I've Seen Enough This Year To Think We Can Finish 4th

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akgopher

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I like what I've seen since Miami and feel this is a tougher team than last year's version. I see big improvements in rebounding and defense. I also like that Sampson appears poised to give us a lot more offensively in the post than we've had in quite some time when his wheel is heals. I'm going to go out on a limb and warn everyone not to write off Devoe Joseph. I think he'll figure it out. He looks stronger than last season and should be able to get to the rim and the shots should start falling for him.

That said, roughly a 1/3 into conference play, it appears as though we belong in the top half of the conference. I see it coming down to Purdue and Michigan State for the title, and Minnesota. Illinois, and Wisconsin to battle for the next three positions. I'm looking for us to knock off one of those two for 4th. That should be enough for a tourney birth.
 

I'd have to agree with 4th. Wouldn't be surprised with 5th but I'm leaning toward 4th. Devoe is bound to turn it around because he can't really go anywhere but up. We really need his scoring off the bench. His shots were at least close tonight. That's progress. I have faith that he'll be a good player. Not Stephen Curry good like someone people on here think, but good.
 

4th has been my target. I figured MSU, Purdue and Wisc(before JL injury) would be the top 3. We've played @ MSU and Purdue and we don't play @ Wisc so our toughest games are behind us. That is why I was hoping Purdue would take care of OSU, they could be our biggest competition for 4th. Don't know what to think of Ill yet.
 

4th or 5th sounds about right. I'm a little tired of coming close against the big boys like we did last night, but in truth I was mostly encouraged by what I saw. It's apparent to me the Gophers are improving. They played in arguably the most difficult environment in the Big 10 and didn't crap their pants like they have in the past. We can compete, now we have to get over the hump.

After last night I feel stronger in my conviction that the Gophers are a NCAA-quality squad, now they just have to go out and prove it (win significant conference games vs. teams other than Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Penn State, the 4 RPI killers in the league). I'm already looking forward to the rematch at Williams. I think the Gophers are ready to bag the Spartans when we meet again.

CAN NOT slip up Sunday at IU. We've held serve so far in the Big 10, nothing more, nothing less. Yes, IU is improving and it's not a gimme', but a loss to the Hoosiers would be major cause for concern. Need to grab that game by the throat early, just like we did in Iowa City. Don't let 'em hang around so that the crowd can stay into it.
 

That said, roughly a 1/3 into conference play, it appears as though we belong in the top half of the conference. I see it coming down to Purdue and Michigan State for the title, and Minnesota. Illinois, and Wisconsin to battle for the next three positions. I'm looking for us to knock off one of those two for 4th. That should be enough for a tourney birth.
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I like the optimism. It sure would be nice to see the Gophers stand alone in the 4th spot at the end of the year. Only 13 more conference games to go.


On an OT note, and maybe this has been talked about already, but what is the problem with Michigan? I assumed with the return of Harris and Sims they would build on what was accomplished last year and battle for the 3-5 spots in the B10. Boy was I wrong.
 


I assumed with the return of Harris and Sims they would build on what was accomplished last year and battle for the 3-5 spots in the B10. Boy was I wrong.
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Just an off the cuff opinion, aside from Douglas and Novak sophomore slumping - Harris and Sims are playing for the draft. Getting " their " points and looks is the most important thing to them. Winning and team ball is secondary.
 

After last night, I believe every one on the team should have the feeling we have the "real" chance to win every remaining game we are in. That confidence will really help us the rest of the way. Coming into the big ten I really didn't have a strong feeling about how we would perform in the conference. Aside, from the second half of Purdue, we have shown we belong, and should expect to finish no worse than 4th. Assuming we don't lose anyone else on the team, I will be really disappointed if we don't.
 

Speaking of Michigan ..

Their next five games are

Indiana home
UConn home
Wisconsin away
Purdue away
Michigan State home

Aside from Indiana that is one tough stretch of games.
 

Sota1 said:
After last night, I believe every one on the team should have the feeling we have the "real" chance to win every remaining game we are in. That confidence will really help us the rest of the way. Coming into the big ten I really didn't have a strong feeling about how we would perform in the conference. Aside, from the second half of Purdue, we have shown we belong, and should expect to finish no worse than 4th. Assuming we don't lose anyone else on the team, I will be really disappointed if we don't.
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Agree. I don't see a game left on the schedule where if we play well, we shouldn't have a chance to win. In other words, every game on the schedule is winnable if we play well. How many of those will we actually win? I'm not sure, but I'm pretty comfortable with where we are at right now.
 



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