B1G Game 10: Gophers Visit Northwestern (1-31-19)

[EaganGopher22]

Is Staples technically a Whalen recruit? She was already signed to Clemson. What recruiting could be done?

I think you could say she is, unless the U of MN was the only school in the country with an open scholarship spot.

 

[CutDownTheNet]

Is Staples technically a Whalen recruit? She was already signed to Clemson. What recruiting could be done?

Yes. I think Clemson had a coaching change. Staples sought and got a release. There's a nice story on that in another thread, but I don't know which one.

Something about her AAU or high school coach knows Whalen, and made the connection.

 

[shakenbake]

Is Staples technically a Whalen recruit? She was already signed to Clemson. What recruiting could be done?

Staples once released took official visits to LSU, Missouri, Kansas State and Minnesota. Utah and Colorado offered but she narrowed it down to those 4 over 2 weeks.
She is a Whalen recruit. That was why she picked Minnesota. She wanted to play for her.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[Bball 101]

Big time shot maker. Hand down, man down. Notice the textbook double swim move by taiye on the o board. We had the ball, regardless.

Thanks Destiny, we really needed this one:

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Shades]

Yes. I think Clemson had a coaching change. Staples sought and got a release. There's a nice story on that in another thread, but I don't know which one.

Something about her AAU or high school coach knows Whalen, and made the connection.

It must have been a good coaching change, because unlike what happened with the Gophers, Clemson is better than I expected this year.

 

[CutDownTheNet]

Big time shot maker. Hand down, man down. Notice the textbook double swim move by taiye on the o board. We had the ball, regardless.

That was a good play. It deserves a bit more detailed analysis. (And in spite of the fact that Shades makes a good point that the "redefined from a distance" depth was, on paper, probably not the greatest shot selection, all's well that ends well, and Pitts has proven in the past that that shot is within her range, at least when she's feelin it, so I guess we won't complain much about that game-winning shot and the subsequent made free throws.)

So the play actually starts "all game" when the team set up this play by shooting well from three (across several shooters) so that their defense had to respect our three shooting. Thus, their D is playing semi-up on our two guards spotted up in both short-corner three lines - leaving the paint somewhat free for Bello, who starts from the high post. As Brunson dribbles the approach, Pitts makes a fake lunge like she's going into the paint, while at the same time Bello does sprint toward the basket, breaking two defenders (her own and Brunson's). Taiye was almost free to get the pass for an easy layup, but a good choice not to, since her defender caught up quickly, and probably no time for a lob. Meanwhile, Brunson (free of her guard) dribbles toward the paint, making like she indeed is going to hit Bello on the pick-less roll.

With Pitts defender sucked into the paint on her fake paint-lunge, Pitts hits the brakes and quickly fades back beyond the three-point line. Brunson immediately sees her free, and hits her with a pass. Although spotted up at a Rachel-Banham-deep distance, Pitts is as open as she's ever going to get, and she takes and drills the three.

Meanwhile, we most likely had the rebound in case of a miss. Bello's defender is pushing (with her back) on Bello, trying to force her away from the hoop and rebound. Bello does one of her patented sprint-around-the-block moves and goes left-side where the rebound (if any) is hers, and hers alone. Her defender, minus her back support, falls to the ground. We won't talk about the teeny bit of a shove that Bello gave as she made her move. Perhaps the refs were looking the other way, as partial payback for some bad calls they made against her earlier. But lesson-to-be-learned for Bello: That little (swim-move) shove (although instinctual) was not needed, since the lack of a back support was enough to put your defender on the ground, leaving you for an easy layup as you hauled in the rebound (on a potential Pitts miss).

All in all, a great play, greatly executed. For the W (in conjunction with their upcoming smarts to get the outlet pass to Pitts to take the intentional fouls).

 

[CutDownTheNet]

It must have been a good coaching change, because unlike what happened with the Gophers, Clemson is better than I expected this year.

Or else, maybe Clemson didn't have a key starter plus a freshman walking around in a boot thanks to ankle injuries.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

http://www.mndaily.com/article/2019...ch-as-gophers-win-road-game-amid-losing-slump

Pitts talks about "from a distance":

The Wildcats were able to get Minnesota’s lead down to three points after a series of gutsy plays, but a deep 3-pointer and three free throws from Destiny Pitts put the game away.

"I was pretty calm, I just knew we needed a big bucket during that time because we were struggling to score during that stretch," Pitts said. "I shot it with confidence and I kind of knew that was going to seal the game for us."

 

[EaganGopher22]

I assume that Ignatius will start a new thread for the upcoming home game on the 10th. But in advance, I was looking back to see how it went the last time we played a home and away with NU. It was 2016. We won both, the second was the double OT Rachel Banham 60 pointer. Then lost in the B1G tournament to them.