Gophers - Fairfield Game Thread

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Clem's Gophers

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Game time!

Nice floater by Andre, Rodney with a bad 3 point miss...

Go Gophs!
 






Rosemountian said:
I will never understand why tubby plays 12 man rotations.
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He subbed in Welch first. Later Chip and Joe. Then EE and Andre. (Oto somewhere <->) Later Mav.

I don't see a problem with him playing 12 players at all this early in the season to see what he has in these new guys and let them get their hands dirty. It's when the Big Ten season starts I want to see he get down closer to 8 guys with the bulk of the minutes.
 

What a momentum swing! Instead of a 5 point lead, Minnesota catches a break, runs the floor and will go to the line with a chance to tie the game. Wow

...Austin clanks the shot. Ouch!

Minnesota is pretty decent in transition.
 


Austin Hollins is quickly becoming my favorite player. He might have the best all around game on the team.
 




That was a mean dunk! I thought for sure it was Rodney... Wow Austin flew and hammered that one off the miss!
 

Andre is by far our #1 PG. Mav the fist off the bench to replace him in the second half.

Welch has been disappointing early.
 

Rakim Sanders has the broadest shoulders I have ever seen. What a pick-up for Fairfield (from BC)! In fact, the Stags have a number of players that have "Big Ten bodies."
 





mav is having a strong second half, eating my words from last year about this kid
 

Just throwing it out there: If this is last year (mid-to-late season), their press absolutely kills Blake, and Trevor doesn't hit NEARLY as many free throws. It's really nice having multiple competent ball handlers and a team (or Beast) that can convert free throws.
 

It hasn't been pretty but 3 games in, the Gophers have 3 double digit wins. I also think they've been getting better with every game. Oto is starting to become more confident in his shooting. Austin Hollins has shown flashes of being a go-to guy. Andre Hollins definitely has the physical ability and seems to be improving. Mbakwe even seems to be getting a little better (tonight was his first ever 20-10 game). I'm feeling pretty optimistic after 3 regular season games.
 

Maverick 'The Assassin' Ahanmisi

9194Gophs said:
mav is having a strong second half, eating my words from last year about this kid
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I didn't bad mouth him on GH, but I did think little of his abilities. He was penetrating and dishing to the open man, finishing inside, looking to shoot threes. He's became a solid backup pg, ahead of Welch for me.
 

Clem's Gophers said:
Game time!

Nice floater by Andre, Rodney with a bad 3 point miss...

Go Gophs!
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Pretty limited offensively, play hard on defense though. I don't see how Oseniak doesn't get 20-25 minutes a game. He is the only only fluid pure shooter out there.
 

jovs said:
Pretty limited offensively, play hard on defense though. I don't see how Oseniak doesn't get 20-25 minutes a game. He is the only only fluid pure shooter out there.
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His playing time will be on the rise now that he is starting to get more confidence. Early on he played very timid and it affected his shot. The last couple of games he's been stroking the 3 ball pretty well.
 

Like to see him or anyone else get Ralph's and Rodney's minutes.Those two guys kill us when there on the court.They are similar in the respect each as one skill.Dunking for Rodney and shooting for Ralph and they both block a few shots but it never gives us the ball.We are much better off with some aggressive young players getting the minutes.
 

jovs said:
Pretty limited offensively, play hard on defense though.
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Rodney has had good D this year compared to years past. That big cumbersome looking 21 took him to the hole easy and got the foul as he tried to recover and block from behind.

I still don't get how he gets toasted on the drive so often? The announcers said he was probably watching the ball. Maybe that's what he does, which is a big no-no that is taught early on. Always watch the midsection, it doesn't lie.
 

Couple things:

1) I know Trevor had a lot of free throws, but I still feel like we don't give him the ball enough on the block. When we give it to him, it rarely ends up in a lost possession. He either makes a power move and gets points, goes to the line, or makes a pass to an open shooter. His moves are so quick, unlike Ralph who needs so much time to make a move he gets the ball stolen, that Trevor can see the floor so much better.

2) Do you think are players are too nervous? I first saw it with Rodney, now I see it with Julian/Andre/Oto. They seem like they are really scared to screw up and look really, really nervous.
 

Trevor was an absolute beast tonight, it's amazing to see how hard that guy plays night in and night out. I wish we had just one more post guy who attacked the boards with something approaching his ferocity. It's also important to note how much Trevor has improved his free throw shooting, great to see a guy obviously improve a weakness over the Summer. I am a little worried that Trevor will wear down by Big Ten season if the Gophers continue to ask him to carry this much of the load.

Very good glimpses of play from Andre and Austin. Andre's turnovers were frusterating but it is clear that he's got potential to be a Big Ten point guard you can win with...just hope it's this year. Andre's tip dunk was the highlight of the night, but I was most impressed by his role in the press/trap late in the 2nd half. I think forcing some backcourt turnovers is going to have to be a part of the Gophers receipe for success.

Overall, way too many turnovers and just sloppy play from the Gophers. I wish we could create some one on one mismatches for drives to the basket like Fairfield did against us tonight. For an offense that supposedly has so many "options" we don't seem to fool the opposition for many (any?) easy baskets. Would love to have that BC transfer on the Gophers.
 

EG#9 said:
Very good glimpses of play from Andre and Austin. Andre's turnovers were frusterating but it is clear that he's got potential to be a Big Ten point guard you can win with...just hope it's this year.
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+1

He made some rookie mistakes, but oh well. But you can really see his potential with his explosiveness. I was most impressed with his defensive rebounding, he really elevates for the boards.
 

Ralph is honestly probably one of the most frustrating players I've seen in the past few years. I honestly don't know how he plays so many minutes and I don't even realize he's out there. It's amazing.
 

captain.hindsight said:
Couple things:

1) I know Trevor had a lot of free throws, but I still feel like we don't give him the ball enough on the block. When we give it to him, it rarely ends up in a lost possession. He either makes a power move and gets points, goes to the line, or makes a pass to an open shooter. His moves are so quick, unlike Ralph who needs so much time to make a move he gets the ball stolen, that Trevor can see the floor so much better.

2) Do you think are players are too nervous? I first saw it with Rodney, now I see it with Julian/Andre/Oto. They seem like they are really scared to screw up and look really, really nervous.
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As to point #2... Yes

Could be a function of a complicated offense which plays second fiddle to a complicated defense, in combination with a coach who is successful but often appears to offer mixed signals to the players. I'm guessing that it takes a lot of players a good while to figure out how to play for Tubby. Certainly the style of play is not instinctive.
 

ShowinGoldyLove said:
Ralph is honestly probably one of the most frustrating players I've seen in the past few years. I honestly don't know how he plays so many minutes and I don't even realize he's out there. It's amazing.
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We badly need to have Mo Walker get well soon. Ralph can shoot it and also get us a few blocks but he is a step late on most everything. Not sure if it's passiveness, lack of fire or poor reaction time. It is frustrating. Eliasson will be fine as a replacement next year but he's not ready. Walker could give this club the additional big we need.
 

MadtownGopher said:
It hasn't been pretty but 3 games in, the Gophers have 3 double digit wins. I also think they've been getting better with every game. Oto is starting to become more confident in his shooting. Austin Hollins has shown flashes of being a go-to guy. Andre Hollins definitely has the physical ability and seems to be improving. Mbakwe even seems to be getting a little better (tonight was his first ever 20-10 game). I'm feeling pretty optimistic after 3 regular season games.
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I could hardly watch the game tonight. It was like undisciplined high school players. If this team is really making progress, how bad were the last two games? I seemed to have watched a different game than you did tonight?
 

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