Minnesota suffers first loss of season 67-75 in Big Ten opener against Michigan State | Gopherhole

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PhiloVance said:
After all is said 0 & 1.
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You are going to be a lot of fun this year. Team is going to struggle with good teams and is going to lose quite a few conference games. If you are only going to look at the record then you are going to be disappointed and may as well just check out now and maybe check back in sometime before the start of next season.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
I would have probably died from excitement if they would have won last night. So, on the positive side….
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When MSU stretched the lead in the second half I figured it was done. Very cool to see the team battle back and make MSU work for it.
 

I’m hoping the crowd supports this team all season long like last night even though wins will be tough to come by. It was fun to hear the crowd get loud when we went on a run last night and am a bit more optimistic about this season keeping the game that close. Got down but battled back and didn’t let Michigan State run away with it. Playing tough d and forcing turnovers will be crucial all year.
 



cjbfbp said:
You forgot Maryland. They're having some issues this season. They should win their remaining nonconference games as those feature a weaker group of opponents than they've beaten already. That gives them a base of 10 wins. If they win 8 (maybe 7) conference games, they should get an NIT bid provided that the NIT tournament is played this year and returns to a 32 team tournament (up from 16 last season).
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We have little to no chance against Purdue, MSU, Michigan and Illinois. Unfortunately our first 3 games are against this group.

Everyone else we have at least a shot if we are healthy. Wisconsin is ranked and managed to be down 22 to Indiana. They don't scare me.
 

CentralGopher said:
I’m hoping the crowd supports this team all season long like last night even though wins will be tough to come by. It was fun to hear the crowd get loud when we went on a run last night and am a bit more optimistic about this season keeping the game that close. Got down but battled back and didn’t let Michigan State run away with it. Playing tough d and forcing turnovers will be crucial all year.
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It kind of has the vibe it did in PJ's first year.

Exciting recruiting class in the wings. Things seeming to be being done right. PJ's first year obviously ended with a thud vs. NW and WI, but most of us saw enough to be pretty pumped going into year 2 and then our chili was bubbling going into year 3.
 

salzie said:
I'm really enjoying watch this team of d3 players lead by an unqualified diversity hire
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You should bring this up more often so that in every thread either has to let you post stupid sh!t or devolve it into that tired debate.
 




Bob_Loblaw said:
You should bring this up more often so that in every thread either has to let you post stupid sh!t or devolve it into that tired debate.
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I believe it's 2nd time I've said it

But thanks, I'll make sure to post it more based on your recommendation
 





MNVCGUY said:
You are going to be a lot of fun this year. Team is going to struggle with good teams and is going to lose quite a few conference games. If you are only going to look at the record then you are going to be disappointed and may as well just check out now and maybe check back in sometime before the start of next season.
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Realist
 


PhiloVance said:
Realist
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Think you might need to look up the definition of realist because I don't think it means what you think it means.

Nobody is living in a fantasy land with this team, we all know they are going to struggle. Doesn't mean you can't look for positives along the way and enjoy the season for more than just the win/loss record.
 




Bob_Loblaw said:
I know I'm probably drinking the Kool Aid when I write this but I feel like this is a safe space where I am surrounded by people with a little red mustaches.

But I came out of this game maybe even more pumped up about our team and definitely more pumped up about our future (and I was already stoked).

Michigan State is a real team. They have a lot of athletes, skill guys, they are the typical Michigan State team. They are not going to lose very many games where they shoot almost 50% from three.

I also don't think we played particularly well. Obviously a lot of that is from MSU, but some of it is just happens. We missed a number of easy looks. I think we took some shots too quickly, especially early in the game and there were a couple of times we lost people in transition. We also missed a number of open threes (we also took more contested ones too).

If you would have told me a month ago to guess the score in a game where Michigan State is hitting their 3s, we are missing easy baskets, and we aren't hitting our 3s. . . I would have guessed we'd lose by 20-30.

The reason we stuck in the game was because we still played really smart basketball. We almost never turned the ball over. We kept spacing on offense. We didn't always take the best shots but we still used winning concepts. We challenge on defense and they play really hard. I was curious to see what happened the first time we got "punched" and they responded like someone who has been in a ton of fights and expects to win.

We lost. We did some bad things. But I think we're going to continue to be a tough out every night.
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Seconded. Except I am not feeling "pumped." Hopeful about the future, but not pumped about the rest of this season. I'm with Hodger on the over/under for B1G wins at 4. I've seen almost every team in the B1G play at least some this season, and while I am pleased with the organization and purpose the Gophers play with, I have yet to see a B1G team with a less athletic line-up than we have. That is a major hurdle to jump. The league is down a bit, and they will be more competitive than most of us expected, but I'm still not seeing a big number of wins.

May I be wrong. I have a long history with that, usually being too optimistic.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
You should bring this up more often so that in every thread either has to let you post stupid sh!t or devolve it into that tired debate.
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It was a tired debate six months ago when it was a constant drumbeat of negativity and no possible hope of sunshine.

Now it is just a gentle sarcastic poke amongst friends.
 

alchemy2u said:
It was a tired debate six months ago when it was a constant drumbeat of negativity and no possible hope of sunshine.

Now it is just a gentle sarcastic poke amongst friends.
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Good, I hope it keeps getting brought up. So then you can feign outrage when someone corrects you.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Think you might need to look up the definition of realist because I don't think it means what you think it means.

Nobody is living in a fantasy land with this team, we all know they are going to struggle. Doesn't mean you can't look for positives along the way and enjoy the season for more than just the win/loss record.
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I'm seeing a lot more hopes and dreams than actually diagnosing why they lost. Michigan wins by 20.
 


Maybe a little different opinion than others, but I thought this game showed how much we are missing having a go-to scorer. When the offense was struggling in the first half, we had to rely on Curry being aggressive and hitting shots, and that’s not exactly where I want to place a lot of faith. Battle and Willis are good players, just not quite dynamic enough to be able to jumpstart a struggling offense when shots aren’t falling.

Still excited about this team. We fought hard as hell, had a good game plan, played smart basketball, and nearly came back even while MSU was on fire. After this game I feel like we have both a lower ceiling but a higher floor than I thought we did before.

Imagine if you could just add 1 dynamic scorer to this team. Jordan murphy, Daniel oturu, Amir Coffey. Obviously, adding an all-big 10 caliber player is a big ask, but I think they’re really just 1 guy away from being a damn good team. Not sure where that guy comes from this year though.
 

PhiloVance said:
I'm seeing a lot more hopes and dreams than actually diagnosing why they lost. Michigan wins by 20.
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Does it really bother you that much that some fans enjoyed the fact that a undermanned team of nobodies gave a top 25 MSU team all they could handle?

There is nothing to diagnose, we didn't shoot well and MSU did. Had a few more 3s fallen that undermanned team of nobodies might have knocked off a top 25 blue blood full of high rated recruits.

Nobody is planning a parade route or booking tickets to the final 4. Everyone gets that this season is going to be a struggle, but it is ok to look beyond just the final score and be proud of the effort this team plays with and the way they play together.

But hey, thanks for trying to keep everyone in check and make sure nobody finds a reason to enjoy a game we didn't win. This season isn't about wins/losses but I know there are still some that can't wrap their head around that concept.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Does it really bother you that much that some fans enjoyed the fact that a undermanned team of nobodies gave a top 25 MSU team all they could handle?

There is nothing to diagnose, we didn't shoot well and MSU did. Had a few more 3s fallen that undermanned team of nobodies might have knocked off a top 25 blue blood full of high rated recruits.

Nobody is planning a parade route or booking tickets to the final 4. Everyone gets that this season is going to be a struggle, but it is ok to look beyond just the final score and be proud of the effort this team plays with and the way they play together.

But hey, thanks for trying to keep everyone in check and make sure nobody finds a reason to enjoy a game we didn't win. This season isn't about wins/losses but I know there are still some that can't wrap their head around that concept.
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EVERY season IS about wins and losses. Inconvenient, I know.
 

go_gophers said:
I love Coach Johnson's demeanor on the sidelines. On a few of the bad calls that went against us, he stayed cool. Instead of screaming or whining, you could see him calmly talking to the officials. That will gain him respect, and hopefully the benefit of doubt on calls in the future. He always seems to be under control and has a calm intensity about him. It also seems like our players spend less time/energy reacting to bad calls. At times, they will turn to complain, but catch themselves and own up to it. It must be something this staff has emphasized. It's not an easy thing to do, but I really respect it.
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A Wisconsin HS coach has said that he's a negative recruiter....and that he doesn't respect him at all.
 

BarnBurner said:
EVERY season IS about wins and losses. Inconvenient, I know.
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No matter what the team's record ends up being, Ben Johnson's status as the head coach is secure, therefore the record this year is not the most important factor. The year is about Johnson establishing the kind of basketball he wants his teams to play here and laying the foundation for the future.

If you can't see beyond the win/loss record that is on you. Most of us are going to look for reasons to find some enjoyment in what is going to be a difficult season due to some key off season injuries and a roster that was clearly not constructed with the idea of contending this year in mind.

Have seen you in action enough to know that trying to reason with you is pointless, so guess we are going to have to agree to disagree on this one.
 


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