Worried about Cornell

I know everyone has been pretty excited about our season so far, especially after the Virginia game, and justifiably so.

However, I'm very concerned about the Cornell game. They are quite possibly the best team that we've played so far. When Wittman is on, he's lights out. Also, they were up 16 on Syracuse at home last night before running out of gas and barely losing.

They are a very experienced team, with a lot of upperclassmen that have played in some of the toughest places to play in the past year (Duke, Indiana, Syracuse, etc), and played very well on the road. I wish someone could give me a reason to not be worried, but Saturday's game will be VERY interesting...

Saturday's game will be the toughest to date. The barn better be rocking. Any word on their inside presence? Can Iverson/Sampson/Williams(?) exploit them down low?

Wittman is an animal, but Nolen, Hoff, etal, will pressure him into bad shots. Gophers 81, Cornell 60.

I'm really curious to see how the Gophers defend Wittman after their stellar play against Virginia's Landesberg. Keep in mind that Cornell got their lunch handed to them by Indiana, and I don't know if Syracuse can be used as a template too much-the Orange also struggled mightily with Virginia at home. Should be a good game, would be a better one if Adam Gore was playing, but I see the Gophers prevailing by a similar margin to Virginia.

cornell also has a senior seven-footer who i know nothing about, but if he plays like a senior and our bigs play like freshmen--could be problems.

name's jeff foote and he has good #'s

You may want to change your little picture. The fighting Andy Bernards are coming!

I agree w/ all PPs....this will be one hell of a game for us, given what I know of Cornell this season. I hope we bring it; we'll need to!

Barn...Now that was funny!!!! LMAO.

Are you serious? Indiana beat them by double digits last weekend. Indiana is TERRIBLE. If they get hot shooting, they can hang with teams like Syracuse for awhile.

Gophers should win this one by 20+

cornell is my second favorite team behind the lackawanna county dojo where i am assistant to the sensei.

Dr.Don said:

Barn...Now that was funny!!!! LMAO.

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I will be terrible disappointed if there isn't a non-varsity, non-try out all male acapella group in the first row of the barn yard.

wait till the cornell-hofstra game...slaughter!

Hofstra?

Barn, now you are making me laugh!!!!! . But I suggest the a capella men in the 1st row lead and strictly have the entire crowd recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Then PLAY BALL. Gophers 81-Cornell 60.

From the Barn said:

Hofstra?

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"you, me, bar, beers, buzzed. wings, shots, drunk! waitress--hot! football--cornell hofstra--slaughter! then quick nap at my place, then we hit the tizzown!

lord...hahaha. Barnyard, there is material here!

Setting yourself up again Art

I know how this plays out-the Gophers should win by 20+ and if they don't, they are overrated, overhyped, we're all fools for being optimistic about the team. If they do win by 20+, you're nowhere to be found. Your history is quite predictable.

As for Cornell, they obviously showed some signs of life against Syracuse and could very well pose a problem for the Gophers. The Big Red have been hurt by injuries to their backcourt, with conference player of the year point guard Louis Dale and 2nd team all-conference shooting guard Adam Gore having missed the entire season thus far. Gore is not expected back until January, and I couldn't find any info about when Dale's to return. If it's against the Gophers expect a vastly different squad then the one that lost to Indiana on the road. Dale has been replaced by freshman Chris Wroblewski in the starting lineup and while he played alright against Syracuse, he's really struggled on the road in their other losses (to Indiana, Siena, and St. John's).

With Dale and Gore out of commission, the slack has been picked up by the other veterans on the team, most notably Ryan Wittman, who's hitting for 22.5 a game. The last three games he has attempted more than 20 field goal attempts per game, so he's evidently putting the team on his back. It'll be interesting to see who matches up against him, he's a tough match up at 6'6" on the perimeter. Wittman has been helped out by the 7' center Jeff Foote, who's averaging 14 and 8 per game this season, with strong efforts against St. John's, Indiana, and Syracuse and double figures in points every game since their opener. In addition, junior guard Geoff Reeves has gotten off to a very good start for Cornell, averaging 14 ppg while shooting 47% from 3 point range. Like Wroblewski, he really struggled on the road against Indiana and St. John's, but had a solid game against Syracuse. He could also give the Gophers some fits as a 6'5" shooting guard.

If Dale's back on Saturday, this is a different team than what's been on display so far this season. If Wroblewski and Reeves turned a corner against Syracuse, they could really cause some issues for the Gophers on Saturday. The Big Red could really be confident after their effort against Syracuse and if they played well against Johnny Flynn and Eric Devendorf, the backcourt of Wroblewski and Reeves probably are feeling okay stepping in against Nolen and Westbrook.

One other thing about the Big Red is that they experienced a lot of foul trouble against Syracuse, which leads one to believe that they are deficient in foot speed. The Gophers should be able to out-athletic Cornell pretty well, especially if Dale's not on the court.

If Nolen's in Wroblewski's jersey, if they guard the 3 point line well, and if they turn the game into a sprint, the Gophers could turn this into a laugher. However, if the young backcourt for Cornell is getting over its growing pains and/or Dale returns, expect a dogfight with the Big Red.

I'm not sure about a 20-pt win for MN. Indiana did play Cornell tough, but it was a six-point game at halftime, a four-point game with eight minutes left, a five-point game with six minutes left, and still a single digit game with five minutes to play. IU hit nine FTs down the stretch to push the lead into double digits and make it look a little worse than it was for the first 35 minutes.

The Gophers should win, but it is far from a gimme.

Wittman

His name is Ryan Wittman, not Michael Jordan. Ryan Wittman - his dad is an NBA coach, but his son is far from NBA talent. FAR from it.

Gophers by 15, easily.

Who said anything about the NBA?

I don't see anyone on here claiming that Wittman's a lottery pick, but he's averaging 22.5 points a game, he lit Syracuse up for 33, and he stands 6'6" on the perimeter, which is a tough match up at the college level. I'm down for the Gophers by 10, but I think it'll be a hard fought contest and Wittman's a very good college player.

With the Timberwolves front office being what it is, he is a lock to be a lottery pick.

I'm down for the Gophers by 10, but I think it'll be a hard fought contest and Wittman's a very good college player.

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I agree. It should be a fun one !

If there's a "trap" game on the Gophers' NC schedule. ...

this one vs. Cornell is it. Coming off our most significant win vs. a team from a major conference. Playing a team that was in the NCAA last season. The crowd won't be into it after being pretty into the Virginia game. I'd bet The Barn will be very quiet.

This has letdown written all over it. I'm guessing Tubby has emphasized not taking Cornell lightly, but will the players listen? It's a good thing Cornell gave Syracuse a tussle. If nothing else, that should have grabbed the players' attention.

One thing is for certain, if they take Cornell-Minnesota basketball rivalry as seriously as they take the Cornell-Hofstra Football game, we will be in for a world of hurt.

I don't want to come back gloating, but so far it's been exactly as I had feared 3 days ago. Good decision making, discipline, upper classmen, and hot Wittman shooting are just killing us right now...

ShowinGoldyLove said:

I don't want to come back gloating, but so far it's been exactly as I had feared 3 days ago. Good decision making, discipline, upper classmen, and hot Wittman shooting are just killing us right now...

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That's why games are 2 halves and 40 minutes long. Coaches and players adjust at halftime.

The outcome is certainly in doubt but Gophers played MUCH better this half.