If they learn how to play defense we can win games. WI still winning by holding teams under 60. That needs to be our goal every night. It will be difficult to win otherwise.
Free throws at a .549 clip won't cut it...improve it to .70 and with Battle back in the groove plus an improvement in the supporting cast I say 11th. Remember Northwestern, Nebraska, Rutgers are in the league too.
When was the last time any kind of win over Edwardsville was “quality?”
Yeah and all of those teams have been playing better than us so far. It is easier for a team to play defense than to start increasing their shooting percentage. Holding teams under 60 is more realistic than expecting everyone to start shooting better. We have the athletes to do it.
It's all relative. For a mid-major like Bradley, SIUE is a rival (at least geographically), and is a favorite to win their low major conference.
Yeah, if they're going to finish 11th, I'd buy NW and Neb as *candidates* for the Gophers to pass, but the third is probably Michigan. I put asterisks around candidates because I don't actually think the Gophers will pass any of them.
Pretty much, I don't think our defense is bad, it's been okay, but with the way it is going on offense, it needs to be spectacular. Battle heating up in the second half was a good sign, now we need to get Dawson going.
Going to be hard to count on this team to consistently preform offensively with so many freshman, especially on the road. "Defense travels" as they say.
Agreed, but I think freshman actually have a tougher time learning to defend at a high level. These kids play so much year round that they're closer to finished products offensively, but I think the intensity and intelligence that one needs to defend at this level is always the biggest adjustment. It's rare that someone like Gabe K comes in and can shut down Carson Edwards as a Freshman. I think our youth hurts us more defensively than offensively. I think offensive issues are chemistry issues across the board and guys needing to establish their roles in the system.
We are far worse than all those teams you listed, its not even close, that is how far we have fallen. Northwestern just went into East Lansing and won by 7, Nebraska just beat Creighton by 10 pts (ranked #7), Rutgers just stomped Indiana (ranked #10) our best win is CA Baptist by 1 point. I have a hard time seeing us get a win in conference, just being honest. I am sure there will be a game where the other team is half asleep and we steal one, but discounting the other team sleep walking I don't see it.
0-20 conference record? Somewhere Spaulding is smiling : )
So you're the guy in the Williams Arena rafters yelling "We suck, bring in the clowns!" I always wondered who that was.
Did you not watch their "game" against Indiana last night? Indiana toyed with them. If we can't beat Nebraska the Gophers deserve to be 14th.
I’m not confident but more confident than you. Barring more injuries I think this team will get better through the season. They will win a few we don’t expect them to which is a low bar considering the number of people who see a winless conference season as a real possibility. The big issue for me is whether Ben can keep them engaged in the middle of a lot of losing. That’s not an easy task.
Something is giving me hope that will happen tonight along with Garcia finally showing up.
That would be much needed.
I'm optimistic that this will be a close game with the Gophers winning by 2.
wow 40-20 Iowa lead at half
Let’s review to see if a finger tip touched the ball before going out of bounds but not this. What an absolute joke and incompetence.
How many points would the Gophers score, shooting nothing but 3s?