B1G Basketball Media Day; Mason, Coffey All-Preseason B1G

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Oct 19, 2017
Mar 16, 2017; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers forward Eric Curry (24), guard Amir Coffey (5) and guard Nate Mason (2) celebrate during the second half of the game against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-USA TODAY Sports

It was B1G Media Day for the men’s basketball teams on Thursday. Richard Pitino talked about his team. He spent awhile talking about injuries. I’m not sure if he’s trying to make us nervous or if he’s trying to pre-make excuses to use, if the team gets off to a slow start. All that time on injuries just to end with the fact that he doesn’t expect any of them to linger into the season, other than Eric Curry, who tore up all the (CL’s) in his knee before the season could start.

I also thought it was funny how he played dumb in the “One and Done” rule, when asked about his feelings.

“I think the trendy thing that everybody said is the baseball model? I don’t even know what that is, so I’m not sure”

He did talk about Reggie Lynch, though, and how important it is for him to stay out of foul trouble. He is absolutely right on that part. For the Gophers to reach their full potential, he will need to be on the floor. Lynch and Murphy will need to play big minutes with Curry out for the season. He needs to be smart. He needs to save his fouls for shot contests. As an aggressive shot-blocker, Lynch is going to commit fouls in the process. He needs to make sure he isn’t wasting fouls in other aspects of the game.

When talking about Freshman, Isaiah Washington, Pitino discussed keeping him grounded; making sure he knows plays, works hard, and stays disciplined. Then he gushed about his passing, mentioning how he is unmatched in the open floor. That led into the quote people around Twitter have been talking about:

“We had our first time in four years, NBA Scouts come to our practice. It was a great feeling. We haven’t had that”

Nate Mason, Amir Coffey Named to B1G All-Preseason Team

Nate Mason was the first Gopher to eclipse 500 points and 100 assists in a season last year. That helped him become the first All-B1G selection for the Gophers since Vincent Grier in 2005. That’s pretty crazy…. and a little embarrassing.

Sophomore Amir Coffey also made the team. Coffey was the first big Minnesota recruit to go with his hometown team. Coffey was a 4-star recruit who ranked in the top 100 prospects, nationally. He lived up to that last year when he led the entire B1G in minutes played throughout conference play. He can be better though. He needs to get more selfish and realize he is the most talented player on this team. It needs to be his team this year. It’s his time.

Here is a lot of the coverage, and interesting tweets, I found on Thursday about the Gopher BBall team throughout the day:

Eric Strack
Minnesota Sports Fan @RealMNSportsFan
MinnesotaSportsFan.com

Photo: James Lang / USA TODAY Sports

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