Thoughts from last night

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Juicer

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Overall - very ugly and frustrating to watch. Seemed like one of those games where the squad just wasn't ready to play. I found myself throwing the remote and cursing several times, especially with Ralph, Devoe and Colton.

Rodney - best game I have seen him play. He was active on both ends, and aggressive with the ball. Loved his effort and attacking the rim. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come.

Trevor - 2nd best player on the floor, and was physically dominant. That being said, he was a little slow to get the ball up to the rim on several plays, and missed a few opportunities to get easy buckets when the ball was lost. However I'll take a double-double every time.

Ralph - looked weak and was overmatched against the 7-footer from their side. 2 rebounds?!?!? Huh??

Colton - was not ready to play. Very frustrating.

Devoe - so frustrating. Just was lackadaisical. He is a VERY good player, but it didn't show last night. It just looked like he wasn't trying until the last 8 minutes of the game. He should be better off the ball when Al returns.

Moe - wanted him to play more. Good things happened when he was in there. Went right after the 7-footer, and was not afraid.

Blake - he was himself. Made some shots, but missed others. It was a little frustrating to see him take some shots early in the shot clock at the end, but overall was what I would expect from him.

Mav - won't see much time during BT season, assuming Al is healthy.

Chip - made some mistakes early, and seemed to get in Tubby's doghouse. Worst game from him so far.

Austin - not sure why he played so little. I suppose Rodney having a good game didn't help his minutes.
 

Agreed. I know this has been discussed elsewhere, but it seems to me that Big Moe is developing into a good post player very quickly. He has such good vision of the court too. It seems like Sampson and Iverson rarely ever kick the ball back outside and when they do they get it stolen.
 

This team isn't playing like a top 25 team right now. Maybe Nolen is a bigger cog in this operation than I thought. :confused:
 

Well, for starters I was pleased with the lack of snowfall.

Stopped by BW3's. There was a decent crowd by the front and I was worried about a wait. We put our name down and were told it would be about ten minutes... walking back toward the bar, some folks were leaving.. so we jumped into their table, eliminating the wait time.

Lots of pretty girlies working there. Plenty of televisions. I believe more than 40. A couple of tall brews and some chicken wings and I was ready to watch some basketball with food not at all on my mind.

Into the Barn Loft we go... the spread wasn't huge, but it was too inviting. Not hungry, but I had to give a burger a try... and a cookie.

As I chomped away on a pretty good burger, I looked across the court to see I was lined up with Myron. The anthem singer was on point and I noted Myron head-nodding to her performance... it's rare that you see people nodding to the national anthem, but it was a nice rendition.

Later I couldn't pass up giving the tortellini, chili and some weird cake thing a try... the chili had all sorts of weird meats in it and was blistering hot. But, on a cold night, it hit the spot. The restroom facilities in the Barn Lofts are great and after the BW3 drinks certainly put to use.

In the car heading out, we were trying to turn when a group of maybe four young ladies came walking through the intersection. 90% sure it was Gopher Lady. I was close to lowering the window and screaming hi, but thought better of it.
 



the thing that is frustrating is tubby's line changes. i think its ok to do in the first 2-3 games of the year but after that we need the guys getting used to playing together as much as possible. i like hollins and chip will be a solid player in the future but i hate our guard depth at the moment.

if blake isnt hitting 3's he likes to stand around behind the arc and do little-but when he is on, man he does it all!

if sampson isnt making shots early he looks like he pouts on defense and gets soft...when he is making buckets he is a defensive force.

mbakwe is our only consistent player on this team

devoe wants to run and score and kick it, the bad part is he drives a lot and mbakwe and sampson clog the line and blake and rodney dont rotate and it becomes a cluster f*ck and turnovers

rodney drives me crazy on this team. so much ability and athleticism but he is always good for a brick behind the 3 point line. i wish he would use his athletic ability to slash and get a consistent 15-20 ft j, when he does that gettingt o the rim will be easier and the 3's will come.

as a whole we shouldnt be too upset with this team. we have 1 loss and i feel we are much better than the wisky-dicks. but like the rest of you i get annoyed more with tubby than the team.
 

I should probably post on a different thread since on a scale from -5 to +5 this one is a -3, pretty negative toward the Gophers. But then there's the "painful to watch" thread and the "going nowhere" thread. I don't agree.

1. Give Akron some credit. They're 4 and 4 but their 4 losses are against teams that are 36-6. They hustled, they played very very smart, they did what they know how to do, they didn't make mistakes. They made the Gophers earn it. They came out with 7-feet and 6-8 and had 6-10 off the bench.

2. Somebody actually said that the big guys don't move the ball. You're kidding, right? The best thing they had going for them last night was the passing inside. High-low, alley oops, over the tops, back doors. I haven't seen what the points in the paint were but, somebody said we didn't dominate. I'd guess the points in the paint at about 25-5. Anybody know?

3. The reputation at least among the home folks is bad perimeter D, missed FT, turnovers, rebounds. Well, they missed some FT. They did everything else they're supposed to be weak at.

4. I attended with a friend who just moved from Wisconsin and isn't really familiar with the Gophers. I said, who's their best player? He didn't hesitate a nano-second. Hoffarber. I agree. He takes 4 guys and makes them a team. He completes them. Athleticism is way over-rated. I'll take basketball skills any day and Blake has 'em.
 


I don't know...

I'm beginning to lose faith. We just don't shoot very well, none of our bigs can really step outside like the Wisky boys. (OK Ralph has done it, but not with a high percentage) Both Trevor and Rodney have to get right to the rim. Ralph and Colt take 6 seconds to get their shot off.....I'm beginning to think our best offense is to throw it up on the board and go get it!

Defensively Tubby has always staunchly defended the paint, and this team might be his best ever at doing that, but the price we pay is leaving people open from the 3. We just can't do so much collapsing and leave guys open. I'm sure the scouting report on us says just move the ball...get them scrambling and you will get an open 3 pt. look.

I also think that zone D we've been tinkering with might be our go to defense if Hoff and DJ keep getting lost in the man situations. Rodney too is so anxious to get an inside block that he's leaving his opposing 3 man unattended on the perimeter.

We also get 0 fast break opportunites because we pack the paint so much....with Hoff, DJ and Rodeny running would get more easy buckets, and that is a big key to getting more points for this half court challenged offense!

By the way....I still root like hell for us, and hope we get better, but when the ball goes up on the 28th, we begin playing great teams, and that KenPom ranking of 44 or whatever is looking about right for us now.
 



......who's their best player? He didn't hesitate a nano-second. Hoffarber. I agree.............

Hoff #1 and Trevor #2. The rest (excluding Al) are still projects.
 

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