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

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The ballhandling was really, really good tonight. Only committed three turnovers with 17 assists to boot.

Just not enough size and/or shooting from long range to complete a comeback.

With that said, I really liked that the guys competed hard to the very end. Way too many times in the past, we've seen Gopher teams totally pack it in when they get behind. Apparently, that isn't an issue for this team.
 




I’m still optimistic we’ll win some we aren’t supposed to. They’re fun to watch, play hard for the most part. Tonight was just about shooting. They did it well and we didn’t. Really impressed with the lack of turnovers on offense.

Willis did not play well though. Head wasn’t in it for some reason. No excuse for his brain fart on that late free throw situation.
 

matt said:
It’s interesting to me that MSU didn’t beat us up inside. They beat us with the 3. I would have expected Izzo to really work it inside.
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Curry's defense has been very underrated. No team has gone inside much on us, even though Pitt, Miss St., and Michigan state all have skilled big men. Daniels isn't a bad defender either
 

GophersInIowa said:
I’m still optimistic we’ll win some we aren’t supposed to. They’re fun to watch, play hard for the most part. Tonight was just about shooting. They did it well and we didn’t. Really impressed with the lack of turnovers on offense.

Willis did not play well though. Head wasn’t in it for some reason. No excuse for his brain fart on that late free throw situation.
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Me too.
Really bad. Hopefully they learn from this one.
 

big10guy said:
Nobody goes to offensive boards. Ever. Only time we have is Loewe's game winning tap in. We don't even have anyone inside the arc. So when shots aren't falling, we've got nothing.
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MSU got one more ORB than us. This was an improvement over earlier in the season.
 


manny77 said:
Slow start and a lot of standing around away from ball. But loved the hard work-athletically they are not Michigan State. They will pass all expectations before the season.
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already passed all of mine! Man these guys work hard. Fun to watch the underdogs.
 

It wouldn’t be a loss to Sparty without the gratuitous pat on the head from Izzo, saying at the end of his post-game interview on BTN “That’s a good team. People are going to be fooled but Ben Johnson’s done a hell of a job.” If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that from him over the last 25 years I’d be able to fund an entire back court through NILs.
 

SanDiegoGopherFan said:
Im sold. We get even a little bit extra talent and definitely some Bigs to rebound. Its gonna be real fun.

Looks like Ill be attending Gopher bball games again.

Nice job Team!
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If next years recruiting class is rounded out with a 7 footer and a transfer PG like MSU got I’ll be driving up 169 myself to watch a few in person
 

WindyCityGopher said:
It wouldn’t be a loss to Sparty without the gratuitous pat on the head from Izzo, saying at the end of his post-game interview on BTN “That’s a good team. People are going to be fooled but Ben Johnson’s done a hell of a job.” If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that from him over the last 25 years I’d be able to fund an entire back court through NILs.
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I don’t think he ever gave RP much credit but I do remember him being enamored with Tubby. He was appalled when he was fired.
 

I like that they didn't quit, but the "comeback" from down 19 to down 9 at home isn't anything to write home about. It's much easier to do that than go from 12 down to down 2 or 8 down to up 2. Michigan State was in total control the vast majority of that game. Most teams are not going to win when the shoot as poorly as the Gophers did tonight and this Gopher team certainly isn't going to beat Michigan State by shooting poorly.

I do think that one of the lesser reasons why I really wanted an established coach in here showed up tonight in terms of respect from the officials. There were a number of times in the first half where the Gophers took it strong to the cup and faced contact and came away with neither a basket or free throws. That was probably the difference between being down double digits at half and being down like 6. Then you had the Loewe no call in the second. Obviously these calls had zero impact on the outcome of the game, but they will matter when playing more "beatable" opposition.

I don't really have any negatives or positives from this game as it doesn't really make me any more optomistic or pessimistic for the rest of the year. Not a great effort nor a poor one.

Favorite play of the game was the Sutherlin steal and slam in the second half. Type of play we just haven't seen much of over the past few years.

Brian Butch sounds like Dan Dakich to me and often makes "Dakich like" observations.
 

matt said:
It’s interesting to me that MSU didn’t beat us up inside. They beat us with the 3. I would have expected Izzo to really work it inside.
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everyone has been saying this about every opponent we've played so far..
MAYBE It has something to do with how we are defending and making it difficult for teams to get it inside despite the size mismatch.?????
 

matt said:
Key Stats
3 pt: MSU 10-21, Minn 6-23
Rebounds: MSU 44, Minn 29
Turnovers: MSU 13, Minn 3
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I love the 17-3 assist/turnover ratio. This is a team that values the basketball and makes the extra pass.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I’m still optimistic we’ll win some we aren’t supposed to. They’re fun to watch, play hard for the most part. Tonight was just about shooting. They did it well and we didn’t. Really impressed with the lack of turnovers on offense.

Willis did not play well though. Head wasn’t in it for some reason. No excuse for his brain fart on that late free throw situation.
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My guess is he was exhausted. Mental errors occur when you’re tired. Inexcusable but that’s my thought. Hopefully he learns from it
 

RogueGopher said:
everyone has been saying this about every opponent we've played so far..
MAYBE It has something to do with how we are defending and making it difficult for teams to get it inside despite the size mismatch.?????
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This. No easy entry passes. There will be moments they get killed inside but perimeter ball pressure was really solid
 

'Haven't seen MSU play before tonight. This had to be one of their better games and they looked like a ranked team. Every time the Gophers got close, MSU responded. That is a sign of a good team.

The Gophers gave a great effort but needed to shoot well and they didn't. End of story.
 


GophersInIowa said:
I’m still optimistic we’ll win some we aren’t supposed to. They’re fun to watch, play hard for the most part. Tonight was just about shooting. They did it well and we didn’t. Really impressed with the lack of turnovers on offense.

Willis did not play well though. Head wasn’t in it for some reason. No excuse for his brain fart on that late free throw situation.
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That's been a trend so far. Going into this game, we were 15th in the country for fewest turnovers committed per game. Maybe that'll go up as we play better teams, but this team doesn't seem to just make ill-advised or lazy passes, outside of a stretch late in the Princeton game where it felt like we did it for a few possessions in a row. But I've noticed they've done a good job taking care of the ball so far. They seem to commit relatively few fouls as well.
 

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