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TwistingMyMelon said:
Willis wasn't always this bad of a free throw shooter. He averaged 4.8 free throw attempts per game last season at Western Michigan and hit 72.4% of them. This season he's averaging 2.8 attempts per game and hitting 36.4%.

I don't know what his problem is with free throw shooting this season. He played 37 minutes last night (highest total of the season) so maybe that had something to do with it. He had a decent floor game last night (4 rbs, 5 asst, and 4 steals and only 2 turnovers).
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Thanks for these stats. Hope he figures it out.
 



howeda7 said:
It will be little remembered and long forgotten. All that matters is avoiding a bad loss.
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The entire second half I kept recalling the Gophers Drake game (ironically coached by Niko) in 2017-18 where we survived a last second three to hang on in an uninspiring victory immediately after being boat raced by an SEC team.
 




FinnGopher said:
You two taking about Niko Medved or Ben Johnson? Your comments sound awfully familiar.
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No one was a bigger detractor of Ben the moment he was hired than I was. Niko is a good coach. Struggling against Green Bay in game 4 isn’t good. His body of work as a coach is a bit stronger than BeJo’s was/is
 

USAF said:
Nebraska looked damn good.
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Agree.

If nothing else they have multiple guys that can put the ball in the hoop, staters and off the bench. And having Rienk Mast back from injury changes their ceiling quite a bit from last season. I’d guess Huskers biggest question will be can they defend adequately enough?
 

As much as I wish we would have blown out GB, we aren't the only ones this has happened to. I watched the end of Indiana and Incarnate Word last night and UIW had it a 1 possession game with under a minute left. Boston College just lost in overtime to Central Connecticut State at home. Cincinnati pulled away from Mount Saint Mary's in the 2nd half after getting outplayed by a team picked to finish 9th in their conference. Not saying we're on the same level as Cincinnati or Indiana, but we were still heavily favored. We missed enough shots and they hit enough shots to make it more close than it should have been. But we still had enough to win. I trust Niko.
 



leib0039 said:
Hopefully season trends like it did last year for Niko. CSU was 5-5 and looking not great, then really hit their stride and were a strong tournament team.
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Seriously, I was on the ledge, and looked at CSU's schedule from last year and instantly felt better.

5-5 with ugly losses, ugly wins (squeakin' by cupcakes), and two 15-point losses to 'formidable' power five schools.

The other thing I didn't really think about is that the more intricate the system, the more time it's going to take to implement.

Willis looks really uncomfortable ATM. It's hard for me to imagine him being a prolific scorer in the MAC, as he hasn't looked good even against the SWAC and Horizon. I think we will go as he goes. Once it clicks, it could change the trajectory of the offense.

I kinda understand the scheduling now. Niko's biggest test, though, will be at the end of the season: Keeping all contributors who still have eligibility, to flatten the learning curve in 2026/2027.
 

JZABR said:
As much as I wish we would have blown out GB, we aren't the only ones this has happened to. I watched the end of Indiana and Incarnate Word last night and UIW had it a 1 possession game with under a minute left. Boston College just lost in overtime to Central Connecticut State at home. Cincinnati pulled away from Mount Saint Mary's in the 2nd half after getting outplayed by a team picked to finish 9th in their conference. Not saying we're on the same level as Cincinnati or Indiana, but we were still heavily favored. We missed enough shots and they hit enough shots to make it more close than it should have been. But we still had enough to win. I trust Niko.
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Honest to god, that's why we watch college basketball and why it's so popular: it's competitive and unpredictable. Most games predict within one standard deviation, and the vast majority are within two.
 

JZABR said:
As much as I wish we would have blown out GB, we aren't the only ones this has happened to. I watched the end of Indiana and Incarnate Word last night and UIW had it a 1 possession game with under a minute left. Boston College just lost in overtime to Central Connecticut State at home. Cincinnati pulled away from Mount Saint Mary's in the 2nd half after getting outplayed by a team picked to finish 9th in their conference. Not saying we're on the same level as Cincinnati or Indiana, but we were still heavily favored. We missed enough shots and they hit enough shots to make it more close than it should have been. But we still had enough to win. I trust Niko.
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The new norm of retooled rosters every year that resulted in disorganization on the floor and possibly more competitive games than talent differential might suggest are not supposed to apply to us. This is not hard to understand. If I’m a mid major or borderline tournament team, I’m puffing up a win or competitive game early, but it makes little difference in the end to really talented teams that naturally progress during the season. If this is happening in mid January, there is likely a chemistry problem on the more talented team.

If the Gophers make 75% of their free throws the game isn’t close and none of us has lit our hair on fire over it.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
No one was a bigger detractor of Ben the moment he was hired than I was. Niko is a good coach. Struggling against Green Bay in game 4 isn’t good. His body of work as a coach is a bit stronger than BeJo’s was/is
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I think you tie for first with an awful lot of others. I’ll accept my participation trophy though. I earned it.
 




topos said:
Seriously, I was on the ledge, and looked at CSU's schedule from last year and instantly felt better.

5-5 with ugly losses, ugly wins (squeakin' by cupcakes), and two 15-point losses to 'formidable' power five schools.

The other thing I didn't really think about is that the more intricate the system, the more time it's going to take to implement.

Willis looks really uncomfortable ATM. It's hard for me to imagine him being a prolific scorer in the MAC, as he hasn't looked good even against the SWAC and Horizon. I think we will go as he goes. Once it clicks, it could change the trajectory of the offense.
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He doesn't look to be trying to make a scoring play- he is just getting the ball out of his hands.
He is going to have to score some for us.
topos said:
I kinda understand the scheduling now. Niko's biggest test, though, will be at the end of the season: Keeping all contributors who still have eligibility, to flatten the learning curve in 2026/2027.
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Yep. If we are recruiting 6-7 portal guys again- we are in trouble. I hope we have a couple million bucks on hand to go out and shop for 3-4 guys who are impact players to augment the roster.
 

Always good to win against LeBron. Also CJ O'hara scored in double figures for GB, expect to see him in the transfer portal come March
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
Willis wasn't always this bad of a free throw shooter. He averaged 4.8 free throw attempts per game last season at Western Michigan and hit 72.4% of them. This season he's averaging 2.8 attempts per game and hitting 36.4%.

I don't know what his problem is with free throw shooting this season. He played 37 minutes last night (highest total of the season) so maybe that had something to do with it. He had a decent floor game last night (4 rbs, 5 asst, 4 steals and only 2 turnovers).
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Sometimes it just spirals, like it did for Memphis in the 08 title game. It's also early enough where one good game can change the percentages pretty drastically
 

LongLiveMilesTarver said:
The entire second half I kept recalling the Gophers Drake game (ironically coached by Niko) in 2017-18 where we survived a last second three to hang on in an uninspiring victory immediately after being boat raced by an SEC team.
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Reggie Lynch had like seven blocks on one of the final possessions, it was insane. If I remember correctly we were up four Drake hit a three at the buzzer and Nate Mason may have gotten away with one
 

bga1 said:
Yep. If we are recruiting 6-7 portal guys again- we are in trouble.
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In this new version of college hoops, I'll be stunned if programs like MN aren't always needing to grab 5 - 9 players out of the Portal every season.

Our guys that prove to be high-end talents with eligibility left (whatever that is now days) will be targeted by other programs with more exposure, history of success and money to offer.

I hope I'm wrong.
 

Slim Tubby said:
In this new version of college hoops, I'll be stunned if programs like MN aren't always needing to grab 5 - 9 players out of the Portal every season.

Our guys that prove to be high-end talents with eligibility left (whatever that is now days) will be targeted by other programs with more exposure, history of success and money to offer.

I hope I'm wrong.
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You are right about that. I just don't think we are going to have a Payne, Hawkins, or Garcia type available after this year so I would think we will be fine for most of our own guys. I just hope that we can get so that we are needing to fill 4 or less so that we can afford high end guys instead of having to fill the whole shopping cart with midlevel types.
 

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