***OFFICIAL MICHIGAN AT MINNESOTA BIG TEN HOME OPENER IN-GAME THREAD!!!***

[GophersInIowa]

I’m really disappointed in Battle. Post up once in awhile. He’s great at the turnaround. Or drive a bit more. He looks to shoot from the outside only too much.

 

[golfing18now]

Fucking awful. I made the decision earlier to bail on this season, should have had more self discipline. What a fuckinf joke.

Are you now waxing nostalgic about your buddy Richard Pitino's tenure? I know you were always a fan.

 

[BTChamp]

Best spikeless golf shoes of the year. Maybe I accidentally got lucky. That hasn't happened for a long time.

 

[skyman31]

Love Cooper's offensive game. Has everything you want from a PG. Hate his defense.

Ola-Joseph should not be allowed to shoot the ball again until he gets an assist on the year. 162 minutes, 48 shot attempts, and 0 assists is pathetic. Ball just gets stuck in his hands.

Payne is a beast. Only good thing I can take away from this one

 

[SomeGopherFan]

This was a rough one tonight. I thought Michigan was vulnerable and we might get a little energy from the conference home opener...but we got stomped. Still not giving out hope we can't be better by end of season and at least have a little momentum for next year, but no sugar coating this one. Ick.

 

[GoodasGold]

Imagine how good we would be if we were able to make jump shots...

Scoring pts is underrated.

 

[BTChamp]

Scoring pts is underrated.

We don't need no stinking points!!!!

 

[golfing18now]

Love Cooper's offensive game. Has everything you want from a PG. Hate his defense.

Ola-Joseph should not be allowed to shoot the ball again until he gets an assist on the year. 162 minutes, 48 shot attempts, and 0 assists is pathetic. Ball just gets stuck in his hands.

Payne is a beast. Only good thing I can take away from this one

That is hard to believe. I thought he had been a black hole when the ball gets in his hands, but wow.

 

[GoodasGold]

I am surprised Garcia is this bad

I’m beginning to believe he was over-hyped.

 

[bga1]

I want effort on defense, that is the only way they are going to be competitive, Cooper may give you some points but holy cow, bad as bad can get on defense.

I like Cooper but he is SLOW footed.

 

[stocker08]

Positives
- Less hero ball. Battle not jacking up shots. Henley still makes some really ill advised, out of control drives
- Freshman strength. Payne and Ola Joseph are both physically ready for the Big Ten. Both went at Dickenson and had some success. Watching JOJ take him one on one and back him into the lane was a surprise. These two guys fight for rebounds like you'd hope to see all the guys fight.

Negatives include defense and a lot of the offense. So lots to work on.

 

[bga1]

The barn is dead and has been for years. So sad. You can hear a pin drop in there tonight.

The highlight of the game when it was 0-0, lasted 3 seconds when Cooper stole the ball and took off and then got it stolen away. For a few seconds there I thought we came to play. I got straightened out in a hurry.

 

[BTChamp]

The highlight of the game when it was 0-0, lasted 3 seconds when Cooper stole the ball and took off and then got it stolen away. For a few seconds there I thought we came to play. I got straightened out in a hurry.

I thought the same. Nice defense, then some gremlin comes out of nowhere (actually in plain sight) and took it out of Cooper's hands like it was nothing.

 

[Johnnyboy18]

Free Lizi

]

 

[TruthSeeker]

That is hard to believe. I thought he had been a black hole when the ball gets in his hands, but wow.

He's rivaling Humphries.

 

[howeda7]

This team appears sent to kill off the last remains of the fanbase.

I watch almost every game. I had to fast forward through most of this one. Unwatchable. My sympathies to those who pay $$ for season tickets.

 

[howeda7]

I turned the game off awhile ago, but apparently the score is so bad the Gopher site shut off the live stats.

I'm impressed someone was on the ball enough to do that.

 

[BTChamp]

Does 15 points count as a quality loss to what I thought was the shittiest team in the BIG? Maybe michicunt has Cade McClown wanting people to keep saying it......

 

[howeda7]

I like Cooper but he is SLOW footed.

Not a small issue in a PG. That's like saying I like the QB but his accuracy sucks.

 

[howeda7]

Positives: Between starting the game late and December rain taking out the signal for awhile, I could watch this train wreck in under an hour.

JOJ.

Negatives: Everything else

 

[Bad Gopher]

Like my wife said, "What kind of date night was THIS!?"

 

[GopherBlood777]

Their offense at least came alive in the second half, but their commitment to aggressively hedge off of screens cost them 25 pts on defense. They used this strategy previously and didn't look this bad, so what happened tonight?

 

[BarnBurner]

Their offense at least came alive in the second half, but their commitment to aggressively hedge off of screens cost them 25 pts on defense. They used this strategy previously and didn't look this bad, so what happened tonight?

Better competition?

 

[GopherBlood777]

Better competition?

Better than Purdue? Idk, whatever it is they need major adjustments on defense so our center is not having to run from the top of the key back to the low box trying to find a body. Leaves the whole team one step behind.

 

[BarnBurner]

Better than Purdue? Idk, whatever it is they need major adjustments on defense so our center is not having to run from the top of the key back to the low box trying to find a body. Leaves the whole team one step behind.

Yup, you are right. Its difficult to watch. How do other teams integrating new players, freshmen, look so much better most of the time?

 

[PoockItInfor6]

JOJ and Payne look really good to me (besides JOJ being very easy to read when he has decided I’m getting a shot up no matter what). Battle is scoring efficiently financially, and offense as a whole looked better yesterday than I had seen yet this year! The defensive hedging strategy didn’t work very well though and we were in a huge hole almost immediately (with Michigan hitting the outside shots at a lethal pace they hadn’t previously done).

 

[PhiloVance]

Can anyone help me identify the type of offense BJ employees...is it motion or flex or swing or ball screen or ???

 

[GopherBlood777]

JOJ and Payne look really good to me (besides JOJ being very easy to read when he has decided I’m getting a shot up no matter what). Battle is scoring efficiently financially, and offense as a whole looked better yesterday than I had seen yet this year! The defensive hedging strategy didn’t work very well though and we were in a huge hole almost immediately (with Michigan hitting the outside shots at a lethal pace they hadn’t previously done).

We did have improved offense in the second half against Michigan and Purdue. However, we were down by 20 in both situations. I was encouraged after Purdue, but after last night, I'm thinking it was more a product of the opponent getting comfortable with a large lead. I'd like to see that second half offense when we are in a close game or perhaps even leading.

 

[Spottedmuskie]

Love Cooper's offensive game. Has everything you want from a PG. Hate his defense.

Ola-Joseph should not be allowed to shoot the ball again until he gets an assist on the year. 162 minutes, 48 shot attempts, and 0 assists is pathetic. Ball just gets stuck in his hands.

Payne is a beast. Only good thing I can take away from this one

JOJ sounds like Timberwolves legend Shabazz Muhammed. Great job Tubby for beating Shabazz in the tourney

 

[Dupreefor3]

Thought this was a good read, it was a free so I don't think any paywall rules were broken.

Minnesota Gophers Basketball: Minnesota/Michigan Re-watch Player/Team Notes

Michigan defeated Minnesota 90-75 at Williams Arena last night. In what was a frustrating game, I didn't feel like I came away with a great feel for what went wrong, and

247sports.com