***OFFICIAL MINNESOTA VS MICHIGAN BTT IN-GAME THREAD!!!!***

Donate To GopherHole

WriterGoph said:
Yes, because of the energy expended to overcome a 16-point lead against one of the hottest teams in the country - especially only playing 6 guys.
Click to expand...

I get what you're saying, but that seems like a zero sum approach to the oncourt efforts. Would Mich have had to expend proportionately more energy early to get the 16 pt lead?
 

Ewert86PC said:
Depressing and expected loss. Well, on to the NCAA tourney, I hope.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

LOL...the troll is back! Your own teams weren't doing anything so you had to troll on other sites where teams had advanced further than yours.
 

Definitely felt the loss of Springs today We played well with a few sloppy mistakes. Free throw disparity bothers me given how hard we drove to the hoop. If we were Dook, we would have shot 40 FTs in this game.

Need to somehow turn loss of Springs into a strength. Maybe playing with the rotations and offensive sets to give opponent something they cannot game plan for.
 

Okie said:
Not too often a team has two players go off like Wagner in the first and Walton in the second.
Click to expand...
Yep. Walton and Wagner had career days. Wagner is a clone of Dirk Nowiski (sp) and will be very good at the next level. Walton had better numbers than Mason on the season. He may have felt snubbed by not getting first team B1G honors. Walton was great today.
Tip the hat to the Wolverines and get ready for the games that count. Sweet 16 this year!
 


Ewert86PC said:
Depressing and expected loss. Well, on to the NCAA tourney, I hope.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
4fd250f0981eda5870700a1f68ce1e7b.jpg
 



Would have been a great comeback - we really dominated that game in the second half until Kobe warged into Walton Jr down the stretch. Curry really struggled - how many times did he bail guys out in late shot clock situations with silly fouls. Not that he would or should take my advice, but if it were me, I would not tolerate the amount of complaining / pouting Curry engages in on foul calls. Really don't understand how / why Pitino puts up with it. It's just a way of evading responsibility for defensive lapses which he makes over and over again. Don't mean to be so hard on him, I really like him as a player, but it's frustrating to see him not making the simple corrections (like keeping you're feet) that you should be able to correct. Gotta take ownership.
 



This game was all about 3 things to me

1. First 8-10 minutes of the game defensively: Michigan scored on 9 of 10 possessions to open the game and I stopped counting after that. They had a couple 3's in there, so the Gophers were giving up over 2 points a possession...inexcusable. This set the tone for the game.

2. First half turnovers: Amir had 2-3 really bad turnovers that lead directly to layups. The team as a whole turned the ball over in ways that lead directly to transition points. Most of these turnovers were more Gophers making bad decisions or careless plays than anything Michigan was doing.

3. Failure to convert inside 5 feet: I am not sure I remember a game where a Gopher team missed so many layups and very short floaters. This was an issue in both halves and is impossible to overcome in such a tight game.

I felt like the Gophers were the better team for much of the game today they dominated inside but couldn't overcome a lot of self inflicted mistakes. The announcers were raving about Michigan, but it was the Gophers that were getting dunks and shots at the rim on nearly every possession...they just did a shockingly poor job of finishing. My one homer take is that I would have liked to have seen a few more fouls called on Michigan at the rim. Nate Mason's foul down 3 with about a minute to play was mind boggling. I have sung the praises of Nate's floor game, but he's made some really crucial mistakes late in a number of games this year.
 

Holf said:
Would have been a great comeback - we really dominated that game in the second half until Kobe warged into Walton Jr down the stretch. Curry really struggled - how many times did he bail guys out in late shot clock situations with silly fouls. Not that he would or should take my advice, but if it were me, I would not tolerate the amount of complaining / pouting Curry engages in on foul calls. Really don't understand how / why Pitino puts up with it. It's just a way of evading responsibility for defensive lapses which he makes over and over again. Don't mean to be so hard on him, I really like him as a player, but it's frustrating to see him not making the simple corrections (like keeping you're feet) that you should be able to correct. Gotta take ownership.
Click to expand...

Curry has been good way more than bad and I love the intensity His defense away from the basket is better than Lynch's. Lynch was the one leaving his feet.

Kid missed some bunnies and needs to fix that. Other than that, give him a break.
 

After a rough first 8 minutes, the Gophers settled in and played a pretty well-fought battle against a Michigan team that's firing on all cylinders. They're a match-up nightmare for us since our bigs have issues closing out on their bigs that can hit perimeter shots. That's where not having Springs was killer, he was a leader on defense in terms of communication. You could tell the Gophers were rattled with having less than 24 hours to prepare to play without him. Could've been different with more time to prepare. We got destroyed on the pick-and-roll, and that's a combination of moving your feet and communicating.

It would've been nice to be able to put Konate, Hurt or Gilbert in for a few minutes to give the starters a breather if nothing else. But Hurt still has a lot of developing to do in his game, and Gilbert/Konate lack that lateral quickness on defense to have any chance to see the floor against Michigan. It would have been a train wreck.

The Gophers have got to focus on finishing stronger at the rim. They go up for shots anticipating contact or that they'll get a whistle. Just go up strong, make the basket and let the rest take care of itself. Lot of missed lay-ups that proved costly, which is frustrating.

Nice to see them battle back, but having to do all that work to tie it up with 6 players left them gassed in the critical minutes. Mason's foul on Walton was when he was dead tired and reached instead of moving his feet. Gotta credit Walton and Michigan, though, he wouldn't let them lose.

Still a great year and a classy gesture by Pitino on the flight home to thank Springs for his contributions this year. And he's not done, you can still be involved on the bench and telling the guys on the court what you're seeing. That can be extremely valuable in making adjustments.

Gophers are getting their first NCAA bid under Pitino, and without a sweat. The Selection Show is far more entertaining when the Gophers are involved. Now it's all about match-ups. The Sweet 16 is still very possible, how fun would that be? Go Gophers!
 

Block M said:
Curry has been good way more than bad and I love the intensity His defense away from the basket is better than Lynch's. Lynch was the one leaving his feet.

Kid missed some bunnies and needs to fix that. Other than that, give him a break.
Click to expand...

Curry whines after EVERY foul, it's obnoxious. I love him, I think he will be a great player but I don't like that behavior.
 



Ewert86PC said:
Sorry to burst your bubble, but I drew "5 seed in the South Region" out of the fish bowl of possibilities.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I called it.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom