***OFFICIAL MINNESOTA AT NEBRASKA IN-GAME THREAD!!!***


It’s not why they lost but the opening few minutes when Nebraska missed inside repeatedly but got several second chances (and still missed) and the gophers failed to be up more than 5-0 was foreshadowing.

Nebraska home court is a real thing.
 



Hawkins with 2 assists. It'll drop him to about 4th in the nation.
 




Well that was terrible. Garcia and Payne got rattled and looked like they forgot how to play basketball. On the positive side, Christie had a poor shooting game but didn’t let him affect him and kept competing.

How MN can play so poorly every time in Lincoln is amazing.
 

Well that was terrible. Garcia and Payne got rattled and looked like they forgot how to play basketball. On the positive side, Christie had a poor shooting game but didn’t let him affect him and kept competing.

How MN can play so poorly every time in Lincoln is amazing.
It's wild. We've made some progress this year with our home crowds at Williams, but teams don't seize up when the momentum swings for the Gophers like we have historically at Pinnacle when Nebraska goes on a run.

Props to the Nebraska faithful. They smell the NCAA tournament and would not let their team lose this game.
 





That is not going to happen with those seats selling for the big bucks.
Like other arenas, it has to be a conscious decision by U of M Admin and is not a unique dilemma. . The smart schools find a way to appeal to both. Court side seats for the fat cats, but just beyond that, get the students involved. Williams Arena at least on tv, doesn't give that raucous (near the court) vibe though still a good venue and obviously can get loud. Possibly the elevated court has something to do with it also.
 

Nebraska shut down the post players.

Last season the Gophers had little at guard. This season the Gophers look good there. But...

Which hurt worse: slowed down Payne and Garcia or perimeter game letting down when it was the opportunity.

It's an engine with two chambers that doesn't work every time.

But when it does...

Edit: And talk of Christie to the NBA is premature.
 



Was at the game… glad I got those tix for free.

Pinnacle doesn’t feel like a college arena, but they get great and loud crowds.
 


Why do you get Garcia off the floor with 4 fouls. Down by 17, you are afraid you won’t have him for the stretch?

I hate this silly line of thinking that has dominated basketball for years. Its like baseball in the 90’s that your closer could only pitch in the 9th or football 15 years ago that the only way to win was to run the ball 55% of the time.

that is certainly one of the ways that game strategy has changed over the years. once upon a time, if a key player picked up 2 or even 3 fouls in the first half, a lot of coaches would leave them in the game and just tell them to be 'careful' on defense, or go to a zone to protect them.

now, if a player gets 2 fouls in the first half, they're done until halftime. on occasion I'll see a HS coach defy conventional wisdom and leave a player out there with 2 fouls- but only rarely.

same thing rest of the game - get the 3rd foul; sit for a while. get the 4th foul; sit for a while.

I can't quite put my finger on when this started to change, but it's been pretty common for the last 20 years or so.
 

Imagine if they had an ace shooting guard who could torch a team somewhat reliably (reasonably) for a higher number of points. Also that all the guards/wings/whatever producing.

Christie could be that guy. He is just a freshman. Imagine next season.


So Ben Johnson's evaluation rests on his good in-state recruiting, how his talent pans out.

His guys are working out.

Obviously we will see next season. Payne then into the junior season. Christie then a sophomore.

His guys are moving right along.

It is not possible to evaluate that until next season.
 


Nebraska shut down the post players.

Last season the Gophers had little at guard. This season the Gophers look good there. But...

Which hurt worse: slowed down Payne and Garcia or perimeter game letting down when it was the opportunity.

It's an engine with two chambers that doesn't work every time.

But when it does...

Edit: And talk of Christie to the NBA is premature.
All five cylinders were missing tonight.
 

Nebraska shut down the post players.

Last season the Gophers had little at guard. This season the Gophers look good there. But...

Which hurt worse: slowed down Payne and Garcia or perimeter game letting down when it was the opportunity.

It's an engine with two chambers that doesn't work every time.

But when it does...

Edit: And talk of Christie to the NBA is premature.
Other than Fox and maybe Christie at times the Gophers did little to avoid being slowed down. It seemed Nebraska got every loose ball; we were a step slow all game; and, as much as I like Hawkins, his dribbling at times leads to nothing as guys aren't moving.
 


that is certainly one of the ways that game strategy has changed over the years. once upon a time, if a key player picked up 2 or even 3 fouls in the first half, a lot of coaches would leave them in the game and just tell them to be 'careful' on defense, or go to a zone to protect them.

now, if a player gets 2 fouls in the first half, they're done until halftime. on occasion I'll see a HS coach defy conventional wisdom and leave a player out there with 2 fouls- but only rarely.

same thing rest of the game - get the 3rd foul; sit for a while. get the 4th foul; sit for a while.

I can't quite put my finger on when this started to change, but it's been pretty common for the last 20 years or so.
It's not the players the coaches don't trust. When girls basketball came on board everywhere the pool of officials was cut in half. Very few officials you can trust as a coach...the majority are very inconsistent and unaware. So, limited competent officials in Minnesota HS Basketball is why it changed there.
 

Ref’s weren’t calling much and Nebraska is much more physical than we are.
They definitely were tonight. Would like another shot at them in the BTT, as I feel we’ll play better and they won’t be able to get away with as much physical play as they did tonight.
We didn’t match their physicality nor could we make shots. A rough night all around.
 

Poor shooting night. Garcia was non-existent. We got out guard played big time tonight!
 

Needed to come out quick at the start of the second half and when it didn't happen we were toast. Nebraska is a different animal at home, if we cross paths with them in the BTT I like our chances of winning the season series.

Flush this one and get ready for another tough road game against Illinois on Wednesday.
 



Last night was the 7th worst Big Ten conference loss so far in the month of February. Losses by more than 18 points in the month were:

Illinois (home) beat Michigan by 29

Purdue (home) beat Rutgers by 28

Rutgers (home) beat Wisconsin by 22

Nebraska (home) beat Michigan by 20

Purdue (home) beat Indiana by 20

Nebraska (home) beat Penn State by 19

Total Conference games in February to date = 47

February has been a good month for Nebraska (5-2). They have one game left in the month (at Ohio State).
 
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It's not the players the coaches don't trust. When girls basketball came on board everywhere the pool of officials was cut in half. Very few officials you can trust as a coach...the majority are very inconsistent and unaware. So, limited competent officials in Minnesota HS Basketball is why it changed there.
Gotta ask; you think that womens basketball really becoming a thing in the mid-to-late 70's, literally 45-50 years ago, is a main factor in the shortage of good officials now? Are we sure that, this far down the line, there might not probably be a lot of other factors that might now be the reason?

I have a feeling that it might be more about younger folks thinking about getting into the profession are seeing, hearing and maybe have experienced all the abuse that comes with the job, both working your way up and when you finally reach the level you're striving for, and decided they don't need to put up with the B.S. from fans and coaches. Seems like it's become a far bigger problem over the past dozen years. When you have fans and parents coming after you on the floor or in the parking lot, you tend to consider the alternatives.
 




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