Thoughts about last nights game

[Otis]

Ok, so we got run in the second half, there is still some good things going in Dinkytown!

Why we lost.

1. The Mizzou players looked to have a sizable weight advantage on the Gophers and were playing very physical. You could almost see the Gophers wearing down as the game progressed. There was just no stopping Mitchell, who looked like a man against boys. There was just no way we were going to keep that up for 40 minutes.

2. They couldn’t miss. It’s not like Ben ball where they gave up wide open looks although there were a few. They were making OMG “WTF, kind of shot was that?” Shots.

3. They were just way deeper. Tyson, cracker Jackson, Asuma were just not able to dig deep in the end. Reynolds and Willis were being knocked to the ground consistently. That shit adds up.

4. Some really boneheaded plays and fouls in the second half from our tired beat up players.

Good things!

1. Offense still looked good. We missed so many open shots it was painful! Tyson had the focus of their defense and didn’t get those looks. Asuma and Durkin just need to make 30% of their misses and we would of still been in the game.

2. The defense looked good. Most of their shots came late in the clock. We were making them work. They just couldn’t miss.

In any case, I’m pretty pleased with the arc so far. Tyson looks like the real deal. He needs a couple Robins to go with his Batman.

 

[BTChamp]

There were times Willis looked like the ball was covered by fire ants while dribbling.

 

[march madness]

I wasn't able to see the game, but I followed the box score.

We were settling for bad 3's like previous teams? Missouri took 22, but made half-11. We took 23 and made 5, 22%. I agree on JCJ not taking a 2nd three unless he makes the first.
Tyson and Durkin 1 for 9 is killer. Were we tired? Sometimes when you take an early 3 you do not make the defense work, at all. Missouri came in at 40% on 3's as a team. It was the gophers first road game.

We outrebounded them 34-25. Part of that 25 was they made so many shots there wasn't much opportunity for them to get offensive rebounds. I hope they are more than a middle of the road SEC team, or we are in trouble.

We only having 3 steals and zero blocks, just shows how outmatched or tired we were. Willis and Reynolds, and the whole team, should be putting in sets of 10 free throws every practice, and you don't finish until you make 10 in a row!

 

[SplitDecision]

MN got fatigued. Mizzou made 6 more 3pt fgs, and 5 more FTs= 23 pts.

 

[Spaulding!No!]

Good stuff in here.

 

[JimmyJamesMD]

There were times Willis looked like the ball was covered by fire ants while dribbling.

Wait, is Peyton willis back?

 

[Unregistered User]

The only positive I take right now is that we only have to wait until Saturday night to wash this taste out of our mouth.

 

[pharmacygopher]

Ok, so we got run in the second half, there is still some good things going in Dinkytown!

Why we lost.

1. The Mizzou players looked to have a sizable weight advantage on the Gophers and were playing very physical. You could almost see the Gophers wearing down as the game progressed. There was just no stopping Mitchell, who looked like a man against boys. There was just no way we were going to keep that up for 40 minutes.

2. They couldn’t miss. It’s not like Ben ball where they gave up wide open looks although there were a few. They were making OMG “WTF, kind of shot was that?” Shots.

3. They were just way deeper. Tyson, cracker Jackson, Asuma were just not able to dig deep in the end. Reynolds and Willis were being knocked to the ground consistently. That shit adds up.

4. Some really boneheaded plays and fouls in the second half from our tired beat up players.

Good things!

1. Offense still looked good. We missed so many open shots it was painful! Tyson had the focus of their defense and didn’t get those looks. Asuma and Durkin just need to make 30% of their misses and we would of still been in the game.

2. The defense looked good. Most of their shots came late in the clock. We were making them work. They just couldn’t miss.

In any case, I’m pretty pleased with the arc so far. Tyson looks like the real deal. He needs a couple Robins to go with his Batman.

First....cracker Jackson???

To the comments above that weren't able to watch the game, the score doesn't reflect my optimism for the team. The first half, this looked like a legitimate, well coached team. Yeah, it's a 40 min game and the there was just a weird ass stretch (like an 8 point position....wtf) in the 2nd half but i came away impressed.

My hope is Omot returns (is Stephens out for the year?), Grove earns more PT (got pulled quick yesterday) and maybe Turner gets in better shape to give this team more depth so their not gassed at the end. They looked good early.

 

[gopherbadgerman]

Missouri is a top 40 ish team and there is a huge disparity in talent between them and us. This is not a knock on the team, just an observation. I think anyone could see that.

 

[The Deliberate Stranger]

Ok, so we got run in the second half, there is still some good things going in Dinkytown!

Why we lost.

1. The Mizzou players looked to have a sizable weight advantage on the Gophers and were playing very physical. You could almost see the Gophers wearing down as the game progressed. There was just no stopping Mitchell, who looked like a man against boys. There was just no way we were going to keep that up for 40 minutes.

2. They couldn’t miss. It’s not like Ben ball where they gave up wide open looks although there were a few. They were making OMG “WTF, kind of shot was that?” Shots.

3. They were just way deeper. Tyson, cracker Jackson, Asuma were just not able to dig deep in the end. Reynolds and Willis were being knocked to the ground consistently. That shit adds up.

4. Some really boneheaded plays and fouls in the second half from our tired beat up players.

Good things!

1. Offense still looked good. We missed so many open shots it was painful! Tyson had the focus of their defense and didn’t get those looks. Asuma and Durkin just need to make 30% of their misses and we would of still been in the game.

2. The defense looked good. Most of their shots came late in the clock. We were making them work. They just couldn’t miss.

In any case, I’m pretty pleased with the arc so far. Tyson looks like the real deal. He needs a couple Robins to go with his Batman.

The size thing is interesting. Mizzou started three guys who were 6'10" plus but I would be willing to bet Valholia had 30 lbs on their starting five and Crocker-Johnson had 20 on their starting four. We played nine guys, but Kai only played one or two minutes. Grove I think got ten and every one else played over 20. It was the old play eight trust seven approach.

I didn't think we took bad shots, there were a couple at the end of the shot clock but that's ball, thought we moved the ball well, just didn't knock them down, Mizzou made some shots where good offense just sometimes beats good defense and as Clem use to say you can run whatever you want but sometimes you just need guys who can put the ball in the hoop and Mizzou had more of that last night. We only had 11 turnovers, and one historically bad minute and change of basketball where it felt like we committed all 11 than. We weren't even getting into positions to take bad shots in that time frame.

Missed four or five front ends of a one in one for the game, gotta get those and have opportunities for more points. Can't have a worse FT percentage than the other teams 3pt percentage and expect to win.
Niko has a strong record of his teams getting better as the season goes on, grant it now he has to do it in the big ten, against the best, but the Mountain West is about as good of a training ground as one can have. There was a lot to like for about 30 minutes and it all fell apart "Bigly"

Lot to clean up, but a lot we can build on, will see what we've learned when we face San Francisco Stanford, maybe St. Louis and Indiana

 

[The Deliberate Stranger]

I wasn't able to see the game, but I followed the box score.

We were settling for bad 3's like previous teams? Missouri took 22, but made half-11. We took 23 and made 5, 22%. I agree on JCJ not taking a 2nd three unless he makes the first.
Tyson and Durkin 1 for 9 is killer. Were we tired? Sometimes when you take an early 3 you do not make the defense work, at all. Missouri came in at 40% on 3's as a team. It was the gophers first road game.

We outrebounded them 34-25. Part of that 25 was they made so many shots there wasn't much opportunity for them to get offensive rebounds. I hope they are more than a middle of the road SEC team, or we are in trouble.

We only having 3 steals and zero blocks, just shows how outmatched or tired we were. Willis and Reynolds, and the whole team, should be putting in sets of 10 free throws every practice, and you don't finish until you make 10 in a row!

TBH Mizzou didn't have a ton of wide open looks until the end after they blew it open with the worse minute of gopher basketball since Kevin Burelson. Durkin and Tyson were cold they weren't bad shots, good ball movement, mostly in the flow of the offense, just didn't hit him. If anything we probably passed up a shot earlier in the clock on a couple of those misses to kick it out. Mizzou probably a middle of the pack SEC team, but the SEC will probably get 10-12 bids again this year. I would peg Mizzou for a 7-10 seed. Would have been nice win to get but truth be told that's a game Mizzou needs to have at home

 

[cheeseheadgophfan]

I try to be optimistic, but if you watched that game and didn't wonder how we will even compete in the B10, I don't know what to tell you.
It's almost like the old joke, "we may not be big, but we're not fast either....." or something like that....
We lack size on the interior and athleticism on the perimeter....not a good combination.
Medved can draw up all the schemes that he wants, but until or unless he gets some better players and elevates the talent level, nothing will change.

 

[USAF]

I think they're clearly less talented than last year.
Niko...meh. We fired Johnson for this??

 

[SelectionSunday]

I think they're clearly less talented than last year.
Niko...meh. We fired Johnson for this??

3 games ... that seems like a fair sampling to determine whether a guy's the right man for the job?

 

[salzie]

Medved seat getting warm already

 

[Dave H]

3 games ... that seems like a fair sampling to determine whether a guy's the right man for the job?

Look who you are responding too...

 

[pharmacygopher]

Medved seat getting warm already

If your comments align with USAF, rethink your stance

 

[USAF]

3 games ... that seems like a fair sampling to determine whether a guy's the right man for the job?

Do you think this Gopher team is more talented than last year's? Why did we hire someone who took us DOWN in talent level?

Hope to be proven wrong, but the Medved hire did nothing to put Minnesota basketball back on the map. He's a nice guy. He's not going to fire up a fan base, attract NIL, or get high level recruits to come to the U.

That's not an opinion based on one game, for the record.

 

[USAF]

If your comments align with USAF, rethink your stance

Let's see where we're at in Feb, 2028. I'll happily admit I was wrong, if I am.

Will you?

 

[Beerculees]

Let's see where we're at in Feb, 2028. I'll happily admit I was wrong, if I am.

Will you?

I wouldn't happily admit I was wrong, but I would admit I was wrong.

Haven't had a good look at the team yet but from what i have read, we play solid defense, hustle, and actually run an offense with ball movement/off ball movement. It's a recipe for success if we can continue to build on it and get the right players in here.

 

[Gopher Ally]

It’s refreshing to watch a team coached by someone who knows what they’re doing. It was a great battle up until the 8 point possession, I don’t recall ever seeing one of those. They played physical, moved well and hustled. Missouri shot the lights out in the second half, us not so much. The poor free throw shooting was the one big negative for me

 

[Outsider]

Do you think this Gopher team is more talented than last year's? Why did we hire someone who took us DOWN in talent level?

Hope to be proven wrong, but the Medved hire did nothing to put Minnesota basketball back on the map. He's a nice guy. He's not going to fire up a fan base, attract NIL, or get high level recruits to come to the U.

That's not an opinion based on one game, for the record.

Ok but if Ben coaches this game with the same players we lose by 50. Jeebus, it’s 3 games and he shows way more coaching ability than we had last year. We had a bad stretch in the game and ran out of gas mostly. Tired legs equals missed shots. I’ll take this over the last four years in a heartbeat. And yes I’ll admit at the end of the year that he sucks if we somehow fall into an abyss. I doubt it’s going to happen though.

 

[Zeppelin Gopher]

3 games ... that seems like a fair sampling to determine whether a guy's the right man for the job?

Haha gotta consider the source. Consistently one of the worst posters on the board, and that's saying something.

 

[Roland Brooks]

Point guard play was poor

 

[howeda7]

Do you think this Gopher team is more talented than last year's? Why did we hire someone who took us DOWN in talent level?

Hope to be proven wrong, but the Medved hire did nothing to put Minnesota basketball back on the map. He's a nice guy. He's not going to fire up a fan base, attract NIL, or get high level recruits to come to the U.

That's not an opinion based on one game, for the record.

No hire they could make was going to instantly "put them on the map". He has already attracted more NIL and is clearly a more competent coach than Ben Johnson. Can you imagine what talent Ben would have attracted for Year 5 as a Dead Coach Walking?

 

[Ydarbnedor]

Do you think this Gopher team is more talented than last year's? Why did we hire someone who took us DOWN in talent level?

Hope to be proven wrong, but the Medved hire did nothing to put Minnesota basketball back on the map. He's a nice guy. He's not going to fire up a fan base, attract NIL, or get high level recruits to come to the U.

That's not an opinion based on one game, for the record.

I think this team is comparable to last years, maybe not as top heavy talent-wise, but more deep. I don't really think Medved took us down in talent level, I think a big part of the hire was the potential he has to put us on the map. I'm pretty confident in saying that the team in his 4th year will be better than Johnson's team was last year.

I think us fans have to let go of the idea that any new coach (in any sport besides hockey), will make us nationally relevant immediately. I do think the fan base was generally excited (maybe not "fired up") to get a coach with 3 March Madness appearances in 4 years. Out of the possible coaches we could've gotten realistically, I think Medved was maybe the best option.

I also don't think that any coach will successfully be able to attract big time NIL money, especially their first year. For basketball especially, Minnesota is a "prove it first" program when it comes to NIL and recruits. I think if Niko can make a competitive run and end up in the upper half of the Big Ten standings, that will be a solid foundation to build on for the upcoming years. With the state of college basketball being what it is, the Gophers will essentially have 67% roster turnover each year, so hopefully Medved can get the productive guys to stick around and build the program.