***OFFICIAL PURDUE FORT WAYNE AT MINNESOTA BATTLE OF UNBEATEN TEAMS IN-GAME THREAD!!!***


Meh, being out rebounded by only three doesn’t get me worried. If it had been 10 then maybe I would be concerned. They play well as a team. No hero crap, movement off the ball. Like to watch good basketball.
Exactly! Rebounding, will of course cause problems against some teams with elite front courts, however, we shot 49 overall and 36 from 3, while holding them to 33 and 21 - so that more than makes up the difference. If we continue to shooting at a respectable % and also play good D and force the other team to a worse% then that will help mitigate our rebounding. Also, we’ll be competitive on 50/50 balls at a much higher rate than in recent years past. So we’ll win more than expected in the B10.
Lastly, this year is about setting the tone of the program; when we get some more bigs in the rebounding won’t be an issue in a few years👍
 
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I do enjoy the ball movement and defense. But P-FW outrebounded them. Just wait for stronger and bigger B1G teams to hit the boards. It will be the reason we lose most of our league games.

we’ve been losing most of our B1G games for over 20 years....
 

Exactly! Rebounding, will of course cause problems against some teams with elite front courts, however, we shot 49 overall and 36 from 3, while holding them to 33 and 21 - so that more than makes up the difference. If we continue to shooting at a respectable % and also play good D and force the other team to a worse% then that will help mitigate our rebounding. Also, we’ll be competitive on 50/50 balls at a much higher rate than in recent years past. So we’ll win more than expected in the B10.
Lastly, this year is about setting the tone of the program; when we get some more bigs in the rebounding won’t be an issue in a few years👍

I agree with your post but I do wonder about the very last statement above. Johnson recruited quality guards and two quality swing men who were returning natives, but seemed to fall down on the recruiting of post players. To be fair, he did expect to have Ihnen and Fox on the team until late in the recruiting process but struck me as not aggressive enough in recruiting replacements for them after they were injured.

Part of me wonders if he might mirror Tim Miles who rarely seemed to recruit and/or retain quality big men. I don't compliment Pitino for much but I will give him credit for consistently trying to secure that position on the court.
 




I watched most of the game. Love seeing team basketball!!
Curry... love the guy but he will lose most of his minutes to Daniels..... he just can't rebound or box out.
 

The thing I like most about this team after 4 games is the lack of unforced turnovers. Last year we were good for about 3 travels and 3 catches with our foot on the line per game. Seems to be a complete non-issue with this team.
 

I watched most of the game. Love seeing team basketball!!
Curry... love the guy but he will lose most of his minutes to Daniels..... he just can't rebound or box out.
Maybe he’s not in basketball shape yet lol. I mean, he was prepared to coach this year, not play 😂. I’m hoping he’s using the NC schedule to get into playing shape. It takes a while.

That being said I hope Daniels proves us all wrong. He was the laughing stock of this recruiting class when we needed a big and we all expected a high major transfer and we got him lol.
 



Looking at the box score, we played good defense, especially in the 2nd half. We won every positive statistic...except one. We were out rebounded, 39-36. That stat will be the reason we lose B1G games. Giving B1G opponents extra touches and shots will result in our loss. Tonight, P-FW didn't make us pay for being out rebounded, but B1G teams will make us pay. 4-0 is a nice surprise, but being outrebounded by P-FW is not a good sign.
Shooting nearly 50% from 2 and more than 36% from 3 just might have had something to do with that. We outrebounded them on the defensive end and didn’t have many to even rebound on the offensive end.
 

Maybe he’s not in basketball shape yet lol. I mean, he was prepared to coach this year, not play 😂. I’m hoping he’s using the NC schedule to get into playing shape. It takes a while.

That being said I hope Daniels proves us all wrong. He was the laughing stock of this recruiting class when we needed a big and we all expected a high major transfer and we got him lol.

I’m glad we have Daniels and Curry on the team. Anyone who puts themselves on the line to play Gopher basketball has my support and respect. They should not be laughed at or mocked. We are short handed this year, especially in our front court. Hopefully some of the other bigs will earn more minutes as the year goes on to help out front court out.
 

I do enjoy the ball movement and defense. But P-FW outrebounded them. Just wait for stronger and bigger B1G teams to hit the boards. It will be the reason we lose most of our league games.
We all know this team is going to struggle with any team with size. Just enjoy the fun start to the year and look at the positives. We don’t have the size or depth to do well in the Big Ten this year. We all knew that and it won’t be a surprise when it happens.
 




I agree with your post but I do wonder about the very last statement above. Johnson recruited quality guards and two quality swing men who were returning natives, but seemed to fall down on the recruiting of post players. To be fair, he did expect to have Ihnen and Fox on the team until late in the recruiting process but struck me as not aggressive enough in recruiting replacements for them after they were injured.

Part of me wonders if he might mirror Tim Miles who rarely seemed to recruit and/or retain quality big men. I don't compliment Pitino for much but I will give him credit for consistently trying to secure that position on the court.
I think he may have got caught by surprise and decided to roll with what we have vs. recruiting a Maverick level big - both Treyton and Pharrell were top 100 bigs and that encourages me - realize Treyton was Originally a Pitino recruit, however he did retain him😁
 

Really? You just said they dominated in every statistic except a few short in rebounding. And you think that will be there downfall? Lol, lol…. Talk about having to dig deep to find a way to criticize. Ha ha .
Simply pointing out the stat that will be very, very relevant in B1G play.
 


I’m glad we have Daniels and Curry on the team. Anyone who puts themselves on the line to play Gopher basketball has my support and respect. They should not be laughed at or mocked. We are short handed this year, especially in our front court. Hopefully some of the other bigs will earn more minutes as the year goes on to help out front court out.
I 100% agree. I just remember when he committed plenty of people in this community are laughing and saying “who tf is this guy” blah blah blah. I like to see a good 5-10 games before I make judgment
 

Some way too early in the year stats that don't need a thread. (Some schools obviously have played more games, or perhaps less.)

Gophers are 226th in 3PA. They have 85 attempts. Leader with 4 games played is Furman with 152

Made 32 which puts them at 173rd in makes. Leader with 4 games played, is VMI with 62 made
(St Thomas, with 6 games played, is in the top two spots for attempts and makes. 202 attempts, 82 makes)

Sit at 82nd in 3pt% .376 Mississippi State, future opponent, leads teams with 4 games at .457

Don't want to say this one. 354th in offensive rebounds. A total of 18 (ouch) Leader with 4 games is Texas Tech with 73 (Double checked 3 times to make sure the stat was correct for the Gophers)

Total rebounds is 153 Leader with 4 games is Southern Utah with 196

47 turnovers which puts them just inside the top 100 schools
Least turnovers with 4 games played is Vermont with 31

18 blocks Leader with 4 games played is Memphis with 44

Free throw percentage is .671 57 out of 85 Monmouth leads the teams that have played 4 games with a scorching 84 out of 95
 


Next one is against Jacksonville State of the A-Sun, 2-1. Only 3 games played isn't much for even this early. One was against feared Trinity Baptist College of Jacksonville. Their loss was to 4-0 Central Florida, Johnny Dawkins' team, a game in which they had 19 turnovers. Also, they will have been idle for 8 days. Coached by Jordan Mincy, first year as head man. Fresh off Mike White's staff at Florida that made the NCAA tourney 4 of the past 6 years.
Guard Jordan Davis appears to be their best offensive player. Scores the most points, most assists, logs the most minutes. This is his third school. Started out at Dayton and then went to Middle Tenn.
 
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Some way too early in the year stats that don't need a thread. (Some schools obviously have played more games, or perhaps less.)

Gophers are 226th in 3PA. They have 85 attempts. Leader with 4 games played is Furman with 152

Made 32 which puts them at 173rd in makes. Leader with 4 games played, is VMI with 62 made
(St Thomas, with 6 games played, is in the top two spots for attempts and makes. 202 attempts, 82 makes)

Sit at 82nd in 3pt% .376 Mississippi State, future opponent, leads teams with 4 games at .457

Don't want to say this one. 354th in offensive rebounds. A total of 18 (ouch) Leader with 4 games is Texas Tech with 73 (Double checked 3 times to make sure the stat was correct for the Gophers)

Total rebounds is 153 Leader with 4 games is Southern Utah with 196

47 turnovers which puts them just inside the top 100 schools
Least turnovers with 4 games played is Vermont with 31

18 blocks Leader with 4 games played is Memphis with 44

Free throw percentage is .671 57 out of 85 Monmouth leads the teams that have played 4 games with a scorching 84 out of 95
We shoot a ton of shots where there is no one is even attempting to get an offensive rebound. Is it Ben's strategy to just assure that we don't give up a fast break?
 

We shoot a ton of shots where there is no one is even attempting to get an offensive rebound. Is it Ben's strategy to just assure that we don't give up a fast break?
Entirely speculation on my part. It's Thorson. Looking at Colorado State (20-21 season) they were 315th in offensive rebounds. 258th in 19-20 season. 316th in 18-19 season, which was his first there. 65th in 17-18 season, before he arrived. He was at Drake that season with Medved, they were 307th
 

Entirely speculation on my part. It's Thorson. Looking at Colorado State (20-21 season) they were 315th in offensive rebounds. 258th in 19-20 season. 316th in 18-19 season, which was his first there. 65th in 17-18 season, before he arrived. He was at Drake that season with Medved, they were 307th
It looked like a lot of possessions they made the decision to all get back and not even go for offensive boards. I would suspect to eliminate transition offense and get set up in our defense. I also am not sure how effective our roster would be on the offensive boards.
 

It looked like a lot of possessions they made the decision to all get back and not even go for offensive boards. I would suspect to eliminate transition offense and get set up in our defense. I also am not sure how effective our roster would be on the offensive boards.
And did it work?
 

It looked like a lot of possessions they made the decision to all get back and not even go for offensive boards. I would suspect to eliminate transition offense and get set up in our defense. I also am not sure how effective our roster would be on the offensive boards.
If you can't rebound, you will get a lot of fouls trying to. This team can't afford foul trouble. Interesting take that Thorson coached defenses don't go after the offensive rebounds. Anecdotally, it appears they are rebounding well on the defensive end despite the height problem.
 

And did it work?
Sure did against Fort Wayne. I don’t know if that will be a different game plan based on matchups and such. It was frustrating to watch that in the first half at times when we were not making shots. But I guess we will see if that is something consistent. The coaches know more than me.
 




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