Game 10: Gophers Host Army (12/8/16

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Ignatius L Hoops

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Gophers Host Army West Point

It's a quick turnaround for both teams. Army flies in after playing Monday night and the Gophers, of course, return from Albuquerque.

In their 11th year under Dave Magarity Army is 7-1. Last season, the Black Knight were 29-3 (17-1 in the Patriot League). They won both the regular season (for the third consecutive year) and tournament championships. Army lost to Syracuse 73-56 in the first round of the NCAA.

The Minnesota connection: Army features the Morris twins (Daizjah and Destinee) from Lino Lakes (Centennial).

Wins: @LIU Brooklyn, 68-47; Yale, 59-55; Air Force, 75-47; @ Dartmouth, 68-60; Fairleigh Dickinson, 86-58; St. Francis Brooklyn, 85-40.

Loss: @ Albany 65-56


Probable Starters:

Madison Hovren: 5’11” F So. (19.5 points/Game) 9.4 rebound/game
Janae McNeal: 5’9” G Jr. (9.5 points) 4.5 assists/game
Jess Lewis: 5’9” G So
Lena Hicks: 6’4” F Jr
Daizjah Morris: 5’7” G Jr


Others:

Destinee Morris: 5'7" G Jr (7.6/points)

Three point shooting: Army, 35-112; opponents, 28-101

Points per game: Army, 71.1; opponents, 52.3
 


It sucks that it's on BTN when I pay for BTN+ that doesn't show BTN :mad:
 


ruppertflywheel said:
Yep...agree Shades. They get you coming and going.
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There were a number of sequences tonight where their shorter forwards walked around our center and forward to grab the rebound. I did see Marlene yell box out which of course none of the players did but at least she was trying to get them in position. These basic lapses are concerning because you do not have to be a superstar to rebound, just desire and hard work. It was scary when Bell went down but she came back in the game quickly.
 



37 offensive boards for a smaller Army team. That is ridiculous. Our ladies don't clear anyone out and just stand flat footed. South Carolina will kill us if they don't get it fixed.
 

I just hope Stollings starts two bigs. SC has Wilson and Coates as the front court
 

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools...o_pdf/2016-17/box_score/stats_20161209aaa.pdf

Minnesota started the game driving around a high-low post set for layups or fouls. Army eventually adjusted; but the Gophers continued taking the ball inside.

Injury note: Bell went down in the first half after she got sandwiched between two Army players. Kenisha limped off favoring her left knee and then went down the stairs. Bell returned to the court a few minutes later and reentered the game. She concentrated on warming up the left leg before the start of the second half. I assume it will be sore in the morning.

The starting guard trio combined for 53 of the 70 points. They're where the action is.

As noted above, Army out rebounded the Gophers 55-49 (Hovren had 17 rebounds for Army). Part of the problem was letting Army crash the boards and part was the Gophers just not securing the ball.

Odd Stat: Minnesota committed 20 fouls. Ten of those were from the trio of Tinjum, Starr and T Bello who each played 12 minutes.

Starters:

Hedstrom
Edwards
Bell
Wagner
Hubbard


Minutes Played:

35 Hubbard: 18 points
32 Bell: 18 points, 5 assists, 8 turnovers and 4 steals
30 Wagner: 20 points
29 Edwards: 9 points, 9 rebounds and 8 blocks (So close to a triple double)
18 Hedstrom: 9 rebounds
12 Tinjum
12 Starr
12 T Bello 7 rebounds
8 Brunson
4 Barnes (struggled)
3 Lamke
3 Key
1 K Bello
1 Kaposi
 



Iggy.....Barnes just doesn't " get it" . Other than her height, I really don't know what the staff saw in her.
 

ruppertflywheel said:
Iggy.....Barnes just doesn't " get it" . Other than her height, I really don't know what the staff saw in her.
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What they saw, I assume, was what happened in Karley's first Gopher appearance against Auburn (19 points on 9-12 shooting in 33 minutes). That marked her return from a Spring ACL injury. She had her defensive moments last season and even some important buckets; but never came close to that Auburn game. Her signature miss was the driving reverse layup.

I think Barnes "gets it" although she often struggles to get into the rhythm of the game. Offensively, Minnesota runs a number of plays for her; but then she doesn't finish.
 

Did anybody listen to the postgame on the radio? All Stollings really talked about is how good the defense was. It was like she was taking pride in defense, which is kinda unexpected from her. To me, defense and post players are necessary evils to Stollings. She'd rather do without either. :)

Hopefully, Stollings is done "experimenting" with the lineup and realizes that Edwards is the best post player. And when Fernstrom takes the court, she and Edwards can play together when they need to play big. I'm not sure which Big Ten teams have a prominent front court. Ohio St doesn't. I'd be comfortable going 4 guard against them. Maryland is mostly Jones, but they are a tallish team.
 

I have been thinking about that very same thing. When Fernstrom is eligible do Edwards and she play up front with the 3 guards and can Stollings coach that kind of lineup or better yet, will she?
 



Kudos to Army for the way they went after (and got) offensive rebounds; shame on the Gophers for the lack of effort in rebounding against an undersized Army team. I thought the Gophers played very good defense in the first half; some lapses in the second half. Edwards played very good interior defense. But even though she had 9 rebounds, she could have had 20 if she was quicker to the ball and in better rebounding position (not so far under the basket). The more I see of Hubbard, the more I really like her game. She's a good compliment to Wagner and Bell, she can score inside and out, she can defend, she can run the court, and she's a good passer. Seems like she was a very good "get" for Stollings. Still way too many turnovers for Bell. But as the BTN announcers noted, the pull-up jumper is a thing of beauty. What ever happened to Wagner's pull-up jumper? Seems like we don't see it much any more.
T. Bello and Brunson still playing like freshmen, but there's some potential there.
 

I'd like to see Stollings try (on occasion) a lineup which has Fernstrom and Edwards. Not sure how well it would work because Edwards can't create shots, but the Gophers should certainly be able to rebound better with those two in the lineup, and their interior defense could be very solid, but such a lineup would hurt perimeter defense and the team's ability to run the fast break. But I'd like to see such a lineup when the situation dictates. I keep hoping/waiting for another Shae Kelley, but it seems players like that are hard to find.
 

Another great thing about Edwards is not only is she willing to take a charge, she seems to love it. That's pretty rare in a player. I'm not sure if they keep track of charges drawn stat (they should), but I'm thinking Edwards has shattered the Gopher records in that category.
 

Ignatius L Hoops said:
What they saw, I assume, was what happened in Karley's first Gopher appearance against Auburn (19 points on 9-12 shooting in 33 minutes). That marked her return from a Spring ACL injury. She had her defensive moments last season and even some important buckets; but never came close to that Auburn game. Her signature miss was the driving reverse layup.

I think Barnes "gets it" although she often struggles to get into the rhythm of the game. Offensively, Minnesota runs a number of plays for her; but then she doesn't finish.
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I remember that first game, and really in the grand scheme of things, has really regressed since then. Last night in the brief minutes she played it was like a 9th grader seeing the floor for the first time.
 

Shades said:
Another great thing about Edwards is not only is she willing to take a charge, she seems to love it. That's pretty rare in a player. I'm not sure if they keep track of charges drawn stat (they should), but I'm thinking Edwards has shattered the Gopher records in that category.
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Dunno about that. I remember Jackie V talking a lot of charges.
 

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