B1G Game 1: Gophers Host Purdue (12-10-23)

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Gophearl said:
Coach P mentioned that Mara thought there was less time left and that they had talked
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Plitzuweit also said Braun wouldn't make that mistake again. Last week after the Kentucky game Plitzuweit mentioned Czinano missing some defensive assignments iin the first half and said she wouldn't miss those again. Not making the same mistakes is a theme
 


60's Guy said:
Purdue maybe could have pressed in an attempt to get a spurt but they are taller, more physical than they are quick. They also had some foul trouble. I don't know what they normally do (do they press other teams?) but experimenting with a press and giving up layups potentially when it was a major struggle for both teams to score is maybe not the trick to pull out of the bag.

But ya, we seem vulnerable to the full court press .... totally agree with that.
Ohio St wouldn't seem to be a good matchup for us.
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As a former coach, you might have a better perspective on this kind of thing than me (not a former or current coach). I've always thought that coaches were far less likely than we fans to basically throw mud against the wall to see if something sticks; which is basically my euphemism for "let's try something that we're not really built for and not sure if we're good at and don't do or practice very often, just because it's completely different.". Always figured that unless coach is 95% sure it's going to make a positive difference, they tend not to go there. Am I on the right track there?
 

I watched the replay. Purdue had a great defensive game plan. They forced Mara and Amaya left. The played up on Grace and stuck to her. They let Janay shoot from outside. They were physical with everyone. Mara. Amaya. Sophie still able to score. Mal's shot is off, Grace didn't appear to have the quickness to go by her defender. She did keep the ball alive twice at the end for Sophie to score and give Mara her chance to. score. Sophie has now had to sit in two games due to foul trouble. She needs to be careful with her reach ins. We were fortunate that one of Purdue's best free throw shooters missed one. I think they switched Grace off Layton when she was hitting her 3s. What a game
Big mistake by Terry at the end. Gophers win one they probably would have lost last year.
 


Exciting game and nice win. Memo to Coach P. Don't let the team go into the locker room at half time.
 

Gophers112233 said:
HATS of to THEEEEE

this team just has so much GRIT and TOUGHNESS.. and seems like they have found how to close out games.. they don't QUIT that's for sure.

kind of a odd strange game.. Grace and Mal didn't have great scoring afternoons.. but they did so much that wasn't in the box score..

Mal once again our rebound machine.. and gets a big steal in the start of the 4th..

GG only got a couple shots.. seemed like Purdue was guarding her really well.. we will have to figure out how to get her a bit more freeed up in other games. But I thought she played pretty well.

Maggie in her 3 minutes really PLAYED well. got a rebound and went right back to the basket. She really plays some solid defense.

AJ you could tell she isn't just ready for this style of B1G play yet.. but getting her 11 minutes will help down the road.

Battle had a really good game I thought. She came out attacking in the 2nd half which was great to see. Also man her shot is night and day from last year. I think she is figuring out she can get to the rim against anyone. Her nice little pull up jumper has been on point. To be honest had this been last year, I'm not sure she takes some of those late game shots.. Her STEAL to seal the game.. what a read, went down then started to go back out and BOOM right into her hands.

Mara started a bit rough.. then pulled up and dropped a logo 3 and took off.. Her BLOCK in the 4th quarter was FUN to see up close.. that was a B1G time block. Yes she had 2 careless TO's but did she hang her head. NOPE she just made one of the toughest shots I've seen her make.. (ps she got WHACKED)

Sophie has just been such a HUGE piece to our team.. Another great game by Sophie and again led the team in +/- today with +15 (in only 23 minutes) 7-11 from the field. 5 rebounds, 2 dimes.. and another game without a TO. Her 3rd foul was if anything TICKY TACK. She had a HUGE rebound late in the game to make it a one point game. She has really found when to take a shot or to pass it back out..

this team is SO FUN to watch.. they all seem to just be playing for what is on the front of their jersey MINNESOTA.. doesn't seem to matter to them who is the "STAR" they just want to win.. and to FIND A WAY to WIN, as Dawn P said.. they found a WAY
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Especially for the freshman or players seeing their first real action in B1G play, it can be a bit of a shock to the system. Most of these players were used to being the one dominating in high school. Now even the bench and role players for the opposition are in many instances just as big and strong as they are. They will take their lumps like all young players do, but the potential for this squad is enormous.

At one point in the 3Q we were shooting 27%. The shots were just not falling. Games like that happen. What kept them in it was solid team defense again. It put them in position to win the slug fest at the end of the game. Hard fought W's like this are what can be expected in the tournament should they make it this year. The experience is invaluable.
 

Chico Gopher said:
As a former coach, you might have a better perspective on this kind of thing than me (not a former or current coach). I've always thought that coaches were far less likely than we fans to basically throw mud against the wall to see if something sticks; which is basically my euphemism for "let's try something that we're not really built for and not sure if we're good at and don't do or practice very often, just because it's completely different.". Always figured that unless coach is 95% sure it's going to make a positive difference, they tend not to go there. Am I on the right track there?
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Yes, completely on the right track.

By "experimenting" I was asking more out loud to myself the idea of pressing...is it a good idea now? which press should we use?
let's say we do press, we practice it, we use it for a short time each game...that's one possibility
we press every game most of the time....different again. But, if we are either one of those we probably also have different presses as well. Which one is best today?

The unknown with pressing....you can scout and if you can find someone on their schedule who presses you have an idea how they might attack yours. You can try and keep the ball out of their primary ball handlers hands. But no matter what...you are never exactly sure what the outcome of pressing will be....especially short term...for a few possessions.
Giving up layups as they carve up your press is very demoralizing. If you press all game long...you make adjustments and take that away and eventually they run out out of counters and you dominate and demoralize with the relentlessness of constantly pressuring them. You get runs of baskets.
But, if you don't do it all the time (press) you are never sure the outcome. Your "surprise" tactic can cost you. It is risky. Do it all the time....you are used to making adjustments....used to the mental highs and lows that go with it when it works and when it doesn't and you adjust.

The time to experiment is probably the beginning of the second half. You mess up all their half time plans by pressing. Tempo is totally different. Get your run...couple easy buckets and make the call to stop or continue but force them to call a timeout. Definite advantage if they have no timeouts at the end of a close game. If it failed miserably, you have the whole second half to dig out of the mess you created.

Absolutely if you are going to press you are dedicating many practice segments to it.
Bottom line what I'm trying to say...pressing is risky...you never truly know what the result will be.
Who knew they had a girl who can throw 75 foot baseball passes to an all world receiver who catches in a crowd and dumps to the girl all alone for a layup. Girls who fearlessly slalom their way through your press on the dribble are very problematic to control if they are really good at it.

I do think the Gophers are vulnerable to be pressed. I just think you still gotta be polished defensively to give yourself a better certainty of the outcome. You can't just go...they are vulnerable...we'll press. Okay, Jill, you go here and Jen, I want you here... likely won't work.
 

60's Guy said:
Yes, completely on the right track.

By "experimenting" I was asking more out loud to myself the idea of pressing...is it a good idea now? which press should we use?
let's say we do press, we practice it, we use it for a short time each game...that's one possibility
we press every game most of the time....different again. But, if we are either one of those we probably also have different presses as well. Which one is best today?

The unknown with pressing....you can scout and if you can find someone on their schedule who presses you have an idea how they might attack yours. You can try and keep the ball out of their primary ball handlers hands. But no matter what...you are never exactly sure what the outcome of pressing will be....especially short term...for a few possessions.
Giving up layups as they carve up your press is very demoralizing. If you press all game long...you make adjustments and take that away and eventually they run out out of counters and you dominate and demoralize with the relentlessness of constantly pressuring them. You get runs of baskets.
But, if you don't do it all the time (press) you are never sure the outcome. Your "surprise" tactic can cost you. It is risky. Do it all the time....you are used to making adjustments....used to the mental highs and lows that go with it when it works and when it doesn't and you adjust.

The time to experiment is probably the beginning of the second half. You mess up all their half time plans by pressing. Tempo is totally different. Get your run...couple easy buckets and make the call to stop or continue but force them to call a timeout. Definite advantage if they have no timeouts at the end of a close game. If it failed miserably, you have the whole second half to dig out of the mess you created.

Absolutely if you are going to press you are dedicating many practice segments to it.
Bottom line what I'm trying to say...pressing is risky...you never truly know what the result will be.
Who knew they had a girl who can throw 75 foot baseball passes to an all world receiver who catches in a crowd and dumps to the girl all alone for a layup. Girls who fearlessly slalom their way through your press on the dribble are very problematic to control if they are really good at it.

I do think the Gophers are vulnerable to be pressed. I just think you still gotta be polished defensively to give yourself a better certainty of the outcome. You can't just go...they are vulnerable...we'll press. Okay, Jill, you go here and Jen, I want you here... likely won't work.
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Agree. Pressing is a high risk - high reward tradeoff proposition (in most cases). It requires not only physical stamina, but also 5 players that are in constant communication and position. The communication part is often the one that breaks down, which gets people out of position and gives up easy baskets when the offensive team exploits it. But when the 5 on the floor are in lock step, it can really demoralize the other team.

I also found right before halftime to be an effective use of the press, especially if we were struggling shooting. A change of pace and a way to gauge how the other team responds. It also gave us some insights into halftime adjustments. Following a made free throw was another good opportunity, since you could "pre-position" people in the block ahead of time.
 



It's nice to have an inside productive presence this year. Noticeably missed when Sophie had to sit. Which forced Coach P to put her back in as things were getting out of control without her.
 

Whytetale said:
It's nice to have an inside productive presence this year. Noticeably missed when Sophie had to sit. Which forced Coach P to put her back in as things were getting out of control without her.
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She is a force out there for sure. You don't really realize all she is doing until you look up and she's sitting at 12-18 points and a bunch of rebounds. Plus she can defend paint to perimeter. There doesn't seem much that rattles her out there, either.
 


DarthGopher said:
She is a force out there for sure. You don't really realize all she is doing until you look up and she's sitting at 12-18 points and a bunch of rebounds. Plus she can defend paint to perimeter. There doesn't seem much that rattles her out there, either.
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in her last 3 games she is shooting 65% from the field 17-26

11.3 ppg
7.6 rpg
2 apg

and hasn't turned it over in the last 3 games (84 minutes) 6 Assists to ZERO TO's and if you go to her last 4 games it goes up to 10 Assists to 1 TO.
 



Gophers112233 said:
in her last 3 games she is shooting 65% from the field 17-26

11.3 ppg
7.6 rpg
2 apg

and hasn't turned it over in the last 3 games (84 minutes) 6 Assists to ZERO TO's and if you go to her last 4 games it goes up to 10 Assists to 1 TO.
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That kind of assist/turnover ratio is unheard of for a post. We are very lucky to have Sophie, and she is only going to get better!
 

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