Kudo's to Rodney and Austin for there Defense!

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march madness

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Rodney has been phenomenal on defense. He really should be first team all defense. 4 steals and 3 blocks. Limited Shurna to 27% shooting and he only collected 2 rebounds. Crawford had a horrible game also. I believe Austin may have been on him mostly but I could be wrong.

Northwestern's 1-3-1 has given us fits in past years. I was glad to see they went with man to man first before employing it. We played ok against it this time.

Kudo's to Eliason also. 5 rebounds in 10 minutes. His toughness impresses me. I keep thinking what he will look like physically in a couple years.

Oto should really concentrate on making plays 15 feet and in right now. His shot has left him right now. He is more effective in the paint. That shot should return in the future when he gets confident contributing elsewhere.
 


Shurna outscored his season average and was the game's high scorer despite missing six free throws (which the Minnesota defense didn't influence). Just as we shouldn't over-react to a losing streak, let's try to remain realistic during a winning streak. Williams continues to play well but let's not overstate his accomplishments. While kudos is always appreciated, it is diluted when over used.
 

If I took 50 shot attempts I am pretty sure I could sneak into double figures.

And I still have 4 years of eligibility.
 

I think Kudos are in order. Most of Shurna's points were late in the game long after the game was decided - and some were when Rodney was out w/4 fouls. While I don't know I'd say phenomenal, Rodney did an excellent job on his defensive assignment, and still scored AND (a point no one has made so far) was 100% at the line!!:)
Austin was even more impressive with his job on Crawford.
 


march madness said:
Rodney has been phenomenal on defense. He really should be first team all defense. 4 steals and 3 blocks. Limited Shurna to 27% shooting and he only collected 2 rebounds. Crawford had a horrible game also. I believe Austin may have been on him mostly but I could be wrong.

Northwestern's 1-3-1 has given us fits in past years. I was glad to see they went with man to man first before employing it. We played ok against it this time.

Kudo's to Eliason also. 5 rebounds in 10 minutes. His toughness impresses me. I keep thinking what he will look like physically in a couple years.

Oto should really concentrate on making plays 15 feet and in right now. His shot has left him right now. He is more effective in the paint. That shot should return in the future when he gets confident contributing elsewhere.
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Considering that Damian Johnson leading the conference in steals and coming in third in blocks in 2009-10 wasn't enough, it makes one wonder what a Gopher must do to actually attain this award.
 


Rodney's defense on Shurna was amazing, I watched it almost every possession during the game. Because Shurna has such a ridiculous form, and shoots directly out from his chest instead of going up like a normal person, Rodney could sit back and play the drive and still recover quick enough to get up for Shurna's shots (he blocked one and Shurna didn't take one again with Rodney on him). Shurna looked downright tired and frustrated after running around all day trying to get open, only to have Rodney right there waiting for him. Shurna got a shot blocked in the lane, and laid on the floor exhausted about halfway through the 2nd half. Shurna simply isn't the athlete Rodney is, and it was fun to see Rodney dominate.
 

mryan1125 said:
Rodney's defense on Shurna was amazing, I watched it almost every possession during the game. Because Shurna has such a ridiculous form, and shoots directly out from his chest instead of going up like a normal person, Rodney could sit back and play the drive and still recover quick enough to get up for Shurna's shots (he blocked one and Shurna didn't take one again with Rodney on him). Shurna looked downright tired and frustrated after running around all day trying to get open, only to have Rodney right there waiting for him. Shurna got a shot blocked in the lane, and laid on the floor exhausted about halfway through the 2nd half. Shurna simply isn't the athlete Rodney is, and it was fun to see Rodney dominate.
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You can say Rodney isn't offensively gifted enough for the NBA, but if he can defend like he is capable and has shown he will absolutely have a future.
 




march madness said:
Rodney has been phenomenal on defense. He really should be first team all defense. 4 steals and 3 blocks. Limited Shurna to 27% shooting and he only collected 2 rebounds. Crawford had a horrible game also. I believe Austin may have been on him mostly but I could be wrong.

Northwestern's 1-3-1 has given us fits in past years. I was glad to see they went with man to man first before employing it. We played ok against it this time.

Kudo's to Eliason also. 5 rebounds in 10 minutes. His toughness impresses me. I keep thinking what he will look like physically in a couple years.Oto should really concentrate on making plays 15 feet and in right now. His shot has left him right now. He is more effective in the paint. That shot should return in the future when he gets confident contributing elsewhere.
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I've been thinking the same thing all year. Bet he is a monster by his junior year.
 

Did you pay attention to when Shurna scored his points and who he scored them against? Or are you just looking at the boxscore?

FanSinceTheFifties said:
Shurna outscored his season average and was the game's high scorer despite missing six free throws (which the Minnesota defense didn't influence). Just as we shouldn't over-react to a losing streak, let's try to remain realistic during a winning streak. Williams continues to play well but let's not overstate his accomplishments. While kudos is always appreciated, it is diluted when over used.
Click to expand...
 

There was one play in the second half where Shurna received a terrific back door pass that came from the top of the key that roasted our entire defense. The pass was picture perfect to a surging Surna to the basket. Rodney recovered in a blink of an eye and went up to block Shurna's shot 11' in the air right at the rim. It was remarkable and resulted in a foul.... but I couldn't help but be thankful for being blessed with such an athlete for the last three years.... It's been fun what he has brought to the maroon and gold.

The man has his basketball deficiencies....but he'll go down as the best athlete we've ever had.
 



rebuttal

FanSinceTheFifties said:
Shurna outscored his season average and was the game's high scorer despite missing six free throws (which the Minnesota defense didn't influence). Just as we shouldn't over-react to a losing streak, let's try to remain realistic during a winning streak. Williams continues to play well but let's not overstate his accomplishments. While kudos is always appreciated, it is diluted when over used.
Click to expand...

John Shurna scored 21 points for the Wildcats (12-7, 2-5), but he shot just 8 of 21 and scored 10 of those points in the final 11 minutes with the game already decided. (ESPN write up)

I suppose when Kobe take 40 shots to get 30 pts on 30% shooting that is bad defense also?
 

Cayman said:
Considering that Damian Johnson leading the conference in steals and coming in third in blocks in 2009-10 wasn't enough, it makes one wonder what a Gopher must do to actually attain this award.
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No kidding. Damian should have been the Defensive player of the year. That was one of the biggest jokes ever. I felt really bad for him. The Gophers have led the B1G in blocked shots for at least the last 3 years and hasn't had a person on the all defensive team once. This year they are leading the league in steals and I wonder if they'll even get anyone on the team. There seems to be some anit-gopher bias when it comes to post-season awards.
 

Can one of these guys stop Dre Dre tomorrow? I know Novak did a good job on him, so it seems like height isn't needed to stop him. I say just put Hollins on him and have him all over him. Just face-guard the heck out of him.
 

sidefx182 said:
Can one of these guys stop Dre Dre tomorrow? I know Novak did a good job on him, so it seems like height isn't needed to stop him. I say just put Hollins on him and have him all over him. Just face-guard the heck out of him.
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The only concern I have putting Austin or Williams on Draymond is the weight disparity down on the block. Maybe it's not that big of a deal. I'd put Rodney on him.
 

Madman said:
The only concern I have putting Austin or Williams on Draymond is the weight disparity down on the block. Maybe it's not that big of a deal. I'd put Rodney on him.
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Rodney could do alright. He will let green back him down to the hoop and then just swat him.
 

scher215 said:
Rodney could do alright. He will let green back him down to the hoop and then just swat him.
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Only concern I have with this is that Rodeny could pick up some quick, cheap fouls. Out of the players we have in the starting lineup, we cannot afford to let Williams, Welch, or Coleman get into foul trouble. If Austin gets in trouble we can steal minutes with Chip, Andre, or Oto, and if Ralph picks up a few early, we could get away with Elliot in there too. But losing Rodney for Oto, Elliason, or Ingram is a huge down grade on both ends. This is my biggest concern tomorrow.
 

march madness said:
John Shurna scored 21 points for the Wildcats (12-7, 2-5), but he shot just 8 of 21 and scored 10 of those points in the final 11 minutes with the game already decided. (ESPN write up)

I suppose when Kobe take 40 shots to get 30 pts on 30% shooting that is bad defense also?
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I didn't say anything about bad defense. I said our defense of Surna was not "phenomenal" as the initiator of this string suggested.
 


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