***OFFICIAL MACALASTER AT MINNESOTA EXHIBITION IN-GAME THREAD!!!***

[7Gopher7]

Ben should have gotten T'd up just to honor Bobby Knight.

Horrible human being

 

[bga1]

Hawkins definitely plays with an intensity our team has been missing the last couple years.

..and swagger.

One last thing about last night. Macalaster was daring us to shoot threes because that was there only hope. The Gophers did a nice job resisting just casting up three after three. I really liked the patience to not just jack the open one no matter what. I don't have a problem with much I saw last night. Missing Payne and Christie certainly changes things. Other than the lack of intensity in the early part of the first half- this was a good start.

 

[Gold Vision]

We outscored them 50-4 in the paint, our % will be good. They didn't pay a player over 6'5. That is where a lot of the numbers came from. Our wing players struggled to shoot, like last year. We still did not address the biggest weakness on this team..shooting the 3..

Out transfer guards are an upgrade over last year.

What was the 3pt% last night? It seemed like they were hitting a pretty good clip after the first ten minutes.

I also would not say 3pt shooting was last years biggest weakness. It was easily their half court and transition defense.

Edit: We shot 38.5% from 3pt on the night including 47% in the second half. They had a slow start, but they were pretty lights out from 3 for the game.

 

[Gold Vision]

Box Score linked below for those interested.

Box Score

32 assists on 38 made FG is fantastic. So is only 5 turnovers. Only forcing 8 turnovers is a little concerning.

 

[fan of Ray Williams]

Treyton Thompson with 6 points and 8 boards in Stetson’s win in an exhibition game. 2 of 4 from the field and 2 of 4 from the line. No 3 pt attempts. (Hope no one minds I put it here.)

 

[Lou Hudson]

Treyton Thompson with 6 points and 8 boards in Stetson’s win in an exhibition game. 2 of 4 from the field and 2 of 4 from the line. No 3 pt attempts. (Hope no one minds I put it here.)

Just don’t start an “All-Things Treyton Thompson” thread, please.

 

[tikited]

Just don’t start an “All-Things Treyton Thompson” thread, please.

I completely forgot he exists.

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

I completely forgot he exists.

Geez, next you'll be telling us that you forgot that Abdoulaye Thiam exits!

​

 

[touchdownvikings]

We outscored them 50-4 in the paint, our % will be good. They didn't pay a player over 6'5. That is where a lot of the numbers came from. Our wing players struggled to shoot, like last year. We still did not address the biggest weakness on this team..shooting the 3..

Out transfer guards are an upgrade over last year.

Last year, I thought the Gophers' most prominent systemic deficiencies were: (1) inability to shoot the 3 reliably; (2) poor free throw shooting; (3) poor rebounding; and (4) lack of a true rim protector.

I'm love basketball but don't understand it the way I do football. That said, in my view, by just fixing #2 and #3, the Gophers could have won a handful more games.

Do you agree?

Did you see evidence that the Gophers are advancing on any of those points?

 

[Sane24]

Last year, I thought the Gophers' most prominent systemic deficiencies were: (1) inability to shoot the 3 reliably; (2) poor free throw shooting; (3) poor rebounding; and (4) lack of a true rim protector.

I'm love basketball but don't understand it the way I do football. That said, in my view, by just fixing #2 and #3, the Gophers could have won a handful more games.

Do you agree?

Did you see evidence that the Gophers are advancing on any of those points?

Rebounding will improve with Payne 6-9, Garcia 6-11, Ihnen 6-10, Christie 6-6 and Mitchell 6-4 playing more minutes.

 

[Sane24]

Rebounding will improve with Payne 6-9, Garcia 6-11, Ihnen 6-10, Christie 6-6 and Mitchell 6-4 playing more minutes.

Mitchell is 6-2, but if I exaggerate his height, it may improve his rebounding.

 

[GoodasGold]

Mitchell is 6-2, but if I exaggerate his height, it may improve his rebounding.

Always round up!

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

Rebounding will improve with Payne 6-9, Garcia 6-11, Ihnen 6-10, Christie 6-6 and Mitchell 6-4 playing more minutes.

Maybe. But maybe not. None of them have Jordan Murphy instincts. Twitch and quickness. No surprise there.

Its not just rebounding but all the loose balls that our guys don't recover. Its all about quickness, twitch and court awareness. We lack that. Maybe outside of Hawkins. The rest stink.

 

[Jack jones]

Horrible human being

Couldn’t disagree more. Knight did so much for his players. Never heard one bad mouth him.

 

[ecoperson]

Neil Reed might have tried bad-mouthing Knight had Bobby not been choking him.

 

[ecoperson]

No, I'm saying we no have individual defenders who can guard a D3 scorer. Do you think anyone else we play will have a leading scorer we might want to prevent from having a career high? Think about it...he plays D3 and his career high is versus the Gophers.

In a team defense - 5 guys guarding the ball. You take things away, you help, you shade to the scorer. You adjust to take away the strengths of the opponent. Did we do do that?

Will we ever trap the other team's best player?

Why did we schedule Macalester if we are not going to prepare to play them?
Do you think our players feel good about our defense? Our preparation? Our confidence going forward after allowing 41 points to a D3 6 foot guard? The idea is to hold the opponents leading scorers under their averages significantly...this allows you to compete with lesser talent and skill than the other team has....which will be the case in the Big Ten.

It's an exhibition. The game doesn't count so this is not Williams' career high. I wouldn't read too much into this game. The goal is to work up a lather against someone other than your teammates and not get injured.

 

[Jack jones]

Neil Reed might have tried bad-mouthing Knight had Bobby not been choking him.

After the conflict, Reed admitted he was at fault.

 

[7Gopher7]

Couldn’t disagree more. Knight did so much for his players. Never heard one bad mouth him.

I guess you are right. Wonderful person.

 

[MplsGopher]

Impressive young man, the MAC kid: https://athletics.macalester.edu/sports/mens-basketball/roster/caleb-williams/12627

Math/Physics major. All-everything in basketball for their conf, academic all-state. Very talented jumper in track, sadly looks like senior track season was cancelled for covid.

If you click on the roster bio link, it shows him standing next to a MAC physics professor, who it looks like could not be paid to give a S about the picture.

 

[MissouriGopher]

Box Score linked below for those interested.

Box Score

32 assists on 38 made FG is fantastic. So is only 5 turnovers. Only forcing 8 turnovers is a little concerning.

Only 8 turnovers but we probably had like 20-25 deflections. To someone else’s point, we struggled to secure the ball after those deflections and Mac got to most of those 50/50 balls. It also felt like Caleb Williams nailed an NBA 3 after every deflection that they recovered. Isaiah is looooooooong and can wreak havoc on the defensive end.

 

[fan of Ray Williams]

Only 8 turnovers but we probably had like 20-25 deflections. To someone else’s point, we struggled to secure the ball after those deflections and Mac got to most of those 50/50 balls. It also felt like Caleb Williams nailed an NBA 3 after every deflection that they recovered. Isaiah is looooooooong and can wreak havoc on the defensive end.

Maybe get a little better idea after the game with Bethune-Cookman and their little guard, Zion Harmon. Looking forward to see who draws him.
On another note, Christie has now missed around 3 weeks. Not a good thing at all for this team. Going to be awhile before he regains his strength.
Another side note, Reggie Theus is also the AD at Bethune-Cookman.