BleedGopher
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per Ekstrom:
Minnesota is shooting 32.1 percent at home in Big Ten play, slightly above their season average. Five of their remaining eight games, though, are on the road, where they are 23.6 percent in the Big Ten.
The outside struggles have affected Minnesota’s inside game, which revolves around Murphy. With bigs that aren’t a threat to shoot, it’s up to the guards to open the floor for them. That’s not happening, creating a more congested front court through which Murphy must navigate.
“If you can’t hit 3-point shots to space the court,” said Pitino, “it’s going to be hard for everybody.”
Murphy has drastically improved as a passer this season, which should encourage the Gophers to attempt more inside-out actions. Of their 13 attempts on Wednesday, 10 were initiated from the perimeter — most on either ball-handoff or screen-and-roll actions. On three attempts (two by McBrayer, one by Washington), there was no off-ball action to initiate the play. On several sets that started with an action intended to create space, Coffey and Kalscheur wound up putting the ball on the floor and shooting off the dribble — presumably tougher than a catch-and-shoot.
Three attempts came off Murphy’s offensive rebounds, which provided good looks. But none of the 13 attempts were generated from an intentional pass from a big (it didn’t help that Minnesota kept turning the ball over on post-entry passes thanks to Ethan Happ’s length). The Gophers also got very little guard penetration that could have led to kick-outs for better looks, falling back into the familiar weave along the arc. When Minnesota’s guards decide to put their heads down, they often look to get the rim and create free-throw opportunities — but driving with the intent to pass should be an option.
It would be a stretch to say the majority of Minnesota’s 3-pointers Wednesday night came fluidly within the offense. The Gophers need to go back to the drawing board to find better looks and at least get the Coffey/McBrayer tandem back to their career average. Not only is the Gophers’ lack of shooting leading to losses, but its hurting the team’s efficiency — a metric that may separate bubble teams in the eyes of the tournament committee.
“We finish with a lot of tough games,” said Pitino. “So just figure out what we’re doing wrong, what we’re doing right and learn and grow from it. I think there’s a lot of things we did well, but we’ve got to be able to be disciplined for 40 minutes.”
https://zonecoverage.com/2019/featured/ekstrom-can-anything-cure-the-gophers-ailing-shooting/
Go Gophers!!
Minnesota is shooting 32.1 percent at home in Big Ten play, slightly above their season average. Five of their remaining eight games, though, are on the road, where they are 23.6 percent in the Big Ten.
The outside struggles have affected Minnesota’s inside game, which revolves around Murphy. With bigs that aren’t a threat to shoot, it’s up to the guards to open the floor for them. That’s not happening, creating a more congested front court through which Murphy must navigate.
“If you can’t hit 3-point shots to space the court,” said Pitino, “it’s going to be hard for everybody.”
Murphy has drastically improved as a passer this season, which should encourage the Gophers to attempt more inside-out actions. Of their 13 attempts on Wednesday, 10 were initiated from the perimeter — most on either ball-handoff or screen-and-roll actions. On three attempts (two by McBrayer, one by Washington), there was no off-ball action to initiate the play. On several sets that started with an action intended to create space, Coffey and Kalscheur wound up putting the ball on the floor and shooting off the dribble — presumably tougher than a catch-and-shoot.
Three attempts came off Murphy’s offensive rebounds, which provided good looks. But none of the 13 attempts were generated from an intentional pass from a big (it didn’t help that Minnesota kept turning the ball over on post-entry passes thanks to Ethan Happ’s length). The Gophers also got very little guard penetration that could have led to kick-outs for better looks, falling back into the familiar weave along the arc. When Minnesota’s guards decide to put their heads down, they often look to get the rim and create free-throw opportunities — but driving with the intent to pass should be an option.
It would be a stretch to say the majority of Minnesota’s 3-pointers Wednesday night came fluidly within the offense. The Gophers need to go back to the drawing board to find better looks and at least get the Coffey/McBrayer tandem back to their career average. Not only is the Gophers’ lack of shooting leading to losses, but its hurting the team’s efficiency — a metric that may separate bubble teams in the eyes of the tournament committee.
“We finish with a lot of tough games,” said Pitino. “So just figure out what we’re doing wrong, what we’re doing right and learn and grow from it. I think there’s a lot of things we did well, but we’ve got to be able to be disciplined for 40 minutes.”
https://zonecoverage.com/2019/featured/ekstrom-can-anything-cure-the-gophers-ailing-shooting/
Go Gophers!!
