B1G Game 7: Gophers Host Michigan State (1-20-24)

All shooters have cold streaks. BRAUN is no different. Her defense is solid. Her ball handling and passing is outstanding. She opens the game for others
No disrespect to Mara at all. I‘m holding my breath because I want her to get over her slump. She is so much more than a shooter. I hear how much she works,I’m just hoping her shot comes back, I want her to be successfal. Go Gophers!
 

5020 in attendance, which is a pretty decent crowd. The student section was full. Seemed like they all came in together. I suspect Braun's percentage would be significantly higher if she wasn't the one who teammates give the ball to with less than 8 seconds left on the shot clock and hope for the best. She never had one FT despite all of shots under physical duress, with several that should have been clear fouls.
 

5020 in attendance, which is a pretty decent crowd. The student section was full. Seemed like they all came in together. I suspect Braun's percentage would be significantly higher if she wasn't the one who teammates give the ball to with less than 8 seconds left on the shot clock and hope for the best. She never had one FT despite all of shots under physical duress, with several that should have been clear fouls.
 

feel for Mara she is in a shooting slump.. . . .
All shooters have cold streaks. BRAUN is no different. . . .
Perfectly fine with her taking the caitlin approach and continuing to shoot way out of slump. . . .

Starting to think the issue is more offensive design/2-point shot selection, rather than slump. Although part of it is that Braun is forced to take tough late shot-clock shots, when the offensive fails to generate a good shot. Still, she is 26 games into her career against BIG competition, and her 2-point numbers are terrible. She shot 33.6% from 2 last season against BIG teams (19 games), and is shooting 30.6% this season from 2 against BIG teams (7 games). Really puzzled by this, given her huge talent and skills.
 

I agree thatBraun does not get many calls and she seems to get to take the last shot with time running down. Does appear that the Gophers offense is still a work in progress.
 


Excellent game and win. The Gophers played hard. Everyone contributed. A nice thing about this team is that it isn't dependent on one player. Different players step up at different times during the game and if the opponent tries to shut down one player or strategy, someone else steps up. The bench players provide valuable minutes and sometimes a spark. I like how Coach P uses her bench players to keep the starters fresh and out of foul trouble. They have been quite steady this year and have beaten teams that they should beat or have a chance to beat. I would like to see them get a signature win but am very happy if they can avoid bad losses. Go Gophers.
 

Starting to think the issue is more offensive design/2-point shot selection, rather than slump. Although part of it is that Braun is forced to take tough late shot-clock shots, when the offensive fails to generate a good shot. Still, she is 26 games into her career against BIG competition, and her 2-point numbers are terrible. She shot 33.6% from 2 last season against BIG teams (19 games), and is shooting 30.6% this season from 2 against BIG teams (7 games). Really puzzled by this, given her huge talent and skills.
She is the most closely guarded on the team. Unless the play is specifically for her, Braun is the double team champ. We saw that Heyer picked up Braun's scoring. G$$ was the open shooter and provided 19 points. Mara needs to let the game come to her. She needs to drive to the hoop more! A few "bunnies" will get her going! SKI-U-MAH
 

I agree thatBraun does not get many calls and she seems to get to take the last shot with time running down. Does appear that the Gophers offense is still a work in progress.
She doesn't get calls because she avoids and seems to hate contact.
 

I like the strategy to pull back on Braun's shot attempts if the ball isn't dropping. They probably have enough to beat middle B1G teams with Braun's attempts limited. But they will need her shots in the toughest games. Her total game overall is good.

I don't know what to say except the ball needs to go in 33% of the time minimum and it hasn't been -- except for the horrible stat pads games by U of M that ruined the full season stats as unusuable and unrepresentative.

We are seeing similar surprises with the swooning men's team of the stat pad games earlier in the season, fans whipsaw surprised by the sudden change in performance and losing, yet Mark Coyle proclaimed a couple weeks ago a success via posted video.
 
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I like the strategy to pull back on Braun's shot attempts if the ball isn't dropping. They probably have enough to beat middle B1G teams with Braun's attempts limited. But they will need her shots in the toughest games. Her total game overall is good.

I don't know what to say except the ball needs to go in 33% of the time minimum and it hasn't been -- except for the horrible stat pads games by U of M that ruined the full season stats as unusuable and unrepresentative.

We are seeing similar surprises with the swooning men's team of the stat pad games earlier in the season, fans whipsaw surprised by the sudden change in performance and losing, yet Mark Coyle proclaimed a couple weeks ago a success via posted video.
Big Ten game stats are available. Men’s and Women’s non conference will be more challenging going forward.
 

It seems Braun’s recent shooting woes are multifactorial. No doubt teams have decided to put their best defenders on her and also trap her on the wing. The PG’s need to dribble less on some possessions and get better ball movement for her and our other good shooters. Also, as mentioned above she needs to drive more and finish with contact. She’s extremely talented and is such a hard worker I think her game will continue to improve. Go Gophers !
 








Braun is a volume scorer. That's what she's been her entire career at Minnesota.

She shoots too much.

She needs to be more selective and improve her range.

She's still a good player, but there's a potentially great player inside of her if she can figure it out.

It would also help her out if the Gophers could get a player who is a consistent threat to score down low. She'd get better looks from long range.
 

Starting to think the issue is more offensive design/2-point shot selection, rather than slump. Although part of it is that Braun is forced to take tough late shot-clock shots, when the offensive fails to generate a good shot. Still, she is 26 games into her career against BIG competition, and her 2-point numbers are terrible. She shot 33.6% from 2 last season against BIG teams (19 games), and is shooting 30.6% this season from 2 against BIG teams (7 games). Really puzzled by this, given her huge talent and skills.
Would need advanced stats that break it down in % with >10 vs <10 seconds on shot clock or something
 

Would need advanced stats that break it down in % with >10 vs <10 seconds on shot clock or something
Agree. Also wish you could find stats for close 2-point attempts versus far 2-point attempts. The men’s game has those, but not the women’s game, as far as I know.
 

Watched last quarter/OT of OSU/Iowa game and we'll be in trouble vs McMahon, she could go 18-22 40 points without much issue vs gophers posts the way she was easily beating Stuelke and O'Grady
 

No votes again in AP

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Marquette 37, Princeton 21, Iowa St. 14, UNLV 12, Fairfield 8, Washington St 3, Miami 2, Green Bay 1, Richmond 1, Virginia 1.
 

Braun is a volume scorer. That's what she's been her entire career at Minnesota.

She shoots too much.

She needs to be more selective and improve her range.

She's still a good player, but there's a potentially great player inside of her if she can figure it out.

It would also help her out if the Gophers could get a player who is a consistent threat to score down low. She'd get better looks from long range.
Even through her shooting slump, Braun is still shooting 39.3%. That is not terrible. Once other players score consistently, Braun's shooting percentage will go back up. G$$, Heyer, Hart, Czinano, Sanders & Battle need scoring consistency to free up Braun.
SKI-U-MAH
 

Even through her shooting slump, Braun is still shooting 39.3%. That is not terrible. Once other players score consistently, Braun's shooting percentage will go back up. G$$, Heyer, Hart, Czinano, Sanders & Battle need scoring consistency to free up Braun.
SKI-U-MAH
If Braun could hit short, pull up jumpers like Battle or take the ball to the rim, that would give her more space for her 3-point shots. It also would get her to the foul line more and sure points.
 

If Braun could hit short, pull up jumpers like Battle or take the ball to the rim, that would give her more space for her 3-point shots. It also would get her to the foul line more and sure points.
We've seen her hit runners in the paint and pull up Js. She's just running cold right now. Her game will return only STRONGER!
SKI-U-MAH
 

Braun's fine, and she will score when needed. Braun has been playing exceptional defense lately, the whole team has really picked it up, and this is welcome change this season. Looking forward to an actual post season this year.
 


Even through her shooting slump, Braun is still shooting 39.3%.
Her conference-games FG% is 30.7, which is terrible. With the near-term schedule easing up a bit, I’m hoping for a material uptick.
 





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