Rodney prevents a disastrous loss

[EG#9]

Wow. Gophers up 3 with the ball, they seem to have numbers and Tubby calls timeout. Somehow, the Gophers were not prepared for the press coming out of the timeout and gave Julian Welch turns it over with a terrible crosscourt pass. DePaul scores and cuts the lead to one. Gophers go down and end up with an airball as the shot clock runs out from Austin Hollins. DePaul calls timeout with a chance to win the game with about 20 seconds left in the game. Trevor draws a charge with 13 seconds left (huge play) and then DePaul fouls Julian Welch before the inbouds. Julian misses BOTH free throws with about 10 seconds left, BUT RODNEY WILLIAMS TIPS IN THE MISS! Gophers up 3 and DePaul can't get a good look at a 3, but get a 2 with .5 seconds left as the Gophers win by 1.

Some very good moments from Julian, Chip, and Austin and some very, very bad moments from the same 3 players. Free throws and three point shooting almost cost us this game as we have to make more than one 3 in a game and DePaul seemingly made every FT in the 2nd half.

 

[diehard]

Exciting end to the game. Good win for the Gophs (every win is a good win).

 

[jovs]

Some very good moments from Julian, Chip, and Austin and some very, very bad moments from the same 3 players. Free throws and three point shooting almost cost us this game as we have to make more than one 3 in a game and DePaul seemingly made every FT in the 2nd half.

They are young and make mistakes but the athleticism of those three with Rodney and Trevor. If you can get away with it defensively in the middle and rebound that group presents some problems for other teams.

 

[KyGopherfan]

The Gophers will never face a press like this the rest of the season, so people just need to chill. DePaul is very athletic, though not super talented, but Parnell teaches a very tough pressure defense. We don't have Nolen, so we have to deal with our freshmen point guards who probably never faced anything like this before in their lives. And we won, so I'm very pleased.

 

[GopherinPhilly]

If I was playing the Gophers...all I would do is a 1-3-1 trapping press until they prove they can beat it.

 

[EG#9]

If I was playing the Gophers...all I would do is a 1-3-1 trapping press until they prove they can beat it.

Gift and a curse though against the Gophers. They might throw terrible passes like they did today, but they are going to score if they beat the press with the number of athletes they have. If you press the Gophers, you now don't face their halfcourt offense which is much easier to stop.

 

[Blackhammer]

A bad loss,but a disastrous one?It's one early season game.Nice to pull it out though.

 

[Monty519]

Definitely wouldn't have called it disastrous, but it would have been a shaky one at the very least. Rodney stepped up today, no doubt, that was nothing but effort and athleticism on that last put back.

 

[Mass MD]

Rodney was awesome! Now we just need to see that more often...

 

[jamalo]

The Gophers will never face a press like this the rest of the season, so people just need to chill. DePaul is very athletic, though not super talented, but Parnell teaches a very tough pressure defense. We don't have Nolen, so we have to deal with our freshmen point guards who probably never faced anything like this before in their lives. And we won, so I'm very pleased.

I'm not certain if your responese is tongue in cheek, but we just played the 2nd worst Big East team from coachest pollls

 

[captain.hindsight]

Best game I've ever seen Rodney play period. Yes he dunked, but he also was solid in other aspects. Job well done!

 

[BigGopherFan]

If I was the opposition I would play a 0-5 or 1-4 zone until the Gophers prove they can make 3s.

 

[BigGopherFan]

Best game I've ever seen Rodney play period. Yes he dunked, but he also was solid in other aspects. Job well done!

This may sound dumb but he seemed genuinely interested the whole game, which isn't always the case. He has found out with Tubby that playing time isnt granted by reputation but by playing hard, smart basketball.

 

[Parski1]

Kid has some serious hops - starting to be the player we thought he was!

 

[underground629]

Was anyone else pissed when Tubby took Trevor out with two minutes left because he picked up his 4th foul?

 

[XMan]

If Rodney could make the ten foot jumper more consistently he would be unstoppable.

 

[XMan]

I was very frustrated with our fist half play. Many lazy passes and poor decisions. I hope the guards grow and learn fast.

 

[Hates Monikers]

The Gophers will never face a press like this the rest of the season, so people just need to chill. DePaul is very athletic, though not super talented, but Parnell teaches a very tough pressure defense. We don't have Nolen, so we have to deal with our freshmen point guards who probably never faced anything like this before in their lives. And we won, so I'm very pleased.

Okay ... so Fairfield's press wasn't as good as DePaul's. But we struggled with that, too. That's usually a guard problem, but our big guys didn't help, either. They simply couldn't get the ball in bounds.

 

[tikited]

I was very frustrated with our fist half play. Many lazy passes and poor decisions. I hope the guards grow and learn fast.

The passing is beyond bad. We really don't have one great passer on the team. Last year it was the ball handling that was horrid. This year it is the passing.

On the positive: We couldn't come close to hitting a three-we couldn't pass the ball-we didn't play good defense for long stretches...and we still won. They could have caved when down by 12 in the 2nd half. Nice comeback win.

 

[XMan]

I guess you are right, they fought back and won. depaul also shot very well in the first half. We should have won that game by 15. Hope for a big win on Friday.