Help Me See a Win

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jmag21

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I'm mostly an optimistic kind of guy, but I'm having a tough time seeing a win. In order to get some positivity going, I visited an Illini board (they're even more pessimistic than we are), but I'm still having a tough time seeing a win tonight. Granted, we're a much better team at home, but player for player, Illinois just seems to have too much talent, too many shooters, and especially with Blake being banged up, I'm not seeing how we're going to pull this one out tonight. Can anybody pep me up?
 

Illinois has 1 road win in the Big Ten, and it was 6 weeks ago, and it was against the worst team in the conference.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Illinois has 1 road win in the Big Ten, and it was 6 weeks ago, and it was against the worst team in the conference.
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Plus, the Gophers also own the Illini the past 10-12 years. Easy win tonight. Gophs by 11.
 

I look at this way. The Gophers are overdue to play a good, mostly complete 40-minute game. They haven't played one in quite awhile. And if it makes you feel any better, the money must be coming in on the Gophers because the line has moved from Gophers -1 to Gophers -1.5 since early this morning.
 

SS,

I was looking at Bracketology101's comments today:

In the Big Ten, Illinois plays at Minnesota and Penn State plays at Michigan State. The Tide have been the most debated team in our comments section over the past week because of their 7-1 SEC record, their terrible RPI, and their ratio of bad losses to good wins. They aren't at-large worthy yet, even with the bubble as soft as it is, but a road win against the Commodores would get them some serious consideration next week. Bama's schedule is pretty soft the rest of the way, and a 12-4 finish (even in the awful SEC West) would probably be enough to get the Tide a bid.

The Penn State-Michigan State game is a must-win for both teams. Despite some nice wins, neither of these teams look like NCAA tournament teams right now, and the loser will have to go on a huge run to get back on the right side of the bubble. The Illinois-Minnesota game features two teams that just need to stop the bleeding. Illinois has lost five of seven and is down to an 8 seed this week, while Minnesota has lost three straight and has slid down to a 7. The Illini might be in more trouble with a loss here; they have three tough road games left and a date with Purdue in Champaign on Saturday. A 9-9 finish, with their decent OOC resume, might be enough for a bid, but they'd need a win in the Big Ten tournament to feel safe. Having Maryland and Gonzaga (two of their OOC victories) win some games down the stretch wouldn't hurt, either
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I would have thought this game was equally big for both Minnesota and Illinois or is it that Illinois has a much tougher schedule than we do going forward?

To me, at least, wouldn't losing this game put the Gophers on the bad side of the bubble?
 



Art Vandelay said:
Plus, the Gophers also own the Illini the past 10-12 years. Easy win tonight. Gophs by 11.
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Hopefully nobody falls for your dripping sarcasm, or actually believe you think they will win by 11.

We've certainly owned the Illini in the last decade :rolleyes:

Date Winner Score Location
02/27/2010 Minnesota 62-60 Away
02/26/2009 Illinois 41-52 Away
01/29/2009 Minnesota 59-36 Minneapolis
03/15/2008 Illinois 50-54 Big Ten Semifinals
03/08/2008 Illinois 58-67 Away
02/12/2008 Illinois 60-84 Minneapolis
02/03/2007 Illinois 49-59 Away
01/17/2007 Illinois 52-64 Minneapolis
02/28/2006 Illinois 65-71 Minneapolis
01/25/2006 Illinois 53-77 Away
03/12/2005 Illinois 56-64 Big Ten Semifinals
01/29/2005 Illinois 66-89 Away
02/08/2004 Illinois 69-79 Minneapolis
03/09/2003 Illinois 60-84 Away
01/07/2003 Illinois 70-76 Minneapolis
03/08/2002 Illinois 76-92 Big Ten Quarterfinals
03/03/2002 Illinois 66-67 Minneapolis
01/02/2002 Illinois 53-76 Away
03/04/2001 Illinois 59-67 Minneapolis
01/03/2001 Illinois 64-80 Away
02/17/2000 Illinois 80-89 Minneapolis
02/02/2000 Illinois 59-73 Away
 

josh087 said:
Hopefully nobody falls for your dripping sarcasm, or actually believe you think they will win by 11.

We've certainly owned the Illini in the last decade :rolleyes:

Date Winner Score Location
02/27/2010 Minnesota 62-60 Away
02/26/2009 Illinois 41-52 Away
01/29/2009 Minnesota 59-36 Minneapolis
03/15/2008 Illinois 50-54 Big Ten Semifinals
03/08/2008 Illinois 58-67 Away
02/12/2008 Illinois 60-84 Minneapolis
02/03/2007 Illinois 49-59 Away
01/17/2007 Illinois 52-64 Minneapolis
02/28/2006 Illinois 65-71 Minneapolis
01/25/2006 Illinois 53-77 Away
03/12/2005 Illinois 56-64 Big Ten Semifinals
01/29/2005 Illinois 66-89 Away
02/08/2004 Illinois 69-79 Minneapolis
03/09/2003 Illinois 60-84 Away
01/07/2003 Illinois 70-76 Minneapolis
03/08/2002 Illinois 76-92 Big Ten Quarterfinals
03/03/2002 Illinois 66-67 Minneapolis
01/02/2002 Illinois 53-76 Away
03/04/2001 Illinois 59-67 Minneapolis
01/03/2001 Illinois 64-80 Away
02/17/2000 Illinois 80-89 Minneapolis
02/02/2000 Illinois 59-73 Away
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Haha seriously, I almost spit my drink when I read that? We OWN them???? LOL
 




station19 said:
Art

I thought you were supposed to be negative. What the hill is going on around here.:eek:
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He's got a new thing. He denigrates our opponents, says we should win by double-digits, and then he's got a lot of latitude to criticize the Gophers whether they lose, or whether they only win by single-digits.
 

Reserve said:
I would have thought this game was equally big for both Minnesota and Illinois or is it that Illinois has a much tougher schedule than we do going forward?

To me, at least, wouldn't losing this game put the Gophers on the bad side of the bubble?
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I think the guy did a very accurate job assessing the two Big Ten games tonight. I can't see the loser of Michigan State-Penn State staying in the hunt, especially the way MSU's been playing and especially if Brooks remains hurt for Penn State.

I actually think the game is bigger for the Gophers tonight than it is for the Illini, simply because the Gophers can't afford another home loss. If the Gophers win tonight but lose to Iowa on Sunday night, I'll still have them in my Field of 68 next Monday. A win over a 4th top-50 opponent would be that big.

However, if they lose tonight, no matter what they do in Iowa City, for the first time on Monday I'll have them listed among the bubble teams and possibly exclude them from the field.
 

jmag21 said:
He's got a new thing. He denigrates our opponents, says we should win by double-digits, and then he's got a lot of latitude to criticize the Gophers whether they lose, or whether they only win by single-digits.
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I like that Art is the true consummate professional at trolling. He's an innovator.
 

SelectionSunday said:
I look at this way. The Gophers are overdue to play a good, mostly complete 40-minute game. They haven't played one in quite awhile. And if it makes you feel any better, the money must be coming in on the Gophers because the line has moved from Gophers -1 to Gophers -1.5 since early this morning.
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My guess would be Gophers by a FT (1) or FG (2) if they play well in the 1st half tonight.

Hard to say which team(s) show up. Both are capable but haven't shown it lately.
 



If the Gophers win tonight but lose to Iowa on Sunday night, I'll still have them in my Field of 68 next Monday. A win over a 4th top-50 opponent would be that big.
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So then out of curiosity at what point does a bad loss discount a good win?

If that makes sense.
 


jmag21 said:
He's got a new thing. He denigrates our opponents, says we should win by double-digits, and then he's got a lot of latitude to criticize the Gophers whether they lose, or whether they only win by single-digits.
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Nothing new here. Despicable Artie has been spewing this tripe for years.
 

Reserve said:
So then out of curiosity at what point does a bad loss discount a good win?

If that makes sense.
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Depends on the individual, I guess. I value quality wins much more than I worry about bad losses. If the Gophers are to win only 1 game this week, I want it to be tonight. The way Iowa's playing right now and considering how short-handed the Gophers are, I'm not so sure losing to Iowa should be viewed as that terrible of a loss. In fact, the Hawkeyes likely will be favored to win the game.

Would a loss to Iowa hurt the Gophers' resume? Yes. But it wouldn't be anywhere near a killer so long as we take care of business tonight.
 

The problem is this...We only have 2 or 3 guys who can be counted on to put the ball in the basket with any regularity. The Illini have more depth and arguably, more talent among the starting top 5. At least their top 5 are all capable of hitting shots.

We are seriously hamstrung by playing Rodney and relying on Mbakwe as much as we do, because Ralph can dissappear for vast stretches when the going gets tough inside.

JMag has every right to be negative tonight. I just don't think we'll be able to keep pace with their superior depth and scoring options.

Our only realistic hope is that Hollins or Armelin get hot and help Blake with the scoring load.
 

Excellent point considering the majority of that record is from Monson who couldn't beat anyone. Last time I checked Tubby's done fine against Illinois the past few years and as already mentioned, Illinois blows on the road.

Art Vandelay said:
Plus, the Gophers also own the Illini the past 10-12 years. Easy win tonight. Gophs by 11.
Click to expand...
 

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