Some thoughts

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1. The slow starts are killer, and are a reflection of coaching. Two wide open threes tonight, immediate 6-0 hole, on the road, and you're playing from behind all night. Many things went wrong, but the defensive indifference right out the gate was easily the most damaging and should be preventable.

2. Payne needs to be on the court more.

3. Ihnen needs to be on the court less.

4. Garcia needs to take more shots. And not just in garbage time.

5. Push the ball up the court.

It's just one loss, and 3-2 is a really good start. Focus, play D, take good shots. Beat Iowa.
 


1. The slow starts are killer, and are a reflection of coaching. Two wide open threes tonight, immediate 6-0 hole, on the road, and you're playing from behind all night. Many things went wrong, but the defensive indifference right out the gate was easily the most damaging and should be preventable.

2. Payne needs to be on the court more.

3. Ihnen needs to be on the court less.

4. Garcia needs to take more shots. And not just in garbage time.

5. Push the ball up the court.

It's just one loss, and 3-2 is a really good start. Focus, play D, take good shots. Beat Iowa.
It doesn't happen often but I agree with pretty much all of this. :)

1. The slow starts are a definite problem. The start last night was about as bad as it could have possibly been, early foul trouble, leaving them wide open for shots, digging a big hole on the scoreboard. They seem to make good adjustments at half time and play better in the second but need to figure out how to play that way the whole game.

2. We don't know how much the foot injury is still bothering him but agree that his role needs to keep expanding. Especially early in the game since there is a good shot he won't be on the court late due to his free throw shooting unfortunately.

3. Ihnen is really struggling to find his place and right now if pretty much just a bit player.

4. 1 point from Garcia in the first half won't get it done most nights. He needs to be more assertive early in the game and take charge. Early foul trouble last night made it difficult for him to be overly assertive but it isn't the fist time he has struggled early in a game.

5. The ability to push pace is directly tied to Hawkins. But when he is out there I agree that they should push tempo and take advantage of his speed.

I would add a 6th item - Mitchell needs to get back on track. He was in double figures for 6 straight games before scoring a grand total of 2 points in the last 2 games. This team needs him to be an offensive option.
 

Ben’s handling of Mitchell in particular and the backcourt in general is head scratching. The last two games the offense has been stagnant and as a result, no one has been getting open shots. Mitchell moves incredibly well off the ball. Time for Ben to make adjustments to free Mitchell up. We need him to be a scorer!
 

This team is not going anywhere with Garcia being a non-factor, the way he was for most of the game. don't know if the ankle is still an issue, but Garcia just does not look like the same player we saw earlier in the season.

and Mitchell - don't know if it's due to facing better competition or what, but he looks completely lost right now. taking a lot of bad shots or off-rhythm shots.

but when the Gophers go 3 of 20 on 3-pt attempts, they're not beating anybody.
 


Ben’s handling of Mitchell in particular and the backcourt in general is head scratching. The last two games the offense has been stagnant and as a result, no one has been getting open shots. Mitchell moves incredibly well off the ball. Time for Ben to make adjustments to free Mitchell up. We need him to be a scorer!
They ran a play for him last night and he threw up a wide open brick.
 



What's wrong with you? They attempted to get him several shots. Just didn't have it last night. Did I offend your burner account?
With Mitchell we will see how good Ben is at the aspect of coaching which deals with getting a guy's head right. Mitchell played a little scared last night and rushed every shot he took.

He played two years at Pepperdine. He didn't see defensive players with the size and athletic ability that he faced last night at Bob Knight Assembly Hall. He was intimidated and played that way.

Let's see if Ben can restore him to positive thinking based on the fact he has already shown he can play on a Big Ten team. He's proved that to a limited degree. Play hard defense, move the ball, and let the good shots come to you.
 



1. The slow starts are killer, and are a reflection of coaching. Two wide open threes tonight, immediate 6-0 hole, on the road, and you're playing from behind all night. Many things went wrong, but the defensive indifference right out the gate was easily the most damaging and should be preventable.

2. Payne needs to be on the court more.

3. Ihnen needs to be on the court less.

4. Garcia needs to take more shots. And not just in garbage time.

5. Push the ball up the court.

It's just one loss, and 3-2 is a really good start. Focus, play D, take good shots. Beat Iowa.
Excellent post! Personal question, are you a USAF vet or active duty?
 





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