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

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PeanutButterGopherTime said:
Stat of the game: Dre Mathieu with 9 turnovers. What an absolute abomination of a game from a player everyone was calling one of the best PG's in the conference.
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With Hollins out, they don't have another competent ball handler. He had a rough first 5 minutes, but played pretty well the rest of the way. Wouldn't call it "an absolute abomination".
 

Too many things went wrong for the Gophers today to ultimately come out with the win. Nebraska seemed to shoot the ball much better than they have all year especially from 3. Free-throw shooting was bad and missing the front end of at least 3 bonus opportunities in the 1st half didn't help at all. EE was horrible all around today and I thought we maybe should have saw Mo on the floor a little earlier in the game. Mathieu was bad for most of the game and having to put in Mav who looked really bad when he was in instead of Andre really hurt. I wouldn't be surprised if McNeil takes more of those backup PG minutes with Andre out going forward. Smith really stepped up without Andre in there and seemed to take on more of a leadership role throughout the game as well. Good chance to bounce back from this one against Northwestern after a little time off.
 

Gold Vision said:
We lost because we played horrible defense. eFG through the roof for Nebraska.
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How are you supposed to defend against an entire (bad) team making almost every shot they took, defended fadeaway 3s and all? What can you really do differently?

The one thing I'd have done is play a 1-3-1 zone against Neb. Take away their wing shots, at least, and see if you can't create havoc with turnovers. Remember how badly Tubby's teams used to struggle against 1-3-1s? Couldn't even pass the ball against them. Certainly the token full court D was having no good effect.

Before the game BTN was in the Neb locker room and Miles said they were going to double-team Mathieu until he hurt them against it. Great plan by Miles, that along with the scorching shooting earned him a home B1G victory.
 

cncmin said:
How are you supposed to defend against an entire (bad) team making almost every shot they took, defended fadeaway 3s and all? What can you really do differently?

The one thing I'd have done is play a 1-3-1 zone against Neb. Take away their wing shots, at least, and see if you can't create havoc with turnovers. Remember how badly Tubby's teams used to struggle against 1-3-1s? Couldn't even pass the ball against them. Certainly the token full court D was having no good effect.

Before the game BTN was in the Neb locker room and Miles said they were going to double-team Mathieu until he hurt them against it. Great plan by Miles, that along with the scorching shooting earned him a home B1G victory.
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Expect more of the same now that it's on tape.
 


Rough game for dre.. miles great game plan in double of the high screen and roll with there bigs. That was the first time we seen that all year. Bad FT's shooting and terrible D. But I was not surprised by this loss its on the road against a decent team with one of your top players out. We need to go 500 with dre out.
 

All in all, the stats were almost identical between the two teams if you pull up the box score. Game probably came out the way it should have, especially with the way we played. Nebraska is a very good team at home.
 

Never, never, never get too High on a big WIN (vs Wisconsin), nor too Low on a tough loss (vs Nebraska). The kids are human, not PlayGame Robots.

Beat Northwestern, Gophers, Beat Northwestern!!!

GO GOPHERS!!!
 

bga1 said:
I wonder if Pitino will start Smith over Austin when Andre returns to light a fire under Austin.
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Malik Smith has Big Game Balls , ala Sam Cassell. Austin needs to find some.
 



cncmin said:
How are you supposed to defend against an entire (bad) team making almost every shot they took, defended fadeaway 3s and all? What can you really do differently? The one thing I'd have done is play a 1-3-1 zone against Neb. Take away their wing shots, at least, and see if you can't create havoc with turnovers. Remember how badly Tubby's teams used to struggle against 1-3-1s? Couldn't even pass the ball against them. Certainly the token full court D was having no good effect. Before the game BTN was in the Neb locker room and Miles said they were going to double-team Mathieu until he hurt them against it. Great plan by Miles, that along with the scorching shooting earned him a home B1G victory.
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They had wide open looks all night, very few were contested. Gophers are the worst defensive team in the conference in efficiency. Won't win road games like that.
 

cncmin said:
How are you supposed to defend against an entire (bad) team making almost every shot they took, defended fadeaway 3s and all? What can you really do differently?

The one thing I'd have done is play a 1-3-1 zone against Neb. Take away their wing shots, at least, and see if you can't create havoc with turnovers. Remember how badly Tubby's teams used to struggle against 1-3-1s? Couldn't even pass the ball against them. Certainly the token full court D was having no good effect.

Before the game BTN was in the Neb locker room and Miles said they were going to double-team Mathieu until he hurt them against it. Great plan by Miles, that along with the scorching shooting earned him a home B1G victory.
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This is a good takeaway from this game. I'm not sure where we put Mathieu on the 1-3-1 though as I'd likely want Austin Hollins at that point position.

Another thing I'm disappointed in, though it may not have changed the outcome, is the really inconsistent officiating taking place in the B1G. Most games, like today, have a ton of ticky tack calls and then blatant swallowing of the whistles in random spots. It's very frustrating to watch. However, if you caught the MSU v UM game last night, those folks let the kids go "old school" B1G out on the court. I just wish we could get some consistency from the officiating crews.

In the end, I chalk this game up to NE having a night where they shot above their average and we shot free throws below average. If those things don't happen...we win. But, congrats to Tim Miles a a good game plan. Here's to hoping we have a good week of practice.
 

tinyarch said:
This is a good takeaway from this game. I'm not sure where we put Mathieu on the 1-3-1 though as I'd likely want Austin Hollins at that point position. Another thing I'm disappointed in, though it may not have changed the outcome, is the really inconsistent officiating taking place in the B1G. Most games, like today, have a ton of ticky tack calls and then blatant swallowing of the whistles in random spots. It's very frustrating to watch. However, if you caught the MSU v UM game last night, those folks let the kids go "old school" B1G out on the court. I just wish we could get some consistency from the officiating crews. In the end, I chalk this game up to NE having a night where they shot above their average and we shot free throws below average. If those things don't happen...we win. But, congrats to Tim Miles a a good game plan. Here's to hoping we have a good week of practice.
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Well said, and agree completely on the fouls. I have NO clue what a foul is anymore. Dre drove about 6 times with no call. Then for another portion of the game every drive has a foul called on it. I just don't get it any more.

Just wish they'd be somewhat consistent.
 

Gold Vision said:
They had wide open looks all night, very few were contested. Gophers are the worst defensive team in the conference in efficiency. Won't win road games like that.
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Some nights I just love your optimism...
 



GophersInIowa said:
What did Miles do, tell his players to make more baskets? Nebraska will end up shooting 50% from 3 and still barely win.
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Yeah, I was really just mocking Miles' massive sweat stain. Maybe instead of tweeting at halftime, he should change shirts.

Miles is a likable guy and a good coach who has been given a lot to work with. It's only going to be tougher to win there in the coming years.
 

tinyarch said:
This is a good takeaway from this game. I'm not sure where we put Mathieu on the 1-3-1 though as I'd likely want Austin Hollins at that point position.

Another thing I'm disappointed in, though it may not have changed the outcome, is the really inconsistent officiating taking place in the B1G. Most games, like today, have a ton of ticky tack calls and then blatant swallowing of the whistles in random spots. It's very frustrating to watch. However, if you caught the MSU v UM game last night, those folks let the kids go "old school" B1G out on the court. I just wish we could get some consistency from the officiating crews.

In the end, I chalk this game up to NE having a night where they shot above their average and we shot free throws below average. If those things don't happen...we win. But, congrats to Tim Miles a a good game plan. Here's to hoping we have a good week of practice.
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Agreed completely on fouls being so inconsistent, you got calls like Mathieu's 2nd foul and then late in the game Mo got the ball down low and was slapped across both arms the first 2 times he went up and got no call and then he went up a 3rd time and it seemed like less contact but that was called. One of the most frustrating calls o me that has been very inconsistent is when refs decide to call fouls on guys hedging in the pick and roll game, sometimes it is called often and immediately and then there are times like today where it happens all the time early and it isn't called but later in the game it gets called.
 

Once Dre is back and healthy I will be extremely disappointed if Malik isn't starting over Austin. Malik is a player. I think he brings so much more to the table than just shooting. Austin hasn't played like a starter since the BIG season started so let him come off and let me play a more limited role.
 

This game was a prefect example of why my only hope for this season to sneak into the tournament.
 

topos said:
Once Dre is back and healthy I will be extremely disappointed if Malik isn't starting over Austin. Malik is a player. I think he brings so much more to the table than just shooting. Austin hasn't played like a starter since the BIG season started so let him come off and let me play a more limited role.
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Won't happen. Malik's minutes might increase and Austin's may decrease but Austin will continue to start.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
Yeah, I was really just mocking Miles' massive sweat stain. Maybe instead of tweeting at halftime, he should change shirts.

Miles is a likable guy and a good coach who has been given a lot to work with. It's only going to be tougher to win there in the coming years.
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Yeah, my bad. My reading comprehension isn't very good when I'm frustrated.

As for the defense discussion, I don't think it was good by any means, but if it weren't for the fouling late in the game, Nebraska would have scored in the low 70's which isn't too bad. They were just hot tonight.
 

Bad Gopher said:
Expect more of the same now that it's on tape.
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It'll be interesting to see how Pitino is going to counter it. Have a feeling he's going to be talking to his mentor about it this week.

Too bad to waste that game from Malik.
 

on the brightside, no school for us college kids!
 

On the not so brightside dre hollins looked terrible today walking around in the pregame shoot around.
 

Dr.Don said:
Never, never, never get too High on a big WIN (vs Wisconsin), nor too Low on a tough loss (vs Nebraska). The kids are human, not PlayGame Robots.

Beat Northwestern, Gophers, Beat Northwestern!!!

GO GOPHERS!!!
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Amen brother!

Remember where most projected this team to be this year and what reality is. If Malik and lil Dre are an example of the type of players he is going to get, the future is bright. Where are without these two?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

GophersInIowa said:
Yeah, my bad. My reading comprehension isn't very good when I'm frustrated.

As for the defense discussion, I don't think it was good by any means, but if it weren't for the fouling late in the game, Nebraska would have scored in the low 70's which isn't too bad. They were just hot tonight.
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They shot 61% eFG%. That's bad. Something around 1.24 Points Per Possession
 

scher215 said:
Not to go all GW on ya, but I'd say it all came down to letting one guy drop 35 points against us. Gotta play better D if you want to win. Also, turnovers were a huge problem. Both bigger than 9 missed free throws IMO.

They will bounce back though.
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Yeah, you have to go back 91 games. Michael Thompson of Northwestern did it to the Gophers during that 6 game skid to end the 2010-2011 season.

I think they'll bounce back also.
 

tinyarch said:
In the end, I chalk this game up to NE having a night where they shot above their average and we shot free throws below average. If those things don't happen...we win. But, congrats to Tim Miles a a good game plan. Here's to hoping we have a good week of practice.
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Of course, Nebraska's saying that if that Smith kid didn't hit 8 of 12 from range, it's a double digit win. Nebraska shot well, but the Gophs didn't do much to make them uncomfortable. Offensively, I don't know if I would say the Gophers were flat as much as I'd say they were tight. This team plays best when it lets it all hang out. Of all the Gophers, only Malik was letting it all hang out.
 

Mulligan said:
It'll be interesting to see how Pitino is going to counter it. Have a feeling he's going to be talking to his mentor about it this week.

Too bad to waste that game from Malik.
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The reason it was done and that it worked - at least for a while - is that that, without D Hollins, they don't have a secondary ball handler. Miles definitely game planned to go after our Achilles heel with Dre out. The Gophs sort of worked around the problem with creative screening tonight, but there's really no solution to the problem when your other guards are Austin "hands of stone" Hollins, Mav and Malik.
 

Let's see how good Pitino is the next time someone doubles lil Dre on a ball screen.
 

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.
 

Gold Vision said:
They shot 61% eFG%. That's bad. Something around 1.24 Points Per Possession
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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.
 

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