Game 7: Gophers host Florida State (11/30/16)

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Florida State at Williams Arena

The Seminoles are 6-1 with their lone loss being a close 78-76 televised contest with UConn and their most recent win being a Paradise Jam victory over Michigan 76-62.

Wins: Jacksonville State 73-62; Jacksonville 90-47; James Madison 84-64; Winthrop 98-35, Gonzaga 87-69 and Michigan 76-62.

Loss: UConn 78-76 (FSU trailed by one with the ball with 13 seconds remaining but a layup attempt was blocked.)

In the season stats, playing time is fairly well distributed; but against Michigan it was primarily the starting five and Chatrice White off the bench. We of course are quite familiar with White who played the last two seasons for Illinois before transferring and becoming immediately eligible for FSU. FSU has another well known transfer, Leticia Romero who famously had to battle Kansas State for her release a couple of years ago.


Probable Starters:

Laticia Romero 5'8" G Sr (14.8 points/g)
Shakayla Thomas: 5'11" F Jr (15.4)
Imani Wright: 5'9" G Jr (13.6)
Brittany Brown: 5'8" G Sr (9.0) 42 assists and 21 turnovers
Ivey Slaughter: 6'1" F Sr

Others:

Chatrice White: 6'3" C Jr (7.1)



Michigan game notes: Michigan went cold in the fourth quarter.

http://www.seminoles.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=32900&ATCLID=211323193

Shakayla Thomas picked the right time to come up with her first double-double of the season.

Thomas had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 10 Florida State pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Michigan 76-62 on Saturday in the final day of the Paradise Jam tournament.

Imani Wright added 19 points, Ivey Slaughter had 15 and Leticia Romero 10 for the Seminoles (6-1), who won their third straight game.

"We just had to come together as a team, and keep the momentum," Thomas said after her sixth career double-double. "It was all about our momentum. We had it on the court, and all about staying positive. Even when we got down, we just got back on defense and started working."

Katelynn Flaherty scored 18 points, Kysre Gondrezick added 17 and Hallie Thome 13 for the Wolverines (6-1), who fell behind in the second quarter but stayed close until the Seminoles opened the fourth quarter with a 16-8 run.

"We just went on a scoring drought," Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said. "I don't know if we got worn down a little bit or what. We started to press a little bit and started to force things instead of sharing the ball. We were in a great spot, we just didn't come out the way we needed to."

"They're a really tough team to guard," Florida State coach Sue Semrau said. "But we did a great job of fighting through the fatigue. We did a much better job of rebounding the ball. Shakayla rebounded the heck out of the ball."

 

[Shades]

Michigan went cold in the fourth quarter.

What other team sounds like this? With our supposed depth now, we should be strong down the stretch. In the Georgia game, Stollings didn't do a lot of subbing. UNC game was better but same results. But it was a back-to-back game where there wasn't much subbing in the first game, so good going Reeve, err I mean, Stollings.

I'm praying the home court helps, and I'm also praying we won't be treated like they treated Winthrop

 

[ruppertflywheel]

Really...really bad. This could be a 50 point blowout. Here's a thought Stollings Get out of that zone.

 

[adamj95]

Here's an idea STOP PLAYING ZONE. This is absolutely terrible. Can Stollings honestly not coach a decent defense?

 

[samloupete]

Stollings has no clue how to coach defense

 

[ruppertflywheel]

The Gophers are so slow to the ball it is unreal. They aren't physically tough at all. So much one on one basketball from the ladies. Fernstrom should help, but I don't see above WNIT. What we get from Stollings is she recruits offensive players. In the end, that will be her demise.

 

[GameDay]

The Gophers are so slow to the ball it is unreal. They aren't physically tough at all. So much one on one basketball from the ladies. Fernstrom should help, but I don't see above WNIT. What we get from Stollings is she recruits offensive players. In the end, that will be her demise.

Yes bad coach, and bad team. If you can't have success with (Borton recruited studs) like Banham, Zahui, or Kelly, you're simply never going to be successful. Especially with minimal talent like we have on this current team. Wagner and Bell are okay and thats about it. Hubbard has some promise. The rest are worthless and our coaches are too. Eye test is enough to tell you that this is poor quality basketball. Not worth the watch. Stollings can't recruit either, this is a problem.

 

[samloupete]

FLU scores only 21 in the 2nd half after scoring 56 in the 1st half.

 

[station19]

What it Sollings' contract status?

 

[GringaGopher]

What it Sollings' contract status?

She received an extension along with Pitino in 8/15 until 2020-21. She makes $500,000 and gets a 5% annual raise to her base salary of $350,000. I rarely leave a game early but their horrible D was too hard to watch tonight. I agree it is concerning to not see any improvement in their defensive effort and lack of rebounding. I hope Fernstrom is big time because this center by committee is not working.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

http://www.seminoles.com/pdf9/5118310.pdf

Fourth Quarter: Minnesota 8, FSU 2

Yes first half defense; but also Rebounds!!!, rebounds!!!: At half time the stat board said Florida State 25 rebounds and Minnesota 8. For the game, the box score said FSU 18 points off offensive rebounds and Minnesota 7. In Stollings rotated three players to match up with White- it didn't work in the first half; but something did in the second. Like Ruppert said, Minnesota was beaten to the ball all night; but it does make a big difference if your post has some stickum on her hands. Too many balls were batted away from the Gopher posts.

Odd Stat: Field goal droughts: Minnesota the last 5.03 of the fourth quarter and Florida State the last 8.33.

Of Note:Minnesota driving the lane in the second half put FSU in foul trouble and really slowed the pace of the game.


Starters: The gophers went small to match FSU (the results weren't good in the first quarter).

T. Bello
Brunson
Hubbard
Wagner
Bell


Minutes Played: (Bell, Wagner and Hubbard are emerging as the dominant trio)

37 Wagner: 15 points (I wish she had taken some time on an open three that would have cut the lead to 15 with about 4:30 to go; but she just kind of threw the ball at the hoop).
37 Hubbard: 9 points
33 Bell: 17 points (Kenisha was sloppy with the ball early)
23 Edwards: 11 rebounds (which means she could of grabbed 20)
22 Hedstrom
16 Tinjum
15 Brunson
11 T Bello
4 Starr (I'm not sure why she didn't play more especially in the second half when the game became half court)
2 Barnes

 

[Shades]

Starters: The gophers went small to match FSU (the results weren't good in the first quarter).

T. Bello
Brunson
Hubbard
Wagner
Bell

Did she really think this was going to get it done against the #8 team in the country... a three freshmen and one newcomer starting lineup?

I wish she had taken some time on an open three that would have cut the lead to 15 with about 4:30 to go; but she just kind of threw the ball at the hoop

Seems like you're agreeing with my earlier assessment on Wagner's overly-quickened three point shot.
It does seem in the last couple games, Wagner is taking less and better shots for the most part and it has helped her efficiency. I still can't help but miss when she was taking 20+ shots, probably cut we were winning then.

23 Edwards: 11 rebounds (which means she could of grabbed 20)

This goes back to that goofy starting lineup. Edwards is our best post player right now, and for some reason Stollings can't see it? It reminds of Stollings' first year when she toyed with the idea of not starting Zahui. Just plain goofy.

4 min Starr

I'm starting to wonder if she's regretting coming back to Minny, especially seeing that Auburn is a ranked team now. But hey, let's just leave our experienced useful players sitting on the bench while we have three freshmen starters going against the #8 team.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Did she really think this was going to get it done against the #8 team in the country... a three freshmen and one newcomer starting lineup?

Seems like you're agreeing with my earlier assessment on Wagner's overly-quickened three point shot.
It does seem in the last couple games, Wagner is taking less and better shots for the most part and it has helped her efficiency. I still can't help but miss when she was taking 20+ shots, probably cut we were winning then.

This goes back to that goofy starting lineup. Edwards is our best post player right now, and for some reason Stollings can't see it? It reminds of Stollings' first year when she toyed with the idea of not starting Zahui. Just plain goofy.

I'm starting to wonder if she's regretting coming back to Minny, especially seeing that Auburn is a ranked team now. But hey, let's just leave our experienced useful players sitting on the bench while we have three freshmen starters going against the #8 team.

I think four guards is Stolling's preferred starting lineup (obviously she'd rather have Fernstrom as the post); probably better to debut it against Detroit than against FSU. It's also possible Stollings over thought the Chatrice White coming of the bench situation. As soon as White subbed in; Tinjum came off the bench to guard her. A quick five points later, Barnes subbed in for Tinjum. After another bucket, out comes Barnes and in comes Edwards. White scored another two and then things quieted down the rest of the way. With FSU, White pretty much seemed to remain in the low block instead of launching threes like she did for the Illini, so Tinjum didn't really have much of a chance.

I'm not with you on Carlie's shot-yet. I looked at the replay of the one I mentioned. From the TV angle, behind Carlie, it looked fairly normal. From the other side, where we sat, it looked like she shot from the waist and not from her normal release. I will say her free throw shooting is a little (for Carlie) shaky.

Regarding Starr, maybe Stollings was worried about turnovers. I think Minnesota only had five in the first half. But in a physical game I thought Starr would play more.

Over the last few games, Stollings seemed intent on having guards drive the lane and force fouls. (I think FSU had two starters with two fouls in the first quarter.) Last night, we needed a closer game, or another quarter to reap the benefits.

 

[ruppertflywheel]

The Gophers have to much of a two person offense going. Did you see how FSU distributes the ball? It shows in their balanced scoring. I can't remember ever seeing a worse team at defending the post entry pass. Does Stollings have person to person defense in her system? If she does, I've never seen it.

 

[SelectionSunday]

Stollings doesn't care about defense. That has been apparent since Day 1. Nothing is changing in that regard.

If she couldn't/can't win (read: at least a NCAA tourney game or 2) with talents like Banham, ZB, Kelley, now Wagner, not sure why anyone is expecting anything more than a middlin' B1G program.

Matador defense, ole', ole', ole'.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

The Gophers have to much of a two person offense going. Did you see how FSU distributes the ball? It shows in their balanced scoring. I can't remember ever seeing a worse team at defending the post entry pass. Does Stollings have person to person defense in her system? If she does, I've never seen it.

Actually they did play man several times. First, unsuccessfully, when Tinjum was matched up with White and more successfully early in the second half.

 

[Shades]

We do have a lot of youth out there at times. We started three freshmen, one newcomer and Carlie was the only veteran out there, so I wasn't particularly pleased with the start of the game.

Well, it was her choice, and what did she expect really.

On how Florida State takes pride in their aggressive defense...
"In practice we start off with defensive drills all the time and i think that is what makes us a great team on the offensive end because it always starts with defensive. Defense is at the heart of a team."

I can't relate

 

[ruppertflywheel]

Actually they did play man several times. First, unsuccessfully, when Tinjum was matched up with White and more successfully early in the second half.

Iggy.....are you sure it wasn't more of a match up zone she went to versus the 2-3 zone? I must be blind. I didn't see straight pressure up person to person defense. Of course I admit after the first quarter I wasn't watching that close.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Iggy.....are you sure it wasn't more of a match up zone she went to versus the 2-3 zone? I must be blind. I didn't see straight pressure up person to person defense. Of course I admit after the first quarter I wasn't watching that close.

Pretty sure it was man. The Tinjum moment was short. The stretch I referenced early in the second half was longer and lasted maybe a couple of possessions after Bell, who was guarding Brown, ran over Slaughter after Slaughter set a pick. Bell looked around arms outstretched in the classic "call out the screen!" position. I think everyone was matched up in man; but who knows. Perhaps there was a sophistication level escaping my observation.

 

[ruppertflywheel]

Pretty sure it was man. The Tinjum moment was short. The stretch I referenced early in the second half was longer and lasted maybe a couple of possessions after Bell, who was guarding Brown, ran over Slaughter after Slaughter set a pick. Bell looked around arms outstretched in the classic "call out the screen!" position. I think everyone was matched up in man; but who knows. Perhaps there was a sophistication level escaping my observation.

The zone whether 1-3-1 or 2-3 is a lazy defense. The matchup zone can be effective. Wisconsin does a great job with it ( men's) Most girl HS teams play 2-3 zone . I'm sure most of the Gopher freshmen recruits played the 2-3 in HS. I coached up to 10th grade at Pequot Lakes. and had the girls play person to person and then we would do a lot of doubling on the ball. At that level most girls aren't great ball handler's, so we were able to get a lot of picks.