***OFFICIAL MINNESOTA VS PURDUE IN-GAME THREAD***

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I was thinking about it this morning and I think we'll be okay. We should get a really high lottery pick at least.
 


Mulligan said:
No, we didn't. The ref put his hand out like, "That's enough," and Pitino backed off right there. That ref knew it was a blown call by the other guy. Have no problem with Pitino's actions in light of that and a couple of other fouls called on us.
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Oh c'mon - show a little imagination! And I wasn't criticizing Pitino - we couldn't afford a T at that point, but I wouldn't have faulted him if that had happened.
I love the fact that when a ref really screws up, the crowd knows it and registers their displeasure. Clearly, there are not casual fans remaining in the seats.
 

Winasota Gopher said:
He's here. Somewhere.
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*waves*

Hey, It's one game. If we play the rest of the season this way, I could almost become a pollyanna, if I tried real hard, under the right conditions. ;)

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Ewert86PC said:
*waves* Hey, It's one game. If we play the rest of the season this way, I could almost become a pollyanna, if I tried real hard, under the right conditions. ;) Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
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I've been pretty harsh on you and your negativity. But if you'd like to come over to the Pollyanna side I think we could find room...under the right conditions.
 

dtrain19 said:
I've been pretty harsh on you and your negativity. But if you'd like to come over to the Pollyanna side I think we could find room...under the right conditions.
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If I come off as negative, it is simply a reflection of the things I see this team doing. No team wins without scoring more points than their opponents. This team is doing things that, one, let their opponents score vastly more points and, two, kept them from scoring points in general.

It's a simple game, you win by scoring more points than your opponent. How you do it is where the the friction comes about.

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Ewert86PC said:
If I come off as negative, it is simply a reflection of the things I see this team doing. No team wins without scoring more points than their opponents. This team is doing things that, one, let their opponents score vastly more points and, two, kept them from scoring points in general.

It's a simple game, you win by scoring more points than your opponent. How you do it is where the the friction comes about.

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That's where I am as well. I wish I could be excited because the team is showing "life" in some areas but some improvement here or there doesn't do much for me in sports. Team still isn't getting any wins and moral victories will only carry athletes and fans so far.

Still hoping Pitino and the team can get at win or two in conference play as I don't want this basketball team to be mentioned in the same conversation as Brewster's football team.
 

Gopher2017 said:
That's where I am as well. I wish I could be excited because the team is showing "life" in some areas but some improvement here or there doesn't do much for me in sports. Team still isn't getting any wins and moral victories will only carry athletes and fans so far.

Still hoping Pitino and the team can get at win or two in conference play as I don't want this basketball team to be mentioned in the same conversation as Brewster's football team.
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Isn't an actual win an actual moral victory at this point? If we play like sh1t and lose out are we in a better or worse spot for next year than if we play extremely hard and lose in unlucky or heart break fashion each game?

We just need to continue playing hard and improving. That's it. The record is 100% meaningless other than the psychological effects of finally winning.

As far as fan base support, record of 1-10 or 2-9 won't change anything. People are coming to see Coffey and Hurt next year and then if we show significant improvement they might show up even more.
 




Winasota Gopher said:
Isn't an actual win an actual moral victory at this point? If we play like sh1t and lose out are we in a better or worse spot for next year than if we play extremely hard and lose in unlucky or heart break fashion each game?

We just need to continue playing hard and improving. That's it. The record is 100% meaningless other than the psychological effects of finally winning.

As far as fan base support, record of 1-10 or 2-9 won't change anything. People are coming to see Coffey and Hurt next year and then if we show significant improvement they might show up even more.
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I can agree with that. The only way to get fans interested in the team again is to start winning. I believe the large majority of fans couldn't care less about losing to this team and that team by 4 points or 3 points; they just want to see some wins and consistently. As far as they know the team is losing...consistently. I want this team to win out the rest of the season but because that's highly doubtful, I'll be happy with two wins...Anything to keep this team from being in "Brewster Territory".
 

Gopher2017 said:
I can agree with that. The only way to get fans interested in the team again is to start winning. I believe the large majority of fans couldn't care less about losing to this team and that team by 4 points or 3 points; they just want to see some wins and consistently. As far as they know the team is losing...consistently. I want this team to win out the rest of the season but because that's highly doubtful, I'll be happy with two wins...Anything to keep this team from being in "Brewster Territory".
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So you don't think fans thought last night was more entertaining than the Northwestern game earlier this year? You don't think they left the barn feeling at least a little bit better than they did a few weeks ago?

I get that wins is ultimately what matters, but I also think most knowledgeable fans will see and appreciate improvement to some degree. If we keep improving, the wins will come.
 

They may but it’s secondary to what most fans are talking about today. They’re talking about the team losing…again. I think some fans can appreciate the improvement the team has made between the Northwestern game and the game last night against Purdue but that’s not what people are talking about. When a losing streak reaches 10 or whatever it is now, people care less about improvements and more about wins/losses.

We live in an instant gratification world and right or wrong people want this team to stop with the moral victories and instead get an actual win. There were a LOT of empty seats last night and I suspect Gopher basketball television viewership is way down as well. People are walking away.

You and I can agree the team has improved but outside of the Gopherhole bubble, the vast majority of folks see the team as an embarrassment and that only grows as the number of losses increase. Will these folks come around in the years ahead when the team improves? Probably, but for them this season’s moral victories are worthless.
 



GophersInIowa said:
So you don't think fans thought last night was more entertaining than the Northwestern game earlier this year? You don't think they left the barn feeling at least a little bit better than they did a few weeks ago?

I get that wins is ultimately what matters, but I also think most knowledgeable fans will see and appreciate improvement to some degree. If we keep improving, the wins will come.
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For the diehards like us that's the case, but we live in an age where you can use all sorts of social media outlets to voice an opinion. If you follow gopher bball or athletics on facebook they give final score and in game updates, even in years where we were decent the comments by the casual fans were nasty, now a whole lot of positivity there now either. I am willing bet twitter is even worse because I am sure players hear it all from their followers for better or worse, but that's another issue in itself.
In short I like that they've been playing better, but most people want instant gratification
 

For the people you're talking about. 1 or 3 wind don't matter, already lost them.

Back tou original point. Wins right now are just moral victories. They gotta play hard and show improvement. If they do that, a win will likely happen anyway.
 

Moonlight said:
Oh c'mon - show a little imagination! And I wasn't criticizing Pitino - we couldn't afford a T at that point, but I wouldn't have faulted him if that had happened.
I love the fact that when a ref really screws up, the crowd knows it and registers their displeasure. Clearly, there are not casual fans remaining in the seats.
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Agreed. I was happy to hear how much the crowd reacted on that game-changing joke call against Dupree. I felt so bad for the team that they had to deal with a 5-point swing there.
 

Gopher2017 said:
I can agree with that. The only way to get fans interested in the team again is to start winning. I believe the large majority of fans couldn't care less about losing to this team and that team by 4 points or 3 points; they just want to see some wins and consistently. As far as they know the team is losing...consistently. I want this team to win out the rest of the season but because that's highly doubtful, I'll be happy with two wins...Anything to keep this team from being in "Brewster Territory".
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I completely disagree with this. You can see the change in the fan base with how we've competed lately and lost vs. the stretch of getting killed and losing to bad teams.

On that note, would people rather squeak by a few terrible teams and get blown out by good teams or lose to the bad teams and lose how we have to the good teams? I would much prefer what we're doing. I'll be mildly surprised if we don't beat Wisconsin or Michigan. I don't think we'll win both but I think one will be our signature win for the reason.

Edit: I realized I was thinking of "true fans" but you're definitely right about the majority of fans.
 

GophersInIowa said:
So you don't think fans thought last night was more entertaining than the Northwestern game earlier this year? You don't think they left the barn feeling at least a little bit better than they did a few weeks ago?

I get that wins is ultimately what matters, but I also think most knowledgeable fans will see and appreciate improvement to some degree. If we keep improving, the wins will come.
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I was at both games and there was a huge difference in the crowds and whether the crowd was into the game. During the Northwestern game there were some boos and A LOT of disinterest. Fans were leaving with 10 minutes left in the game & with two minutes to go, the barn was nearly empty.

Wednesday night the crowd was engaged and rooting hard for the team nearly the whole game (at some points in the 1st half and early in the 2nd, there was a thought that this could get ugly). Fans want to see wins and they want to see effort if not winning and we are seeing that the last four games. It doesn't mean we accept losing.

This team needs a big cup of confidence during the last few minutes of games (and at the beginning of some). I sure hope they get a couple of wins to build for next year.


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Each time the Gophers got down by double digits Wednesday you know the crowd was thinking "here we go, blowout coming". And if the crowd thinks it I'm sure a lot of the players think it. But they fought back and cleared that hurdle. Now at end of games the theme by both fans and players is "how are we gonna blow this?" It's the biggest hurdle they need to overcome. Hopefully it happens soon.
 

Winasota Gopher said:
For the people you're talking about. 1 or 3 wind don't matter, already lost them.

Back tou original point. Wins right now are just moral victories. They gotta play hard and show improvement. If they do that, a win will likely happen anyway.
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They need to consistently play hard.

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Ewert86PC said:
They need to consistently play hard.

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That's much of the frustration for me, still. Had the Gophers played as well and consistently hard as they did against Purdue but done that against Illinois, they would have beaten the Illini handily. This team is playing just well enough to lose, and it doesn't seem to matter how good the opponent is.
 

Game was winnable if we make a few free throws and if Coach Pitino had the sense to tell Konate he is only allowed to shoot by pushing the ball down through the net with both hands. Konate has shown that if you pass it to him just right, just close enough to dunk without steps, and no one in range to contest he can score. Congratulations. That makes him better than Deidhiou. Team still looks better on whole with Murphy/King/Buggs as the bigs and no Konate/Deidhiou on the floor. It's compromised on defense against a really big center, but we worked plenty of turnovers with good double teams against one of the best centers in the big ten that game.
 

Ewert86PC said:
They need to consistently play hard.

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Define play hard. Are you saying this team doesn't try all of the time? I think that's a load of crap. You can play hard and still get beat by 30. I see a young team that makes a lot of mistakes, gets themselves out of position, and misses shots. I don't remember seeing a team that wasn't trying.
 

Play hard = smart & intense on both ends of the court.

Since they are young, how could you say that they are consistent this year?
 


Playing hard equates to effort, you can still be dumb as **** and try hard. There's also a saying "Work smarter not harder"
 

bemidjigopher said:
Playing hard equates to effort, you can still be dumb as **** and try hard. There's also a saying "Work smarter not harder"
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At a Power 5 Conference school, your team had better be smart, intense and consistent, if you ever want be above average.

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Bad Gopher said:
That's much of the frustration for me, still. Had the Gophers played as well and consistently hard as they did against Purdue but done that against Illinois, they would have beaten the Illini handily. This team is playing just well enough to lose, and it doesn't seem to matter how good the opponent is.
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Each game is kind of a match up problem, sometimes in the extreme. I don't think the new 'kids' had an idea how hard it was going to be to make the jump to light speed in the BT. Our problems at center are not just our problems at center. This forces everyone to play differently. Mason is a disher without anyone to dish to half the time (or more). The lack of viable post presence weakens the rest of our offense - and defense for that matter. I'm not going to complain about King - he's not our problem. What he is asked to do is our problem, and its unavoidable. His lack of rebounding instincts contributes to Murphy's fouls. He's the most obvious offensive weapon, so opponents just have to make sure he does't get open, esp. since he needs to be really, really open.
There we have it - no inside game and no outside game - what exactly are they supposed to work harder at? Defense, and we see that happening. Pitino corrected the over-reliance on the 3 from the Illinois game, and they finally drove to the basket and maybe out performed Purdue in the paint - a miracle given Hammond. This is why Pitino said they have to 'pitch a perfect game to win'.

In addition to the players learning curve, there's no debate that the coach is learning how to coach with the big boys and come up with game plans this team can execute. Personally, I think we're seeing progress there, too. There's no reason to argue with the folks who didn't think we should have hired a less experienced coach who was going to have to learn so much to be successful; he's here and if he is learning on the job, we should be glad.
 

Moonlight said:
Each game is kind of a match up problem, sometimes in the extreme. I don't think the new 'kids' had an idea how hard it was going to be to make the jump to light speed in the BT. Our problems at center are not just our problems at center. This forces everyone to play differently. Mason is a disher without anyone to dish to half the time (or more). The lack of viable post presence weakens the rest of our offense - and defense for that matter. I'm not going to complain about King - he's not our problem. What he is asked to do is our problem, and its unavoidable. His lack of rebounding instincts contributes to Murphy's fouls. He's the most obvious offensive weapon, so opponents just have to make sure he does't get open, esp. since he needs to be really, really open.
There we have it - no inside game and no outside game - what exactly are they supposed to work harder at? Defense, and we see that happening. Pitino corrected the over-reliance on the 3 from the Illinois game, and they finally drove to the basket and maybe out performed Purdue in the paint - a miracle given Hammond. This is why Pitino said they have to 'pitch a perfect game to win'.

In addition to the players learning curve, there's no debate that the coach is learning how to coach with the big boys and come up with game plans this team can execute. Personally, I think we're seeing progress there, too. There's no reason to argue with the folks who didn't think we should have hired a less experienced coach who was going to have to learn so much to be successful; he's here and if he is learning on the job, we should be glad.
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+19
 

Moonlight said:
Each game is kind of a match up problem, sometimes in the extreme. I don't think the new 'kids' had an idea how hard it was going to be to make the jump to light speed in the BT. Our problems at center are not just our problems at center. This forces everyone to play differently. Mason is a disher without anyone to dish to half the time (or more). The lack of viable post presence weakens the rest of our offense - and defense for that matter. I'm not going to complain about King - he's not our problem. What he is asked to do is our problem, and its unavoidable. His lack of rebounding instincts contributes to Murphy's fouls. He's the most obvious offensive weapon, so opponents just have to make sure he does't get open, esp. since he needs to be really, really open.
There we have it - no inside game and no outside game - what exactly are they supposed to work harder at? Defense, and we see that happening. Pitino corrected the over-reliance on the 3 from the Illinois game, and they finally drove to the basket and maybe out performed Purdue in the paint - a miracle given Hammond. This is why Pitino said they have to 'pitch a perfect game to win'.

In addition to the players learning curve, there's no debate that the coach is learning how to coach with the big boys and come up with game plans this team can execute. Personally, I think we're seeing progress there, too. There's no reason to argue with the folks who didn't think we should have hired a less experienced coach who was going to have to learn so much to be successful; he's here and if he is learning on the job, we should be glad.
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...which is precisely what I was thinking of when I referred to consistent effort. The defense is quite a bit better and more consistent than it was just a couple weeks ago, but it still comes and goes, and there are key lapses, including in effort and hustle. Perhaps consistency will come with more maturity and experience.
 

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