Thoughts On Tonight's Game

MadtownGopher

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I didn't get to catch most of the game, so I was wondering what people's thoughts were. Did NDSU look pretty good, or did we just look awful? Based on the boxscore it looks like Mav played alright.

Hopefully this was a nice wake up call and Tubby gets these guys to focus for the road game at Champaign next week. I'll be there for the game, so I really hope they come out with a nice effort.
 

I thought we looked alright, given that we had so much time off. We let them get far too many easy offensive rebounds, and that could be a huge problem come B1G play. Our shooters looked out of sync for a while, but all-in-all I wasn't terribly discouraged by the game. We were definitely rusty, but it was a win and a good one to have going into Champaign.
 

Missed the first 8 minutes. Gophers looked liked they expected to win. Lots of standing around. They were out fought for several rebounds. Pressing seemed to wake them up. Mav looked good. Austin got a couple of questionable charge calls and had to sit. Just take the W and don't read too much into this game.
 

Mav is asserting himself. He may need one more year, but Mav is showing some promise.
 



If Mav keeps improving, he'd arguably be our only true PG. It would be nice to have him as our pure PG because our team is mostly SGs and SFs at the moment and that isn't going to change with Ellenson and Buggs joining the team next year.
 

Do you watch any college basketball at all? Any Big Ten basketball? Here are som recent scores from teams you chalk up as guaranteed losses:

PU vs HP W 67-65
PU vs IONA W 91-90
PU vs WCU W 65-60
PU vs BUT L 67-55

UI vs COR 64-60
UI vs ILST 63-59

NU vs STON 63-58
NU vs TLSA 69-65
NU vs CCSU 70-64
 

Rust is no excuse for being out rebounded.
zOMG we were out-rebounded today!!!11!1!!!!!!11!!1!!!!! Like did you see how many games them there Timberwolves won leading the NBA in rebounding?!?!?!?!!1?!!?!?!/1?!?1?1?1!?!?
 

zOMG we were out-rebounded today!!!11!1!!!!!!11!!1!!!!! Like did you see how many games them there Timberwolves won leading the NBA in rebounding?!?!?!?!!1?!!?!?!/1?!?1?1?1!?!?

I LOL'd
 



zOMG we were out-rebounded today!!!11!1!!!!!!11!!1!!!!! Like did you see how many games them there Timberwolves won leading the NBA in rebounding?!?!?!?!!1?!!?!?!/1?!?1?1?1!?!?

If the Gophers dont out rebound teams in the BIG it will be a long year!!
 


Bottom line, it was a poor performance and should serve as a major wake up call to Julian Welch, Joe Coleman and Andre Hollins...they've got tons to work on.
 

Moses87 said:
Bottom line, it was a poor performance and should serve as a major wake up call to Julian Welch, Joe Coleman and Andre Hollins...they've got tons to work on.

Good thing every other team in the conference has had a few wake up calls.
 




Bottom line, nice W tonight. Bring on the B1G TEN.
 

I don't thinkg you were alone in missing the first 8 minutes of the game Gopher in Texas. All Access did not have their act together last night. When that happens there is no notification by them so you sit there thinking that the problem is on your end.

The game is being shown at 3pm Eastern Time this afternoon. I am DVRing it mostly to see what happened during those first 8 minutes. We certainly out played them significantly the rest of the game.

After that terrible start the Gophers went on to a 17 to 5 run evening up the game at 19. The refs stopped the game for at least 5 minutes trying to see if the score was correct. After that 5 minute break it was clear that momentum shifted and NDSU went on a short run. I love it when refs control the game like that.
 

I didn't see most of it, but looks like they were sleep walking the first portion of the game and then woke up, but by then, they were gonna be caught in a little bit of a dogfight cause they gave NDSU some good vibes from that start.

I'm not overly surprised, I kinda expected a flat performance, even though I was hoping they'd have a little more breathing room still than that. In the end, it's another W to chalk up, and now it gets serious. These first two games are so important for just how they might set up the rest of their schedule. Win 1 of 2, and they're in great shape IMO. Lose them both competitively, and there will still be some positives to take from it. Just don't get shellacked out there.
 

The guys may have played flat but Tubby sure was fired up...most I've seen him get on the refs since he got to MN...which was good because the refs sucked and the team was totally flat. We won because our guys were simply better athletes..they out hustled us, out rebounded us and out shot us from three...but we just kept taking it at them, getting fouls and making shots in bunches to go on runs.

Mav played well, Welch did not, Coleman looked like a FR, RSIII was zombie like and RW had a nice game but not spectacular. Austin got screwed by the refs and Chip, Andre and Otto were basically non-factors. We won the game and hopefully gave Tubby some fodder for the practice floor...which I am sure will be bloody after today's practice.
 

Throw the non-conf schedule out. If you have played and,or coached BB you should be able to see how the season plays out after the Illini game.
 


The guys may have played flat but Tubby sure was fired up...most I've seen him get on the refs since he got to MN...which was good because the refs sucked and the team was totally flat. We won because our guys were simply better athletes..they out hustled us, out rebounded us and out shot us from three...but we just kept taking it at them, getting fouls and making shots in bunches to go on runs.

I agree and have noticed this more all season. It seems like he is making more of a conscious effort to be involved and energetic during the game, which I like. Last year he would just sit on his chair listlessly as the team would fall further and further and behind. He seems to be inspiring a greater sense of urgency this season.
 

Rebounding

Hello we lost the best rebounder in the big ten. We now have no muscular front court players in our main rotation. We will probably lose this battle every night in the big ten. Maybe we can call it a wash against the bottom 3 teams. We will have to give a good effort there but hope we can cause enough turnovers, steals, and play good enough defense to make up for it.

When you play a player listed at 6'7" 200 lbs at powerforward; there are always draw back.
 

I agree and have noticed this more all season. It seems like he is making more of a conscious effort to be involved and energetic during the game, which I like. Last year he would just sit on his chair listlessly as the team would fall further and further and behind. He seems to be inspiring a greater sense of urgency this season.

Perhaps that was a function of the health issues he was dealing with. I'm sure it's a lot easier to be involved and energetic when you get behind something like that.
 

I thought we looked alright, given that we had so much time off. We let them get far too many easy offensive rebounds, and that could be a huge problem come B1G play. Our shooters looked out of sync for a while, but all-in-all I wasn't terribly discouraged by the game. We were definitely rusty, but it was a win and a good one to have going into Champaign.
Do people really believe not playing a game for 9 days makes a big difference ? NDSU hadn't played in 5 days either,and I'm sure both teams dealt with taking finals during the last week. I would guess Tubby still found plenty of time to get enough practice in so that rust shouldn't have been a problem.
 

Going long stretches without playing games definitely makes a difference, especially if there was limited practice time during that stretch.
 

Do people really believe not playing a game for 9 days makes a big difference ? NDSU hadn't played in 5 days either,and I'm sure both teams dealt with taking finals during the last week. I would guess Tubby still found plenty of time to get enough practice in so that rust shouldn't have been a problem.

It's that PLUS playing an opponent you know they didn't get up for, in the last non-conference game before going to Illinois, right before Christmas. No excuses, they should have played better, but there's plenty of stuff that was in play. Plus, the difference between 5 and 9 days is almost double, so yeah, I wouldn't put that in the same category.

Point is, they got the job done in the end, so who really cares at this point.
 

All things considered, no Mbakwe, 12-1 with a solid RPI is a good place to be. At the very least, the Gophers have positioned themselves well for the NCAA's if they can take care of business within the conference. It beats the alternative of possibly sitting here today with a 10-3 mark, a couple bad losses, and virtually no chance for the NCAA's barring a miracle 12-6-like record. There is at least some margin for error (for now).

Bring on the B1G season. It's time to find out what everyone really has, not just the Gophers.
 

Absolutely right. I was scared of this game, because, in the immortal words of Admiral Ackbar, I thought it was a trap. And we looked pitiful at times, in terms of effort. On the other hand, we couldn't hit a jumper, our guards (with the exception of Mav, who played as well as I've ever seen him) were pitiful, and we still came back and won. I like that this team can win ugly. We do have some grit. But this game did demonstrate that we're going to have a TON of problems this year rebounding. Rodney tries very hard. I like that he's stepped up, and he's not afraid to take a shot right now. However, he's still too skinny, and he gets pushed around. On the other hand, Ralph is just unbelievably frustrating. He's the opposite of assertive, and he doesn't appear to be giving any effort out there right now. NDSU was getting any rebound they wanted in his vicinity. It was ugly. We're going to need Elliot or Andre to emerge as a tough rebounder if we want to succeed.
 

Perhaps that was a function of the health issues he was dealing with. I'm sure it's a lot easier to be involved and energetic when you get behind something like that.
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. It had to be weighing on his mind last year.
 




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