it hit the back of the rim. He struggled shooting the ball tonight from the field and went 2-6 from the free throw line. He has to earn the respect of defenders by hitting jump shots as opposed to just trying to get into the lane every play.
Top Performers:
-Jordan Murphy dominated inside tonight, and was an extremely efficient 9-12 from the field for 22 points. The competition was weak tonight, and he won't have it quite as easy on the inside as he did tonight. He also has to show he can hit face up jump shots so that defenders have to respect him and not sag off into the lane. He also looked good on defense and had five blocks on that end of the floor.
-Eric Curry was fantastic tonight. He is a legit 6'9" and he attacks the glass with a vengeance. 17 points and 14 rebounds for the freshman tonight. He has a high IQ, he defends, he has a great shooting touch, the sky is the limit for him. He was the guy that impressed me most tonight.
-Dupree McBrayer had 18 points tonight, which was good for second best on the team. He looks confident and shot the ball that way, but he had a couple ugly misses. He is much better suited as a two guard than as the lead man for this Gopher offense. He has gotten quicker and he excels out in transition, he should be fun to watch this season on the wing.
Things to Improve/Slight Concerns:
-Overall shooting tonight looked very similar to the team shooting the ball last year. 4-19 from three point land, just 52% from the free throw line, that's not going to get it done in Big Ten play. It is only their first exhibition game, but there were plenty of open shots that were missed tonight that need to go down.
-Akeem Springs looked a bit disinterested tonight. I know he is a good player and will help this team this year, but he was extremely passive tonight and seemed to be going through the motions at times. He didn't score in 24 minutes and missed all five of his shots. He also had a few plays on defense where he was slow to get out and guard his man. I expect a much better effort from him when the Gophers take the floor in their first game that counts next weekend against Louisiana Lafayette.
-Staying out of foul trouble. This will be interesting this season, especially for big man Reggie Lynch. He fouled out and only played 14 minutes tonight, and that was against a lacking in size Division II team! Minnesota is much better protecting the rim with him on the court, so we will have to play without fouling quite as much.
Final Notes:
-The talent is there for this team to make at least a 7-8 win jump from last season. Building chemistry in these next few games will be big as there will be early tests in a couple weeks from UT-Arlington and a super young and talented St. John's team. Have to be ready.
-This team is full of great passers with guys like Coffey, McBrayer, Mason, and Curry. But are there enough guys that can put the ball in the hoop?
-Michael Hurt hit two late three's tonight, and that was encouraging. He will definitely play this year and his minutes could go up even more if he is knocking down jumpers with his feet set. If you can shoot, you can play, and this team will gladly take 4-7 points off the bench from Hurt this year if he is hitting his shots.
-It was good to see the Gophers respond to being down early and turning it into a 20 plus point win. Ideally they would have beat that team by 30 plus points, but with so many new pieces this team is figuring out how to play together. Definitely a long ways to go.
