We took some definite positives out of Monday's laugher, in particular Mathieu and Walker's play. Tonight I'd like to see EE assert himself more offensively in the increasingly limited minutes he seems to be getting. I'd also like to see Buggs battle down low a tad. Let's also see if Konate can go 3 minutes without a foul. GET 'ER DONE PITINO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
***OFFICIAL GOPHERS VS SOUTHERN IN-GAME THREAD!!!***
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GophersInIowa
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I'd like to see Mathieu and Hollins have great games on the same night. Seems like when one plays great, the other plays bad or just okay. I think if they are both playing well at the same time, we can really do some damage once we get into conference play.
Tonight is important because the last game unearthed some further team depth issues. Buggs was reported to be continually battling a knee/leg injury that is affecting his mobility. It got so bad that he didn't return in the second half of North Dakota. Konate went foul crazy at the end of the second half of the Nordak game. Pitino even brought him aside during the second half to teach him about game flow. I really hope tonight he sees more minutes and shows improvement on the foul issues he has.
The Jaguars are not a perimeter first shooting team, but rely on the battles in the paint or short range jumpers. They aren't afraid to shoot the three, but the team as a whole has been super slow with hitting them. This team is small so I expect some big man domination.
I have a board meeting tonight. I will rely on this thread to get me through it!
Go Gophers!
The Jaguars are not a perimeter first shooting team, but rely on the battles in the paint or short range jumpers. They aren't afraid to shoot the three, but the team as a whole has been super slow with hitting them. This team is small so I expect some big man domination.
I have a board meeting tonight. I will rely on this thread to get me through it!
Go Gophers!
GopherOhana
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gamecast is showing buggs, konate and Mo on the floor at the same time. true?
Yes true very interesting lineup
Section201
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Gosh I miss Josh!
GopherOhana
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and now morris as the 2 guard? our big line up I guess
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Ha... mandatory missed bunny.
mnsportsgeek
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Is it just me or are these games so outrageously boring that you find yourself just surfing the Internet and looking up to check the score every once in a while? As soon as we go up 10 points I just check out.
Winasota Gopher
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I'm very interested in the progression or lack thereof of Buggs and Konate. Buggs showing flashes of viability, but still a liability on the defensive end and is not much help for rebounding in the trenches.
That said, I started watching at the 2nd half, any reason to watch the first?
No, it's not just you. I've been watching Penn State and Duquesne instead of checking into ESPN3 for the Gopher game and have been just checking the box score. Nice to see Bakary and Buggs play so much though and for Bakary to get a chance to be "money" at the free throw line. Elliot still hasn't missed many shots this year.
9 days to the Seattle game. I say watch the first half if you have the time. Pretty entertaining imo. Interesting lineups on the floor. A few too many turnovers though.
Goldy Gopher
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Watched more of the women's game tonight but from what I did see it seemed like a solid game but too many sloppy turnovers. Mo looked to have a pretty nice game defensively and I thought he was solid in that area against UND it would be a huge bonus if he can keep improving his defense. Konate got some decent minutes and showed a little offense which was good to see and Andre shot the ball well which is something we will need throughout the conference season.
Just finished watching the game, is a (as of now) 2 page game thread a record for fewest pages?
I was impressed with how hard this team continues to play on the defensive end. They lapsed a bit at times in the second half, but when it's 70-35 and there's still a ton of time left, you can't blame them. Do the Gophers turn it over to start every game, or does it just feel like it? I thought it was great that Pitino got Bakary Konate a ton of run tonight, he clearly needs it. I felt like the Gophers looked like a really solid team again tonight on both ends of the floor.
Individual player notes:
Bakary Konate: Fitting to start with Bakary because this game seemed all about him. On the positive side, Bakary is extremely active when he's on the court. He obviously has a great motor for a big man and when he fails on the court, it's never due to lack of effort. That said, to not have a blocked shot against this Southern team is a bit disappointing. It was already known that Bakary has quite a ways to go in the skill department, but tonight it was glaringly obvious that he has a long way to go in the strength department. If Bakary is constantly getting tied up by players of Southern's size and strength, I don't know how he can hold on to the ball against high major opponents. I am a little concerned about Bakary's jumping ability too. Mathieu threw him a lob in the first half for a dunk and he couldn't get up to convert it. Late in the second half, Bakary had the opportunity for what should have been a 2 hand dunk and didn't get up high enough to put it in. Probably more analysis than one game deserves, but I can see some of the things Pitino likes about Bakary (runs well, works hard) but not others (overall athletic ability). Another positive was Bakary was 6-8 from the line.
Mo Walker: Continues to be more assertive and aggressive in the post just as he was vs North Dakota. I hope we can count on this version of Mo going forward. I also thought he did a nice job on defense and on the boards tonight. He had a nice block early in the game and took a charge in the second half.
Elliott Eliason: Didn't get in until later in the game, but was active on both ends of the court tonight. Nice to see him finish around the basket when he had the opportunity.
Andre Hollins: Would love to see more from Andre off the dribble creating shots. That said, everything else was very good tonight. Made a number of 3's and continued to show that he's an improved defender.
Carlos Morris: I thought we got "bad" Carlos tonight. He's credited with 5 turnovers in the box score, but I don't think that even gives you a true perspective of his game tonight. His shot selection was poor at times and he was out of control with the basketball numerous times. A composed Carlos is key for B1G play.
Nate Mason: This was the first game all season where I felt Nate was a non-factor. I have a feeling he's one of the guys that could benefit from the upcoming 9 day break.
I was impressed with how hard this team continues to play on the defensive end. They lapsed a bit at times in the second half, but when it's 70-35 and there's still a ton of time left, you can't blame them. Do the Gophers turn it over to start every game, or does it just feel like it? I thought it was great that Pitino got Bakary Konate a ton of run tonight, he clearly needs it. I felt like the Gophers looked like a really solid team again tonight on both ends of the floor.
Individual player notes:
Bakary Konate: Fitting to start with Bakary because this game seemed all about him. On the positive side, Bakary is extremely active when he's on the court. He obviously has a great motor for a big man and when he fails on the court, it's never due to lack of effort. That said, to not have a blocked shot against this Southern team is a bit disappointing. It was already known that Bakary has quite a ways to go in the skill department, but tonight it was glaringly obvious that he has a long way to go in the strength department. If Bakary is constantly getting tied up by players of Southern's size and strength, I don't know how he can hold on to the ball against high major opponents. I am a little concerned about Bakary's jumping ability too. Mathieu threw him a lob in the first half for a dunk and he couldn't get up to convert it. Late in the second half, Bakary had the opportunity for what should have been a 2 hand dunk and didn't get up high enough to put it in. Probably more analysis than one game deserves, but I can see some of the things Pitino likes about Bakary (runs well, works hard) but not others (overall athletic ability). Another positive was Bakary was 6-8 from the line.
Mo Walker: Continues to be more assertive and aggressive in the post just as he was vs North Dakota. I hope we can count on this version of Mo going forward. I also thought he did a nice job on defense and on the boards tonight. He had a nice block early in the game and took a charge in the second half.
Elliott Eliason: Didn't get in until later in the game, but was active on both ends of the court tonight. Nice to see him finish around the basket when he had the opportunity.
Andre Hollins: Would love to see more from Andre off the dribble creating shots. That said, everything else was very good tonight. Made a number of 3's and continued to show that he's an improved defender.
Carlos Morris: I thought we got "bad" Carlos tonight. He's credited with 5 turnovers in the box score, but I don't think that even gives you a true perspective of his game tonight. His shot selection was poor at times and he was out of control with the basketball numerous times. A composed Carlos is key for B1G play.
Nate Mason: This was the first game all season where I felt Nate was a non-factor. I have a feeling he's one of the guys that could benefit from the upcoming 9 day break.
Winasota Gopher
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Good recap. I didn't watch the whole game, just the last 14 minutes.
I thought Nate played poised. He is a factor in every game in that we don't turn the ball over the second lil Dre steps off the court like last year. He's a steady hand at PG, and he had a couple nice buckets and passes that didn't get finished by Bakary/Buggs late in the game that could have added to his assist numbers.
I differ in opinions on Hollins. I would prefer he didn't try to create off the dribble. I want to see more of the penetrate the baseline by Deandre and Nate, and have Andre spot up on the weak side for a 3. More of him getting a screen after the perimeter action to spot up for a three. More transition aggression for foul shots. LESS him trying to go one on one, because it's not going to happen with big 10 sg and sf defending him, he's too slow.
Spot on with the defense. I might be embellishing, but I don't remember us blowing out the cup cakes last year, at least not like this. Our defense is relentless, i'm a little fearful that a strong/confident PG can nullify that in a minute. However, there aren't a ton of those in the Big 10, so we might be fine to win our fair share. But we will need to win the tough games, Wisconsin, OSU etc off of good shooting and not expecting the opposition to turn the ball over 20 times.
The good news on Bakary is that he catches the ball well. The problem is not his jumping ability. He has that along with an epic wing span. The problem is that he gathers himself by crouching down with the ball and that's where he gets in trouble. When he learns to catch those high passes (as he is doing) and keep the ball high- he will be fine. I think his arms are strong but his legs are weak and spindly yet. All fixable. I think he has the ability to be a big time center here in a few years.
A note on Buggs- he continues to get a little better. Still the screw ups on defense, but improving. He is rebounding better and really hustling. He gave us another glimpse of what is possible with his finish on the fast break which included a spectacular move and a dunk.
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For Bakary, lets just make sure we set our expectations appropriately. He wasn't a scorer, or any sort of offensive cornerstone at UL. Senior season averaged 10 pts per game.
Can Bakary swat 2 shots, grab 8 boards and put back a couple buckets and a couple free throws a game in 2 years? Yes, he's got the motor and size to do that. That's all we should expect from our bigs in the future, set solid screens, flow to the hoop and clean up rebounds on offense. On defense, show and recover quickly to support our extremely aggressive guards, be able to step up and pick off an errant pass in the press and grab rebounds off the rim if the team actually attempts a shot without being turned over
No doubt about it. They knew they could do whatever they wanted to these guys and things got a little wild at times. Then Pitino started to sub early and often using unusual lineup combinations to test.
Thanks for the clarity man!