***OFFICIAL NORTHWESTERN AT MINNESOTA BATTLE OF 14-13 TEAMS IN-GAME THREAD!!!***

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Stan

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Gophers are 14-13, Northwestern is 14-13, something has to give!!! What should be a game going for 4 wins in a row, MN shit the bed against an equally bad PSU squad over the weekend and now we face the prospect of losing back to back home games late in the season to PSU and Northwestern. No coach on the hot seat wants to take that combo into an AD's office if said AD is texting his wife.

But here we are, Tuesday 6pm tip vs Northwestern that should leave CBB enthusiasts clicking the remote control right past our game.

But if we have a game, might as well win it.

GET 'ER DONE JOHNSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 



I really want to see the lads pull this one out. Regardless of how you feel about the coaching/program/AD and where it's at right now, at the end of the day we're cheering for kids (minus Parker Fox who is a certified adult) to play more games than other programs. And this is a key opportunity for them to continue the season. A win here *probably* gets them into the B10 tourney. And maybe one more gets them into the NIT. And those might not be things worth celebrating, but they are definitely worth rooting for at least.

This is not the most talented team, and the fact they have a chance to get to 8ish big ten wins is a testament to their hard work, grit and growth (and maybe even a modicum of coaching - don't crucify me for saying that).

Go Gophers!
 



We’re now a fan base that is pulling hard to make Weakling Wednesday. Sure, it’s only because there is now something worse than that: getting left out altogether. Last year we let a decent (not great) season get pissed away down the stretch. Looks like we’re in danger of repeating that.
 



goldenboy said:
We’re now a fan base that is pulling hard to make Weakling Wednesday. Sure, it’s only because there is now something worse than that: getting left out altogether. Last year we let a decent (not great) season get pissed away down the stretch. Looks like we’re in danger of repeating that.
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Nobody is happy that this is what we have to pull for but it is the reality of the current season so yeah, we are going to root for the team to qualify for the BTT and get a shot to play on weakling Wednesday.
 





MNVCGUY said:
Nobody is happy that this is what we have to pull for but it is the reality of the current season so yeah, we are going to root for the team to qualify for the BTT and get a shot to play on weakling Wednesday.
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Expectations change during the year. I think there ARE people happy that this is where the team is after starting 0-6. Some of them write newspaper columns, apparently.

As for the game tonight, this might be a more difficult test than the casual fan is expecting - Torvik has it at less than a point difference in favor of MN. Despite losing 31 points per game from their starting lineup to injury, they still compete way beyond the sum of their parts.

Expect a grinder with the 16th vs. 18th tempo teams in the league. Northwestern is still very good at turning teams over, and still very bad at putting teams on the free throw line. MN will need to hit their FTs, and it would help to get Martinelli in foul trouble because he might be more of a sole focus for a defense than Garcia is for MN (Martinelli/Berry = Garcia/Patterson).
 




Stan said:
MN shit the bed against an equally bad PSU squad over the weekend
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With Penn State having their center (Niederhausen) back and playing well, they are not a "bad" team. They beat us by 9 and Nebraska by 17 in the previous game. Niederhausen had 24 and 19 in those games. He didn't play in PSU's first game against us. This team has had great difficulty against teams with strong frontcourt play.
 




MNVCGUY said:
Nobody is happy that this is what we have to pull for but it is the reality of the current season so yeah, we are going to root for the team to qualify for the BTT and get a shot to play on weakling Wednesday.
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I gotta agree. At least being in the Big 10 tourney gives that little glimmer that there is a chance for a miracle run. I know it is the most minute of possibilities but it is still somewhat fun to fantasize about a 5 day run. I remember that Georgia did it one year and maybe Iowa?
 

WoodburyTim said:
I gotta agree. At least being in the Big 10 tourney gives that little glimmer that there is a chance for a miracle run. I know it is the most minute of possibilities but it is still somewhat fun to fantasize about a 5 day run. I remember that Georgia did it one year and maybe Iowa?
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NC State last year. Dropped last 4 regular season games before going on a miracle run through the ACC tournament (5-0) and carried it all the way to the final 4.
 

MNVCGUY said:
NC State last year. Dropped last 4 regular season games before going on a miracle run through the ACC tournament (5-0) and carried it all the way to the final 4.
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If we somehow manage to win three of our last four games, we would have the same overall (17-14) and conference ((9-11)) records they had last season before heading into their conference tournament. This was the finish I was hoping for but the PSU defeat made that more difficult to achieve.

Of course, I don't see this team replicating NC State's conference tournament run. There are at least four conference teams we haven't been competitive against in games this season so it's hard to see us beating one of them. I guess will have a rematch soon enough to see if we can be competitive with one of those.
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
If we somehow manage to win three of our last four games, we would have the same overall (17-14) and conference ((9-11)) records they had last season before heading into their conference tournament. This was the finish I was hoping for but the PSU defeat made that more difficult to achieve.

Of course, I don't see this team replicating NC State's conference tournament run. There are at least four conference teams we haven't been competitive against in games this season so it's hard to see us beating one of them. I guess will have a rematch soon enough to see if we can be competitive with one of those.
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Gotta keep the faith.....NC State lost at home to Duke by 15 during the regular season before beating the Blue Devils in the ACC tournament and NCAA tournament..... :)

Now do I see something like that happening for us.........not in a million years.....but if everything breaks right anything is possible I guess.....not likely.....put possible.
 


TwistingMyMelon said:
If we somehow manage to win three of our last four games, we would have the same overall (17-14) and conference ((9-11)) records they had last season before heading into their conference tournament. This was the finish I was hoping for but the PSU defeat made that more difficult to achieve.

Of course, I don't see this team replicating NC State's conference tournament run. There are at least four conference teams we haven't been competitive against in games this season so it's hard to see us beating one of them. I guess will have a rematch soon enough to see if we can be competitive with one of those.
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Anything that lowers the chances of Johnson getting canned is ultimately a bad thing for this program.

This isn't complicated. The sooner there's a new coach in place the better.

Sadly, Coyle and Johnson have put us in the position of hoping for a loss.
 

USAF said:
Anything that lowers the chances of Johnson getting canned is ultimately a bad thing for this program.

This isn't complicated. The sooner there's a new coach in place the better.

Sadly, Coyle and Johnson have put us in the position of hoping for a loss.
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I know most want to root for a win tonight and I get it. Personally, I hope for what is best for the long-term future of the program.
 

Random ‘Cats memory: I went with a buddy to the last game of the 1999 season at Northwestern—to see Quincy Lewis’ final regular season game which had serious NCAA tourney implications for Minnesota. NU won the first game at Williams Arena behind the strong play of Evan Eschmeyer—the original “six year man”. We sat behind the Gopher bench in the second row. Eschmeyer was dominating the game again inside with the officials sending him to the line for any contact and Pryzbilla has two first half fouls. Suddenly, Clem calls Aune’s name—can’t remember his first name—and he responds with a momentary look of disbelief but he quickly recovers. Clem puts his arms on Aune’s shoulders and it wasn’t hard to tell the instruction was to body Eschmeyer hard at every opportunity on defense because they might as well get their money’s worth for each foul. (IIRC the free throw disparity was 24-2 until NU was forced to follow in the last minute or so.). The strategy worked. Aune worked hard to keep Eschmeyer from catching passes in the low post and he stopped getting touches. It was classic Clem coaching and the Gophers won the game. It was also the last Gopher win of his career. Minnesota would lose their first round game to Illinois in the BTT and the Pioneer Press broke the Ganglehoff story the day before the Minnesota-Gonzaga NCAA tourney game. During the NU my buddy and I both noticed how subdued Clem was on the bench given the importance of the game. I’ve always wondered if he knew the Gangelhoff issue about to come to life.
 






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