Gophers by double digits vs. Maryland

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SelectionSunday

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Gophers are due to kick someone's a*s, and I think Maryland gets the call. Terps haven't lost a true road game all year, but that comes crashing down Saturday. Gophers from start to finish and win by about 15. Book it.

There are worse places to be than 4-5 at the turn of the B1G schedule with wins over 3 of the top 4 teams in the conference.
 


Thank you. I needed to hear that. :)
 

Remember Lawrence Westbrook? That's how the Gophers will play Saturday. ... with an edge and some attitude. That's what I most expect to see Saturday.
 



I salute your optimism. I hope this team takes a leap forward in playing defense because that will be the key to winning.

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MD has played the following Big 10 teams(only loss to Nebraska)
IL
NB
MI
IND
IL
IA
RT
Not a super impressive schedule. Gophers by 12
 

SelectionSunday said:
Gophers are due to kick someone's a*s, and I think Maryland gets the call. Terps haven't lost a true road game all year, but that comes crashing down Saturday. Gophers from start to finish and win by about 15. Book it.

There are worse places to be than 4-5 at the turn of the B1G schedule with wins over 3 of the top 4 teams in the conference.
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+1000


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#coacheslivesmatter
 

The question is will they have fight and passion when they get knocked down by Maryland. They've come out strong, they've come out weak, what is constant is their poor effort in the middle of the game that either gives up a massive lead or puts the game just far enough out of reach that they are desperately chasing from behind in the final 90 seconds. They have yet to put in a full 40 minutes of effort in any of their B1G games, even the ones they've won.
 



MadtownGopher said:
The question is will they have fight and passion when they get knocked down by Maryland. They've come out strong, they've come out weak, what is constant is their poor effort in the middle of the game that either gives up a massive lead or puts the game just far enough out of reach that they are desperately chasing from behind in the final 90 seconds. They have yet to put in a full 40 minutes of effort in any of their B1G games, even the ones they've won.
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I disagree. they played for 40 minutes against WI
 

Ewert86PC said:
I salute your optimism. I hope this team takes a leap forward in playing defense because that will be the key to winning.

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Absolutely - and I am also optimistic about the MD game. But the defense is what kills them - the play that sticks out to me last night was Dupree slapping that guy in the face late in the shot clock to bail them out. If he's not already, an advanced metric Pitino can add is the amount of times they get the shot clock get under 5 seconds and commit a completely unnecessary foul. To me that is the most infuriating thing that this team does, and that is all about a lack of mental focus. I don't have a ton of complaints about Pitino, overall he's a good figurehead and I can't imagine MN attracting a superior candidate at this time, but those lapses should be unacceptable, and correctable.
 

We will probably be favored by 4-5 points. It would be nice to have us get back to being the Vegas darlings by covering most of these games again.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Gophers are due to kick someone's a*s, and I think Maryland gets the call. Terps haven't lost a true road game all year, but that comes crashing down Saturday. Gophers from start to finish and win by about 15. Book it.

There are worse places to be than 4-5 at the turn of the B1G schedule with wins over 3 of the top 4 teams in the conference.
Click to expand...

Was just talking to a co worker about this and we wouldn't be surprised to see a big victory this weekend. Sure, from the outside, nobody would predict this (given losing streak) but we are due and Maryland is not as good as record (they are solid, but not great). Moons are aligned.. lets make it happen.

A big win this weekend would really get our mojo back. The team and coaches know they are close and outside of one game, have been in every contest. A win this weekend would set us up nicely for the final half of the BT season.
 



I think we should beat Maryland. I won't say I expect a win, but it's certainly one we need. Let's get it, Gophers.
 


We are overdue for a rousing home win and perhaps even an a$$kicking. Gotta have it.
I breathed a sigh of relief last night concerning Nate, he'll be fine. Amir needs to play with an edge more, he's the "X" factor on this team. Edgy Amir has "it".


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sal said:
We are overdue for a rousing home win and perhaps even an a$$kicking. Gotta have it.
I breathed a sigh of relief last night concerning Nate, he'll be fine. Amir needs to play with an edge more, he's the "X" factor on this team. Edgy Amir has "it".


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As a whole, this group needs a lot more edge. Seem like a bunch of nice guys, but too often they play like that. Want to see them get pissed more often, like a Lawrence Westbrook. Lynch and Murphy are at the top of the list of guys I'd like to see more nasty.
 

Agee. Hope to maybe see a snarl or two.


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According to Sagarin metrics (which have correctly predicted final Vegas spread within 0.5 points for B1G games about 75% of the time this season), Gophers should be favored by 0.5 points on a neutral court, plus 3 points for home court advantage = a likely spread of Gophers -3.5.

The Barn is considered by many to be a tougher than normal place to play (raised court, spectators close to the action), which may add to the spread, but Maryland has more of a national betting following, which would narrow the spread. I predict a final spread of Gophers -3.5 or -4.
 

jmag21 said:
I think we should beat Maryland. I won't say I expect a win, but it's certainly one we need. Let's get it, Gophers.
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In a time of alternative facts, it is nice to see some simple contradiction. [emoji41]

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Ah ewert, if only we lived in a world where people could be expected to do what they ought!


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Gopherbbdude said:
MD has played the following Big 10 teams(only loss to Nebraska)
IL
NB
MI
IND
IL
IA
RT
Not a super impressive schedule. Gophers by 12
Click to expand...

Good observation. Take a look at 6-2 Northwestern's conference schedule to date for a similar story. Taking a look at the conference standings, you have the preseason favorite, Wisconsin, at the top and highly regarded Purdue close behind but then you have 6 teams with a 3-5 record. One or more of them could be closer to 6-2 and Northwestern could be 3-5 if the schedules were reversed.

Having said that, I don't share your optimism for a comfortable Gopher victory. I think Maryland probably is a top four conference team and, despite losing a fair amount of talent from last year, a team that retains a pretty fair amount of quality depth. While I think the Gophers can win this game, I wouldn't expect anything but a close victory if they do. We just don't have enough quality players in the rotation to keep up the pressure throughout the game. When you have a junior center who can't play well enough to see the floor, a soph g/f who has lost his minutes to a very limited freshman, and a junior who is redshirting for the second consecutive year, you have limited options. For a guy who once described scholarships as "gold," Pitino has sure wasted a fair number of them to this point in his Gopher career.
 

cjbfbp said:
One or more of them could be closer to 6-2 and Northwestern could be 3-5 if the schedules were reversed.
......For a guy who once described scholarships as "gold," Pitino has sure wasted a fair number of them to this point in his Gopher career.
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I think you are selling Northwestern short. They did something the Gophers sure couldn't - win at Penn State and Ohio State. This is the perfect year for them to show marked improvement. The Big Ten is weak and I wouldn't be surprised to see the entire conference wiped out early in the tournament.

I don't think Pitino wasted any scholarships. I think his lack of previous head coaching experience made recruiting extremely difficult when he first got here. He didn't have the track record or a program with great recent history to help sell recruits. I think he had to take a chance on some players that were far, far removed from his initial top targets. You can't just say, "Well, we missed on Plan A, B, C, and D. Let's just leave 3 or 4 scholarships open. Maybe we'll get someone better next year."
 




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