Some are projection the Louisville game

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calminnfan

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as a "now we will see what the Gophers are really made of" type of game. I really do not think that is the right way to view it.

Personally, I see it as an introduction to tougher competition and what is going to be expected of the Gophers as the season progresses. Even if they lose, it will challenge them to step up their game and learn how to be a better team.

It is not a one game tells it all game, not IMO anyway!
 

True, one game does not make a season. But certainly this game is going to tell us a lot more about the Gophers than what we've learned in the first 9 games. They won't be able to get away with playing one good half of basketball like they have quite a few times this season. Cornell (2nd half) and South Dakota State (1st half) come to mind immediately. Wouldn't advise that against Louisville.
 

SelectionSunday said:
True, one game does not make a season. But certainly this game is going to tell us a lot more about the Gophers than what we've learned in the first 9 games. They won't be able to get away with playing one good half of basketball like they have quite a few times this season. Cornell (2nd half) and South Dakota State (1st half) come to mind immediately. Wouldn't advise that against Louisville.
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Agreed! It is a game to learn just where they are at and get a better idea where they need to get!
 

Myron predicts the Gophers will lose if they play the way they did against SDSU. No wonder he earns the big bucks.

And on the more pertinent topic, I don't think anyone really knows what to expect against Louisville. My biggest fear right now is that they are way too excited, turn the ball over, have stupid fouls, forget to box out, etc. This is probably the biggest (or second biggest if you count the Big Ten Tournament) that these kids have ever played.
 

"My biggest fear right now is that they are way too excited."

Like Purdue was against Duke. Crapped their drawers early and were never able to recover.

Something tells me the Gophers will avoid that fate. My biggest concern is Louisville pressuring our guards, especially when Nolen is off the floor. Look for Pitino to really attack Joseph, Westbrook, Hoff when they're having to do most of the ball-handling. I'm anxious to find out if we have the guards (Al included) to handle pressure against a team with elite talent.
 


They won't be able to get away with playing one good half of basketball like they have quite a few times this season. Cornell (2nd half) and South Dakota State (1st half) come to mind immediately.
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I'm hoping they can put together the second half of the Cornell game and the first half of the SDSU game against Louisville. I think if the guys do that they can play with anyone.

Maybe I read it here somewhere ? But there is something with Louisville having a really bad record on neutral courts.
 

That was on here somewhere. I have a feeling that their strength of schedule in those neutral court games has a lot do with their record. But if they are horrible on neutral courts, god bless America's 48th state.
 

I agree we shouldn't put all our eggs in the L'ville basket injudging this team one way or the other. I think most of the rational Gopher fans are obviously hoping for a win BUT are just more interested at seeing what our team can do against an actual opponent. so much of our B10 predictions still seem theoretical due to our competition. I know I will be pleased w/ a hard-fought game that actually takes 40 minutes to decide. I would like to see us put together a complete game and raise our level to match L'ville's.

I will be shocked if we are swept off the floor...we are too athletic for that. but I fear we will have a scoring draught that lasts far too long and puts us an inescapable hole. I would love the Gophers to prove me wrong and give the Cardinals all they are worth. and a very Merry Christmas if we can do more than that!
 

They play Mississippi two nights before the Gopher game on a neutral court. That game is on ESPN, so it'll be a chance to see how they play (that night) on a neutral court. I've read that Louisville does not have a true point guard and that is one of their potential weaknesses leading into March Madness....However, they do have a number of top 100 recruits on their squad, so I expect them to be extremely athletic, quick, and long. Certainly they are beatable, (W Kentucky beat them this year) and I expect it to be a close game. We will need to be firing on all cylinders (making 3's - pounding the ball down low - MAKING free throws - playing full court D - and rebounding) to win this, but it's doable.
 



In all honesty, I'm more concerned over the fact that we have a 10-day layoff between last night's game and the game with Louisville. Meanwhile, UL plays Austin Peay on Sunday and Mississippi on Thursday.

Yes, it gives Hoffarber and Carter time to heal (as well as others who may be nicked up) ... but seems like our teams have had a problem coming back after lengthier intervals between games. (No data to support the contention, so prove me wrong. Please.)

I figure the board will get irritable over the next nine days. :p
 

In the meantime I hope someone can dig up a copy of the '93 louisville game and put it on youtube. Wishful thinking of course.
 

The neutral floor in AZ helps us, too. There won't be that overwhelming feeling you sometimes experience in a road game where you get completely rattled. In fact, let's be honest, the first real test for this team will be the first hostile environment they play in (hasn't happened yet). That won't happen until the Big Ten season starts. Last year I think our guys were shocked a couple of times early in games early in the season on the road (at FSU, at UNLV). Both those games saw us down double digits right off the bat. I don't think the big layout in Phoenix (and lack of a true home court) will rattle our guys. That's good for that game, but bad in that this team won't experience a hostile environment probably until January 15th in Madison (maybe Iowa on Jan. 8th, but they haven't drawn flies this year yet).
 

How is Louisville's outside shooting? With the wierd site lines and no backdrop, both teams could throw up a lot of bricks.
 



Carter

How much playing time do people think Carter will see next week? I love what he brings to the court with size and athletics. I would love to see him play a big role against Louisville.
 

The First 9 Games

SelectionSunday said:
True, one game does not make a season. But certainly this game is going to tell us a lot more about the Gophers than what we've learned in the first 9 games. They won't be able to get away with playing one good half of basketball like they have quite a few times this season. Cornell (2nd half) and South Dakota State (1st half) come to mind immediately. Wouldn't advise that against Louisville.
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Actually, the first 9 games told us quite a lot. We have played 9 patsies, mostly in our gym, and most of these push overs have given us a run for our money. In fact, it looked like some of those teams would have beaten us if we had to play on their home court.

Not that that was unexpected. This is a young team. Probably a year away from reaching their potential. I was in Las Vegas last year when the team met its first real challege. They were not ready. I hope they are ready this time.
 

Louisville is a poor (so far) FT shooting team..61%. The Gophers are at 68% (not all that much better) ... Louisville shoots from the court at a 43% clip. We are shooting at 48% from the floor.
 

freshtrout said:
Louisville is a poor (so far) FT shooting team..61%. The Gophers are at 68% (not all that much better) ... Louisville shoots from the court at a 43% clip. We are shooting at 48% from the floor.
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Louisville is also a poor free throw shooting team (.61%). However they are a good rebounding team with 42 rebounds per game.
 

"We have played 9 patsies, mostly in our gym, and most of these push overs have given us a run for our money."

I agree we've played a lot of marshmallows (excluding NDSU, UVa & Cornell), but for the most part I would argue all we've learned is that the Gophers can be asleep or lose interest for a good chunk of the game, then just turn it on when they need to to put the game on ice. Case in point, South Dakota State.
 

I was going to say the same thing. I don't think the Gophers have really been challenged at home except maybe UVA, and that didn't turn out that close in the end.
 

From the Barn said:
I don't think the Gophers have really been challenged at home except maybe UVA, and that didn't turn out that close in the end.
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I think the same could be said for the Cornell game. The Gophers were challenged in that game to the point of being down 13 points twice in the 2nd half. But, in the end, they were able to turn it on and win comfortably, too.

As I said, I think the true first test won't come until January in Madison. Even the Louisville game - win or lose - won't give this team a feel for a Big Ten road game. Five newcomers will have no idea what it means to play in a hostile environment in the Big Ten until tipoff on January 15th at the Kohl Center. I don't think that is good. But, we shall see.
 

The thing that scares me. ...

is the Gophers could play very well and still lose their first two Big 10 games vs. Sparty & OSU. We absolutely have to get at least a split out of that. If you lose your first two at home, especially when it's 2 teams expected to finish in the top half (at this point Gophers lack quality wins, home or road), you're chasing uphill the rest of the season trying to make up for those home losses. To me, a big key every Big 10 season is what comes first, a home loss or a road win? The rest of the Big 10 season seems much less daunting when the latter happens first.
 

An observation

Much of the games to this point have been a step up from scrimmages - trying out line ups and combinations without much fear of losing regardless of the line up. Tubby did put the fast line up in when SDSU closed the gap simply to open it up again, otherwise the game plan seemed detached from the score. No real need to respond or react to any opponent so far. Louisville will be a BIG shift as will MSU and Ohio State. We can hope our first two BT opponents are not "morning people".
 

My take is that I hope that Blake and Paul C are close to 90-95%, the Gophers will need them both to beat Louisvillle. The matchup between Colton & Ralph vs Samardo Samuels & Earl Clark should be very interesting. Thinking that Colton will hold his own but he can't get into foul trouble. If Ralph (or DJ & Paul Carter) can hit a couple of 15ft buckets early in the game, that should pull one of those two Louisville players out from the paint. This game is winable, we just have to not turn the ball over, rebound, and make our FT's.
 

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