Golden Nuggets for 12.12.08
by GopherNation on Dec 12, 2008 3:00 AM CST
in Golden Nuggets
7 comments
I'm going to kick off this Nugz with some editorial and leave it open to your thoughts. I'm very curious what is going to happen with playing time as the Gophers face Louisville and eventually head into Big Ten play.
This is not second guessing as clearly I'm not running practices and an in no way qualified to determine who should be on the floor and at what times. But I have a keyboard, a small audience and an educated opinion so here goes. Below is
I believe that currently we essentially have a starting "six" and potentially a starting"seven" if Carter comes back strong. These seven plus Joseph give what I believe are the core eight that have to play the bulk of the minutes.
| Pos | Player | Avg Minutes |
| PG | Nolen | 30 |
| SG | Hoffarber | 26 |
| SF | DJ | 32 |
| PF | Sampson | 20 |
| C | Iverson | 21 |
| Bench | Westbrook | 24 |
| Bench | Carter | 20 |
| Bench | Joseph | 14 |
| Bench | Bostick | 13 |
|
Bench |
Williams | |
| Bench | Busch | |
| Bench | Abu-Shamala | |
Average minutes for the core eight and then the 13 minutes are divided up among the last four depending of course on foul trouble, match ups, etc. Some nights Williams will not see the floor, but other nights he'll play critical minutes because he's needed. Bostick likely gets the most minutes of that final group and he has the potential to give us a core nine.
In that starter group you may very well see Westbrook starting for defensive purposes or maybe Carter back in there with Johnson moving to PF.
Anyway, that is how I see the minutes should be distributed, please share your thoughts.
Now on to other tid bits from around the interweb.
- The "it" player in college basketball is Davidson's Stephen Curry. He is truly a remarkable college basketball player who was an incredible scoring machine last year and is vastly improved this year as he moved to point guard. Anyway Nick Friedell of Yahoo's The Dagger sat down with Curry in an entertaining interview.
- The Gopher hockey team hosts Colorado College this weekend with first place on the WCHA potentially on the line. But before we look forward, Roman Augustoviz took a look back at last year's series.
- Pretty funny letter supposedly written by a Northwestern graduate to the Outback Bowl who snubbed them and chose Iowa to participate in their bowl.
- Change your Google Calendars...Gopher basketball's Big Ten opener vs. Michigan State has moved it's start time. Tip off will be at 11:00 AM on the Big Ten Network so the game will not conflict with the football team's bowl game which will kick off at 5:00 on the NFL Network. Looks like New Year's Eve should be a lot of fun for Gopher fans.
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PT Guesses
F Johnson 20-25, Carter 15-20
C Sampson 20-25, Iverson 20-25, Williams 5-10
S Bostick 10-15, JAS or Busch 5-10
G Nolen 25-30, Hoffarber 20-25, Westbrook 20-25, Joseph 15-20
And Payton.
by FortyYearCatFan on Dec 12, 2008 6:27 AM CST reply actions
Questions???
I am not sure I am keen on starting both Iverson and Sampson at the same time. Isn’t there a potential to get both our big men into foul trouble quickly and then have to rely on Williams for significant min.
PT/GN, I don’t dispute your JAS delineations, but man talk about falling fast—starting to one of the last men off the bench. I suppose the only reason we are seeing him starting is becaue of injuries. Bush—god, I am saying this AGAIN—impresses me with hussle, better than anticipated shooting and rebounding. Someone examine my head NOW!
Why do you not start Westbrook, your most prolific scorer? Also, when Al, Damian and he are on the court at the same time the defensive intensity is sky high. Think of the clampdowns in the past 3 games those guys have provided.
P.S. Too bad you didn’t think of “the Nugz” as a name for these posts; I change my vote!
Clem's Nuts
Golden Nugz?
That’s what I call it in emails and IMs.
Maroon and Gold Headquarters: The Daily Gopher
explanations
I’m OK with starting both big men. How often do you see a PF and C get into early foul trouble? If anything I would think you could spread out the fouls. Really I was just going off of the most recent starting lineup, which was necessitated by injuries to Hoffarber and Carter.
More than anything else I LOVE having DJ play the 3. I think he can do some real damage there on both ends of the floor.
Westbrook has actually come off the bench in each game since the game he missed (E Washington). I think 6th man is a very good role for him as he can give you that scoring spark off the bench and he’s very good defensively which helps when Nolen sits. I would guess that he’ll continue to come off the bench but will likely finish many of the games because of his defense and scoring.
JAS is tough to figure out. When I watch it looks like he is completely overmatched defensively and although he is a little bit more well-rounded offensively I just don’t see what he brings that warrants a starting spot. I probably should have included him right behind Joseph as he’ll likely continue to get 10-14 min per game, I just don’t think he helps enough to warrant it. And your boy Busch is better than I give him credit for and he’ll play some F when guys get into trouble but ultimately he just can’t play a lot of minutes in B10 games or we will be in trouble.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you
by GopherNation on Dec 12, 2008 2:48 PM CST up reply actions
PT
westbrook will start eventually its just Tubby working the system
he knows that with al, him, and DJ on the court that our defense is incredible
as for busch, he deserves every minute he gets I have never seen anyone work as hard against guys who have 5 inches and 75 pounds on them then busch does and he isn’t incapable of making plays he has quickness when matched up against a larger slower counterpart and I think the minutes he gets, he is productive on both sides of the ball, and he has more big ten experience then most players on the roster
I don’t think we lose much with him in as compared to putting shamala in and I’m not worried about him in conference play
I just hope blake and paul haven’t lost their step from these injuries because we need them at or really close to full strength to play with louisville and the big ten
i’m extremely excited though I think the big ten is going to be a lot more competitive and better than the ‘experts’ had predicted at the beginning of the season as michigan illinois penn state and northwestern provide a solid middle (most people think this is ridiculous but they have performed pretty well thus far see ACC/Big Ten Challenge)
Busch
works hard but he does not have B10 athleticism, size or ability. Love his effort all of the time and he gives a good minute or two on occasion but he does not “deserve” any time at this level imo.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you
by GopherNation on Dec 14, 2008 8:44 PM CST up reply actions
Working the system?
Westbrook started every game last year. Tubby likes his boost off the bench. He isn’t starting Westbrook because LW doesn’t “get it”.
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