2009-2010 Gophers

[bunkerbay]

Big game against Purdue tonight! Does anyone know if Sampson 3 is back in the line up tonight?? Hopefully hoffarber can continue to keep it raining 3's and D.Johnson can out rebound em all again!

[Scott M]

Win tonight and I can forget about a 1 or 2 of those 3 in a row losses.

No Sampson, but that's okay because the Gophs have more athletic guys that can guard Johnson in Carter and D. Johnson.

If the Gophers press effectively like Alabama did and hit their shots, especially treys, they have a chance.

[bunkerbay]

Ok, thanks for the info!

[bunkerbay]

UGLY

[Scott M]

Hats off to Purdue. They have a team just as good as the Glenn Robinson years and they may finally be able to knock off Michigan State at the top of the conference.

I can remember back to the year after Vince Grier was a Gopher and Purdue talked about emulating Minnesota, coming from a cellar dwelling season to making it to the Big Dance (04-05). While Purdue did not do that in 05-06, the run they have made since then with Johnson, Moore, and Hummel has been impressive. You get to see what happens when a team shortens the bench, better defines individual roles, and plays hard-nosed basketball. Minnesota has the talent to do exactly what Purdue has done, but we've seen the same deficiencies under Tubby...these are the warts of a Tubby Smith program. Very poor half court offense, poor free throw shooting, and an overreliance on the 3 point shot. Tonight when those shots weren't falling, when they couldn't live off transition baskets, when they became discombobulated in the half court offense, when they couldn't get the ball off the perimeter, you saw a team push a lead in the 8-10 range to a 19 point blowout.

It all comes down, in my opinion, to a Purdue team that has been there before, that has played tougher competition, and has been forced to improve upon its weaknesses. The personnel on the Gophers this year is so similar to last year that a half court game should have developed in practice, in Howard Pulley leagues, in summer pick up ball, but seems lacking. Purdue overplays but has the athleticism to recover. And when the ball went inside, they swarmed to the ball with hands up, deflecting or blocking shots. I would have liked to see some pump fakes tonight, but I think that extra time would have just allowed a defender to step in.

I had to laugh when Lavin said something on air about missing Sampson in the half court offense. He hasn't watched much Gopher ball before or after the 76 classic. Sampson has a sweet stroke from 8-15 feet, but can't bang inside, is routinely outrebounded by smaller guys, and thinks too much with the ball. Potential is a dangerous thing. He could be great with the pedigree and size, but the flashes he and Iverson show will be stymied without the development of a half court offense and post game and the continuation of a guard oriented offense.

If I had to point to a Gopher that played well, I would point to Paul Carter or Damian Johnson. I thought they would be an x factor in the game (which didn't really happen), and with 15 points in 14 minutes, Carter was effective. Johnson filled out a nice stat line again, but got 31 minutes to do it.

The guards didn't have a good game tonight. 10 turnovers from your backcourt players is not a good thing, especially since most of those came in half court sets (Purdue pressed little at all outside of on ball pressure on the point man). Too little scoring from guys you were counting on (Hoffarber 3, Joseph 0, Nolen {1 for 10 shooting?} and Westbrook held under double figures) hurt the team.

For the Gophers, it's one game. No one counted on them winning, but if you look at this big picture, when are they going to start winning games like these? If you truly believed that Tubby was going to come here and turn this team into a national contender, when do they take the big step? The conference is on an upswing in terms of talent and coaching, so if he doesn't make an aggressive move in player development, philosophical approach, or recruiting, how do they escape mediocrity? I for one don't want to see half a decade of .500 to .600 basketball in the conference and a bubble team that has to win conference tournament games to get in. People have to remember that this team was ranked #17 to start the season...there were some expectations that this would be a good team.

In year 3 of the Tubby project, we still have a team that is looking for its identity and go to player and the warts of the program are still showing. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy Tubby is here...I remember the Monson years. But at the same time there are some expectations for this group and we should expect the program to improve if we are going to ever make a run at a conference title and national recognition.

[mr_jman]

With the amount of upper classmen, this really is a year that we should finish within the top 4 in the conference and win a few in the Big 10 tourney. It would have been a great win and had they gone into halftime down 4 instead of 7 maybe it would have been a little different.

Bottom line is we missed way too many free throws, and didn't make bunny shots that were there. Also thought the refs weren't helping our cause any but maybe thats just the homer in me.

When we were able to press its easy to see how effective this team can be at getting turnovers and easy buckets but we have to have some half court offense to set it up and we didn't make enough buckets to do that! Hopefully we can bounce back at home on Saturday vs Ohio State!

[Snag]

I watched the 2nd half. Typical big ten road game. Lots of mugging, even though I thought the refs called a lot of fouls. No flow except for a small 6 or 8 point run. I like Iverson more than Sampson. I liked the full court press. I think we can win a close one at home against Purdue.

[Scott M]

yeah, OSU lives and dies with Turner...he may be back in action tomorrow night. I'm sure he'll suit up Saturday.

[zepman]

Nice report da chise...I didn't see the game but feel like I got caught up pretty good with not only the game but the status of the program as well.

I hope Tubby is able to generate some positive outcomes with his program this year...I'd hate to see another aspect of the Gopher program(s) end in another mediocre season. Brewster, Lucia, and Tubby ALL need to get it going!!

[Deitz Dittrich]

Nice write up Chise!!!!

[SkunkedAgain]

The Gophers play with heart, which I appreciate seeing more than just scoring. Tubby has the channel that competitive spirit into good play.

- I like Iverson way more than Sampson and think that he should be a bigger part of the offense.

- The pressure defense caused turnovers against Purdue, but we didn't capitalize often enough.

- Our offense and tempo sucks. How many times did we see guys dribble into the paint and throw up terrible shots? At one point, Iverson had the ball down low and was surrounded by four Purdue players within arm's reach. You can't tell me there weren't at least three open Gophers ready to take the shot. We need to penetrate and dish more.

- Tubby's team seems to either drive to the hoop and throw up prayers (Westbrook) or hopelessly shoot 3s. We have no mid-range jumpers in the toolkit. Good teams can shoot from anywhere. We are more of a two trick pony.

This team has potential but needs to harness the raw skills and passion into a spirited offense.

[CJH]

Thumbs up:

Pressure Defense

Fast Break offense

Depth

Coaching Experience

Thumbs Down:

Half Court Offense

No Post Game (No one passes to Iverson, Sampson floats out of the lane too much)

No Go To Player (None of them can take over the game consistently - Westbrook once a year)

Too much subbing (stay with the hot man/squad/matchup!!!)

White and Mbawke still in purgatory

This team would be better with White or Mbawke adding athelticism and power to the front court, which this team is sorely missing.

[Rick]

Nice analysis guys. Looking forward to more as the season progresses.

[Scott M]

Gave away my tickets for yesterdays games, but heard Hoffarber was on fire. Hit some transition 3's and got looks when OSU played zone. I have no idea why they would play zone against Minnesota, considering that Hoffarber is really the only offensive threat and he can't put it on the floor, but that's up to Thad. Reading Medcalf's recap, it sounds like the game nearly ended in fisticuffs, ala Corky Taylor and Luke Witte in 1972.

Apparently, the Gophers clamped down on Evan Turner enough that he only had a good game rather than a great one. We will see what happens when Minnesota goes to Columbus at the end of the month.

[Scott M]

Caught the end of the game versus State earlier this week. Sounded like the Gophs had a decent game plan and played pretty well for most of the game but couldn't finish down the stretch. It's going to be a tough conference. Purdue lost its 3rd straight game at Northwestern...no gimmes this year.

Hopefully they can handle their business at Indiana tomorrow.

[Scott M]

Gophers down 4 to Indiana at the half, they are lucky it is only a couple buckets. Terrible rebounding and defense. This squad -is fast becoming a soft team with no physical presence that settles for jump shots.

Sorry Gus Johnson, Sampson isn't being double-teamed out of respect, he's being double-teamed because he is slow, indecisive and can't pass out of a double-team.

Playing zone isn't protecting players that have 2-3 fouls, it's putting the gophers in a bad position to rebound and not give open looks. They are supposed to be a deep enough team to beat teams with man to man and full court press.

This is getting stupid frustrating waiting for this team to make the leap but instead taking steps backwards.

[Scott M]

Gophers play like junk for 15 minutes of the second half, then dodge a bullet at the end of regulation. On to overtime...time to take control with so many IU players in foul trouble.

[Scott M]

You can't p*$% around for 40 minutes and you especially can't p*$% around in overtime and the Gophers did both. Some of these guys are going to have to learn that thug ball doesn't work, and being showy (and missing dunks) doesn't work (especially if you can't hit free throws), and not showing up to finish games isn't going to win, but unfortunately, some of the gross offenders are seniors and haven't figured that out by now. They lost to a bunch of scrubs today, and its going to kill them late in the year when they need an extra win or two. Indiana is a great squad, gutty as all get out, but ask Tom Crean in a year or two about this team and that's all he'll be able to talk about is their guts because they are a bunch of scrubs. The only guy that brought his jock and came to play was Joseph, but he can't win a game by himself.

If Indiana had the talent that Minnesota had and played with the intensity that Tom Crean gets out of those guys every night, they wouldn't have lost more than a game or two. But instead, you have a bunch of guys looking for calls, that won't get scrappy or at least not scrappy enough, and can't play with the fundamentals. I'm happy Tubby can recruit these multi-star athletes, but if he can't get them to commit to defense and hard-nosed basketball, he won't win...where are those guys? Where is your floorburn leader? Johnson was in foul trouble, Busch is gone, ????

The game of basketball works the best when you have a complete automobile....someone is the engine, someone is the bumper, someone is the head lights, and the coach drives...but right now everybody wants to be the high octane engine and nobody wants to be the tires and get dirty.

Take a look at the rest of this schedule and tell me where you see the 20th win? They would have to defend their homecourt against a couple ranked teams that execute way better than the Gophers AND steal some road games...not gonna happen without an attitude and style of play change, not exactly something we see a lot of from Tubby's team. I can't believe how content Tubby is to see all of this from the sideline...those glares only go so far. These guys need to hear an earful and run for a week straight to figure out a few things.

Michigan State

Northwestern

@Ohio State

@Penn State

Michigan

@Northwestern

Wisconsin

Indiana

Purdue

@Illinois

@Michigan

Iowa

They'll be lucky to be on the bubble.

[james_walleye]

5 point lead in overtime against a poor IU team, its unacceptable to throw games like this away....

[bunkerbay]

Is Trevor Mbakwe going to play for the gophs this year? and why not sit Lawrance Westbrook out a game or two until he stops getting in fights or getting T'd up every @#$% game!?? Its embarassing!

[TR21HP]

You brought up a good point about defense Chise. I had a few moments to watch Syracuse play on Saturday and couldn't believe the effort for the entire game, baseline to baseline they put out. Defense is all effort and they just don't teach that in high school or AAU anymore - its all about run and gun. Hopefully Tubby can get through to some of these players and make something of this year.

[CJH]

Ugly, sloppy game. Give them credit for coming back, but very lackidasical play. I agree, no intensity on D.

[bunkerbay]

Rumor has it there gonna lose a few players who are going to be academically ineligible by weeks end.

[Coach1310]

Rumor has it there gonna lose a few players who are going to be academically ineligible by weeks end.

Hopefully Nolen is one of them.... he has regressed since his Freshmen year in my opinion...

The Goph's have some identity issues right now.... I think they might as well sit Iverson and Sampson, and just press and run the heck out of the other team... we really struggle in the 1/2 court anyway and none of our big guys want to be physical... so we might as well push the tempo and get some extra possessions each game. Hoff is one dimensional and if he isn't getting looks, he isn't helping us at all. He doesn't do anything to make others better... giving up a 5pt lead in overtime is unacceptable, especially after playing crappy for 30 of the 40 mintues in the game and still getting there.

I say you let Joseph run the show and keep Nolen in is seat. Joseph showed some "I want it" stuff yesterday at the end of regulation and he brings a better all around game than Nolen. There are so many issues to talk about, I get tired just thinking about it. I trust Tubby, but right now we don't seem to have an indentity...

[bunkerbay]

Yup, its Nolen

[Scott M]

Things are going to get worse before they get better. Nolen is a moron. Think about it, you're an upperclassmen, a point guard no less, and you flunk classes in "sports business management" or "communication studies" or whatever bogus majors these guys have...things like grades should be tracked weekly...with all the off-the-court issues this is looking like Tubby is losing control of this team or at least taking risks that have backfired.

Supposedly Nolen was dealing with some personal and family issues this semester, but I had a death in the family as a college student, a part time job, had nearly a double credit load most semesters...I guess I just don't have a lot of sympathy for the kid. Part of that may be because he hasn't gotten a lick better and has actually played worse ever since Louisville last year.

I love Gopher hoops, and I will get to see them flop on Saturday against State, but there is just no way this team is going dancing this year. This was the year I was talking about last year and the year before and its here and this team is blowing it big time. I hope Tubby gets the ship righted soon, at the latest after this season is done.

[mr_jman]

Agreed with dachise. There is no excuse for Nolen not being academically eligible. If he cared enough he would get help with whatever classes he is struggling with!

Well at least the Gophers are playing very well so far! Up by 8 at half time!

GO GOPHERS!!!!!

[Dotch]

They played tough again, actually had their half court offense working in the first half and first part of the second but alas, just not meant to be. No excuse down by 1 at home with the ball and 14.7 seconds left not to at least draw a foul. NIT here we come!

[bunkerbay]

OUCH!

[Scott M]

Yeah, that was pretty harsh. Everybody filed out of Williams into the pouring rain that felt like a microcosm for the Gophers season...too many rainy days and not enough sunshine.

I figured it was addition by subtraction with Nolen gone, and Joseph mostly proved me right. Might have been nice to have Nolen in Lucas' jock to stop some of his scoring, but that wasn't an option.

The Gophers made just enough dumb plays (Carter missing the dunk off the back of the iron when he had an easy layup, Johnson stealing the backcourt inbounds and not waiting for teammates and forcing a bad shot that was swatted, poor weak side defense leaving Lucas and Allen open for lots of 3 point looks) to counteract the smart plays (Westbrook making MSU pay for not watching the inbounder under the basket, a couple of lobs inside when MSU overplayed the perimeter on defense).

The only good thing I can say for Tubby is he finally shortened the bench. 4 guys played over 33 minutes for the first time all season...they established continuity and worked together fairly well.

Sampson had a couple plays where I had to do a double-take...scary to think of what the guy could accomplish if he was that aggressive for an entire game instead of a possession or two.

At no point did I think the lead was safe, and the Gophers never played good enough defense for me to think they had the game in their back pocket. To only score 2 points in the last 4:47 spells defeat for any team. The halfcourt offense got a few good looks, but overall, it still let them down in crunch time. They couldn't execute with the last shot. I was hoping they would go to Johnson because he wasn't having a great offensive game, plus I figured MSU would think that the play would be designed to get Hoff a look or have Westbrook go 1 on 1. So the play call was right, but no post player on this team knows how to seal his man, so Johnson wasn't able to get his man on his hip and run the play that was intended. So once again it was 1 on 5 with Westbrook...he never used a pumpfake and things didn't work out.

You just knew that something bad was going to happen all game since this team can't finish in the clutch. I kept looking at the scoreboard and thinking, Lucas is just coasting, he's going to lay waste to this team in the last 5 minutes...he didn't really take over per se, but that cold blooded 3 with 90 seconds left was the game winner.

Gophers are 3-4 in the conference and the schedule is brutal. They are going to have to establish some rhythm down the stretch to make the tournament. With the logjam in the middle of the conference, it looks like 4 or maybe 5 teams will make the tournament. Gophers are going to have to win some games they weren't supposed to, to enter the top 5. Next game is Northwestern on Tuesday.