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GopherWeatherGuy said:
I thought the crowd looked good. Biggest of the year. Had to be a solid 3,000 there.
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Attended the game and there were > 3,000. In section 108 (center court behind scorer's table) first 5 rows there were approximately 30 empty seats. Best seats in the arena.
 

formerlybis said:
The problem last night was defense - the offensive efficiency was actually good enough to win most games. Specifically, the gophers are struggling with 3P defense in the first 3 conference games.
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The gophers had 27 points at the half last night.

Could you explain the offensive efficiency being good?
 


formerlybis said:
The problem last night was defense - the offensive efficiency was actually good enough to win most games. Specifically, the gophers are struggling with 3P defense in the first 3 conference games.
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Their defense is not good. Outside of Femi, no one else plays good defense. When we face Big Ten level teams, the opponents are averaging 84 points a game even with us trying to slow it down on offense. Frank is s-l-o-w, Patterson is s-l-o-w, Edmunds is a better defender at times, but gets lost, Garcia doesn't give a rip on defense, Parker Fox blocks some shots but he is way too short to defend bigs, Asuma has a ways to go. We don't help on defense at all, we hack, we don't effectively double down on the post, and we don't close out on three point shooters. We are slow and not well schooled.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
I thought the crowd looked good. Biggest of the year. Had to be a solid 3,000 there.
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I am sorry I think that might be the last game I watch this year. I am old enough to remember when you could not get a ticket to a Gopher BB game. That crowd was embarrassing. The lack of intrest in this team is at a all time low. Even Dan Monson teams that won 1-3 big ten games filled the barn. This team does nothing to generate excitement.
 


bga1 said:
Their defense is not good. Outside of Femi, no one else plays good defense. When we face Big Ten level teams, the opponents are averaging 84 points a game even with us trying to slow it down on offense. Frank is s-l-o-w, Patterson is s-l-o-w, Edmunds is a better defender at times, but gets lost, Garcia doesn't give a rip on defense, Parker Fox blocks some shots but he is way too short to defend bigs, Asuma has a ways to go. We don't help on defense at all, we hack, we don't effectively double down on the post, and we don't close out on three point shooters. We are slow and not well schooled.
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I'm starting to think Thorson is not a defensive guru after all...
 

howeda7 said:
I'm starting to think Thorson is not a defensive guru after all...
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Thorson always had better players than the opposition. We have worse players than other Big Ten teams. This year our lack of speed at most positions and our lack of post defense is glaring. Our scheme does nothing to mask our deficiencies. I think you could put a reasonably competent defense out there with Edmunds, Garcia, Odukale, Mitchell and Asuma, but Ben wants to lose go down with the ship being sailed by Patterson and Frank Mitchell, our pair of Sherman tanks. He did ditch Rigsby last night, so that is something...
 

Allshade said:
I love and follow the gophers, but not so much the rest of college bball. My question therefore is: is it common in college bball to fire a coach mid-season? Really curious.
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Not that common but it happens. Of course, the Gophers did it with Monson and Ohio State did it with Chris Holtmann last season. I don't have any real expectation that the team would play any better for the rest of the year under Thorson but occasionally just doing something, anything, can help. I don't know the terms of Johnson's contract but sometimes it costs more to fire a coach in the middle of the season than at the end. If that's the case, I wouldn't expect Coyle to fire him in midseason given how Coyle finagled Pitino's departure to pay him as little as humanely possible.

Until last night I didn't believe that the Gophers could finish with a winless conference season because those are rare but Johnson might be one of those rare individuals who could accomplish that.
 

kg21 said:
The gophers had 27 points at the half last night.

Could you explain the offensive efficiency being good?
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There were a total of 59 possessions last night. 61 points = 1.04 points per possession. Anything over 1 is ok. When adjusted for the strength of the opponent, it comes out to 1.14 PPP which would have beaten every opponent except MSU and PU.

Defensively, PU scored at 1.38 PPP. I don't have the number of possessions by half, but given that PU scored 53 in the second half, they were probably close to 1.7 PPP after the break
 



By way of sad comparison—even our 2006-2007 team with interim coach Molinari rose up and beat Purdue in the conference opener when Jamal Abu Shamala lit it up in the second half. There were 12,000 in the Barn roaring down the stretch like it was it was the 96-97 season. It seems like forever ago we beat Louisville in Des Moines with Minnesotans Kalscheur; Coffey; & Oteru leading the way.
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
Not that common but it happens. Of course, the Gophers did it with Monson and Ohio State did it with Chris Holtmann last season. I don't have any real expectation that the team would play any better for the rest of the year under Thorson but occasionally just doing something, anything, can help. I don't know the terms of Johnson's contract but sometimes it costs more to fire a coach in the middle of the season than at the end. If that's the case, I wouldn't expect Coyle to fire him in midseason given how Coyle finagled Pitino's departure to pay him as little as humanely possible.

Until last night I didn't believe that the Gophers could finish with a winless conference season because those are rare but Johnson might be one of those rare individuals who could accomplish that.
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The firing early question is usually resolved by this question: Have the players quit on the coach?

Last night they played hard and got killed at home by a pretty decent but not great Purdue team.
They just lack the ability. But these seem like good guys that won't quit on him, I just don't think they will win more than a few games in the Big Ten.

My guess is that Ben lasts the year. And really- who cares anymore? I wish no ill will towards him. He seems to be a very nice guy, with no head coaching experience, who got put in a very bad spot by an administration that is chock full of fools.
 

drewhaus7 said:
Betts 1 minute..1 block and 1 offensive rebound = trip back to bench
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I was SHOCKED to see him so early. I thought what he gave Johnson in that brief moment of time was really good considering. Whistle blows and out he comes, never to be seen again. Edmonds comes in and watch multiple times he is on the same block as Garcia a foot away. WTF????

Watching college BB, for us anyway, makes the winter go by so quickly. This team will make the winter seem like forever.

MAN HE IS BAD!!! Johnson that is.
 

formerlybis said:
There were a total of 59 possessions last night. 61 points = 1.04 points per possession. Anything over 1 is ok. When adjusted for the strength of the opponent, it comes out to 1.14 PPP which would have beaten every opponent except MSU and PU.

Defensively, PU scored at 1.38 PPP. I don't have the number of possessions by half, but given that PU scored 53 in the second half, they were probably close to 1.7 PPP after the break
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That’s exactly what I was thinking.
 



I have paid almost no attention to things this year (which is really sad). When is Cochran supposed to be ready to go?
 

GophersInIowa said:
I have paid almost no attention to things this year (which is really sad). When is Cochran supposed to be ready to go?
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Cochran update - "tangible progress"

Andy Greder of the Pioneer Press tweeted out an update. Update: #Gophers transfer guard Tyler Cochran has been doing individual workouts and rehab as he works back from pre-season foot surgery, Coach Ben Johnson said Thursday. Look-ahead: Johnson did not have a timeline for Cochran's debut...
gopherhole.com gopherhole.com
 

Play Betts. He needs the playing time. Just a couple minutes last night with 1 block. Play Asuma, Mitchell, Odukale, Garcia, and Fox or Betts. Off the bench with either Fox or Betts, the Patterson, Edmunds and F. Mitchell.

Looked like Mitchell was frustrated with Patterson last night. Garcia also. Patterson missed open shooters too often. The ball disappears when Patterson gets a hold of it.
 

bga1 said:
Thorson always had better players than the opposition. We have worse players than other Big Ten teams. This year our lack of speed at most positions and our lack of post defense is glaring. Our scheme does nothing to mask our deficiencies. I think you could put a reasonably competent defense out there with Edmunds, Garcia, Odukale, Mitchell and Asuma, but Ben wants to lose go down with the ship being sailed by Patterson and Frank Mitchell, our pair of Sherman tanks. He did ditch Rigsby last night, so that is something...
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Was Rigsby a DNP or was he hurt?
 



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