***OFFICIAL GOPHERS VS BUCKEYES BTT IN GAME THREAD!!!!!!!!***

[mnsportsgeek]

More Disappointing: season 3 of house of cards or Gophers 2014-2015 season?

I'll actually give House of Cards my vote.

 

[cncmin]

I really think Andre Hollins is a class guy and a great rep for the U. However, he was completely disinterested in this game. His body language and posture were terrible and his defensive intensity was an embarrassment. Not sure why Coach Pitino felt obliged to play him; his mediocre offense did not offset is awful defense. Looking forward to new blood. Any blood.

No way.

He had a bad game, indeed, but not because of heart.

 

[GoodasGold]

I agree 100%. What a great chance to play a few extra games for the young guys.


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Are you referring to the coaches?

 

[minny01]

Maybe they could have still gotten playing time in the NIT, but coach could have tried to actually win this game by playing the energetic Eliason.

Completely agree. Like another poster said, I wonder if there was more to it that we are unaware of. We looked better when he was in the game.

 

[StCroix]

Hollins was very frustrated since the second half of the last game. I actually thought he looked disinterested, but when I watched the replay, he was a guy very frustrated and lacking confidence. Tonight was a carry over of that look IMO.


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[GoodasGold]

I really wish we had an extra year of Deandre. He just finds ways to finish around the rim!

That's because he keeps his chin-on-the-rim

 

[minny01]

Hollins was very frustrated since the second half of the last game. I actually thought he looked disinterested, but when I watched the replay, he was a guy very frustrated and lacking confidence. Tonight was a carry over of that look IMO.


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IMO - he was never the same after he got hurt. I don't know if he was still suffering from it but he just wasn't the same player.

 

[GophersInIowa]

I really think Andre Hollins is a class guy and a great rep for the U. However, he was completely disinterested in this game. His body language and posture were terrible and his defensive intensity was an embarrassment. Not sure why Coach Pitino felt obliged to play him; his mediocre offense did not offset is awful defense. Looking forward to new blood. Any blood.

As others said, I think he was just frustrated, not disinterested.

 

[howeda7]

IMO - he was never the same after he got hurt. I don't know if he was still suffering from it but he just wasn't the same player.

Oh God, now you've done it. That's his bat signal...

 

[Goldy Gopher]

Pretty fitting that it is another close lose in the B1G for us. Liked the aggressive defense on Russell for most of the night credit to Scott for really stepping up and kind of carrying Ohio State in the 1st half. Missed a lot of good looks especially from 3 tonight and if we even hit a couple off them it is a completely different game. Was nice to see EE come in and provide some solid minutes tonight reminded me a little of the way he played last year. DeAndre struggled most of the season but the last few games he has been solid and I thought tonight he played like the guy that was one of the better PGs in the B1G just wish we would have seen it more this season. Andre played hard but you could really see the frustration and I still wonder if he isn't dealing with some sort of injury or maybe just worn down from playing so many minutes the last 2 seasons. The biggest difference in the game for me though was the early foul trouble for Mo and Joey I think if they don't get in foul trouble we are looking forward to a matchup with Michigan State tomorrow night.

 

[bga1]

IMO - he was never the same after he got hurt. I don't know if he was still suffering from it but he just wasn't the same player.

Hollins was terrific when he had, Austin, Williams and Mbakwe to draw attention. The past two years opposing teams shadow him and he seems to wear down from it mentally and physically.

 

[bga1]

Pretty fitting that it is another close lose in the B1G for us. Liked the aggressive defense on Russell for most of the night credit to Scott for really stepping up and kind of carrying Ohio State in the 1st half. Missed a lot of good looks especially from 3 tonight and if we even hit a couple off them it is a completely different game. The biggest difference in the game for me though was the early foul trouble for Mo and Joey I think if they don't get in foul trouble we are looking forward to a matchup with Michigan State tomorrow night.

One of the oddest Gopher squads of all time. So many losses while playing everyone respectably. We certainly played out worst games against the leagues worst teams.

 

[Moonlight]

Hollins was terrific when he had, Austin, Williams and Mbakwe to draw attention. The past two years opposing teams shadow him and he seems to wear down from it mentally and physically.

Good point. Hollins isn't center-piece material like Newbill.

 

[howeda7]

One of the oddest Gopher squads of all time. So many losses while playing everyone respectably. We certainly played out worst games against the leagues worst teams.

Next year's team looks less talented. Yet I think they will probably win more games, at least in the B1G.

 

[minny01]

Good point. Hollins isn't center-piece material like Newbill.

That's it in a nutshell. He's just not the star that may had hoped that he'd be.

 

[EG#9]

In a lot of ways this game was a microcosm of the Gophers season, you had Andre Hollins missing a huge shot late and Mo Walker having a pass bounce off his hands. I wasn't disappointed with how the Gophers played tonight, especially with Hollins and Walker contributing very little overall. I don't think anyone would have went in to the season thinking there would be too many games where those two combined for 8-21 from the field and 22 points. Obviously, can't beat a team like Ohio State with those type of of numbers. The only issue I had with the Gophers as a whole was their rebounding, but that's obviously been an issue all year. They were slow to the 50/50 balls off long caroms at times tonight and just as a team don't have great awareness.

Carlos Morris had SIX turnovers tonight.

There were a couple of plays late that illustrated why we need to be careful about expectations for Nate Mason. The first was the drive that could have been called a travel where he couldn't get a look over length and passed out to Andre Hollins for a 3 in the corner. The second was when the Gophers were just down 4 and Mason drove to the bucket and again couldn't get a real look over size. He's just not Mathieu like quick and explosive to either beat the big man to the cup or move laterally around him. It's going to be tough for him to be "the guy" unless he becomes a knockdown jump shooter. Don't mistake this for not thinking he's a good player, but the adjustment to being the first name on the scouting report will be a difficult one.

 

[builtbadgers]

Terrible defense troubles me more than anything. this team keeps thinking they have contested 3's well. By what standard ?

 

[mcal24]

Terrible defense troubles me more than anything. this team keeps thinking they have contested 3's well. By what standard ?

Didn't think we had much wrong with our defense tonight. There was just a 3 or 4 game stretch where we defended the 3 awfully, otherwise our 3 point defense didn't stand out to me much

 

[Goldy Gopher]

Terrible defense troubles me more than anything. this team keeps thinking they have contested 3's well. By what standard ?

I thought the defense was pretty solid tonight especially considering you have to pay a lot of attention to Russell and always helping on him since you don't have anyone that matches up well with him and can play him one on one. I can really only think of a couple open 3's that weren't contested and the one was because Gaston went over a screen, I think a big thing for him this offseason is gonna be to really fully invest in the game and understand situations better.

 

[Lil Richard 69]

You could tell when Gaston and Konate came in that OSU pushed the issue and beat us to the baseline/basket because those guys were not getting back there.

 

[Block M]

I think if Mason can get to 12 ppg next season and shoot ~44% overall and 40% from 3pt land while achieving a 2.5/3.0-1 Asst/TO ratio: mission accomplished. He is not going to be a 15-20 ppg player, but he does not need to score at that level to have a major positive impact. Our guards will be very disruptive defensively next year and this will hopefully lead to easier baskets.

 

[bga1]

Next year's team looks less talented. Yet I think they will probably win more games, at least in the B1G.

Next year's team will be more talented/athletic (I predict) but with not much experience or a proven scorer. I think we will win more games next year- for some reason.

 

[builtbadgers]

using a grading system like UVA or UW use the grades for this team are very poor. How often do Big 10 teams win when giving up 79 points

 

[Lil Richard 69]

What is the definition of talented/athletic?

I had friends in HS that could run a fast 40 and jump through the roof but we're completely unable to catch a ball and moves were incredibly rigid. Go figure, the kids that had smooth fundamentalS
s/coordination played and were better players.

Gaston and Konate have 3 more years to improve and are old for their grade in college...and I fully expect them to look smoother at some point...but Gaston chucked an air early in the shot clock and both of them look like when you just get that tall kid and tell him to try out for basketball.

As many flaws as Mo had...he had talent around the rim and was in the right place a lot on defense. The 2 young bigs will improve but I'm not sure they'll be "more talented" than Walker (or Hollins comparatively) by next year. The incoming freshmen are nice but they'll have growing pains.

 

[cncmin]

As many flaws as Mo had...he had talent around the rim and was in the right place a lot on defense. The 2 young bigs will improve but I'm not sure they'll be "more talented" than Walker (or Hollins comparatively) by next year. The incoming freshmen are nice but they'll have growing pains.

The only "Mo" on this team is Mo Walker, and certainly you can't be referring to him by saying this...

 

[Lil Richard 69]

Oh I'm sorry, I will blindly rate the young players who can barely dribble, chuck up uncontested airball 3s, and were completely exposed on the back line of our defense as "more talented" because they are the shiny new objects.

Plenty of flaws for Mo but the 2 young bigs are incredibly raw. It'll be refreshing when they are the new whipping boys.

Note: this is not a huge endorsement for Walker, either. The excitement of the next shiny thing is always very overrated, though.

 

[cncmin]

Oh I'm sorry, I will blindly rate the young players who can barely dribble, chuck up uncontested airball 3s, and were completely exposed on the back line of our defense as "more talented" because they are the shiny new objects.

Plenty of flaws for Mo but the 2 young bigs are incredibly raw. It'll be refreshing when they are the new whipping boys.

Note: this is not a huge endorsement for Walker, either. The excitement of the next shiny thing is always very overrated, though.

You're the only one comparing Walker to the freshmen. See my post again and concentrate on the bold portion. Mo Walker was terrible on defense his entire career, and no, he was not in the right place "a lot on defense", nor did he know how to position himself for rebounds.

If you combined Mo's ability to finish near the rim and shoot free throws with Eliason's ability to defend and rebound, you'd have an NBA draft pick player. Instead, you have a choice between a guy who's pretty good at putting the ball in the hoop on offense but a liability in the rest of his game, vice an excellent defensive and rebounding player who passes pretty well, but is terrible near the rim and at the line. "Lil Richard" (w/o the "69") chose the offensive player almost exclusively this year, and only won 7 out of 20 games against B1G opponents this season while only losing one starter from last year's squad.

 

[Lil Richard 69]

Ok, but nothing from the young guys says they'll be "more talented" next year than what we had this year, which is what I was replying to.

 

[mcal24]

You're the only one comparing Walker to the freshmen. See my post again and concentrate on the bold portion. Mo Walker was terrible on defense his entire career, and no, he was not in the right place "a lot on defense", nor did he know how to position himself for rebounds.

If you combined Mo's ability to finish near the rim and shoot free throws with Eliason's ability to defend and rebound, you'd have an NBA draft pick player. Instead, you have a choice between a guy who's pretty good at putting the ball in the hoop on offense but a liability in the rest of his game, vice an excellent defensive and rebounding player who passes pretty well, but is terrible near the rim and at the line. "Lil Richard" (w/o the "69") chose the offensive player almost exclusively this year, and only won 7 out of 20 games against B1G opponents this season while only losing one starter from last year's squad.

I never thought Mo to be a liability on defense. Sure, he wasn't a great defender, but I rarely had moments where I would get worked up about his defense.

Stats wise:

Mo had the best defensive rebounding percentage on the team (22%), #4 in the conference

He's #8 in the conference in total defensive rebounds

He's #9 in the conference in blocks

He's #7 in the conference in steals

Obviously stats don't tell the whole story about defense, but he's not nearly as bad as you make it sound.

 

[mcal24]

Wow. Was just looking at box score from game - Bakary had a +/- of -19 tonight. Gophers were +13 when Konate was not playing. Obviously, not his best game.