bball_craz_31
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Okay first, everyone on here lets breathe in and breathe out. Yes the Gophers are coming off frustrating and bad loss to NDSU, however we are three games into this season. A season once again with THREE returners and only one of those had significant minutes last season. Then let's add on top of that losing one of the highly rated 2022 recruits before the season even got started.
So with that in mind, let's discuss some parts of the season.
Negatives:
-Gopher defense is not great, getting beat a lot of times on backdoor cut. However once again, new team. I can honestly say I see positives in terms of the effort that can be seen from the court this year.
-The team is getting next to nothing from the "vets" or supposed leaders based on college basketball experience. In terms of scoring, Gradwell, Hammond, Oberg and Cayton have a COMBINED 19 points total this season. So a team that was down to 10 scholarship players is getting hardly ANYTHING from four of those players.
-Whalen's decisions in terms of starters or in game stuff (mostly in NDSU) game. Examples are AMAYA BATTLE SHOULD BE STARTING. She is averaging 12.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg and 5.0 apg....yet she started Cayton at NDSU? Excuse me...but WTF!
Second example.. Heyer being taken out from 4:45 till 1:05 in the 4th quarter. Frankly in a close game, barring injury or foul trouble, Battle, Heyer and Braun should never come off the floor.
-Um Katie has to learn to mixture of looking for her own shot and knowing to look for teammates. In all of the games, she over dribbled or missed open shooters and forced tough shots over taller or multiple defenders. The ball movement has a distinct and noticeable difference when Amaya is running the team and when Katie is running the team.
Positives:
-Gophers legit have a go-to scorer and star in Mara Braun. The thing people don't realize about the NDSU game is not only was Mara's 27+ ppg missing, but her ability to create of the bounce, her good defense when it comes to intercepting passes as well as her 3-point shooting. Remember this is a BRAND NEW TEAM and in game three and first road game, they had to try and figure out a gameplay with 27 ppg, their best player, their best creator gone....and still only lost by 6 and had chances late.
-While defense has not been great, there is a notable improvement in effort on that side of the ball. Mara and Katie are absolutely fantastic at coming up with steals. Look at the last few minutes of Lehigh game, each had a HUGE steal. The things with switches and stuff will come with repetition..once again BRAND NEW TEAM. Lets not right off the defense after 3 games (2 with full squad)
-The freshman are ready for the big moments. Braun, Battle and Heyer all have been huge. One could say Battle and Braun have been the team's best two players and Heyer is relentless energy and effort. The fact they already have as much on their shoulders as they do speaks to how unimpressive and unproductive the likes of four transfers and even Rose at times have been.
-This team's fight is 10 times better than probably the last two year's teams. Multiple times in the Lehigh game, including in the 4th quarter, the team was down 10 points. However they fought back every time. They never allowed the lead to get higher than that. They keep fighting, they put mistakes behind them quicker and have showed, when at full strength can score with a lot of teams. Also, no one will convince me that last year's team wins that Lehigh game. Remember the opening season loss to Jacksonville?
-How about we give them credit for limiting the turnovers. They are averaging 13 a game, have a total of 39 however they have forced 61 themselves. A team with tons of freshman handling the ball, turnovers could have been a nightmare for this group, however it's not. They have been under control more often than not.
-Maggie Czinano has been arguably the best of the three returners. For sure has been the most consistent in crunch time minutes. She is fighting for rebounds, she is playing better defense and frankly has looked like a brand new player.
Final thoughts.
I know this was long winded but honestly it's amazing how quickly people on here go from happy to "fire whalen, she the worst coach ever..." etc etc or "this team sucks" or the defense is this or that. However they have the best player on the roster since probably Carlie Wagner, maybe even Banham in Braun. This team has the right mentality. They also work a lot harder, are more coachable and willing to do the little things better than last year's team. Let's see how this young group responds after a loss. Hopefully Braun is back! If not.. well maybe it's time those veterans actually show up and help the freshman.
So with that in mind, let's discuss some parts of the season.
Negatives:
-Gopher defense is not great, getting beat a lot of times on backdoor cut. However once again, new team. I can honestly say I see positives in terms of the effort that can be seen from the court this year.
-The team is getting next to nothing from the "vets" or supposed leaders based on college basketball experience. In terms of scoring, Gradwell, Hammond, Oberg and Cayton have a COMBINED 19 points total this season. So a team that was down to 10 scholarship players is getting hardly ANYTHING from four of those players.
-Whalen's decisions in terms of starters or in game stuff (mostly in NDSU) game. Examples are AMAYA BATTLE SHOULD BE STARTING. She is averaging 12.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg and 5.0 apg....yet she started Cayton at NDSU? Excuse me...but WTF!
Second example.. Heyer being taken out from 4:45 till 1:05 in the 4th quarter. Frankly in a close game, barring injury or foul trouble, Battle, Heyer and Braun should never come off the floor.
-Um Katie has to learn to mixture of looking for her own shot and knowing to look for teammates. In all of the games, she over dribbled or missed open shooters and forced tough shots over taller or multiple defenders. The ball movement has a distinct and noticeable difference when Amaya is running the team and when Katie is running the team.
Positives:
-Gophers legit have a go-to scorer and star in Mara Braun. The thing people don't realize about the NDSU game is not only was Mara's 27+ ppg missing, but her ability to create of the bounce, her good defense when it comes to intercepting passes as well as her 3-point shooting. Remember this is a BRAND NEW TEAM and in game three and first road game, they had to try and figure out a gameplay with 27 ppg, their best player, their best creator gone....and still only lost by 6 and had chances late.
-While defense has not been great, there is a notable improvement in effort on that side of the ball. Mara and Katie are absolutely fantastic at coming up with steals. Look at the last few minutes of Lehigh game, each had a HUGE steal. The things with switches and stuff will come with repetition..once again BRAND NEW TEAM. Lets not right off the defense after 3 games (2 with full squad)
-The freshman are ready for the big moments. Braun, Battle and Heyer all have been huge. One could say Battle and Braun have been the team's best two players and Heyer is relentless energy and effort. The fact they already have as much on their shoulders as they do speaks to how unimpressive and unproductive the likes of four transfers and even Rose at times have been.
-This team's fight is 10 times better than probably the last two year's teams. Multiple times in the Lehigh game, including in the 4th quarter, the team was down 10 points. However they fought back every time. They never allowed the lead to get higher than that. They keep fighting, they put mistakes behind them quicker and have showed, when at full strength can score with a lot of teams. Also, no one will convince me that last year's team wins that Lehigh game. Remember the opening season loss to Jacksonville?
-How about we give them credit for limiting the turnovers. They are averaging 13 a game, have a total of 39 however they have forced 61 themselves. A team with tons of freshman handling the ball, turnovers could have been a nightmare for this group, however it's not. They have been under control more often than not.
-Maggie Czinano has been arguably the best of the three returners. For sure has been the most consistent in crunch time minutes. She is fighting for rebounds, she is playing better defense and frankly has looked like a brand new player.
Final thoughts.
I know this was long winded but honestly it's amazing how quickly people on here go from happy to "fire whalen, she the worst coach ever..." etc etc or "this team sucks" or the defense is this or that. However they have the best player on the roster since probably Carlie Wagner, maybe even Banham in Braun. This team has the right mentality. They also work a lot harder, are more coachable and willing to do the little things better than last year's team. Let's see how this young group responds after a loss. Hopefully Braun is back! If not.. well maybe it's time those veterans actually show up and help the freshman.
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