B1G Game 18: Gophers Visit Penn State

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Today's 56 point defeat tied for second

Margin of Defeat (Since 1974-75)

1. 61 at Texas (53-114) 12/14/78
2. 56 vs. Iowa (49-105) 1/20/22
56 vs. Indiana (37-93) 1974-75
4. 55 Maryland (44-99) 3/1/20
55 Auburn (46-101) 11/29/86
6. 53 at Purdue (43-96) 2/18/01
53 Ohio State (64-117) 1/12/96
53 at Kansas (42-95) 12/30/91
9. 52 Penn State (30-82) 1/10/00
10. 51 at Michigan State (51-102) 2/7/97
 

Yikes, didn't get to watch today...just got a chance to check the score and oh my...what happened? This team all burnt out or what? Lot of players playing 30-35 minutes a game and down few players is taking its toll. See Senden got 20 minutes and got some production today. Hopefully nothing going on behind the scenes as this team needs to stick together, grow stronger and quicker, add a few pieces and hopefully get things going back in the right direction.
 


gopherdudepart2 said:
Oof. No Bueno. Coach seemed very discoraged and down trodden in post game intwrview. I dony blame her. Not a goos effort today by Gophers squad.
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Sadly, I am not surprised with todays outcome. This team has been slowly going through the motions looking and playing like they can’t wait
4 the season to end. Coach has more problems than injuries to Braun n Hart and now I am worried about losing some key players to the portal……
 

Ignatius L Hoops said:
Today's 56 point defeat tied for second

Margin of Defeat (Since 1974-75)

1. 61 at Texas (53-114) 12/14/78
2. 56 vs. Iowa (49-105) 1/20/22
56 vs. Indiana (37-93) 1974-75
4. 55 Maryland (44-99) 3/1/20
55 Auburn (46-101) 11/29/86
6. 53 at Purdue (43-96) 2/18/01
53 Ohio State (64-117) 1/12/96
53 at Kansas (42-95) 12/30/91
9. 52 Penn State (30-82) 1/10/00
10. 51 at Michigan State (51-102) 2/7/97
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It seems that every two years lately, the StarTribune has an article about the worst losses in Gopher women's basketball history: March 2020, January 2022, and probably now again in March 2024. Ouch!
 

What I thought was strong recruiting class, is lost without their leader Mara Braun. Our players aren't accustomed to playing all the available minutes.
With Braun we have a shooter, ball handler, rebounder, & distributer. Heyer can't seem to lift her game to lead. Battle appears to want to lead but turnover after turnover. Also some low percentage shots.
G$$ tries but the defense focused on her and causes her to hurry her shots.
We may win game 1 of the B1g tourney.
I was happy to see the bench get minutes! I can see why they didn't get much PT during the season.
Holes to fill. I'm sure some players will transfer. I'm hoping that the portal will be a blessing like it has been for the men's team.
I'm sure Coach P will do what's necessary to bring in quality players.
Plus I'm excited to see our commits from 2023 and 2024. Perhaps they will be able to fill our court needs.

SKI-U-MAH
 




i don’t know if Coach P has lost them, or what. But I don’t doubt that she will right the ship eventually. Whatever the reason, the effort is currently not there. That said, I can’t remember Whalens teams bailing on her. Lose yes, but not just stand around daydreaming. Regardless, if they don’t get a point guard next year, they are still in trouble. There is absolutely no way Battle is a point guard at this level.
 

Bunyan said:
90-34 Penn State. Blown out by 56pts. by Penn State (the 7th place team in the BIG10). They shot 20% from the field and 18% from the three line. This looked like a scrimmage against a D2 team.
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D2!? more like a middling High School team. This was unbelievable, never could have imagined this happening even with the recent disasterous on the court displays and lack of defensive intensity.
 

You can't lose two starters with a shallow bench and expect a team to be super competitive. You can't make players suddenly into 3-point shooters or make shooters good at driving to the basket. But, there must be something that they can focus on and get better at like passing or defense.
 

Gopheritnow said:
i don’t know if Coach P has lost them, or what. But I don’t doubt that she will right the ship eventually. Whatever the reason, the effort is currently not there. That said, I can’t remember Whalens teams bailing on her. Lose yes, but not just stand around daydreaming. Regardless, if they don’t get a point guard next year, they are still in trouble. There is absolutely no way Battle is a point guard at this level.
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I was with you but lost you on, "There is absolutely no way Battle is a point guard at this level."

They have a backup point guard in Klick and Senden showed she can hold her own when needed. I would be happy if they found an additional point guard and post in the off season given how important they are. I was very disappointed in the slow development of AJ and Holloway during the season.
 



Got a chance to watch the game from big ten plus now. Gophers had plenty of open looks but their shooting was way off. When you look at the winning teams in the big ten, almost every player they put out their can hit open shots and most can also take and hit 3's. The 3 pt shot has become a necessary it seems. Penn State had 4 people with at least 4 3 pt attempts and many others who took 1 or 2 attempts.

Battle and Sanders not having the confidence to take those open threes allows other teams D's to collapse and make the paint and cuts that much tougher. Battle has her moments of scoring off the dribble, but if she could really learn to be able to hit at least 30% from 3's it would really help. I was excited to see Senden get some work in. Her style of game actually reminds me a bit of Lindsey Whalen's. I know she was out their to prove a point, but I think she has ability to develop into a good PG. She seems willing to be able to take and hit the 3's along with being able to find open people on drive and kick outs. Also had some good steals.

Coach P I think is also getting a taste of how tough the Big 10 conference really is and it is only going to get tougher. Big 10 conference this year has a lot of veteran teams though. With all this shooting struggles, having two ladies down, some ladies who have played a lot of minutes and still growing in their sophomore years, not having much to play for......this lead to ugly game especially not shooting the ball well at all(lack of confidence it seems)

Hopefully can get a W vs NW I believe at 5:30pm Wednesday on Peacock!
 

Ragnor said:
I was with you but lost you on, "There is absolutely no way Battle is a point guard at this level."

They have a backup point guard in Klick and Senden showed she can hold her own when needed. I would be happy if they found an additional point guard and post in the off season given how important they are. I was very disappointed in the slow development of AJ and Holloway during the season.
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I've said that Battle isn't a point guard for most of the season. She's not a 2 guard. Maybe a small forward off the bench.
Heyer what has happened with her? She was the Swiss army knife of the players.
Well 1-2 more games.

SKI-U-MAH
 

Mnwhiteshoes said:
I've said that Battle isn't a point guard for most of the season. She's not a 2 guard. Maybe a small forward off the bench.
Heyer what has happened with her? She was the Swiss army knife of the players.
Well 1-2 more games.

SKI-U-MAH
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I guess we just disagree on Battle

Heyer I never thought of her a swiss army knife unless it was one of the small old ones that had 2 blades. I think Heyer is only good at #1 rebounding, #2 shooting from 3 point range. Nothing else, she doesn't handle the ball, pass, shoot free throws or defend or anything else particularly well. What am I missing? She lost her second skill (outside shot) recently and is an abysmal ~43% from FT line this year compared to a respectable ~72% last year.
 

I'm sorry if I sound so negative but I am befuddled with how we are playing. We look significantly worse than last year and it is so frustrating to watch. The most frustrating piece is their lack of good defense. I believe there is talent on this team and I believe our coach is probably a good coach and in time will turn things around but she is not building the players confidence or adapting to the hand she is dealt with 2 starters injured. She admits her team is offensively challenged at the moment. Well I say then buckle down on defense, that doesn't take skill. Try using the full court press and use some of your youth, exuberance and depth for that, and in the process get some turnovers and easier points but it is obscene not to do a better job of adjusting to their situation and changing things up. She at least put the bench players in to take some pressure off the starters and get some flow going, they needed and should have gotten more run in recent games.
 

GringaGopher said:
Sadly, I am not surprised with todays outcome. This team has been slowly going through the motions looking and playing like they can’t wait
4 the season to end. Coach has more problems than injuries to Braun n Hart and now I am worried about losing some key players to the portal……
Click to expand...
There's really only 2 players on roster they need to keep around + Klick since she hasn't gotten a shot
 

Ragnor said:
I'm sorry if I sound so negative but I am befuddled with how we are playing. We look significantly worse than last year and it is so frustrating to watch. The most frustrating piece is their lack of good defense. I believe there is talent on this team and I believe our coach is probably a good coach and in time will turn things around but she is not building the players confidence or adapting to the hand she is dealt with 2 starters injured. She admits her team is offensively challenged at the moment. Well I say then buckle down on defense, that doesn't take skill. Try using the full court press and use some of your youth, exuberance and depth for that, and in the process get some turnovers and easier points but it is obscene not to do a better job of adjusting to their situation and changing things up. She at least put the bench players in to take some pressure off the starters and get some flow going, they needed and should have gotten more run in recent
Click to expand...
 


It was amazing/humorus/sad to see defenders back up when our two STARTING PG had the ball on the 3 pt line. How in gods green earth can you run an offense when neither guard can shoot an uncontested 3? This explains some of the collapse when Braun went out, as they had to extend the defense when she was there, but the bottom line is coach P is correct, the effort is no longer there? Why? Hard to say, but I bet she knows. Too bad, I liked this team early, they hustled and played hard always. Now, they seem to be waiting for this to be over. BTW, I don’t expect them to win with the roster they are currently putting out there, but I would hope they would compete. BJ first team had virtually no talent, but they didn’t sleepwalk through games.
 

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