Gophers win, but...

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parkinglotgopher

parkinglotgopher

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Am I the only one that would have like to see this game stay under control after the initial run by the Gophers and not have SDSU surge back to within a couple possessions in the 2nd half? It seemed like the Gophs put it in cruise control, and only after #10 and #20 from State shot the Jackrabbits back into the game did the team realize that this one wasn't over.

Also, what a f_cking morgue the Barn was tonight. Smallest public attendance since opening weekend. A reasonably full student section that was not making much noise. Everyone shares the blame on this one, but after the initial burst by the Gophers, both the team and the fans seemed pretty flat.
 

I really hope that the gophers get healthy for the Duel in the Desert. It would be nice to have the gophers at full strength for the first time this season against our biggest non-con game.
 

My thoughts:

#1: ZZzzzzz. The outcome was never in doubt - another BB scrimmage.
#2: Because 2 family members couldn't attend, I had two extra tickets and was unable to sell them 1/2 hour before the game for more than $5 for the pair. We also had 2 extra for Cornell and were "lucky" enough to get $10 for the pair. While I understand the need to give this team experience, its a lot of $ for the quality. Could we get a receipt for a charitable donation?
 

That was brutal

Yes, a win is a win...but with a lack-luster game, a dead crowd...AND getting out rebounded by SDSU did not make for a enjoyable game experience. I was so fired up for this game after the Cornell game, I thought we'd taking a step back to getting the Barn rockin', that was not the case.
 

I'm waiting on Tubby to get some type of rotation going. Its tough with guys in and out of the lineup and the makeup of our team is screwy too but we'll need one soon
 


I would blame some of the quietness on exams and just being dead and getting ready. Plus its a wednesday. Two days til the weekend but 2 days from monday. Not a very exciting game either. I would have liked to see more of Devoe running the point, because he seemed to be doing a good job. I would have to say he has the quickest first step on the team and can get by anyone. I would like to see him run more point even when Al is in there.
 

Also, I saw one stat in the first half I really liked: 15 assists on 18 made field goals. That is more than 85% of baskets. And with only six turnovers. Then, the play just got lackadaisical and lackluster in the second half and the gophers just got sloppy with the ball. It seemed like a complete change of mentality with the team, deciding to play safe and timid, trying to protect a lead instead of growing it. We turned the ball over, couldn't rebound and couldn't buy a bucket for a good stretch in the second half. I think the team always needs to play with an attacking, aggressive mentality. Look at the first vs. second half at Cornell. The first half we played very little pressure defense. The second half, they picked up the aggression and intensity, played more pressure defense and attacking offense and we outscored them by 30 points. The team is based on athleticism and aggression. When they play timid, they play bad and sloppy. With all that said, if we can keep up a high assist to basket ratio, that will go a very long way for this team this year.
 

oleboy41 said:
I'm waiting on Tubby to get some type of rotation going. Its tough with guys in and out of the lineup and the makeup of our team is screwy too but we'll need one soon
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I agree. What was with subbing the entire team out two or three times during the game. We really need to get an 8 man rotation playing with some major chemistry and then throw the other 2 or 3 players in who will have some kind of contributions on the team this year. We need to get a set starting lineup, one that hopefully would be Al, Blake, Westbrook, DJ, and Colt. I think westbrook needs to start over JAS. JAS is a complete liability on the defensive end, getting sucked in way too much and giving up a lot of open threes. Or maybe even a lineup of Al, Westbrook, DJ, Colt, and RSIII. Either of those would be a good place to start, then bring Paul Carter, Blake, and Devoe off the bench as regulars, and throw Busch and JAS in to fill minutes. That leaves out Bostick, Williams, and Payton, who probably wouldn't get a lot of time anyway. That way, the team gets chemistry playing with a set lineup. And hopefully cuts down on the TO's and wide-open jumpers.
 

wiscbearsfan17 said:
Also, I saw one stat in the first half I really liked: 15 assists on 18 made field goals. That is more than 85% of baskets. And with only six turnovers. Then, the play just got lackadaisical and lackluster in the second half and the gophers just got sloppy with the ball. It seemed like a complete change of mentality with the team, deciding to play safe and timid, trying to protect a lead instead of growing it. We turned the ball over, couldn't rebound and couldn't buy a bucket for a good stretch in the second half. I think the team always needs to play with an attacking, aggressive mentality. Look at the first vs. second half at Cornell. The first half we played very little pressure defense. The second half, they picked up the aggression and intensity, played more pressure defense and attacking offense and we outscored them by 30 points. The team is based on athleticism and aggression. When they play timid, they play bad and sloppy. With all that said, if we can keep up a high assist to basket ratio, that will go a very long way for this team this year.
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Wiscbearsfan - first, strange moniker for a Gopher board ;). While everything you said here seems correct, I think that Tubby did not attack SDSU defensively because of a couple of things:
(1) you don't want to have to rely on full court presses to win games. The kids need to learn how to win normally, and only use those presses in emergency situations.
(2) those presses get awfully tiring, and inherently present a higher chance of injury. I doubt Tubby wants anymore players injured.

Also, someone else here posted about the lineup and how we hadn't found our best rotation yet. Actually, Tubby played his current best lineup the second half of the Cornell game, so what you saw there is pretty much what you can expect in tight/important games from Tubby the rest of the way out. He uses SDSU and other "cupcakes" to experiment on and get various players playing time, unless the game gets out of control, of course (like Cornell did). That said, from the second half of the Cornell game, Tubby's most trusted 5 seem to currently be (in no particular order): DJ, Hoffarber, Westbrook, Iverson, and Nolen. Some of the others aren't too far down in the order though (RSIII, JAS, Joseph, Carter, Busch). Bostick still looks timid, but he'll get plenty of chances. JWill will play more the closer he gets back in game shape, but at this point he looks like he may remain #3 on the C depth chart. His injury was not good timing for his senior year playing time. KP is going to have a rough time getting on the floor, but from what I've seen so far, he has played just fine so far this year. I think one of my goals for the team this year is to see KP play a big role in a huge/close game. Same with Bostick, though, to get him going.
 



Sorry, I am a chicago bears fan from wisconsin transplanted in minnesota. Thats where the name comes from. And what was the lineup in the second-half of the cornell game? I don't remember who was in at the time. And I agree with you on the pressure, but I think we will need to pressure during Big Ten games and Louisville. I think we have one of the most athletic teams in the Big Ten, so we need to use it during the BT season.
 

After watching DJ have the huge game he did tonight, is anyone else drooling to watch the Gophers next year with White, Williams, DJ, Nolen, Hoffarber, Iverson, a stronger Sampson, a more mature Joseph....I can't wait....
 

Westrook, Joseph and Johnson all 3 played most of the 2nd half of the Cornell game. Nolen played as much as possible considering he was in foul trouble. With Hoffs ankle injury at the start of the 2nd half and Nolens foul problems Tubby didnt have much of a choice but to ride Joseph and Westbrook that game. Joseph ran the point alot in the second half of that game without a single turnover. That press was killer when those four mentioned above were on the court together.
 

I am not drooling over next year....I am thoroughly enjoying this season which just started! I don't really care about 2 incoming Frosh for next year, not yet. I LOVE our team this year, they are gelling faster than I thought possible with so many injuries.

while they look shaky at many times in most of the games so far, they have managed to pull out a W in every one so far (and yes I do realize our SOS is horrible this far and that L'ville is the first really tough/good team they will have played). however in past seasons against just as weak of competition we have looked shaky and emeerged w/ Ls...this year at least we are finding ways to stay ahead and win. its a nice step and I think an important one.
 



FUller's article said that Tubby expects both Black and Paul Carter back for the Louisville game.
 



Not gonna lie to ya. Getting ice cream at halftime was the best part of last night's game.
 

The only point of this game was to win and not get anyone hurt. Wednesday nights before finals against barely DI teams don't get anyone excited, including the players and fans.
 

We should not be surprised. ...

with some showing of apathy from the fans with the home schedule they were provided. Fans are like players. They'll show up, but they're not going to get jacked up for every game, especially when they're being force-fed for the most part what amounts to an ongoing diet of marshmallows. Really, I didn't think the fans were that bad last night. Considering it was South Dakota State, the crowd had its moments.
 

Two disturbing things about last night's game. First, the end of the first half ended with a thud when the Gophers committed a turnover in the last 20+ seconds and then SDSU got two free throws when we committed a foul on an SDSU offensive rebound--a possible four point swing. Wouldn't that have been a good place for Tubby to use his mandatory first half time out to set up a last shot? Second, the offense when both RSIII and Colton were in the game seemed very stagnant. We couldn't seem to get the ball to either of the twin towers for an inside shot.
 

Actually...

I think the point of the whole game was to get Sampson and Iverson playing together and that was interesting to watch.
 


Sampson and Iverson on the court at the same time last night was not good. No chemistry and a lot of missed opportunities. Not saying Tubby has to give up on it, but from where I sat, it was ugly. (It is still early and I hope to see many years with the two of them dominating down low.)

I also felt like the offense struggled in the half-court set. The guys do not look familiar with each other at this point in the season. The best movement we had on offense was when Tubby went small with DJ, Devoe, Lawrence, Al & the 5th guy (I forget.)

Tubby seems to coach his players towards offensive principles rather than scripting the game with offensive plays. Last night it looked like the guys may have needed more structure when playing the half-court offense. People were standing around looking lost and often times I saw players setting picks (or trying to set picks) that had nothing to do with the development of the play.

Our best offense is created from our defense. Hopefully we can compliment that with a half-court offense down the road. We may need it in the Big Ten.
 

Sampson and Iverson on the court at the same time last night was not good. No chemistry and a lot of missed opportunities.
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I agree. I don't think Iverson and Sampson quite have it yet. There was a few minutes in the Cornell game that I thought Iverson and Williams really clicked though. I'd like to see that a few more times.
 

I think the big problem with both of them out there at the same time is that they were each guarding players who were essentially small forwards. A huge size is advantage is a good thing to a point, but not if you can't keep up.
 

shikenjanski said:
I also felt like the offense struggled in the half-court set. The guys do not look familiar with each other at this point in the season. The best movement we had on offense was when Tubby went small with DJ, Devoe, Lawrence, Al & the 5th guy (I forget.)
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I believe the 5th guy was Busch?
 

This isn't in response to anyhting in this thread. Just wanted to share my thoughts on the game.

SDSU was the worst team we've played all year. That includes St. Cloud St. and Northern St. The game was awful to watch. The players weren't motivated therefore the crowd wasn't motivated. I've read on a few threads that the we people think we played well in the first half. I strongly disagree. We maybe had a good first 10 minutes but that is about it. Our players didn't realize that the only way the Jackrabbits could score was by shooting wide open 3pt set shots. Even while Tubby was using the game to try out different line ups, that team shouldn't have scored more than 45 points on us and we should have put up 90+.
 

One thing that does encourage me

This year, we are discussing & arguing about how badly we should beat a team, about how much if any of a "killer instinct" the players have collectively developed. Two years ago we were analyzing losses to teams like Marist, Montana, and Winona State....:rolleyes:
 

Through the grapevine....Player: We stopped caring.

Bottom line, they won, lets move on to the next opponent and learn from out mistakes. In the SDSU game our mistake was doubling down on inept SDSU big men and leaving their average 6'2'' shooters open.
 

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