***OFFICIAL - REAL U OF M (GOPHERS) @ FAUX U OF M (WOLVERINES) - GAME THREAD!!!***

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Gopher_In_NYC

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The winter of fun continues as we knock off a second top ten ranked B10 team this season with another smooth effort, as we did against the Bucks, albeit a little closer game, 81-72. We get a legit road win and can put that worry to rest. Also, let's not wear those ugly granite (?) road unis we donned for the Badger game.

What's your prediction???

My prediction game has been strong lucky lately, so have faith my furry rodent bucket buddies -

Ranked in Top 25 this season - yup
2-2 in B10 in December - yup
Best OSU - yup


Let this magical virtual season continue
 
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This one is interesting. Michigan hasn't beaten anybody great yet and have had a soft schedule so far. I think defensively we have the guys to match up with them well. On paper with our players I think we should be able to beat them. The road game factor is scary however. However the gophers seemed to have turn a corner defensively and seem like a team who's bought in to playing it and seeing the rewards of it. I'm cautiously picking the gophers to win by 6 (FT extend the lead at the end of the game).
 

manderson1984 said:
This one is interesting. Michigan hasn't beaten anybody great yet and have had a soft schedule so far. I think defensively we have the guys to match up with them well. On paper with our players I think we should be able to beat them. The road game factor is scary however. However the gophers seemed to have turn a corner defensively and seem like a team who's bought in to playing it and seeing the rewards of it. I'm cautiously picking the gophers to win by 6 (FT extend the lead at the end of the game).
Click to expand...

Nice analysis - thanks.

Honestly, if there were fans, I'd probably flip my prediction, but I think our close games this season have given us confidence and something real to build on. In close games in previous seasons, we'd seem to wilt from those moments, I think/hope those days for the most part are in our rearview.
 

I am not optimistic for today. Admittedly haven't seen much Michigan basketball this year but just don't see the Gophers winning at their place. For whatever reason empty road arenas haven't been kind so far.

I really hope I'm wrong. A win tonight would be HUGE.
 

We are by far the toughest test Michigan has had so far, and even so, they get us at home.

Nice John Thompson like scheduling there!

Gophers need to stick with what has been working:

1. Tough defense.
2. Rebound
3. Get Robbins the damn ball.
4. Share the ball through good movement
5. Make their free throws

Wouldn't bet on Gophers on the road but, eventually they will break through.
 



I’m still hopeful that our lopsided road losses are due more to just poor play against two top 15 teams, poor performances that the team quickly rebounded from, and not just because we suck away from the Barn. We haven’t played a road game against even an average team yet.
 

manderson1984 said:
This one is interesting. Michigan hasn't beaten anybody great yet and have had a soft schedule so far. I think defensively we have the guys to match up with them well. On paper with our players I think we should be able to beat them. The road game factor is scary however. However the gophers seemed to have turn a corner defensively and seem like a team who's bought in to playing it and seeing the rewards of it. I'm cautiously picking the gophers to win by 6 (FT extend the lead at the end of the game).
Click to expand...

I'm curious who we match up defensively against Livers and Wagner. Gabe probably takes one of them, with a bit of a size disadvantage. Gach probably gets the other, which may be a pretty important match-up. Thoughts?
 


Because NET is broken, win tonight and move up to top 10
Lose tonight and probably move up to top 25
 






Robbins-Dickinson matchup will decide the game. We matchup well with Michigan and I see no reason this can't be the game we show we can play on the road.
 

Chico Gopher said:
I'm curious who we match up defensively against Livers and Wagner. Gabe probably takes one of them, with a bit of a size disadvantage. Gach probably gets the other, which may be a pretty important match-up. Thoughts?
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I'd guess Gabe draws Livers and Gach on Wagner to mitigate a pretty big height issue with Gabe on Wagner, though to be honest I will be perfectly fine if Wagner wants to try come inside all game so maybe the stick Gabe on him and tempt him to drive. I think we can switch most anything up top with our guards which is a luxury against a team like Michigan
 


Chico Gopher said:
I'm curious who we match up defensively against Livers and Wagner. Gabe probably takes one of them, with a bit of a size disadvantage. Gach probably gets the other, which may be a pretty important match-up. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

My guess. First person is primary, and 2nd would be when primary is out of the game. Gabe has done ok with bigger guards before. Livers is only an inch taller than Dosunmu.

Dickinson- Robbins/Curry/Johnson
Wagner- Johnson/Ihnen/Curry
Livers- Gabe, Gach, Tre, Ihnen
Smith- Carr/Mash
Brooks-Gach, Gabe, Mash, Tre
 

I'd put Gach on Wagner, FWIW. Wagner doesn't do enough that Gach can't stand near him with his hand up and if he drives, Liam will send that shit to the 8th row.

Gabe on Livers, Livers is good. Gabe can mitigate him a bit and likely will draw a foul on him early.

Dickinson needs to be guarded by Liam as much as possible. Curry matches up best with him after that.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
I'd put Gach on Wagner, FWIW. Wagner doesn't do enough that Gach can't stand near him with his hand up and if he drives, Liam will send that shit to the 8th row.

Gabe on Livers, Livers is good. Gabe can mitigate him a bit and likely will draw a foul on him early.

Dickinson needs to be guarded by Liam as much as possible. Curry matches up best with him after that.
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I'd debate giving Freeman a little bit of run today and just tell him to be physical. I worry he's too quick for Curry.
Agree entirely on Wagner driving. I hope that that is the defensive gameplan to try and let Michigan come inside with anyone other than Dickinson.
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
Nice analysis - thanks.

Honestly, if there were fans, I'd probably flip my prediction, but I think our close games this season have given us confidence and something real to build on. In close games in previous seasons, we'd seem to wilt from those moments, I think/hope those days for the most part are in our rearview.
Click to expand...

We are also just old and we do not play many young guys. Hopefully that will also help us as we continue to grow as a team and close out games successfully. If we defend as well as we did against OSU and Michigan State, we will win. The amount will only truly depend on how good or bad we shoot. If we give up easy buckets like Illinois or Wiskey in the second half, we will need to shoot really well and that still may not get us the win.
 


I did not have a good feeling going into the Illinois and Wisconsin games. For Illinois, we do not match up well with them. For Wisconsin, they were coming in ticked off after that loss to Maryland.

The Gophers have a shot in this one. I think we match up well with Michigan. They probably have the shortest starting backcourt in all of the Big Ten (Smith and Brooks). Advantage Marcus Carr. I feel like Gach and Johnson/Ihnen can make Wagner and Livers uncomfortable tonight. I think it will be close.

Go Gophers!
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
The winter of fun continues as we knock off a second top ten ranked B10 team this season with another smooth effort, as we did against the Bucks, albeit a little closer game, 81-72. We get a legit road win and can put that worry to rest. Also, let's not wear those ugly granite (?) road unis we donned for the Badger game.

What's your prediction???

My prediction game has been strong lucky lately, so have faith my furry rodent bucket buddies -

Ranked in Top 25 this season - yup
2-2 in B10 in December - yup
Best OSU - yup


Let this magical virtual season continue
Click to expand...
Hi Stan.
 


Have we done any full course press this year? Tonight would be a night to give that a try.
 

Robbins needs to stay out of foul trouble...if Michigan focuses on shutting down Carr like Ohio St did we will need to get the ball inside to someone who can then go to work or dish out. If we're dishing out we need to hit some 3s
 


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