Seth Davis: The Gophers look like a tournament team to me

[WindyCityGopher]

From Seth Davis' si.com mailbag:

http://www.si.com/college-basketbal...el-coach-k-successor-duke-hamidou-diallo-mail

What’s Minnesota’s ceiling in the Big Ten? — Mr. Wilson (@mrwils24)

This is a timely question coming off the Golden Gophers’ very impressive win 91–82 overtime at Purdue. Much attention was rightly given to sophomore guard Nate Mason’s sterling 31-point, 11-assist, 6-rebound effort, but I thought the real story of the game was Minnesota’s defense. The Gophers limited one of the nation’s best three-point shooting teams to a 9-for-28 performance at home. As the Boilermakers struggled to score, the Gophers were able to chip away at the seven-point deficit the faced midway through the second half. And Minnesota’s overall quickness basically took 7-foot center Isaac Haas out of the game down the stretch. Matt Painter could only play Haas 19 minutes as a result. He finished with six points and three rebounds.

Nor do I think that win was a fluke. In their previous game, the Gophers controlled things at home against Michigan State but coughed up a late lead and lost by one point. We’ll see over the next few weeks whether they can sustain this, but for the time being, I really like this team’s defense-first identity. The Gophers are ranked 16th in the country in defensive field goal percentage (37.7), they are 14th in three-point defense (28.4) and they’re 15th in defensive efficiency. That looks like an NCAA tournament team to me.

 

[macgopher]

From Seth Davis' si.com mailbag:

http://www.si.com/college-basketbal...el-coach-k-successor-duke-hamidou-diallo-mail

What’s Minnesota’s ceiling in the Big Ten? — Mr. Wilson (@mrwils24)

This is a timely question coming off the Golden Gophers’ very impressive win 91–82 overtime at Purdue. Much attention was rightly given to sophomore guard Nate Mason’s sterling 31-point, 11-assist, 6-rebound effort, but I thought the real story of the game was Minnesota’s defense. The Gophers limited one of the nation’s best three-point shooting teams to a 9-for-28 performance at home. As the Boilermakers struggled to score, the Gophers were able to chip away at the seven-point deficit the faced midway through the second half. And Minnesota’s overall quickness basically took 7-foot center Isaac Haas out of the game down the stretch. Matt Painter could only play Haas 19 minutes as a result. He finished with six points and three rebounds.

Nor do I think that win was a fluke. In their previous game, the Gophers controlled things at home against Michigan State but coughed up a late lead and lost by one point. We’ll see over the next few weeks whether they can sustain this, but for the time being, I really like this team’s defense-first identity. The Gophers are ranked 16th in the country in defensive field goal percentage (37.7), they are 14th in three-point defense (28.4) and they’re 15th in defensive efficiency. That looks like an NCAA tournament team to me.

Totally agree. The Gophers have looked like a tournament team for quite a few weeks now. Yes they have to sustain it, but the team looks like it is dialed in.

 

[Holf]

There's also Seth's podcast included toward bottom of page. They start talking Gophs around 34:07 - good stuff, thanks for posting.