B1G Tournament, Game #1: #7 Gophers v. #10 Penn State [ESPN2, 5:30PM]

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Winnipegopher said:
Austin took heat but no one said he shouldn't be on the floor. That is asinine. I think people expected more from a senior of his talent level.
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That is 100% false. There were several people stating he should sit and Malik Smith should get the bulk of his minutes.

And for the millionth time, overall his play this year has been disappointing. No doubt about it. But a few were getting ridiculous when he was struggling. And I was just kinda making fun of the ridiculousness.
 



GophersInIowa said:
That is 100% false. There were several people stating he should sit and Malik Smith should get the bulk of his minutes.

And for the millionth time, overall his play this year has been disappointing. No doubt about it. But a few were getting ridiculous when he was struggling. And I was just kinda making fun of the ridiculousness.
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+1

Plenty of people (myself included) were open to shaking of the starting line up when we were struggling. During this stretch Malik was hitting his 3's and Austin was fumbling the ball and barely scoring. It was no different than people (myself included) bringing up the idea of starting Mo instead of EE when EE's play fell off a cliff after his great start to the conference season. This is a message board, when things aren't going well we discuss what we think could be done to improve things.

ETA: I always say "ridiculous" things in the game thread when our team goes through maddening stretches. It's a way of venting frustration when we lose games we shouldn't have lost. I think most things said in the game threads are in the moment comments and that is what people are citing when they bring up the "ridiculous" posts about so-and-so player. Not so much the other everyday threads.
 


Malik is like a golfer with the yips at this point (or Chuck Knoblach trying to throw to 1st). I'm really not sure how much you can put him out there. Mav is better at this point (shudders) but I'd like McNeil to get most of those minutes.
 

howeda7 said:
Malik is like a golfer with the yips at this point (or Chuck Knoblach trying to throw to 1st). I'm really not sure how much you can put him out there. Mav is better at this point (shudders) but I'd like McNeil to get most of those minutes.
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I agree about McNeil getting more minutes (no so much Mav). Malik is in a really weird funk. He plays well when he plays within himself and lets the game come to him. He gets out of rhythm when he forces shots and makes lazy passes. I think he has the mentality that he's a shooter so he just needs to shoot himself out of the funk, but that obviously hasn't worked. I wish he'd chill a bit and just play team basketball and wait for open looks. That is how he made his one 3 tonight.
 

MadtownGopher said:
+1

Plenty of people (myself included) were open to shaking of the starting line up when we were struggling. During this stretch Malik was hitting his 3's and Austin was fumbling the ball and barely scoring. It was no different than people (myself included) bringing up the idea of starting Mo instead of EE when EE's play fell off a cliff after his great start to the conference season. This is a message board, when things aren't going well we discuss what we think could be done to improve things.

ETA: I always say "ridiculous" things in the game thread when our team goes through maddening stretches. It's a way of venting frustration when we lose games we shouldn't have lost. I think most things said in the game threads are in the moment comments and that is what people are citing when they bring up the "ridiculous" posts about so-and-so player. Not so much the other everyday threads.
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Fair enough. I think the point I've always tried to make is he is the best we have. Even when he was really struggling, he was still usually better than what we had on the bench.

Yeah, I think he is more valuable than others and that's fine. Just my opinion, and just your opinion. Either way you look at it, he is one of our better players this this year though.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Either way you look at it, he is one of our better players this this year though.
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I agree. I posted this in the awards thread, my MVP's of the season:

1. Matheiu
2. Dre
3. Walker
4a. EE (1st half of the B1G)
4b. Austin (2nd half/final stretch of B1G)

I'm sure many would disagree, but that's the way I see it. And the fact that 4 of the 5 players on the list are returning next year has me both excited for next year and not that worried about losing Austin.
 



GophersInIowa said:
You're right, I do have a reputation of making stuff up.
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No i am not saying that. You are one of the more stable posters here and I appreciate that.

However, I do think that many message board posters have a penchant for straw man arguments.

In one way we are in agreement. Anyone who thinks Austin shouldn't be on the floor for the majority of minutes for this Gopher is crazy.
 


Winnipegopher said:
No i am not saying that. You are one of the more stable posters here and I appreciate that. However, I do think that many message board posters have a penchant for straw man arguments. In one way we are in agreement. Anyone who thinks Austin shouldn't be on the floor for the majority of minutes for this Gopher is crazy.
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Honestly, I already gathered the posts up another time for SS. I'll find the post tomorrow.
 

Gold Vision said:
Honestly, I already gathered the posts up another time for SS. I'll find the post tomorrow.
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Fair enough. I am on the Hole a lot and I don't remember it.

That said, I generally avoid the in-game thread (way too bi-polar for me, if it is BTN I watch if not do something else) so maybe I missed it all.
 



MadtownGopher said:
I agree about McNeil getting more minutes (no so much Mav). Malik is in a really weird funk. He plays well when he plays within himself and lets the game come to him. He gets out of rhythm when he forces shots and makes lazy passes. I think he has the mentality that he's a shooter so he just needs to shoot himself out of the funk, but that obviously hasn't worked. I wish he'd chill a bit and just play team basketball and wait for open looks. That is how he made his one 3 tonight.
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The problem is that without his shot, he's a bad offensive player and he's never a good defensive player. McNeil doesn't bring much offense either, but he doesn't hurt you with by going 1-6 with three air balls and he plays good defense.
 

I missed the last ~5 minutes or so because I'd stretched the amount of time I could leave myself to get where I needed to be to the absolute max. I felt like I was leaving the game in as safe a situation as possible as Dre Mathieu had just scored to put the Gophers up 11. I found out the end result and was pretty shocked to read via the GopherHole twitter that not only did the Gophers choke away another lead, but Mav(!) was not only in the game, but taking a huge shot in crunch time? I was pretty interested to check out those last 5 minutes or so when I got home. My guess is that Coach Pitino took McNeil out after his HUGE block because he stayed in the backcourt and did the "slow walk/look at what I did" move instead of running the break. It's interesting that Coach Pitino went to Maverick and not Malik at that point, but I am not sure I can blame him. Disappointing to see how shaky 'Dre Hollins was down the stretch before hitting the three to ice it.

I disagree with the post(s?) that stated the Gophers failed the eye test today. They had a very workmanlike type win going on to the point where Tirico/Dakich spent the majority of the game talking about anything but the action on the floor. The Gophers went to the all too familiar choke routine late, but lead the entire game and the vast majority of the game was played with a relatively safe lead. That's pretty solid stuff considering they are trying to beat the same for the 3rd time in a season and the 2nd time in just a few days. Penn State is not a great team, but they are not a pushover either.

For me, the Gophers should be in the tournament now. It's crazy to think that a team that had Joey King and Maverick Ahanmisi on the court in crunch time of a must win B1G game could end up with a real legit chance at the NCAA tournament. I can't say enough good things about DeAndre Mathieu. That kid is a gamer and brings the type of confidence, desire, and passion to the court that I hope we can see more of in future Gopher recruits. Their were too separate plays today where Mathieu hit the floor hard trying to get back on defense, picked himself up quickly and continued sprinting. The kid never gives up on a play and wants the ball in his hands down the stretch. Part of the reason this team struggles at the end of games is we don't have enough guys who want the ball and embrace that moment (Malik is another one, but he's in a major, major funk).

Austin Hollins was great again today. Obviously as a fan of Gopher hoops, that's great to see, but it's also just great to see Austin give the fans a much better lasting impression of his career than we likely would have had if his struggles during much of the B1G season continued through the end of his career. Really solid player and by all accounts is a great kid too.

Mo Walker has to finish stronger at the rim. He was back to his bad habit of taking it up really soft underneath today as he should have had at least two and 1's and at least one other made bucket off nice looks from his teammates. He's improved a ton this year, but this team just isn't talented enough to leave points at the rim off the scoreboard.

Call me crazy, but I still think Malik helps this team tremendously in a BIG game before the season. Maybe it's a against Wisconsin or maybe it's in the dance, but sometime he's going to get hot again.

Wisconsin will be tough tomorrow, but sometimes there is an advantage to playing the day before especially early in the half. If the Gophers can have some success early, I like their chances to keep it competitive. I see tomorrow's game as no longer about getting in, but about avoiding the chance of being in the play in round. I could be wrong and am no Selection Sunday, but I like this Gopher teams resume better than a lot of the teams supposedly ahead of them. It would be great to beat Becky and then turn our attention to possibly (FINALLY) winning this Big Ten Tournament.
 


EG#9 said:
I missed the last ~5 minutes or so because I'd stretched the amount of time I could leave myself to get where I needed to be to the absolute max. I felt like I was leaving the game in as safe a situation as possible as Dre Mathieu had just scored to put the Gophers up 11. I found out the end result and was pretty shocked to read via the GopherHole twitter that not only did the Gophers choke away another lead, but Mav(!) was not only in the game, but taking a huge shot in crunch time? I was pretty interested to check out those last 5 minutes or so when I got home. My guess is that Coach Pitino took McNeil out after his HUGE block because he stayed in the backcourt and did the "slow walk/look at what I did" move instead of running the break. It's interesting that Coach Pitino went to Maverick and not Malik at that point, but I am not sure I can blame him. Disappointing to see how shaky 'Dre Hollins was down the stretch before hitting the three to ice it.
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I think McNeil came out because he got beat on a back door cut before the block...
 

EG#9 said:
I missed the last ~5 minutes or so because I'd stretched the amount of time I could leave myself to get where I needed to be to the absolute max. I felt like I was leaving the game in as safe a situation as possible as Dre Mathieu had just scored to put the Gophers up 11. I found out the end result and was pretty shocked to read via the GopherHole twitter that not only did the Gophers choke away another lead, but Mav(!) was not only in the game, but taking a huge shot in crunch time? I was pretty interested to check out those last 5 minutes or so when I got home. My guess is that Coach Pitino took McNeil out after his HUGE block because he stayed in the backcourt and did the "slow walk/look at what I did" move instead of running the break. It's interesting that Coach Pitino went to Maverick and not Malik at that point, but I am not sure I can blame him. Disappointing to see how shaky 'Dre Hollins was down the stretch before hitting the three to ice it.

I disagree with the post(s?) that stated the Gophers failed the eye test today. They had a very workmanlike type win going on to the point where Tirico/Dakich spent the majority of the game talking about anything but the action on the floor. The Gophers went to the all too familiar choke routine late, but lead the entire game and the vast majority of the game was played with a relatively safe lead. That's pretty solid stuff considering they are trying to beat the same for the 3rd time in a season and the 2nd time in just a few days. Penn State is not a great team, but they are not a pushover either.

For me, the Gophers should be in the tournament now. It's crazy to think that a team that had Joey King and Maverick Ahanmisi on the court in crunch time of a must win B1G game could end up with a real legit chance at the NCAA tournament. I can't say enough good things about DeAndre Mathieu. That kid is a gamer and brings the type of confidence, desire, and passion to the court that I hope we can see more of in future Gopher recruits. Their were too separate plays today where Mathieu hit the floor hard trying to get back on defense, picked himself up quickly and continued sprinting. The kid never gives up on a play and wants the ball in his hands down the stretch. Part of the reason this team struggles at the end of games is we don't have enough guys who want the ball and embrace that moment (Malik is another one, but he's in a major, major funk).

Austin Hollins was great again today. Obviously as a fan of Gopher hoops, that's great to see, but it's also just great to see Austin give the fans a much better lasting impression of his career than we likely would have had if his struggles during much of the B1G season continued through the end of his career. Really solid player and by all accounts is a great kid too.

Mo Walker has to finish stronger at the rim. He was back to his bad habit of taking it up really soft underneath today as he should have had at least two and 1's and at least one other made bucket off nice looks from his teammates. He's improved a ton this year, but this team just isn't talented enough to leave points at the rim off the scoreboard.

Call me crazy, but I still think Malik helps this team tremendously in a BIG game before the season. Maybe it's a against Wisconsin or maybe it's in the dance, but sometime he's going to get hot again.

Wisconsin will be tough tomorrow, but sometimes there is an advantage to playing the day before especially early in the half. If the Gophers can have some success early, I like their chances to keep it competitive. I see tomorrow's game as no longer about getting in, but about avoiding the chance of being in the play in round. I could be wrong and am no Selection Sunday, but I like this Gopher teams resume better than a lot of the teams supposedly ahead of them. It would be great to beat Becky and then turn our attention to possibly (FINALLY) winning this Big Ten Tournament.
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My thoughts exactly. I was not able to watch a majority of the game, but I did watch the recording when I got home. They certainly did pass the eye test until they started missing free throws late. Keep in mind they maintained and built on their lead without Dre in the game for much of the second half. They passed the eye test way more than OSU did yesterday.

Agree about Mo. He's clearly our better center right now, and an underappreciated key to the Gophers being able to compete in the conference schedule has been Mo's ability to get in people's way on defense. Without that, we don't have two serviceable centers. But he needs to finish stronger, and we cannot have any missed bunnies or three-point play opportunities against a top-15 team like the Badgers.
 

Positives: On a day where many teams looked in a funk against lesser competition we got a win. Austin is continuing to pay well. Mo was still one of the better B1G post up players. LIl Dre petrated and got us open 3's; should those be worth 1.3 assists. lol. We only had 9 turnovers. The HOllins' went 6-11 from downtown.
Negatives: EE is still struggling, Dre isn't turning it up yet, We gave up 15 offensive rebounds!
To beat Wisconsin we will need a better offesnive showing from Dre, concerted effort on the boards, and hopefully LIl Dre owns them with his penetration into the lane. I wouldn't double Wisconsin early as they just shoot it too well, unless Hayes is killing us. We have to be aggressive, at Madison we had 2 steals and 13 turnovers to their 7.
 

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