Pieces fall into place for Pitino's second season with Gophers

Dennis Haversack sat back in his seat, surveying the players one by one as they ran out of the tunnel and leapt onto the Williams Arena court.

As the Gophers began an intrasquad scrimmage last month, the 73-year-old fan from Plymouth was struck by the transformation.

His reaction: Wow, this year is going to be fun.

"I think we'll look a lot different style-wise," Minnesota coach Richard Pitino said this fall. "You'll notice. ... We look bigger. We look faster. We look more athletic."

The Gophers will rotate in a 6-foot-11 big-bodied athlete at power forward. A freshman was recently seen practicing between-the-leg dunks. Their senior point guard is a blur on the court, and his freshman understudy races right with him. A 6-5 junior-college transfer is showing early flashes of versatility at guard that could challenge opponents on both ends. And after a second year in Pitino's offseason operation, the entire roster looks stronger and better conditioned.

Mix in an occasional new all-black home uniform, and these Gophers at times could be nearly unrecognizable on their familiar raised floor.

In his first season, Pitino implemented a very different system — built around an up-tempo offense and pressing defense — from the one former coach Tubby Smith had authored. Those craving change in Minneapolis rejoiced. But the roster didn't reflect its coach's vision, and the Gophers teetered through a grueling Big Ten schedule. The press faltered. The pace lagged. Ultimately, Minnesota missed the NCAA tournament before rebounding to take home the NIT championship.

This year, Pitino hopes he has built a squad that will be more fun for fans like Haversack.

"Our newcomers fit the way that we want to play a lot more so than maybe last year," Pitino said. "I think that will help with our defense. It'll help with our press. All those little things that we're trying to do when building kind of the brand that we want to play. Those guys fit that. All of them do."

The new-look Gophers get their first big test immediately, when they face No. 8 Louisville in Puerto Rico on Friday.

Players that fit

Just a year and a half into the job, Pitino has had to sprint to line up his chess pieces for this season. After taking over a program that had revolved around a slow, half-court offense and man-to-man defense, Pitino has dramatically turned over the personnel to fit his needs. Lightning fast point guard DeAndre Mathieu, pick-and-pop power forward Joey King and defensive specialist Daquein McNeil came in a year ago, while several returning players reshaped their bodies in part to fit Pitino's preferred pace (see Eliason, Elliott and Walker, Mo).

This year, he's added quick, versatile guards in Nate Mason and Carlos Morris, another athletic forward in Josh Martin and one more big man who can run the floor and block shots at the end of the press in Bakary Konate.

The newcomers are more than willing — Pitino's style is attractive to young talents who want to play in a freewheeling offense.

"I like to play fast, he likes to play fast," Mason said.

Assistant coach Kimani Young said the first three things he looks for in potential signees are length, athleticism and versatility.

"We need to recruit guys that can play the way we want to play," said Young, who also worked under Pitino at Florida International, where the Panthers were 11th in the country in steals percentage under their leadership in 2012-13. "You want guys that have active hands and can get hands on balls and can really cover ground in a variety of ways."

The newcomers replace the likes of Oto Osenieks, Malik Smith and Maverick Ahanmisi, players who filled roles but didn't bring imposing athleticism.

"Coach didn't get a lot of time his first year," King said. "Now that he's been here for a year, he's starting to recruit the players he wants, and I think that's really important for our system. We have the right bodies in place now where we can do what Coach Pitino wants on the floor."

That's the hope anyway. A year ago, the Gophers tried to press, but it was often beaten for easy scores by the opponent. Pitino tried to push the pace but wound up ranking just 257th in the nation in adjusted tempo and last in the Big Ten in defensive efficiency, according to kenpom.com, a website dedicated to advanced statistics. Offensively, the team relied on perimeter shooting too often.

"We probably got a little three-point happy," Pitino said. "I think we made the most threes in school history. We also took the most threes in school history."

Those trends don't flip overnight, but certainly the feel has changed.

In last week's exhibition game against Minnesota Duluth, the Gophers still had moments of sloppiness defensively, but they were more active on that end than a year ago. They pressed and trapped the Bulldogs effectively several times.

The offense showed impressive balance, even with Walker and Mason sitting with injuries. Five players finished in double digits, the transition game was working, and the Gophers clearly pushed the pace.

'More tools'

As soon as official practice began in September, Eliason noticed the difference. Athleticism had taken over.

"We just have more tools to bring it that way," said the big man, who is good friends with Osenieks, now a graduate assistant. "I could feel it right away when we walked in that it was different. No offense to Oto or anything."

Mathieu remembers one of the team's early practices, when the Gophers were practicing a zone defense. The 6-11 Eliason was at center. The 6-11 Konate, at power forward. The 6-9 Charles Buggs, at small forward.

Mathieu stopped and did a double-take.

Man, we're like Syracuse out here, he remembers thinking, imagining the Orange's traditionally imposing back line.

Will the Syracuse-like look bring a marquee win akin to those the 23rd-ranked Orange regularly reel in?

After creaming Minnesota Duluth by nearly 30 points last week, the Gophers will start to answer that question on Friday. Nationally ranked Louisville will score better. It will break a press better. It will swat away transition efforts easier.

"It's a big task ahead of us," Eliason said. "We're going to have to learn really quickly."

But Pitino has belief in the team he's built, one that's bigger, faster, stronger and, he thinks, one other adjective: ready.

"Throw 'em in the pool, right?" he said.

"Don't put your foot in, just dive right in. And that's what that game will be."

Amelia Rayno • 612-673-4115