***OFFICIAL MINNESOTA VS CALIFORNIA BAPTIST SO CAL CHALLENGE IN-GAME THREAD!!!***

A couple of observations from seeing the squad at 'full strength' (w/o Fox and Ihnen, of course):

Garcia and Battle are not very athletic. They are just not laterally quick. I did appreciate watching them defensively. Garcia, in particular, is savvy and does a good job finding the offensive threat and then sliding off to put a body on another player. This was apparent at the end of OT as CBU was trying to win. I believe Payne was a step slow in picking up his man in the lane so Garcia picked him up and then slid to another once Payne recovered. Elemental basketball but not always easy. Garcia has a calmness about him on both ends of the floor.

While Battle had an off game shooting, he will be far more effective as a player if he mixes it up a bit. He is still in shoot first mode from outside- that is so last year. He needs to move the ball or back his man down or incorporate some mid-range shots into his game. Having both Battle and Garcia on the floor definitely provides some offensive options but they need to work at complementing one another versus just being outside shooters.
One man’s calm is another’s low motor. I say that as someone who is generally calm. Garcia came up with the winner last night but didn’t generally have a good game. I also thought I saw him calling for a sub in the second half because he was gassed. It’s a recurring theme that guys are out of shape. I’m seeing evidence that is true. Battle has a reason. Garcia doesn’t as far as we know.
 

tuesday taco night? or tomorrow's unlv game? either way is good

btw, the high for today in San Juan Capistrano: 71 degrees

anyone see a line yet? wondering if the gophers are dogs again
Are you and Combes related?
 

Was he wrong when Battle cut the lead to one, ultimately setting up Garcia to be the hero. Battle was gassed and not in his best form, but I would take a shitty version of Battle over a Freshman in that situation. Basketball you roll with your best guys and let them fall where they fall
Going forward, I don't mind Battle taking shots in those moments. But he clearly didn't have the legs for shooting 3's last night. It was shot selection as much as anything else.
 

tuesday taco night? or tomorrow's unlv game? either way is good

btw, the high for today in San Juan Capistrano: 71 degrees

anyone see a line yet? wondering if the gophers are dogs again

Haven't see a line yet, but every time I hear the name of the town, I can't get this out of my head

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thanks, I was hoping it was the early one, but consolation always goes first.
Actually the 2nd game is after the Championship at about midnight (10pm Pacific). I’m sure due to TV.
 

Other takeaways:

- cooper played 40 min: too much for him as we have no other ball handlers and need him for the B10 season *maybe these huge early season minutes helped contribute to his team high 4 turnovers
- JOJ needs more than 4 minutes
- 9 assists last night and 7 were by Cooper (2 by the rest of the team * in an OT extended game is pathetic)
- FTs
-28% on treys 5/18 - maybe there is a reason teams let us shoot…
- 0 blocks all game when you play a rather tall lineup
- 5 pts off turnovers (Baptist turned it over 12 times and we only convert for 5 points…)
Did you watch the game at all?
 



The Gopher are in a rebuild mode correct?

Sure would be nice to see him play more than 7 guys. I get the feeling we are in for another year like last year with regards to minutes. 6-7 guys.
Ramberg is a starter for the first 3-4 games, last night he doesn't see the court? C'MON MAN!!!
 



One doesn’t need to watch the game to make those observations. The data is in the box score.
How many times did Cal Baptist go inside? Could that explain some of the block shot numbers? did you see why JOJ played 4 minutes? What did he do? Is he hurt? Was he limping post game?

Not even sure why they televise the games TBH. Box scores > eye test
 




I'm not really concenred about the coaching staff's ability to handle Battle's injury.

I am concerned with the coaching staff's ability to coach a tight game against a subpar team. Our two minute offense was almost entirely allowing an obviously gassed Battle in his first game back, to just dribble around and miss deep, contested 3's.

I would be less concerned if this was the first time we saw that offense, but that was how the offense functioned for majority of the B1G season last season.
Do you really imagine that Battle simply dribbled the ball by himself and then chucked up 3's? If you do then you were playing the game on your Nintendo switch. If you were actually watching the game, you'd have realized that the team played with more confidence when Battle was in the game. The ball movement was better (not great) when Battle was playing and much worse when he was out. Those freshmen rallied around him and played better when he was in the game. Take Battle out and you lose by 5 in regulation.
 

tuesday taco night? or tomorrow's unlv game? either way is good

btw, the high for today in San Juan Capistrano: 71 degrees

anyone see a line yet? wondering if the gophers are dogs again
Of course they will be underdogs. These young kids will have to prove otherwise. Personally, I couldn't care less about who is picked to win.
 

The Gopher are in a rebuild mode correct?

Sure would be nice to see him play more than 7 guys. I get the feeling we are in for another year like last year with regards to minutes. 6-7 guys.
Ramberg is a starter for the first 3-4 games, last night he doesn't see the court? C'MON MAN!!!
My heart pumps camel water for you.
 

Do you really imagine that Battle simply dribbled the ball by himself and then chucked up 3's? If you do then you were playing the game on your Nintendo switch. If you were actually watching the game, you'd have realized that the team played with more confidence when Battle was in the game. The ball movement was better (not great) when Battle was playing and much worse when he was out. Those freshmen rallied around him and played better when he was in the game. Take Battle out and you lose by 5 in regulation.

I was definitely watching the game and I am talking about the last several possessions over the final 3 minutes. Over that time the Gophers scored 1 point, a FT by Carrington. The Gophers attempted 5 FGs, all misses, 4 of them were 3 pointers by Battle, the other was a miss by Carrington. Battle had the ball in his hands the majority of that time, and they didn't attempt to go down low once to Payne, who was dominating.

I guess maybe you fell asleep.
 

The Gopher are in a rebuild mode correct?

Sure would be nice to see him play more than 7 guys. I get the feeling we are in for another year like last year with regards to minutes. 6-7 guys.
Ramberg is a starter for the first 3-4 games, last night he doesn't see the court? C'MON MAN!!!
Losing out on Ramberg minutes is a big blow.
 

How many times did Cal Baptist go inside? Could that explain some of the block shot numbers? did you see why JOJ played 4 minutes? What did he do? Is he hurt? Was he limping post game?

Not even sure why they televise the games TBH. Box scores > eye test
Vegas odds makers do pretty good by not watching the games. Data is better than the eye test
 

Vegas odds makers do pretty good by not watching the games. Data is better than the eye test
Oddsmakers are not equal to coaching decisions, analysis, etc. They also have algorithms, analysis and do watch games.

Oddsmakers don’t say “lack of Joshua ola-Joseph will change our line!

Also ignoring anything else I said is A+ work!
 



Oddsmakers are not equal to coaching decisions, analysis, etc. They also have algorithms, analysis and do watch games.

Oddsmakers don’t say “lack of Joshua ola-Joseph will change our line!

Also ignoring anything else I said is A+ work!
I don’t care if JOJ gets 2 quick fouls in his 4 min of play, he still warrants more than 4 minutes…especially when battle is on a minutes restriction.

For you saying they don’t go inside, they still shot 37 2 pt field goals. I think it’s fair to say a team that rolls out a near 7 footer (thompson - who played 21 min), a 6’11” forward (Garcia - played 25 min), a 6’9” center (Payne - who played 15 min) and a 6’7” forward (battle - who played 36 min) …plus 25 min by Henley (6’7” at a guard spot)…(A taller team one could argue)…should have at least a few blocks if they are contesting shots here and there (even if just of the 37 two pointers).

Instead of arguing the data, maybe learn how to interpret it.

What’s your argument for only 2 assists outside of Cooper in an OT extended game? How is my analysis off there (which again is based off of the data, which doesn’t lie).
 


Losing out on Ramberg minutes is a big blow.
Couldn't agree more. However, he states before the game they were going to limit the minutes Battle was going to play. Yet there he is in the box score playing the 3rd most minutes, in his first game back.

Samuels plays 5, JOJ plays 4, Ramberg plays zero. Yet "we are going to limit his minutes".

Come January he will play 6 guys and sprinkle in a minute or two for Thompson, JOJ, Samuels and in a blowout Ramberg.
 

I don’t care if JOJ gets 2 quick fouls in his 4 min of play, he still warrants more than 4 minutes…especially when battle is on a minutes restriction.

For you saying they don’t go inside, they still shot 37 2 pt field goals. I think it’s fair to say a team that rolls out a near 7 footer (thompson - who played 21 min), a 6’11” forward (Garcia - played 25 min), a 6’9” center (Payne - who played 15 min) and a 6’7” forward (battle - who played 36 min) …plus 25 min by Henley (6’7” at a guard spot)…(A taller team one could argue)…should have at least a few blocks if they are contesting shots here and there (even if just of the 37 two pointers).

Instead of arguing the data, maybe learn how to interpret it.

What’s your argument for only 2 assists outside of Cooper in an OT extended game? How is my analysis off there (which again is based off of the data, which doesn’t lie).
The scorekeeper was very stingy. That assist total seemed way off honestly. Go watch again, it was weird
 

Couldn't agree more. However, he states before the game they were going to limit the minutes Battle was going to play. Yet there he is in the box score playing the 3rd most minutes, in his first game back.

Samuels plays 5, JOJ plays 4, Ramberg plays zero. Yet "we are going to limit his minutes".

Come January he will play 6 guys and sprinkle in a minute or two for Thompson, JOJ, Samuels and in a blowout Ramberg.
No one was more vocal about the Johnson hire as me. Hopefully he can recruit enough to win. So far I’m unimpressed by his coaching. Are you a gopher fan or Jayhawks fan? Serious Q. Cause I cannot imagine being on this site and following this team for fun.
 
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I don’t care if JOJ gets 2 quick fouls in his 4 min of play, he still warrants more than 4 minutes…especially when battle is on a minutes restriction.

For you saying they don’t go inside, they still shot 37 2 pt field goals. I think it’s fair to say a team that rolls out a near 7 footer (thompson - who played 21 min), a 6’11” forward (Garcia - played 25 min), a 6’9” center (Payne - who played 15 min) and a 6’7” forward (battle - who played 36 min) …plus 25 min by Henley (6’7” at a guard spot)…(A taller team one could argue)…should have at least a few blocks if they are contesting shots here and there (even if just of the 37 two pointers).

Instead of arguing the data, maybe learn how to interpret it.

What’s your argument for only 2 assists outside of Cooper in an OT extended game? How is my analysis off there (which again is based off of the data, which doesn’t lie).
Do you think, perhaps, Battle wasn’t on a minutes restriction and it was an off the cuff comment Johnson made? Because the restriction was as a speed limit. Advised, ignored.

Youre right. Tall guys should be blocking 2s taken by guards from 18ft. The gophers don’t have a shot blocker. I thought they had a couple blocks watching it. The high school gym score keeper missed them. And the assists seem off. Same reason. But I’m just going off watching the game.
 




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