Iowa at Minnesota Post Game Thread

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Bigg Robb said:
That was possibly the best defensive effort and scheme of Pitino's tenure. Great game. If Gabe was half way dialed in, we would have ran away with it. If Gabe can get it together this year and start knocking down some of those open 3's, we'll have a competitive squad on our hands
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I agree with everything up to competitive team. Lol I think I know what you mean but beating #25 and #4 in a week is kind of competitive? 😏
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
Whoever designed the random double teams and stuff in Garza should get a raise. He looked so out of sort for so long. He took 27 shots which is just silly when you only score 32 points.
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My favorite moment was after a time out in the 2nd half, when Garza shouted "F*#k!!!!" as he walked to the bench.
 

60's Guy said:
Rick Pitino is the master of trapping bigs.
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That was a cool story they told during the broadcast about him calling Richard's radio program and asking him if he was planning to do so. When Richard started complaining, Rick reminds him that if he could do it to Shaq when he helmed Kentucky, it could be done to Garza as well.

Nice assist from our unofficial and unpaid HOF caliber assistant.
 
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That was as gritty a Gopher team as I've seen for a long time. Not yet ready to put them in the Bobby Jackson class, but that travel in front of our bench and the block at the end that wasn't a foul would have made some other Gopher teams hang it up. They just kept being aggressive and not scared to take the shot. The ball movement on the one Johnson 3 was beautiful!
 

The MN defensive plan of double and triple teaming Garza when he had the ball worked because Garza would not immediately pass the ball out to the perimeter. And if he did the IA player missed the shot.
Amazing collapse by IA in the last minute, up by three and the IA player misses BOTH are throws !
That player walked but it was not called so there was poetic justice when he missed the free throws.
 


Bob_Loblaw said:
I was reading Hawkeye Nation and most of their fans seem normal. They were disappointed, I would be too, but I did want to post one of their fans having a meltdown. I tried to fix the F bombs.

"What an absolute pathetic joke of a loss. This Iowa team shouldn't even be ranked. Losing to a Minnesota team who won't make whatever tournament is beneath the NIT is the most f&#king pathetic thing I've seen in a long while. Minnesota doesn't have anyone besides Carr. Even their f%#cking bums made everything they threw at the rim. F#(cking pathetic. Just cancel the fU$@&ng season."
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Does USAF post on Iowa's board? 😅
 

Plato said:
The MN defensive plan of double and triple teaming Garza when he had the ball worked because Garza would not immediately pass the ball out to the perimeter. And if he did the IA player missed the shot.
Amazing collapse by IA in the last minute, up by three and the IA player misses BOTH are throws !
That player walked but it was not called so there was poetic justice when he missed the free throws.
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When Toussaint was at the line he was due to miss as he was 4/4 with a season FT% of 67%. It was like the universe actually aligned for the Gophers to win this game. Once he missed the second FT, it was almost inevitable the game was going to overtime. The Gophers have played Iowa's role in losing this game so many times that you could almost telegraph it coming. It feels nice to be on the other side of things lol
 


stocker08 said:
Robbins is a bit soft. Cockburn simply bullied him. But Garza is more of a finesse player and Robbins played a really good defensive game against him. Slowed him down just enough. Still need to see him do a better job rebounding. Five in 30 minutes of play for a true seven footer is not good. His four blocks was really nice though.
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Not disagreeing with anything you say, but if the definition of soft is being bullied by Cockburn, there's a lot of soft players out there.
 



While other threads compare Carr's game-tying three-pointer to Hoffarber's against IU, a more apt comparison is the triple OT win over Iowa at Williams in March 1994. It was set up as Voshon Lenard's last game at the barn (but he ended up coming back for his senior year) and he did not disappoint, 38 points. The shot I will always remember came at the end of the first overtime, Gophers down by 3 and inbounding the ball after a timeout with about 5 seconds left on the clock. Everyone in the gym and watching at home knew it was going to Voshon - he launched a long 3 with three guys hanging on him as time expired - swish!
 

Great win. I wonder if the Iowa coaching staff is debating whether to fouling Carr with 14 seconds as he brought the ball up. 2 free throws and still leading by 1. Where was Mustaf?
 

cemba99 said:
While other threads compare Carr's game-tying three-pointer to Hoffarber's against IU, a more apt comparison is the triple OT win over Iowa at Williams in March 1994. It was set up as Voshon Lenard's last game at the barn (but he ended up coming back for his senior year) and he did not disappoint, 38 points. The shot I will always remember came at the end of the first overtime, Gophers down by 3 and inbounding the ball after a timeout with about 5 seconds left on the clock. Everyone in the gym and watching at home knew it was going to Voshon - he launched a long 3 with three guys hanging on him as time expired - swish!
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Which reminds me of the 35-footer he sank as time expired to beat Detroit Mercy (in his F or So year).

This was one of the most thrilling games I've ever watched. Those missed free throws might seem like luck, but they made up for the bad calls against the Gophs down the stretch, so all is right in the universe.

Let's get one thing straight: Iowa did not crap the bed; they made plays. The Gophers were just as good as them. This Gopher team has the goods. Robbins is the real deal; he's a legit Big Ten center. As someone said, we're a functional Gabe away from this team having second-weekend NCAA legs.

That said, this team can't win consistently unless and until they decide they're going to play 40 minutes of defense (which they can!), and they can't fool themselves into thinking that last night's rebounding is okay.
 

cemba99 said:
While other threads compare Carr's game-tying three-pointer to Hoffarber's against IU, a more apt comparison is the triple OT win over Iowa at Williams in March 1994. It was set up as Voshon Lenard's last game at the barn (but he ended up coming back for his senior year) and he did not disappoint, 38 points. The shot I will always remember came at the end of the first overtime, Gophers down by 3 and inbounding the ball after a timeout with about 5 seconds left on the clock. Everyone in the gym and watching at home knew it was going to Voshon - he launched a long 3 with three guys hanging on him as time expired - swish!
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Was there. Great memory ! Voshon had perfect form and tempo. Smooth game. The barn was in it's best form that night.
 



Bad Gopher said:
Which reminds me of the 35-footer he sank as time expired to beat Detroit Mercy (in his F or So year).

This was one of the most thrilling games I've ever watched. Those missed free throws might seem like luck, but they made up for the bad calls against the Gophs down the stretch, so all is right in the universe.

Let's get one thing straight: Iowa did not crap the bed; they made plays. The Gophers were just as good as them. This Gopher team has the goods. Robbins is the real deal; he's a legit Big Ten center. As someone said, we're a functional Gabe away from this team having second-weekend NCAA legs.

That said, this team can't win consistently unless and until they decide they're going to play 40 minutes of defense (which they can!), and they can't fool themselves into thinking that last night's rebounding is okay.
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Great post.
 

Two areas I like - free throw shooting and defending 3's better
 



I really thought the gophers played good defense overall last night. In 40 minutes there will be lapses but they clearly had a game plan and executed it to the best of their abilities. Giving up 95 points is a lot...but Iowa is one of the better offensive teams in the country. There wasn’t a ton of terrible lapses, outside of rebounding. Shots were contested consistently, diving for loose balls, tipping passes, helping AND recovering, doubles and recovering. Iowa shot a fairly pedestrian percentage, they just had so many attempts.
Was actually enjoyable basketball to watch.
 

cemba99 said:
While other threads compare Carr's game-tying three-pointer to Hoffarber's against IU, a more apt comparison is the triple OT win over Iowa at Williams in March 1994. It was set up as Voshon Lenard's last game at the barn (but he ended up coming back for his senior year) and he did not disappoint, 38 points. The shot I will always remember came at the end of the first overtime, Gophers down by 3 and inbounding the ball after a timeout with about 5 seconds left on the clock. Everyone in the gym and watching at home knew it was going to Voshon - he launched a long 3 with three guys hanging on him as time expired - swish!
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I was in attendance. Lenard was magnificent.
 

One element of this game that i feel has gone understated thus far is the value of depth at every position. It showed tonight in three ways.

First, we can ride the hot hand at PF. Ihnen was playing an average game (lost a little on defense but rebounded reasonably well and had a few productive drives to the hoop), but BJ was locked in.

Second, we have capable back ups at C. Curry is a leader on the court and won’t often make simple mistakes. He’s a seasoned and dependable. Freeman also looks to be a reliable enough band aid in spot duty. He’s comfortable with the ball and a big body. I’m excited to see him continue to improve for a couple more years.

Third, when Gach “lost focus” last night in crunch time (fouled the three point shooter and stepped out of bounds on the ensuing possession), Pitino was able to sub in Mashburn. Mash is showing that he is a guy that can comfortably handle the moment (although he might have been the one that tried an ill advised pass to the opposite side during the press break).

In years past, we’ve been so thin that we are doomed when a key player goes cold, foul trouble hits the wrong guy(s), or our ball handlers can’t handle the pressure. Simply put, we’ve never had this much margin of error, and never had this much threat from a guy that doesn’t start.
 


UpAndUnder43 said:
I really thought the gophers played good defense overall last night. In 40 minutes there will be lapses but they clearly had a game plan and executed it to the best of their abilities. Giving up 95 points is a lot...but Iowa is one of the better offensive teams in the country. There wasn’t a ton of terrible lapses, outside of rebounding. Shots were contested consistently, diving for loose balls, tipping passes, helping AND recovering, doubles and recovering. Iowa shot a fairly pedestrian percentage, they just had so many attempts.
Was actually enjoyable basketball to watch.
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The defense was good but not great when you consider that defensive rebounding is part of defense. Keeping them away from a good shot for 30 seconds then giving them second and third opportunities (18 times) is not good defense. It feels good but isn't. A little like it feels good when Gabe hits the rim.
 

The Illinois game was an awakening moment for the players. Pitino didn't even show any of the game to the players, they all knew. You have to be tough to play in the B1G, if not, other will make you look like a fool no matter how much talent you have.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
Whoever designed the random double teams and stuff in Garza should get a raise. He looked so out of sort for so long. He took 27 shots which is just silly when you only score 32 points.
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Pitino, just gave the playbook on how to handle Garza. He did it with Happ, back when he was the second coming of god, with the hack a happ that just neutralized the end of his season.
 

Katz said big ten has 11 teams in the tourney at this point.
Rothstein gives 3 rules to live by:
1) After eating, wait 30 minutes before swimming.
2) Never swim with great white sharks.
3) Always foul when up by 3!
 

golf said:
Katz said big ten has 11 teams in the tourney at this point.
Rothstein gives 3 rules to live by:
1) After eating, wait 30 minutes before swimming.
2) Never swim with great white sharks.
3) Always foul when up by 3!
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You cannot foul a Czar to sabotage his game tying three, as it is not permitted in/on his court.
 

Unfortunately, when you're rated a preseason 12th in the league by pundit consensus and you have a mediocre recent history, you're not going to get to get much respect from opposing fans until you have an extended streak of success. A contributing factor is a roster with multiple players who are unknowns to the league and, of course, the Illinois game also played into the low appraisal of our team. The 2016-17 team didn't get much respect until the latter stage of the conference season and the 2019 team didn't get respect until the Big Ten tournament. So, the sentiments of "Minnesota isn't good, we just played like shit and the refs were on their side all game" is something we should expect to see for awhile even if we continue to have success.

I looked at a different thread on the page linked and saw words of wisdom from an Iowa fan who responded to another poster saying that Iowa lost to a "bottom feeder" last night: "It's too early yet to know who is a bottom feeder."
 

golf said:
Katz said big ten has 11 teams in the tourney at this point.
Rothstein gives 3 rules to live by:
1) After eating, wait 30 minutes before swimming.
2) Never swim with great white sharks.
3) Always foul when up by 3!
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Coaches with great defenses play it out as that is their strength, especially with more than 5 seconds left, that is a eternity. In the case of Iowa they are so horriffic , so poorly coached that they should foul.
 

Dakota2 said:
The defense was good but not great when you consider that defensive rebounding is part of defense. Keeping them away from a good shot for 30 seconds then giving them second and third opportunities (18 times) is not good defense. It feels good but isn't. A little like it feels good when Gabe hits the rim.
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Thanks for summarizing my post when I said “the gophers played good defense last night.
 

I’m shocked Iowa didn’t adjust their game plan with Garza after that start. They also either didn’t or couldn’t change their defense to not give up wide open 3s. Gophers took 43 of them.
 

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