Game 4: Gophers Host Presbyterian (11-20-22)

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Ignatius L Hoops

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BLUE HOSE, TOMMIES AND GOPHERS

You can toss aside everything that you knew about the Presbyterian College Blue Hose. Okay, if you’re like me, that wasn’t much of a burden. Anyway, very little remains of last year’s roster. Of the thirteen players, eleven are newcomers: five freshmen and six transfers. However, we get two chances to increase our Presbyterian knowledge when they spin through the Twin Cities. It’s a whirlwind tour. PC plays at St. Thomas on Saturday night, launders up the uniforms, then make the trek to Minneapolis, to face Minnesota on Sunday afternoon with Floyd of Rosedale in attendance.

Even with two Minnesota connections, the familiar is probably unfamiliar. First off their head coach, Alaura Sharp, is a 2006 Southwest Minnesota State grad. Sharp was named head coach in April 2018 arriving in Clinton, South Carolina after stints as an assistant at Louisiana Tech and Southern Mississippi. The Kansas native played two years at Fort Scott CC before finishing her college career at Southwest Minnesota. Her bio is all that I know.

The second Minnesota connection is Farmington’s Paige Kindseth. The 5’9” sophomore guard is one of the team’s two returnees. Think of it as a Paige homecoming a year before THE PAIGE HOMECOMING.

Sharp and Kindseth are pretty much it for familiarity. As to history, the Blue Hose finished 8th last season in the 12 team Big South Conference with a 6-12 record (12-18 overall). That followed on the heels of a 5th place 10-8 record in 20-21. That’s the wrong direction for a coach on the rise. Hence, (where have we heard this before?) a roster remake. The Big South pre-season pollsters were only mildly impressed with the updated Blue Hose picking them for a 7th place league finish.

Presbyterian has played three games. The first was an 81-41 romp over Carolina University. The next two were games that before the season Alaura Sharp said she would look at as benchmarks: Furman and Western Carolina. Both games were home games and both games were scrambles to the finish.

Against Furman, Presbyterian rallied from a first quarter 7 point deficit taking a 33-25 half time lead. Even better, they entered the fourth quarter holding a 52-45 advantage before the visiting Paladins constructed an 18-3, end of the game, run delivering Furman a 67-60 victory. The finish was a bit closer than it appeared as the Blue Hose closed to 60-62 with :30 seconds remaining.

What we learned from the loss: 6’3” fifth year senior center, Bryanna Brady is an inside force. The Arizona native and the other returnee posted 19 points, 7 rebounds and 5 blocks. She is also foul prone. 5’6” freshman guard, Aubrie Kiescht is a three point threat. Kiescht was 4-11 from three finishing with 14 points. The other freshman starter at guard was 5’5” Swede Tilda Sjokvist who dished 7 assists and scored 11 points. One of the negatives (beside the defensive collapse that led to the loss) was that 5’7” starting guard Mara Neira had an off night. Much is expected from the Spanish sophomore who arrived from Eastern Wyoming. Neira scored 3 points had 5 turnover and went 1-9 from three. That’s the good and some bad.

The win over Western Carolina was similar but included a fun ending. I caught the last three quarters of it on ESPN+. The Blue Hose operating a four out offense and generally playing man defense, led 26-19 at the half. Yes, the shooting was atrocious. The Catamounts picked up the offense in the second half to lead by 10 with 2:40 remaining in the game. Then, an Aubrie Kiescht three cut the lead to two at the :37 second mark. That was Bryanna Brady’s cue. Brady scored on a put back and then delivered the game winning layup off a nifty pass from 5’10” junior guard Christina Kline with :07 seconds left. WCU’s quick guard Mya Love, who drove through the Blue Hose all night, failed to net a layup at the buzzer. An excited Presbyterian football team rushed the court.

What we learned from the win: Mara Neira was ready to play with 22 points and 3 assists. However, she did have 6 turnovers. Once again Bryanna Brady was hard to handle with 22 points and crunch time dominance. 5’7” freshman guard Ashley Carrillo came off the bench for 10 points in 22 minutes.

Yes, PC has a football team which plays in the Pioneer League along with St. Thomas. In their last meeting in Clinton, St. Thomas ruined PC’s homecoming 46-17. Presbyterian women’s basketball representing a school of about 1000 students, travels to the Twin Cities on a winning note and perhaps looking to avenge the football loss to the Tommies. Or maybe not.



Mara Neira First Three Games:

TeamPtsRebAsstMinFoul
Carolina Univ.2303211
Furman363272
W Carolina2283273


Bryanna Brady First Three Games:

TeamPtsRebAsstMinFoul
Carolina Univ.8140303
Furman1972343
W Carolina1340184


Probable Starters with This Year’s Stats:

HGTPOSYRPLAYERMINAVGREB
5’7”GSoMara Neira25.016.08.0
6’3”CGSBryanna Brady24.013.38.3
5’6”GFrAubrie Kiescht24.710.02.7
5’5”GFrTilda Sjokvist20.76.72.3
5’7”GJrLaila Grant19.72.02.3


Others With This Years Stats:

HGTPOSYRPLAYERMINAVGREB
5’7”GFrAshley Carillo21.78.74.0
6’0”GJrSonia Sato14.05.03.0
6’1”FJrNurie Cunill12.03.74.0
5’8”GJrChristina Kline19.03.03.7
5’9”GSoPaige Kindseth9.02.01.0
Click to expand...
 


I was not very excited before this game as Presbyterian is ranked ~300 RPI (end of last season so who knows now). But for now I expect every game to be a challenge and if not I will enjoy watching some of the bench players get more time.
 


Looking at Stats (not the whole story):

-Gradwell's shooting percentages are lower than typical for her when she was at Cleveland State.(4-29 total). She wasn't a superstar but she was solid.

-With Nia Holloway injured, this is a tough situation at small forward (see above). I wonder if that will stabilize.

-Cayton has missed every one of her 8 shots other than 2-4 on free throws. I don't think the Gophers can count on depth at shooting guard either, other than the Borowicz/Battle playing time at guard (generic).

-Things may be very different next season.

-Several Gophers players have good shooting percentages despite the poor shooting at NDSU.

-NDSU out-rebounded Minnesota. Lehigh was leading in rebounds in the first half before Gophers corrected that strongly in the second half. I am not in a position to understand the defense and will assume it continues to get better.

Obviously, if a top player is out on an injury, the team takes a swoon.

Anyway, Go Gophers! Do the best you can and have fun.

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gophersports.com

season report 22 23 (11-17-22) - University of Minnesota Athletics

season report 22 23 (11-17-22)
gophersports.com gophersports.com
 


Czinano appears to be crafty at generating foul points. She leads the team with 15 free throw attempts despite not starting and around 1/3 less playing time than starters. Battle is second on the team for free throw attempts with 11.
 

THE GOOD
-Four Gophers players have shooting percentages over.400: Braun at .467, Micheaux at .500, Heyer at .467, and Battle at .400. Borowicz is at .368 (was higher before the NDSU flop). Czinano at .333.

-Micheaux has 27 rebounds.

-Braun has 4 steals a game, and Borowicz has 3.33 a game.

-Gophers can light up other teams with scoring, especially Braun.

THE BAD
-Other teams have sliced into the Gophers defense.

-Team has not had enough time to sync as a passing, assisting team -- and maybe doesn't have the experience to do that yet.

-The transfer portal acquisitions this offseason are not helping much, YET, especially small forward and shooting guard depth.

THE UGLY
-Lost to NDSU that rarely has ever beaten a power-5 team.

-Defense was 3rd worst in Big Ten last year and projects to be worse than this year.

THE FUTURE
-Maybe the slumping players will get back to average. New recruits coming in next season. Next year everyone on the team has a full season of experience.
 

Bfan said:
THE GOOD
-Four Gophers players have shooting percentages over.400: Braun at .467, Micheaux at .500, Heyer at .467, and Battle at .400. Borowicz is at .368 (was higher before the NDSU flop). Czinano at .333.

-Micheaux has 27 rebounds.

-Braun has 4 steals a game, and Borowicz has 3.33 a game.

-Gophers can light up other teams with scoring, especially Braun.

THE BAD
-Other teams have sliced into the Gophers defense.

-Team has not had enough time to sync as a passing, assisting team -- and maybe doesn't have the experience to do that yet.

-The transfer portal acquisitions this offseason are not helping much, YET, especially small forward and shooting guard depth.

THE UGLY
-Lost to NDSU that rarely has ever beaten a power-5 team.

-Defense was 3rd worst in Big Ten last year and projects to be worse than this year.

THE FUTURE
-Maybe the slumping players will get back to average. New recruits coming in next season. Next year everyone on the team has a full season of experience.
Click to expand...

In case you missed that,all 3 of the Fab Four playing are shooting .400+.

Project that.
 

A two-ended barbell team.

Basically there are the freshmen and sophomores.

And then there are the transfer portal upperclassmen.

Two very different performance statistics so far this year.

It's not accurate to say "this team is________" or "the coaching staff is_______" because there are two very different groups at two very different levels.

This season simply has limitations until next year's recruits come in.

The Holloway injury was a major event because she could be getting reps for experience and instead the upperclassmen so far aren't helping much. And then when Braun had to sit out, little help from the upperclassmen.

They may yet improve.

I'm just saying so far this is what's showing up in the stats.

All 3 Fab Four and shooting .400+

I think the goal is to get to 2023-24 and this season is a development season.

Ignore wins-losses this season.

And so the Blue Hose should be a comfortable win for the Gophers, unless Braun or another freshman or sophomore are out in which case no.
 



At halftime, Presbyterian Blue Hoes are losing to St Thomas 18-29.

Presbyterian is only 24.1% on field goal shooting.

Neither team looks close to good to me by Power 5 standards. The Big Ten Gophers should easily beat Presbyterian.

The Gophers better hope Presbyterian's shooting doesn't get hot against the Gophers and risk an embarrassment.

1668908891498.png
 

Thank god Presbyterian isn’t located in Fargo ND. Maybe they can show they belong in the B10 conference tomorrow.
 

Gophers women's basketball gameday: Top scorer Mara Braun a question mark against Presbyterian​

Guard will have injured foot examined before Sunday's game as team pushes to improve ball movement.

By Kent Youngblood Star Tribune

NOVEMBER 19, 2022 — 4:42PM

1668910997731.png

GOPHERS WOMEN'S BASKETBALL GAMEDAY

Sunday, 2 p.m. vs. Presbyterian * Streamed: BTN+ Radio: 96.7-FM

Gophers update: The Gophers lost for the first time this season Thursday at North Dakota State in a game leading scorer, G Mara Braun, missed with an injured left foot.

Braun is scheduled to be re-examined before Sunday's game to see if she'll be able to play. Without her, the Gophers lost to a North Dakota State team that picked up just the third victory against a Power Five conference team in program history.

The Gophers have shot below 40% in each of the last two games. In a 101-99 victory over Lehigh last Sunday, they made up for it by crashing the offensive boards and scoring 25 second-chance points.

Braun is averaging 27.5 points in two games. G Katie Borowicz is second on the team in scoring (13.0). G Amaya Battle is third in scoring (12.7), second in rebounds (7.3) and first in assists (5.0). C Rose Micheaux is averaging 12.0 points and 9.0 rebounds.

The Gophers had just 11 assists in Thursday's loss, an indication of a lack of ball movement coach Lindsay Whalen said she would address.

Presbyterian update: The Blue Hose bring a 2-1 record to Minnesota for a weekend here in which they will play two games in two days. Presbyterian plays at St. Thomas on Saturday night, then comes back to play the Gophers on Sunday afternoon. Presbyterian coach Alaura Sharp is a former Farmington High School star. One of her players — sophomore guard Paige Kindseth — is also from Farmington. The Blue Hose are led by G Mara Neira (16.0 points per game), 6-3 C Bryanna Brady (13.3) and G Aubrie Kierscht (10.0).

Kent Youngblood has covered sports for the Star Tribune for more than 20 years.

www.startribune.com

Gophers women's basketball gameday: Top scorer Mara Braun a question mark against Presbyterian

Guard will have injured foot examined before Sunday's game as team pushes to improve ball movement.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com
 

St Thomas easily disposed of the Blue Hose 67-41. Presbyterian had no one in double figures. Brady scored nine but foul trouble limited her to 18 minutes. She should be reasonably rested for the Gopher game.
 



The Challenge: Low. I thought tonight Presbyterian looked significantly lower in ability than NDSU. I haven't seen any other Presbyterian games or video.

I can't imagine the Gophers having trouble beating Presbyterian, based on what I watched tonight, even without Mara Braun.

Risk: Sky-high. This would be an incredible stumble to actually lose to Presbyterian after they lost to St Thomas.

Very interesting no danger/high danger situation here.
 

Ragnar in a different thread:

Here is where this year's schedule ranks [for difficulty, lower is harder].
235Western Illinois
145Lehigh
204North Dakota State
310Presbyterian
81Liberty
155Virginia
86Wake Forest
35Kentucky
316Chicago St
191UW Milwaukee
198Eastern Illinois
Mean178
Median191

END QUOTE

Without Mara Braun, Gophers should easily beat Presbyterian. There should be no concern about sitting Braun for this game.

It's just an opportunity for the players to practice syncing together in typical starter/substitution roles since they are not yet cohesive defensively or offensively.

The benchmark target here is a 20+ point win without Braun, a 30+ point win with Braun.
 
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At the half:

Gradwell is a nice 3-6 field goal shooting and 1-4 on 3's. She also has a steal and 2 rebounds.

Micheaux, Oberg and Heyer each have 5+ rebounds. In this photo is a nice block out and rebound from Oberg. Good post work there.

Both Micheaux and Heyer have 10 points each, Micheaux 5-11 (.455) and Heyer 5-8 (.625). Good scoring from their post starters.

Gophers are out-rebounding Presbyterian 27-15.

6 steals for the Gophers, including 2 for Micheaux.

Minnesota has 11 assists at the half, equal to the total for the whole NDSU game.

Some mistakes losing the ball leading to 9 turnovers for the Gophers.

Gophers winning 39-24.


1668977164045.png
 
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Can't take much from a game againnst such inferior competition, but it was nice to see the posts get some action on offense, nice to see Maria Counts score her first collegiate points. Also, I continue to be impressed with the way Heyer runs the floor.
 

Gophers won 82-48.

Both Micheaux and Heyer had double-double nights. Micheaux scored 16 and made 11 rebounds. Heyer scored 19 and made 10 rebounds.

Gophers overwhelmed Presbyterian in the boards.

Maria Counts came in from the bench at the end and looked decent. She got smoked on a brilliant spin move by a Blue Hose player but was just an amazing move. Counts scored her first bucket. And then Alexa Ratzlaff came off the bench for a few minutes.

I thought Presbyterian played better tonight than last night against St Thomas.

Braun's 3-point shooting was off a bit tonight -- I assume from the recent injury.

Gophers made too many errant "passes" to the other team and cavalier shots that were erratic. Hopefully those decrease in numbers over the season.

It appears over several games now that they start with Gradwell, a wing, and then as the game progresses shift to Czinano, a guard, giving up 3-point shots (that have been misses) for Czinano's craftiness at gaining foul shots.




1668980681717.png
 




Good game for Gophers to get confidence and the bench to get significant playing time. Good teamwork and lots of personal accomplishments.
 

Listening to the post game interview on the drive home it sounded like Whalen (hoarseness combined with a cold) needs a Thanksgiving break more than do the players.
 



Sorry, I do appreciate the posts. I do. I just watched the highlights. Then I read a tweet we should start a chant. :)
30.png
Going to be tough to get chant participation. On the bright side twice as many fans behind the Gopher bench.
Pretty dang nice trap tho...just closer foot positioning by the defenders to prevent a step through
and a 3 on 2 on the other end would make it perfect. Likely not an issue today but...
All kids...also exactly where you do not want to receive the inbounds on offense...4 defenders...sideline, endline and two girls with excellent position....knees bent, arms high, no chance for a foul call. Off ball defender for me would be one f.t. lane spot up the floor and outside the paint to prevent that dribble drive step through and still able to intercept the pass back to the girl under the bucket.
 

60's Guy said:
Sorry, I do appreciate the posts. I do. I just watched the highlights. Then I read a tweet we should start a chant. :)
View attachment 21992
Going to be tough to get chant participation. On the bright side twice as many fans behind the Gopher bench.
Pretty dang nice trap tho...just closer foot positioning by the defenders to prevent a step through
and a 3 on 2 on the other end would make it perfect. Likely not an issue today but...
All kids...also exactly where you do not want to receive the inbounds on offense...4 defenders...sideline, endline and two girls with excellent position....knees bent, arms high, no chance for a foul call. Off ball defender for me would be one f.t. lane spot up the floor and outside the paint to prevent that dribble drive step through and still able to intercept the pass back to the girl under the bucket.
Click to expand...
Good catch on attention to the little details! What's fun is getting to watch a practice and see some coaches actually go over those small things (usually early in the season) to try and get their players in the habit of naturally doing those little things that most fans don't notice.
 

My thoughts:
A) Need more 3-point shooting, or teams will be able to sag into the paint on Rose. Not a great shooting team, which will hurt when defense tightens in the Big 10.
B) Defense is getting better but occasionally I see low IQ plays. Low IQ is hard to fix.
C) Czinano has come from nowhere to be a solid player, earning every minute and more. I think she has even more upside. Funny thing to say but I'd say the same for Mara. She has star power.
D) Really enjoying the season. The players are very likable, and driven. The team, and players' growth will be fun to see!
 

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