***OFFICIAL SOMETHING CALLED USC UPSTATE AT MINNESOTA IN-GAME THREAD!!!***

Donate To GopherHole
fan of Ray Williams said:
Does it surprise you that he never goes zone? Just a change of pace occasionally.
Click to expand...
It drives me crazy that he never switches up. Last game especially. I suppose we can hope that this is because he is working on defensive principles in his man defense early in the year. We have enough size and enough athletes to play good defense, we just don't, so far.
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
It wasn't pretty but there is one notable achievement in this game: this is the first game this season where the team significantly increased their lead in the second half. Had a two-point lead at half and a 14 point lead at the end of the game.
Click to expand...
OK but SCUS went cold in the last 3-4 minutes. It was a 5 point game with under 5 to go.
 







Johnnyboy18 said:
I did. They missed a bunch of contested jump shots the last 5 minutes of the game.
Click to expand...
Ok. That's what you saw, could be. Upstate went 0-8 from the field and 1-4 on FTs after they got it to 5 so our defense on FTs was excellent as well..... They had some good looks. We don't play good defense. We certainly do not help on defense very well. I certainly hope it gets better.
 

bga1 said:
Ok. That's what you saw, could be. Upstate went 0-8 from the field and 1-4 on FTs after they got it to 5 so our defense on FTs was excellent as well..... They had some good looks. We don't play good defense. We certainly do not help on defense very well. I certainly hope it gets better.
Click to expand...
Yep. They missed some easy shots. Wasn't because of really good defense.

Would have been nice to see Payne out there at the end.
 



Gopherbbdude said:
Worst post 2023....maybe 2024
Click to expand...
Nah. You can have disagreements on what we thought an opponent would be like, but the salient point is neither team played liked the were B1G caliber
 

“Better defense”. Not “really good defense”.

I guess I’m choosing to look at it from the positive perspective of they switched better, pressured better, and contested better.

0-8 from the field down the stretch wasn’t simply the opponent going cold.
 


bga1 said:
Ok. That's what you saw, could be. Upstate went 0-8 from the field and 1-4 on FTs after they got it to 5 so our defense on FTs was excellent as well..... They had some good looks. We don't play good defense. We certainly do not help on defense very well. I certainly hope it gets better.
Click to expand...
You don’t think Payne plays great help D? 😳
 



bga1 said:
It drives me crazy that he never switches up. Last game especially. I suppose we can hope that this is because he is working on defensive principles in his man defense early in the year. We have enough size and enough athletes to play good defense, we just don't, so far.
Click to expand...
If he hasn't done it in 2+ years he's not going to.
 

bga1 said:
Ok. That's what you saw, could be. Upstate went 0-8 from the field and 1-4 on FTs after they got it to 5 so our defense on FTs was excellent as well..... They had some good looks. We don't play good defense. We certainly do not help on defense very well. I certainly hope it gets better.
Click to expand...
I don’t remember the defense at the end of the game very well, I was half watching. However, if JB is saying it was good defense by the U, I have to believe it was just poor shooting. I can’t remember a single time he’s been right.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I don’t remember the defense at the end of the game very well, I was half watching. However, if JB is saying it was good defense by the U, I have to believe it was just poor shooting. I can’t remember a single time he’s been right.
Click to expand...
I truly can't believe the Gophers went on a run again without Hawkins on the floor again. Truly incredible how they did it without a '#pg' on the floor. Amazing how a team without a '3' is functioning.
 


Gopher_In_NYC said:
You don’t think Payne plays great help D? 😳
Click to expand...
I don't think I said that. I think Payne could be huge to this defense and he does help better than most of them. As a team, they don't help each other much. Far too many drives to the hoop by opposing teams.
 

Goldy-Wan Kenobi said:
“Better defense”. Not “really good defense”.

I guess I’m choosing to look at it from the positive perspective of they switched better, pressured better, and contested better.

0-8 from the field down the stretch wasn’t simply the opponent going cold.
Click to expand...
Ok - I agree with you on better.
 

Gophers shot sub-normally from 3, and normally would have buried this team earlier.
Don’t like Carrington handling the ball, and when he’s with Mitchell I’m on edge.
Christie needs to be reeled in a bit with the ball and shot selection.
Ihnen played a quietly solid game.
Fox is captain.
I have no problem with Hawkins passes for the most part, as they are usually good attempts. He just can’t drive into a wall esp in btn play.
Would have liked to see Thor, Keinys and Ramberg get some minutes. They are likely pressuribg Keinys to redshirt, and must have reason to do so. His teammate at AZ looks terrific.
Despite MN shooters not hitting today, I think that someone will reliably hit some 3’s as the season progresses. They have 5 guys that won’t all be cold or unable to get space on any given night.
Glad to see the team hitting FTs!
 

Johnnyboy18 said:
I truly can't believe the Gophers went on a run again without Hawkins on the floor again. Truly incredible how they did it without a '#pg' on the floor. Amazing how a team without a '3' is functioning.
Click to expand...
You kept the streak alive!

Blowing a 20 point lead against Missouri and struggling with USC Upstatr is “functioning” for you as a Big 10 team? Lol.

Ihnen is averaging more than twice as many TOs as assists during the cup cake part of our schedule.
 

SplitDecision said:
Gophers shot sub-normally from 3, and normally would have buried this team earlier.
Don’t like Carrington handling the ball, and when he’s with Mitchell I’m on edge.
Christie needs to be reeled in a bit with the ball and shot selection.
Ihnen played a quietly solid game.
Fox is captain.
I have no problem with Hawkins passes for the most part, as they are usually good attempts. He just can’t drive into a wall esp in btn play.
Would have liked to see Thor, Keinys and Ramberg get some minutes. They are likely pressuribg Keinys to redshirt, and must have reason to do so. His teammate at AZ looks terrific.
Despite MN shooters not hitting today, I think that someone will reliably hit some 3’s as the season progresses. They have 5 guys that won’t all be cold or unable to get space on any given night.
Glad to see the team hitting FTs!
Click to expand...
Yeah, I don’t think this team will struggle shooting this season.

They have an interesting mix of pieces much more so than the last two seasons.
 

Minutes breakdown
Garcia-30
Hawkins-27
Mitchell-27
Carrington-24
Ihnen-22
Christie-20
Payne-19
Ola-Joseph-19
Fox-12 (swear it seemed like he had more minutes)
If my math is correct, that’s 98 minutes out of the guards today.
Think it was 99 in the Missouri game.
 
Last edited:

Bob_Loblaw said:
You kept the streak alive!

Blowing a 20 point lead against Missouri and struggling with USC Upstatr is “functioning” for you as a Big 10 team? Lol.

Ihnen is averaging more than twice as many TOs as assists during the cup cake part of our schedule.
Click to expand...
Glad to see you're not consistent Bob. You make a great lawyer
 

Johnnyboy18 said:
Glad to see you're not consistent Bob. You make a great lawyer
Click to expand...
Drink. You brought up my occupation.

How was I inconsistent? LOL. I've always said you're wrong and you're always wrong. I'm consistently correct on that point.

Are you arguing that I'm not being consistent because I wasn't upset that Hawkins was pulled for long stretches today? Even you couldn't be that f'n stupid. You think a coach should do the exact same thing in every single game regardless of context? No. Even you couldn't be THAT F'N stupid.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Drink. You brought up my occupation.

How was I inconsistent? LOL. I've always said you're wrong and you're always wrong. I'm consistently correct on that point.

Are you arguing that I'm not being consistent because I wasn't upset that Hawkins was pulled for long stretches today? Even you couldn't be that f'n stupid. You think a coach should do the exact same thing in every single game regardless of context? No. Even you couldn't be THAT F'N stupid.
Click to expand...
Why yes, jbag can, and is.....,,
 


bga1 said:
If we are going to get to be a good defense Payne is going to be key in that. Some terrific blocks by him today.
Click to expand...
Payne in the game allows you to rush the outside shooters, he makes it tough for guards to attack the basket. He is starting to look really good.
 

I was only able to watch the last 5 minutes...I thought they played harder on defense than they have. I also thought the opponent still got good looks they missed...string of wide open 3's and 17 footers.
I like that Ben has made it this far playing 9 guys...hopefully he continues.
Garcia looked like a different person with the haircut...an uncomfortable one playing physical on defense on the baseline. :)
From what I saw it was a good day...two in a row.
 


You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom