Everything has to gear towards playing hard like they did today and building the squad back up for the BT tournament. Need to find a way out of the Wednesday games by winning some down the stretch. Then get Coffey and McBrayer back to full strength and who knows maybe they could run a little streak to take out the frustrations of this year. The encouraging thing is that we now know that we have a potentially great PG for next year in Washington. He's got a ways to go but he is learning. Shot selection is much better, almost everything to the hole and he adjusted well to avoid getting stuffed at the rim. Good effort today!
***OFFICIAL MINNESOTA AT MICHIGAN IN-GAME THREAD!!!!***
- Thread starter Stan
- Start date
freshtrout
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2008
- Messages
- 2,085
- Reaction score
- 51
- Points
- 48
IW does have a ways to go - no doubt, but his play in the past two games shows that he is learning his role. As (hopefully) he continues to improve - I like our chances go forward. The 3 guard lineup works, for now. Probably not against Purdue, but let's see. Hurt continues to make me scratch my head...he seems to not make easy shots near the rim. What's up with that? Hopefully Coffey is back soon and we don't have to play Bakary too much..and IW is not 6'1" .. maybe 5' 10" at the most...but with his quickness I guess it doesn't matter.
Bad Gopher
A Loner, A Rebel
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2008
- Messages
- 23,198
- Reaction score
- 10,384
- Points
- 113
Washington can do things other guys can't do. As maddening as he's been at times, I look forward to seeing him out on the court, especially now that the season's in the tank. Hey, people, whether you want to admit it or not, sports are purely entertainment, and this guy's entertaining.
Hurt needs to go stronger to the hoop and use his body and accept the contact. He's shying away from the contact, which makes these mother****ing officials less likely to make a call.
Finally sat down and watched the game while a lot of people were watching another game, some random thoughts:
- Really good to see Washington and Fitzgerald look good against someone other than Iowa. Isaiah might be the best play maker on the team right now and he also rebounds really well for his size. Fitzgerald didn't do much offensively, but continues to look more and more like an athlete out on on the court. The lateral quickness is still lacking when asked to defend on the perimeter, but he's showing more explosion which is showing up in his rebounding numbers and being a shot altering presence near the rim.
- That fourth foul on Murphy was a killer. I believe we were up 8-10 at the time and I just don't see how any argument can be made that Murphy charged in that situation. The defender was moving, Murphy was taking him off the dribble and the contact occurred at an angle. Not only did that put Murphy on the bench, but it also robbed the Gophers of a possession in what would turn out to be a tight game.
- I expected to be more angry about the Gophers blowing yet another lead than I was. This blown lead was aided by Michael Hurt missing his second bunny of the game (yes he was fouled, still need to convert both of those bunnies through light contact at 6'7 and 220) and a couple of other make-able shots not finding their way in to the basket. This wasn't the typical Gopher meltdown where the team looked unorganized, shook, and getting out-schemed/coached. Unfortunately there was one bad Nate Mason heave from 3 during the run that has become all too common from Nate. You would hope your Senior PG would be a calming presence during an opposition run and maybe find a way to use his experience to get fouled and get to the line.
- The Gophers made a number of really tough low percentage mid range shots in the first 30 minutes of the game. Those are the shots the defense wants you to take, and the Gophers were fortunate to be hitting them.
- The span late in the 2nd half where Michigan had a 3 point lead that turned in to a 5 point lead was really disheartening and was more ammo for those of use who don't believe in Pitino. Michigan had the ball with over 40 seconds left and were up by 3, you just play defense in that scenario. The announcers were acting like Pitino wanted his guys to foul (they weren't) and the Gopher players were just running around aimlessly unsure of what to do until Michigan found a guy all alone under the basket for what should have been the nail in the coffin. Much like the end of the Indiana game, the team seems to have no idea what to do at the worst possible time...the last minute of a close game.
- Washington/Ftizgerald/Harris in OT. All 3 of these guys let there man get to the bucket to their strong side/hand with a shocking lack of resistance. The defense played on those possessions was horrific. On the last of those 3 which proved to be the game winner, Harris has to either commit to a hard foul/steal attempt or let the kid shoot. That half-hearted slap only guaranteed that Rahman would be going to the line in the unlikely event that the little tap from Harris prevented him from making the shot. We can and should expect better on ball defense than we got from these 3 in OT.
- Dupree in the OT. Dupree had 3 wide open looks from beyond the arc in OT and converted just one of them. If he makes two, the Gophers likely have their 4th conference victory. That was good coaching, and good execution to get him open, the shots just didn't go down. You'll take those shots on the road to take the lead/win the game against a good team anytime.
- Really good to see Washington and Fitzgerald look good against someone other than Iowa. Isaiah might be the best play maker on the team right now and he also rebounds really well for his size. Fitzgerald didn't do much offensively, but continues to look more and more like an athlete out on on the court. The lateral quickness is still lacking when asked to defend on the perimeter, but he's showing more explosion which is showing up in his rebounding numbers and being a shot altering presence near the rim.
- That fourth foul on Murphy was a killer. I believe we were up 8-10 at the time and I just don't see how any argument can be made that Murphy charged in that situation. The defender was moving, Murphy was taking him off the dribble and the contact occurred at an angle. Not only did that put Murphy on the bench, but it also robbed the Gophers of a possession in what would turn out to be a tight game.
- I expected to be more angry about the Gophers blowing yet another lead than I was. This blown lead was aided by Michael Hurt missing his second bunny of the game (yes he was fouled, still need to convert both of those bunnies through light contact at 6'7 and 220) and a couple of other make-able shots not finding their way in to the basket. This wasn't the typical Gopher meltdown where the team looked unorganized, shook, and getting out-schemed/coached. Unfortunately there was one bad Nate Mason heave from 3 during the run that has become all too common from Nate. You would hope your Senior PG would be a calming presence during an opposition run and maybe find a way to use his experience to get fouled and get to the line.
- The Gophers made a number of really tough low percentage mid range shots in the first 30 minutes of the game. Those are the shots the defense wants you to take, and the Gophers were fortunate to be hitting them.
- The span late in the 2nd half where Michigan had a 3 point lead that turned in to a 5 point lead was really disheartening and was more ammo for those of use who don't believe in Pitino. Michigan had the ball with over 40 seconds left and were up by 3, you just play defense in that scenario. The announcers were acting like Pitino wanted his guys to foul (they weren't) and the Gopher players were just running around aimlessly unsure of what to do until Michigan found a guy all alone under the basket for what should have been the nail in the coffin. Much like the end of the Indiana game, the team seems to have no idea what to do at the worst possible time...the last minute of a close game.
- Washington/Ftizgerald/Harris in OT. All 3 of these guys let there man get to the bucket to their strong side/hand with a shocking lack of resistance. The defense played on those possessions was horrific. On the last of those 3 which proved to be the game winner, Harris has to either commit to a hard foul/steal attempt or let the kid shoot. That half-hearted slap only guaranteed that Rahman would be going to the line in the unlikely event that the little tap from Harris prevented him from making the shot. We can and should expect better on ball defense than we got from these 3 in OT.
- Dupree in the OT. Dupree had 3 wide open looks from beyond the arc in OT and converted just one of them. If he makes two, the Gophers likely have their 4th conference victory. That was good coaching, and good execution to get him open, the shots just didn't go down. You'll take those shots on the road to take the lead/win the game against a good team anytime.
Gopherbbdude
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2013
- Messages
- 3,644
- Reaction score
- 1,643
- Points
- 113
They were all exhausted and had nothing left in the tank. 7 man rotation. Mason Played all 45 minutes. And our only post player was in foul trouble.
Bad Gopher
A Loner, A Rebel
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2008
- Messages
- 23,198
- Reaction score
- 10,384
- Points
- 113
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Gopherbbdude
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2013
- Messages
- 3,644
- Reaction score
- 1,643
- Points
- 113
That was on IW. left his man
Bad Gopher
A Loner, A Rebel
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2008
- Messages
- 23,198
- Reaction score
- 10,384
- Points
- 113
IINM, they were switching on every screen. Regardless, not a tough situation to defend there.
NWMetroGopherFan
Active member
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2017
- Messages
- 355
- Reaction score
- 154
- Points
- 43
Finally watched the game today, and everything changed after the 2 garbage foul calls on Murphy midway through the second half. The over-the-back was a terrible call, and it wasn't a foul. The charge was even worse. The guy completely flopped. Michigan took advantage with him out of the game. Gophers likely get the win if he's not on the bench.
Hurt had a couple close in shots that he just simply has to go up stronger and make, regardless of contact. IW got hit in the face on one of his baskets in the second half and there was no call. Even more amazing was our guys hacking Duncan Robinson 3 or 4 obvious times on the late in-bounds, and he gets called for a travel. It is what it is.
Great to see IW do what he does best, attack. Really encouraged by the overall effort and they didn't back down, even down 5 with less than 30 ticks to play. Play with that effort the rest of the season and get Coffey back (hopefully), and you should win some games. Keep in mind with everything going on with injuries and Lynch, there are 7 or 8 guys practicing. Hard to do much preparation when you can't go a legit 5-on-5 in practice.
I know it seems like a long shot, but don't completely rule out Lynch coming back. His appeal hearings are later this week, with a decision to follow I think within 5 days of the hearings.
Hurt had a couple close in shots that he just simply has to go up stronger and make, regardless of contact. IW got hit in the face on one of his baskets in the second half and there was no call. Even more amazing was our guys hacking Duncan Robinson 3 or 4 obvious times on the late in-bounds, and he gets called for a travel. It is what it is.
Great to see IW do what he does best, attack. Really encouraged by the overall effort and they didn't back down, even down 5 with less than 30 ticks to play. Play with that effort the rest of the season and get Coffey back (hopefully), and you should win some games. Keep in mind with everything going on with injuries and Lynch, there are 7 or 8 guys practicing. Hard to do much preparation when you can't go a legit 5-on-5 in practice.
I know it seems like a long shot, but don't completely rule out Lynch coming back. His appeal hearings are later this week, with a decision to follow I think within 5 days of the hearings.
I would love to see Lynch, Murph, Coffey, McBrayer and Mason back on the court together and healthy for the BTT and backed up by Washington, Harris , Fitz and Hurt
Pitino said Curry’s just about good to go too right? I know it won’t happen, but it would be pretty dope to see this team at full strength win Minnesota’s first ever Big Ten Tournament and become the scariest 14 seed the NCAA tournament has ever seen.
MennoSota
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2015
- Messages
- 11,790
- Reaction score
- 3,198
- Points
- 113
It will be a feminists day in h3ll if Lynch wins his appeal. The kangaroo court is stacked and the table is so tilted that the house always wins. Lynch is gone.
Pitino's coaching might improve with that group........
Oh wait but I forgot that Bill Parcells said.....
Ewert86PC
Metrodome Era Survivor
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2010
- Messages
- 6,757
- Reaction score
- 1,991
- Points
- 113