Just Watched the Entire Game

[MadtownGopher]

Some thoughts after watching the entire game today:

* Andre seems to usually be our first player to score, which says a lot about his confidence and competitive mentality.
* Armelin is developing into a very good offensive threat, I couldn't be happier with the way he has played this year.
* Welch is going to be huge for us. He's heady, a good shooter and ball handler, and is clutch.
* Eliason is another player that gets better every game, he is really good at getting offensive rebounds.
* Rodney is a PF, so it's almost like we're adding a new dynamic PF since Mbakwe went down, since Rodney didn't do much at SF.
* Austin might be our best all around player, he really doesn't have a weakness.
* Coleman seems to be getting lost in the shuffle and I think he tries forcing things when he gets on the court as a result.
* Ingram does a lot of positive things in limited time, him and Welch have made for a great JC class.
* Oto needs to start contributing more, I think he just needs more confidence and aggressiveness, he's got Ralph syndrome at the moment.

Even when Ralph comes back, I'd almost be tempted to start EE at Center. Ralph might be able to dominate on the 2nd team. This should be our rotation:

Guards:
- Welch (starter)
- Andre (starter)
- Chip (bench)

Forwards:
- Austin (starter)
- Rodney (starter)
- Ingram (bench)

Center:
- Elliot Eliason (starter)
- Ralph (bench)

Spot Playing Time:
- Oto (until his confidence and aggressiveness improves)
- Coleman (same as Oto)
- Mav (only a few min a game if needed)
- Havlorsen (blowouts)
- Shell (blowouts)

My interest in this team has been rejuvenated after it took a big hit when Trevor went down. SKI-U-MAH!

 

[SelectionSunday]

Good stuff Madtown, but I think we need a bigger sampling. Ralph will start when he's healthy.

The early returns (1st game) have me feeling a lot better about the Gophers than I did entering the arena last night.

 

[bga1]

Good stuff Madtown, but I think we need a bigger sampling. Ralph will start when he's healthy.

The early returns (1st game) have me feeling a lot better about the Gophers than I did entering the arena last night.

I think these guys will play hard hence forth and that's good. Because of all the new guys they will probably make any and all predictions about who's good or bad look silly from one game to the next. It might just be a team where a lot of guys have to play very well for us to win games on a given night in Big Ten play. We don't have one guy that we can hop on the back of and ride and we won't be able to get away with anything less than our best effort as a team.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Some thoughts after watching the entire game today:

* Andre seems to usually be our first player to score, which says a lot about his confidence and competitive mentality.
* Armelin is developing into a very good offensive threat, I couldn't be happier with the way he has played this year.
* Welch is going to be huge for us. He's heady, a good shooter and ball handler, and is clutch.
* Eliason is another player that gets better every game, he is really good at getting offensive rebounds.
* Rodney is a PF, so it's almost like we're adding a new dynamic PF since Mbakwe went down, since Rodney didn't do much at SF.
* Austin might be our best all around player, he really doesn't have a weakness.
* Coleman seems to be getting lost in the shuffle and I think he tries forcing things when he gets on the court as a result.
* Ingram does a lot of positive things in limited time, him and Welch have made for a great JC class.
* Oto needs to start contributing more, I think he just needs more confidence and aggressiveness, he's got Ralph syndrome at the moment.

Even when Ralph comes back, I'd almost be tempted to start EE at Center. Ralph might be able to dominate on the 2nd team. This should be our rotation:

Guards:
- Welch (starter)
- Andre (starter)
- Chip (bench)

Forwards:
- Austin (starter)
- Rodney (starter)
- Ingram (bench)

Center:
- Elliot Eliason (starter)
- Ralph (bench)

Spot Playing Time:
- Oto (until his confidence and aggressiveness improves)
- Coleman (same as Oto)
- Mav (only a few min a game if needed)
- Havlorsen (blowouts)
- Shell (blowouts)

My interest in this team has been rejuvenated after it took a big hit when Trevor went down. SKI-U-MAH!

I agree with most of this. I'd still like to see Oto get 8-10 minutes a game. If he gains confidence, he could be deadly from down town. And lord knows we need someone to be able to hit the outside shot consistently.

I hope that when Ralph comes back, we don't try to play him and EE at the same time. I'm fine with Ralph starting, but if he doesn't look good early on, EE should get a bunch of minutes.

 

[zambam]

I agree with most of this. I'd still like to see Oto get 8-10 minutes a game. If he gains confidence, he could be deadly from down town. And lord knows we need someone to be able to hit the outside shot consistently.

I hope that when Ralph comes back, we don't try to play him and EE at the same time. I'm fine with Ralph starting, but if he doesn't look good early on, EE should get a bunch of minutes.

I agree with Oto but he's gotta avoid what he did in the last game, he was definitely pressing, rushing his shot.

 

[sec105]

I agree we need a bigger sample. Virginia Tech is a low level ACC team that we barely beat.

Big Ten teams won't front Rodney so he won't be nearly as effective (or is it affective) as the season goes along unless he gets more aggressive.

EE really surprised me last night. He was after every rebound. If he keeps that up we may be better than anyone thinks. VT made their comeback with him on the bench in the first half.

I really liked Welch's nerves on those last four free throws. Thank goodness Rodney was in bounding the ball so he couldn't be fouled. He is awful at shooting free throws. What's up with Andre missing 4 FT in a row?

It was a fun game to be at. Ruesse's column today was spot on however. the crowd is a shell of it's former self. And next year will be worse with the Corporations gobbling up all the $400.00 premium seats. I wish they would scrap that idea.

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

I can't be the only one that is not HORRIBLY alarmed by Chip's FT shooting? After last night, the guy is 4-for-13 from the FT line. That's just inexcusable. He shot around 55% last year from the line.

It's bad enough that Rodney is a subpar FT shooter. You almost can't afford to have both of them in the game at the same time. Chip's FT-shooting will virtually guarantee he doesn't see the game in the last 5 minutes of a close game if he keeps it up at this rate. For being a bad 3-pt shooter, he's also managed to heave up at least one 3-pt attempt in every game this year as well. He's not afraid to shoot the ball, no doubt.

Chip is a great energy guy and I love how hard he plays. I'm sure he has a role on this team, but I'll be darned if I have a clue what that is right now.

 

[book]

Ausrin need to improve his shooting though!

 

[freshtrout]

Chip and his FT's .... as pointed out above, he just can't be on the floor at the end of games, until he shows improvement.

 

[jamalo]

Not clear on the reason for the Chip hating. 3rd leading scorer on the team in 17 minutes played; plays with no fear. Agree that he needs to work on the free throw shooting, particularly since he is primarily a slasher. He is a high energy guy who generally makes things happen when he is out there.

 

[sunnyday2]

It's "Chip hating" to pt out his 30% FT shooting? That would be a new use of the word "hating" in my book.

 

[Gopher Bandanna Guy]

Good observations MadtownGopher - agree on several as well. I think patience with Oto is going to go a long way - and Tubby will start to find the right time to insert him into a game.

Like many of us, I like Chip's energy and hustle and his willingness to go hard to the hole. But when you are aggressive like that, you are going to get fouled. FT improvement (along with ball security) has to be a priority for him, as he actually shoots pretty well from the floor.