Gophers see opportunity to thrive if they 'live in the paint'

[BleedGopher]

Per Nolan:

But on the flip side, in back-to-back losses to Indiana and Iowa, the U has shot a combined 8 for 49 (16%) from long range. Meanwhile, those 49 attempts accounted for 42% of their total field-goal attempts in those losses.

After falling behind by as many as 12 in the second half against Iowa on Monday, Minnesota was able to cut its deficit to five late in the half behind a strong effort from Dawson Garcia in the paint. Garcia kept finding his way to the rim and racked up 30 points as his efforts helped the U whittle down its deficit.

“I think (playing through the post) is definitely a strength. Just to get ourselves going. Playing inside out, everything gets a little easier once you see the easy ones go in when you’re playing physically in the paint,” Garcia said. “I think that’s for everybody, whether that’s a guard getting to the rim off a ball screen, a big offensive rebound, crash or posting up, whatever the case may be.”

https://www.si.com/college/minnesota/basketball/gophers-see-opportunity-to-thrive-if-they-live-in-the-paint

Go Gophers!!

 

[USAF]

Per Nolan:

But on the flip side, in back-to-back losses to Indiana and Iowa, the U has shot a combined 8 for 49 (16%) from long range. Meanwhile, those 49 attempts accounted for 42% of their total field-goal attempts in those losses.

After falling behind by as many as 12 in the second half against Iowa on Monday, Minnesota was able to cut its deficit to five late in the half behind a strong effort from Dawson Garcia in the paint. Garcia kept finding his way to the rim and racked up 30 points as his efforts helped the U whittle down its deficit.

“I think (playing through the post) is definitely a strength. Just to get ourselves going. Playing inside out, everything gets a little easier once you see the easy ones go in when you’re playing physically in the paint,” Garcia said. “I think that’s for everybody, whether that’s a guard getting to the rim off a ball screen, a big offensive rebound, crash or posting up, whatever the case may be.”

https://www.si.com/college/minnesota/basketball/gophers-see-opportunity-to-thrive-if-they-live-in-the-paint

Go Gophers!!

So, the obvious question...why TF did your team take 49 3's in the two losses?

 

[formerlybis]

Per Nolan:

But on the flip side, in back-to-back losses to Indiana and Iowa, the U has shot a combined 8 for 49 (16%) from long range. Meanwhile, those 49 attempts accounted for 42% of their total field-goal attempts in those losses.

After falling behind by as many as 12 in the second half against Iowa on Monday, Minnesota was able to cut its deficit to five late in the half behind a strong effort from Dawson Garcia in the paint. Garcia kept finding his way to the rim and racked up 30 points as his efforts helped the U whittle down its deficit.

“I think (playing through the post) is definitely a strength. Just to get ourselves going. Playing inside out, everything gets a little easier once you see the easy ones go in when you’re playing physically in the paint,” Garcia said. “I think that’s for everybody, whether that’s a guard getting to the rim off a ball screen, a big offensive rebound, crash or posting up, whatever the case may be.”

https://www.si.com/college/minnesota/basketball/gophers-see-opportunity-to-thrive-if-they-live-in-the-paint

Go Gophers!!

The Gophers only took 10 shots at the "rim" (per Torvik site) in the game @MSU last night and got outscored 44-12 in the paint. Perhaps it was Sparty's defense that limited the Gophers' opportunities, but if MN was trying to live in the paint, it was an epic fail.

Despite that, plus losing the turnover margin by double digits, having fewer offensive rebounds, and maybe the refs wearing green-and-white stripes, the Gophers were in this game due to MSU being dumb. MSU was 8-26 on midrange shots, which is terrible strategy.

I was hopeful the article you quoted was a sign that the coaching staff understood what needed to be done, but it certainly was not executed. They should not be dependent on Hawkins to get more than 10 rim opportunities.

 

[Outsider]

We would get more opportunities if guys would make the pass in there way more then they do. Payne works hard to get position many times but we either refuse to throw it in there or miss it all together. I used to love making the entry pass in there and seeing my big guy score it. Payne is very capable on the block, just get him the ball.

 

[MaxyJR1]

We really struggle to make good passes to post players. Would love to see some more HI/Low action from Garcia and Payne with ability to kick out to Christie and others for 3. Paint play draws fouls and can create more rhythm 3-point shooting.

 

[CentralGopher]

The Gophers only took 10 shots at the "rim" (per Torvik site) in the game @MSU last night and got outscored 44-12 in the paint. Perhaps it was Sparty's defense that limited the Gophers' opportunities, but if MN was trying to live in the paint, it was an epic fail.

Despite that, plus losing the turnover margin by double digits, having fewer offensive rebounds, and maybe the refs wearing green-and-white stripes, the Gophers were in this game due to MSU being dumb. MSU was 8-26 on midrange shots, which is terrible strategy.

I was hopeful the article you quoted was a sign that the coaching staff understood what needed to be done, but it certainly was not executed. They should not be dependent on Hawkins to get more than 10 rim opportunities.

They were far more efficient from 3 shooting 35% on 20 attempts though. That seems to be right about where they should be barring a night where they just can’t miss.

Edit: still saw plenty of dumb attempts though.

 

[TD12]

Need paint touches for inside out 3 point shots. Those are good 3 point shots, not the swing the ball and pull from 26 feet!!!!

 

[GeRoe]

Part of the lack of paint touches was that Payne had one of his worst games of the year, 2 for 7, four turnovers, and a number of passes and rebounds that he wasn't able to handle. Maybe it was just MSU's tough inside defense, but he seemed to be rushing, and with some crazy spin moves. Once he settled down later in the second half, he did much better.

 

[formerlybis]

I kinda wish the box score would count points in the paint for FTs made on shooting fouls from the paint. I know those don’t count as FGAs. It’s possible that there were a significant amount more paint shots than 10, but they were shooting fouls.

In the last 5 minutes, there were some embarrassingly bad offensive possessions, as noted in this and the game thread. Not giving them a pass, but this seemed very related to Mitchell being tuckered out.

 

[Taurus Samuels Fan Club]

I kinda wish the box score would count points in the paint for FTs made on shooting fouls from the paint. I know those don’t count as FGAs. It’s possible that there were a significant amount more paint shots than 10, but they were shooting fouls.

In the last 5 minutes, there were some embarrassingly bad offensive possessions, as noted in this and the game thread. Not giving them a pass, but this seemed very related to Mitchell being tuckered out.

I'd been thinking along these lines (how to incorporate FTs to rim/close 2s shot value) in my posts in the 3s thread the other day, but they were already getting TL;DR...I think generally I'd just count every 2 FT attempts as one shot equivalent and then add the points from the makes. I'm really not sure if that's the best way to do it, that's what comes to my mind first. It's hard to be precise though, because yeah, not every FT attempt is a result of a paint attempt (like Mitchell's 3 FTs yesterday were definitely drawn on a 3 point shot).

But say for this game, I'm going to take out those 3 Mitchell FTs and leave all the others...

5 Close makes + 16 FTs / 10 Close attempts + 23 FTs (11.5 shot equivalents) = 1.21 points per shot equivalent
9 Mid makes / 19 attempts = 0.95 points per shot
7 threes / 20 attempts = 1.05 points per shot (would be lower if you count Mitchell making only 1 of 3 FTs from a 3 shot)

Definitely NOT meant to be precise, just generally illustrative!

 

[Bad Gopher]

So, the obvious question...why TF did your team take 49 3's in the two losses?

Put another way, instead of players or coaches talking to reporters about this, how about implementing it in game plans and execution?

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

We really struggle to make good passes to post players. Would love to see some more HI/Low action from Garcia and Payne with ability to kick out to Christie and others for 3. Paint play draws fouls and can create more rhythm 3-point shooting.

Yeah, this is a problem all around.

JOJ is completely incapable of feeding the post. Our guards struggle with it a bit and Garcia struggles with the hi/low action as well. I think the struggles are really routed in our lack of off ball movement at times. It's hard to beat a defense that is planted and comfortable. We don't make defenses uncomfortable enough.

 

[bga1]

Yeah, this is a problem all around.

JOJ is completely incapable of feeding the post. Our guards struggle with it a bit and Garcia struggles with the hi/low action as well. I think the struggles are really routed in our lack of off ball movement at times. It's hard to beat a defense that is planted and comfortable. We don't make defenses uncomfortable enough.

It is a problem that feeds on itself as well. Last year Ben as the year went on Payne started to learn to kick it back out and reset and he was getting the ball more often. Now, unless Hawkins drives and dishes Payne isn't getting many touches- so now when he does- he becomes a black hole and attempts to do it himself like Garcia. As you said, we need to move the defense by reversing the ball and making it easier to feed the post with clean passing angles. We start with dribbling, then the high pick by Payne (instead of setting up shop low). That burns clock and we rarely are reversing the ball.