Shama: Jim Dutcher Predicts 4th Place for Gophers; will beat wisconsin tomorrow

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Jim Dutcher told Sports Headliners on Monday that coach Richard Pitino’s Golden Gophers will finish fourth in the Big Ten standings this winter. Dutcher, Minnesota’s Big Ten championship basketball coach in 1982, also predicted the Gophers will defeat Wisconsin tomorrow night in Madison on the way to earning an invitation in March to the NCAA Tournament.

Dutcher, who coached some of the best teams in Gopher history, believes Michigan, Michigan State and Indiana are the top three programs in a loaded Big Ten that this week has seven teams ranked in the Associated Press and USA Today top 25 national polls. Minnesota, 11-2, isn’t one of those ranked teams yet but Dutcher likes the potential of Pitino’s group.

The Gophers’ physical size is one of the team’s attributes and their rotation of lengthy bodies got a boost this week with the return of injured power forward Eric Curry. He adds size, depth, experience and skill to a group that includes Daniel Oturu, Matz Stockman, Jordan Murphy and Amir Coffey.

Dutcher refers to Murphy and Coffey as potential all-conference players who can lead Minnesota back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in two years. As of Monday, Murphy was leading the nation in rebounding at 12.6 per game. The senior forward is eighth in Big Ten career rebounds with 1,065. He is also Minnesota’s leading scorer.

Minnesota is 1-1 in Big Ten games, while the Badgers are 2-0 and 10-3 overall. The Badgers are ranked No. 22 the AP poll and No. 23 by USA Today.

Dutcher doesn’t hesitate when predicting a Minnesota win. “They should beat Wisconsin,” he said. “Wisconsin maybe overrated.”

The Badgers are led by senior center Ethan Happ, who is one of most productive players in the country. He is averaging 19.2 points per game, 10.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists.

The Badgers, though, may not have as much talent as Minnesota. “We’re a lot deeper than Wisconsin and we should give them some real problems guarding us on the inside if we can get Happ in a little foul trouble,” Dutcher said.

http://shamasportsheadliners.com/

Go Gophers!!
 

Dutcher knows a lot about trips to Madison!

Referring to the return of injured forward Eric Curry, one would think that the word return would eliminate the term injured. But I guess that is obvious.
 

Dutch saying what most who follow Big Ten basketball already know. ... the Gophers have more talent than Wisconsin.

The more important question is, will that talent translate to the scoreboard on the two (maybe 3) occasions we play the Badgers?

I agree with Dutch, he's just laying it right out there for everyone to read.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Dutch saying what most who follow Big Ten basketball already know. ... the Gophers have more talent than Wisconsin.

The more important question is, will that talent translate to the scoreboard on the two (maybe 3) occasions we play the Badgers?

I agree with Dutch, he's just laying it right out there for everyone to read.
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Gophers need to fulfill their potential.

Murphy, Coffey, and McBrayer need to be more impactful as upper classmen. All 3 have a ton of experitence, but I never get the feeling any of them can force their will on a game. What I mean by that is, if we need a bucket to win the game or to stop a run, I dont think any of the 3 will make that play at consistent rate.
 

Like Dutcher inferred, keep attacking the rim with all of our size and get Sconnies best player in foul trouble. Easy win.
 


alchemy2u said:
Like Dutcher inferred, keep attacking the rim with all of our size and get Sconnies best player in foul trouble. Easy win.
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Should be easy. The refs always call a good, clean, fair game at the Kohl Center. :cool:
 

More physical talent? Sure. But low basketball I.Q. play can easily negate that. If the bricklaying outside shooting Gopher crew shows up that we have seen recently, I don't think the Gophers will have a prayer of winning this one. The Badgers are also coming off a road loss to a so-so Western Kentucky team.
 

GibsonSG said:
More physical talent? Sure. But low basketball I.Q. play can easily negate that. If the bricklaying outside shooting Gopher crew shows up that we have seen recently, I don't think the Gophers will have a prayer of winning this one. The Badgers are also coming off a road loss to a so-so Western Kentucky team.
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+1
 

Yes, physical talent is what I was driving at.

Agree about basketball IQ. Badgers have held a significant edge over the Gophers in that regard for quite a long time, whether UW has had the (physical) edge talent-wise or not.
 
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JimmyJamesMD said:
Gophers need to fulfill their potential.

Murphy, Coffey, and McBrayer need to be more impactful as upper classmen. All 3 have a ton of experitence, but I never get the feeling any of them can force their will on a game. What I mean by that is, if we need a bucket to win the game or to stop a run, I dont think any of the 3 will make that play at consistent rate.
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I disagree, slightly.

Coffey single-handedly beat a ranked Nebraska this year. He can do it. The problem is that he can also disappear in games.

Murphy has demonstrated he can anchor a big win. But he usually one or two players to have good games in order to push us over the top
 

Dutch should fly to Vegas and put his mule where his mouth is
 

SelectionSunday said:
Dutch saying what most who follow Big Ten basketball already know. ... the Gophers have more talent than Wisconsin.

The more important question is, will that talent translate to the scoreboard on the two (maybe 3) occasions we play the Badgers?

I agree with Dutch, he's just laying it right out there for everyone to read.
Click to expand...

Agree as well but who will scout and prepare better, who will take away what the other team likes doing, who will execute.
 




Goldteam said:
Shooting the basketball has always been overrated.
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It is very important, it is how the better team loses quite often but great teams pull out many games when they do not shoot well because they take care of the ball and play great defense and sometimes survive.
 

It will be tough to win tomorrow, but we don't need the 3 to get a win tomorrow either.

Wisconsin is by no means an offensive juggernaut. The gameplan for the Gophers should be to attack the rim all night long and get Happ into foul trouble. Force Davison to take the lead for them on offense which is good for us. Murphy and Oturu need to have tremendous games and Washington needs to be smart and find his big men when driving the lane.

I think we win in a close one, with Curry back our depth down low will be too much for Wisconsin to handle. 67-60 Gophs.
 


JimmyJamesMD said:
Gophers need to fulfill their potential.

Murphy, Coffey, and McBrayer need to be more impactful as upper classmen. All 3 have a ton of experitence, but I never get the feeling any of them can force their will on a game. What I mean by that is, if we need a bucket to win the game or to stop a run, I dont think any of the 3 will make that play at consistent rate.
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I whole heartedly agree. And yet, depending on the night, not too far into the first half you can predict on this night if they'll deliver. It's just so infrequent or maybe it's just the inconsistency that makes it feel infrequent, especially with Coffey and McBrayer. But they can both take over when the stars align.

Murphy is certainly the most dependable but the two areas you mentioned are not his strengths...he can't be counted on to score against most teams set defense other than scramble plays, put backs, dunks outta chaos etc And I surely don't expect him to shut down a scorer defensively, he's usually in foul jeopardy.

Let's hope they all are on their game tomorrow.
 

Are we going to get good Coffey or whiny Coffey
 

Badgers are favored by 10, wow that’s a high number
 

Gophers are 10 point underdogs on the road, that would be quite upset.
 

Goldteam said:
Shooting the basketball has always been overrated.
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Not_Sure_if_Serious_meme.jpeg
 

beavergopher said:
No it’s not. It is the great equalizer. You must have loved Konate.
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Agree x100. Poster was either being facetious or is out of touch with reality. Funny thing about basketball: you can run fast, jump high, dribble skillfully, dazzle with passing, but in the end, you have to put the stupid ball in the peach basket. That skill is actually underrated.


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And thus stopping people from putting the ball in the basket is even more underrated.
 

I would love it if Dutch were conjuring the spirit of Nostradamus, but after the Gophers got smoked by ohio, I find it hard to imagine we end up higher than the buckeyes at seasons end.
I hope Dutch is right, however.
 

builtbadgers said:
And thus stopping people from putting the ball in the basket is even more underrated.
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Ha, good point! However, I would argue that defense can be taught/learned more so than shooting. Some just can never learn to shoot well, regardless of how hard they try.


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Bordergopher said:
Ha, good point! However, I would argue that defense can be taught/learned more so than shooting. Some just can never learn to shoot well, regardless of how hard they try.


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Team defense is developed over the course of time. It is just not something you can stress for a week or two. It's danged near a cultural thing that goes along with valuing possessions. Taking away one player with doubles, traps etc is easy. Restricting a whole team for a whole game is hard.
 

Lakers612 said:
I disagree, slightly.

Coffey single-handedly beat a ranked Nebraska this year. He can do it. The problem is that he can also disappear in games.

Murphy has demonstrated he can anchor a big win. But he usually one or two players to have good games in order to push us over the top
Click to expand...

Exactly, Coffey can do it, need him to show up big tonight. I think we'll have an advantage in the post, but we need Coffey to be aggressive all night and to stay out of foul trouble. This seems like a year where if Murphy and Coffey stay out of foul trouble we'll be ahead in most games.
 

theczar said:
Dutch should fly to Vegas and put his mule where his mouth is
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Is that sanitary? If you were to do that, he should just stay home because flying his mule to Vegas would be pretty expensive.
 
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Bordergopher said:
Ha, good point! However, I would argue that defense can be taught/learned more so than shooting. Some just can never learn to shoot well, regardless of how hard they try.


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Yes, it can be taught and it's also something almost everyone can do. Most of it is just EFFORT! Should be obvious that defense would be the hallmark of this program. If you can't get top players, you need to do something others aren't willing to do and that is work harder, play great defense and rebound. I'm really not sure why this coaching staff hasn't tried to build this program on defense by now. Especially seeing these athletic players that have a hard time shooting the ball it should be a no brainer.
 


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