Observations from last night's loss to Miami

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UpAndUnder43 said:
RE: Crowd noise

If you weren't in the building, pretty much impossible to know how loud it was. Its the loudest I've ever heard The Barn. Sustained noise, bursts of noise, noise when on a run, noise when needing a stop, noise when the call went for us, noise when the call went against us. I sat down at 7:34 and felt like I was late. The entire student section was packed when I got there.

People were freaking fired up for the game. I got to Sally's around 5 and couldn't get a table (ended up at the bar) and by the time I left, had trouble getting out of the place because it was so full.
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I’ve heard the Barn be louder more than a few times, but this was the best in ages. It shows that for all the gimmicks and so forth, there’s nothing like a good Gopher team playing a good opponent to get fans in the seats in full voice. Had they not fallen behind for such stretches in the second half it would’ve been louder for more sustained periods.
 

Miami looked like the better team in person. They could pass out of a double and swing the ball quickly for an open look. We never pass that crisply. IW was playing rat ball. Amir is the only reason we stayed close. He needs to develop his off hand and he will be something special.
The Barn was a blast last night.
 

Zeppelin Gopher said:
Washington having such a high usage was inexcusable.

Just because Mason can credibly play off the ball doesn't mean it's a good idea to have him do so.
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I thought IW worst stretch was when Mason went to bench with just under 7 minutes left in the first half. But I agree we needed to go into Murphy and Lynch more there
 

Zeppelin Gopher said:
I was at the game, well aware that we didn't have Dupree but thanks for pointing that out.

Didn't mention anything about playing time, I mentioned usage, big difference. If you thought it was a good idea for IW have the ball in his hands down the stretch instead of Mason or Coffey, and take the most shots on the team by far, than I don't really know what to tell you.
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Washington actually played very well down the stretch for the most part. He struggled big time in the first half and the Mason foul trouble really compounded things. Kid has a lot to learn and he definitely forced things last night especially in the first half.

Pitino clearly wanted the ball in Washington's hands as he had him bringing it up court even when Mason was on the court so he must have had his reasons. Whether that was matchups or something else is tough to say.

No doubt that Dupree being out and Washington having to play more hurt us last night but I honestly believe that a game like this is going to go a long way towards helping Washington figure out how to play at this level.
 

Switching back and forth between Assembly Hall and Williams on TV made Williams sound like a library. I'd like to blame it on mic strategy/acoustics...
 


I would hesitate to define IW's career by his first half season. He will learn how to play in the BIG and get better.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using Tapatalk
 

Not overly concerned from losing to a really good Miami team, especially one that is a horrible matchup for us without Dupree.

A couple thoughts (negative) that I haven't seen much on here:

1. Washington really telegraphs that he is 100% intent on scoring in a particular moment or 100% intent on passing. A few times in 2H, he couldn't make a normal pass to the wing and it would be deflected. I'm not sure if this is because he has never had to pass or is so used to getting his own, but his distribution ability is so unnatural. It's early and hoping this improves but an observation. Love his ability to get what he wants on the court and the future is bright.

2. While Hurt looked unbelievably slow last night and got burned countless times on drives, I'm not sure if he will have to defend true guards like that the rest of the season (maybe Michigan?). 4 guard sets from Miami vs a Dupree-less Gophers team left us no options and he was exposed. I thought Larranaga did a really nice job last night.
 

Larranaga does have a bit more experience coaching than Richard. Richard is really good. Larranaga is in the very top group of coaches. It's tough when you get blindsided by a starter being down and you have zero depth....your options are few with little or no time to prepare your team.

With IW it is a process. He'll be fine. It was his first big home game, first start, crazy crowd was a first time experience for him, other team was better etc etc, give him some time. IW is good.

Anybody turn to watch the end of Indiana and Duke? Tied with four minutes to go.. Duke ran sets each possession to isolate their unstoppable post player one on one. It was a beautiful thing to watch...we could do the same with Murphy...put him in the same situation each time down the floor like coach K did and we win the game. Miami cheats too much... Coffey buries his wing 3. Allowed Duke to win by 10.

Agree with many, we needed to give Miami a zone look, even if it failed, it would have put them in a different rhythm. Also, would liked to have seen Reggie zone the rim sometimes based on matchups....so he wasn't always away from the basket defensively.

Lastly, I don't know if we'll get there, but Hurt can make wide open 3's. Will he ever get the the confidence to look for them, take them and make them? That would help in so many ways. It's not looking like it's any time soon.
 

fmlizard said:
Yeah...in general I would like to see this team pound it inside more and take more post shots. We may have the best 4/5 combo in the B1G if not the nation and the Gophers should lean on that more. Hurt looks decent when he tries to be aggressive on offense. Anyone who got a Big Ten scholarship, goes to practice every day, and gets in the games for reasons other than being 7 feet tall should be able to take some shots. If he's not a scorer then he needs to be a hustle guy, and he didn't get any rebounds, blocks, steals, assists, or even fouls in a long stretch on the court. That's a bad sign.
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Hurt is (very) gradually developing more confidence and it's nice to see. However, last night was a step back. As you were saying, he's a B1G player and he's playing important minutes in a big game. It's ok to act like it.
 



Pitino said in the postgame he knew 2 days ago McBrayer was dealing with the issue. That said, Miami is one of the most athletic and defensively efficient teams the Gophers will see all year. Newton, Brown and Huell are legit NBA players as early as next year.

I'm not going to be bothered by one loss against a top-10 team. Washington was asked to do more than he's capable of 7 games into his career, playing 27 minutes. But Pitino didn't have much other choice with McBrayer out. They missed his energy, defense and length. The only Big 10 team with even remotely comparable athleticism is Michigan State. Purdue has athletes, but not the depth.

Larranaga made a brilliant halftime adjustment, forcing Lynch to play defense away from the basket in the pick-and-roll. He's not laterally quick enough to defend it, and he's not fast enough to close out on a shooter in the event of a switch. Led to dunks and open 3s the entire half. You couldn't risk playing zone against them and letting them light it up from 3, they had 3 shooters on the court most of the second half and playing 4 guards the last 3 minutes after one of their guys fouled out was a bad match-up for the Gophers.

Not counting turnovers, Miami scored on 14 of its first 17 second half possessions. They just executed better on all fronts. The better team won last night. Learn from it and beat Rutgers on Sunday. And get McBrayer back healthy.
 

jamiche said:
Hurt is (very) gradually developing more confidence and it's nice to see. However, last night was a step back. As you were saying, he's a B1G player and he's playing important minutes in a big game. It's ok to act like it.
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I think he was gassed a lot of the time. He got torched about 3 times in a row on defense in the 2nd half and Pitino kept him out there. I like his fight, but he had a very tough defensive matchup and was losing badly - due primarily to slow feet. On the offensive end, I think they were so quick he was afraid to put up a shot.
 

GopherJake said:
I think he was gassed a lot of the time. He got torched about 3 times in a row on defense in the 2nd half and Pitino kept him out there. I like his fight, but he had a very tough defensive matchup and was losing badly - due primarily to slow feet. On the offensive end, I think they were so quick he was afraid to put up a shot.
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He was gassed. Defensively, they were turning the corner on him.

The operative word in your post is "afraid." His play since he has arrived on campus has been generally fearful, like he doesn't feel as though he belongs. He's getting some run this year and if he can bust through that mentality I think he'll be a solid contributor.
 

Miami has NBA talent on roster, Gophers do not. Outclassed - simple as that.

NBA Locks: Bruce Brown, Lonnie Walker.

Gophers?

Maybe Murphy at the end of this year or next. That's it. Coffey at this rate is not strong enough. Still early so he has hope. Mason at a longshot.

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Also, Chris Lykes from Miami looked like a reallllly good 4-star Freshman. Not ragging on our 4-star Washington as rough shooting nights can happen to anyone, but Lykes is clearly well ahead in terms of savvy & IQ.
 



bfast said:
Miami has NBA talent on roster, Gophers do not. Outclassed - simple as that.

NBA Locks: Bruce Brown, Lonnie Walker.

Gophers?

Maybe Murphy at the end of this year or next. That's it. Coffey at this rate is not strong enough. Still early, though so he has hope. Mason at a longshot.
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I disagree. I would think that the rebounding battle, and the FT attempts would be much closer if we were simply "outclassed". With McBrayer in the game, we would have had fewer TO's, and the perimeter defense would have been better. This game was winnable without him.
 

GopherHoopsFan said:
I disagree. I would think that the rebounding battle, and the FT attempts would be much closer if we were simply "outclassed". With McBrayer in the game, we would have had fewer TO's, and the perimeter defense would have been better. This game was winnable without him.
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They really kept poise throughout and they also had clear "closers" down the stretch. We have talent but we don't have closers like Bruce and Lonnie. Think how night and day Jimmy Butler > Wiggins in the clutch.
 

bfast said:
They really kept poise throughout and they also had clear "closers" down the stretch. We have talent but we don't have closers like Bruce and Lonnie. Think how night and day Jimmy Butler > Wiggins in the clutch.
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Yes, Bruce Brown was a great player to have leading the way down the stretch, I just don't think it was as simple as stating the Gophers were outclassed. There's a case to be made that Murphy was the best player on the floor yesterday.
 

bfast said:
Miami has NBA talent on roster, Gophers do not. Outclassed - simple as that.

NBA Locks: Bruce Brown, Lonnie Walker.

Gophers?

Maybe Murphy at the end of this year or next. That's it. Coffey at this rate is not strong enough. Still early so he has hope. Mason at a longshot.

----
Also, Chris Lykes from Miami looked like a reallllly good 4-star Freshman. Not ragging on our 4-star Washington as rough shooting nights can happen to anyone, but Lykes is clearly well ahead in terms of savvy & IQ.
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#20 (Huell) will be a NBA player. Super impressed with him.
 

Both of Mason's first half fouls were terrible. The first one was a flop and there was very little contact on the second.

For the most part, I'm fine with Washington driving. I just think he needs to look to pass more. Drive and kick it out or dump it off to one of the big men.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Both of Mason's first half fouls were terrible. The first one was a flop and there was very little contact on the second.

For the most part, I'm fine with Washington driving. I just think he needs to look to pass more. Drive and kick it out or dump it off to one of the big men.
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Just before Mason's his first foul Mason got a call on what should have been a charge on him and ended up going the other way. Looked like he pushed the defender away and to the ground with his off arm. So first foul on Mason was a make up call IMO. Second call was phantom for sure and unfortunate that it sent him to the bench for a long period. Definitely had an effect on the game, especially with Dupree gone.
 

LakerFan said:
Just before Mason's his first foul Mason got a call on what should have been a charge on him and ended up going the other way. Looked like he pushed the defender away and to the ground with his off arm. So first foul on Mason was a make up call IMO. Second call was phantom for sure and unfortunate that it sent him to the bench for a long period. Definitely had an effect on the game, especially with Dupree gone.
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I could be wrong but I think when Mason left the game with his 2nd foul, the Gophers were losing, and by the time he got back on the court it was tied.
 

bfast said:
Miami has NBA talent on roster, Gophers do not. Outclassed - simple as that.

NBA Locks: Bruce Brown, Lonnie Walker.

Gophers?

Maybe Murphy at the end of this year or next. That's it. Coffey at this rate is not strong enough. Still early so he has hope. Mason at a longshot.

----
Also, Chris Lykes from Miami looked like a reallllly good 4-star Freshman. Not ragging on our 4-star Washington as rough shooting nights can happen to anyone, but Lykes is clearly well ahead in terms of savvy & IQ.
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I would have to agree. Savvy and basketball IQ are so important but are hard to measure and perhaps underrated. Lykes played like a junior. IW like a freshman.


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UpAndUnder43 said:
I could be wrong but I think when Mason left the game with his 2nd foul, the Gophers were losing, and by the time he got back on the court it was tied.
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You would be correct good sir. Although, Coffey was the lone reason for it.
 

I thought we were going to grab control when we went up by 6. Very impressive stuff by Miami and they showed they are a slightly better "team" as of right now.

I think MN definitely has much more growth potential left to tackle so definitely could see this going the other way if this matchup happens in the tournament. I think Pitino knows that they have work to do (hence his "it's only November" comment after game).

More to improve and more to prove. What really matters is firing on all cylinders come Feb-March (see your typical Sparty team).
 

7 points loss - Very lucky banked in 3 (do we ever do it?) Swatted ball going for there layup and Murphys apparent 3 point play into two missed free throws. AND am I the only one sick of the over use of electronic music! It was on forever before the game not letting any cheers to go before the game started!
 

Agree that they over did the music. It seemed like they were trying to hard to be like a T Wolves game.
 

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