Game 6: Gophers Host Syracuse (11-29-18)

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Free throws won the game. Outscored them by 18 on the line. Held Syracuse to 6 attempts!!
 

I like to read the comments of from the other side after a big win (it's an old thing from Brauer when he was doing the Glean on MinnPost). I went to syracuse.com (the local newspaper) for reaction.

A lot of complaining about the officiating. The T on Hillsman and the free throw discrepancy were the 2 biggest complaints.
 

thatjanelpick said:
She rarely plays and, from what we’ve seen, she’s much less skilled.
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Stollings played her 10s of minutes total all season, 1-2 at a time, end of game only if ahead 20 pts. Whalen seems willing to develop her skills level, playing her a full 4th quarter a couple games ago.

But she's a year or two behind Taiye, may never catch up. Her shot is gradually getting better (she made a 3 in warmups yesterday). She's foul prone like Taiye was last year. Just not as basketball mature.

Interestingly tho, her rebounds per minute played were identical to her sister last year, leading the team. Caveat, she played against opposing scrubs, plus statistical sample too small, technically speaking. But Kehinde could develop the capability to at least rebound at the caliber of Taiye.

Right now Kaposi is a more mature reliable player, with a rebounding rate about 2/3 of the Bello twins, so she gets the playing time.

It would be a nice trick tho to put in (an improved) Kehinde for Taiye when in foul trouble. Opponent works hard to get Taiye onto the bench, but then has to face her twin with similar (if not quite as good) rebounding skills. All Bellos all the time, so to speak. We'll see if Lindsay can develop Kehinde somewhat for next year.

I think I read that they are fraternal twins, not identical. Hard to tell them apart tho without their jersey numbers. Or, Taiye is a leftie, Kehinde a rightie. As per the Daily article, they've pushed each other and competed in sports all their lives. And Taiye is ahead in that competition by some delta, and will probably always lead.
 

http://dailyorange.com/2018/11/no-12-syracuse-falls-road-no-20-minnesota-72-68/

Some Quentin Hillsman quotes:

(“Minnesota) did a good job of getting close to the paint,” SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said postgame. “Playing the rim, they were the more physical team. We knew the game could’ve been won in the paint. …That’s one thing we got to get better at.”

...

Guard Kenisha Bell led the Golden Gophers with 24 points on 9 for 25 shooting while playing the entire game. Taiye Bello also never subbed out, pairing 20 points with 18 rebounds. Four of Minnesota’s starters played at least 38 minutes. Hillsman called Bello the “best” rebounder he’s faced.

“I know it don’t look like but we game planned for that,” Hillsman said. “…We were going to face box-out.”

...

“We knew coming that into this environment that if we didn’t get to the foul line and we didn’t control the rebounding, that we didn’t have a chance to win this game,” Hillsman said. “That’s pretty much what happened.”
 

https://theathletic.com/685265/2018...cuse-kenisha-bell-taiye-bello-lindsay-whalen/

The full Hillsman quote on Taiye:

Hillsman praised Bello when asked where she ranked of the top rebounders they’ve faced this season.

“The best,” he said. “By far. We didn’t look like it, but we game-planned for that and we said when the ball goes up on the rim we were going to face box-out. I told a player that was in her area, ‘If you get the rebound, you’re wrong because your nose should be on her nose anytime the ball gets on the glass and we didn’t do a very good job executing that, obviously.”

...

“Lindsay’s done a great job, and I give her a lot of credit for getting these kids to play hard,” Hillsman said. “They did a really good job of being physical in the paint, and they really handled us physically in the paint.”
 


Rebounds:

Syracuse 33
Lamke & Bello 31
 
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tripledouble said:
Gritty and gutty effort. Great win. Bello was terrific. She's a great rebounder and has a chance to be an all-conference type player. And she has not been in foul trouble this year. Last year, she would come into games and seemingly always collect fouls fast and furious. I'm too lazy to look at the box score now, but did Bello even get a rest? Bell will drive you crazy sometimes with her shot selection and wild shots, but she is very athletic and she can create shots. And 9 rebounds for her tonight. Lamke was solid on the boards. Pitts with some great assists in the first half. Brunson started strong offensively, but seemed to be less aggressive offensively as the game went on. I thought I saw Seimone Augustus at the game, but not sure. As the season moves along and the broadcasters look at key wins for each team at the end of the year, this will be one of those wins for the Gophers. Whalen off to a good start in her coaching career.
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Seimone Augustus was there. They showed her on tv. Great to see Lynx superstars supporting the team.
 

From what we saw last night, the Gophers are well on their way to being the "toughest" team on the court in every game they play. This was one of the objectives Whalen had going in to the season. And, for the most part, they've done it without fouling a lot. Not unexpected that the Gophers were the tougher team last night, as the Syracuse roster is loaded with international players and I've noticed that it often takes international players some time to adjust to the physicality of basketball in the US, ala the Big Ten. 50-33 edge on the boards for the Gophers was the difference in last night's game.
 




tripledouble said:
From what we saw last night, the Gophers are well on their way to being the "toughest" team on the court in every game they play. This was one of the objectives Whalen had going in to the season. And, for the most part, they've done it without fouling a lot. Not unexpected that the Gophers were the tougher team last night, as the Syracuse roster is loaded with international players and I've noticed that it often takes international players some time to adjust to the physicality of basketball in the US, ala the Big Ten. 50-33 edge on the boards for the Gophers was the difference in last night's game.
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Based on what we've seen so far this season, this team is hyper-aggressive on the boards, which I love! Even when they struggle from the field, which they have a few times so far this year, they're absolutely relentless pursuing rebounds, both offensively and defensively. Clearly that's been a point of emphasis or Whalen and coaching staff. As for Bello, she's got the knack for rebounds. Plays very aggressively but also reads the ball exceptionally well off the rim and gets to the right spot in order to grab it. Lamke is also a good rebounder and they compliment each other very well in the post.

Really like what I saw overall last night. Missed a ton of shots and still won because of outstanding rebounding and a very good defensive effort. Bell really took over late, but it was a total team effort last night. They're going to be a tough out for anybody, but if they can start shooting with a bit more efficiency, they could have a truly outstanding season.
 

MRJ said:
Based on what we've seen so far this season, this team is hyper-aggressive on the boards, which I love! Even when they struggle from the field, which they have a few times so far this year, they're absolutely relentless pursuing rebounds, both offensively and defensively. Clearly that's been a point of emphasis or Whalen and coaching staff. As for Bello, she's got the knack for rebounds. Plays very aggressively but also reads the ball exceptionally well off the rim and gets to the right spot in order to grab it. Lamke is also a good rebounder and they compliment each other very well in the post.

Really like what I saw overall last night. Missed a ton of shots and still won because of outstanding rebounding and a very good defensive effort. Bell really took over late, but it was a total team effort last night. They're going to be a tough out for anybody, but if they can start shooting with a bit more efficiency, they could have a truly outstanding season.
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She’s our Dennis Rodman. He always seemed to place himself perfectly for rebounds.
 


Forget Rodman; more to the point, Bello is approaching some Zahui B like efforts.
 




I went to my first women's basketball game in years last night as I took the bait of $10 tickets. I'm glad I did. I saw more defense in the first quarter than I had seen on TV in three years. I saw a team that was well coached and ready to play, and beat a team with more talented players. Very impressive. They knew what they wanted to do and did it, and simply outworked 'Cuse. Great composure in not panicking or running out of gas at the end when they lost the lead. Hopefully, the bench can get developed to contribute something later in the season. I think three starters played all 40 minutes. That's a lot of PT and could wear on a team in the long haul.

I'm curious to know if that stretch where the Orange got back in the game without a timeout by the Gophers is the way Whalen operates or was an oversight on the bench. Very unusual at this level of basketball to let players play through it without the coach going control freak. I kind of like it, but I'm not at all sure that's what was planned. It shows confidence in the players and the game plan that you just don't see very often.

The 'Cuse coach was the most obnoxious on the sideline in the Barn since Bo Ryan. All over the floor, out of the box and never stopped riding the refs. Lucky he only got the one T.
 
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Flash30 said:
A little bit of crazy isn’t a bad thing [emoji6].


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Agreed, although I'd prefer to keep the trips to North Korea to a minimum...:);)
 


UpAndUnder43 said:
Super fun game. Glad I went kind of last minute. Very impressive comeback. Didn’t look great when down 61-55 but a huge 3 by Pitts spurred the comeback
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What I know about basketball you could put in a thimble, but it seems to me that yesterday -- maybe in other games this year too? maybe that's why her shooting has been down a little? -- the Gophs haven't been able to get Pitts open so she can shoot threes in rhythm. Even against the zone, when you should be able at least to find outside shots, they couldn't get the ball to her or get her open for some shots. I don't know if it's the offensive scheme or what. Granted, Syracuse was cheating on their zone toward her, but still....

But the offensive rebounding last night -- wow, wow, wow! Taiye Bello is so improved from last year, it's like she's a new player. Very impressive.
 

Holy Man said:
The 'Cuse coach was the most obnoxious on the sideline in the Barn since Bo Ryan. All over the floor, out of the box and never stopped riding the refs. Lucky he only got the one T.
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I, to name one coach, think Joe McKeown is often more annoying. Hillsman did put on a show though. I thought Steratore or Grintner were about to T him up again in the second half when, while protesting a call, Hillsman took off his glasses. I thought he was about to do the old, "here, take these, you need them more than me" routine. But, alas, he stalked down to the tunnel end of the bench while the refs looked on.
 

let'sbeclear said:
But the offensive rebounding last night -- wow, wow, wow! Taiye Bello is so improved from last year, it's like she's a new player. Very impressive.
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It’s hard to say if she’s improved or she’s just playing more because the Gophers went away from the 4 guard system. I hated that almost as much as the awful 2-3 zone defense. If I remember right, last season Bello was in rotation with two other players at center. What a waste. Of course, if they used a 3 guard system last year, then most likely Pitts would have been coming off the bench, but that might have worked out great.
 

Ignatius L Hoops said:
Forget Rodman; more to the point, Bello is approaching some Zahui B like efforts.
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Last night sure felt like a national POW contender night for Bello, although the award probably will go to someone from the ND/UConn game Sunday...
 

Shades said:
It’s hard to say if she’s improved or she’s just playing more because the Gophers went away from the 4 guard system. I hated that almost as much as the awful 2-3 zone defense. If I remember right, last season Bello was in rotation with two other players at center. What a waste. Of course, if they used a 3 guard system last year, then most likely Pitts would have been coming off the bench, but that might have worked out great.
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A little bit of both I think.

Last year Taiye had a rebounding efficiency of 0.38 rebounds per minute played. Annalese had an efficiency of 0.2 last year but minimal minutes played, like Kehinde.

For Taiye that's a rebound every two and a half minutes plus change but only 20ish minutes usually. For Annalese, a rebound every 5 min last year. Against Syracuse, both Taiye and Annalese, in approximate terms, got a rebound every 2 minutes, for a rebounding rate of 0.5 rebounds per minute played. So that is an improvement from 0.38 to 0.5 for Taiye. But Annalese actually improved hugely all the way from 0.2 to 0.5 rebounds per minute played. Plus they're getting these simultaneously. Last year we only had one post. So it's a double whammy for the opponent.

Last year Pitts was best in defensive rebounding rate. She's still good in that but Kenisha has also improved a lot in defensive rebounding rate.

Anyway, Taiye improved by about 33% plus double the minutes. Annalese gets the award for 2.5x improvement in rebounding rate. The rebounding rate stats are a little dicey cuz if you play second unit your team-mates may create more rebounding opportunities. But it's the only stat we got.
 

I should have added, so in the Syracuse game, at least, Lamke and T. Bello were equally monstrous rebounding beasts. Just that with a different body type, Annalese's lungs can't go the full 40 min like Taiye did. So during those rests we got a sizable fraction of her rate instead, from Kaposi.
 

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