GAME #21: Gophers (15-5, 4-3) @ Nebraska (9-9, 1-5) [BTN, 1/26, 5:00PM]

Donate To GopherHole
GophersInIowa said:
So if Nebraska had only made 25% of their 3-pointers, our defense would have been a lot better? My point is they just shot the lights out. Some were open shots but some were very tough contested shots.
Click to expand...

Yes, but other than Smith we played terrible on the offensive end.
 

When we lose we always give up a big shot before he half! From 2 pts to 5! And missing 3 straight one and ones!
 

Face it we missed Dre on the defensive end today and he's an average defender, but he's better than Malik and Mav and also not having him gave us only one ball handler, which contributed to more turnovers and more points for Nebraska, not a shocking loss, since this game was a pick'em and our best player was out, but it still stinks. On to Northwestern, hopefully Dre is back for Purdue
 

EG#9 said:
I am not surprised that the Gophers lost in Lincoln, but it's still bitterly disappointing. I thought all the missed bunnies underneath were at least as important as missing the front end of so many one and ones. The Gophers should have had at least 10 more points in the first half than they did if they just executed at an adequate rate. Nebraska made a number of shots they normally don't make, but the bottom line is the Gopher defense wasn't good enough. I thought the half court offense was almost as bad as the Gophers defense, but who is going to score with this group? Nebraska made a concerted effort to take away Mathieu, and only Malik Smith really stepped up.

Eliason and Ahanmisi both played really poorly, especially on the offensive end of the court in the first half. Eliason missed a bunch of opportunities at the rim and took at least one bad shot, while Ahanmisi took two bad shots and was very shaky with everything he did. Mathieu had a very rough game, but the Gophers players/coaches didn't do him any favors by giving him options when the double teams came. Austin Hollins continues to frustrate with at least one completely unacceptable turnover for a Senior leader seemingly every game. Joey King needs to realize he's not in the Missouri Valley and to PASS the ball out of the post instead of being a black hole. About the only positive other than Malik tonight was Mo Walker continuing to be fairly effective on the post.

Overall, this was the type of effort I was afraid we were going to see a lot of this year when looking at the returning roster: not enough talent, size, or athleticism to compete at a high level. With Dre Hollins out we are down to ~6 high major college players and only lil Dre can consistently get his own shot. It was certainly eye opening to see Nebraska appear to be the more athletic team.

The key to the game in my opinion was Petteway's step back 3 as the shot clock wound down that pushed a 6 point Nebraska lead to 9. I'd love to see how this game turns out if he misses that shot. This wasn't a killer loss for the Gophers, but they had a chance to really put some distance between themselves and the bubble and they failed to do so while putting forth a really poor effort. I have a lot of confidence in this team to bounce back, but this one certainly was reminiscent of debacles of years past.
Click to expand...

+1
 

Rough game. 9 missed FT, 3 front-ends = 12 missed free throws. Good thing they don't matter. And Nebraska may not have a better shooting night all year. Just a bad convergence of things. I think we beat Nebraska 2/3 times in Lincoln, but this wasn't one of them.
 


Looking up the game logs on Pettaway, he's no slouch when it comes to scoring against some good teams. 30 against UMass, 21 against Creighton, 22 against Cincinnati, 20 against Iowa. Has only missed double figures once this year.
 

You gotta give credit to Tim Miles for his gameplan against Mathieu. They were hedging hard on every ball-screen and it was frustrating him. That's when being a small PG can hurt. It's harder to make a quick pass out of a double team.
 

I was disappointed at the loss last night and at first I thought that we'd get them back when we played here only to discover that, well, we aren't going to get them at home.

We've got 10 games left. Will we finish with a conference record of .500? Do we need to finish with a conference record of .500 to make the NCAA?
 

The stat that stood out is Mathieu's 9 turnovers and 0 steals. Let's hope this is the only game that happens.
 



Blizzard said:
I was disappointed at the loss last night and at first I thought that we'd get them back when we played here only to discover that, well, we aren't going to get them at home.

We've got 10 games left. Will we finish with a conference record of .500? Do we need to finish with a conference record of .500 to make the NCAA?
Click to expand...

..............and will the absence of Andre H cause us to not reach the 'magical number' of nine wins?
 

howeda7 said:
Rough game. 9 missed FT, 3 front-ends = 12 missed free throws. Good thing they don't matter. And Nebraska may not have a better shooting night all year. Just a bad convergence of things. I think we beat Nebraska 2/3 times in Lincoln, but this wasn't one of them.
Click to expand...

4 front ends, 3 in the first and one in the second plus two times we missed both free throws on shooting fouls.
 

Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
The stat that stood out is Mathieu's 9 turnovers and 0 steals. Let's hope this is the only game that happens.
Click to expand...

Tonight our beloved Coach P got his hat handed to him. He was out coached by Miles. We played a little flustered all night and kept making mistakes and missing free throws.
 

Reusse column: Must we declare result in Nebraska a 'signature loss?'

It is even more ridiculous to start declaring wins to be signature in college basketball, where the regular-season schedule runs 30 games, followed by a conference tournament, and unless you're a collection of complete stiffs, one postseason tournament or another.

So, you're going to take a random game as a 1-point underdog against a rival on a two-game losing streak and declare it to be the complete validation of Pitino's program before the halfway point of his first conference schedule?

That's what you're doing with the "signature win'' bluster, you know.

My question to Saturday partner Judd Zulgad was this: "If beating Wisconsin on Wednesday in Williams Arena is a 'signature win,' would a defeat at Nebraska on Sunday become a 'signature loss?' ''

http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/PJR_Must_we_declare_result_in_Nebraska_a_signature_loss012614

Go Gophers!!
 



i think nebraska is a up and coming team that Miles has feeling like they can win every game..especially at home. This was going to be a tough game regardless, especially when we come in missing one of our best players. I give credit to the team in the way they fought back at the end and didnt just fold. Yes, they dug their own hole that they had to try digging out of but at the same time they could have rolled over and just accepted defeat instead of fighting back. I will take this loss for a program that is missing their best player and not playing at home. Should we have won, yes but many were picking MN to lose as well so with a -1 spread it was a toss up. Like the players, i guess that game is done now and its time to focus on Northwestern. I think this should be atleast a 10 pt win at home....i hope!
 

If we had Dre I would have called it a signature loss. Going in I thought it was a toss up without him.
 

tough game against an improving team who plays very well at home.

If Petteway turns an ankle last game and is out and this game is at the barn, what do you think the outcome is? It is easier to look like the better coach when your team is at home and playing inspired basketball. Let's remember last years team, with all it's potential, won one road game in the big ten it's first against Illinois blowing them out when Illinois didn't show up.

Cannot miss so many one and ones, have to get better games out of EE and lil Dre.

We have an advantage at center and with Dre's quickness at pg. Miles schemed a way to bother the pg and EE did him the favor of not playing well.

5 of there best 7 players are shooting over 35% from 3. Basically have a pg, 3 wings, and one post player. The plan should be to go to EE and MO and get Pitchford in foul trouble. EE was just bad today.

GopherinPhilly said:
Tonight our beloved Coach P got his hat handed to him. He was out coached by Miles. We played a little flustered all night and kept making mistakes and missing free throws.
Click to expand...
 

As mediocre as our conference record has been for the last 15 years, I don't know that any loss on the road can be viewed as a "signature loss".
 

MadtownGopher said:
If we had Dre I would have called it a signature loss. Going in I thought it was a toss up without him.
Click to expand...

I'm going to pistol whip the next person who says Signature and doesn't have a contract to make Millions running a baseball team somewhere warm for the rest of my life.

Miles had a better game plan than Richie.... Whomever said he got out-coached was spot on. Sure we were undermanned, but that didn't matter when we beat the Badgers and OSU, those wins were on Pitino just as much as this loss was.

Reusse is absolutely ok to write an article like that, however, I will say, that is totally a MPLS type thing to do and is exactly why people complain about the negative slant on the Gophers. That shouldn't be the first words out of his mouth, he can say it, but if he was supporting the program it wouldn't be the first thing he said. (I'm not 100% sure he didn't have other things to say first, this is my assumption).

Tough loss, its a process.
 

Next up Northwestern at home. They play us after going to Kohl center on Wednesday so just 2 days to prepare. Northwestern is a bit like Nebraska, but less athletic and they don't have as many shooters.. Led by wings, Crawford, Cobb, and Demps. Only one good post player in Olah. Shooting 29% from 3 as a team, 39% FG, they also only average 4 stls and 4 blcks per game. No more 1-3-1 defense. If we don't win this one I will start to get worried.
 

I just wish Nebraska was comming back to the barn with a healthy Dre, so when our role players play out of their mind at home the Nebraska faithful can say how Miles got outcoached by the younger Pitino. You guys are funny.
 

march madness said:
I just wish Nebraska was comming back to the barn with a healthy Dre, so when our role players play out of their mind at home the Nebraska faithful can say how Miles got outcoached by the younger Pitino. You guys are funny.
Click to expand...

Miles' decision to double Little Dre off the pick and roll was a good call, but I agree other than that I don't see how he outcoached Pitino. And Richard adjusted by calling different plays on offense to get Dre free a few times in the 2nd half. Nebraska was making everything last night and Minnesota missed a bunch of free throws. Player execution was the main reason we got beat.
 

march madness said:
I just wish Nebraska was comming back to the barn with a healthy Dre, so when our role players play out of their mind at home the Nebraska faithful can say how Miles got outcoached by the younger Pitino. You guys are funny.
Click to expand...

You have to be a downright zealot to think that Miles didn't have a better game plan. He took our #1 option completely out of the game with the high ball screen doubles and we had 0 answers for it. And to say that their role players played out of their minds and that's the reason NE beat us is ridiculous considering we had one of the best shooting nights in club history from our normal 6th man. The role players knocked down WIDE OPEN SHOTS, that's a superior game plan. End of story.

I'm not saying Miles is a better coach, he might have been yesterday, but I've got faith in the kid as he has a great track record so far of being a step ahead of some of the best coaches in basketball.

It'll be interesting to see how he handles NW defense on Wednesday, and it will be really interesting to see what NW brings in terms of a defensive gameplan seeing as Miles showed one way to slow Deandre down.
 

BleedGopher said:
Reusse column: Must we declare result in Nebraska a 'signature loss?'

It is even more ridiculous to start declaring wins to be signature in college basketball, where the regular-season schedule runs 30 games, followed by a conference tournament, and unless you're a collection of complete stiffs, one postseason tournament or another.

So, you're going to take a random game as a 1-point underdog against a rival on a two-game losing streak and declare it to be the complete validation of Pitino's program before the halfway point of his first conference schedule?

That's what you're doing with the "signature win'' bluster, you know.

My question to Saturday partner Judd Zulgad was this: "If beating Wisconsin on Wednesday in Williams Arena is a 'signature win,' would a defeat at Nebraska on Sunday become a 'signature loss?' ''

http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/PJR_Must_we_declare_result_in_Nebraska_a_signature_loss012614

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...
Not to denegrate Fat Pat's opinion , but Michigan , the B1G Ten leader , won by one point in Lincoln vs five points in East Lansing.
 

EG#9 said:
I am not surprised that the Gophers lost in Lincoln, but it's still bitterly disappointing. I thought all the missed bunnies underneath were at least as important as missing the front end of so many one and ones. The Gophers should have had at least 10 more points in the first half than they did if they just executed at an adequate rate. Nebraska made a number of shots they normally don't make, but the bottom line is the Gopher defense wasn't good enough. I thought the half court offense was almost as bad as the Gophers defense, but who is going to score with this group? Nebraska made a concerted effort to take away Mathieu, and only Malik Smith really stepped up.

Eliason and Ahanmisi both played really poorly, especially on the offensive end of the court in the first half. Eliason missed a bunch of opportunities at the rim and took at least one bad shot, while Ahanmisi took two bad shots and was very shaky with everything he did. Mathieu had a very rough game, but the Gophers players/coaches didn't do him any favors by giving him options when the double teams came. Austin Hollins continues to frustrate with at least one completely unacceptable turnover for a Senior leader seemingly every game. Joey King needs to realize he's not in the Missouri Valley and to PASS the ball out of the post instead of being a black hole. About the only positive other than Malik tonight was Mo Walker continuing to be fairly effective on the post.

Overall, this was the type of effort I was afraid we were going to see a lot of this year when looking at the returning roster: not enough talent, size, or athleticism to compete at a high level. With Dre Hollins out we are down to ~6 high major college players and only lil Dre can consistently get his own shot. It was certainly eye opening to see Nebraska appear to be the more athletic team.

The key to the game in my opinion was Petteway's step back 3 as the shot clock wound down that pushed a 6 point Nebraska lead to 9. I'd love to see how this game turns out if he misses that shot. This wasn't a killer loss for the Gophers, but they had a chance to really put some distance between themselves and the bubble and they failed to do so while putting forth a really poor effort. I have a lot of confidence in this team to bounce back, but this one certainly was reminiscent of debacles of years past.
Click to expand...

Calm down drama queen. It's only one game.
 

I love when people say "so and so is not a high D1 player." I've heard posters say that about every single one of our players at some point other than Dre. Nothing is more ignorant than a nobody message board poster claiming a kid is not a "high D1 player." Those posts are among the worst on this board and that is saying something.
 

We need a 9-9 BIG record to make the dance.

>50% chance:
Northwestern
Illinois
Penn State

50/50:
Indiana
@Northwestern

<50%

@Purdue
@Wisconsin
@Ohio State
Iowa
@Michigan
 

Maybe the Gophers tried this and I missed it, but I wanted to see them switch to man to man on defense and let Austin Hollins try to slow down Petteway. He kept getting open looks even after it was obvious he was on fire.
 

jaymil said:
Miles' decision to double Little Dre off the pick and roll was a good call, but I agree other than that I don't see how he outcoached Pitino. And Richard adjusted by calling different plays on offense to get Dre free a few times in the 2nd half. Nebraska was making everything last night and Minnesota missed a bunch of free throws. Player execution was the main reason we got beat.
Click to expand...

This speaks for me. People should have noticed that Rich countered what Nebraska was doing and that it wasn't the difference in the game. If there's a coaching deficit in here anywhere, it's the staff's inability to keep the troops hungry. It may be time to challenge their manhood the way Clem always used to.
 


As far as the free throws, I'm not sure what the numbers are on Nebraska on the front end of the one and ones, but the Gophers hit their free throws at a higher clip than the Huskers (albeit very small). Minn, 16-25, Neb, 21-33. Nebraska could be saying the same thing, "if we had shot our free throws better it wouldn't have been this close." Someone goes off for 35 (and still sat a bit because of foul trouble), I bet the percentages are extremely high you're going to lose.

That double team on Mathieu did cause problems, but some of those turnovers weren't because of that. Captain Obvious here, but the Gophers need him on the court. They'll get back on track against Northwestern at the Barn. Pretty exciting season.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom