***OFFICIAL CENTRAL MICHIGAN AT MINNESOTA IN-GAME THREAD!!!***

[jamiche]

I was there. CMU has a very quick and aggressive team. They did not want our post players scoring, so that's why it was a very heavy perimeter game. Here are my thoughts...

-Nice to see a comfortable win (even if it was a mid-major) without Oturu going off. That will happen at times this year when defenses focus on him. Passing around the perimeter when CMU played zone was good.
-Gabe still struggled a bit. Yes, he had 5 threes, but most of his shots were wide open. Missed two layups. Had some bad passes down low to Oturu that got stolen. Played okay defense.
-Carr was able to get anywhere he wanted. Had some great athletic moves around the basket. Still is dribbling too much.
-Willis was the best player on the floor. Completely under control. Great game.
-Demir played solid last night, even while scoring only 4 points. Passed the ball well. Played okay defense.
-Ihnen was out of control. Made a nice three from the corner, but also air-balled one as well. Love his energy. Needs a lot of playing time against the cupcakes.
-Hurt had the greatest drive in his Gopher career. From the perimeter, he aggressively charged to the basket and finished with contact. Could've had a few more baskets, but chose to pass.
-Omersa had a THUNDEROUS dunk on a breakaway alley-oop. My season tickets are on that end of the court, and the basket shook like crazy. Best play of the night.

I was also there and I agree with most of your comments. Based on what I've seen of Carr in person and on TV this year, I hope that Pitino turns the PG responsibilities over to Willis. Carr kills ball movement. He can fill up the box score and finish at the rim against a lousy team like CMU, but he's going to completely wipe out our margin for error against the B1G. Willis is bigger, is a decent shooter and keeps the ball moving.

Ihnen is really raw and doesn't have a clue (yet). However, there is a player in there somewhere. I would stick him in the starting lineup and live with it because Demir isn't going to win Pitino any games.

I wonder if part of the reason Garcia didn't come was because Oturu told him that he might leave for the NBA next year. Garcia should want to play next to that guy. Oturu is going to be triple teamed a lot this year.

Good to see Hurt make some plays. Too bad he doesn't have more confidence. He has enough ability to be on the floor more than 10 minutes a game.

 

[UpAndUnder43]

They’ll beat some really good teams. They’ll lose to some bad teams. Living and dying by the 3. Teams will swarm Daniel and give up a ton of open 3s. If Willis, Gabe, Carr, Williams, Ihnen can get hot they are tough to beat.

 

[60's Guy]

I haven’t seen Ihnen or Freeman other than in high school AAU hi lites. But, I did see one game of Demir. For lots of reasons I’d play Freeman and Ihnen a lot this year. We need their size and athleticism to develop our defense. I’d play Tre and Greenlee too. Continue to develop Omersa.

They all could flash this year but they’ll be so much better next year if they get minutes this year.

Hurt and Demir are not gonna elevate us. We are retarding the growth of two seasons if they keep getting minutes.

 

[Parcival]

I could've rounded up some guys from the local YMCA and ran the score up on Central Michigan. Doesn't change the fact that we are going to have a down season.

Takeaways:
-Ihnen is very raw, will take at least a season if not 2 to give reliable minutes.
-Carr is extremely ball dominant and looked good against a weak CMU team. Won't be as efficient against better competition.
-Demir isn't athletic or quick enough to start.
-Oturu will be double teamed all year long. Our guards will need to stay hot on the perimeter for us to stay in games.

 

[Parcival]

I haven’t seen Ihnen or Freeman other than in high school AAU hi lites. But, I did see one game of Demir. For lots of reasons I’d play Freeman and Ihnen a lot this year. We need their size and athleticism to develop our defense. I’d play Tre and Greenlee too. Continue to develop Omersa.

They all could flash this year but they’ll be so much better next year if they get minutes this year.

Hurt and Demir are not gonna elevate us. We are retarding the growth of two seasons if they keep getting minutes.

Agree. No point in playing them when we are going to have a down year. Anyone saying that I'm too quick to throw in the towel is delusional - we're not a very good team.

Would love to see Pitino develop Ihnen and Tre Williams primarily. Both have a lot of potential and will be key players moving forward. I'd rather see Freeman redshirted but not sure if it's too late...

 

[Gopherfan84]

will see if that is the case if Freeman plays in competitive games...which has not been the case

Kaminsky or Bergren weren't good in competing games as a freshman either? Neither was Blackshear or Tillman (MSU). Bigs take more time. Freeman is a project and was worth the chance if the staff feels they can develop. Have to take some shots on them. Now if a Williams was worthless, we'd have a different discussion.

 

[Gopherfan84]

I could've rounded up some guys from the local YMCA and ran the score up on Central Michigan. Doesn't change the fact that we are going to have a down season.

Takeaways:
-Ihnen is very raw, will take at least a season if not 2 to give reliable minutes.
-Carr is extremely ball dominant and looked good against a weak CMU team. Won't be as efficient against better competition.
-Demir isn't athletic or quick enough to start.
-Oturu will be double teamed all year long. Our guards will need to stay hot on the perimeter for us to stay in games.

Some folks really don't respect how good D1 basketball players are

 

[Gopherfan84]

Agree. No point in playing them when we are going to have a down year. Anyone saying that I'm too quick to throw in the towel is delusional - we're not a very good team.

Would love to see Pitino develop Ihnen and Tre Williams primarily. Both have a lot of potential and will be key players moving forward. I'd rather see Freeman redshirted but not sure if it's too late...

Count me in as a delusional person who has over 2 decades of experience coaching and playing basketball. I'm not blind, but I only see MSU and OSU as dominant teams in the Big Ten. The rest is a crapshoot and I don't see many rosters that are drastically better than ours if we buy into being a defense first team.

 

[golden_boi]

Count me in as a delusional person who has over 2 decades of experience coaching and playing basketball. I'm not blind, but I only see MSU and OSU as dominant teams in the Big Ten. The rest is a crapshoot and I don't see many rosters that are drastically better than ours if we buy into being a defense first team.

I agree with your point mostly. I think you are definitely forgetting about Maryland though.

 

[GopherBlood777]

Some folks really don't respect how good D1 basketball players are

Uhh yeah, if any guys on CMU were playing at the YMCA they would be embarrassing others trying to play with them lol I know that was a half sarcastic comment but give the Gophers a little credit for playing well at home and not down to their competition

 

[Gopherfan84]

I agree with your point mostly. I think you are definitely forgetting about Maryland though.

I remember Maryland and think they are overrated personally. Time will tell and I’ll gladly admit I’m wrong. Won’t be surprised to see them end up 3rd

 

[Gopherfan84]

Uhh yeah, if any guys on CMU were playing at the YMCA they would be embarrassing others trying to play with them lol I know that was a half sarcastic comment but give the Gophers a little credit for playing well at home and not down to their competition

That’s my main point. Last year everyone killed the Gophers for not dominating lower competition. This year they do it and they still all suck...

 

[jamiche]

That’s my main point. Last year everyone killed the Gophers for not dominating lower competition. This year they do it and they still all suck...

It is true that we've seen the gophers lose or almost lose in the past to teams like CMU. However, those poor games were mostly due to taking the competition too lightly and/or the mid major directionals were better than we thought. That doesn't change the fact that this team has one inside player, one rebounder, a point guard who doesn't distribute and and has no other weapons when the threes don't fall. (Oturu will be doubled and tripled every game.) If Pitino really is coaching for his job, Demir and Carr aren't going to help. He might as well start Ihnen and Williams, Willis at the point and bring Carr off of the bench.

 

[Gopherfan84]

It is true that we've seen the gophers lose or almost lose in the past to teams like CMU. However, those poor games were mostly due to taking the competition too lightly and/or the mid major directionals were better than we thought. That doesn't change the fact that this team has one inside player, one rebounder, a point guard who doesn't distribute and and has no other weapons when the threes don't fall. (Oturu will be doubled and tripled every game.) If Pitino really is coaching for his job, Demir and Carr aren't going to help. He might as well start Ihnen and Williams, Willis at the point and bring Carr off of the bench.

Can’t have this argument both ways. Rip em if they win by a lot or rip em if they win by a little. Truthfully the amount of points you win by period isn’t really a factor imo. A win is a win is a win.

 

[gophereric30]

It is true that we've seen the gophers lose or almost lose in the past to teams like CMU. However, those poor games were mostly due to taking the competition too lightly and/or the mid major directionals were better than we thought. That doesn't change the fact that this team has one inside player, one rebounder, a point guard who doesn't distribute and and has no other weapons when the threes don't fall. (Oturu will be doubled and tripled every game.) If Pitino really is coaching for his job, Demir and Carr aren't going to help. He might as well start Ihnen and Williams, Willis at the point and bring Carr off of the bench.

 

[gophereric30]

It is true that we've seen the gophers lose or almost lose in the past to teams like CMU. However, those poor games were mostly due to taking the competition too lightly and/or the mid major directionals were better than we thought. That doesn't change the fact that this team has one inside player, one rebounder, a point guard who doesn't distribute and and has no other weapons when the threes don't fall. (Oturu will be doubled and tripled every game.) If Pitino really is coaching for his job, Demir and Carr aren't going to help. He might as well start Ihnen and Williams, Willis at the point and bring Carr off of the bench.

Please tell me you know a little about basketball. To tell us we have a point guard that doesn't distribute the basketball when every game he's had at least 6 assists tells me your clueless. Give me something here that just shows that you even know what your talking about.