B1G Game 14: Gophers Host Wisconsin (2-11-23)

Ignatius L Hoops

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The tie shall be broken when the 2-11 Badgers hit the Williams Arena court facing the 2-11 Gophers. The game promises some fine Saturday afternoon drama even if its impact is largely limited to the bottom of the standings and some uneasy upper Midwest fan bases. It offers Minnesota an opportunity to avenge a 77-81 early January loss in Madison and chance for Wisconsin to demonstrate that they are demonstrably better than at least one Big Ten program.

The Badgers lack mystery. Five players play most of the minutes and score virtually all the points. They are:

6’4” Freshman forward, Serah Williams who averages 15.2 points and 5.2 rebounds in 28.5 minutes (all stats are for conference play only)

5’6” Graduate (from Holy Cross) guard, Avery LaBarbera: 12.2 points and 5.7 rebounds in 35.8 minutes.

6’0” Senior guard, Julia Pospisilova: 11.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in 35.5 minutes.

5’10” Redshirt Freshman guard, Maty Wilke: 10.2 points and 3.9 rebounds in 34.1 minutes.

6’0” Junior guard, Brooke Schramck: 10.0 points and 4.6 rebounds in 29.9 minutes.

Serah Williams, the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week, standsout. In her last five games she’s scored: Valparaiso 18 points, Northwestern 21, Ohio State 23, Rutgers 14 and Michigan State 18.

Williams is not the rebounding machine that is Rose Micheaux; but the match-up in the paint should be fun. In the January contest, both players were limited by four fouls. As a result, Micheaux posted 13 points and 8 rebounds in 22 minutes while Williams had 9 points and 5 rebounds in 26 minutes. Nevertheless, Williams and Micheaux have grown their game during the season despite their teams slipping into depression era like droughts.
 


Need to beat Wisconsin. Cannot lose to that team twice in one season. Better Dead than Red and 94 East. Go Gophers, Get it Saturday.
 


I'm hoping, against not as brutal competition, that in these last 3 games we can show improvement in fundamental areas, compete well in all three games and win 2 out of 3. I think that will build some confidence and allow the players and fans to feel like they are on an upward trajectory.
 


I'm hoping, against not as brutal competition, that in these last 3 games we can show improvement in fundamental areas, compete well in all three games and win 2 out of 3.
Agree need wins in two of next three games (before ending with @ MSU and home to Purdue), but that includes a win against Wisconsin (who is bad). Need some confidence heading into Nebraska and @ NU.
 

I hope fans come out tomorrow.. it's a saturday afternoon start.. hopefully families will come and can get a good crowd for the young women.. Just think as much as it SUCKS for us the FANS this year.. just think how bad they must feel or just blah.. because those 4 freshman aren't use to losing much if at all.. I'm sure they are just as frustrated if not more.. hopefully a WIN can get them some confidence heading into the last couple weeks of the season .
 

I'm hoping, against not as brutal competition, that in these last 3 games we can show improvement in fundamental areas, compete well in all three games and win 2 out of 3. I think that will build some confidence and allow the players and fans to feel like they are on an upward trajectory.
Just to be clear, we have 5 games remaining plus the B1G Tournament. I expect us to be competitive in all of these games.

https://gophersports.com/sports/womens-basketball/schedule
 

Just to be clear, we have 5 games remaining plus the B1G Tournament. I expect us to be competitive in all of these games.

https://gophersports.com/sports/womens-basketball/schedule
Thanks for the correction. I impulsively responded to a prior poster's 'winning the next 3'.
So I'll maintain my desire to see improvement and competitiveness over the next 6 (including BIG tourney) and be pleased if we can win 4 of 6 (or maybe 7).
 




Getting swept by Wisconsin is inexecusable. I’m ready for a new coach. ✌️
 
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This time next week we'll play Northwestern for the keys to the B1G basement.
 



Another disappointing loss. They played hard and fought hard. Heyer was fouled on the rebound at the end of the game but the refs did not want to have a game decided by free throws with tenths of a second left. Heyer was amazing. She is an outstanding all-around player. Braun started out great but couldn't maintain it. Battle had one of her best games as a Gopher but couldn't maintain it at the end. They stopped Rose with double and triple teams. She should have been awarded a lot more trips to the free throw line. They had their chances but got tight at the end. They need to reflect and learn from this game.
 

I'm confused.. yes Amaya had 7 TO's.. but she ALSO had 10 assists.. and was attacking... and then late in the game.. Whalen pulls her off running the offense and put Katie running the offense.. and STUCK Battle in the corner.. like I get it Amaya had some very careless passes.. but she should be running the offense.. when Katie does, she looks for her shot or just dribble back and forth..

and not figuring out how to get Mara more touches in the 2nd half, after she was shooting so well in the 1st half.. 13 points in the 2nd half.. and TWO in the 2nd on FTs..

also yes it was a good look but going to Hammond in overtime when down 2.. isn't the spot for her.. get your best player the ball which in that case would have been Heyer or Braun..
 

I'm confused.. yes Amaya had 7 TO's.. but she ALSO had 10 assists.. and was attacking... and then late in the game.. Whalen pulls her off running the offense and put Katie running the offense.. and STUCK Battle in the corner.. like I get it Amaya had some very careless passes.. but she should be running the offense.. when Katie does, she looks for her shot or just dribble back and forth..

and not figuring out how to get Mara more touches in the 2nd half, after she was shooting so well in the 1st half.. 13 points in the 2nd half.. and TWO in the 2nd on FTs..

also yes it was a good look but going to Hammond in overtime when down 2.. isn't the spot for her.. get your best player the ball which in that case would have been Heyer or Braun..
23 minutes for Borowicz. For me it's too many. But, who plays backup point? Micheaux only played 23 minutes, but very solid. I want to believe in Battle but 7 TOs with 10 assists is not good. We need a point guard next year. Back up ir starter. Czinano 22 minutes 3 boards and 4 points I still believe players play. Wenay have 1-2 new assistants next year.
 




If the Gophers are going to improve next year, their point guard play will have take a big step forward. For the season so far the assist to turnover ratio for Katie and Amaya, combined, is roughly 1. Katie's is under 1, and Amaya's is 1.2. This does not lead to winning basketball. What makes it worse is that so many of the turnovers are unforced or just bonehead plays. Neither one is much of a scoring threat either. Before today Amaya was shooting .39 %, Katie .36. And what's with Katie falling down so often. She gave up a wide open 3 late in the game when she took a tumble. The last player I remember spending so much time on the floor was Lindsey herself. In her case though it was usually after taking contact and scoring anyway. I think Amaya has the potential to be a first rate point guard, but she definitely has things she better work on. Katie plays with a lot of energy and can be a spark plug off the bench, but she'd limited by her size both offensively and defensively.
 

If the Gophers are going to improve next year, their point guard play will have take a big step forward. For the season so far the assist to turnover ratio for Katie and Amaya, combined, is roughly 1. Katie's is under 1, and Amaya's is 1.2. This does not lead to winning basketball. What makes it worse is that so many of the turnovers are unforced or just bonehead plays. Neither one is much of a scoring threat either. Before today Amaya was shooting .39 %, Katie .36. And what's with Katie falling down so often. She gave up a wide open 3 late in the game when she took a tumble. The last player I remember spending so much time on the floor was Lindsey herself. In her case though it was usually after taking contact and scoring anyway. I think Amaya has the potential to be a first rate point guard, but she definitely has things she better work on. Katie plays with a lot of energy and can be a spark plug off the bench, but she'd limited by her size both offensively and defensively.
I will say this remember Amaya is out there playing PG at 18.. you can see what she is looking at for her passes, sometimes just is just off by a second or two.. or doesn't put enough HEAT on the passes.. Amaya as we saw today can get to the rim and wish she would attack more because she does have a quick first step and can dribble the ball while crossing over or going behind her back..
 

I'm confused.. yes Amaya had 7 TO's.. but she ALSO had 10 assists.. and was attacking... and then late in the game.. Whalen pulls her off running the offense and put Katie running the offense.. and STUCK Battle in the corner.. like I get it Amaya had some very careless passes.. but she should be running the offense.. when Katie does, she looks for her shot or just dribble back and forth..

and not figuring out how to get Mara more touches in the 2nd half, after she was shooting so well in the 1st half.. 13 points in the 2nd half.. and TWO in the 2nd on FTs..

also yes it was a good look but going to Hammond in overtime when down 2.. isn't the spot for her.. get your best player the ball which in that case would have been Heyer or Braun..
23 minutes for Borowicz. For me it's too many. But, who plays backup point? Micheaux only played 23 minutes, but very solid. I want to believe in Battle but 7 TOs with 10 assists is not good. We need a point guard next year. Back up ir starter. Czinano 22 minutes 3 boards and 4 points I still believe players play. Wenay have 1-2 new assistants next year.
 

I will say this remember Amaya is out there playing PG at 18.. you can see what she is looking at for her passes, sometimes just is just off by a second or two.. or doesn't put enough HEAT on the passes.. Amaya as we saw today can get to the rim and wish she would attack more because she does have a quick first step and can dribble the ball while crossing over or going behind her back..
I would also like to see her shoot some three-pointers. She only has 4 all season. If she could hit some three-pointers, it would take some pressure off Rose and other players.
 

Engineering that game into a loss was a challenge. Listening to the post game on the way home, I have to say Whalen seemed devoid of answers that didn't involve "turnovers" or "you know".

And to borrow a phrase-Katie is open for a reason.

That was the most ridiculous loss of the season
 


Engineering that game into a loss was a challenge. Listening to the post game on the way home, I have to say Whalen seemed devoid of answers that didn't involve "turnovers" or "you know".

And to borrow a phrase-Katie is open for a reason.

That was the most ridiculous loss of the season
Lost to Wisconsin twice this season. Poor.
 


23 minutes for Borowicz. For me it's too many. But, who plays backup point? Micheaux only played 23 minutes, but very solid. I want to believe in Battle but 7 TOs with 10 assists is not good. We need a point guard next year. Back up ir starter. Czinano 22 minutes 3 boards and 4 points I still believe players play. Wenay have 1-2 new assistants next year.
Amaya may have the freshman assist record now at 109 but also has 90 turnovers which almost 4 turnovers a game so not sure how impressive that record actually is when you look at the big picture of the team record.
 






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