Observations From NDSU Scrimmage

Apologies if this doesn't warrant a new thread; feel free to merge mods. I know many people skip the Big 10+ broadcasts, so I thought I'd share my observations from the first game of the Niko era.

First, while NDSU isn't a world-beater by any stretch, they may be the best team we play at Williams Arena in the preseason, so I feel like there's more to glean from this game than from our previous exhibition games against Division II and Division III opponents.

Defensive Switches

It really felt like the defense was in synch on when to switch (or not). The first few minutes were a bit chaotic and messy, but after that, I felt like the switches were flawless. Switching seemed incredibly challenging to execute on past teams, and it always felt like our defenders were on skates for most of the game. Last night, NDSU had many long stretches without a field goal, and the defense was relentless.

Bad Shots

I think I counted like five bad shots total for the game. Asuma was a little quick once. I thought JCJ shot a few ill-advised 3s early. Reynolds probably should have pulled it out once or twice, but everything else seemed well-executed and in the framework of the offense.

Out of Bounds Plays

This was a refreshing change of pace, especially when Durkin subbed into the game and Niko drew up a beautiful play that resulted in a wide-open 3-point look (which he nailed).

System

It's been a long time since I recall us wearing a team down. We were usually the ones who got worn down, and no early Gopher lead was ever safe. It was always a crapshoot come the final buzzer. It was fun to keep the foot on the gas, both offensively and defensively, and grow the lead until the 0:00.

Minutes

Only Asuma hit 30 minutes, and it was exactly 30 minutes. Could our best players get breathers (sans an injury or two) and be fresh (ish) during crunch time?

Reserves

The 'deeper' reserves didn't have the prototypical 'deer in the headlights' look when they got their shot. Groves made some really nice cuts and had a spectacular defensive sequence. Shinholster had a backcut immediately upon entering for an and-1 layup.

X-Facor

I tried not to be too player-specific in this analysis, but I need to be here. I think BJ Omot is the X-Factor on this team. He only played 13 minutes, but I really question how Durkin will defend come Big Ten play. Durkin did a good job using his length after getting somewhat abused early (IMHO), but I think some Big Ten matchups will be tough.

I expect Omot's role to grow, and I think we will need to see more of him in conference play. He got switched on that super shifty NDSU guard a few times and looked really comfortable staying in front.

I don't know what any of this will equate to in wins and losses, but it was just so damn nice to see an actual system that guys seemed comfortable in, and emphasized their strengths.

What I miss?

topos said:

but I really question how Durkin will defend come Big Ten play

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This was one of my biggest takeaways, unfortunately.

Bobby D's shot is wet. But he looks really leaden footed on the other end of the floor.

And for a kid who's 6'7 220, he looked pretty bad defending in the post as well. We'll have to get creative hiding him or he will be an open sore that B1G teams pick at...

I liked that we pushed the ball up the floor. No lazy 10 second violations and was not spooked by a press.

I'm not going to get overly excited about an exhibition game but I think Tyson is the guy that most likely can lead this team to exceed expectations. It didn't work out at UNC but he was initially regarded as a high end transfer. He is now in a less pressure situation and could turn into the player UNC thought they were getting last year. If he does, I think this team can be a lot better than people think.

Gilthorp57 said:

I liked that we pushed the ball up the floor. No lazy 10 second violations and was not spooked by a press.

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They had good method getting the ball up the court. I remember only one turnover occurring in that process.

Zeppelin Gopher said:

This was one of my biggest takeaways, unfortunately.

Bobby D's shot is wet. But he looks really leaden footed on the other end of the floor.

And for a kid who's 6'7 220, he looked pretty bad defending in the post as well. We'll have to get creative hiding him or he will be an open sore that B1G teams pick at...

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Does Niko ever play zone? Easiest spot to hide a bad defender.

GophersInIowa said:

I'm not going to get overly excited about an exhibition game but I think Tyson is the guy that most likely can lead this team to exceed expectations. It didn't work out at UNC but he was initially regarded as a high end transfer. He is now in a less pressure situation and could turn into the player UNC thought they were getting last year. If he does, I think this team can be a lot better than people think.

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So fun to see a scorer like that hit his shots. There were many things to like about this game, but the thing I liked the most was the ball movement — no endless dribbling on the perimeter and then a last second prayer. Our guard play promises to be superior to last year. Inside? We’ll be vulnerable. I agree Omot is an X factor.

It's one game...so I have no conclusions. But, I liked the offensive approach. I'm wait and see on the defensive approach. We seem to invite or offer or encourage teams to drive baseline...will that be effective versus quicker teams and quicker decisions by more talented opponents? There's also I guess the possibility we just can't defend drives? That's what I'm looking for defensively.
Nice win, good start!

They did get beat too many times baseline, I don’t think it was intentional. NDSU rotated the ball quick on those possessions and the defender closed too quickly and got blown by. Definitely something that needs to be worked on. Gophers don’t have the rim protector to push teams baseline.

I had my doubts about what we were trying to do with this game, but I thought it was a useful and productive scrimmage. You could see the guys acclimating on the fly to live bullets flying through the air out there. There's nothing like playing a real opponent...and a Division 1 opponent to boot!

Having watched the game and looked at the box scores, here are some other thoughts.
We only forced 9 turnovers, I would expect a bit more this early in the season. Only 3 blocks against an undersized team. Thank God for Reynolds and his 3 steals out of our 5 total. Steals and blocks and forcing turnovers werent something Niko's CSU teams were know for, but I would expect more just based on length and athletic differences between the two teams.

JCY shooting 6 3's is a bit much. 35% last year, took just under 3 a game. Glad he went inside later. Also, he was much better in the open court than I saw of him last year.

Solid big ten starting 5.
Like others have pointed out. Bigger centers will be able to shoot over the top of our two 6-8 posts.

Positives not a lot of reaching or silly fouls. Solid fundamentals on defense, not much overplaying. Offensively tons of movement off the ball, moving the ball from one sideline to the other, stressing a defense.

Great job by Vaihola on the boards! 14, he averaged 7.5 last year. Like other have said, he has good hands, and he sees the game well too.

Obviously, Tyson was on fire; I liked that the team saw that and fed him the ball!

Willis has great speed, basketball IQ, and can get his own shot. He didn't play very aggressively. He will need to as competition improves.
Asuma was steady and had efficient play, even if his shot wasn't.

Want to see improvements:
BJ Omot played 13 mintues and had 1 free throw; He did zero other things on the court. I am hoping he isn't a Buggs, Ihnen, C Daniels. Long athletes that have had a ton of potential that never figured out how to use it.

Reynolds is going to need more time to adjust. Playing in the Big Sky he was the most athletic player on the court every game. He will need time to adjust to better athletes who can block his shot or change it if he hadn't gathered and gone up strong. Knowing if he starts his drive beyond the 3 pt line, he may not be able to get all the way to the rim when help comes.

I would love if Turner could give us 10 solid backup Center minutes at some point. It's not good if he gets only 1 minute against this team. Grove is weak for the 5. He looks like a bench stretch 4 player.

march madness said:

Having watched the game and looked at the box scores, here are some other thoughts.
We only forced 9 turnovers, I would expect a bit more this early in the season. Only 3 blocks against an undersized team. Thank God for Reynolds and his 3 steals out of our 5 total. Steals and blocks and forcing turnovers werent something Niko's CSU teams were know for, but I would expect more just based on length and athletic differences between the two teams.

JCY shooting 6 3's is a bit much. 35% last year, took just under 3 a game. Glad he went inside later. Also, he was much better in the open court than I saw of him last year.

Solid big ten starting 5.
Like others have pointed out. Bigger centers will be able to shoot over the top of our two 6-8 posts.

Positives not a lot of reaching or silly fouls. Solid fundamentals on defense, not much overplaying. Offensively tons of movement off the ball, moving the ball from one sideline to the other, stressing a defense.

Great job by Vaihola on the boards! 14, he averaged 7.5 last year. Like other have said, he has good hands, and he sees the game well too.

Obviously, Tyson was on fire; I liked that the team saw that and fed him the ball!

Willis has great speed, basketball IQ, and can get his own shot. He didn't play very aggressively. He will need to as competition improves.
Asuma was steady and had efficient play, even if his shot wasn't.

Want to see improvements:
BJ Omot played 13 mintues and had 1 free throw; He did zero other things on the court. I am hoping he isn't a Buggs, Ihnen, C Daniels. Long athletes that have had a ton of potential that never figured out how to use it.

Reynolds is going to need more time to adjust. Playing in the Big Sky he was the most athletic player on the court every game. He will need time to adjust to better athletes who can block his shot or change it if he hadn't gathered and gone up strong. Knowing if he starts his drive beyond the 3 pt line, he may not be able to get all the way to the rim when help comes.

I would love if Turner could give us 10 solid backup Center minutes at some point. It's not good if he gets only 1 minute against this team. Grove is weak for the 5. He looks like a bench stretch 4 player.

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Great write up. I did look up Reynolds last year against quality opponents Colorado had 13 points, 4 boards and 4 assists (5 turnovers); Texas Tech 12/4/3. Also had 15 rebounds in a game at Montana. Should be able to hold his own.

march madness said:

Having watched the game and looked at the box scores, here are some other thoughts.
We only forced 9 turnovers, I would expect a bit more this early in the season. Only 3 blocks against an undersized team. Thank God for Reynolds and his 3 steals out of our 5 total. Steals and blocks and forcing turnovers werent something Niko's CSU teams were know for, but I would expect more just based on length and athletic differences between the two teams.

JCY shooting 6 3's is a bit much. 35% last year, took just under 3 a game. Glad he went inside later. Also, he was much better in the open court than I saw of him last year.

Solid big ten starting 5.
Like others have pointed out. Bigger centers will be able to shoot over the top of our two 6-8 posts.

Positives not a lot of reaching or silly fouls. Solid fundamentals on defense, not much overplaying. Offensively tons of movement off the ball, moving the ball from one sideline to the other, stressing a defense.

Great job by Vaihola on the boards! 14, he averaged 7.5 last year. Like other have said, he has good hands, and he sees the game well too.

Obviously, Tyson was on fire; I liked that the team saw that and fed him the ball!

Willis has great speed, basketball IQ, and can get his own shot. He didn't play very aggressively. He will need to as competition improves.
Asuma was steady and had efficient play, even if his shot wasn't.

Want to see improvements:
BJ Omot played 13 mintues and had 1 free throw; He did zero other things on the court. I am hoping he isn't a Buggs, Ihnen, C Daniels. Long athletes that have had a ton of potential that never figured out how to use it.

Reynolds is going to need more time to adjust. Playing in the Big Sky he was the most athletic player on the court every game. He will need time to adjust to better athletes who can block his shot or change it if he hadn't gathered and gone up strong. Knowing if he starts his drive beyond the 3 pt line, he may not be able to get all the way to the rim when help comes.

I would love if Turner could give us 10 solid backup Center minutes at some point. It's not good if he gets only 1 minute against this team. Grove is weak for the 5. He looks like a bench stretch 4 player.

Click to expand...

Solid solid stuff!

100% agree on JCJ. He should be more of a "Keep you honest 3pt shooter." Not a volume guy...

Kind of disagree on Omot. He's a proven scorer at the level he was playing against last game. Quite, frankly, I was actually impressed he didn't try to do too much, but stayed witin the system and played solid D. He made a really nice pokcet pass at one point. I think there was a foul, but it was a great read. I don't think it's fair to comp him with Charlie Daniels and The Buggster .

Reynolds will be fine. We haven't had a guy like him in a long time. Just explosive! I think he converts most of those bunnies as he acclimates. Could have just as easily had 10 points and been 5/9 instead of 2/9.

100% agree on Turner. I really hope we see bench guys earning more role as the season progresses (Omot, Turner, Groves, maybe even Kai). We will need that 6'10" frame!

I think one thing we will love about Niko is he will use his bench and there will observable niches that rotational guy can fill. No more Iron 5 when when the calendar turns to March!

march madness said:

Having watched the game and looked at the box scores, here are some other thoughts.
We only forced 9 turnovers, I would expect a bit more this early in the season. Only 3 blocks against an undersized team. Thank God for Reynolds and his 3 steals out of our 5 total. Steals and blocks and forcing turnovers werent something Niko's CSU teams were know for, but I would expect more just based on length and athletic differences between the two teams.

JCY shooting 6 3's is a bit much. 35% last year, took just under 3 a game. Glad he went inside later. Also, he was much better in the open court than I saw of him last year.

Solid big ten starting 5.
Like others have pointed out. Bigger centers will be able to shoot over the top of our two 6-8 posts.

Positives not a lot of reaching or silly fouls. Solid fundamentals on defense, not much overplaying. Offensively tons of movement off the ball, moving the ball from one sideline to the other, stressing a defense.

Great job by Vaihola on the boards! 14, he averaged 7.5 last year. Like other have said, he has good hands, and he sees the game well too.

Obviously, Tyson was on fire; I liked that the team saw that and fed him the ball!

Willis has great speed, basketball IQ, and can get his own shot. He didn't play very aggressively. He will need to as competition improves.
Asuma was steady and had efficient play, even if his shot wasn't.

Want to see improvements:
BJ Omot played 13 mintues and had 1 free throw; He did zero other things on the court. I am hoping he isn't a Buggs, Ihnen, C Daniels. Long athletes that have had a ton of potential that never figured out how to use it.

Reynolds is going to need more time to adjust. Playing in the Big Sky he was the most athletic player on the court every game. He will need time to adjust to better athletes who can block his shot or change it if he hadn't gathered and gone up strong. Knowing if he starts his drive beyond the 3 pt line, he may not be able to get all the way to the rim when help comes.

I would love if Turner could give us 10 solid backup Center minutes at some point. It's not good if he gets only 1 minute against this team. Grove is weak for the 5. He looks like a bench stretch 4 player.

Click to expand...

Omot is a proven player. Remember, he was injured most of last season, then needed surgery this off-season. He was only fully cleared to practice 3 weeks ago. Give him time.

All good analytics. It was the first "game". Lets see how things shake out. Overall there were more positives than negatives and Niko will build on that. Looking forward to the Sue "game' Saturday.

DeathClutch said:

Omot is a proven player. Remember, he was injured most of last season, then needed surgery this off-season. He was only fully cleared to practice 3 weeks ago. Give him time.

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I may have been a little pessimistic about Omot. We really need his length at the forward spot.

topos said:

Solid solid stuff!

100% agree on JCJ. He should be more of a "Keep you honest 3pt shooter." Not a volume guy...

Kind of disagree on Omot. He's a proven scorer at the level he was playing against last game. Quite, frankly, I was actually impressed he didn't try to do too much, but stayed witin the system and played solid D. He made a really nice pokcet pass at one point. I think there was a foul, but it was a great read. I don't think it's fair to comp him with Charlie Daniels and The Buggster .

Reynolds will be fine. We haven't had a guy like him in a long time. Just explosive! I think he converts most of those bunnies as he acclimates. Could have just as easily had 10 points and been 5/9 instead of 2/9.

100% agree on Turner. I really hope we see bench guys earning more role as the season progresses (Omot, Turner, Groves, maybe even Kai). We will need that 6'10" frame!

I think one thing we will love about Niko is he will use his bench and there will observable niches that rotational guy can fill. No more Iron 5 when when the calendar turns to March!

Click to expand...

I should have added one more sentence on Reynolds. I think he will adjust within a few games. He will be a nice scorer off the bench. Probably our best athlete.