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

OK, went back and watched the game.

And I have this thought.

I really liked the way the offense looked with Loewe essentially taking the lead-guard role.

So, what if, when Willis is healthy, the Gophers keep Loewe as the lead guard and let Willis play some SG. Free him of some ball-handling duties and maybe set him up to get some better looks at the basket. could turn out to be a win-win situation.

Might also mess with the other teams' scouting reports.
One thing I liked is it seemed like whoever got the rebound (other than Curry) just brought the ball up court And triggered the offense.
 

OK, went back and watched the game.

And I have this thought.

I really liked the way the offense looked with Loewe essentially taking the lead-guard role.

So, what if, when Willis is healthy, the Gophers keep Loewe as the lead guard and let Willis play some SG. Free him of some ball-handling duties and maybe set him up to get some better looks at the basket. could turn out to be a win-win situation.

Might also mess with the other teams' scouting reports.

I'm not a basketball coach....but it's an interesting idea. Not sure if it would really make a difference considering out offensive approach revolves around passing the ball around the perimeter anyhow. Difference between winning and losing has been outside shooting. Guys were knocking down shots today.
 

One thing I liked is it seemed like whoever got the rebound (other than Curry) just brought the ball up court And triggered the offense.

Definitely. Threw off their defensive plans. Guys were aggressive going to the hoop off a missed shot. More transition play.

How about Battle? He's an athletic guy with hops. Only averages 6.2 rebounds per game. Today he far eclipsed with season high of 10 with 14. I haven't seen him crash the glass like he did today.
 

Looks like it is a career record. Had 13 once previously.

Missed watching the freakin' game. Their last win, I stopped watching at halftime because I'm superstitious. This one I accidentally missed and spotted they were ahead, so declined tuning in.
You had better get yourself squared away. You are missing some Good basketball.
 

Fun win. We were hitting shots but we were also extremely active on offense. I like what Battle did too. Posted up a few times and drove to the hoop instead of just settling for outside shots all the time.
 



Fun win. We were hitting shots but we were also extremely active on offense. I like what Battle did too. Posted up a few times and drove to the hoop instead of just settling for outside shots all the time.
I remember early in the season, Battle basically only took threes. IIRC he had a game with 8 or 9 shots maybe all were threes? Or like one two pt. He seems much more confident in the mid-range/shallow-post these days. Good to see.
 


I remember early in the season, Battle basically only took threes. IIRC he had a game with 8 or 9 shots maybe all were threes? Or like one two pt. He seems much more confident in the mid-range/shallow-post these days. Good to see.
Yep. He’s easy to defend if he’s just shooting 3’s or long 2’s.
 




In each of our conference wins, the Gophers have had a surprising hot shooting game by a different player. Battle was unreal against Michigan and then it was Willis and Curry. Yesterday it was Loewe. It's been, "Where did that come from?" even though Battle and Willis had had good games before. We need someone to step up for the Frick'n Badgers. I realize the odds, but I'm getting the feeling it's going to be a fun game. Get better, Willis.
 







How about Battle? He's an athletic guy with hops. Only averages 6.2 rebounds per game. Today he far eclipsed with season high of 10 with 14. I haven't seen him crash the glass like he did today.

I wonder how many miles he ran yesterday? Up and down; Perimeter to sideline to post over and over. Because of our weakness in the front court, we're best when Battle runs around like a Tasmanian devil. I hope he doesn't have to do that as much next year though.
 


OK, went back and watched the game.

And I have this thought.

I really liked the way the offense looked with Loewe essentially taking the lead-guard role.

So, what if, when Willis is healthy, the Gophers keep Loewe as the lead guard and let Willis play some SG. Free him of some ball-handling duties and maybe set him up to get some better looks at the basket. could turn out to be a win-win situation.

Might also mess with the other teams' scouting reports.
I believe they run that scenario from time to time
 

Definitely. Threw off their defensive plans. Guys were aggressive going to the hoop off a missed shot. More transition play.

How about Battle? He's an athletic guy with hops. Only averages 6.2 rebounds per game. Today he far eclipsed with season high of 10 with 14. I haven't seen him crash the glass like he did today.
Seems like Battle has increased his effort rebounding wise the last week or so. The first OSU game him (and the entire team) got dominated on the glass. Happy to see the effort.
 

Shooting 74%? That's a lot of percents.
I’d love 2 turn the tables and start getting buckets players from that state to the east on a regular basis AND the exodus has to 🛑 now.

need winter to stay put !
 


I’m not a guy who goes on other teams message boards, but I got to assume that the Northwestern fan base is livid. They just seemed to put in very little effort against the gophers. Wide open looks on D and their offense was basically chuck up threes and not even try to contest when the gophers went zone. I know Collins is well respected, but he’s gotta be feeling the heat.
 

Rewatching the game. It was mentioned before about the chair placed at the corner out of bounds at the Gopher bench. Does anyone know why?
 

I’m not a guy who goes on other teams message boards, but I got to assume that the Northwestern fan base is livid. They just seemed to put in very little effort against the gophers. Wide open looks on D and their offense was basically chuck up threes and not even try to contest when the gophers went zone. I know Collins is well respected, but he’s gotta be feeling the heat.
Weak effort by the Cats yesterday. Collins has lost his team. Not sure if it’s a chemistry issue or what but that looked like a pretty disinterested team yesterday. Maybe they are not as talented as the recruiting ratings suggest. Their players don’t seem to get much better over time. Boule is good but hasn’t gotten any more disciplined in his years there. Does this scenario appear at all familiar?
 

Weak effort by the Cats yesterday. Collins has lost his team. Not sure if it’s a chemistry issue or what but that looked like a pretty disinterested team yesterday. Maybe they are not as talented as the recruiting ratings suggest. Their players don’t seem to get much better over time. Boule is good but hasn’t gotten any more disciplined in his years there. Does this scenario appear at all familiar?

Pete Nance had a good game yesterday.....but he had to sit out NW's win over MSU on January 15th due to an ankle injury. Looking at his minutes and stats.....it wouldn't surprise me if he never got back to 100%. But that's speculation.

NW ran into a team due for a good shooting game. 58% FG and 22 assists is hard for most any opposing team to overcome.
 


I’m not a guy who goes on other teams message boards, but I got to assume that the Northwestern fan base is livid. They just seemed to put in very little effort against the gophers. Wide open looks on D and their offense was basically chuck up threes and not even try to contest when the gophers went zone. I know Collins is well respected, but he’s gotta be feeling the heat.
I don't have it taped to go back and watch, but am curious about Buie in the second half. I was there watching and sometimes it is easy to miss stuff--- but it seemed to me that Northwestern had it back to 10 or 7 and had the Gophers on their heels and most of it was due to Buie scoring at will. And then it got back to about a 12 point lead and I noticed Buie wasn't out there and Collins kept him out until it got back to 17 or 19 and by then it was too late.
Any idea on why? seemed like coaching malpractice to me, but I might have had the timing off
 

I'm only wondering why this thread of the thrashing of N'western continues to have less posts than the thrashing by Penn State? Where are all of the accolades? Shouldn't it be a wash? :unsure:
 

I'm only wondering why this thread of the thrashing of N'western continues to have less posts than the thrashing by Penn State? Where are all of the accolades? Shouldn't it be a wash? :unsure:
No idea why fewer people would be interested in the game following the Penn state thrashing. Almost like interest in the team is waning the more they lose?
 

No idea why fewer people would be interested in the game following the Penn state thrashing. Almost like interest in the team is waning the more they lose?
For what it’s worth, I was impressed with the size of the crowd Saturday. And loud!
 




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