Time to dial it up Gophers

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Bayfieldgopher

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BU coming to town. 1-3 with loses to Fla, Nova and St Johns.
 


Winnable game, but we'll have to play significantly better than the UND game. BC has played a pretty tough schedule so far. Mitchell will be fired up, and we'll need to keep him off the glass. I think rebounding to ignite our fast break with Gach will be important. Robbins needs to finish around the rim and stay out of foul trouble.
 


gophereric30 said:
We need to come out strong. Cant start slow like we have last 3 games or we will be in trouble.
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BC isn't great, but they look like they work hard, and their talent level is much greater than previous opponents. Mitchell probably has big incentive back in his home state, too.
 


Holy Man said:
BC isn't great, but they look like they work hard, and their talent level is much greater than previous opponents. Mitchell probably has big incentive back in his home state, too.
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Definately a winnable game, but if we start slow gonna be obviously more difficult to make up 8-12 points against a P6 team than it is against loyola marymount or north dakota.
 

Robbins and Johnson picked it up against und so that was encouraging and needs to continue. Really, really need Gabe to hit 3s. Agree with many other posters that would be very helpful if Ihnen would show out, but not much hope for that at this point it seems. Defense needs to shake off a poor effort against und.
 

golf said:
Robbins and Johnson picked it up against und so that was encouraging and needs to continue. Really, really need Gabe to hit 3s. Agree with many other posters that would be very helpful if Ihnen would show out, but not much hope for that at this point it seems. Defense needs to shake off a poor effort against und.
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Perhaps we will see Mutaf against BC. I hope so because I would like to see his game but I have no idea what his status is.
 

Concerns:

Robbins and Johnson picked it up vs. UND: Meaningless. ACC team is going to be a lot harder to play and rebound against than a winless North Dakota team. (although Kansas struggled against NDSU!)

Gabe hit 3s: History. Hard to expect this to suddenly show up after he went 1 for 5 against UND. Tougher defense. Sad part is, it will show up when it shows up and no one knows when that will happen. After that, it will most likely be gone again.

Ihnen show up: Run time. Hard to show up without minutes. He ain't doing something to get the minutes.

Urgency and Competitiveness: Meaningful. Look for the Gophers to be way more inspired against BC than they were for the Fighting Falcons. ACC teams tend to bring out better performances than run of the mill Midwest also ran fringe division 1 programs. Gophers will want to play hard and make a statement. Pitino should just have to roll the ball out there and get a better performance.
 



jblass said:
Perhaps we will see Mutaf against BC. I hope so because I would like to see his game but I have no idea what his status is.
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Agree. I assume if there was any chance that he was ready that he would have gotten some pt at this point. Could they be looking at a redshirt for him?
 

golf said:
Agree. I assume if there was any chance that he was ready that he would have gotten some pt at this point. Could they be looking at a redshirt for him?
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Hasn't everyone been granted a free year this year, so redshirt has no benefit? Or is that seniors only? In this day and age, I see no reason to redshirt anyone outside of an injury or a conscious decision by the player.
 

Holy Man said:
Hasn't everyone been granted a free year this year, so redshirt has no benefit? Or is that seniors only? In this day and age, I see no reason to redshirt anyone outside of an injury or a conscious decision by the player.
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Good point. Guess for some reason i assumed only seniors got the extra year, but i dont know. Seems a little strange that mutaf is our only player who hasnt seen the floor, maybe still fighting injury.
 

golf said:
Good point. Guess for some reason i assumed only seniors got the extra year, but i dont know. Seems a little strange that mutaf is our only player who hasnt seen the floor, maybe still fighting injury.
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Seems like coaches are talking less and less about injuries/absences of players. With women's basketball last year and volleyball, it was almost complete silence when players were absent. I wonder if the men's programs are using the same strategy. Players deserve privacy if they wish, but seems kind of odd if it is a routine sports injury to be silent. Creates more questions, and potentially more talk.
 



Holy Man said:
Seems like coaches are talking less and less about injuries/absences of players. With women's basketball last year and volleyball, it was almost complete silence when players were absent. I wonder if the men's programs are using the same strategy. Players deserve privacy if they wish, but seems kind of odd if it is a routine sports injury to be silent. Creates more questions, and potentially more talk.
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I think very very very few people care about that stuff. This group is in the minority.
This game won’t be competitive. 20 points separate them at some point.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
I think very very very few people care about that stuff. This group is in the minority.
This game won’t be competitive. 20 points separate them at some point.
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Hope you're right...unless you mean we will be losing by 20.
 

Why don’t I remember Steffon Mitchell at all? Definitely seems like a Damian Johnson type. Elite defender. Wish we had him.
 


Otis said:
Concerns:

Robbins and Johnson picked it up vs. UND: Meaningless. ACC team is going to be a lot harder to play and rebound against than a winless North Dakota team. (although Kansas struggled against NDSU!)

Gabe hit 3s: History. Hard to expect this to suddenly show up after he went 1 for 5 against UND. Tougher defense. Sad part is, it will show up when it shows up and no one knows when that will happen. After that, it will most likely be gone again.

Ihnen show up: Run time. Hard to show up without minutes. He ain't doing something to get the minutes.

Urgency and Competitiveness: Meaningful. Look for the Gophers to be way more inspired against BC than they were for the Fighting Falcons. ACC teams tend to bring out better performances than run of the mill Midwest also ran fringe division 1 programs. Gophers will want to play hard and make a statement. Pitino should just have to roll the ball out there and get a better performance.
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Ihnen will be playing this year, much more than he has thus far. Foul trouble, injury, etc. Kid needs to play minutes.
 


golf said:
Robbins and Johnson picked it up against und so that was encouraging and needs to continue. Really, really need Gabe to hit 3s. Agree with many other posters that would be very helpful if Ihnen would show out, but not much hope for that at this point it seems. Defense needs to shake off a poor effort against und.
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I think it is almost a given now that Gabe will NOT make alot of 3-point baskets. He flat out just needs to cut down on his shots and take the ball to the hoop, move it and play defense.
 

Also, I agree with the OP.

One huge thing I have noticed so far with this Gophers team is that they don't play hard. Seems like they are sleep walking half the game. That is a recipe for some big time whoopings come Big Ten play. Hopefully they can step it up a notch.
 

Go Gophs said:
I think it is almost a given now that Gabe will NOT make alot of 3-point baskets. He flat out just needs to cut down on his shots and take the ball to the hoop, move it and play defense.
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Maybe. Put me in the category of not expecting a successful season if that is the case.
 

golf said:
Maybe. Put me in the category of not expecting a successful season if that is the case.
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I'm not one that feels what he does beyond his shooting is something someone else couldn't handle. Gach needs to shoot more. Mashburn will develop. Ihnen will find his stroke and get more PT.

Carr/Gach/Ihnen/Johnson/Robbins Curry, Gabe, Omersa, Tre, Mashburn.

This is the deepest team we've seen for quite some time. They just need to bring up the intensity level. Right now they seem to be playing at about 75% save for a few of them. They will gel. I am more excited about this team than I have been for quite awhile.

If they had Oturo this would be a contender for a Big Ten Title. LETS GO
 

Go Gophs said:
I'm not one that feels what he does beyond his shooting is something someone else couldn't handle. Gach needs to shoot more. Mashburn will develop. Ihnen will find his stroke and get more PT.

Carr/Gach/Ihnen/Johnson/Robbins Curry, Gabe, Omersa, Tre, Mashburn.

This is the deepest team we've seen for quite some time. They just need to bring up the intensity level. Right now they seem to be playing at about 75% save for a few of them. They will gel. I am more excited about this team than I have been for quite awhile.

If they had Oturo this would be a contender for a Big Ten Title. LETS GO
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Guess I see Gabe's 3 point shooting as more critical than you do, but hope you are correct and i am not ☺. Would be very helpful if others pick up the slack.

Yeah, if Oturu wouldve returned. Possibly he and Robbins couldve been on the floor together a lot, would have been great. Candies and nuts I guess.
 
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Wow. Probly just me being too negative, but feel like at this point i would take a one point triple overtime win.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
Why don’t I remember Steffon Mitchell at all? Definitely seems like a Damian Johnson type. Elite defender. Wish we had him.
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Played at Shakopee and I believe he was/is? the all time leader in points and rebounds there. His recruitment was really strange. For a high caliber player there was a lot of silence (lack of offers/info). I believe at one point I read that he was offered by Wichita St. Also played in the state tournament semi-final where Shakopee was defeated by Amir Coffey's 3/4 court heave.
 



balds said:
Played at Shakopee and I believe he was/is? the all time leader in points and rebounds there. His recruitment was really strange. For a high caliber player there was a lot of silence (lack of offers/info). I believe at one point I read that he was offered by Wichita St. Also played in the state tournament semi-final where Shakopee was defeated by Amir Coffey's 3/4 court heave.
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Until seeing BC on TV last week, I didn't know he went to Sunrise (must have been as a post grad). There was talk on this board of him, but it seemed like those who followed high school basketball didn't think he was B1G and/or high major prospect. I've seen him often enough over the years to think he is the kind of guy every team needs one of, even if he isn't highly skilled offensively. The guy is a rebounding machine, and never gives up or takes a play off. Since he ended up as a super senior at Sunrise, someone thought he either wasn't ready physically or he needed more work to prep for college.

It would appear he has squeezed every last ounce of success out of his natural abilities. Good for him.
 

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