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EG#9

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I will be interested to hear from those that were there or able to watch online. Listening to the broadcast, it certainly seemed like the Gophers were in real trouble and played horribly. The end of game "and 1's" were a good sign and hopefully will be something to build on in future close games. Austin Hollins hitting all three free throws late was huge, but it sounds like he also made two horrendous fouls that could have allowed Bucknell a chance to win if the Gophers didn't keep scoring.

At one point in the second half, the Gophers were 3-19 from the field and were also missing free throws. That had to be one of the worst stretches of shooting a major college basketball team will exhibit this season. I was confused why guys like Maverick were in the game when it was so close midway through the second half.

As a fan I am relieved that they simply won the game, but I sure hope this team can improve significantly.
 

They have some major concerns shooting. No one can argue with that. In the end, they beat a solid tournament team and one of their toughest tests of the non conference games. They did with it with two brand new point guards after losing there leading scorer from last year. I'd call that a success.
 

Gold Vision said:
They have some major concerns shooting. No one can argue with that. In the end, they beat a solid tournament team and one of their toughest tests of the non conference games. They did with it with two brand new point guards after losing there leading scorer from last year. I'd call that a success.
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Mbakwe is still on the team?
 

zambam said:
Mbakwe is still on the team?
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I thought It was the Hoff. My bad. How about we lost out starting backcourt? That sounds better.
 

Gold Vision said:
I thought It was the Hoff. My bad. How about we lost out starting backcourt? That sounds better.
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Hoff might have led the team in scoring if not for the end of the season at point, I had thought Mbakwe led the team.
 


zambam said:
Hoff might have led the team in scoring if not for the end of the season at point, I had thought Mbakwe led the team.
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You were right. 13.9 to 13.6.
 

No video here. It sounded like the shooting was pretty bad. Still Bucknell is not exactly a bottom 100 team (in fact they may be a top 100 team), so I wouldn't panic just yet.
 

Gold Vision said:
They have some major concerns shooting. No one can argue with that. In the end, they beat a solid tournament team and one of their toughest tests of the non conference games. They did with it with two brand new point guards after losing there leading scorer from last year. I'd call that a success.
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Bucknell is a tournament team, but not a solid tournament team. They make the tournament because of the automatic bid in their weak conference, not an at-large selection. They were a 14 seed last year and finished #104 in Pomeroy's rankings. They would finish last in the B1G this year.
 

A few positives:

1. I was impressed with Austin Hollins. He's taken a nice step forward both offensively and defensively. He's definitely a guy who has improved year over year so far.
2. I like the pace that Andre Hollins plays with. Both he and Welch (though Hollins in particular) push the ball which we weren't able to do the last half of last year.
3. The student section was great for an early non-conference game like this. Solid turn out and a great number of barn animals represented.
4. We are 1-0. It would have been nice to blow them out but we finished strong and got the W.

A few negatives:

1. Shooting.
2. Shooting.
3. Shooting.
4. The refs taking the game over in the second half. My gosh, it's as if a new officiating crew came in at halftime and decided to call fouls on both teams every time down the court.

Go Gophers!!
 



Strib sub-heading says the Gophers played their best basketball of the season. IT'S THE FIRST GAME OF THE YEAR!
 

You had to be there to appreciate how good the Gopher defense was. Bucknell made perhaps 7 for 16 from the 3 point line but their # 12 hit a couple in the first half that were just other worldly, one about 25 feet and another while he was falling away to the side. They really played hard and Bucknell- though not in our class athletically- is a sound fundamental team and a good shooting squad.

We have shooting issues right now, no doubt. Time will tell if we are just a bad shooting club or we are just tight and shooting cold. Bucknell did what every team will do until we start shooting better. They sagged down on Mbakwe and Ralph and we took open shot after open shot and mostly missed. It was amazing how many we missed. Thing about it was, we weren't even making shots in the warmups. Clank, clank, clank.

Good showing by Welch. Austin Hollins actually made some shots, he and Ralph did the most outside. Andre Hollins was fine but still not getting much to fall. Mbakwe was Mbakwe.

I think this game goes down as a positive because they all played tough defense and the offense was okay- just need shots to fall. Any night they shoot decently from the outside, they will be tough to beat.
 

Bleed, Spencer was very critical of the crowd on the radio broadcast. He said they were not in to the game until the Gophers made a great play and said he viewed this as a problem the last few years. I thought it was a strange comment to make as the Gophers were literally giving the crowd nothing to make noise about. The students section did eventually come across on the radio, but not until the Gophers trailed by 5 and were in the danger zone of losing the game.

I am not sure if Spencer's criticism of the crowd was valid, but he was not afraid to be critcal of the Gophers/Tubby which was a breath of fresh air. Maybe because he's further removed from being a player, but he was very tough on the Gophers for over-rotatating on D which allowed open shots and for their own shooting performance. When Trevor was grabbing clutch rebounds late, he remarked that he wondered where Ralph/Rodney were on some of those board opportunities. Obviously, I can't speak to the validity of his criticisms, but it seemed like a huge step up from where Spencer was as a color guy previously.
 

Bucknell is a good team. They made the tourney last year and have 4/5 starters returning. I know the Gophers should handle a team like that fairly easily, but it is not like they are a bad team.
 



EG#9 said:
Bleed, Spencer was very critical of the crowd on the radio broadcast. He said they were not in to the game until the Gophers made a great play and said he viewed this as a problem the last few years. I thought it was a strange comment to make as the Gophers were literally giving the crowd nothing to make noise about. The students section did eventually come across on the radio, but not until the Gophers trailed by 5 and were in the danger zone of losing the game.

I am not sure if Spencer's criticism of the crowd was valid, but he was not afraid to be critcal of the Gophers/Tubby which was a breath of fresh air. Maybe because he's further removed from being a player, but he was very tough on the Gophers for over-rotatating on D which allowed open shots and for their own shooting performance. When Trevor was grabbing clutch rebounds late, he remarked that he wondered where Ralph/Rodney were on some of those board opportunities. Obviously, I can't speak to the validity of his criticisms, but it seemed like a huge step up from where Spencer was as a color guy previously.
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Yea there really wasn't much to cheer about after the first two minutes (nice ovation at a timeout after we went up 7-0) and then again the last five minutes. In between it was relatively quiet as the game was pretty much back-and-forth with little scoring, but the students turned out in large numbers for a game like this and were creative in their wardrobe.

Well, I'm glad Ralph wasn't as aggressive down the stretch on the boards. I couldn't believe how many fouls they refs were calling and Ralph had to play with 4 fouls and we needed him in there until the game was put away. Specner should have realized that...all of the bigs had to ease back a bit with the way the second half was officiated.

Go Gophers!!
 

Art Vandelay said:
Bucknell is a tournament team, but not a solid tournament team. They make the tournament because of the automatic bid in their weak conference, not an at-large selection. They were a 14 seed last year and finished #104 in Pomeroy's rankings. They would finish last in the B1G this year.
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Bucknell >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Penn St
Bucknell >= Nebraska

Bucknell is good enough to beat any non-top 25 team on any given night.
 

Even with ugly shooting, we have to be pleased with a win. The sign of a good team is being able to win when you are not playing your best. Look at Duke tonight--77-76 over Belmont at home. While this team certainly has issues on offense right now, to beat a good team by finishing well is a very good sign. Last year's team would have found a way to fold up down the stretch and collapse. While we have a long ways to go offensively, if we keep playing the kind of D we played tonight, and if we see some steady improvement out of our new backcourt, we will have a chance to win on any given night and contend for a top five finish in the B1G. I was actually encouraged by a great deal of what occurred tonight. Go Gophs!
 

My thoughts:

-We can't shoot.
-Austin Hollins had a rough start but really played well down the stretch. The two fouls called on him late were absurd. The officiating in the second half was really bad.
-Trevor is the best big man we've had in a LOOOONG time. I just wish Tubby had some (any?) sets to get him the ball. And yes, I know they were collapsing on him, but we made it easy with our stagnant offensive movement.
-Really liked the pace that Andre Hollins played with, but right now Julian Welch is a better player. Really played well defensively, seems to be very even-keeled.

All in all, we didn't play well but it also wasn't an awful performance. Bucknell is solid, and I'm very surprised we scheduled them to open the season.
 


Another year and tubby's substitution patterns are still maddening. But I do think we will have a solid team after tonight.

Two best players both in foul trouble.
Couldnt shoot a lick.
Starting brand new backcourt.


But we finished the game. Which was the biggest problem last year.
 

My observations.

1. Even though Bucknell had 7 3's, D was good. Really tightened the screws after Bucknell went up 5.
2. Got tested and didn't wilt. With all our new guys I thought we might fold. Finally started making some FT's.
3. I didn't see the fine shooting team that Tubby's been talking about. We missed a lot of open looks. 1st game. ... I'm not going to sweat it.
4. I like Welch. Our best 5 (as a group) clearly was Austin Hollins, Welch, Williams, Sampson & Mbakwe. Welch has some game, moxie. He'll be solid. Picked a couple guys clean for steals.
5. Survive and advance. Unlike most teams, we didn't open the season with a cupcake. Got tested but played our best basketball after going down 5. As others mentioned we finished strong.
6. Still can't stand the 5-for-5 subbing, though I think Tubby only did it once.
7. UCLA lost at home tonight to Loyola Marymount, 69-58. Sh*t happens. One game, win or lose, doesn't make a season.
8. A lot of work ahead of us, for sure. It's a long way to the B1G opener.
 

Tubby's lip service about how this team would be a good shooting team was incredibly puzzling, especially when Joe Coleman was one of the handful of guys he was praising. Hoping the Hollins prove to be legitimate shooters. Because there isn't much to like from deep outside of them (and Oto, who will see limited minutes, it appears).
 

bga1 said:
You had to be there to appreciate how good the Gopher defense was. Bucknell made perhaps 7 for 16 from the 3 point line but their # 12 hit a couple in the first half that were just other worldly, one about 25 feet and another while he was falling away to the side. They really played hard and Bucknell- though not in our class athletically- is a sound fundamental team and a good shooting squad.

We have shooting issues right now, no doubt. Time will tell if we are just a bad shooting club or we are just tight and shooting cold. Bucknell did what every team will do until we start shooting better. They sagged down on Mbakwe and Ralph and we took open shot after open shot and mostly missed. It was amazing how many we missed. Thing about it was, we weren't even making shots in the warmups. Clank, clank, clank.

Good showing by Welch. Austin Hollins actually made some shots, he and Ralph did the most outside. Andre Hollins was fine but still not getting much to fall. Mbakwe was Mbakwe.

I think this game goes down as a positive because they all played tough defense and the offense was okay- just need shots to fall. Any night they shoot decently from the outside, they will be tough to beat.
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I was having Talor Battle flashbacks
 


Hey we beat 'em 22-5 down the stretch. Trust me, THAT is the real Gophers.
 

Some people may be negative on this game, but I saw a lot of reasons for hope. First, our D was pretty shut-down most of the game. 12, who's one of the best shooters in the nation, was hitting some ridiculous fadeaway and beyond NBA range threes. We'll give him those shots, and if he can make them, that's fine. Otherwise, we limited them quite a bit. If the refs wouldn't have been quick with the whistle, they would have had no offense in the second half (beyond one quick three pointer run, when we had a little trouble rotating). Welch isn't the quickest guy, but he's got good hands and plays physical D. Andre IS the quickest guy, but has trouble with screens and etc. Our D was good though.

Our rebounding left a bit to be desired, actually. We should have killed Bucknell on the boards, but they were managing to get long rebounds and tips. I thought Rodney did a good job on the boards, but I haven't seen the stats.

And our offense is a work in progress. But if we would have made our layups and a respectable amount of our early free throws, this game looks a lot different. We were getting to the hoop and getting open looks from 3 and midrange, we just couldn't hit them. With some of the players on the team, that concerns me more than others. And at least Austin hit a few. We need him to gain confidence.

All in all, we played a tourney team who fits every one of our weaknesses from last year, and we showed that we've come a long way from last year. We limited the threes, we came from behind to win, and we showed hustle all game. I'll take it for an opener, especially for how many young guys were playing big minutes.
 

sunnyday2 said:
Hey we beat 'em 22-5 down the stretch. Trust me, THAT is the real Gophers.
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this. under pressure highly skilled people generally perform better and underskilled perform worse.

how did the ball handling look at the end?
 

Feeling Better....

SelectionSunday said:
My observations.

1. Even though Bucknell had 7 3's, D was good. Really tightened the screws after Bucknell went up 5.
2. Got tested and didn't wilt. With all our new guys I thought we might fold. Finally started making some FT's.
3. I didn't see the fine shooting team that Tubby's been talking about. We missed a lot of open looks. 1st game. ... I'm not going to sweat it.
4. I like Welch. Our best 5 (as a group) clearly was Austin Hollins, Welch, Williams, Sampson & Mbakwe. Welch has some game, moxie. He'll be solid. Picked a couple guys clean for steals.
5. Survive and advance. Unlike most teams, we didn't open the season with a cupcake. Got tested but played our best basketball after going down 5. As others mentioned we finished strong.
6. Still can't stand the 5-for-5 subbing, though I think Tubby only did it once.
7. UCLA lost at home tonight to Loyola Marymount, 69-58. Sh*t happens. One game, win or lose, doesn't make a season.
8. A lot of work ahead of us, for sure. It's a long way to the B1G opener.
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Thanks SS....I respect your opinions immensely. Not being there, it's good to read a relatively positive review. Especially nice to hear that Welch looks solid. Maybe a Kevin Clark-type juco pickup rather than a Kerwin Fleming?
 

Just listening to radio, I had a similar sentiment like EG#9. Though we have to wait and see how effective we really are defensively against a better team with a more versatile offensive game, it is good to know that our perimeter defenders did alright.

Preferably, Austin can use another year working on his game. But, we don’t have that luxury this season. He needs to come along for us right now. It is gonna be all mental for him. If he can stay mentally tough gaining confidence, he will be alright.
 

Facts34 said:
Tubby's lip service about how this team would be a good shooting team was incredibly puzzling, especially when Joe Coleman was one of the handful of guys he was praising. Hoping the Hollins prove to be legitimate shooters. Because there isn't much to like from deep outside of them (and Oto, who will see limited minutes, it appears).
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Coaches traditionally have encouraging words on newcomers and underclassmen while they reserve harsher words for upperclassmen. Our perimeter players are mostly newcomers and underclassmen. That may be one reason for Tubby’s gushing on shooting. Also, Tubby needs to keep the fans’ interest level up for various reasons. It is a preseason sales pitch in some way.

However, I would not entirely discount Tubby’s confidence in our shooting based on a few early games. Everything suggests that Andre and Austin have decent capabilities to knock it down from the distance. Austin is mechanically fine with good shot selection. Andre, from a couple of clips I saw, seems to be a decent shooter. But, this is his first year with us. It is not going to be easy and breezy for him.

Julian is supposed to be a solid long range shooter. My guess is that he is still working on “fitting in.” Julian will get the green light from Tubby sooner or later if he continues to do well what he is asked to do. So, I would not give up on him, either.

BTW, Kudos to everyone for the reporting.
 

jmag21 said:
All in all, we played a tourney team who fits every one of our weaknesses from last year, and we showed that we've come a long way from last year. We limited the threes, we came from behind to win, and we showed hustle all game. I'll take it for an opener, especially for how many young guys were playing big minutes.
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Thanks to you and SS for your analysis. Frustrating to listen to for quite a bit of it, but obviously some positives and some things to build on. If we can stay injury and drama free, I think Tubby can still coach and like our chances as the season progresses.
 

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