B1G Game 16: Gophers Visit Maryland (2-21-19)



So...it sounds like watching the Men's game was less painful?
 

The ladies played hard. With the lack of depth they have, they couldn't afford to lose Pitts down the stretch. Neither Kaposi or Lamke could defend against more athletic players. Charles played a great game, but she's a bellyacher.
 




Everybody is so negative... feels like we wanted them to lose. You either cheer for the team or don't. Nobody on that team is over 23 yrs old. Young ladies... went on the road and had maryland shook. Mikesell made big shots, taiye and destiny got in foul trouble and that turned our aggression off. Then you have players who we know can't make plays in situations to help us win. Stop complaining and cheer their effort.
Beat rutgers, beat msu and go into the tourney in 5th or 6th place
 

They gave it their all. Bell got hurt, foul trouble and depth caught up with them.

We should be proud even though they lost a heart breaker.
 

The fact we dont even have a backup guard available is really something, forces them to play a different style and its tough playing 2 bigs against Maryland. Oh well win the next 2 and get a couple in the big 10 tournament.
 



You have a 6'5 big guarding on the inbound play waving her hands high in the air. You won't be able to throw it over her. Gotta go low with the pass if you wanted to go to Bell.

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You know Maryland was going to be guarding hard for a 5-sec call. Why is Perez way off in the corner. Brunson probably doesn't have the strength to get it to her. Perez should have been in the other corner to help out.
 

Choke, choke, choke, choke, choke. The sign of a rookie coach.

Can't picture Lindsay choking. She isn't on the court at all and only do what she can. One of the biggest games of the year and the players knew it for some time due to the history of the coaches. Lindsay and crew will do better next time.

Seems like when someone loses, someone always want to use the choke word. Gets old.
 

Tough loss. But how many times have we seen the Lynx crawl back and beat lesser WNBA teams in the past 7-8 years? This loss hurts but the Lynx have done the same to plenty of teams over the years.

What do the Lynx have to do with the Gophers? This was a very winnable game. A game that would have made that #4 seed attainable, thereby making a NCAA tournament bid a little more feasible. All gone because you couldn't execute? All gone because you play not to win starting in the third quarter instead playing the way that got you the big lead?
 
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What do the Lynx have to do with the Gophers? This was a very winnable game. A game that would have made that #4 seed attainable, thereby making a NCAA tournament bid a little more feasible. All gone because you couldn't execute? All gone because you want to play not to win starting in the third quarter instead playing the way that got you the big lead?

You're reaching
They won the third qtr...out rebounded in the third qtr and got to the ft line in the 3rd. Were doing just fine in the ft. 2 quick ones on taiye, and a iffy one on destiny...game over.
Cant win with palma and lamke in together against an athletic charles and a shooting team.
Run whatever play u want, when your best scorer and best shooter are both out, you're in trouble. Keke came back in but the spacing left with destiny
 



Ok out of state was unable to watch or listen, were the fouls legit or homecooking? How bad was Bell’s injury? Sounds like she was able to get back in? Looked at the score with just over a minute left and a seven point lead, thought a couple of free throws would seal it but checked again and they lost. Failure to execute? Now I’m not sure if I want to watch replay. They really need this one.
 

Called 4 fouls on taiye and destiny in 52 seconds of gameplay. Unreal...
 

Ok out of state was unable to watch or listen, were the fouls legit or homecooking? How bad was Bell’s injury? Sounds like she was able to get back in? Looked at the score with just over a minute left and a seven point lead, thought a couple of free throws would seal it but checked again and they lost. Failure to execute? Now I’m not sure if I want to watch replay. They really need this one.

I don't think we got any fouls in our favor during the last several minutes. The last foul call on Pitts was an offensive foul where it appeared she was catching the ball and the MD players lounging for the ball tripped over her leg. I thought it should have either gone against them or been a no call, but maybe I missed something. That was the dagger. The fouls that were called on MD were almost intentional to build up to force us to the line (they had less than 5 in the quarter). It was a tough way to lose when we were so close. Yes going to the line would have given us a chance to seal it, but we never got there. Hopefully they take this out on their next two opponents.
 

What do the Lynx have to do with the Gophers? This was a very winnable game. A game that would have made that #4 seed attainable, thereby making a NCAA tournament bid a little more feasible. All gone because you couldn't execute? All gone because you play not to win starting in the third quarter instead playing the way that got you the big lead?


LOL did Linday not play for the Lynx? Or am i mistaken? You tell me Shades. I was just saying that good teams know how to come back and win. Something Lindsay knows a lot about. The gophers were just on the wrong end of that tonight.
 

You have a 6'5 big guarding on the inbound play waving her hands high in the air. You won't be able to throw it over her. Gotta go low with the pass if you wanted to go to Bell.

fhF6gtM.jpg


You know Maryland was going to be guarding hard for a 5-sec call. Why is Perez way off in the corner. Brunson probably doesn't have the strength to get it to her. Perez should have been in the other corner to help out.

This is where I again say our inbound plays suck. I couldn't watch it live so I just finished watching the replay. I don't know why Perez is in the corner or why the ball is being tossed back court with 6 seconds remaining. Or why, as has been asked, Whalen didn't use a timeout. A really good game until crunch time and the second time this season we couldn't hold a 17 point lead.
 

No timeouts,left on last inbound. It was a bummer to see them lose. Played so hard. To me it shows with great effort this team can beat just about any opponent. Wish Gophers had one more gua they could play. Sure this one stings, hope it doesn't linget against Rutgers.

Sent from my SM-J327P using Tapatalk
 

https://umterps.com/documents/2019/2/21//14_UMQuotes.pdf

Maryland Head Coach Brenda Frese
Opening Statement:


“You know this really ranks up there in just a special, special win for us. Just loved the way we had to fight, claw, and scratch. I think it speaks volumes to the character and the competitiveness in the locker room. You couldn’t ask for more of an uncharacteristic night from
us. A lot of missed lay ups, turnovers, and defensive breakdowns especially in the first half. That kind of continued over in the second half. I thought we were plugging holes a lot when we Bri(Fraser) went down. I thought Minnesota came and punched early and often. I thought some of our adjustments in the second half was huge when you talk about our triangle and two that slowed them down a little bit. I thought we got a little bit more patient on the offensive end. "Obviously the inbound late play with Shakira (Austin) there for the deflection to the steal for
Kaila (Charles) to finish it. I said this in the locker room, you always want that to play out the way it did for Kaila tonight, the responsibility that she holds and wants, the ownership. To come off of a tough game at Iowa, to flip it that quickly to end the game is why she is such a tremendous winner and competitor and why we trust her so much. Just a night we all wont forget.”

On going against Lindsay Whalen:

“I think when the ball is tipped it’s kind of a chess match, you are just trying to maneuver. I think she obviously has instilled a lot of confidence in her team. I thought they were tremendous with their game plan and how aggressive they were when they attacked just off the bounds. Tough way to win when you are going against a former player you coached. But again once the ball is tipped and you got two really competitive people on the sidelines trying to match back and forth.

On what was going through her head before Kaila’s two shots to tie and win the game

“I think our last two games have felt like that. That is what we are preparing for, March. There even late, I was thinking we were going to go into overtime. Potentially just trying to manage things, how many time outs you have left, how many fouls you have to give. So there was a lot
going on that you are trying to manage to get your team to understand time score and where we are at. “

On what she was telling the team as they were coming back in the fourth quarter:

"I thought you saw their trust. It really unfolded in the fourth quarter I thought on both ends of the floor. I thought we got a lot more aggressive defensively. Offensively I thought we were able to play through Kaila with some of those screens, put the ball in her hands, making play after play, making reads out of it I thought were huge. Having Taylor's (Mikesell) threes there, we needed every one of them to be able to get us back. I thought she was patient, she had some shots that didn’t fall for her, but she continues to stay the courts and make some big shots for us."

On what was causing trouble throughout the game:

"I thought we were flat to start the game. I don’t know if it was the snow day we had yesterday, maybe we laid around a little too much. But we had a ton more energy in shoot-around. Obviously, loved the response after halftime that we needed to be able to have. We were in foul
trouble, Bri (Fraser) going down, we had some pieces that were really tough and then missing so many layups which uncharacteristic for us I think fed into our psyche a little bit and in the game."

Junior Guard Kaila Charles
On the Minnesota turnover that created the buzzer beater:


“When she deflected it I just saw the ball and I was like ‘Just go get it’ and I knew we had four or five seconds so I was just trying to get to the rim, maybe draw a foul and it went in. That was it. I was just glad because that play wouldn’t have happened if Shakira (Austin) didn’t tip the ball and had high hands on that.”

On the game tying layup:

“They were really playing to my left hand and I’m right-handed, so I just saw a lane and my teammates have been encouraging me all game to stay in the game because I missed a couple of layups. Taylor (Mikesell) was encouraging me like ‘You’re going to get it back, you’re going to
get it back’ and so when I saw the lane open I just drove and I was able to finish.”

On how big it was to have a game like this for her after an uncharacteristic game against Iowa:

“It just helped with the confidence, but I wasn’t really worried about that game. It was in the past, my teammates were telling me and my coach was telling me, ‘You’re gonna bounce back, things are gonna work out.’ I just kept my head down, just not worrying about it, just getting in the gym, and we had practice yesterday and we were able to get a lot of shots up as a player practice. So I just know that you’re going to have bad games here and there, and you just have to be able to play through it and my teammates and my coach really helped me through that tough time.”

Freshman Guard Taylor Mikesell
On how the win felt especially rebounding from Iowa:


“I think it’s huge especially how far down we were going into halftime, I think it says a lot about how we fight as a team and how we trust each other. The way Kaila (Charles) was playing, she’s our leader, and the way she goes the team goes and I think coming in here as a freshman
being able to play under and alongside Kaila’s leadership, I think it’s a blessing.”

Minnesota Head Coach Lindsay Whalen
On the last minute of the game”

“Not our best. Give them credit. Give them credit. They out physicaled us in a couple of possessions. When it comes down to it, it comes down to making those plays in the last minute, end of the game execution. So, obviously we need to work on that.”

On the key to getting a jump on Maryland in the game:

“Our guys play hard. We give it everything we have every night. We put them in some tough spots. I think we guarded well until the fourth. We had guys who were finishing at the basket and making some plays.”

On rebounding against Maryland:

“I’m glad we rebounded well, but we didn’t win.”

On the growth she's seen with the 6-game win streak:

“They’re giving us everything they had. They’ve really come together, they’re playing hard, they’re playing the game the right way. I told them nights like this really sting, and it should hurt. It should hurt because we put so much into it in this last stretch but, we have two games left and onward from here. It’s a good team that beat us but we gave it everything we had.”

On what to learn from facing adversity tonight

“Well yeah, sometimes you go through adversity. Next time I’m very confident we will have it in the winning stretch.”

On the team’s mentality in the last quarter:

“We still had it. Thank you.”

Sophomore Guard/Forward Destiny Pitts
On the last minute of the game:


“For me, the last minute I was sitting on the bench with five fouls. So for me, I just have to be a little smarter down the stretch.”

Redshirt Senior Guard Kenisha Bell
On the last minute of the game:


“We needed to stay poised. We didn’t stay poised within the last minute and it cost us the game.”
 

Clearly the Gophers made a huge number of mistakes here, in the 4th quarter and especially in the last 50 seconds (see below).

But first, let’s not mince words here, let’s just call the crooks in striped shirts exactly what they are: people who earn a couple dollars by refereeing basketball games, but who ostensibly make some money on the side by throwing games, at the behest of either over-eager Maryland sports fans, or perhaps Las Vegas criminals who were about to lose their shirts after going all-in on what must have seemed in advance of the game to be a sure-thing Maryland win.

I conjecture that it’s pretty much impossible for the visiting team to be outscored 9 to zero in the last 50 seconds of a game - that is, without the referees intentionally helping out the home team a little bit.

Think about it for a sec. I know Brenda is a good coach, but put her hat on for a moment, and imagine you’re in a timeout with 50 seconds left in the game, and you need to outscore the Gophers by 8 points in only 50 seconds in order to win the game. Not just score 8 points, but outscore by 8 points. Now, pray tell, exactly what play are you going to draw up in order to score 8 points in one, maybe two possessions, tops. Oh, and you have to instruct your team to hold the Gophers scoreless for one or two possessions as well.

So pretty much that requires back-to-back four-point plays. But the play-by-play doesn’t show any four-point plays. Rather, the record seems to be indicative of Win-by-Referee - except, that is, for the final in-bounds play that showed zero basketball IQ by the Gophers and turned what was a 7-0 run by Maryland and the referees to tie it within 44 seconds, into a game gifted by Minnesota to Maryland in the last 6 seconds.

The Gophers did everything in their power to help out the Referees and Maryland.

According to ...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nc...-8-maryland-avoids-minnesota-upset-behind?amp

Maryland outscored Minnesota nine to nothing in the final 50 seconds. That’s about 10.8 points per minute of outscoring. Or, extrapolating to a per-quarter basis, that’s equivalent to 108 points per quarter of outscoring. Or 432 points per game of outscoring. Sounds quite exhausting. I wonder if any basketball team has ever scored 108 points in a quarter? Without help from the referees, that is.

During those final 50 seconds, Maryland made 3 free throws. Whoa, wait, isn’t the behind team supposed to intentionally commit fouls in the last minute, so that the ahead team shoots free throws? How exactly was Maryland shooting free throws and not the Gophers?

In the 4th quarter, the Gophers turned the ball over 7 times to Maryland’s none. Maryland scored 10 points off turnovers in the quarter to the Gophers none. I know the Gophers are 4th-quarter turnover prone. But 7 turnovers in a quarter - really? On pace for 28 turnovers in a game? You’re saying that the Gophers did that all by themselves, with no special help from the officials? OK. I suppose it’s theoretically possible.

At 53 seconds left there was a 99.8% probability of a Gopher win. That changed to a 100% probability of a Maryland win with half a second left on the game clock as the winning shot went up. Almost too late, mind you.

By throwing the inbounds in the direction of the Maryland basket, the Gophers gave them just enough time to complete the win.

Having Perez in the far corner on the inbounds was not such a bad idea, really. 20/20 hindsight, but she should have cut to the opposite corner, using Taiye as a screen. Result: A pass that travels to the right corner while completely out of bounds for half the distance, out of reach of the tall inbounds defenders swinging arms, and an uncontested shot for Irene. Or even without the movement, a fake-left pass motion followed by a half-step right and a football pass to Perez would have done it. She could have stepped in for a shorter shot, and if Bello’s defender stepped up to defend, then pass it to Taiye for the layup.

Poor inbounding, indeed.

So the Gophers lose in 50 seconds thanks to some combination of bad Gopher play, good Maryland play, and referee collusion. You decide what percentage of responsibility to place on each.
 
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Perhaps one of the two worst losses in the history of college basketball. I once watched a men’s college team lose a 7 point lead in the last 16 seconds, but this one is right up there!!
 

I thought the refereeing favored the Gophers for the most part. Only one obviously inaccurate call on an out of bounds play. I don’t recall if it was during the last 50 sec. I don’t believe so. I’ll painfully try to rewatch the last 50 sec to see if I can conclude the refs played any part of the epic meltdown. I don’t believe so.

The refs could have T’d up Charles for all the yapping she was doing to the refs, frustrated the calls seemed to be going the Gophers’ way, but who wants to win that way? All they had to do in the last 50 sec was to stay poised, be smart, and have Whalen put them in a position to win. They failed to do any of it.
 

Everybody is so negative... feels like we wanted them to lose. You either cheer for the team or don't. Nobody on that team is over 23 yrs old. Young ladies... went on the road and had maryland shook. Mikesell made big shots, taiye and destiny got in foul trouble and that turned our aggression off. Then you have players who we know can't make plays in situations to help us win. Stop complaining and cheer their effort.
Beat rutgers, beat msu and go into the tourney in 5th or 6th place

Nobody wanted them to lose.. But this is Divison 1, Big 10. If you have a 17 point lead in the second half and lose.. you're going to take some criticism. If you have a 7 point lead with a minute left and lose... you're going to take even more criticism. But I don't think anyone here stopped being a fan.

That being said - I think they played hard and our short bench resulting in our girls being spent at the end. It makes me wonder what we might have done this year if Hubbard and Staples could have been available just to spell our guards for a few minutes in high energy games like this.
 

Really tough loss. This one is going to sting. Would have been a HUGE win for us. Gotta win the last two games to close out the regular season and make a decent run in the B1G Tourney. I so want another crack at Maryland. Wouldn't mind another crack at Iowa either. Should be an interesting and fun ride these next few weeks.
 

Yes, that would have been a huge win. Either way, I loved the effort. Gophers are playing hard. The execution is sometimes lacking, but they are also showing streaks of playing very well. A couple of things: 1) Someone on this board suggested yesterday that the Gophers play Hubbard, if she is indeed healthy. I disagree. Even if she is healthy (and she may not be), I wouldn't want them to waste a year of eligibility on her this late in the season. Even if she came back now, I'm guessing it might take her a while to get into game condition and help the team. That being sad, it sure would have been nice to have her healthy this year. 2) Some people have implied that if Staples was healthy, she would be contributing. I'd argue that we've seen nothing from her so far that indicates she would have contributed this year. Maybe next year, but I doubt that she would be contributing this year. 3) After a slow start, Pitts has really dialed it up a notch. She's now playing at an all-conference level. I like the way she is now sometimes going to the hoop instead of always settling for threes. And in the game against Maryland, she had some tenacious rebounds late in the game. Even with the loss of Bell after this year, the future looks positive for next year. Hopefully, some of the freshmen will be able to contribute immediately to give the Gophers a deeper bench. 4) I'm not optimistic about the Gophers chances of winning the BIG tourney, but I'm of the feeling that they can beat every team in the league on a good night. Winning 3 games in the tourney will be extremely difficult, especially with a short bench. But it looks like the BIG tourney will be their only route to an NCAA tourney berth.
 

I thought the refereeing favored the Gophers for the most part. Only one obviously inaccurate call on an out of bounds play. I don’t recall if it was during the last 50 sec. I don’t believe so. I’ll painfully try to rewatch the last 50 sec to see if I can conclude the refs played any part of the epic meltdown. I don’t believe so.

The refs could have T’d up Charles for all the yapping she was doing to the refs, frustrated the calls seemed to be going the Gophers’ way, but who wants to win that way? All they had to do in the last 50 sec was to stay poised, be smart, and have Whalen put them in a position to win. They failed to do any of it.

I think the whole game hinged on the point when Pitts was called on a charge and fouled out. We were toast after that.

I didn’t have game video either.

Some stated that a defensive player tripped over Destiny’s foot. While she was dribbling? If so, that’s a foul on the defensive player. I’m mostly curious about that play.
 

I’m not sure how you can conclude the refs played a part in the loss when you didn’t even watch the game.

On the Pitts foul, they didn’t show a great view of it on the replay. The defensive player went flying, so I don’t know if she was selling it, or Pitts really did displace her. Pitts didn’t argue the call or do her usual smile at the ref, so it was probably a good call. Pitts even said in the postgame that she needs to play smarter.
 

Nobody wanted them to lose.

Of course not. People are showing disappointment because they wanted them to win a game that should have been won. It’s a lot harder losing this way than getting your butt kicked by 20.

If you have a 7 point lead with a minute left and lose... you're going to take even more criticism.

To compare them to the Keystone Cops would have been insulting to the Keystone Cops.

That being said - I think they played hard and our short bench resulting in our girls being spent at the end. It makes me wonder what we might have done this year if Hubbard and Staples could have been available just to spell our guards for a few minutes in high energy games like this.

I think they played themselves into shape, so it became less of a fatigue factor. Last season, Notre Dame was ravaged by injury. No true point guard. No Breanna Turner. Very short bench. All they accomplished was winning a national championship. So excuses are basically for losers.
 

I’m not sure how you can conclude the refs played a part in the loss when you didn’t even watch the game.

On the Pitts foul, they didn’t show a great view of it on the replay. The defensive player went flying, so I don’t know if she was selling it, or Pitts really did displace her. Pitts didn’t argue the call or do her usual smile at the ref, so it was probably a good call. Pitts even said in the postgame that she needs to play smarter.

I’m not really making the conclusion, I’m more in the category of asking the question. Of others who have access to replay.

In the 4th quarter, personal foul calls went 6 against Minnesota and 3 against Maryland (some of which were intentional in case they needed to put Minnesota on the line, which they didn’t). Was Charles yapping in the 4th quarter? She had nothin to yap about. On those 3 Maryland fouls, Minnesota had no free-throw shooting. But Maryland got to shoot 5, of which they made 3 free throws. Enough for the win, all else held equal. What about those two quick fouls assessed against Bello? Were those legit? Were they shooting fouls? They certainly helped put Maryland in the bonus.

In the 4th, Minnesota had 7 turnovers (to Maryland none). But Maryland only had 3 steals (to Minnesota none).

Does that mean there were 4 unforced turnovers by the Gophers? Or were any of these in-question 4 miscellaneous turnovers gifts by the referees? Well, the potentially bad call against Pitts is one candidate, since a foul on offense is a turnover. Any other turnover-inducing offensive calls on Minnesota that were questionable?

If someone taped it and thus has video evidence, and can suffer through the pain of re-watching the 4th quarter, I’ll live with their assessment.
 




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