Best 3 Gophers vs Iowa

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MillionMoves

MillionMoves

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1. Al Nolen
2. Travis Busch
3. Devron Bostick

Nolen - shot just 3-10, but provided leadership and defense, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
Busch - 10 points on just 7 shots, 4 rebounds, hustle!
Bostick - 6 points, 2 steals, part of outstanding perimeter defense
 

Carter?

Nolen does not belong on the list. Leadership is not jacking 3's and actually making clutch free throws.
 

Carter had some nice moments but he only played 9 minutes.

I'd give Westbrook a nod since his free throws sealed the game for us.
 

1. Busch
2. Bostick (despite the hurried air ball from the left corner)
3. Westbrook

In that order. I thought Al had a tough night last night.
 

From the Barn said:
Carter?

Nolen does not belong on the list. Leadership is not jacking 3's and actually making clutch free throws.
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Nolen did not have a great night but he did a couple of things that were crucial:

1. When we were running the clock at the end he was able to drive and break down the defense a couple of times to create a scoring opportunity.

2. He hit a huge 3 pointer around the three minute mark to put us back up 8 and give us the cushion we needed.

The truth of the matter is that the team as a whole has a lot of improving to do against the zone defenses. We are going to have to find ways to get the ball inside. To do that the bigs are going to have to find ways to post up stronger so that we can move the ball inside and back out if needed.
 


I thought Al had his worst game of the year. As previously stated, too many forced shots and MISSING FREE THROWS! To be a great PG, you must make FTs. No excuses.

As good as TB was on O, he was equally poor on D. His footspeed was a big liability last night. Thank god Lickliter couldn't figure it out and take advantage of it. He did hit the boards pretty well, though.

I thought Bostick and Carter played well again. Hopefully they continue improving at this rate. I cringe when I see JAS on the floor with TB. Too slow for this level, IMO.
 

Why Busch has been effective...

Busch has looked really good in some of our games against BCS schools. The obvious reasons are his hustle and his relatively high basketball IQ but I think the biggest reason is he's virtually the only one on the team who has any muscle (outside of JWill).

Busch doesn't get pushed around as much as the rest of the roster and it helps him come up with rebounds and loose balls.

I hope these guys live in the weight room this offseason...
 

Westbrook nailed the FT and made a couple of key defensive plays in the last 5 min. ( Blocked shot and knocking the ball off the Iowa guy out of bounds to keep posession for the Gophers
 

GoGoGophers said:
I thought Al had his worst game of the year. As previously stated, too many forced shots and MISSING FREE THROWS! To be a great PG, you must make FTs. No excuses.

As good as TB was on O, he was equally poor on D. His footspeed was a big liability last night. Thank god Lickliter couldn't figure it out and take advantage of it. He did hit the boards pretty well, though.

I thought Bostick and Carter played well again. Hopefully they continue improving at this rate. I cringe when I see JAS on the floor with TB. Too slow for this level, IMO.
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I cringe whenever I see JAS on the floor, period.
 



GoGoGophers said:
I thought Al had his worst game of the year. As previously stated, too many forced shots and MISSING FREE THROWS! To be a great PG, you must make FTs. No excuses.

As good as TB was on O, he was equally poor on D. His footspeed was a big liability last night. Thank god Lickliter couldn't figure it out and take advantage of it. He did hit the boards pretty well, though.

I thought Bostick and Carter played well again. Hopefully they continue improving at this rate. I cringe when I see JAS on the floor with TB. Too slow for this level, IMO.
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Nolen did not have one of his best games, but I disagree on the forced shots. When Nolen doesn't take shots, the peanut gallery says "Nolen needs to shoot the ball more." When Nolen takes shots, "Nolen forces too many shots." Bottom line is that Nolen wasn't shooting well last night, but his play in other areas made those missed shots a wash.

Westbrook did make some clutch free throws but his shooting from the field was terrible, not to mention the fact that he had zero assists and was 1 - 5 from the 3 pt line. Carter also missed more shots than he made, and considering his shots were mostly lay ups, that's not good.

Westbrook and Nolen were "jacking it up" because scoring is like the Powerball lottery--no chance of winning if you don't play. Ugly win by the team because if you can play that poorly on the road and come away with the win, it's always a "good thing."

My ranking in no particular order is:

Defense
Stick-to-it-tiveness
Busch (that hustle factor)
 


My Best 3 choices are:

1: Tubby Smith
2: Team of Gophers
3: The Gopher fans that WERE there.
 

I liked what I saw from Carter, and I hope he can keep it up from here on out. Bostick seems a bit more comfortable out there than he did at the beginning of the year. Tubby was definitely the MVP of our team there, it is great to see an adjustment during the game that actually works! I couldn't believe how switching to a zone defense threw Iowa off. Right call at the right time. That is coaching.
 



1. Busch...non-stop hustle as always
2. Reverand Carter...ENERGY and big plays when we actually needed them (including completing a 3 point play)
3. Ray-town...despite the air ball, he was pretty solid last night
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
Busch has looked really good in some of our games against BCS schools. The obvious reasons are his hustle and his relatively high basketball IQ but I think the biggest reason is he's virtually the only one on the team who has any muscle (outside of JWill).

Busch doesn't get pushed around as much as the rest of the roster and it helps him come up with rebounds and loose balls.

I hope these guys live in the weight room this offseason...
Click to expand...
One aspect of Travis's "high basketball IQ" is his ability to figure out where he needs to be and to get there ... it's something which I saw when he played HS ball and I think a certain amount of the credit goes to his HS coach, Ziggy Kauls. From what I've gathered, Kauls preaches the basics and closes with the benediction of "hustle and teamwork." ;)
 

Best 3 against IOWA.

1. TEAM
2. TEAM
3. TEAM

Its a cliche I know but I don't think I remember seeing a more unselfish TEAM.
 

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