Mathieu said Pitino told the team after the game it "had no heart"

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I agree with almost everything on this post. Another glaring problem with this team is that we don't have a glue guy that keeps things together. Austin Hollins was that guy and, sadly, we have nothing that even comes close to replacing him. Every good team needs that guy. The guy who can do many things well, plays smart and well on both offense and defense, and just fits in and holds everyone together. Morris does all the things that Hollins didn't. Takes bad shots, disrupts the flow of the offense, plays individual defense poorly, and often disrupts the entire team concept of defense. I posted a question prior to the season about which would be greater, a healthy Andre and Morris, or Austin and a less than 100% Andre. The result is painfully obvious.

Other obvious problems are the weakness of Walker and Eliason. They get the ball in positions where I think it's inconceivable that they don't finish. Time and tine again I'm proven wrong.

Mathieu's slump and a general lack of quickness/athleticism don't help.
 

cjbfbp said:
I think it has more to do with team sets and coaching than the players' ability or effort.

To the posters who say that we are where we are because of having no talent, I'll respond with the obvious that this team won the NIT last year, ran roughshod over the midmajors in nonconference, and beat a couple of power conference teams in the nonconference schedule. Most of these players (with a two or three possible exceptions) have demonstrated the ability to be starters and rotation players at the power conference level. When you get into conference play, teams know you better and some staffs prepare their teams better than others.
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I'm sure the coaching isn't perfect. However, I think the truth is that our talent is okay but marginal and flawed in many ways. The talent is good enough to compete in every game, they haven't been blown out except by Louisville. I think the schemes and sets are fine. What I see is players that are mentally not tough. They have lost nearly every close game and most of them came down to free throw shooting or hitting a clutch shot or making a key stop at the end. If they had won half the close games we would be talking about an 8-6 team right now. Last night they came out with offensive energy and a good scheme against the zone and they folded when NW started draining 3's. Late in the game they started playing hard but it was too late and NW kept on making the shots. I'm not worried about the coaching. I am concerned that we get the right players in here soon enough to get this thing moving in the right direction.
 

howeda7 said:
Took the words out of my mouth. I assume the '13 means that's the first season he watched...
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Good call, I definitely decided to add '13 to my name because it is the first year that I have watched Gopher basketball. Maybe one day you will get to attend or hell, even graduate from college! Until then, keep making fun of new fans because I hear that is a great way to build prominent programs!
 

EliteOpinionGuy said:
Fair response but I will question you this; which team did you see last night as "more talented"?

If you seen the level of talent put out by NW and said this team is more talented than the gophers then I would be interested in seeing how you thought/predicted this season would turn out. If you said looking at the game that the gophers SHOULD be winning this game, I would agree with you and say that they lost to a team that had less talent but more chemistry. Even though that team started two freshman and a sophomore to our 4 upperclassman and Buggs.
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For context, before I explain myself. I have only seen the Gophers play when they are on BTN and against Louisville. Nothing in person. That means I did not see most of the non-conference.

In the pre-season poll, I predicted them 7-11, although I must admit I was expecting a stronger Big Ten.

To me this team is perplexing. I think they look consistently horrible but they tend to keep games close, even with better teams.

Given their record, NU must not have much talent but they sure looked more talented in the second half last night. I don't follow them closely but talent wise, I would have taken NU's roster last night. Maybe it is talent, maybe it is coaching, maybe it is character but in my mind, this has been the most disjointed team to watch in my 15 years or so of closely following the Gophers. They are painful to watch even when things are going ok.
 

Winnipegopher said:
For context, before I explain myself. I have only seen the Gophers play when they are on BTN and against Louisville. Nothing in person. That means I did not see most of the non-conference.

In the pre-season poll, I predicted them 7-11, although I must admit I was expecting a stronger Big Ten.

To me this team is perplexing. I think they look consistently horrible but they tend to keep games close, even with better teams.

Given their record, NU must not have much talent but they sure looked more talented in the second half last night. I don't follow them closely but talent wise, I would have taken NU's roster last night. Maybe it is talent, maybe it is coaching, maybe it is character but in my mind, this has been the most disjointed team to watch in my 15 years or so of closely following the Gophers. They are painful to watch even when things are going ok.
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Demps is better than anything we have. (I'll get barbequed for that one, but you put the two rosters together and name me an honorary captain, and I'm selecting him over any of our guys.) Olah over Walker definitely. But this doesn't represent a comprehensive comparison of talent. NU won mainly because they played better and with more energy and emotion, ran better offense and made fewer defensive errors than Minnesota.
 


Winnipegopher said:
For context, before I explain myself. I have only seen the Gophers play when they are on BTN and against Louisville. Nothing in person. That means I did not see most of the non-conference.

In the pre-season poll, I predicted them 7-11, although I must admit I was expecting a stronger Big Ten.

To me this team is perplexing. I think they look consistently horrible but they tend to keep games close, even with better teams.

Given their record, NU must not have much talent but they sure looked more talented in the second half last night. I don't follow them closely but talent wise, I would have taken NU's roster last night. Maybe it is talent, maybe it is coaching, maybe it is character but in my mind, this has been the most disjointed team to watch in my 15 years or so of closely following the Gophers. They are painful to watch even when things are going ok.
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Well you made my point (in regards to your prediction) so thank you. What I mean by that is you expected 7-11 record and it appears the team is on their way to that even though it may be off a game (two at most) either way (9-9 at best and 5-11 at worst). My next statement is not to diss the fans that thought we would be better but to simply point out that many fans thought we would be better and the fact that the team record is where it is, I bet most fans over estimated the talent on this team. Those who felt the team is not that talented likely had a prediction close to your record and you all appear to be right.

For the record I thought that this team would have been at ten conference wins minimum and I also over estimated the talent I saw on the roster based on the performances I have seen to this point....
 

either heart or not enough talent

elliot has heart but doesnt seem to have enough talent
moe has some talent but not enough heart

I am in a position of i want to see more before i throw total commitment into the basketball program.

after 2 seasons seeing how players progress and how the coach handles his team (albeit not his own guys yet) has me wondering i Pitino has what it takes? he might and it is early but there are some signs that he is growing and learning too and if he can make some of those adjustments he will be fine in a few years if not he will be looking for a new job

somethings I am seeing will not be fixed with a new practice facility no matter how much money is raised and how soon it gets built
 

bga1 said:
True it cannot be blamed on Tubby. But you cannot connect the dots between the NCAA final Tubby team and what he handed Pitino. He handed Pitino a team that no longer had Mbakwe or Williams with the recruiting class to replace them of Foster and Ellis. Mo was 320 pounds and they had no point guard and no power forward. Pitino went out and got King and Matheui to complement the two Hollins and a 50 pound lighter Mo and the team overperformed last year. Thsi year we expected more based on the possibility that they would all get better, DayDay would step in with Morris to replace Hollins and Martin would come in as a rebounder. Instead Matheui has a kid and comes in not ready to go. DayDay is in the pokey and Martin is back home with mom. Tubby handed Pitino a whole lot of nothing other than the two Hollins. But I agree- it's not Tubby's fault, Tubby has problems of his own in Lubbock. Pitino brought some kids in that didn't help take the next step off the good first year and some of the returnees made some life choices that affected basketball.
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Bga1, where are your bodies, tinny et al? Last year, you all said how amazing it was what Richard did with those players. What happened this year? Gophers just lost to NW. How bad could these players be? How much longer you are going to do this?
 

Bga1 is our resident political expert. I would be surprised if he ever got beyond 6th grade basketball.
 



Bad Gopher said:
Demps is better than anything we have. (I'll get barbequed for that one, but you put the two rosters together and name me an honorary captain, and I'm selecting him over any of our guys.) Olah over Walker definitely. But this doesn't represent a comprehensive comparison of talent. NU won mainly because they played better and with more energy and emotion, ran better offense and made fewer defensive errors than Minnesota.
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You should get skewered for that comment. Hollins>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Demps. Not even close. The talent gap between Olah and Walker is closer, but I'd still take Walker every time.
 

DeathClutch said:
You should get skewered for that comment. Hollins>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Demps. Not even close. The talent gap between Olah and Walker is closer, but I'd still take Walker every time.
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Let me help you here, and this is coming from a person who has been a head coach. The talent gap between Hollins and Demps is very close, but I would take Hollins every time because he is a better all around player, but the difference between Olah and Walker is not even close. Olah is a much, much better player.
 

DeathClutch said:
You should get skewered for that comment. Hollins>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Demps. Not even close. The talent gap between Olah and Walker is closer, but I'd still take Walker every time.
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I agree Hollins is a much better player than Demps and anyone else that was on the floor last night for that matter. I also think Demps is one of the most overrated players in the Big 10.
 

minny01 said:
Let me help you here, and this is coming from a person who has been a head coach. The talent gap between Hollins and Demps is very close, but I would take Hollins every time because he is a better all around player, but the difference between Olah and Walker is not even close. Olah is a much, much better player.
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Lol, not a chance Olah is much, much better. Mo is the better low post scorer, they are both average rebounders. I'd give the slight edge to Olah on defense. How does that translate to Olah being much, much better?
 



DeathClutch said:
Lol, not a chance Olah is much, much better. Mo is the better low post scorer, they are both average rebounders. I'd give the slight edge to Olah on defense. How does that translate to Olah being much, much better?
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Mo may be a better low post scorer against a smaller center. When a center has any size, Mo does very little. Remember when you look at stats, NW runs a very slow offense, which limits the amount of possessions that each team gets. This results in lower stats. Minnesota plays an uptempo style, more transitions, so the stats are going to be higher. Walker is a horrible rebounder, considering that he is the center on a team that is getting pounded on the glass. Eliason had as many boards as Walker did in well less than half the time. In fact, if you could ask Richard privately what he would do differently with this team if he could do it over, it would be probably play Eliason 30 min/game and Walker 10, if there were no foul problems.
 

minny01 said:
Mo may be a better low post scorer against a smaller center. When a center has any size, Mo does very little. Remember when you look at stats, NW runs a very slow offense, which limits the amount of possessions that each team gets. This results in lower stats. Minnesota plays an uptempo style, more transitions, so the stats are going to be higher. Walker is a horrible rebounder, considering that he is the center on a team that is getting pounded on the glass. Eliason had as many boards as Walker did in well less than half the time. In fact, if you could ask Richard privately what he would do differently with this team if he could do it over, it would be probably play Eliason 30 min/game and Walker 10, if there were no foul problems.
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I don't even know where to begin with this post. Northwestern's pace is a moot point when comparing stats between Walker and Olah H2h. Olah and Walker put up about the same ammount of shots per game. Olah is a 7-footer who shoots sub 50% for his career, that is a red flag right there. Walker isn't a horrible rebounder. Joey King is a horrible rebounder, Walker is average, and his rebounding percentage nujbers are comparable to Olah's. As far as your last comment A. You have no idea what you are talking about. B. Walker is a better player then Eliason amy day of the week. Eliason has no offensive game whatsover, he's a blackhole on that side of the court. No opposing teams are gameplanning for Eliason's offensive game. I guarantee that opposing teams scouting reports pay alot of attention to Mo's post game.
 

Blame-Compare. Blame-Compare.

The point of what I see from last night is that all of our guys played so poorly, that if our Gophers had been in a four-team tournament we would have come in fifth.
 

DeathClutch said:
I don't even know where to begin with this post. Northwestern's pace is a moot point when comparing stats between Walker and Olah H2h. Olah and Walker put up about the same ammount of shots per game. Olah is a 7-footer who shoots sub 50% for his career, that is a red flag right there. Walker isn't a horrible rebounder. Joey King is a horrible rebounder, Walker is average, and his rebounding percentage nujbers are comparable to Olah's. As far as your last comment A. You have no idea what you are talking about. B. Walker is a better player then Eliason amy day of the week. Eliason has no offensive game whatsover, he's a blackhole on that side of the court. No opposing teams are gameplanning for Eliason's offensive game. I guarantee that opposing teams scouting reports pay alot of attention to Mo's post game.
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If you want to believe that, you go right ahead! Just remember, games aren't won on offense, but defense.
 

Olah dominated the paint defensively last night. In the second half when it mattered the Gophers had to resort to taking bad shots from the outside. As much as Mo has improved offensively, he is not a good defender.
NW saw how IU was able to get open looks on the outside and they did a great job of doing the same thing. It's a pity the coaching staff and players didn't figure out a way to defend the perimeter in either of those games.
 

DeathClutch said:
You should get skewered for that comment. Hollins>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Demps. Not even close. The talent gap between Olah and Walker is closer, but I'd still take Walker every time.
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Whoa, not sure what you are watching
 


Dr.Don said:
Blame-Compare. Blame-Compare.

The point of what I see from last night is that all of our guys played so poorly, that if our Gophers had been in a four-team tournament we would have come in fifth.
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Quality analysis from the fine Doctor!!
 

jamalo said:
Quality analysis from the fine Doctor!!
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Thank you, jamalo. We have had our words in the past, but you caught my message. Thank you.

Last night's disaster is not the blame of one person. It was the whole team.

Why do these things happen? If I could answer that, my book would become a best seller.
 

One thing that made this game more difficult for us was the pattern of calls by the refs. Now truly, I am not saying we were jobbed - they were consistent, but here it is: they called a tight perimeter game, and an anything goes in the paint game. This made our aggressive and previously successful defensive strategy difficult (evidence: Hollins in foul trouble and then fouls out) and Mo can't handle a game where inside fouls aren't called. He's in there bouncing the ball, gets hacked (or not) and they take off and score before he is finished complaining he was fouled. He just can't deal with getting shoved around. Eliason does better but can't score so what difference does it make?
And Hollins and Walker are our only legitimate scoring threats.

We have three guys who shouldn't be starters and 2 of them have to start every game. No need to name names.

This team has certain liabilities. A perfect storm will destroy us, and the stars properly aligned will make us look good. Heart has little to do with it.
 

MadtownGopher said:
This team really doesn't have heart and it starts with the seniors. Too many of Tubby's recruits lacked heart. I can't wait for a fresh start next year. This season is gone.
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When is the reality going to click in for some of you? Next year is not going to be better. Are you still going to be blaming Tubby then? What players do we have coming back next year that will make anybody excited? Mason? Buggs? King? Morris? Yuck!!!! That's a roster that makes Texas Tech look good!!!!

I don't want Tubby back...but good God....this is not going well. It's an ugly roster...and so unbalanced....both by position and class. Maybe Pitino will surprise me, and I don't think we should fire him, but he has a lot of work to do.
 

Dr.Don said:
Thank you, jamalo. We have had our words in the past, but you caught my message. Thank you.

Last night's disaster is not the blame of one person. It was the whole team.

Why do these things happen? If I could answer that, my book would become a best seller.
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BS.......it was Parski and you know it.:cool02:
 

ethomasp31 said:
When is the reality going to click in for some of you? Next year is not going to be better. Are you still going to be blaming Tubby then? What players do we have coming back next year that will make anybody excited? Mason? Buggs? King? Morris? Yuck!!!! That's a roster that makes Texas Tech look good!!!!

I don't want Tubby back...but good God....this is not going well. It's an ugly roster...and so unbalanced....both by position and class. Maybe Pitino will surprise me, and I don't think we should fire him, but he has a lot of work to do.
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I must be the only one looking forward to next year. We are bringing in 3 top flight outside players, who along with Mason, will give us give us a nice starting point. We've got to hope that McBreyer is the shooter that he is hyped up to be. Dorsey and Johnson will give us the quickness and ability to play the length of the floor. The two big kids on the roster this year will be better next year and showed flashes that they have some ability this year. We also have a big center coming in next year that should be able to bang bodies on the inside. No doubt that we will have growing pains but the world is not coming to an end.
 

I could block out most of our front court from getting a rebound! Saw a lot of standing and watching the ball go to the hoop, very little positioning for the rebound.
 


minny01 said:
I must be the only one looking forward to next year. We are bringing in 3 top flight outside players, who along with Mason, will give us give us a nice starting point. We've got to hope that McBreyer is the shooter that he is hyped up to be. Dorsey and Johnson will give us the quickness and ability to play the length of the floor. The two big kids on the roster this year will be better next year and showed flashes that they have some ability this year. We also have a big center coming in next year that should be able to bang bodies on the inside. No doubt that we will have growing pains but the world is not coming to an end.
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Those guys are freshmen.....and they aren't freshmen Kentucky, Duke, Kansas or even MSU, OSU or Indiana get....they are freshmen Minnesota gets. They might be really good in a couple of years, but they are not going to be studs next year. It's a huge jump from high school basketball to B1G basketball. Did you watch the state tournament and remember how good Macura looked last year? It's a HUGE jump!!! We aren't bringing in McDonalds All-Americans. Hopefully Pitino can build on this class with a better one the next year.

Oh and for the guys comparing players from Northwestern and Minnesota last night. The biggest difference in the game was this:

Collins>>>>>>>>>> Pitino

It was nice to watch a team the last two games move the ball by making the extra pass to get the good shot. Too bad it wasn't the Gophers. Maybe the problem is that we only have one guy opponents have to key on to not get that open shot.
 


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