Gopher Mens Hoops

[RankOfEagle]

How about them Gophers? They continue to improve. I'm excited to see them get into big ten play. They are playing great defense, diving for loose balls. Offense is getting spread around. All in all good all-around performance I thought tonight watching.

[Scott M]

Went to the game tonight. NDSU made it interesting for the first 10 minutes, keeping it neck and neck, then the Gophers just blew it up. They have probably 85-90% of this intense pressure defense figured out, but every once in a while a guy is a step slow in the shell defense or closes out without control or gets beat on penetration. This will hurt them against good teams, as we saw against FSU. I wish their press was a little better tonight but Woodside is a good point guard and at the least it slowed him down. He was averaging 27 ppg but finished tonight with 17.

That's where the observations start:

*Al Nolen. Great job tonight, lead all scorers. Hounded Woodside on defense, came up with 5 steals and a sweet 3 point rejection that started a fast break.

* Gotta get to the free throw line more. This team is settling too much on jump shots. Be aggresive, get more dribble drives or reverse the ball faster to attack teams.

* Stop turning the ball over. 16 turnovers tonight, right on pace with their 16 a game average. Yes, they win by 32 and score 88 points tonight, but some of those turnovers came under the basket or in transition or in other times when they could have scored easy ones. You would be talking about a 100 point effort otherwise.

* Get the ball inside. This goes back to the team being too much of a jump shooting team. Yes, there are some good shooters on the team, but Tollackson was working hard for hi-lo feeds, wing entries, you name it, and he wasn't getting the ball! He got whistled for an offensive he was posting up so hard...The guards need to get him the rock. He's not bad on the block...his touch has actually improved quite a bit. Jon Williams even showed some post moves tonight, being very efficient with 4/5 shooting in 14 minutes. And Coleman can get some off glass jumpers and jump hooks inside. They need to work inside to open the outside or the other way around..either way the post game needs to get cracked wide open.

I like what Tubby is doing. He is very dependent upon his bench and he can substitute line changes and get lots of distribution of minutes among players. He can see what he has to work with, get his kids some confidence, and make them better with each game. They just need to learn to make better decisions with the basketball, be a little more efficient on both ends of the floor, and keep working on the defense. If they can shore up some of those deficiencies, they will be a difficult team to beat at home during the conference schedule and will play tough on the road. They might make some noise in that post-holiday tournament still!

[Scott M]

Quote:

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Nobody else has much enthusiasm. That's okay. When they last made the dance with Vinny Grier they were expected to be horrible also.

Has anyone seen their schedule? Besides UNLV and FSU(minus Thornton), they really don't play anyone until the Big Ten Season. They could be entering Big Ten play with ten wins. Go 9-7 or 10-6 in the conference, win the first game of the Big Ten tourney, and they're on the bubble. Do better and you're in.

They can win on defense and scrappiness. I think Tubby will get them turned around. I'll go out on a limb and say that they will be one of the last teams to make the NCAA tourney.

---

Going back to my bubble-talk, check out this bit from Reusse's column scheduled to appear tomorrow morning in the paper:

"The Gophers are now 5-1. There are six more nonconference games and they look like cupcakes, other than a game against UNLV at the end of the Duel in the Desert in Las Vegas.

So that puts Smith's first team at 10-2, minimum, when it opens the Big Ten season Jan. 5 at Michigan State. The home opener is four nights later against Northwestern.

The Wildcats recently lost at home to Brown. Michigan recently was blown out at Harvard. Iowa lost to Louisiana-Monroe in the first round of its Hawkeye Challenge -- its second loss in 26 years of the tournament. Ohio State has scored in the 40s twice in a pair of losses. Penn State finished eighth in the Old Spice Classic in Orlando.

What we're saying here is that there appear to be any number of inferior teams in the Big Ten. And these new, Tubby-fied Gophers do not appear to be one of them."

[Dotch]

Was at last night's game as well and while I'm less adept at the x's and o's, would agree that Tubby will put an entertaining product on the floor with the talent he's got. Can see a tremendous difference between this team and Monson's previous 2 teams. Tubby coaches and teaches rather than getting all emotional and flustered during the timeouts. Both styles can work but it obviously wasn't working for Monson towards the last. Also, you mentioned the first 10 minutes of the first half. This was always a scary time for Monson's teams as you were never sure if they'd continue to struggle for the rest of the game against teams they should have beaten handily. Since many of these guys are Monsons leftovers, team speed isn't what it needs to be. However, these guys look like they're in shape. They just wore NDSU down after awhile. I liked what I saw of Williams too. As he gets more playing time, he could be a load. The Big Ten is not as strong as it once was. Given Tubby's coaching, pulling off a few upsets, and minimal injuries, it's feasible they could make the NCAA's.

[schweady]

50-27 lead at the half tonight over CO State, and the Barn is ROCKIN'! Sure rather be there than trying to pull it in on 'CCO. STOOPID big ten network! BTW: Great column in the Friday StarTrib by Judd Zulgad, blasting the greed that runs deep throughout the cable industry, effectively shutting out fans across the state. One revelation in that column: FSN could care less that we don't see the Gophs on their channel any longer: Fox owns 49% of the BTN

[Dotch]

I agree and we get the T-Wimps on 2 channels tonite? That crap over Tubby? Gimme a break...

[Scott M]

Went to the game last night...Probably the best half of basketball (First half) I've seen in Williams in 5-6 years. They got whatever they wanted on offense and hounded the Rams on defense. They took care of the ball (4 turnovers at the half) Everybody played and scored

Hoffarber was unreal. I think he was like 5/7 on 3's in the first half. He was just unconscious. Tubby admitted in his postgame show that he probably cooled him off leaving him on the bench so long in the second half.

Spencer T. had a nice game, especially the first couple minutes. CSU's Frosh 7 footer Aguiler got 2 fouls in about 90 seconds. I think he had 4 fouls accumulated with maybe 3 total minutes played. Totally took the frontcourt players out of the game in the first couple minutes. Spencer fancies himself a 3 point shooter as he uncorked another one and nailed it this game. That's 2 3's in the last 2 games.

Dan Coleman had his best game as a Gopher. Period. Unbelieveably efficient. 10/14 FG, 2-2 FT. 22 points, 11 boards. Scored his 1,000 point on a 14 foot jumper near the top of the key. It was his 100th game and he joins a group of like 34 or 35 players who have reached the 1K mark. Quite an accomplishment for someone considered an underachiever (I still think this about him...too inconsistent). Great game though...he really was getting up on those rebounds and jump shots. If he can play mentally tough he will have a nice senior season.

Really the only guys that had bad games were McKenzie and Shamala. And McKenzie lead the team in assists and started at the point, so he has an excuse. Shamala is having a rough start to the year. Hoffarber does exactly what Shamala did last year, being scrappy and hitting big shots. Jamal looks timid out there on defense and out of sync on offense. He's probably transitioning to the offense and recovering from the stitches on his nose from Monday's game and the stitches on his hand from his accident at his apartment.

Overall there are things to pick apart.

Excellent intense pressure on the perimeter, although I still think they allow too many dribble drives.

The press was good but players are still a step slow and they don't run back and recover when they get beat. They allowed a guy to drive the length of the court 3 times in a row for layups without anybody getting in front of him. You can't allow that in the regular season. Gotta cut guys off better.

Too many 3 pointers being taken (10-29). Spencer got things going early inside, got his man in foul trouble, and then never got the ball the rest of the game. The guy has developed some inside moves. He pivots well, drop-steps well, has a great up and under. He has pretty good footwork and foot speed, but he can never show it off because 10/12 of the roster plays on the perimeter and wants to jack 3's.

I would have left with nothing to seriously complain about if they would have scored 100 and won by at least 30. But they took their foot off the gas pedal and coasted in teh second half, getting outscored in the second period. They lead by 24 at the half, and only ended up winning by 17. I think they need to keep the killer instinct and finish off this team. Beat a team by 40 and drop 100, they could have done it tonight, just killed the will of another team, and a Big Sky team besides.

[AWH]

Nice recap, da chise! Can't blame the BTN for it not being on last night. It was on ESPN360 (whatever that is). I turned to the BTN last night thinking it would be on to no avail. So I watched the Wolves beat the Suns instead. Great game!

Aaron

[schweady]

Oh, I'm not blaming BTN for that game not being on. I'm blaming BTN and all those involved for their part in blacking out 90% of the TV schedule for the average Gopher hoops fan. And, no, I don't get ESPN360, either, whatever that is.

[mr_jman]

ESPN 360 is an online streaming video service, but I think it is only available to people who use Verizon Wireless as their Internet provider. So just about everyone misses the games. We'll just have to wait till the Big 10 season rolls around to catch some games. I still listen to most games on the radio. There blowing teams out of the water right now so it'll be nice to have some good competition in a few weeks!

[Scott M]

What a garbage fest. MN beats SDSU 78-72. You gotta figure they will play down to the opponent a few times and play without passion. Tonight was that night.

I keep watching this in your face perimeter defense waiting for the team to turn the corner and really play it well, but lately they were a step slow. Tonight they were 5 steps slow. The rotations were bad, the close-outs were bad, they fell for every pump fake and drive, they didn't have hands up on defense, THEY GOT MURDERED ON THE BOARDS. They got outrebounded by 15 by a team that really didn't have a dominant or even good post player. It was horrible rebounding all the way around. I don't think I saw more than a handful of box outs the whole game. Johnson and Coleman are the only guys that can outjump anybody, but don't come down strong enough with the ball....not that anyone should ever do that, you should always rebound by positioning.

I don't know if it was rebounding as a team or rebounding out of the zone but they were killed on the boards.

Offense was really stagnant. Bad shots and lots of them. McKenzie looked like it was last year and he needed to drive against 3 guys and then hoist a shot.

SDSU came out with a nice plan though, and played tough. Got to give them credit. They hit the boards, they were patient on the press (the press was worthless...didn't wear them down, didn't register turnovers, didn't change the tempo of the game), they took good shots (the gophers gave them PLENTY of wide open looks). They gave an unathletic sophomore guard with a 9.5 career scoring average a variety of open looks and drives to lead all scorers with 28.

The only bright spots were Coleman and Hoffarber on offense. Coleman repeated his Saturday performance in terms of efficiency. 10/14 FG, 24 pts in 30 minutes. Hoffarber had a man draped on him all night, yet with just a little bit of space he started out 3/4 on Treys. He took a couple more shots (this kid oozes confidence) that were bad decisions (he's young and he'll learn), and finished 3-6 on threes for 9 points, he also is a heck of a passer with his southpaw passes and post entries with english on the ball. 6 assists.

You know the Gophers will have a game like this ever now and then but they never quit, played through it, and finished strong. The free throws need work. They shot 19-28, but hit them down the stretch when they needed to. So tonight they took 1 step forward, 3 steps back.

I believe a Monson coached team would have dropped a few more games by now. I hope to see Tubby's team make some adjustments and get better as they progress through the cupcakes and into the holiday tournament and Big Ten season. They have a huge layoff for finals week so hopefully they come out with intensity on Dec. 22 versus Santa Clara (sans Steve Nash )

Go Gophs.

[Dotch]

Nice summary, da chise. SDSU's tallest guy is 6'7" and like you said they killed the Gophers on the boards. Callahan lit them up from outside and he managed to be left open for un-contested shots way too often. Looked like the Gophs were playing like they could just "out-talent" SDSU and forgot about hustling to the ball and contesting shots. Wasn't impressed with his first half play but a couple of Tallackson's plays late in the second half,(the bank shot off the board and the dish in the paint to Coleman) were key to this team playing well enough to win. Demonstrating some leadership at that point was a real positive and it seemed to spark them. They played more cohesively and hustled more on D the last couple minutes. I agree, if this had been a Monson coached team, probably would've wound up in the L column. Have a feeling practice today might not be real fun.

[Scott M]

Been away for a few weeks. Anybody watch the Duel in the Desert games or Santa Clara at Williams? I kind of figured they would be 10-2 going into the conference season. Won every game they were supposed to...but you'd still like to see them steal a game or two, especially if they want to go to the Big Dance.

[mshs1]

They may not go dancing, but they look stronger than last year-- I may be wrong, but it seems Tubby quietly does his work- recruiting seems vastly improved--the current crop is defending and they could have a good year which after last year I did not anticipate.

[Scott M]

Nice little game at home with Northwestern. How embarrassing was it that the Gophers had lost 6 of the last 7 against Northwestern? Just remember that Monson left on his own terms, he wasn't fired...Maturi should have shown him the door a long time ago.

Didn't make the game since I had my own league starting, but it sounded like Hoffarber was his usual self, 5-5 on treys in the first half, and Spence and Dan were taken care of business in the middle.

Tough stretch of game coming up starting with a frisky Penn State club on a winning streak on Saturday, and then Indiana and Michigan State at home next week. Gotta take one of those home games against those ranked teams if they want to dance.

[Dotch]

Gotta hand it to Tubby; the guy can flat out coach. Benching the starting 5 when they were floundering in the first half must've sent the right message. Play his way or don't play. The cutaway to Tubby giving Tallackson a tonguelashhing on the sidelines was priceless. Looked like a lot of "gosh darns", "by gollies" and "gee-whizzes" being uttered. Nice win over Northwestern, a team they should beat at the Barn but hadn't in the past 3 meetings I believe. And, the Barn was rockin' which never hurts.

[Dotch]

Tubby gets a taste of Big Ten officiating at it's finest: consistently inconsistent in spurts on both sides. People get killed and no call. Shed some dandruff, it touches someone, and a whistle blows. He and the Gophers still pull off a win thanks to PSU's poor free throw shooting. They stayed with it, clawed their way back from 16 down and won thanks to the Hoffarber 3-balls & hustle of Nolen at the end. Not pretty and painful to watch due to all the ticky tack foul calls but a W nonetheless. Win one of the next 3 (IN, MSU, OSU, excuse me, THE OSU) and it may open some eyes come tournament time.

[Scott M]

Right on Dotch. Was fishing Winni so I missed the game, but the recap sounds like it was exciting. Nolen has some intestinal fortitude to pluck that pass and go coast-to-coast, and then sink 3 of 4 free throws. Heck of an on the ball defender. I'll be at the barn on Thursday for the showdown with 14-1 Indiana and Sunday for the home rematch with MSU.

[OLY]

I used to really enjoy watching gophers basketball. I went to high school with Sam Jacobson and I used to be a huge fan. I kinda of lost intrest when monson was coaching, but now I would love to watch them play under Tubby. Only problem is I dont have the stupid big ten network. I was glad I didnt have it this past football season, but now I really wish I could watch some hoops!

[Dotch]

lol! Poor Oly...I really enjoy your insight da chise. You sound like a student of the game and look forward to your report on the next several games. Nothing like being there at the Barn. I was a rassler in high school but played a lot of full contact 'barn-ball' at practices until they finally made us quit because of all the injuries. I've been watching Gopher's BB on TV a long time, since the Mussleman era. Mychal Thompson was in one of my classes on West Bank at the U (hilarious to watch him try to sit in one of those little desks) and Johnny Kundla taught the conditioning class I took on St. Paul campus. Super nice guy. Yes, I am a geezer but still bleed maroon and gold. I get to a few games every year but regret that I didn't have the foresight to buy season tickets when Monson was tanking. I feel your pain Oly. You're right about the football season, it was awful. Luckily we have Dish Network. I enjoy the women's BB too. Now if only the men's hockey team was playing a little better...

[bassNspear]

i would have to say that there is something special that is going on here for the men. There is alot of people wondering if there for real, being they have not really played a powerhouse yet. I believe that the U is letting Tubby roll with what he thinks is correct. The guy is a monster, and i hope that U understands what kinda guy he is, and lets him get even more players in

[joewibro14]

da chise...you are right on about Nolan. He is the best man on man defender i've seen in a long time and he is definately a spark plug for this team. This is a big week for the gophers if they expect to be in the dance. The way I see it Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan State and Ohio State are in for sure. Then its between the gophs and a tough Purdue team for the fifth spot. But Ohio State really hasn't won against anybody but Florida and Michigan State is on the slide offensively after losing to a pathetic Iowa team. I really think we can take two out of the next three and i'll be at the barn for every one of them!

[Willy]

Can't believe noone has posted anything about the game coming up tonight! I'm excited, should be a good game, would be great to get a win.

The Barn should be a rockin. This game will give us an idea of what we can expect the rest of the season.

I don't know what to predict as far as the score, but I will predict it will be close with a sold out arena and just as loud and racous as it used to be. Wish I was going to be there to witness the rebirth of the famous Barn.

[Dotch]

8 PM on ESPN. Perfect! Get chores done, warm up a bit, consume some vittles and settle in for some entertainment. I'm cautiously optimistic but still have some reservations about the level of talent Tubby has to work with. Tubby's a great coach and has done extremely well with what he's got to work with but he's not a magician just yet anyway. If they win tonight he could be in the running for magician however. Will be interesting to see how they play against a well coached, quality team. Hopefully they'll play to the level of the competition, stay close so the Barn can influence the outcome and eke out a win. Think da chise said he'll be there so will be fun to read his reaction to all the action. Enjoy!

[deadminnowcatcher]

finally get to watch a game

[koonie]

Pretty good game overall tonight.

Somebody needs to show Tollackson how to shoot free throws. That was ridiculous!

We had every opportunity to win that game.

Tubby has them going in the right direction though. The offense needs some work. Seems to be a lot of dribbling around near half court and then a pick and roll. It just looked disjointed to me.

It was fun to watch them play again and actually see them be competitive. It's been a while. Tubby will turn us in to a top twenty team within 2 years. Consistently, that is.

[bassNspear]

 Originally Posted By: koonie

Pretty good game overall tonight.

Somebody needs to show Tollackson how to shoot free throws. That was ridiculous!

.

i dont think ridiculous covers how bad it looks. The man is a awesome player, but the free throws are so bad, hes not even close.

They played a great game tonight. To many turnovers, and at most of the time in the second half, they didnt look like they were playing together, they looked like they were just running with there head chopped off.

But i can say this, tubby has his team playing with some hart. There back on the map for hoops, and i think there going to be good for a few years

[Scott M]

Caught the game tonight. Dotch, I’m sure my old man was doing the same….finished chores and then turned on ESPN. Glad a few of you like the reports from the game, it’s a fun team to follow and agree or disagree it’s good to have hoops relevants in MN on some level.

Tonight’s game is what you want for Minnesota basketball…newspapers and radio personalities buzzing about the game, fans selling out and packing into Williams Arena, and expectations of a heck of a contest (which it was). Unfortunately, those last 3 minutes was the Minnesota basketball I’ve seen in that building that was the (pock)mark of Monson teams. Lack of screens, standing and waiting for someone else to do the dirty work, and fear to take the big shots. How can you have 3 seniors on the floor with 2 freshman, and you’re counting on Nolen or Hoffarber to take the big shot? This could be a real Achilles heal for this team in close games…who is the go to player? Another Monson characteristic from tonight? Another frickin’ moral victory.

The Gophers

* Force 26 turnovers, including 7 by Gordon

* keep Gordon on the bench for most of the 1st half with 3 quick fouls

* keep D.J. White on the bench for important stretches of the second half, particularly down the stretch on defensive possessions where he can’t own the paint like he did on both ends of the court in the first half

and yet….the Gophers lose by 5 despite pulling ahead by 2 with less than 2 minutes left. How does this happen?

The obvious answer? Spencer Tollackson goes 0-7 from the line. Absolutely brutal. He missed every way except airballs. Wipe away Tollackson’s 0-7 and the Gophers go 11-14. Not bad. And truthfully, 0-7 doesn’t tell the whole truth. Tollackson left a lot of free points on the table as he missed at least 3 front ends of 1-and-1’s. Spence finished 6 of 10 from the field, which doesn’t sound too bad, but he never threw a single pump fake at White. Personally if he would have shown anything in the post, I think a head fake would have had White sky high trying for the highlight reel blocks and into foul trouble sooner. It’s hard to score when you are sitting on the bench…could have altered the game some but that’s completely speculative since it didn’t happen that way. Spence had the chance to make some noise in the post and work an inside-out game and it never happened. It hasn’t happened yet this year. He hasn’t had a game where he takes over and he may never. I think this team could be that much better if they worked on their halfcourt sets and ran a bit more of the offense out of the post, either Tollackson or Coleman. But regrettably, this team has played half their games and forged an identity as a jump shooting team. I don’t expect things to change much.

The hidden answers? See the first paragraph above. Somebody has to want to win this game. Somebody has to want to take the big shot. When Indiana overplays guys the whole game and we never see one backdoor pass and very little dribble penetration, the Gophers can not win. They settled for too many jumpshots and outside shots, particularly in the second half. I don’t know if the seniors are too used to losing and leaving with their tails between their legs, but one of them should have wanted that last shot.

So just how did Indiana beat us despite those facts above?

Poor defense in transition. I can’t say the Gophers press was bad….I mean, heck, they forced 26 turnovers. But at the same time, they let guys dribble out of the press, split the middle with passes, and get easy points in transition. I can’t prove it and I’m sure someone has the stats somewhere, but I would guess half of Indiana’s field goals were inside of 5 feet….that’s a lot of layups and easy shots on Offensive rebounds and on fast break advantages after breaking the press

Poor rebounding. Gophers got outrebounded by almost 20. There was no way, given the differences in personnel, that the Gophers were going to outrebound the Hoosiers. But they can’t lose that battle by almost 20. Guards have to help by pinching down on big men, or just bodying up anyone they see. Rebounding isn’t size or jumping ability, it’s one of those “size of the fight in the dog” things…you just have to want it bad enough. Gophers didn’t get it done on the glass.

That other freshman. Jordan Crawford really killed tonight. 4-6 on 3’s, finishes as the second game-high scorer with 16. Kid played really well. Super efficient and pulled in a couple key offensive rebounds.

C’mon Tubby! This was the first night I was dissatisfied with Tubby’s performance. When you play a team ranked in the top ten you have to treat it like a playoff game. He’s gotta use a shorter bench. Period. That’s what you do in playoff situations, you go with your big guns. Travis Busch? What is he doing in the game? Starting Shamala? Somewhere earlier in this thread I pointed out that Jamal is not having a good year, and that poor year continues. He can’t defend and he’s been usurped by Hoffarber. In the best interest of the team, let him play himself back into the game, don’t start him and expect the world. My last beef with Tubby is a matter of opinion. I felt that the Gophers got killed running their zone. IU has great guards and they can all shoot. They really are a pick your poision team. White can get to work in the middle, and the guards can shoot, penetrate and score, or penetrate and dish. Tubby went zone for extended periods, and in the first half the Gophs paid for it. Indiana actually had a little 5 minute cold spell against that same zone in the second half where they came back to earth and Minny came back, but overall I would have still pulled the zone. The rotations were too slow or there was a commitment to doubling Gordon or White and for that reason the Hoosiers got tons of great looks. The Gophers are also horrible rebounding out of the zone, and gave up 10 offensive rebounds on the night. Some will disagree with me, but I would have liked less zone. I’m not saying go exclusively man to man, but less zone would have been better IMO. I kind of wish I could have asked Tubby or Nolen what was drawn up in those last couple timeouts. I can’t believe he wanted a bunch of drop-off weaves on the top of the key, or dribbling on the outside, or a top of the key pick and roll while everyone else stands. They should have drawn something up better or if they did so, they should have executed better. They got horrible shots in the last couple minutes. They flat out did not play to win in the end, they played to not lose. That’s a basketball cliché, but they were totally playing too timid. Be aggressive and play to win. They played timid and IU scored the final 7 points.

**********************

The Gophers should have raced out to an early lead to build some confidence but they let the Hoosiers hang. They forced like 10 turnovers in the first 12 minutes and had Gordon on the bench with 2 fouls at that time, but they just kept more or less trading baskets.

With 5 minutes left in the first half, Indiana sort of took control. They went into the break with a 8 point lead and the sellout crowd was pretty quiet. I figured one of two things would happen. a) Indiana would come out guns blazing and stick the knife in or The gophers would cut the deficit and scratch one out…that’s what their identity is, win by scrappiness and that would be their recipe in the second half. To my surprise, the latter role played out, but they couldn’t finish the job.

Tonight’s game said a lot about both teams. I’m pretty disappointed by the loss, but I think they will win on Sunday against Michigan State. The Gophers think they should have beaten MSU away and Indiana tonight and I think they are going to want it bad come Sunday. I loved hearing the building that loud. It was great. I haven’t heard it loud in like 6 years (Rickert years), and I haven’t heard it that pop your ears loud in like 10 years (The Haskins years). If the Gophers learn and get better from this, the pain of this moral victory will heal.

For the Hoosiers, they will probably take the next game vs. MN in Bloomington and I like them to win the league. They have some very skilled players. I expect them to go far in the tournament as well. They can beat you lots of different ways and I don’t expect anyone to outrebound them. They play a very physical style. Sweet 16 has to be an expectation; Elite 8 will be a reach considering what other teams are on the college basketball landscape. They also showed some weaknesses tonight, particularly in taking care of the ball and throwing cross court passes in half and full court scenarios. They are beatable by an up-tempo pressing team that has the horses the Gophers don’t. That will be their undoing come tournament time. Lots of young guys with some things to learn.

For those that want to indulge in the moral victory, you can look at what the Gophers did well. Damien Johnson filled out his stat sheet very well, including getting the p.t. nod in crunch time. Coleman puts up a steady 15/7. The mean streak was missing again, but he did score some crucial baskets. Nolen continued with strong on the ball pressure, spending a lot of time between Gordon and Crawford. He needs to get to the rim more. When he does, good things happen. He led the team in assists with 5, mostly off drives. He had a very nice take to the hole. On his one field goal (!), two dribbles took him from an NBA 3 point line to a layup. Heck of a drive past like 3 guys. He just needs to create more. The gophers continue to have maybe 3 guys athletic enough to create their own shots, McKenzie, Coleman, and Nolen. Of those three, none of them are aggressive enough to do it on a consistent basis. Lastly, and congruently with a true moral victory, the gophers never gave up and played a top ten team very tough at home. Honestly they should have won this game. Talentwise they are years away from what IU has, yet they were there till the bitter end.

Stop for a second and think about what would have happened if Tubby and Kelvin Sampson trade places. I gotta think Tubby wins by 30. With the recruits Tubby is bringing in, this is the future for this team. White and Gordon will be NBA picks this summer. Gordon looked horrible tonight, but he really has a nice stroke and a heck of a first step. White has been a handful for a while. He owned the paint tonight….There was an alley o.o.p thrown to him from beyond the 3 point arc out of transition that I thought was going about 10 rows back into the seats, and he goes up and one hands a tremendous dunk. He probably could have plucked a quarter off the top of the backboard, a la Don Cheadle as Earl 'The Goat' Manigault in “Rebound.” White has the size and athleticism to be amazing. He really isn’t putting up the numbers he probably should.

Tough loss. Good teams finish games, good teams win at home, good teams want to play for all the marbles. I hope we come to find this game as an aberration, and that the gophers truly are a “good team”

Go Gophs

[Willy]

Good post.

From watching the game I came away with a few conclusions that differ from yours. For one, I don't think Indiana is going anywhere. They may have the talent, but if they can't handle a gopher press against less than stellar talent, someone like you say "with the horses" will take it to em. I don't think they are that good honestly. Of course, they are likely alot different team with Gordon in there the whole game, I haven't watched any of their other games, but even Gordon looked like he doesn't handle pressure well.

Secondly, I think we should have won that game by anywhere from 6-15 points. Our shooting was terrible and that was our undoing. 3-17 from behind the arc and a little over 50% from the line will kill you every time. I just don't see how they can shoot that bad AT HOME. Rebounding also killed us. We all knew that was going to be a big key to the game and gophs didn't perform.

I do agree with you about Abu-Shamala. At best he is a guy that should be getting 10 minutes a game. Just to spell the other guys when they are tired. He is just too slow to be a Big Ten guard. He plays as hard as anyone, but he is a spot up shooter, nothing more and if his shot isn't dropping, which it hasn't lately, he is useless. Where was Hoffarber? He is one of our best scorers and he didn't play enough last night IMO.

Also, where was McKenzie? Man he missed quite a few open looks, not just the one at the end, but he was money from the 3-arc last year. He was big-time scorer and last night we were just aching for someone to put the ball in the hole. I wouldn't mind seeing him get a few more shots. Of course, maybe that will come once his hand heals.

[Dotch]

Wow! Hard to follow posts like those last 2. I think ESPN needs to hire da chise. If you want the opinion of a barn-balling rassler yet die hard Gopher basketball fan, I defer to what I said earlier about the talent level. It'll be a few years before Tubby gets the Monson flushed out of the system and we'll win games like these consistently. I thought a couple times down the floor when McKenzie put up those 3 ball bricks, they were too quick, the Hoosiers got the easy rebound and it really took the wind out of the Gopher's sails at a critical time. 3 of 17 from 3 pt. land for the game stinks especially when getting the ball down low & trying to get the Hoosiers with foul trouble fouled out was possible. Made me groan anyway. I won't miss Mckenzie next year that's for sure. I had the added misfortune of having to watch the game last night with some company (a friend of the wife's) from Indiana, who also happens to be a Hoosier fan. She was pretty quiet when she saw the Gophers hanging with her beloved IU team. She got a little yappier when it looked like the Hoosiers would win. After awhile though when those 2 get together all their incessant jabbering becomes "white noise" so I can tune it out and focus on the game and my Leinie's Honeyweiss.

It's great that we don't all see the game the same way and can have an opinion. Indiana managed to win primarily because of the poor Gopher free throw situation IMO. They played almost well enough to win but it still winds up in the L column. Good effort but no one will look at it come tournament time if they're on the bubble and say, "Well, they almost beat Indiana." Indiana is a good team. Not great but definitely the team to beat in the Big Ten. Michigan St. and The Ohio State University are beatable and the Gophers will likely win one of the next 2. Just not sure which one.