I would love for some CBB heads to weigh in on where they believe the Minnesota Gophers basketball program is headed under head coach Richard Pitino.
That's the expected roster for the 2015-16 season, year three under Pitino.
His 2015 recruiting class -- Jarvis Johnson, Kevin Dorsey, Jonathan Nwankwo and Dupree McBrayer -- is ranked as the 35th overall recruiting class in the country, according to ESPN.
2013-14:
25-13, 8-10 B1G, Best wins: WISC, OSU. Worst losses: @PUR and at home to N'Western. (Season end: NIT Championship)
2014-15:
16-11, 5-9 B1G, 0-5 in-conference to start and 5-4 since, losses @PSU and at home to N'Western (Season end: NIT/CBI?)
Main concerns for the short-term:
- I don't know who's going to start at center next year. Konate is not even close to being ready to accept a role like that. Eliason/M.Walker both graduate after this season.
- A King/Konate front court could be one of the worst big man duos in the Big Ten.
- FT% of those with key roles this year that are returning in 2015-16: Mason: .634, Morris: .711, Buggs: .500, King: .771, Konate: .531
Main concerns for the long-term:
- What's the plan at power forward after King? The sense I have is Pitino is going to count on Buggs excelling in a stretch-4 role. In Pitino's up-tempo system spearheaded by several talented guards (his recruiting instincts tell us this is how he sees his ideal team shaping up position-wise). Buggs has the Durant-like body frame -- too much arms and legs. Thing is, he doesn't know how to use his body yet. The Gopher with the most to gain over the upcoming summer is that man, Charles Buggs. If he learns how to use his body, it will allow him to be a physical force/matchup problem for just about everybody.
- Zach Lofton was kicked off the team. Daequan McNeil was proven to be a horrible human being. The Josh Martin situation was perplexing -- it's disconcerting to see how early Martin decided he wanted out. Story is, he expected to play much earlier than he did, and when he came out of the gate in non-conference play not receiving many minutes, he transferred to Cal Poly. Maybe it was a really quick decision to make on an important matter, reflecting on Martin's maturity level -- but how exactly was there a riff in communication this early on between Pitino and a player on their role?
- I think Dorsey is going to be very good, but where does he fit in as a PG next to Mason? Jarvis a PG as well, what if all three are good? That's a good problem to have, but it's one thing to play three guards in a guard heavy lineup. It's a whole separate thing to play a guard heavy lineup with three
point guards, which Mason-Dorsey-Jarvis all are. I think Dupree McBrayer is a prospect who will rise up and grow into a very good player. I'm only going off of his highlights, but man -- what a crafty game. Left-handed. Unique.
I'm going to let the process play out, because it's one of the more impressive class in the program's recent history. I just have some concerns about Pitino's relationship/communication with his players. Is it genuine? Players can sense that sort of thing, and if he's putting the carriage before the horse (wanting to become a coach that the national media respects without actually getting the wins that lead to that), then that's a problem.
We'll see.
