Minnesota/Illinois game thread

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OT is 5 minutes long. You play your best players every time.
 

Pewter
I believe the question was asked who would you rather have out there? Yeah he choked but it was his first time on the road in the big ten. He is a 89% Free Throw shooter heading into tonight. No question with his defense that he is one of our 5 best. If he continues to choke then we have a problem.
 

jamalo said:
Can't trot the pitcher out there for the 130th pitch in a tie game when he is used to getting pulled after 100 pitches. Manager needs to take some of the blame!
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I get the defensive lapses he experienced. That doesn't explain the missed FT after a TO and the missed open layup.
 

Moses87 said:
Was Hollins fouled before launching the last shot?

Sure looked it!
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YES! It's hard to call a late foul like that, but, in my opinion, that should be called. There were two seconds left and Hollins was moving towards the basket. Manascalco shoulder blocks him, and we have to settle for a half-court heave. You can't impede a guy's progress to the hoop like that, and it should have been whistled.

So should have Leonard's elbow to the face. Mav sold it a bit, but it was a flush elbow to the jaw. The calls don't matter if we execute better and convert our opportunities, but I suppose you can't expect a game called by both Hightower AND Valentine to go without some lousy calls.
 

Gold Vision said:
OT is 5 minutes long. You play your best players every time.
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When you have standout players- yes. Not when you have a number of players that are basically even. There is minimal difference from player #2 in the depth chart to player # 8 in terms of ability to contribute on the court. If you want to be a high end team at the end of the year you show guys like Andre Hollins and Chip that you have the confidence in them with the game on the line. I like their chances over a gassed Ahanmisi and a deflated and gassed Julian Welch. At least for a brief rest....
 


The reason I'm so critical is there are only so many chances to have a statement win. We had that chance and I see 2 incredibly important plays that were missed by one player. That chance may not come again and the confidence of the team (and that important player) may never come back.
 

wait, you wanted chip in after he was absolutely horrible all night? Really? And I thought your politics were bad..
 

Pewter
I actually really like and respect that answer. I agree with you this would have been huge confidence win for our team and we have found our closer if Welch converts on either one of those opportunists.
 

From the Barn said:
wait, you wanted chip in after he was absolutely horrible all night? Really? And I thought your politics were bad..
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I think many people would still think he's the team's best player even if he shot every time he touched the ball and hit less than 20% of his three-point attempts. Oooh, wait....
 



Tough that Welch missed a couple key shots. My question is why is Ahanmisi on the floor at that critical time? He gives us no offense and he's the one dribbling the length of the floor and taking a final shot??????
 

big10guy said:
Tough that Welch missed a couple key shots. My question is why is Ahanmisi on the floor at that critical time? He gives us no offense and he's the one dribbling the length of the floor and taking a final shot??????
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Because Andre Hollins is a turnover machine.
 

rivergopher said:
Love to hear who you guys would rather have playing. 15 points 4 assists and 0 turnovers. Yeah didn't come through when we needed him but who else would put those numbers up. Coleman? Not quite ready. Dre Hollins? Tubby doesn't trust him yet. Sucks we lost but we have the players we have this year.
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My problem is that Tubby has built a team that is an empty cupboard. There is no one else I would have rather had on the court on this roster, and that is the problem.
 

I haven't read through the thread yet as I just finished watching on my DVR(game cut out in 1st OT) and I went to ESPN to find out the bad news.

A few thoughts:

- Would be nice to have any one of a number of missed bunnies back in the first 30 minutes or so of that game
- Having our best free throw shooter miss the front end of a one and one AND then seeing there guy hit two clutch ones to tie the game was BRUTAL.
- Hated Maverick taking the last shot there, seems like we should have had something better with 6.8 seconds
- Eliason missed bunny in OT hurt
- Right before my DVR cut out, Gophers up 1 in first OT, I am shouting "Hand up Ralph!" "Hand up Ralph!", "HAND UP RALPH!!!!!!!!" as he got caught on a wing on a swtich. Ralph, with his hands down for a good 5 seconds, allows the 3 that puts the Illini up 1. If it was the first time it would be one thing, but Ralph has an absolutely horrible habit of just allowing shorter players easy looks at 3's in those situations.

There were some good things, but this was a game the Gophers absolutely should have won. Even for a fanbase that is used to gut punches, this one was pretty nasty.
 



EG#9 said:
I haven't read through the thread yet as I just finished watching on my DVR(game cut out in 1st OT) and I went to ESPN to find out the bad news.

A few thoughts:

- Would be nice to have any one of a number of missed bunnies back in the first 30 minutes or so of that game
- Having our best free throw shooter miss the front end of a one and one AND then seeing there guy hit two clutch ones to tie the game was BRUTAL.
- Hated Maverick taking the last shot there, seems like we should have had something better with 6.8 seconds
- Eliason missed bunny in OT hurt
- Right before my DVR cut out, Gophers up 1 in first OT, I am shouting "Hand up Ralph!" "Hand up Ralph!", "HAND UP RALPH!!!!!!!!" as he got caught on a wing on a swtich. Ralph, with his hands down for a good 5 seconds, allows the 3 that puts the Illini up 1. If it was the first time it would be one thing, but Ralph has an absolutely horrible habit of just allowing shorter players easy looks at 3's in those situations.

There were some good things, but this was a game the Gophers absolutely should have won. Even for a fanbase that is used to gut punches, this one was pretty nasty.
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You hit on all of my frustrations. Missed layups after beautiful passes and offensive rebounds. Ugh.

I have no idea what Ralph was looking at with 4 seconds on the shot clock and his man with the ball at the three point line. He did play a nice game.

It hurts because they had multiple chances. To close one out on the road.
 

Name one shooter Tubby has recruited since he's been here. There's got to be better pure shooters playing intramurals on campus.
 

Gold Vision said:
You hit on all of my frustrations. Missed layups after beautiful passes and offensive rebounds. Ugh.

I have no idea what Ralph was looking at with 4 seconds on the shot clock and his man with the ball at the three point line. He did play a nice game.

It hurts because they had multiple chances. To close one out on the road.
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Yep... I also yelled, "Ralph, get out there!!!" Perhaps he just didn't know how much time was left on the shot clock. Tough, tough play to watch.

But, I did like how often the ball was in his hands tonight. Hope to see that consistently throughout the year.
 






SonOfTheVarsity said:
YES! It's hard to call a late foul like that, but, in my opinion, that should be called. There were two seconds left and Hollins was moving towards the basket. Manascalco shoulder blocks him, and we have to settle for a half-court heave. You can't impede a guy's progress to the hoop like that, and it should have been whistled.

So should have Leonard's elbow to the face. Mav sold it a bit, but it was a flush elbow to the jaw. The calls don't matter if we execute better and convert our opportunities, but I suppose you can't expect a game called by both Hightower AND Valentine to go without some lousy calls.
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I wish the NCAA would just add in another chapter to the rules book. "Rules for the final 30 seconds of regulation and overtime." If that play happens in the middle of the game, it's called a foul 95 out of 100 times. I understand not calling a ticky-tack foul, but that was clearly a foul.

I share the frustrations of many here. We had our best free throw shooter at the line to ice it and he didn't get it done. A lot of other missed opportunities as well.

But I certainly think we also have to look at the positives. There was a lot of concern with this being our first road game of the season, and it looked for awhile that it could turn into a blowout. But the guys made a nice comeback when they could have just laid down. I'm cautiously optimistic after seeing our performance tonight.
 

This one stings. I was prepared to accept a close defeat as it was tied down the stretch. But to have your best free-throw shooter on the line with a chance to ice it and not pull it out is painful. And yes that was a foul on Hollins, but there was no way they were giving us that.
 

GophersInIowa said:
But I certainly think we also have to look at the positives. There was a lot of concern with this being our first road game of the season, and it looked for awhile that it could turn into a blowout. But the guys made a nice comeback when they could have just laid down. I'm cautiously optimistic after seeing our performance tonight.
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Thank you! Completely agree. I do not believe in moral victories at all, but there were a lot of positives to take out of this, as painful as it was. I am encouraged that this team has the talent and grit to compete in the B1G this year.

On a side note, this entire thread is an example of Gopher fan pathology. Absolutely agonizing to read, but hey, I have nothing better to do during my vacation, so what the heck? Might as well torture myself so I can re-live the pain over and over again.
 

hendo59 said:
On a side note, this entire thread is an example of Gopher fan pathology. Absolutely agonizing to read, but hey, I have nothing better to do during my vacation, so what the heck? Might as well torture myself so I can re-live the pain over and over again.
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I generally stay away from this board right after football and basketball games, no matter the outcome. There's several people who only post when we lose, it's kinda comical.
 

I'll reply win or lose. Overtime games always come down to who breaks first, but there were some sloppy exchanges when the Gophers got in position to steal a road win and take a shot at voters who left them out of the national rankings.

But why let my fingers do the talking when I can submit an article that does the same? This will make the response to Michigan more significant on Sunday, as now they have to regroup with their first loss since losing Mbakwe to an ACL tear.
 

Just stepping back now and looking at some numbers... a real concern on this one is that the Gophers lost big in the most important area - shooting.

The Illini's eFG% was 52.5% compared to Minnesota's 40.6%.

Ralph had five offensive boards, but the offensive rebound % went to the Illini - 29% for them, 26% for the Gophers. (I've included Team ORs and DRs in this calc.) Neither team gained much of an advantage though...

What kept Minnesota in the game were the turnovers by the Illini... 21 (26%) for them... Gophers at 14 (17%). Paul, Abrams (in limited minutes) and Leonard had 5 turnovers each... a number of ILL's turnovers were unforced (only 8 MN steals) and Minnesota can't count on a turnover rate like tonight by their opponents in future games, especially not when the Gophers are on the road. Had a chance to steal this one.

None of the starters were especially efficient offensively except for Austin Hollins, but he wasn't involved much. Ralph and Julian were fine, but not one of the better offensive games either have had... Rodney (turnovers) and Maverick (shooting & turnovers) had rough outings offensively, but both did grab a bunch of defensive boards.
 

Gopher Warrior said:
Just stepping back now and looking at some numbers... a real concern on this one is that the Gophers lost big in the most important area -
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free throws.
 

hendo59 said:
Thank you! Completely agree. I do not believe in moral victories at all, but there were a lot of positives to take out of this, as painful as it was. I am encouraged that this team has the talent and grit to compete in the B1G this year.

On a side note, this entire thread is an example of Gopher fan pathology. Absolutely agonizing to read, but hey, I have nothing better to do during my vacation, so what the heck? Might as well torture myself so I can re-live the pain over and over again.
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Haha, doing the same thing myself.
 

Aren't you being a little bit overly dramatic? We have sent great teams to Champaign and have seen them get destroyed.



In response to Pewterschmidt
 

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