B1G Game 11: Gophers Host Rutgers (2-3-19)

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Quality W and I hope they gained confidence to keep winning.
 

It could be said that Whalen is learning to make adjustments. The last 2 wins showed a number of adjustments, both offensively and defensively.
 

A really fun finish, especially for us four guard lineup advocates. The Gopher D was solid and the Gopher press annoyed and pestered Rutgers into turnovers and timeouts. The offensive plan in the first half of chucking into the aggressively defended posts was ridiculous. But things flowed more freely in the second half. Getting to the line was amazing, awesome and crucial. And we got to see K Bello for a stretch. A good Sunday at the barn.
 

Gophers had a +13 rebounding margin (44-31) in today's Rutgers game. Three best rebounders in the Rutgers game:
T. Bello with 21 reb / 39 min = .538 rebounds per minute of playing time
K. Bello with 2 reb / 4 min = .500 rebounds per minute of playing time
D. Pitts with 7 reb / 37 min = .189 rebounds per minute of playing time

K. Bello gets Subway sub of the game (that's gotta be a record, like first sub of the game to only play 4 minutes). I guess we'll just say she deserves the award for almost tying her sister's per-minute rebounding rate during those short 4 minutes.

After 14 turnovers in the crazy first half, the Gophers limited themselves to an amazingly low 4 turnovers in the entire second half. If they could do that consistently in both halves of all games (e.g., 8 total turnovers per game, about 2/3 of last year's per-game average) they would be the best team in the B1G just based on defense, lack of turnovers, and rebounding alone (and really only have trouble with the offensive production of Gustafson of Iowa).
 
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Gopherlife said:
Go Gophers! The 2nd consecutive big win! They're going to turn the Big Ten upside down if they continue to win after getting off to such a rough start in the conference.
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Now bring back Hubbard and let’s get this thing rolling!
 


From the 2017-18 Media Guide: Where Taiye's 21 rebounds versu Rutgers stands:

Rebounding Records:

29 Amanda Zahui B. vs. Iowa 2/17/15
27 Amanda Zahui B. vs. Purdue 1/22/15
25 Angie Iverson vs. Colorado State 11/30/96
23 Molly Tadich vs. Northwestern 1/22/84
22 Amanda Zahui B. vs. DePaul 3/20/15
21 Amanda Zahui B. vs. Iowa 2/17/15
21 Laura Coenen vs. Drake 12/9/84
21 Laura Coenen vs. Illinois 1/4/85
21 Molly Tadich vs. Michigan 1/30/87
20 Laura Coenen vs. San Diego St. 12/27/84
19 Amanda Zahui B. at Purdue 1/1/15
 


http://www.startribune.com/gophers-women-clamp-down-on-defense-upset-no-17-rutgers-60-46/505282952/


Interesting quote:

The Gophers trailed 31-26 with 3:36 left in the third quarter. That’s when things changed. Bell drove, scored, was fouled and hit the free throw. That started an 11-0 run that also included three-point plays by Bello and Brunson.
Rutgers was never able to regain momentum, shooting 10-for-28 in the second half. Over the final 13:36 the Gophers outscored Rutgers 34-15.
Afterward, Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer was blunt. “We didn’t come to play,’’ she said. “I think we halfway went at it. Minnesota wanted it more. I’m surprised they didn’t ask why we’re here.’’

The better question is where has this Gophers team been?
“We’ve gone through our slump of losing,’’ Bello said. “We just wanted it more. We needed it as a team.’’
After the game Whalen compared Bello to former Lynx teammate Rebekkah Brunson. “You can’t stop heart,’’ Whalen said. “I played with Rebekkah the last eight years. Taiye has the same skills and all the same heart.’’
 

The answer to Youngblood's question "where has this Gophers team been?". It's been there all the time; it had just been buried in a sluggish, grinding, get it to the posts offense which only made sense if you were playing Wisconsin or actually have Rebekkah Brunson on the court. As a bonus Pitts is now liberated to roam the court on offense and the defense has been more mobile and effective. It remains a knife edge; but, at least, we are on the right side of the edge.
 



Rutgers is a pretty good matchup for the Gophers. They both play ugly.... rely on defense to make up for limited offense. It was one of those bad days for Rutgers that they couldn’t overcome to beat a team playing as poorly as the Gophers. They lost a bench player to injury. It sounded like they benched another for displinary reasons, if I read that right? And I thought the refereeing favored the Gophers. This definitely didn’t look like the #17 club in the nation that showed up. We’ll see how the Gophers do on the road in Indiana. They might be due for a reversion to the means.
 

Shades said:
Rutgers is a pretty good matchup for the Gophers. They both play ugly.... rely on defense to make up for limited offense. It was one of those bad days for Rutgers that they couldn’t overcome to beat a team playing as poorly as the Gophers. They lost a bench player to injury. It sounded like they benched another for displinary reasons, if I read that right? And I thought the refereeing favored the Gophers. This definitely didn’t look like the #17 club in the nation that showed up. We’ll see how the Gophers do on the road in Indiana. They might be due for a reversion to the means.
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Sheesh...let us just enjoy the win. A win is a win. This is a big rpi win
 

did not see the womens game, but sounds like they did to Rutgers what Purdue did to our mens team.
 

I thought the other thing that Kent noted about the Gopher 11-0 run at the end of the third, was equally if not more significant. They both shut out Rutgers as well as scored 11 points in a grand total of (I think it was) 1:15. It's barely possible to squeeze four pairs of possessions in a minute and a quarter. Yet they scored four times, and mostly three-point scores.

Compare to the 10-minute second quarter where they hit a single field goal (but did have a handful of made free throws). What a difference. If you ignore free throws, that's 4X the field goals in about 1/8th the time. Or about 32X the scoring productivity in that 1:15.

Agreed that our first half attempts to feed posts in the paint backfired and mostly resulted in turnovers.

We know that defenses have been packing the paint with up to 4 of their zone defenders. Add to the paint either two (3 guard offense) or one (4 guard offense) players of our own. That's 5-6 players in the paint, mostly theirs. No wonder Taiye and/or Annalese can hardly put up a shot or a putback without being clobbered. Or we can barely get a pass to the posts without several pass interceptors surrounding them.

I think we almost need a radical offense revision in which all 5 players start out at the three point line. Give the guards some room in the paint to drive and work. The rebounders can sprint into the paint as soon as the play starts to enfold. Bello especially can outrun her defender to the rebound. Maybe let Lamke roam the baseline to create a paint threat. So, like 4-5 players roaming the three point line plus optionally one roaming the baseline to start. Then we get our offense going, set some screens, and all heck breaks loose as we confuse them, take a three point shot or a drive the (mostly clean) paint for a layup or short jumper, with posts rushing in for the rebound. The idea is, let them clog the paint. We just won't start out with our posts just standing near the paint to make them easy defensive targets.
 
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There were some fun plays (efforts) in the second half including Brunson taking the ball full speed up court right at a retreating Pelc resulting in a layup and the and one.

There was also the Bell and Bello combo.
In the first one, Perez stole an inbound Rutgers pass, handed it to Bell who raced up court and spotted Taiye beating the Scarlet Knights to the basket. Kenisha whipped a perfect line drive pass from the The Barn logo to Taiye for a lay up and another and one. Minnesota 45, Rutgers 35.

In the second play, the roles were reversed. Taiye rebounded a long range, straight away Pitts three. The rebound took Bellow to the right baseline where she alertly spotted Keke streaking down the lane and delivered a perfect pass for a layup. Minnesota 53, Rutgers 42.

Now, I wish Whalen would borrow some of Stollings' inbound plays. Rutgers does make it difficult after made baskets; but at times we seemed a bit confused and certainly not crisp in popping players open to receive the pass
 

Maybe I missed it, but has it been discussed why Lamke has been getting reduced minutes the last two games? Is she dealing with an injury or has the coaching staff just decided to go in that new direction? Someone previously mentioned that she was in a boot, but then she did play some minutes in the first half of the Rutgers game and I thought she looked healthy. Anyone know?
 

Oops, I posted before I intended to. A couple of additional thoughts re: Lamke. She must not be totally healthy or we would not have seen K. Bello get the minutes she got when Pitts was in foul trouble. I would normally prefer the four guard lineup, but not sure with this group. If the Gophers intend to do that, Perez is going to have to become more of an offensive factor, including looking to take shots. I like the full court pressure the team applies when Perez is in, however.

On another note, which I could place in another thread, but I'm too lazy. On last week's coaches show, Whalen noted that Hubbard might be done for the year. I thought it was interesting that soon after she said that when they went to a commercial, they showed a video clip of Hubbard guarding someone in practice. I am presuming that clip was from this season, but not totally sure. I'm wondering if the staff (and Hubbard) have decided to pull the plug on this year and start anew next year. Foot injuries can be somewhat tricky. Did we ever determine if she could play the rest of this year and still apply for a redshirt for this season or is that not a possibility. If she cannot get a redshirt for this year if she plays, then I vote that they put her on the shelf for the rest of the year. My feeling is this team doesn't have the talent (even with her) to make the NCAA tourney this year and I'd rather save her for next year.
 

tripledouble said:
Maybe I missed it, but has it been discussed why Lamke has been getting reduced minutes the last two games? Is she dealing with an injury or has the coaching staff just decided to go in that new direction? Someone previously mentioned that she was in a boot, but then she did play some minutes in the first half of the Rutgers game and I thought she looked healthy. Anyone know?
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I don't think an injury caused the two turnovers in four minutes. It's tough to find good matchups for Lamke against Rutgers. Kehinde Bello had one turnover in four minutes. Her turnover was a direct pass to a Rutger's player after a nice rebound. Whalen obviously didn't appear comfortable putting Lamke and K Bello on the court and inviting the defense to swarm to them.
 

Redshirt options for Hubbard

tripledouble said:
Oops, I posted before I intended to. A couple of additional thoughts re: Lamke. She must not be totally healthy or we would not have seen K. Bello get the minutes she got when Pitts was in foul trouble. I would normally prefer the four guard lineup, but not sure with this group. If the Gophers intend to do that, Perez is going to have to become more of an offensive factor, including looking to take shots. I like the full court pressure the team applies when Perez is in, however.

On another note, which I could place in another thread, but I'm too lazy. On last week's coaches show, Whalen noted that Hubbard might be done for the year. I thought it was interesting that soon after she said that when they went to a commercial, they showed a video clip of Hubbard guarding someone in practice. I am presuming that clip was from this season, but not totally sure. I'm wondering if the staff (and Hubbard) have decided to pull the plug on this year and start anew next year. Foot injuries can be somewhat tricky. Did we ever determine if she could play the rest of this year and still apply for a redshirt for this season or is that not a possibility. If she cannot get a redshirt for this year if she plays, then I vote that they put her on the shelf for the rest of the year. My feeling is this team doesn't have the talent (even with her) to make the NCAA tourney this year and I'd rather save her for next year.
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There was a previous reply or thread that noted no redshirt option if you miss a part of the season at the beginning and then start playing later in the season. So, I, too, would say keep Hubbard off the court to totally heal and get the redshirt for her. In that coaches show, Whalen was pretty certain sounding about her not coming back this season. I was not watching closely enough to see if that was a current or past practice clip.
 

I think Kehindes minutes came from Kaposi who didnt see any minutes. Lamke is dealing with an ankle injury so they likely wanna keep her stints on the court short.
 

That is correct. Hubbard may apply for a medical red shirt, which would almost certainly be granted. But now, in the second half of the season, my understanding of the somewhat obtuse rules is that if she plays even one minute then she forfeits her red shirt ability. If Whalen is starting to talk "done for the season," that pretty much means she too thinks using her is a waste of a season of eligibility on what now looks more and more like a non NCAA post season.

Not only did Lamke throw the ball away twice, I think (just about) every pass to her was a turnover as well (perhaps more on the thrower than the catcher). Anyway, it was 4 minutes of turnover magnet. So next shift, K. Bello got the nod. She got a turnover and 2 rebounds but gave up an end-of-shot-clock three point play including the foul. So then it was back to four guards.

The Lamke not starting thing has (I believe) more to do with deciding to play mostly four-guard rotations against certain teams. The rotation has dynamically flowed between three and four-guard sets all year, but three guards plus a C and a PF for most of the time. We'll see two-post sets again, mostly against tall teams. But the T. Bello plus four guards arrangement is working quite well offensively against suitable opponents, so I think we'll see a lot more of that. With Irene in there, we're much faster and better/faster defenders too, plus more 3-point shooting threats. And we've proven we can press with that outfit too. So we might look more like a Stollings team from here on out. With one difference. Whalen will put in two posts if the situation calls for it, whereas Stollings was religiously opposed to that idea, and lost games for the team due to such religious-fervor based coaching errors.
 

I think that Whalen is still looking to win and not yet looking to next year. Otherwise, one would think she would want to play Staples and Byrne more instead of Perez. That said, I agree that she may also want to save a year of Hubbard at this point.
 

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