***OFFICIAL MINNESOTA VS STANFORD THANKSGIVING TOURNAMENT IN-GAME THREAD!!!***

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Woof, we are pretty bad. I hope Omot is good and Vaihola is back in a hurry, but this looks to be another tough year.
 



WCGopher said:
Okorie is clearly the best Guard in this game too
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The kid is really, really good. Our guard play is horrid. Where was Willis the second half? Did he play? I like Reynolds but his handle is ultra loose. Asuma seems not to do much for a lot of the game.
 




bga1 said:
The kid is really, really good. Our guard play is horrid. Where was Willis the second half? Did he play? I like Reynolds but his handle is ultra loose. Asuma seems not to do much for a lot of the game.
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Ankle injury. In a walking boot. Not good.
 

You won’t win many games when the other team takes 22 more shots than you. Too many turnovers and gave up too many offensive rebounds. And as said by msny m, guard play is awful.
 



howeda7 said:
Probably win this game with Willis and Violhola. Not sure they win anything until they get some guys back.
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As much as it pains me to say this, at this point, I’d rather develop Grove and Shinholster.

I also with think we win this game with those two playing, but it just doesn’t matter.

Build the foundation this year with the guys who can be here for the next few years.
 


Even a JC quality guard wins this game by 10. Guard play is atrocious. I know, many other things are too, but if the guards can't protect the ball, it's scary
 

WCGopher said:
Yes it’s been really bad the guard play. It’s too bad Niko couldn’t convince Kyan Evans to come along with him from CSU.
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Evans is doing just okay at UNC- I wanted to see him here bad but he is getting 8 a game at UNC- just shooting 3s pretty much.
 



topos said:
As much as it pains me to say this, at this point, I’d rather develop Grove and Shinholster.

I also with think we win this game with those two playing, but it just doesn’t matter.

Build the foundation this year with the guys who can be here for the next few years.
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I agree. I hope Shinholster gets some comfortability and can contribute soon. I like the kid. I don't know why, but I think he is going to be good.
 



BTChamp said:
I agree. I hope Shinholster gets some comfortability and can contribute soon. I like the kid. I don't know why, but I think he is going to be good.
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He has good form on his shot with a nice high release. He hustles on both ends and seems to take care of the ball. I hope to see more and more of him.
 

topos said:
As much as it pains me to say this, at this point, I’d rather develop Grove and Shinholster.

I also with think we win this game with those two playing, but it just doesn’t matter.

Build the foundation this year with the guys who can be here for the next few years.
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It's not either or. We're down to 7 guys.
 

BTChamp said:
Even a JC quality guard wins this game by 10. Guard play is atrocious. I know, many other things are too, but if the guards can't protect the ball, it's scary
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Let's be honest, the majority of the turnovers were because of Reynolds (6) sloppiness and Crocker-Johnson (3) getting the ball slapped out of his hand. Asuma did not have a turnover.
 

BTChamp said:
I agree. I hope Shinholster gets some comfortability and can contribute soon. I like the kid. I don't know why, but I think he is going to be good.
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He definitely showed me something tonight. Hustle, defense and the 3s he took were in and out. We're going to need him to step up if Willis is hobbled. Langston is good in transition, but he is beyond a turnover machine playing point
 

BTChamp said:
Grove just needs to get beat up and learn how not to get beat up. No other options for him to learn otherwise. And lose the Lloyd Christmas haircut
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I'd rather suffer the issues with Turner who offers some size. Grove is fairly smooth but just too soft and plays below the rim so offers little resistance in the low post on defense and he is not a post up option on offense.
 

bga1 said:
Stanford would be pretty bad without the frosh guard- who is amazing.
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Their entire offense is, set a pick for Okorie and let him shoot, drive to the rim or draw a double team to kick out to another shooter. Stanford will only beat mediocre teams while Okorie gets his 20.
 


FinnGopher said:
Let's be honest, the majority of the turnovers were because of Reynolds (6) sloppiness and Crocker-Johnson (3) getting the ball slapped out of his hand. Asuma did not have a turnover.
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True. I should have been clearer. No bad words for Asuma. Mostly Reynolds and that ridiculous behind the back dribble and passes to Tyson's feet.
 

Although I will say, there were signs of life and even though Stanford is not a good team, I can see potential to win another game. Joking about the last part, but maybe things are getting tighter in identifying what to change instead of "everything".
 

The injuries have been a killer but as others have mentioned, guard play is going to carry you particularly in a system like this and we have parts that are just not at the level, Willis in particular has been really disappointing. While Durkin is going to be Waldo on defense all season, it was good to see him knock down some shots, Reynolds showed flashes but way too loose with the ball, JCJ clearly has talent but puts the blinders on and is going to bull his way into some offensive fouls and turnovers. Think they need to challenge Asuma to be more aggressive, need him to be a guy that can slash, create and get to the line both in the short and long term for the team. Grove putting on good weight will do a lot for him, too early to get a read on Shinholster but seems to have good size and athleticism, intriguing player.

Just very obvious it's going to take a couple classes to really see what Niko can do here. I think the system is good, we see flashes even with a group light on talent of what this could look like but at the end of the day, you need power conference players. Conference play is going to be ugly but hopefully we see growth from the youngsters as the season goes on.
 

This is the first game I've gotten a chance to watch much. Here are my observations from the little I've seen this season.

Reynolds cannot handle the ball. I didn't really see him play at CSU but I expected more from Crocker-Johnson (I preface this with not seeing the second half. I was referring to rebounding and post presence) or maybe I didn't know the type of player that he is.

The team is horrible at rebounding. Even when they have position guys just reach around and over them. The worst part to me is the lack of effort. If the other team is bigger it will be difficult but I see no hustle or drive to get a loose 50/50 rebound.

They really need a Big Ten level power forward that knows his roll and plays in the paint. Able to grab 6+ rebounds a game.

While there are screens and movement it basically looks like we are doing the same weave handoffs that we've been doing, to an extent, going back to the days of Tubby.

Hopefully they can put it together and improve as a team. So far it looks pretty rough.
 
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Reynolds had 6 points and 6 turnovers. Not good when the guy running point is in spaz mode. It would be nice if Asuma could step up and not disappear for long stretches. May have to check the Rec Center pick-up games on Monday and see if there are any guys that could play point guard reasonably well. It's a big campus. There should be at least 1 or 2 dudes that have decent handles.
 

GopherGuy82 said:
This is the first game I've gotten a chance to watch much. Here are my observations from the little I've seen this season.

Reynolds cannot handle the ball. I didn't really see him play at CSU but I expected more from Crocker-Johnson or maybe I didn't know the type of player that he is.

The team is horrible at rebounding. Even when they have position guys just reach around and over them. The worst part to me is the lack of effort. If the other team is bigger it will be difficult but I see no hustle or drive to get a loose 50/50 rebound.

They really need a Big Ten level power forward that knows his roll and plays in the paint. Able to grab 6+ rebounds a game.

While there are screens and movement it basically looks like we are doing the same weave handoffs that we've been doing, to an extent, going back to the days of Tubby.

Hopefully they can put it together and improve as a team. So far it looks pretty rough.
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This was Crocker-Johnson's career high scoring game, so I'd say your expectations are out of whack.
 

Obviously I should have checked the box score. I didn't see the second half but I wasn't referring to scoring. In the first half he had one rebound and one block. We suck at rebounding and pretty much anything in the post. I guess I didn't realize he was going to hang out at the three point line so much. It looks like I need to watch the second half. The kid had a heck of a game.
 

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