***OFFICIAL MICHIGAN AT MINNESOTA IN-GAME THREAD!!!!***

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I don't know what to feel after this games besides relief. The end result should be all that matters, but wow that game should have been put away so many different times. I felt like we should have been up a dozen a halftime and then should have built that lead to 15-16...and all of a sudden it's a one point game with 15 min left and then Michigan takes the lead. Then the Gophers got some huge gifts from the officials and got up 7 game should have been over, but Michigan hits a 3. Now Nate Mason answers with a huge 4 point play to push it to 8... GAME OVER! No! Somehow the team does exactly what it can't do (back to back live ball turnovers) and all of a sudden Michigan has life. Finally that miracle 3 to send the game to overtime....are you F'ING KIDDING ME? In the post Clem Era, I'd love to know just how many of those shot have went down against us at the Barn? It's an insane amount.

I had visions of this being the worst loss since the Illinois game where Burleson (and others) choked away an NCAA tournament berth during the Monson Era.

To respond and win in overtime was excellent. I really didn't think they were going to win when Michigan hit a 3 to take a brief lead in OT. Hats off to so many guys who made huge plays in this game:

Eric Curry: Made a number of big jumpers when the offense was stagnant and momentum was shifting. His biggest play of the game though was his quick swim through baseline that got foul number 4 on Michigan's best player.

Dupree McBrayer: Obviously had the awful turnover, but made clutch free throws, hit a 3 early, and was a big positive overall IMHO

Jordan Murphy: The turnaround has been incredible. His work on the boards might have been the difference in this game. The offensive rebounding he's brought during this 5 game stretch has been HUGE for this team.

Amir Coffey: It ended up a jump ball, but Amir won the foot race/bump fest to the biggest loose ball in the game. He also hit two huge free throws to put the lead back to 3 at the end of the game.

Negatives:

Reggie Lynch: started so strong, but man his foul trouble hurt the team badly. At least a couple of those fouls were avoidable and he's just not learning his lesson.

Nate Mason: I hate putting Nate here because I appreciate how solid he is with the ball, even in a down game. That said he was 3-13 from the field tonight and perhaps more frustrating to me was his inability to give Reggie more post touches in the first half.

Akeem Springs: 2-7 from the field, 2-5 from the line and I think it was actually his defense that got him benched for Dupree in this one.
 

BarnBoy said:
Sad Akeem Springs... :(
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Akeem has definitely had his moments and he has been a great grad transfer for us but I won't miss his poor judgment on offense. Especially when we get to trade him out for Washington and Harris.
 

Just want to say that my dauber went down with the loss at Penn State; and with this win, my dauber is back up! :)
 

I don't know if it is just me, but Coffey seemed to get burned badly on defense on numerous occasions. Not trying to downplay what they did; was a huge victory from my perspective
 

Some guy said:
Actually most statistical studies have shown almost no difference between the two strategies of you foul with less than 10. If you foul with more than 10 you are actually worse off mathemaically
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This. And that was an extremely tough shot. Played great defense, guy just made a great play.
 



What a very good win for the Gophers. I'd love to try and finish at least 2-2 to finish with an above .500 in B1G for the first time since 04-05, which was the last time we had a single digit seed in the tournament. We do that, we'll get another single digit seed for sure. Would like to stay out of the 8/9 game, however.
 

Gophers7633 said:
What a very good win for the Gophers. I'd love to try and finish at least 2-2 to finish with an above .500 in B1G for the first time since 04-05, which was the last time we had a single digit seed in the tournament. We do that, we'll get another single digit seed for sure. Would like to stay out of the 8/9 game, however.
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2-2 hopefully puts us on the 7 line. Though it will be close.
 

Thanks to Walton's two (in-a-row) missed free throws in second half, we finally get 5 bucks off 25 at B-Dubs. Important for the game and my week's wing intake.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 



I'm not anywhere near an expert in this regard, but I had a thought when I saw that Pitino wasn't putting Lynch back in. A big part of me was thinking that Pitino was trying to send him a message. Sort of a punishment or a grounding you might say? And seeing as the guys on the court were maintaining the lead, and with his having 4 fouls, why not keep him on the bench. And like someone said, with how Curry was playing, why not keep him in the game.

Maybe Lynch will see that his minutes could be in danger of being cut back in the future, and hopefully he'll respond by figuring how to keep from getting himself into so much foul trouble???

I mean, imagine if he does figure that out?


An idea? Would Pitino ever consider bringing him in off the bench? At least until he gets a handle on this foul trouble thing?

Remember, I said I'm no where near an expert when it comes to this kind of thing. Just throwing some ideas out there. So no need to call me an idiot if you disagree, just tell me why I'm wrong if I am.
 

I have zero issue with not fouling before a potential late game-tying 3. Too many negative scenarios that can play out, including a potential 4-point play if you don't execute it correctly. D.J. Wilson hit his first 3 of the night on that play, and it was a pretty heavily contested 30-footer. I'll take my chances there. You're likely not in that situation if Dupree handles the ball a little better and doesn't turn it over twice to cut an 8-point lead in half. The one that bugs me more is the foul on Walton when he made the lay-up, just let him have it there.

Murphy played like a man yet again tonight, he's grown up as a player in the last 2 weeks and is focused now on playing to his strengths. Coffey played his tail off on Irvin tonight and it looked like he might have tweaked his ankle late, but he gutted through it.

How about the fact that Wilson hits the ridiculous shot, and when most teams wouldn't survive that, the Gophers don't panic and grind out the victory. Not many teams are mentally tough enough to survive that. You're now 1 win away from being an NCAA lock with Penn State and Nebraska left at home. Win those and you're 10-8 at worst in the Big 10. Gophers are now 5-0 since they're players-only meeting.
 

mnsportsgeek said:
2-2 hopefully puts us on the 7 line. Though it will be close.
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I'd rather beat Maryland and Wisconsin and lose one of our home games, then lose both of those games and win both of our home games.


I think 2-2 with a win in the BTT could be enough to get us a #6 seed, and that is exactly what I want. To get a #3 seed, we'd have to win something like 7 in a row from here, if not 8, and I just am not sure that is realistic, so if we can't get a #3 seed, then I hope for a #6 seed.

Much more realistic goal, but it will still need at least 3 more wins between now and selection sunday, maybe 4 more?
 

KillmeNow said:
I'd rather beat Maryland and Wisconsin and lose one of our home games, then lose both of those games and win both of our home games.


I think 2-2 with a win in the BTT could be enough to get us a #6 seed, and that is exactly what I want. To get a #3 seed, we'd have to win something like 7 in a row from here, if not 8, and I just am not sure that is realistic, so if we can't get a #3 seed, then I hope for a #6 seed.

Much more realistic goal, but it will still need at least 3 more wins between now and selection sunday, maybe 4 more?
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This win will make watching the road game against Maryland just that much more fun. We now have some breathing room and the Maryland game is all gravy at this point.
 



KillmeNow said:
I'm not anywhere near an expert in this regard, but I had a thought when I saw that Pitino wasn't putting Lynch back in. A big part of me was thinking that Pitino was trying to send him a message. Sort of a punishment or a grounding you might say? And seeing as the guys on the court were maintaining the lead, and with his having 4 fouls, why not keep him on the bench. And like someone said, with how Curry was playing, why not keep him in the game.

Maybe Lynch will see that his minutes could be in danger of being cut back in the future, and hopefully he'll respond by figuring how to keep from getting himself into so much foul trouble???

I mean, imagine if he does figure that out?


An idea? Would Pitino ever consider bringing him in off the bench? At least until he gets a handle on this foul trouble thing?

Remember, I said I'm no where near an expert when it comes to this kind of thing. Just throwing some ideas out there. So no need to call me an idiot if you disagree, just tell me why I'm wrong if I am.
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Got to the car in time to hear Pitino. That's exactly what he did. Said something along the lines of he'll be playing from the bench if he doesn't stop fouling.
 

bga1 said:
This win will make watching the road game against Maryland just that much more fun. We now have some breathing room and the Maryland game is all gravy at this point.
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Well said! At least they know what they have to do with Maryland now. Keep those two freshman from getting hot.
 

KillmeNow said:
I'd rather beat Maryland and Wisconsin and lose one of our home games, then lose both of those games and win both of our home games.


I think 2-2 with a win in the BTT could be enough to get us a #6 seed, and that is exactly what I want. To get a #3 seed, we'd have to win something like 7 in a row from here, if not 8, and I just am not sure that is realistic, so if we can't get a #3 seed, then I hope for a #6 seed.

Much more realistic goal, but it will still need at least 3 more wins between now and selection sunday, maybe 4 more?
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I don't think we'll get a 4 seed, but I think that would be more desirable than a 5 or 6. Playing an 11 or 12 seed, you're more likely to get a first round game against a talented but maybe underachieving high major that is capable of beating you if they play to the best of their ability. As a 4 seed or better, you probably get a more stress free game against Delaware or South Dakota State, and hopefully an easy trip to the round of 32, and I think we should be happy with any tournament win we can get since we don't have very many. The only reason I think we'd want a 6 seed over a 4 or 5 is if the 1 seeds are head shoulders better than the rest of the 2-4 seeds, and if we've decided, for whatever reason, that anything less than an Elite Eight is a disappointment.

Basically, I think you're placing a little too much weight on dodging the 1 seed for as long as humanly possible. A 4 or 5 doesn't play a 1 until the Sweet Sixteen. If we got a 4 seed, made it to the Sweet Sixteen, and got wrecked by Kansas, I would still probably have to consider the season a smashing success, and wouldn't find myself wishing we had lost a couple more games and gotten a 6 instead. I'd still be amped if we got a 6 seed, which I think is at least possible, but I wouldn't willingly choose a 6 over a 4.
 

All the wailing and gnashing of teeth is valid, and nobody's more steamed about coughing up that eight-point lead than I am, but the big story here is that this is an impressive win against a team that's looked great lately. On our way home, my wife and I were listing the players that, if it were not for them, the Gophs would have lost, and it was pretty much everyone. Truly a team effort with everyone's fingerprints all over it. Good home stand. A job well done tonight.
 

KillmeNow said:
Maybe Lynch will see that his minutes could be in danger of being cut back in the future, and hopefully he'll respond by figuring how to keep from getting himself into so much foul trouble???
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The difference in minutes between Lynch and Curry tonight was striking. Curry: 35 minutes; Lynch: 13. Lynch is physically a much stronger player, is, of course, a great shot blocker, and is pretty tough to stop around the basket. Curry seems quicker on his feet and in reaction time, is a better outside shooter, a much better free throw shooter, and probably more versatile.
 

Cayman said:
I don't think we'll get a 4 seed, but I think that would be more desirable than a 5 or 6. Playing an 11 or 12 seed, you're more likely to get a first round game against a talented but maybe underachieving high major that is capable of beating you if they play to the best of their ability. As a 4 seed or better, you probably get a more stress free game against Delaware or South Dakota State, and hopefully an easy trip to the round of 32, and I think we should be happy with any tournament win we can get since we don't have very many. The only reason I think we'd want a 6 seed over a 4 or 5 is if the 1 seeds are head shoulders better than the rest of the 2-4 seeds, and if we've decided, for whatever reason, that anything less than an Elite Eight is a disappointment.

Basically, I think you're placing a little too much weight on dodging the 1 seed for as long as humanly possible. A 4 or 5 doesn't play a 1 until the Sweet Sixteen. If we got a 4 seed, made it to the Sweet Sixteen, and got wrecked by Kansas, I would still probably have to consider the season a smashing success, and wouldn't find myself wishing we had lost a couple more games and gotten a 6 instead. I'd still be amped if we got a 6 seed, which I think is at least possible, but I wouldn't willingly choose a 6 over a 4.
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in postseason anything can happen. I'll take our highest seed and roll the dice. No one looks unbeatable this year. will be a crazy tourney
 


Bad Gopher said:
All the wailing and gnashing of teeth is valid, and nobody's more steamed about coughing up that eight-point lead than I am, but the big story here is that this is an impressive win against a team that's looked great lately. On our way home, my wife and I were listing the players that, if it were not for them, the Gophs would have lost, and it was pretty much everyone. Truly a team effort with everyone's fingerprints all over it. Good home stand. A job well done tonight.
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Indeed. An oddity of this conference season is that the Gophers are 7-0 against teams that they play only once this season while being only 1-6 against teams they play twice. Hopefully that latter percentage improves because 3 of the last four games are against teams they've played already this season.
 

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Unregistered User said:
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Man I've seen some bad officiating this year but tonight's game was one of the worst. Some of those fouls on both sides were ridiculous. Hopefully we don't have to deal with him or his crew the rest of the way.
 

Twinsfan007 said:
Man I've seen some bad officiating this year but tonight's game was one of the worst. Some of those fouls on both sides were ridiculous. Hopefully we don't have to deal with him or his crew the rest of the way.
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Man, that was a poorly-officiated game, and I think the Gophers tended to get the better side of it for the better part of the game....until very late and OT, when things evened out again. Still, it was nice to see homerism for the Gophers for a change (arguably 2 in a row now). Beilein had a right to be beefed with some of those calls, including a big one that sent Springs to the line for 3 FTs and a few more that were pretty poor (or not called) in our favor.

The thing that gives me pause about this '16-'17 team is that even though the team is winning a lot of games and is deserving to go to the Tournament, they're not blowing anybody out, and teams below them in the standings are competing strongly at Williams. They weren't blowing out teams in the "preseason", either. Every game is close. Great for fans of exciting basketball, but clearly there is plenty of room for growing to reach the top. I'd like to see them dominate a quality team once in a while, at least at home.

That said, it sure has been a crazy season in terms of exciting games - whew!
 

cncmin said:
Man, that was a poorly-officiated game, and I think the Gophers tended to get the better side of it for the better part of the game....until very late and OT, when things evened out again. Still, it was nice to see homerism for the Gophers for a change (arguably 2 in a row now). Beilein had a right to be beefed with some of those calls, including a big one that sent Springs to the line for 3 FTs and a few more that were pretty poor (or not called) in our favor.

The thing that gives me pause about this '16-'17 team is that even though the team is winning a lot of games and is deserving to go to the Tournament, they're not blowing anybody out, and teams below them in the standings are competing strongly at Williams. They weren't blowing out teams in the "preseason", either. Every game is close. Great for fans of exciting basketball, but clearly there is plenty of room for growing to reach the top. I'd like to see them dominate a quality team once in a while, at least at home.

That said, it sure has been a crazy season in terms of exciting games - whew!
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The only teams they played below them in the standings at home is Indiana and Ohio state, traditional strong teams ( with a heck of a lot more 4/5 star players than we have ) - Michigan had the same record - I don't think we've have gotten any favors with the big ten schedule we've played - 5 of the teams below us we only play once - this makes their record even more impressive -
 

Curry was a much better matchup against Michigan's mobile bigs. Lynch will need to play well (and more than 13 effing minutes) against Maryland's more formidable interior players.
Murph continues to be a matchup nightmare regardless of opponent.
We've played really well on the road, hopefully continue that at College Park...no pressure just, just do our thing. Should be fun.


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sal said:
Curry was a much better matchup against Michigan's mobile bigs. Lynch will need to play well (and more than 13 effing minutes) against Maryland's more formidable interior players.
Murph continues to be a matchup nightmare regardless of opponent.
We've played really well on the road, hopefully continue that at College Park...no pressure just, just do our thing. Should be fun.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Lynch and Dodd might both foul out before the first TV timeout.
 

cjbfbp said:
The difference in minutes between Lynch and Curry tonight was striking. Curry: 35 minutes; Lynch: 13. Lynch is physically a much stronger player, is, of course, a great shot blocker, and is pretty tough to stop around the basket. Curry seems quicker on his feet and in reaction time, is a better outside shooter, a much better free throw shooter, and probably more versatile.
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The fact that Lynch only played 13 minutes just makes his numbers look that much better, if he can lose a little weight and learn to stay out of foul trouble on a consistent basis net season, there's no reason why he couldn't be a second round pick, if Iverson could do it, Lynch can do it.
 

bemidjigopher said:
The fact that Lynch only played 13 minutes just makes his numbers look that much better, if he can lose a little weight and learn to stay out of foul trouble on a consistent basis net season, there's no reason why he couldn't be a second round pick, if Iverson could do it, Lynch can do it.
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Why do you want him to lose weight?
 

Winasota Gopher said:
Why do you want him to lose weight?
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I think if he's quicker it might help cut back on the ticky tack fouls, I don't think it's a Mo Walker or Nene situation, but I think it would help him get to that next level, if he lost ten pounds he'd still be able to do the same things that he does now, just my two cents, which is worth exactly that :)
 

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