***Exhibition Gameday Thread - New Look Gophers VS Concordia St.Paul****

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stocker08 said:
May be our best shooting team in a while. Battle has hit his second three. Curry just dropped a FG from the top of the key.

30-13 with 6:30 remaining
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Seems like everyone that's seen the court (except for Daniels) has either tried to create a look from three or actually taken a shot! Very obvious that taking threes are going to be a staple of CBJs system... refreshing that it seems we'll make a few
 

PeterMac05 said:
I love just how hard he’s played so far in this one. If you play hard every single play, you will definitely be on my good side.
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For sure. Think he fits good on this team tbh, the rest of the guards seem steady, if unspectacular, whereas he has the athleticism and confidence to really make some plays.
 





Was a bit behind on the thread due to needing to pick up a pizza, and btn + let's you start the game from the beginning....

No comment needed on Battle and Willis. Best two players on the team. Curry is amazing as a person, love his leadership as well. But if he is our starting C for the year, thats going to be tough. That said, I don't know who else to play at C. Thompson is young and needs to add weight to play in the Big 10.

So far, nothing surprising IMO. More impressed by Battle than expected
 

Battle looks good, he'll be a scorer. I hope Ben sees his long term position as a PF.
Guards looked good. I think they might be good enough to keep us in some games we otherwise shouldn't.
Thiam is going to be a really good basketball player. He is raw and awkward, but he is fast, active, and looks the part.
 


It is likely going to be a tough year.....but hope to see some development with some of the younger guys. BJ is already bringing in some good talent. Battle has three years.....and already has the look of a legit B10 player. Might have something decent next year.
 



Very concerned about our big men. Not only a lack of dominance over a D2 school, but its felt like an even match down low.
 

ForecastingAWin said:
Very concerned about our big men. Not only a lack of dominance over a D2 school, but its felt like an even match down low.
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No real surprise there. I am hoping Thompson will develop in time. He’s about the only guy with some upside of our alleged big men.
 

ForecastingAWin said:
Very concerned about our big men. Not only a lack of dominance over a D2 school, but its felt like an even match down low.
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We're going to need great guard play to win Big Ten games. Chances are that our post play is going to be abused.
 









do we know how good concordia is supposed to be this year?
 




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leib0039 said:
0-10 in conference 1-13 overall, they are terrible. Not a great look against this caliber of team IMO.
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Yikes. I must be recalling another year. They do have some good 3 point shooters.
 

Concordia was knocking down shots to stay in it. Let's see what happens against KC.
 


My thoughts are the following (I don't have a box score, so going off of gut feel).

The Good

Ball Movement - It was refreshing to retire the Carr ball era and see the rock move around until an open shot was available.

Shooting - We shot a lot of 3s and made a lot. I think we were around 38% which is about 10% higher than last year's average. We will live and die by the 3 this year. It could keep us in some games if Willis and Battle are feeling it.

Willis/Battle - They are BIG players. Easily the best two players on the court, and it wasn't even close.

Sutherlin/Loewe - Tough kids that I think will hold their own. Sutherlin could easily get to the hoop and finish, and Loewe played good defense and hit some open 3s. EJ Stephens may have the highest upside after Willis/Battle but seemed a little out of sorts tonight.

Turnover Margin - Turned them over 20+ times, although many were unforced. I think we had about 12 turnovers.

The Bad

3-pt Defense - It felt like we were watching a Pitino squad's opponent torching us beyond the arc. Concordia was heaving up horrible shots, but it felt like everything was falling. I think the upside of this team is buttoning up this deficiency. It doesn't take talent (although footspeed, in general, is likely below average).

Rebounding - We may have been outrebounded by a D2 team...That's a problem.

Post Production in General - Eric Curry is last year's version of Eric Curry. Although I felt he got much better as the game went on. There is nobody behind him. I didn't notice Daniels do anything, and I think Ogeele (sp) played sparingly.

Thiam/Thompson - Very raw. They will be nice pieces, but this year's contributions will be limited, which is probably okay. Thiam was launching 3s. I think he was 0-5. He made some bad turnovers. He was very athletic and active. Didn't really notice Thompson. He had a nice putback, but that's really all I saw. I don't think he played in the second half (or not much).

Bunnies - Missed a ton of easy shots which has been par for the course over the last few years (Curry the main culprit).
 

There were about 3000 fans tonight. The brilliant U of M athletic department managed to offend half of them by making the already socially distanced fans wear masks, which then about one third did not obey. On the court I really like Battle. There are a lot of years we could have really used him. Willis was pretty solid. The rest of the team are bench players in the Big Ten. I actually liked Daniels. He is no offensive threat at all but he is quick to the boards and has good size and he doesn't seems to make mistakes with the ball. Stephens has some potential. Thiam is athletic.

The team played poor defense but I think it is fair to chalk that up to never having played together. Still, I just don't see how we stop Big Ten players from going to the rim. We have some guys that can shoot, it seems, but this is one of the least talented teams I have seen here in my many years of watching Gopher basketball. They are going to have to play almost perfectly to beat a Big Ten team.
 



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