Gophs @ Sparty

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bleedsmaroonandgold

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I just took a peak at the schedule and this game is huge for us. I know we are a couple games behind MSU right now, but if we can pull out a win, that pulls us to within a game of Sparty, and they still have yet to run the gauntlet with two games against Michigan, and one each against the Hoosiers and OSU. If we pull this one out and take care of business the against the teams we should the rest of the way, I like our chances of catching MSU.

Also, it would be huge to stay within a game of Wisconsin with our revenge game coming up. I doubt Wisco blows it against Iowa at home, and it would be nice to be playing them with a chance to pull into a tie in the standings.
 

Things a win would do for us:

  • Give us another top 50 RPI win
  • Give us a realistic chance to be tied with Ohio State in the standings by Monday (they play Indiana this weekend, we play Illinois)
  • Put us within one game of the Badgers heading into next week's game at Williams
  • Put us within one game of the Spartans, who still have Michigan (twice), Indiana and OSU on their schedule
  • Make everyone forget about the 4-game slide and turn the talk from "why are we getting worse" to " how are we getting better"
Among others.

Basically, if we were to somehow pull off a win in East Lansing, a top-3 finish doesn't seem out of reach, given our schedule and other contenders' schedules. And that would be quite a feat, given where we seem to be at present.
 

Wow, surprised we are only 4.5 point underdogs this morning. Should be a good game!
 

This is the best kind of game. If we win, it's a huge victory and helps us tremendously in multiple ways. It is a winnable game, as we proved when we beat them here. However, it's not a game where a loss hurts our resume, etc (assuming we don't get embarrassed by 20).
 

The thing about this game is that it would be a game that gives us margin for error and allows us to play more confidently going forward. The first goal is to make sure we have a record that does not require sweating out Selection Sunday. Winning tonight would put us in position to get a little more comfortable on that score. Then we start playig with house money and try to advance into the top 4 in the conference. A top 4 finish is the goal at this point. Big game. Play to win. If they lose- no big deal- just win the next 2 (not that easy but it has to be done).
 


I really feel the key to this game will be Rodney/Eilliot. Rodney is giving up height and weight tonight, but he has hops and quickness. If he can use his quickness to score early, get aggressive, we can win. If he struggles, I think Elliot will get more minutes and those minutes need to be big. Maybe not with points, but rebounds and dirty work. MSU goes big. Can we match?
 

A win tonight essentially locks up and NCAA tournament bid. The extra good win would make 8-10 enough to get in, and there are enough medicore or worse teams left on the schedule that beating 2 or three of them should not be a problem.
 

Try and keep Sparty's second chances on offense to a minimum, play physical in the middle, this is Mbwake and Williams type of game, I expect them to play well.

If Coleman can play like he did down the stretch against Iowa Gophers can win, he went 6/7 for the day but created his own points off the dribble at the end, something that only Andre has been able to accomplish to this point. He doesn't look pretty doing it but he was effective.

Huge game, a win here negates the Northwestern loss completely, sets them up for a possible 4th or 5th place finish in the B1G.
 

BGA and FTB summed it up well. Tonight is all about increasing the Gophers' margin for error. As of right now I could envision a worst-case scenario (I said envision, not expect) where the Gophers could freefall their way onto the NCAA Tournament bubble. But win tonight and I just couldn't envision that scenario any longer.

In my mind tonight, @ Iowa (yes, it'd be a good win if the Gophers get it), @ Ohio State, and Indiana at home are the key games where the Gophers can create some space, so to speak, from the .500ish B1G mark we all hope they finally surpass.

Rodney needs to play big tonight. Not OK, BIG. Not a night we want him floating around the perimeter. Get inside and challenge Nix, Payne, and Dawson. If you go in there and they block a shot or two, or if they knock you on your behind, pick yourself up & go right back in there. Don't acquiesce to them.
 



Hey SS: controversial opinion time. I'd rather see the Gophers with a 5 seed in the BTT than a 4 seed. Extra game against dreadful PSU, and a chance to work out a few kinks might be nice. Thoughts?
 

From the Barn said:
Hey SS: controversion opinion time. I'd rather see the Gophers with a 5 seed in the BTT than a 4 seed. Extra game against dreadful PSU, and a chance to work out a few kinks might be nice. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I disagree. I think if we haven't worked out kinks by the time BTT rolls around, I don't know what we are going to accomplish against a team that couldn't spell "cat" if you spotted them the "c" and the "t". The win itself would have negligible value in terms of impressing anyone for seeding in the NCAA tourney. If we want to make a serious underdog run at winning the BTT, we will be hurt having to play against a top seed in the semifinals coming off of back-to-back games, and playing for the fourth time in four days would be brutal if and when we made it to the title game.

Last but not least, there would be the outside shot of losing to dreadful Penn State, which would demolish our confidence, momentum, and resume heading into selection Sunday. I think the likelihood of that happening is virtually zero, but it would be devastating if it did.
 

That wouldn't be all bad. Certainly a game we'd expect the Gophers could get some kinks out while getting their tournament legs before facing the #4 seed.

That said, would prefer to enjoy the "rarified air" of the Gophers getting a 1st-round bye. Would like to kick back Thursday and watch 4 teams get eliminated before the Gophers even play a game. It's only happened once (2005).
 

bleedsmaroonandgold said:
I disagree. I think if we haven't worked out kinks by the time BTT rolls around, I don't know what we are going to accomplish against a team that couldn't spell "cat" if you spotted them the "c" and the "t". The win itself would have negligible value in terms of impressing anyone for seeding in the NCAA tourney. If we want to make a serious underdog run at winning the BTT, we will be hurt having to play against a top seed in the semifinals coming off of back-to-back games, and playing for the fourth time in four days would be brutal if and when we made it to the title game.

Last but not least, there would be the outside shot of losing to dreadful Penn State, which would demolish our confidence, momentum, and resume heading into selection Sunday. I think the likelihood of that happening is virtually zero, but it would be devastating if it did.
Click to expand...

I strongly agree with this. There is little to gain by playing PSU. If you haven't worked out the kinks by your 31st game of the season, playing a glorified walk-thru against PSU ain't gonna fix 'em. The RPI would actually drop playing that terrible PSU team on a neutral court. If the option is No. 4 or No. 5, and assuming the Gophers want to make a serious run at the BTT, they would be better off playing as the No. 4, watching the No. 5 play (and hopefully tire some) against Penn State, and then playing that No. 5 on Friday. Then, if you by chance you advance to Saturday and Sunday, you have one less game on your legs. The fresher the legs in March, the better.

And, god forbid, you could lose the damned game to PSU (as doubtful as that is, why risk it)?
 



From the Barn said:
Hey SS: controversial opinion time. I'd rather see the Gophers with a 5 seed in the BTT than a 4 seed. Extra game against dreadful PSU, and a chance to work out a few kinks might be nice. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Definitely controversial, I completely disagree with this take lol. I'll take the 4 seed and bye all day every day. The extra win doesn't really help anything, and the possibility of a loss (or dare I say, an injury) in that game far outweigh the benefits of an extra game to work out kinks when you've already played like 30 games IMO.
 



One reason I have upped our chances from like 3% up to 15% is that we did manage to win those last two home games and MSU might be looking ahead to their big clash with the Wolverines on the weekend. Gary Harris may not play his normal minutes and that means more of Valentine who hasn't been great this season.

Trice is a streaky shooter who nailed about 3 threes on the Gophers in the last matchup but he wasn't shooting or playing well of late anyway. MSU may be better served with Appling playing 38 minutes.
 

When is the last time, if ever, we've swept Michigan State?
 

GG07 said:
When is the last time, if ever, we've swept Michigan State?
Click to expand...

Technically 2005-2006, but we only played them once.

Last time we (officially) took 2 out of 2 from Sparty was 87-88. Took 2 out of 2 from them in 96-97 but that's off the books.
 



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