GAME #17: Gophers (13-3, 2-1) @ #4/5 MSU (14-1, 3-0) [BTN, 1/11, 1:15PM]

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jumpstop said:
Continue to make excuses for EE I know what I saw and he was a nonfactor on offense and was abused on defense. Lil Dre is the only breakdown guard on this team and that is a fact. Andre H is not quick enough or good enough ball handler and the offense sputters when he is running the point. He got bailed out twice on two previous three point attempts and also is an average to below average defender. Austin Hollins is afraid to shoot the ball when he comes off of those curls and Malik can only shoot when his feet are set. Lil Dre is making these guys look a lot better than they are.
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EE had 4 blocks and 11 rebounds. He also leads the BIG in blocks and rebounds. Apparently you do not watch a lot of college basketball. Very few teams have a big man that scores a lot.
Mbakwe only averaged 10 ppg last year. Oh, and by the way, Elliot is averaging more rebounds and blocks than Mbakwe. He also has higher FT and FG percentages with half the turnovers per game as Mbakwe. Elliot is in no way the problem with this team.


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jumpstop said:
Continue to make excuses for EE I know what I saw and he was a nonfactor on offense and was abused on defense. Lil Dre is the only breakdown guard on this team and that is a fact. Andre H is not quick enough or good enough ball handler and the offense sputters when he is running the point. He got bailed out twice on two previous three point attempts and also is an average to below average defender. Austin Hollins is afraid to shoot the ball when he comes off of those curls and Malik can only shoot when his feet are set. Lil Dre is making these guys look a lot better than they are.
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I think there is a lot of truth in what you say, but I think you are also exaggerating. Mathieu is clearly the best creator on the team. Dre Hollins can create, but he is a mediocre creator. Dre Hollins is an average athlete. EE has very little offensive game outside of garbage points, but his defense was fine. He had foul trouble, which is why he wasn't as aggressive. He will always be a below the rim guy, but he could become a factor on offense if he gets moderately stronger with improvement in his footwork.

Austin Hollins isn't afraid to shoot, he simply doesn't shoot because he isn't good at it. He will shoot though. He has nailed game winners in the past.
 

jumpstop said:
Continue to make excuses for EE I know what I saw and he was a nonfactor on offense and was abused on defense. Lil Dre is the only breakdown guard on this team and that is a fact. Andre H is not quick enough or good enough ball handler and the offense sputters when he is running the point. He got bailed out twice on two previous three point attempts and also is an average to below average defender. Austin Hollins is afraid to shoot the ball when he comes off of those curls and Malik can only shoot when his feet are set. Lil Dre is making these guys look a lot better than they are.
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+1
 

jumpstop said:
Continue to make excuses for EE I know what I saw and he was a nonfactor on offense and was abused on defense. Lil Dre is the only breakdown guard on this team and that is a fact. Andre H is not quick enough or good enough ball handler and the offense sputters when he is running the point. He got bailed out twice on two previous three point attempts and also is an average to below average defender. Austin Hollins is afraid to shoot the ball when he comes off of those curls and Malik can only shoot when his feet are set. Lil Dre is making these guys look a lot better than they are.
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It's always hard for me to take someone seriously when they state an opinion and say "that is a fact".
 

I just watched the game as I had something going on all day. Tough way to lose, that is for sure. Just 22 points in the last 21 minutes. I know the Spartans played great defense down the stretch but I just didn't see a whole lot of movement on offense in the 2nd/OT. A few more buckets and we win.

With that said, it was still a great game. With very little play down low, we're just going to live and die by the outside shot.

I was disappointed that we didn't take the ball to the hole against Harris more often after he picked up his 4th. Seriously, take him to the hoop and make him either back off or chance picking up his 5th.

I'm mixed on Austin Hollins. I'm definitely disappointed in his play this year, and thought he would really take a step forward. With that said, he still isn't playing as bad as some are making it seem. He had just two turnovers in 39 minutes today (although those two came at a critical time). He still does a lot of good things and absolutely should be getting a bunch of minutes. Hopefully he can turn around his shooting before his career at MN is over.
 


GophersInIowa said:
I just watched the game as I had something going on all day. Tough way to lose, that is for sure. Just 22 points in the last 21 minutes. I know the Spartans played great defense down the stretch but I just didn't see a whole lot of movement on offense in the 2nd/OT. A few more buckets and we win.

With that said, it was still a great game. With very little play down low, we're just going to live and die by the outside shot.

I was disappointed that we didn't take the ball to the hole against Harris more often after he picked up his 4th. Seriously, take him to the hoop and make him either back off or chance picking up his 5th.

I'm mixed on Austin Hollins. I'm definitely disappointed in his play this year, and thought he would really take a step forward. With that said, he still isn't playing as bad as some are making it seem. He had just two turnovers in 39 minutes today (although those two came at a critical time). He still does a lot of good things and absolutely should be getting a bunch of minutes. Hopefully he can turn around his shooting before his career at MN is over.
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I don't know what to make of Austin Hollins. Something is different. He's not shooting nearly as well, but if you watch him around the rim, he's been a dynamic leaper, reminding me of Rodney Williams.
 

MadtownGopher said:
I love how people say Pitino got lucky with Matheiu. Why did he get lucky? Seems to me he recognized a talented PG and recruited him to play for him. There was no luck involved, just an eye for talent and the ability to build a solid enough relationship to get the kid to commit.
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Ya, just as lucky as he got last year throwing together a roster at the last minute that ended up advancing to their conference title game. Just an incredibly lucky dude, I guess. Certainly no reason I can see to give him any credit.
 

Gold Vision said:
For sure. I just don't get how blowing leads against all 4 of our conference opponents to date differs from what we saw last year. Go gophers, maybe I'm just easily amused.
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today hurt, but realistically even if we had a stacked team we would've been underdogs at East Lansing, I'm not one for moral victories, but this year's gophers can take a lot of positives from today, if anything it shows that we wont be a pushover for anyone. OSU will be just as tough, were at home, but unlike Sparty they won't be missing their best player. But maybe it's the hate spewing from the keyboard, but there's no reason we can't upset Wisconsin at home and hand them there first lost if we come out like we did today
 

jumpstop said:
EE really showed his lack athleticism down the stretch. He was dunked on twice, got his shot blocked by smaller player at the rim, gave up many offensive rebounds, and could not contain the dribble in pick and roll situations. The Hollins boys and Malik cannot create their shot against quality defenders and are poor finishers at the rim. Lil Dre is the man and without him this team would be very mediocre. As teams realize they can press up on the other guards and lay off of Lil Dre the offensive woes will continue against the better athletes. As the scouting of this team intensifies, it will get worse and not better as season progresses. King and Oto have no business playing in a major conference. Pitino got lucky he convinced Lil Dre to come here otherwise this would be a disaster.
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EE was playing with four fouls down the stretch Dre had 23 points and Malik had like 14, not sure what you were watching, EE was great on the boards and for a big man is pretty good at the charity stripe
 



I'm really, really happy that I stopped watching and left for "American Hustle" when the Gopher's fouled on the inbounds pass with under 13 seconds to go, down by 3. Ugh.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
I don't know what to make of Austin Hollins. Something is different. He's not shooting nearly as well, but if you watch him around the rim, he's been a dynamic leaper, reminding me of Rodney Williams.
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I've looked at Austin as a average shooter, so I feel like he's shooting the same as prior years, which is disappointing since he should be a senior leader. He has a had a number of missed put back dunk attempts that could have been been highlight reel dunks but resulted in no points. Not sure what the point of my post is, but he's been a disappointment so far in conference play.
 

Gold Vision said:
For sure. I just don't get how blowing leads against all 4 of our conference opponents to date differs from what we saw last year. Go gophers, maybe I'm just easily amused.
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Well, blowing leads and losing games are not the same thing. And against MSU we blew a lead and then they blew a lead and then... I'm just as impressed that we climbed back into the game as I am disappointed we didn't hold our lead. Btw, didn't MSU just come from behind against OSU? What does blowing a monster lead say about the Buckeyes? Point is, teams blow and overcome leads nearly every game all over the country. It's largely a product of the 3-point shot and shot clock. Now Indiana under Knight used to be able to hold leads, but them days is long gone.
 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Pitino on Big Ten conference call said <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Gophers&src=hash">#Gophers</a> need Austin Hollins to score and not just be a defensive presence.</p>— Marcus R. Fuller (@GophersNow) <a href="https://twitter.com/GophersNow/statuses/422771322351919106">January 13, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Gophers can beat Ohio State. In fact, I think they will. Much better chance of beating Ohio State at home than Iowa on the road. Iowa is really, really good. ... far & away the deepest team in the Big Ten. Maybe not the best starting 5, but the deepest. ... and very talented, too.
 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Pitino said it's mostly about Austin Hollins just getting his confidence back. He only took two bad shots vs. Michigan St. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Gophers&src=hash">#Gophers</a></p>— Marcus R. Fuller (@GophersNow) <a href="https://twitter.com/GophersNow/statuses/422772581427458048">January 13, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>I asked if <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Gophers&src=hash">#Gophers</a> would change the starting lineup to insert Malik Smith who played well at Michigan St. Pitino said he wouldn't do that.</p>— Marcus R. Fuller (@GophersNow) <a href="https://twitter.com/GophersNow/statuses/422773174686609410">January 13, 2014</a></blockquote>
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SelectionSunday said:
Gophers can beat Ohio State. In fact, I think they will. Much better chance of beating Ohio State at home than Iowa on the road. Iowa is really, really good. ... far & away the deepest team in the Big Ten. Maybe not the best starting 5, but the deepest. ... and very talented, too.
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I think that kind of depth is underrated in basketball. Everyone looks to the star power. However, the Wolves are showing us what happens with one of the best starting 5's in the game and a non-existent bench (in fairness, the bench seems to be improving with Turiaf and Budinger back on the horse). I agree that Iowa is terrifying for that reason.
 

Iowa

Before the season started, I thought the Big Ten had only one legitimate national title contender, and that was Michigan State. Now adding Iowa to that list. ... I think they're that good. Iowa may finish third or fourth because of its brutal conference schedule (1-plays are Indiana, Nebraska, Penn State, and Purdue), but I think it's Sparty (if Payne gets healthy) & the Hawkeyes as the clear 1 & 2 Big Ten threats come tourney time, not necessarily in that order.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Before the season started, I thought the Big Ten had only one legitimate national title contender, and that was Michigan State. Now adding Iowa to that list. ... I think they're that good. Iowa may finish third or fourth because of its brutal conference schedule (1-plays are Indiana, Nebraska, Penn State, and Purdue), but I think it's Sparty (if Payne gets healthy) & the Hawkeyes as the clear 1 & 2 Big Ten threats come tourney time, not necessarily in that order.
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I said Wisconsin was a paper champion at the beginning of the season. After watching numerous games, there is no way in hell that they aren't winning the B1G, they are scary efficient with the basketball. I can see them losing to a hot shooting Iowa who has a very similar team.

That said, I've now made 2 absurdly exaggerated prediction on Wisconsin in which neither is likely to come true.
 

In fairness, I really like this Wisconsin team (figuratively speaking), too. Bo seems to have all the right pieces. Just not quite ready to call the Badgers national title material. Ditto for Ohio State (not enough offensive threats).
 

SelectionSunday said:
In fairness, I really like this Wisconsin team (figuratively speaking), too. Bo seems to have all the right pieces. Just not quite ready to call the Badgers national title material. Ditto for Ohio State (not enough offensive threats).
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Iowa is scary good.
 

I could see WI making a final four run, or losing their 2nd game of the tournament. Like Duke most years, they'll need to avoid a poor 3 pt shooting performance against an opportunistic team.

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MadtownGopher said:
I could see WI making a final four run, or losing their 2nd game of the tournament. Like Duke most years, they'll need to avoid a poor 3 pt shooting performance against an opportunistic team.

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Exactly, and that's been their story for ages... They usually avoid the early round exit because they also play defense.
 

MadtownGopher said:
I could see WI making a final four run, or losing their 2nd game of the tournament. Like Duke most years, they'll need to avoid a poor 3 pt shooting performance against an opportunistic team.
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Agree with that. I've actually pondered the possibility of Bucky becoming the first #1 seed to lose to a #16.
 


MadtownGopher said:
Haha that would be awesome, but I think Sam Dekker could beat most #16 seeds 1 on 5.
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Dekker is definitely what makes this Badger team different. He's a huge talent, a guy that can carry a team on a tournament run. Plus he's got several other guys around him who can score.
 

maxwellsmart said:
Well, blowing leads and losing games are not the same thing. And against MSU we blew a lead and then they blew a lead and then... I'm just as impressed that we climbed back into the game as I am disappointed we didn't hold our lead. Btw, didn't MSU just come from behind against OSU? What does blowing a monster lead say about the Buckeyes? Point is, teams blow and overcome leads nearly every game all over the country. It's largely a product of the 3-point shot and shot clock. Now Indiana under Knight used to be able to hold leads, but them days is long gone.
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Other way around. Michigan State had built up a 17 point lead over the Buckeyes and the game went to overtime, with Ohio State nearly winning it on the final possession of regulation.
 

Cayman said:
Other way around. Michigan State had built up a 17 point lead over the Buckeyes and the game went to overtime, with Ohio State nearly winning it on the final possession of regulation.
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But they didn't, just like the Gophers didn't at Michigan State.
 

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