***OFFICIAL MICHIGAN ST AT MINNESOTA, WILLIE JERSEY RETIREMENT DAY IN-GAME THREAD!!!***

All I said was 2 in 7 years is unacceptable. Quit reading more into it. As I said earlier in this thread, the Wisconsin game is huge now. Win that and we're back on track.
Ok that's better. Good for you! I have a feeling that we are going to surprise Illinois and then beat Wisconsin. This team is not this bad at shooting. Someone is going to pay. Soon.
 

Ok that's better. Good for you! I have a feeling that we are going to surprise Illinois and then beat Wisconsin. This team is not this bad at shooting. Someone is going to pay. Soon.
Illinois is good and our history in that building is pretty awful. That would be the upset of the year.
 

Listened to the game while driving today. As I drove I came to this thought.
Michigan State is to Gopher basketball what the Yankees are to the Twins. Whatever kryptonite Izzo has, I sure wish we could overcome it.
 

The game was about shot making. We played fine on defense until Oturu got his 4th foul and then we had nothing to stop them from going inside. This was not an embarrassment in terms of effort at all, it was simply really bad shooting. Tons of wide open shots in the first half, clank, clank, clank and that took the energy out of the building as well. We have three guys who are just really struggling with shooting confidence in Demir, Willis and Gabe. Yeah, Gabe was 3-9 which is okay, but with those looks, it has to be better.
Agree with this.
 



Never too early. In talking about it last year, it never happened. So we are screwed for even longer.

Think of it like talking about how much better the current players are going to get.

Just looking ahead.
You do what you want. I'm just going to enjoy the rest of the season, which still has the potential to result in excellency.
 

That first half was so depressing. Can you imagine the excitement in that place if the guys were HOT from the outside? We could easily have been up 10 at half. Just sucks. we aren’t as bad a shooting team as we showed.

Watching these two teams go man-to-man against one another, it is hard not to conclude that Michigan State pretty much has the better player at every position. Maybe Oturu would be the only exception. Carr is very good but Winston is electric. Past those two it is fairly comical the disparity. Kalscheur is a good contributor when he is hitting shots. I’m not so enamored with his defense. He may be smart, but his foot speed is so lacking, he got beat several times today because he couldn’t stay with his guy. Willis is serviceable, but with his bad shooting, not much beyond that. Demir seems to be a pretty smart player, but he is so limited athletically that he has a huge disadvantage against a team like MI State. Omersa brings so much energy, but not much beyond that. Can we really afford to play a turnover machine who can’t shoot? Maybe he will improve and prove me wrong. I hope so. Williams seems to have potential, if he can improve his shot. Am I the only one who thinks Pitino is making a big mistake by not playing Ihnen? How could he have been much worse defensively than Omersa? His length alone would have helped. And we sure could have used someone capable of shooting today.
 

I think the team knew that building was ready to explode so they played nervous
 





The theme that the team is better shooting than they are showing appear suspect. Gabe is flat out horrible this season. Many shots do not even draw iron.

Simply put Mn does not have great shooters. Streaky, yes. Consistent, not even close.
 

Totally acceptable, that is your standard. What about one winning conference season and one NCAA win in 6 years ? Just asking for your opinion. Very likely that if we string together a bunch, lets say five straight winning conference records we would win more than one NCAA game !
Back at it again. Badger points out what we all know. Over and over. Badger is the perfect name.
 

That first half was so depressing. Can you imagine the excitement in that place if the guys were HOT from the outside? We could easily have been up 10 at half. Just sucks. we aren’t as bad a shooting team as we showed.

Watching these two teams go man-to-man against one another, it is hard not to conclude that Michigan State pretty much has the better player at every position. Maybe Oturu would be the only exception. Carr is very good but Winston is electric. Past those two it is fairly comical the disparity. Kalscheur is a good contributor when he is hitting shots. I’m not so enamored with his defense. He may be smart, but his foot speed is so lacking, he got beat several times today because he couldn’t stay with his guy. Willis is serviceable, but with his bad shooting, not much beyond that. Demir seems to be a pretty smart player, but he is so limited athletically that he has a huge disadvantage against a team like MI State. Omersa brings so much energy, but not much beyond that. Can we really afford to play a turnover machine who can’t shoot? Maybe he will improve and prove me wrong. I hope so. Williams seems to have potential, if he can improve his shot. Am I the only one who thinks Pitino is making a big mistake by not playing Ihnen? How could he have been much worse defensively than Omersa? His length alone would have helped. And we sure could have used someone capable of shooting today.
I definitely think Pitino should have tried Ihnen in both halves. We started 1-14 from three point range and they were GIVING us the shots wide open.
The thing I hate the most about NET, by the way is there is no doubt that with 5 minutes to go we were going to lose, but Pitino had to play to try to get the margin under 10. I'd have taken the NET hit there (as they did anyway) and played Ihnen the last five minutes. He can shoot.
 



How can Omersa be in the program for 2 years and not have any offensive skills? Sorry but that’s coaching - on the recruiting end. At one time, everyone wrote that he earns his scholarship on the defensive end. Sorry, I guess I missed that today.
Pete- I hear ya, but I am very happy that Omersa is a part of this team. He lacks skills- yes. But he adds character and he plays his fanny off. What I really wish is that Curry were the starting PF or that Coffey were still here and we'd be playing small ball + Oturu. But it is what it is, I definitely am happy that Pitino recruited Omersa. I'd be willing to bet that a lot of kids play for Pitino in years to come (if he stays) because of Omersa.
 

Williams and Ihnen need to play more. Willis and Gabe less {unless they're having a hot night}
 
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Omersa is a good athlete. But, I'm not sure he's a good basketball player.

Being able to run and jump is great - but at some point, you have to be able to make a shot. If the Gophers had 4 or 5 relatively solid contributors on offense, you can afford to have an Omersa as an energy player. But, when you only have two or sometimes one solid contributors on offense, you can't give major minutes to a non-scorer.

didn't see Omersa play in HS. don't know if he every attempted a shot outside of dunks and layups. But I can see no evidence that he can make a shot outside of a dunk or a layup. again, on a different team, that might be OK. on this Gopher team, I'm not sure it works.
 

Never too early. In talking about it last year, it never happened. So we are screwed for even longer.

Think of it like talking about how much better the current players are going to get.

Just looking ahead.
Just enjoy the season, if you are a Gopher fan. Then at the end of the year, if the year stinks, you can come in here, say this and a lot of people will agree with you. I might be one of them. Right now we have a team that is in the hunt for postseason, Pitino is doing a good job with what he has and he has a nice start to a good incoming group for next year. If we are 8-12 or something like that at the end, then blowing it up and looking 4 years down the line might become a strong argument. IF, IF, IF we hire a really coach, it will be three four years before we sniff another NCAA berth. Starting over is NOT fun.
 


Pitino has a worse B10 record than Tubby and Monson, who both got canned.....His days should be numbered if they miss the tourney.
I'm not even going to say I disagree with you here, but a quick scroll through your post history shows you have not said a single positive thing about any Gopher sports in your time on this board. Criticism is fine. Trolling is obnoxious.
 

Have you seen some of these other teams?

I can't see the other three starting for very many other teams. If they would, shouldn't we be winning the big 10 with the Carr and Oturu seasons?
I have.

Second is a dumb and irrelevant question.
 



Omersa is a good athlete. But, I'm not sure he's a good basketball player.

Being able to run and jump is great - but at some point, you have to be able to make a shot. If the Gophers had 4 or 5 relatively solid contributors on offense, you can afford to have an Omersa as an energy player. But, when you only have two or sometimes one solid contributors on offense, you can't give major minutes to a non-scorer.

didn't see Omersa play in HS. don't know if he every attempted a shot outside of dunks and layups. But I can see no evidence that he can make a shot outside of a dunk or a layup. again, on a different team, that might be OK. on this Gopher team, I'm not sure it works.
Again, Omersa is playing an important defensive role because Oturu isn't a great defender yet and would end up on the bench early without him in the game. And Demir isnt either and isnt going to be. I'm sure Pitino hopes the ball doesnt end up in his hands except from an alley-oop. Chambers called Omersa a junkyard dog and said Pitnio uses him perfectly and that he wished he had two of him.
 

Name the ones after Oturu and Carr.

Here are some names to choose from: Kalscheur, willis, hurt, ilhen, conroy, freeman, greenlee, omersa, williams, rudrud
So, I think what you are saying is that Pitino is a heck of a coach since he is in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten with only 2 Big Ten players on his team.
 


Again, Omersa is playing an important defensive role because Oturu isn't a great defender yet and would end up on the bench early without him in the game. And Demir isnt either and isnt going to be. I'm sure Pitino hopes the ball doesnt end up in his hands except from an alley-oop. Chambers called Omersa a junkyard dog and said Pitnio uses him perfectly and that he wished he had two of him.
Omersa did not play well defensively today.
 

So, I think what you are saying is that Pitino is a heck of a coach since he is in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten with only 2 Big Ten players on his team.
Touche, well played.
 

Omersa did not play well defensively today.
No, he didn't. Who did? And him not having a good game shows in Oturu getting in foul trouble.
MSU has a fresh team on the court constantly. They could keep throwing big men on the floor - even so Tillman and another ended with 4 fouls. When our shots didnt fall, we were screwed. Hard to expect the same guys to defend effectively throughout the game against guys who get regular blows.
 

So, I think what you are saying is that Pitino is a heck of a coach since he is in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten with only 2 Big Ten players on his team.

You can go .500 easily with two dam good players and not much at the other three.

Do you follow basketball?
 





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