Let's Go Gophers! Sweet Sixteen

[Tucker32]

We are still in the tourney. We have a chance to get back to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in years (who cares how many years - let's not argue about it).

I would love to see our guys celebrating a win, and then let the coaching chips fall where they may. Let's have a discussion about what it might take to beat Florida, without having to discuss what a win may or may not mean for Tubby.

I think Andre has to play aggressively again, attack the pressure, and then our perimeter players have to take the shots when they are open in the secondary break. We need to play sound defense, closing out under control, and then rebound defensively. Most importantly, we have to take care of the ball.

 

[EG#9]

Great post.

I think the biggest key for the Gophers is not letting the turnover differential get out of hand. Florida was +2.9 this year, while Minnesota was -1. If we start being sloppy with the ball, like we were to open the second half against UCLA, this game could get out of hand.

My second biggest worry is that Florida shoots 38.1% from 3 and we know the Gophers tend to give up a lot of good looks from deep. I'd be really hesitant to use that same zone we broke out against UCLA against the Gators.

Matchups:

I'd consider putting Austin Hollins on Kenny Boynton and hope that he can keep him in check a bit. Put 'Dre on the less dangerous Wilbekin and hope he can save some energy for the offensive end.

Mbakwe vs Patric Young is an awesome matchup. Young is more polished/effective as a scorer, but Mbakwe is maybe a bit more athletic. I don't think Trevor will have much success with his usual post moves against Young, and I am worried that Trevor could pick up some fouls playing post "D". Quite simply, we need Trevor to be every bit the player he was against Zeller.

Erik Murphy worries me: He's a 6'10 kid who likes to shoot 3's (think a poor man's Ryan Kelley) and the Gophers don't have a great match up for him. Rodney and Joe tend to have defensive lapses and we can't afford to let this kid get good looks from deep. I'd put Rodney on him, and hope he overwhelms Murphy with his athleticism. We really, really need Rodney to dominate his match up on the offensive end as the Gators don't have a great match up from a physical standpoint other than maybe Casey Prather (reserve swing guy).

Coleman vs Rosario: Rosario put up 18 in the last game, but the Gators go with 3 guards, so at least Joe won't be giving up any height in his match up. I do think Coleman is the number one guy who has to really value the basketball in this game. It would be interesting to see if the Gophers might try to post Joe a bit against Rosario as Coleman still does his best work inside the paint.


Bench: Tough game to play Eliason much, unless the Gophers go zone. I don't want to see him or Mbakwe attempting to guard Murphy on the perimeter. Tubby has to be really careful with Maverick or Julian handling the ball against this team.

It almost goes without saying that we need Andre Hollins to have a great shooting and ball handling game. I think the key to the upset is Rodney Williams. We need Rodney to replicate the type of stat line he put up in the NIT run last year. If Rodney can play big minutes and put up 15 plus points in an efficient manner, I like our chances. 'Dre will have to lead us, Austin will have to be the glue guy who does all the things that don't show up in the stat sheet (specifically harassing Boynton), and Rodney will have to tantalize the NBA scouts with some real production in a huge.


If we can lose to Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue, and Iowa, we can certainly win one we're not supposed to....Let's get it done! Go Gophers!

 

[wdgold]

Great post.

I think the biggest key for the Gophers is not letting the turnover differential get out of hand. Florida was +2.9 this year, while Minnesota was -1. If we start being sloppy with the ball, like we were to open the second half against UCLA, this game could get out of hand.

My second biggest worry is that Florida shoots 38.1% from 3 and we know the Gophers tend to give up a lot of good looks from deep. I'd be really hesitant to use that same zone we broke out against UCLA against the Gators.

Matchups:

I'd consider putting Austin Hollins on Kenny Boynton and hope that he can keep him in check a bit. Put 'Dre on the less dangerous Wilbekin and hope he can save some energy for the offensive end.

Mbakwe vs Patric Young is an awesome matchup. Young is more polished/effective as a scorer, but Mbakwe is maybe a bit more athletic. I don't think Trevor will have much success with his usual post moves against Young, and I am worried that Trevor could pick up some fouls playing post "D". Quite simply, we need Trevor to be every bit the player he was against Zeller.

Erik Murphy worries me: He's a 6'10 kid who likes to shoot 3's (think a poor man's Ryan Kelley) and the Gophers don't have a great match up for him. Rodney and Joe tend to have defensive lapses and we can't afford to let this kid get good looks from deep. I'd put Rodney on him, and hope he overwhelms Murphy with his athleticism. We really, really need Rodney to dominate his match up on the offensive end as the Gators don't have a great match up from a physical standpoint other than maybe Casey Prather (reserve swing guy).

Coleman vs Rosario: Rosario put up 18 in the last game, but the Gators go with 3 guards, so at least Joe won't be giving up any height in his match up. I do think Coleman is the number one guy who has to really value the basketball in this game. It would be interesting to see if the Gophers might try to post Joe a bit against Rosario as Coleman still does his best work inside the paint.


Bench: Tough game to play Eliason much, unless the Gophers go zone. I don't want to see him or Mbakwe attempting to guard Murphy on the perimeter. Tubby has to be really careful with Maverick or Julian handling the ball against this team.

It almost goes without saying that we need Andre Hollins to have a great shooting and ball handling game. I think the key to the upset is Rodney Williams. We need Rodney to replicate the type of stat line he put up in the NIT run last year. If Rodney can play big minutes and put up 15 plus points in an efficient manner, I like our chances. 'Dre will have to lead us, Austin will have to be the glue guy who does all the things that don't show up in the stat sheet (specifically harassing Boynton), and Rodney will have to tantalize the NBA scouts with some real production in a huge.


If we can lose to Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue, and Iowa, we can certainly win one we're not supposed to....Let's get it done! Go Gophers!

It would be nice to see them win today especially after the up and down season they have had. Andre is the key, if he is not a major player in this game and someone else doesn't step up and step up big! we don't win, IMO.

 

[Rouser]

Great post.

I think the biggest key for the Gophers is not letting the turnover differential get out of hand. Florida was +2.9 this year, while Minnesota was -1. If we start being sloppy with the ball, like we were to open the second half against UCLA, this game could get out of hand.

My second biggest worry is that Florida shoots 38.1% from 3 and we know the Gophers tend to give up a lot of good looks from deep. I'd be really hesitant to use that same zone we broke out against UCLA against the Gators.

Matchups:

I'd consider putting Austin Hollins on Kenny Boynton and hope that he can keep him in check a bit. Put 'Dre on the less dangerous Wilbekin and hope he can save some energy for the offensive end.

Mbakwe vs Patric Young is an awesome matchup. Young is more polished/effective as a scorer, but Mbakwe is maybe a bit more athletic. I don't think Trevor will have much success with his usual post moves against Young, and I am worried that Trevor could pick up some fouls playing post "D". Quite simply, we need Trevor to be every bit the player he was against Zeller.

Erik Murphy worries me: He's a 6'10 kid who likes to shoot 3's (think a poor man's Ryan Kelley) and the Gophers don't have a great match up for him. Rodney and Joe tend to have defensive lapses and we can't afford to let this kid get good looks from deep. I'd put Rodney on him, and hope he overwhelms Murphy with his athleticism. We really, really need Rodney to dominate his match up on the offensive end as the Gators don't have a great match up from a physical standpoint other than maybe Casey Prather (reserve swing guy).

Coleman vs Rosario: Rosario put up 18 in the last game, but the Gators go with 3 guards, so at least Joe won't be giving up any height in his match up. I do think Coleman is the number one guy who has to really value the basketball in this game. It would be interesting to see if the Gophers might try to post Joe a bit against Rosario as Coleman still does his best work inside the paint.


Bench: Tough game to play Eliason much, unless the Gophers go zone. I don't want to see him or Mbakwe attempting to guard Murphy on the perimeter. Tubby has to be really careful with Maverick or Julian handling the ball against this team.

It almost goes without saying that we need Andre Hollins to have a great shooting and ball handling game. I think the key to the upset is Rodney Williams. We need Rodney to replicate the type of stat line he put up in the NIT run last year. If Rodney can play big minutes and put up 15 plus points in an efficient manner, I like our chances. 'Dre will have to lead us, Austin will have to be the glue guy who does all the things that don't show up in the stat sheet (specifically harassing Boynton), and Rodney will have to tantalize the NBA scouts with some real production in a huge.


If we can lose to Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue, and Iowa, we can certainly win one we're not supposed to....Let's get it done! Go Gophers!

Pretty good analysis. It sounds simple.. but the main thing we need to do is hit a couple shots early, allowing us to get in a flow. This team is one of the better in the country when we can get up and down the court. Truthfully, I don't care if we outrebound FL, usually our good rebounding numbers are tied to poor shooting anyway.

As you said, Trevor needs to stay out of foul trouble. I can see Ingram getting some decent minutes backing up Trevor. Elliot will get minutes, but it could get interesting.

We need at least two guys to be hitting outside shots and obviously, that typically means Austin and Andre. I will say that Austin has found his stroke just in time.. as we need a couple threes from him to keep pressure off Dre.

I'm just excited to watch the Gophers plan in the tourney.. plus we are treated to our second blue blood matchup in a row. Makes it more fun.

Monday morning we will either be talking about how we have a favorable matchup to make the elite 8 (and be 40 minutes from a final four) or we will be going in all out "which direction to take the program mode"... should be interesting.

 

[Cobra]

The Gopher bench will be huge in this game I think.
If we get quality minutes from EE, Ingram, & Mo, we'll have a chance.