***OFFICIAL TEXAS ARLINGTON AT MINNESOTA IN-GAME THREAD!!!!***

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If they don't find a way to shoot better - Hurt may find minutes coming his way. Beyond the shooting, I'm very happy with what I see. We knew Coffey was a great get but Curry is an absolute diamond. It's so hard to find an athletic big who has court awareness as a frosh and hits his free throws. So the addition of those guys with Lynch gives us a Big Ten sized team. The defense was really good tonight.
 

Twinsfan007 said:
So what does everyone think about this team after tonight. Did if move the needle in either direction for you?
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Eh, maybe a touch of an uptick in my hopes for this season, but still not ready to put much stock in it until I see us against Florida State and Arkansas. Tonight was a win at home against a lowish mid-major team whose best player clearly wasn't 100%. (At least I'm assuming that's the case...Hervey didn't start and played only about 20 min even though he was never in foul trouble.) The betting line of Gophers by 2 was ridiculous when you consider all those factors. This was game we should have expected to win fairly easily.

The first half was one of the ugliest halves of D1 college basketball I have ever seen. Tons of whistles. No flow to the game. No good offensive sets by either team. No energy. It was basically our guards trying to play 3 on 3 against their guards which was a terrible idea since our main advantages were in the post. And their guards were hot from 3 so that is why we were down at half.

The second half was fantastic. We finally started getting touches inside the paint and there was nothing they could do about it. We started playing 5 on 5 instead of 3 on 3. The refs were still pretty whistle-happy both ways, but we knocked down the free throws for a change. Crashed the offensive glass. Literally the only thing anyone could complain about in the second half was the outside shooting. Everything else was awesome and Coffey played with a passion that was great to see.
 

I just hope we improve enough so they don't put 6 of our games on btn+ next year.
 

Winasota Gopher said:
We could use Kevin Dorsey, Jarvis Johnson or DaQuein McNeil right about now.... One guard injury away from being awfully thin...
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Well, I never saw Jarvis play, but, yeah, I wish he was healthy and on the team. I was thinking during the first half that I wished that Dorsey wouldn't have been such a knucklehead because I would have liked to see someone else playing a little more point guard minutes. Bigs are really solid and guards are pretty good but none of them is a true point guard.
 

Some of you need to learn to enjoy life a little more!

Against a good team who we were predicted to beat by 3 (last year the predicted margins were always slimmer not bigger):
8 turnovers tonight - what a great improvement. Second half adjustments - always fun to see and a crowd igniter. Coffey showed us with some flare why he was our top recruit. Murphy rather quietly had another double double. Lynch showed what he can contribute. Curry seemed to be having an off night until he wasn't. Free throws! Rebounding on the offensive glass - last year non-existent. Mason - is this a press or are you just happy to see me?

Cautiously optimistic is for sissies.
 


Moonlight said:
Some of you need to learn to enjoy life a little more!

Against a good team who we were predicted to beat by 3 (last year the predicted margins were always slimmer not bigger):
8 turnovers tonight - what a great improvement. Second half adjustments - always fun to see and a crowd igniter. Coffey showed us with some flare why he was our top recruit. Murphy rather quietly had another double double. Lynch showed what he can contribute. Curry seemed to be having an off night until he wasn't. Free throws! Rebounding on the offensive glass - last year non-existent. Mason - is this a press or are you just happy to see me?

Cautiously optimistic is for sissies.
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So true. We just finished an off season where way too many people have been speculating when the coach will get fired, doubting if we would win any conference games, and basically saying the program is the worst ever.

Now, we convincingly win a very early season game against a good opponent and the team isn't as good as it should be?

Relax, half of the top 8 players are playing in only their second game at the U. Like all young teams, it will take time for them to gel and for the roles to develop. This was a important game to Pitino, that is most likely why he shortened up the bench to who he currently has the most confidence in, but others will get more involved as the non conference game go on.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

Winasota Gopher said:
We could use Kevin Dorsey, Jarvis Johnson or DaQuein McNeil right about now.... One guard injury away from being awfully thin...
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You could move Coffey to the backcourt in a pinch, Gilbert filled in nicely and you have Hurt to play the wing, might have to enlist Tyler after the football season ends if injuries got bad, always have Sharp.
 


Moonlight said:
Some of you need to learn to enjoy life a little more!

Against a good team who we were predicted to beat by 3 (last year the predicted margins were always slimmer not bigger):
8 turnovers tonight - what a great improvement. Second half adjustments - always fun to see and a crowd igniter. Coffey showed us with some flare why he was our top recruit. Murphy rather quietly had another double double. Lynch showed what he can contribute. Curry seemed to be having an off night until he wasn't. Free throws! Rebounding on the offensive glass - last year non-existent. Mason - is this a press or are you just happy to see me?

Cautiously optimistic is for sissies.
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Thanks for being the voice of reason! Due credit: that was some kind of second half against a quality opponent. Just speculating, but I'd bet that Mason got a talking to at halftime about his lazy defense and passing because he came out of the locker room with his hair on fire. And it was contagious; the whole team looked like a different team. Nate is a leader, and he sets the tone out there. It's important that the young guys are taught by example what it takes to win high major Division 1 games. Team efforts like the second half will win them their share of games this year.
 



Streaming

DeathClutch said:
I just hope we improve enough so they don't put 6 of our games on btn+ next year.
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Ain't that the truth. Actually with the ESPN-3 games, the total number of streamed games is 8 (excluding Bemidji State) this season.
 


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Moonlight said:
Some of you need to learn to enjoy life a little more!

Against a good team who we were predicted to beat by 3 (last year the predicted margins were always slimmer not bigger):
8 turnovers tonight - what a great improvement. Second half adjustments - always fun to see and a crowd igniter. Coffey showed us with some flare why he was our top recruit. Murphy rather quietly had another double double. Lynch showed what he can contribute. Curry seemed to be having an off night until he wasn't. Free throws! Rebounding on the offensive glass - last year non-existent. Mason - is this a press or are you just happy to see me?

Cautiously optimistic is for sissies.
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Are you trying to get a job in the Trump admn, moon? :)

This team has the most talent since Tubby's early recruiting classes and I'm trending from being pessimistic (based on past performance and program instability) to being a "sissy" about this season. Coffey is the best freshman that they've had in a long time and you can see that he will, at some point, be capable of taking over a game and getting a tough basket late in a B1G game on the road. Curry looks like he has more upside (not there yet) than Murphy and Lynch, who will be strong contributors. McBreyer gained weight, confidence and a shooting touch in the offseason. Springs will add strength, shooting and experience. Barring injuries or group sex videos on the internet, this team will win some fun B1G games at home and may surprise one or two teams on the road. No NCAA tourney, but no death march either.

Next year they will be really good.
 






jamiche said:
Are you trying to get a job in the Trump admn, moon? :)

This team has the most talent since Tubby's early recruiting classes and I'm trending from being pessimistic (based on past performance and program instability) to being a "sissy" about this season. Coffey is the best freshman that they've had in a long time and you can see that he will, at some point, be capable of taking over a game and getting a tough basket late in a B1G game on the road. Curry looks like he has more upside (not there yet) than Murphy and Lynch, who will be strong contributors. McBreyer gained weight, confidence and a shooting touch in the offseason. Springs will add strength, shooting and experience. Barring injuries or group sex videos on the internet, this team will win some fun B1G games at home and may surprise one or two teams on the road. No NCAA tourney, but no death march either.

Next year they will be really good.
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Didn't mean to be so obvious... (ellipsis) :p

Call me selfish but my goal for the team this year is for me to have fun.
 

MVP last night goes to Lynch for sure. He was the catalyst for that second half run, on both ends of the floor. He has looked very good, minus the fouls, for having such a long layoff. Reggie is pretty quick for being about 260lbs.

Curry has been the definition of solid and efficient. For a Freshman, he really looks like he has a good understanding of what to do on D and doesn't get lost like some Freshmen tend to do. His lateral quickness is really nice for his size. He doesn't have much trouble switching onto perimeter players off the pick-n-roll. His shot looks pretty good too and I think that is an area where we will see his offensive game expand over the course of his career.

Dupree, like Pitino was touting this offseason, definitely looks to be the most improved. His first step, off the dribble, is insanely quick and he seems to have much more confidence in his shot.

Mason, well, is Mason. Despite a few lackadaisical passes and loose defense in the first half, he looked good. Only caveat with Nate is that he needs to score a little more efficiently, other than that, Nate has been good so far this season.

Amir was a huge part of that second half run as well. His length is tough for many perimeter players to deal with on both ends of the floor. Like Curry, Amir also has a good defensive IQ for be beingg just a Freshman. Offensively, he just needs to be aggressive. When he has been aggressive good things have happened.

Murphy was good on the boards last night. They were doubling alot of his post touches, so he just needs to recognize that and pass the ball quicker instead of going at two defenders. Between Murph, Lynch, and Curry I love our frontcourt rotation.

Akeem's shot wasn't falling, but he was solid on defense and I love his willingness to go in the paint and fight for boards. He seems like a streaky shooter like a Malik Smith and I think he'll hit some big shots for us this season.
 

DeathClutch said:
MVP last night goes to Lynch for sure. He was the catalyst for that second half run, on both ends of the floor. He has looked very good, minus the fouls, for having such a long layoff. Reggie is pretty quick for being about 260lbs.

Curry has been the definition of solid and efficient. For a Freshman, he really looks like he has a good understanding of what to do on D and doesn't get lost like some Freshmen tend to do. His lateral quickness is really nice for his size. He doesn't have much trouble switching onto perimeter players off the pick-n-roll. His shot looks pretty good too and I think that is an area where we will see his offensive game expand over the course of his career.

Dupree, like Pitino was touting this offseason, definitely looks to be the most improved. His first step, off the dribble, is insanely quick and he seems to have much more confidence in his shot.

Mason, well, is Mason. Despite a few lackadaisical passes and loose defense in the first half, he looked good. Only caveat with Nate is that he needs to score a little more efficiently, other than that, Nate has been good so far this season.

Amir was a huge part of that second half run as well. His length is tough for many perimeter players to deal with on both ends of the floor. Like Curry, Amir also has a good defensive IQ for be beingg just a Freshman. Offensively, he just needs to be aggressive. When he has been aggressive good things have happened.

Murphy was good on the boards last night. They were doubling alot of his post touches, so he just needs to recognize that and pass the ball quicker instead of going at two defenders. Between Murph, Lynch, and Curry I love our frontcourt rotation.

Akeem's shot wasn't falling, but he was solid on defense and I love his willingness to go in the paint and fight for boards. He seems like a streaky shooter like a Malik Smith and I think he'll hit some big shots for us this season.
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McBrayer's quickness was responsible for getting one UTA's shooters out of the game early with foul trouble, which really helped.

Agree that Reggie looks pretty sold for not have played in a year and a half. Between him and Curry, the 5 slot looks good. They were on the floor together for at least one short period. I think Curry has enough mobility to be really effective at the 4 if he doesn't have to play the 5.

I saw the comments on Murph during the game, but I didn't see him playing terrible. I saw him needing to adjust to a defense that was keying on him like they rarely did last year. Fewer forces and did a much better job looking for the open guy when he was being double and triple teamed.

I was most impressed with the way Amir came back twice from pretty bad plays (don't remember the specifics) for two really great plays. Didn't hang the head, dug in, and helped put the game under control.

Overall, a nice effort. Mediocre first half with a really good, especially on defense, second half.
 

Holy Man said:
McBrayer's quickness was responsible for getting one UTA's shooters out of the game early with foul trouble, which really helped.

Agree that Reggie looks pretty sold for not have played in a year and a half. Between him and Curry, the 5 slot looks good. They were on the floor together for at least one short period. I think Curry has enough mobility to be really effective at the 4 if he doesn't have to play the 5.

I saw the comments on Murph during the game, but I didn't see him playing terrible. I saw him needing to adjust to a defense that was keying on him like they rarely did last year. Fewer forces and did a much better job looking for the open guy when he was being double and triple teamed.

I was most impressed with the way Amir came back twice from pretty bad plays (don't remember the specifics) for two really great plays. Didn't hang the head, dug in, and helped put the game under control.

Overall, a nice effort. Mediocre first half with a really good, especially on defense, second half.
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I agree about Murph. I think this game was an absolute grind and it was tough for a lot of players to produce. The big win for Murphy though was his offensive rebounds (6). Each one of those rebounds led to points which certainly kept us in the game in the first half. We would have been dead meat without our rebounding performance.
 

DeathClutch said:
MVP last night goes to Lynch for sure. He was the catalyst for that second half run, on both ends of the floor. He has looked very good, minus the fouls, for having such a long layoff. Reggie is pretty quick for being about 260lbs. Curry has been the definition of solid and efficient. For a Freshman, he really looks like he has a good understanding of what to do on D and doesn't get lost like some Freshmen tend to do. His lateral quickness is really nice for his size. He doesn't have much trouble switching onto perimeter players off the pick-n-roll. His shot looks pretty good too and I think that is an area where we will see his offensive game expand over the course of his career. Dupree, like Pitino was touting this offseason, definitely looks to be the most improved. His first step, off the dribble, is insanely quick and he seems to have much more confidence in his shot. Mason, well, is Mason. Despite a few lackadaisical passes and loose defense in the first half, he looked good. Only caveat with Nate is that he needs to score a little more efficiently, other than that, Nate has been good so far this season. Amir was a huge part of that second half run as well. His length is tough for many perimeter players to deal with on both ends of the floor. Like Curry, Amir also has a good defensive IQ for be beingg just a Freshman. Offensively, he just needs to be aggressive. When he has been aggressive good things have happened. Murphy was good on the boards last night. They were doubling alot of his post touches, so he just needs to recognize that and pass the ball quicker instead of going at two defenders. Between Murph, Lynch, and Curry I love our frontcourt rotation. Akeem's shot wasn't falling, but he was solid on defense and I love his willingness to go in the paint and fight for boards. He seems like a streaky shooter like a Malik Smith and I think he'll hit some big shots for us this season.
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for those that weren't at the game last night this is a very solid analysis.
 

dtrain19 said:
for those that weren't at the game last night this is a very solid analysis.
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This was a good win for the Gophers. It appeared that UTA's best player is not at full strength so they will likely improve as the season progresses. UTA's 3pt shooting was very good in the first half and the Gophers were much better defending the 3 in the 2nd half.

I was pleased to see Dupree tone down his celebrations after he scores. It was becoming a bad habit.
 

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