B1G Game 5: Gophers host Rutgers (1-8-25)

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Ignatius L Hoops

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Last season Rutgers finished dead last in the Big Ten with a 2-16 record. And one of those wins came during February in Piscataway against the Golden Gophers. Rutgers prevailed 81-73 behind a career high 25 points in 40 minutes from 5’9” guard Mya Petticord. She was aided by the reliable, if foul prone, 6’3” Destiny Adams who tossed in 21 points. Minnesota was led by Grace Grocholski with 23 points on 7-12 shooting from three. Sophie Hart chipped in 17 points and 7 rebounds.

A couple of weeks later the Gophers exacted some revenge in the Big Ten tournament closing out the Scarlet Knights 77-69 with Amaya Battle leading the way with 32 points and 7 assists. Rutgers’ Destiny Adams responded with 31 points and 24 rebounds.

This season, despite the transfer of junior guard Kaylene Smikle to Maryland (where she’s the Terps leading scorer), better results were expected from the Scarlet Knights. It’s been a rough start with four consecutive conference losses to: @ Wisconsin 64-66, Ohio State 63-77, @Maryland 61-78 and Southern California 42-92.

The collapse against USC came after Rutgers’ most intriguing player, freshman Kiyomi McMiller, was suspended-presumably for one game. Many of us were looking forward to a freshman show down in Williams Arena on Wednesday night. So, with the uncertainty, I’ll keep this preview short.

Rutgers starters (B1G stats):

Destiny Adams is a 6’3” senior swing player averaging 19.8 points and 10.8 rebounds in 32.8 minutes. She played her first two years at North Carolina.

Kiyomi McMiller is a 5’8” freshman averaging 16 points and 5.3 rebounds in 28.7 minutes

Jo Jo Lacey is a foul prone 6’1” graduate forward averaging 7.8 points and 5.3 rebounds in 30.3 minutes. She transferred in from Boston College.

Zachara Perkins is a 6’3” freshman forward averaging 4.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in 25.5 minutes.

Lisa Thompson is a 5’9” sophomore guard averaging 2.8 points and .8 rebounds in 20.8 minutes.

Others:

Chyna Cornwell is a 6’3” graduate averaging 4.5 points and 6 rebounds in 20 minutes.

Mya Petticord is a 5’9” junior guard averaging 2.3 points and 1 rebound in 20;3 minutes.



What we may see:

Kiyomi McMiller: Rutgers’ new basketball phenom | FOX 5 New York
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“It was shocking,” Leonard Ellerbe, who was announced as part of McMiller’s “executive team” in a November press release, said in a phone call from Las Vegas on Sunday night. “In my opinion, this should have been handled in an entirely different matter, and I think this is embarrassing to the entire program.”

Ellerbe, a veteran sports business executive who is the former CEO of boxing legend Floyd Mayweather’s promotional company, refused to say what led to the player’s suspension. Two people with knowledge of the situation told NJ Advance Media that the discipline came after a locker-room altercation with a teammate following a recent game.
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I think this young lady has forgotten that she needs to follow the team rules and keep herself on the basketball court, and that the coach has the last say in these types of decisions. She may call herself “the Product”, but the Coach is “the Boss” and the court is “the Factory”. And The Boss makes the decisions about which Products are produced in The Factory and sold to the public…
 


Let's not get caught up in Rutgers side show or drama. Need all the W's in Big 10 as we can get.
 

Gophers are in 5th place in the Big 18; i.e., Big Ten. They have really tough games ahead but have some doable games in-between so hopefully, they can avoid a big skid.
 



BBJones said:
A player who calls herself "the Product" with an "executive team" led by a former boxing promoter? Gee, whatever could go wrong?
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Yeah, coaches have to put up with a lot these days but after reading the MNS article I would say she and her "executive team" are making her toxic to a lot of people. I'm sure that when she leaves someone will take her but there are a lot of good programs that will steer clear.
 
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walleye said:
Gophers are in 5th place in the Big 18; i.e., Big Ten. They have really tough games ahead but have some doable games in-between so hopefully, they can avoid a big skid.
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Agree. If we can somehow come away with wins against Rutgers, Northwestern, Michigan at home (even though I think that will be tough) and Wisconsin that would give this team 7 wins before the tough part of the schedule hits. I think that would be a great accomplishment.
If they play well I can see them beating Oregon and Washington at home (will need to play good). Then you sneak another at Purdue and you're looking at a 10 win conference.
I know its a lot to ask for and I think a lot of it will count on if we get Mara back at some point. It's fun to be a fan!
 

BBJones said:
I don't think one has anything to do with the other. We're just fans, for Pete's sake.
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I don't quite understand it but some fans do use "we" meaning the "team" (even though us fans are not part of the team). Could be what's happening here?
 



thatjanelpick said:
I don't quite understand it but some fans do use "we" meaning the "team" (even though us fans are not part of the team). Could be what's happening here?
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I didn't mean to imply the team. Just don't want to dwell on Rutgers negative stuff too much, even though it is current events. Been impressed by the Gophers improvement in rebounding this year.
 

gopherdudepart2 said:
I didn't mean to imply the team. Just don't want to dwell on Rutgers negative stuff too much, even though it is current events. Been impressed by the Gophers improvement in rebounding this year.
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Somebody has to ask the question. If I, as a fan, choose to dwell on the Rutgers negative drama, how exactly does that affect the play of my Minnesota Gophers Womens basketball team? Is Dawn P gonna forget her pre-game pep talk because she knows I'm also paying attention to the Rutgers drama? Is Tori or Battle gonna miss a lay-up because they suddenly realized I'm asking about this on the forum? Just really curious how me paying attention (or even actually dwelling) on the Rutgers stuff way out here in Ca., can possibly affect how the Gophers prepare and play against Rutgers. Anybody?
 

Ready for another game! Need to secure the home court floor. Go Gophers. I trust in Coach P, it will be interesting to see if coach will use Johnson in replace of GG at all for limited minutes as more time developing in practice. Tough to play 40 minutes a game in the big ten a whole season is my concern. Really rooting hard for this team to have success and build the program.

Also now that big 10 plus is whole conference(last year just had MN), got to watch some other games and the size of Maryland, UCLA, USC is going to be interesting. Thinking Holloway with her wingspan and tough D is going to be needed more to help out Hart and Stewart avoid foul trouble. Just the length of Holloway seems to possibly match better. Holloway can play some tough D and possibly provide some offensive rebounding. I think the more fresh we can be vs those teams, the better chance we may have. Rutgers also has a view lengthy tall players, so see what happens.

Rah!
 

Am curious as to why Holloway gets so little playing time. Is she still limited physically? An attitude problem? Not good enough offensively? I've always admired her hustle and the way she plays defense. You would think with our shortened bench, she would merit more minutes.
 

While I agree that GG needs some back up, I think they would go with the more proven impact of Czinano, as she plays solid defense and moves without the ball. In addition, she can shoot the three. As for a backup for Hart and Stewart, I do like Holloway’s length and her defensive skills. However, on offense, she needs to be willing and able to take the contact while setting screens. That is a huge part of Coach P‘s offense. I would like to see Holloway playing alongside Hart or Stewart. She would give us a bigger presence on the floor and more options.
 

sports.yahoo.com

Kiyomi McMiller playing status update: When will the Rutgers star return?

In recent days, Rutgers freshman Kiyomi McMiller was strangely benched without much explanation. If you're here, you're probably wondering: when will she return to the court? Here's the answer. McMiller's playing status is currently u
sports.yahoo.com sports.yahoo.com


Per Joey Chandler of NJ Advance Media, Rutgers associate director of communications Erin Nerithe confirmed that the young hooper practiced this week and traveled with the team for its Wednesday game against Minnesota.

However, whether McMiller will play remains unknown. The team and the university have not revealed any information about her status. The Scarlet Knights declined to comment, instead deferring to an availability report expected to be released Wednesday evening
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The McMiller situation is a dicey one for Coquese Washington and her attempt to rebuild from the wreckage left by Stringer. She cannot afford to lose McMiller having lost Smikle to the portal last year. Assume McMiller plays tonight.

Coquese is also an interesting figure. She is revered in WBB circles, and has quite the background (Notre Dame & WNBA player, 1st President WNBA players' association, lawyer). But if all you knew about her coaching was her last 7 years as head coach, you would think she wasn't much of a coach. Her last 5 years at Penn State she finished t13th, 11th, t6th, 11th & 12th, with no NCAA appearances. Her first two years at Rutgers she finished 11th and 14th. That's 6 awful years out of 7, and she's heading for another bad year in year 3 at Rutgers. But before the bad finish at Penn State, she won 3 Big Ten regular season championships in a row with the great Maggie Lucas, leading to 2 Sweet Sixteens. Even in a pre-Maryland mediocre BIG era, that's impressive. A strange career arc.
 

Tori is going to need to stay out of foul trouble tonight; assuming she is going to be on McMiller if she plays.
The Holloway situation is an odd one to me. She doesn't have much of an offensive game, I'm pulling for her! Hopefully her and Johnson stick with the practice and see some minutes. Coach P needs to be selling the vision of playing time for them or I fear they may jump to the portal. (Not so much Holloway as I think she loves being a Gopher)
Let's get the W tonight! Go Gophs!
P.S. Please make your layups tonight! :)
 

DietCokeFan said:
Tori is going to need to stay out of foul trouble tonight; assuming she is going to be on McMiller if she plays.
The Holloway situation is an odd one to me. She doesn't have much of an offensive game, I'm pulling for her! Hopefully her and Johnson stick with the practice and see some minutes. Coach P needs to be selling the vision of playing time for them or I fear they may jump to the portal. (Not so much Holloway as I think she loves being a Gopher)
Let's get the W tonight! Go Gophs!
P.S. Please make your layups tonight! :)
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I'm guessing that Coach P is indeed selling the vision of playing time; as soon as we see you consistently doing this, this and/or this every day in practice. If you have any questions, let's look at the film again and I can show you exactly what we're talking about. Pretty much all coaches at the college level film every practice and break that film down for both team and individual study. Almost all coaches also keep pretty close track of shots taken/made, turnovers caused or made, instances of wrong pass or defensive rotation being made, rebound positioning, Pretty much anything you might want to show a team or player as an example of the right way or wrong way.
Coaches are constantly around these players for half the year and have a very good idea of who they can trust (even if they occasionally blow it) and who they're not quite sure if the habits are totally ingrained just yet.
 

This whole McMiller thing is a bit hard to understand. The coach is in charge.....and as a player you have to remember that. Wonder if it is akin to when Destiny Pitts and Whalen had their tiff.

If she doesn't play tonight, all the better for the Gophers!
 

fanfromthevalley said:
This whole McMiller thing is a bit hard to understand. The coach is in charge.....and as a player you have to remember that. Wonder if it is akin to when Destiny Pitts and Whalen had their tiff.

If she doesn't play tonight, all the better for the Gophers!
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It's hard to imagine that she would be here with the team and not play, though, isn't it?
 


Assuming Rose is going to slide into the starting spot? I wonder if we will see more of Johnson and Holloway tonight? Going to be hard to pull out a win, but at least they're playing at home.
 


I'm honestly not too surprised about Tori being in concussion protocol given she took at least two (that I remember) falls in the fourth quarter of the Illinois game and hit her head pretty hard both times.

I might eat my words later, but I don't think her being out will matter much for the Gophers' chances of winning. Rutgers is 0-4 in conference play.
 


Oof, has mentioned elsewhere Rutgers is really struggling but I think this makes things really tough for the gophers. Three down three key players is tough no matter what.

Here's hoping Tori is back soon. I was really impressed when she took that hard foul where she slammed into a Illinois players legs then her head hit the floor and she still hit the free throws.
 

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