cncmin
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2008
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1. Failure to guard the 3. No matter if the opponent is having trouble scoring inside or not (tonight), no matter if the opponent does nothing but shoot 3 pointers (perfect example UW), if the ball goes inside, our guards follow the ball. This rarely results in a steal or a forced missed shot, but instead leaves the 3-point line wide open for an easy dish back out and 3. This happened many times again today, as it has almost every game since Tubby has been coach. The worst was late in the game when Nix (or Payne?) had gotten deep, but our 7-foot blocker Eliason had good position, and MSU had hardly scored any 2-pt field goals the entire game to that point. Dre doubled down, the ball got dished back to Appling, and for all intents and purposes the game ended there as the ball swished through the net. Is this a defensive coaching decision or can the players simply not help themselves from leaving the 3 open? Whatever the case, correcting this would earn the Gophers about 3 to 4 more victories every season, alone.
2. The starting 5 comes out flat nearly every game, and has been a recurring theme since December. It was pathetic how slow the Gophers moved on offense for the first 5 minutes, and their defense wasn't much better. I could understand the Gophers coming out flat against maybe a Lafayette or a different non-conference foe - maybe even PSU - but there is no excuse for the team to come out lackadaisical in a B1G game. Tubby was right to bench the starters; though putting in Walker once again proved futile (when will that experiment end?), and the bench put out some energy but no offensive cohesiveness - and therefore zero offense. When the starters got back in, they displayed more energy and the results were much better; however there was no need to be down in a big hole (7) already at that point in the game, especially with MSU shooting poorly to that point. Will they come out ready to play in any B1G game this season? I haven't seen it yet, so it would be a pleasant surprise. The sad thing is, the Gopher's M.O. when this season started was crushing energy right out of the gate. Where did that go?
3. Related to #2, the players largely fail to put in any effort whatsoever to move without the ball and to make hard cuts. They just walk around on offense, don't really move too much without the ball, don't really "want" the ball, and just watch each other waiting for someone else to do something. The guys "breaking" to the ball slowly jog into position, too rarely leading to a pass to a player in scoring position. If a guy drives, no one fills in the gaps created in the defense, and as a result the driving player doesn't have the dish-out options he should have. Perhaps as a direct result of lack of off-ball movement, ball movement and offensive fluidity in the half court set is nearly absent for this team. I thought these problems were particularly evident in the two passing turnovers in passes directed to Rodney at the top of the key late in the game. Sure, the telegraphed passes weren't anything to brag about, but Rodney walk-jogged both times toward the open spot in the key, and the defender easily beat him to the spot for two big steals and layups. Perhaps/probably neither is a steal if Rodney darts toward the ball to help the passer.
This team is talented enough to win a lot of ball games and to go deep in the Tournament this year, but I question their passion to play and their basketball intuition. There are two players on this team who at least always bring passion - Mbakwe and Eliason. I wonder if it is not a coincidence that a lack of team effort has corresponded with Elliot's longer bench minutes since the B1G season began.
2. The starting 5 comes out flat nearly every game, and has been a recurring theme since December. It was pathetic how slow the Gophers moved on offense for the first 5 minutes, and their defense wasn't much better. I could understand the Gophers coming out flat against maybe a Lafayette or a different non-conference foe - maybe even PSU - but there is no excuse for the team to come out lackadaisical in a B1G game. Tubby was right to bench the starters; though putting in Walker once again proved futile (when will that experiment end?), and the bench put out some energy but no offensive cohesiveness - and therefore zero offense. When the starters got back in, they displayed more energy and the results were much better; however there was no need to be down in a big hole (7) already at that point in the game, especially with MSU shooting poorly to that point. Will they come out ready to play in any B1G game this season? I haven't seen it yet, so it would be a pleasant surprise. The sad thing is, the Gopher's M.O. when this season started was crushing energy right out of the gate. Where did that go?
3. Related to #2, the players largely fail to put in any effort whatsoever to move without the ball and to make hard cuts. They just walk around on offense, don't really move too much without the ball, don't really "want" the ball, and just watch each other waiting for someone else to do something. The guys "breaking" to the ball slowly jog into position, too rarely leading to a pass to a player in scoring position. If a guy drives, no one fills in the gaps created in the defense, and as a result the driving player doesn't have the dish-out options he should have. Perhaps as a direct result of lack of off-ball movement, ball movement and offensive fluidity in the half court set is nearly absent for this team. I thought these problems were particularly evident in the two passing turnovers in passes directed to Rodney at the top of the key late in the game. Sure, the telegraphed passes weren't anything to brag about, but Rodney walk-jogged both times toward the open spot in the key, and the defender easily beat him to the spot for two big steals and layups. Perhaps/probably neither is a steal if Rodney darts toward the ball to help the passer.
This team is talented enough to win a lot of ball games and to go deep in the Tournament this year, but I question their passion to play and their basketball intuition. There are two players on this team who at least always bring passion - Mbakwe and Eliason. I wonder if it is not a coincidence that a lack of team effort has corresponded with Elliot's longer bench minutes since the B1G season began.
