***OFFICIAL BOSTON COLLEGE AT MINNESOTA BIG TEN/ACC CHALLENGE IN-GAME THREAD!!!***

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Hmm, I only watched the first half. Some observations:

Gophers were slow to close out on the shooters on the perimeter and gave up some good open looks from three. BC was hot and that was not very encouraging. They need to close faster if they are going to switch that much once the B1G games start. Can't be late closing on guys like Garza and Dosonmu, they will kill you.

Liked the ball movement and the willingness to drive and kick! Lots of dribble-drive penetration liked I talked about yesterday resulted in some WIDE OPEN LOOKS from 3 for the Gophers. We weren't shooting great and it seemed like the make were wiped off the scoreboard by charges of "phantom" traveling calls. Also some deep shoots that looked like threes were ruled 2s. But man, the possibilities!

Really liked seeing the Gophers with Ihnen, Gach, Carr, and Williams or Kalesheur on the floor together! Reminiscent of the good old Illinois teams where all the players were close to the same height and it was difficult to tell them apart. They really looked athletic!

Hope Johnson heals quickly and that the reserves take advantage of their time while he heals.

Definitely feel Mashburn and Williams earned a bigger chunk of Gabe's minutes.

Both Gach is a stud! Really is a game changer.
 

Gopher guards struggle to feed Robbins in the post as well as run the pick & roll. The pick gets set, the guards don't pay attention to the roll. Robbins should have had 30 points tonight on dunks and 3 footers. That would have opened up great looks from the 3 point line. But, we fail to look to the post despite Robbins doing a great job sealing his defender. Only once did Gach find Robbins on the pick & roll. It ended with an easy dunk by Robbins.
 

MennoSota said:
Gopher guards struggle to feed Robbins in the post as well as run the pick & roll. The pick gets set, the guards don't pay attention to the roll. Robbins should have had 30 points tonight on dunks and 3 footers. That would have opened up great looks from the 3 point line. But, we fail to look to the post despite Robbins doing a great job sealing his defender. Only once did Gach find Robbins on the pick & roll. It ended with an easy dunk by Robbins.
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I noticed that too. It's like he's invisible.
 

MennoSota said:
Gopher guards struggle to feed Robbins in the post as well as run the pick & roll. The pick gets set, the guards don't pay attention to the roll. Robbins should have had 30 points tonight on dunks and 3 footers. That would have opened up great looks from the 3 point line. But, we fail to look to the post despite Robbins doing a great job sealing his defender. Only once did Gach find Robbins on the pick & roll. It ended with an easy dunk by Robbins.
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Their refusal to run a high low when Robbins is fronted is confusing. He’d have lobs for layups and dunks all night.

Agreed on the pick and roll as well.Robbins has excellent footwork.
 

MennoSota said:
Gopher guards struggle to feed Robbins in the post as well as run the pick & roll. The pick gets set, the guards don't pay attention to the roll. Robbins should have had 30 points tonight on dunks and 3 footers. That would have opened up great looks from the 3 point line. But, we fail to look to the post despite Robbins doing a great job sealing his defender. Only once did Gach find Robbins on the pick & roll. It ended with an easy dunk by Robbins.
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RP needs to ensure this happens.....
 


Ryan James on Twitter saying Gabe deserves his minutes is why I don’t pay for a subscription to GI. That and the fact that they don’t edit/proofread anything.
 

Marcus is a high-volume - look to score first at all times PG. That is apparently how Pitino wants to play because it is the clear and obvious pattern in all 5 games this year and essentially how they played last year.

Robbins will rarely get touches off the ball screen because because the pass will be too late. Marcus gets the screen ... looks for a shot ... or drive ... before passing. The defense will recover 90% of the time when Robbins rolls because the pass is the 3rd option.

Like Daniel last year, Robbins will get the ball when the driving lane gets cut off and the ball gets dropped off to the big.
 

McDobb4BB said:
Marcus is a high-volume - look to score first at all times PG. That is apparently how Pitino wants to play because it is the clear and obvious pattern in all 5 games this year and essentially how they played last year.

Robbins will rarely get touches off the ball screen because because the pass will be too late. Marcus gets the screen ... looks for a shot ... or drive ... before passing. The defense will recover 90% of the time when Robbins rolls because the pass is the 3rd option.

Like Daniel last year, Robbins will get the ball when the driving lane gets cut off and the ball gets dropped off to the big.
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Part of the issue with Robbins so far is that he gets the ball too far from the basket. He needs to find a way to get closer before he asks for the ball. I'm not sure he has the strength to do that yet.
 

tikited said:
Part of the issue with Robbins so far is that he gets the ball too far from the basket. He needs to find a way to get closer before he asks for the ball. I'm not sure he has the strength to do that yet.
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This.

And also, he doesn't just dunk it. Loves using the bank board.
 



I'm all for Mash getting more PT, but our first priority in the luxury of having two competent point guards should be in getting Carr some rest. Lets keep his minutes around 32-33. It's a marathon.
 

Livingat45north said:
Agree that he should come in off the bench, just to shake things up a bit.
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And get his minutes cut. I would give him 10-12 per game and that is it. Until he starts taking the ball the basket, him shooting 3's is the same as a turnover.
 

I was impressed last night with Mashburn and Robbins play. Both of them were yet to show much and they finally did last night.

Someone said it earlier, we came out playing VERY hard at the beginning of the game, but let off mid way through the first half.

Also, our 3-point defense has to be much better. Every team will take lots of 3-point shots. I would rather have someone beat you off the dribble or inside than leave 3 point shooters open. It is a big part of the game that needs to be worked on. We simply can't give up 10-15 made 3 pointers per game against good teams.
 

Carr would get to the basket easier if he would actually dump the ball on the pick and roll occasionally but he never does. I lived on that play in high school. Easy to run an assist total up when you utilize all the options in the play book. It would also open up other options as the D cheats in the lane to help out.
 



Otis said:
Gophers were slow to close out on the shooters on the perimeter and gave up some good open looks from three.
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This has been a theme all year, especially from our bigs. They probably spend too much time practicing against the Gopher offense and forget that other teams and their bigs can actually hit 3 pt shots.
 

Nice second half and OT!
Would love to see a three guard rotation that comes to something like:
Carr 34 minutes
Mash and Gabe around 25 minutes each (occasionally have all three out there if the other team goes small). Mash should be getting 20 minutes a game minimum going forward and no reason to completely gas Carr.
 


Breakin' The Plane said:
It's not against the rules to rebound a ball when you're on offense. Not sure if they are aware.
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Depends on your position on the court...at least two guys, often 3 and sometimes 4 guys on top or the perimeter are responsible to get back and stop transition depending your "team transition rules" and opponent. Depending it could be all five guys are told to get back. So, for some guys it would be against the rules.
Nothing will get you beat faster than bad transition defense...most teams at this level make uncontested layups.
 

I'm guessing he must have but every time I see Robbins wide open, Carr refuses to pass him the ball. Has he ever thrown a post entry pass?
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I'm all for Mash getting more PT, but our first priority in the luxury of having two competent point guards should be in getting Carr some rest. Lets keep his minutes around 32-33. It's a marathon.
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Can’t you let Mash run the point for like 15 minutes, letting Carr sit 7-8 and the remainder he plays off the ball? Mash can also slot in as an off guard. Undersized maybe but he shoots it well.
 

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