cncmin
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I wasn't disappointed much at all. They played VERY hard - an A+ effort, IMO. It's just that those baskets had magic lids just inside the rims, and those lids seemed to apply only to the Gophers. How many shots went in and out for us, yet bounced in for Illinois?
Back to the root of things, I wasn't disappointed tonight but I have been somewhat disappointed in the fundamental offensive play of the team this season. What we lack is a good half-court offense. I think our biggest problem is way too much hesitation from the guards (to shoot, to pass, to drive). Each of our guards, maybe except Westbrook, and maybe now Joseph to some extent, is scared to shoot the ball. How many open looks did Nolen have tonight from 3 - how many did he shoot, one? Hoff didn't work extra hard to pull the trigger either, sometimes passing up an opportunity to defer to Joseph, or Westbrook. The two times he shot he just barely missed (that damn magic lid). It's time Hoff quits being scared and becomes the outside shooter and fundamental player that he is. His head is much better than a few weeks ago, but still not right. I'm telling you, it happened when Tubby relegated him to 11th man off the bench early in the Big Ten season. He's never been the same since, all hesitation now except for the game at OSU. And until he starts playing some big minutes (at least 20 or 25+), I don't think he's going to be that confident player we saw last year.
The one guy who's not scared to shoot long jumpers who probably should be is Carter. He needs to stick to stuff within 15 feet, his jumper is too flat and long shots take him off the offensive boards where he's more effective. Sampson can shoot FTs, why does he miss all of his jumpers so badly? That'll come with time, but not this year. Bostick's head is really not right. He's significantly regressed as the season went along. I'll put this solely on a confidence issue (the lack of obviously being contagious this year). Bostick's talent must be there. It's gotta be a mental block. DJ is a super player, but he'll never win us games with his half-court offense. He doesn't move the ball well enough. And the one time I was truly disappointed tonight, was, ironically, made by the player of the game, DJ, when the whole side of the court cleared and he failed to drive left to an open basket in the second half. That lost opportunity was important, because if I recall the game was very close at the time, and he was the only one scoring for us. That would have been a huge bucket and momentum grabber.
The other thing that really bothers me about the offense is lack of quick ball movement. Actually, in tonight's game the offense was really moving the ball well the first 15 minutes of the game, and getting great looks. They weren't hitting the shots, but they were open. In the second half, they slowed it back down to the same old crap they've been doing the whole Big Ten season, and they lost it. Two points over the final 10 minutes for the loss. (Again, it wasn't for lack of effort though.) The thing that stands out most about our half-court offense is that the passing is slow. It's pass-stop-look-let the defense set itself, pass-stop-look-let the defense set itself. Watch Penn State this year. For a team with only 3 offensive players, they sure score a lot. It's because they don't dilly-dally with the ball. They either drive or pass it, and when they receive a pass, they keep moving the ball to keep the defense off-balance. When one of their 3 scorers gets the slightest opening, he shoots or drives. They don't catch the ball and pivot for 4 seconds before a guard has to come up to hand the ball to way outside the arc. And why aren't our guys using V-cuts to shake the defenders? Use your body, push off a bit, and get open. We shouldn't be using the hand-off desperation pass more than a couple times a game, yet sometimes that seems to be our whole offense, with a desperation fade-away 3 as the shot clock runs out. Yuck. I remember Clem's offenses being pretty stale; and thinking that it was Clem's bad designs. Yet Clem's slow offenses moved the ball better than this year's squad. Is it Tubby's offensive system? I hope it's the players' fault, not the coaches'. But they don't play smart, fundamental offensive basketball, and at some point I hope Tubby enforces quicker ball movement on these guys.
Here's another thing I can't figure out: if Tubby is going to use 11 or 12 players, why don't we stick with the full court zone press the whole game? The Gophers are most effective offensively when they run. With the number of players they use, they should be running up and down that court like no tomorrow. They always play their best ball when they're pressing zone. The beginning of the game, that held true (why did Tubby stop?). DJ was amazing out there. And they missed their jumpers, but passed very well and got open looks underneath. That all stopped when for whatever reason they slowed down the game. Not smart.
Also, Hoffarber needs to play more minutes. He was last year, and still is, our best passer, fundamental rebounder, and shooter. He's a step slow and needs to run off more picks to get open, but the guy is a good player, and IMO the most important player on the team. As he goes offensively, so goes the team. Tubby's making a big mistake not starting him and giving him consisten 20+ minutes, IMO. Also, Tubby should mix up the lineups a bit more. And that starting of both centers needs to stop, what a waste of time. It hasn't been effective yet in about 20 tries now. I'd say 0-20 is proof enough to do something different. I think Tubby is great, but I think he could get even more out of this team.
As for the game itself, the Gophers played hard, they were expected to lose, and would have won had they simply shot at a reasonable rate. They didn't even need a good make rate, just somewhere below average would have easily sufficed. Sometimes I'm mad or disgusted when the Gophers lose a game they could have won, but I wasn't here. They gave an A+ effort, but the ball just didn't go in the hoop. It happens to the best of us from time to time. The Gophers showed signs of offensive life (ball movement), at least in the first half anyway. If they can play like that the next two games and hit even a few shots, we should be able to come away with two wins.
Final thought - I'm not sure I like the idea of a #6 seed in the BT tourney...we have really stunk up the joint when facing Indiana this year.
Sorry for the long post!
Back to the root of things, I wasn't disappointed tonight but I have been somewhat disappointed in the fundamental offensive play of the team this season. What we lack is a good half-court offense. I think our biggest problem is way too much hesitation from the guards (to shoot, to pass, to drive). Each of our guards, maybe except Westbrook, and maybe now Joseph to some extent, is scared to shoot the ball. How many open looks did Nolen have tonight from 3 - how many did he shoot, one? Hoff didn't work extra hard to pull the trigger either, sometimes passing up an opportunity to defer to Joseph, or Westbrook. The two times he shot he just barely missed (that damn magic lid). It's time Hoff quits being scared and becomes the outside shooter and fundamental player that he is. His head is much better than a few weeks ago, but still not right. I'm telling you, it happened when Tubby relegated him to 11th man off the bench early in the Big Ten season. He's never been the same since, all hesitation now except for the game at OSU. And until he starts playing some big minutes (at least 20 or 25+), I don't think he's going to be that confident player we saw last year.
The one guy who's not scared to shoot long jumpers who probably should be is Carter. He needs to stick to stuff within 15 feet, his jumper is too flat and long shots take him off the offensive boards where he's more effective. Sampson can shoot FTs, why does he miss all of his jumpers so badly? That'll come with time, but not this year. Bostick's head is really not right. He's significantly regressed as the season went along. I'll put this solely on a confidence issue (the lack of obviously being contagious this year). Bostick's talent must be there. It's gotta be a mental block. DJ is a super player, but he'll never win us games with his half-court offense. He doesn't move the ball well enough. And the one time I was truly disappointed tonight, was, ironically, made by the player of the game, DJ, when the whole side of the court cleared and he failed to drive left to an open basket in the second half. That lost opportunity was important, because if I recall the game was very close at the time, and he was the only one scoring for us. That would have been a huge bucket and momentum grabber.
The other thing that really bothers me about the offense is lack of quick ball movement. Actually, in tonight's game the offense was really moving the ball well the first 15 minutes of the game, and getting great looks. They weren't hitting the shots, but they were open. In the second half, they slowed it back down to the same old crap they've been doing the whole Big Ten season, and they lost it. Two points over the final 10 minutes for the loss. (Again, it wasn't for lack of effort though.) The thing that stands out most about our half-court offense is that the passing is slow. It's pass-stop-look-let the defense set itself, pass-stop-look-let the defense set itself. Watch Penn State this year. For a team with only 3 offensive players, they sure score a lot. It's because they don't dilly-dally with the ball. They either drive or pass it, and when they receive a pass, they keep moving the ball to keep the defense off-balance. When one of their 3 scorers gets the slightest opening, he shoots or drives. They don't catch the ball and pivot for 4 seconds before a guard has to come up to hand the ball to way outside the arc. And why aren't our guys using V-cuts to shake the defenders? Use your body, push off a bit, and get open. We shouldn't be using the hand-off desperation pass more than a couple times a game, yet sometimes that seems to be our whole offense, with a desperation fade-away 3 as the shot clock runs out. Yuck. I remember Clem's offenses being pretty stale; and thinking that it was Clem's bad designs. Yet Clem's slow offenses moved the ball better than this year's squad. Is it Tubby's offensive system? I hope it's the players' fault, not the coaches'. But they don't play smart, fundamental offensive basketball, and at some point I hope Tubby enforces quicker ball movement on these guys.
Here's another thing I can't figure out: if Tubby is going to use 11 or 12 players, why don't we stick with the full court zone press the whole game? The Gophers are most effective offensively when they run. With the number of players they use, they should be running up and down that court like no tomorrow. They always play their best ball when they're pressing zone. The beginning of the game, that held true (why did Tubby stop?). DJ was amazing out there. And they missed their jumpers, but passed very well and got open looks underneath. That all stopped when for whatever reason they slowed down the game. Not smart.
Also, Hoffarber needs to play more minutes. He was last year, and still is, our best passer, fundamental rebounder, and shooter. He's a step slow and needs to run off more picks to get open, but the guy is a good player, and IMO the most important player on the team. As he goes offensively, so goes the team. Tubby's making a big mistake not starting him and giving him consisten 20+ minutes, IMO. Also, Tubby should mix up the lineups a bit more. And that starting of both centers needs to stop, what a waste of time. It hasn't been effective yet in about 20 tries now. I'd say 0-20 is proof enough to do something different. I think Tubby is great, but I think he could get even more out of this team.
As for the game itself, the Gophers played hard, they were expected to lose, and would have won had they simply shot at a reasonable rate. They didn't even need a good make rate, just somewhere below average would have easily sufficed. Sometimes I'm mad or disgusted when the Gophers lose a game they could have won, but I wasn't here. They gave an A+ effort, but the ball just didn't go in the hoop. It happens to the best of us from time to time. The Gophers showed signs of offensive life (ball movement), at least in the first half anyway. If they can play like that the next two games and hit even a few shots, we should be able to come away with two wins.
Final thought - I'm not sure I like the idea of a #6 seed in the BT tourney...we have really stunk up the joint when facing Indiana this year.
Sorry for the long post!
