I had my own game tonight (a rec league type of thing I thought about skipping), so I DVR'd the game and just got done watching. The only problem was, even though I allowed for 15 extra minutes (why didn't I go 30), I didn't get all the game. With the Gophers committing a shot clock violation and West Virginia bringing the ball up the court, my recording ran out. Had to nervously check ESPN.com to see if the Gophers held to on to that 3 point lead.
Glad to see Al Nolen getting a lot of love. It was very close between him and Trevor as to who the MVP of this tournament was. Al played the entire 2nd half and I think it was mandatory that he do so to get that win. One play that won't get a lot of mention will be the loose ball that Nolen hustled after and dived off the court to retrieve which resulted in an extra possession for the Gophers. When I watched it live, I was wondering why he bothered going after that ball as I didn't believe there was any way he could get to it... incredible combination of desire and initial quickness/burst were on display on that play.
Chip was very poised handling the ball against that 1-3-1 late in the game which is impressive for a freshman. I think he made a mistake not taking that corner 3 at the end of the game(Nolen had to chuck it up from about 30 feet), but other than that he didn't look like a freshman.
Iverson steal and breakaway dunk or Hoffarber's 25-30 foot alley oop to Trevor for play of the game? I think I have to give it to the Blake/Trevor combo again, due to it coming at a crucial point in the game.
Great to see the team shoot a little better from the line tonight. Colton and Trevor both hit some free throws which was important.
Negatives:
The Gophers stopped cleaning up the defensive boards in the 2nd half and allowed West Virginia to stay in the game because of it. It was especially frustrating to see them constantly fail to secure the rebound of missed free throws (dboy, I guess these are not always automatic).
Failure to hit the open jumper. This happened against UNC as well. Nobody outside of Hoffarber hit a 3 tonight and (I believe Blake was 4-9 and the rest of the team was 0-8). These were good wide open looks for the most part and the Gophers need to make a few of those.
Miscellaneous:
The Refs were a frustration to me. I thought the offensive foul on Iverson at the end of the half was terrible and there were multiple times down low where it appeared that the refs were swallowing their whistles when Colton or Trevor got inside. There were a couple of sequences that can't remember all the details of when it seemed as if the Gophers could not get a break. One was a sequence where it appeared that WVU had fouled about 3 guys constantly trying to get a bucket inside before a WVU player finally put it in. I found it amusing that the WVU fans/coaching staff were so vocal in their displeasure with the refs when I thought they were getting the better end (though not by an overwhelming amount) of a strangely reffed game.
Gopher Fans- Maybe it was just the location of the mics, but I thought the Gopher fans sounded great in the first half. They appeared to be an older group and I thought to myself "save some energy for the 2nd half". It appeared on my TV (again could be wrong, don't want to rip Gopher fans who made the trip) that they got kind of quiet in the 2nd half in comparison to the WVU crowd. Would have been nice to hear the fans on a few of the calls that went the Mountaineers way. If anyone was there and reads this thanks for supporting the team down there.
Hubert Davis- Save your O.K... OKAAY! catchphrase for something that is actually impressive. Hearing you go to the catchphrase after a WVU player BANKED IN a 3 at a critical point of the game would have made a younger EG#9 throw the remote.
It's great to finally see a Minnesota team WIN something. The Big Ten Tournament performance last year was great and probably more impressive/important, but that title game was kind of a bitter pill to swallow. This has been the worst combination of college/pro football seasons that I can remember following, so it was incredibly nice to watch one team I follow actually win the games they play. Hopefully, this is just a sign of bigger and better things to come in the Tubby era...now is the time for Tubby to turn the heat up on that practice facility
.
Glad to see Al Nolen getting a lot of love. It was very close between him and Trevor as to who the MVP of this tournament was. Al played the entire 2nd half and I think it was mandatory that he do so to get that win. One play that won't get a lot of mention will be the loose ball that Nolen hustled after and dived off the court to retrieve which resulted in an extra possession for the Gophers. When I watched it live, I was wondering why he bothered going after that ball as I didn't believe there was any way he could get to it... incredible combination of desire and initial quickness/burst were on display on that play.
Chip was very poised handling the ball against that 1-3-1 late in the game which is impressive for a freshman. I think he made a mistake not taking that corner 3 at the end of the game(Nolen had to chuck it up from about 30 feet), but other than that he didn't look like a freshman.
Iverson steal and breakaway dunk or Hoffarber's 25-30 foot alley oop to Trevor for play of the game? I think I have to give it to the Blake/Trevor combo again, due to it coming at a crucial point in the game.
Great to see the team shoot a little better from the line tonight. Colton and Trevor both hit some free throws which was important.
Negatives:
The Gophers stopped cleaning up the defensive boards in the 2nd half and allowed West Virginia to stay in the game because of it. It was especially frustrating to see them constantly fail to secure the rebound of missed free throws (dboy, I guess these are not always automatic).
Failure to hit the open jumper. This happened against UNC as well. Nobody outside of Hoffarber hit a 3 tonight and (I believe Blake was 4-9 and the rest of the team was 0-8). These were good wide open looks for the most part and the Gophers need to make a few of those.
Miscellaneous:
The Refs were a frustration to me. I thought the offensive foul on Iverson at the end of the half was terrible and there were multiple times down low where it appeared that the refs were swallowing their whistles when Colton or Trevor got inside. There were a couple of sequences that can't remember all the details of when it seemed as if the Gophers could not get a break. One was a sequence where it appeared that WVU had fouled about 3 guys constantly trying to get a bucket inside before a WVU player finally put it in. I found it amusing that the WVU fans/coaching staff were so vocal in their displeasure with the refs when I thought they were getting the better end (though not by an overwhelming amount) of a strangely reffed game.
Gopher Fans- Maybe it was just the location of the mics, but I thought the Gopher fans sounded great in the first half. They appeared to be an older group and I thought to myself "save some energy for the 2nd half". It appeared on my TV (again could be wrong, don't want to rip Gopher fans who made the trip) that they got kind of quiet in the 2nd half in comparison to the WVU crowd. Would have been nice to hear the fans on a few of the calls that went the Mountaineers way. If anyone was there and reads this thanks for supporting the team down there.
Hubert Davis- Save your O.K... OKAAY! catchphrase for something that is actually impressive. Hearing you go to the catchphrase after a WVU player BANKED IN a 3 at a critical point of the game would have made a younger EG#9 throw the remote.
It's great to finally see a Minnesota team WIN something. The Big Ten Tournament performance last year was great and probably more impressive/important, but that title game was kind of a bitter pill to swallow. This has been the worst combination of college/pro football seasons that I can remember following, so it was incredibly nice to watch one team I follow actually win the games they play. Hopefully, this is just a sign of bigger and better things to come in the Tubby era...now is the time for Tubby to turn the heat up on that practice facility
.