Brought in as a much-needed rim protector from Illinois State, Reggie Lynch endured a brutal year on the bench as he watched the Gophers flounder while he waited to become eligible for the 2016-17 season. He then endured an offseason of legal trouble and injury rehab before he could take the court for the first time wearing the Maroon and Gold.
Now he has a new challenge to overcome: Learning not to foul.
The 6-10 junior has fouled out in six of the teams’ first nine Big Ten games, and in each case has done so playing 26 minutes or less, leaving the Gophers without a quality shot-blocking presence against some of the conference’s top centers.
with the distinction of being a high-volume shot blocker comes a reputation that Lynch doesn’t necessarily want.
In games where Lynch has been disqualified, Minnesota is 2-4 and has been victimized several times by opposing bigs as Lynch was either on the bench or playing tentatively with a mounting foul count. Nick Ward scored 22 in a home loss against Michigan State, Ethan Happ scored 28 in a home loss against Wisconsin, and Maryland scored 26 second-half points in the paint in Minnesota’s most recent setback at The Barn. Any one of those games could have been a signature win for the Gophers.
“It’s very frustrating obviously not being able to be in at the end of games when it’s crunch time,” said Lynch. “It’s really just on me to make sure I don’t put myself in the situation towards the end of the game to have like four fouls or five fouls. It’s on me to make sure they don’t add up towards the end.”
When he’s on the floor and feels free to play aggressively, Lynch is a dominant defensive presence. He is the only Big Ten player to average over three blocks per game (3.1) and leads the conference with 66 total. He’s posted five or more blocks in six different games, including a jaw-dropping nine-block performance against St. John’s on Nov. 18.
But with the distinction of being a high-volume shot blocker comes a reputation that Lynch doesn’t necessarily want. Officials have honed in on Lynch’s swinging arms and begun whistling him liberally for infractions, especially in tightly-contested games, which the Gophers have found themselves in almost exclusively.
While Lynch doesn’t agree with every call, he says he’s determined not to let strict officiating get in his head. “Some of these calls are not the greatest in my opinion, but I can’t let the calls get to me,” Lynch said. “I have to understand that the refs are going to be looking extremely close. I’ve just got to sometimes let a guy go and not try to block a shot and not just go for every single shot fake or anything like that — just stay solid defensively overall.”
Reggie Lynch on being more disciplined defensively. pic.twitter.com/xUyW9ZcR9L
— Sam Ekstrom (@SamEkstrom) January 27, 2017
Pitino says he’s had to remind Lynch that not every foul against him is errantly called. For instance, his fifth foul against Maryland with 3:09 left in a two-point game was unnecessary. Jordan Murphy had defensive position, but Lynch reached in and slapped down on the ball handler’s arm.
Combine Lynch’s over-exuberance with opponents’ evolving scouting report against the center and you’ve got a recipe for putting Minnesota’s most valuable defensive piece on the bench. “Going at Reggie, that’s maybe the biggest thing I’ve noticed,” said Pitino, when asked how opponents have change their approach against the Gophers. “That’s a clear thing that teams are trying to do, so he’s got to adjust to it, and we’ve got to adjust to it.”
While the foul trouble has become chronic with Lynch, he’s been at his finest in the beginning of games, helping spearhead a number of fast starts. Minnesota has held halftime leads in six of nine games and even led Michigan State and Maryland by double figures in the first half. But during games in which Lynch has fouled out, opponents are, on average, nine points better offensively in the second half, and against Maryland, the Terrapins scored a whopping 59 points after halftime as the Gophers failed to keep up in the closing minutes. “He’s got to find a balance between good defense without fouling,” said Pitino. “I know he’s concerned with fouling. We’ve got to play good defense, too.”
Combine Lynch’s over-exuberance with opponents’ evolving scouting report against the center and you’ve got a recipe for putting Minnesota’s most valuable defensive piece on the bench.
It will be interesting to see how the Gophers approach things going forward as they move into the second half of the Big Ten season. One way to combat Lynch’s foul issues would be to reduce his minutes to ensure that he’s still around by game’s end. They could also consider doubling more down low against poorer-shooting teams to give Lynch some help and perhaps deter teams from looking inside.
Minnesota still has plenty of hope when it comes to earning an NCAA tournament bid, but they’ll need Lynch to harness his foul issues and stay on the court.
“Obviously the reputation of fouling kind of puts a target on my back a little bit, and I’m aware of it in every game I play,” said Lynch. “This week I’m just going to make sure I understand that coaches are probably going to tell their centers to go at me and get me in foul trouble, and I’ve just got to be able to stay strong and stay low and just understand what big guys are going to try to do.”
