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Tubby's Gophers Lose Again

For the third straight game the Gophers were atrocious from the free throw line (7-15).

For the third straight game the Gophers couldn't develop anything consistent in the half-court offense.

For the third straight game the Gophers defense had some nice moments, but also way too many costly lapses.

The result? A 63-58 loss in Coral Gables to the Miami Hurricanes.

This one stings a tad less because it's a road game, but for the third consecutive outing Tubby Smith's Golden Gophers lost a winnable game against a team that most college basketball experts believe Minnesota is better than.

After a slow start Wednesday night, the Gophers' pressure defense forced numerous first half turnovers that led to easy Minnesota offense. Miami's poor ball-handling and Minnesota's pressure gave the Gophers a 30-25 halftime lead. But in the second half Minnesota's defense wasn't turning over the Hurricanes any more and those easy baskets wouldn't come in the half-court. 

After being benched for the first half against Texas A&M, Lawrence Westbrook and Al Nolen were reinserted into the starting lineup. Both played well, especially in the first half. Nolen was creating turnovers (he had 5 of the team's 7 steals) and driving to the basket. Westbrook played under control for the most part and led the team with 19 points.

The Hurricanes played composed basketball in the second half--more composed than the Gophers--and earned this win. For a team that is known for turning the ball over, the Hurricanes only committed 13 turnovers against Minnesota's "tenacious" defense. The Gophers, by contrast, turned the ball over 11 times. Dwayne Collins, held in check most of the first half, dominated the glass with 11 rebounds. Durand Scott led all scorers with 20 and Malcolm Grant buried the Gophers from behind the arc. 

Other thoughts:

  • ** Ralph Sampson III played 23 mostly ineffective minutes. He couldn't handle the physical of Dwayne Collins. I'm wondering why Colton Iverson didn't see more action. He's the more physical of the two big men and Iverson has demonstrated some improvement to begin his sophomore campaign. Iverson seems better on the glass and better offensively. Free Colton?
  • ** Rodney Williams looked lost. His stat line is as follows: 16 minutes, 0-2 from the field, 0-2 free throws, 1 assist, 2 turnovers and a personal foul. 
  • ** I don't really know what to say about the free throw shooting. It's beyond atrocious. Rodney Williams chucked one up there tonight that found itself lodged between the rim and the backboard. Yuck. Damian Johnson was 1-5, including some crunch-time free throws. 
  • ** To begin the game the Gophers struggled again against a 2/3 zone. Finally, after losing to Portland because of their struggles and after a few bad possessions against Miami, the Gophers finally started getting the ball into the middle of the zone by placing Damian Johnson around the free throw line. It worked. Damian hit a shot or two from the center of the lane and the zone collapsed often enough to give the Gophers open outside shots that they hit.
  • ** It was nice to see both Blake Hoffarber and Devoe Joseph get hot for a period. Blake was 3-6 from three. Joseph was 2-5, though that included an air ball during crunch time.
  • ** The Gophers were out-rebounded 32-24. Al Nolen led the team with 6 rebounds. No other player had more than 3.
  • ** Despite reportedly being available for this game and no longer on suspension, senior Devron Bostick didn't see the floor. 

Anyone have other thoughts or takeaways from the game? With the loss the Gophers are now 4-3 and return home for a stretch of games they should win. I can't see Brown, Morgan State, Saint Joseph's, Northern Illinois or South Dakota State giving the Gophers much of a game. Maybe what this team needs most is a confidence boost. They should get that in the coming weeks. 

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Comments

Display:

that was awful

Myth #1 about the 2009-10 Golden Gophers – they play good defense. Especially in the half-court they don’t even play mediocre defense. If Miami set a screen the result was a wide open shooter. There was no ball pressure. And our interior was incredibly soft. Even Damian Johnson looked passive and average on the defensive end for much of the game.

Myth #2 – We are the same team we were a year ago. This team is worse. Last year we did a number of little things right to help us win games. Tonight (and the 76 Classic) we shot poor free throws, turned the ball over, didn’t rebound on either end of the floor, didn’t pass very well, etc.

These guys need to get things figured out and now the Big Ten season becomes critical.

what you say here can, and will, be used against you

by GopherNation on Dec 2, 2009 9:21 PM CST reply actions  

Passing

It’s always amazed me how much more fundamentally sound Bo Ryan’s Badgers are then Tubby Smith’s Gophers when it comes to passing. Watching the Badgers right now, they make crisp passes, and not just on the entry pass.

Maroon and Gold Headquarters: The Daily Gopher

by PJS on Dec 2, 2009 9:50 PM CST up reply actions  

At least Nolan showed up

9 pts – 2nd on team
6 reb – led the team
6 ast – led the team
5 stl – led the team

what you say here can, and will, be used against you

by GopherNation on Dec 2, 2009 9:39 PM CST reply actions  

Tubby is Still the MAN!!!!

Just not here……..get ready for another 7th or 8th place finish in the Big Ten and no NCAA tourney, this team sucks.

by Narby on Dec 2, 2009 9:53 PM CST reply actions  

Are they “Tubby’s Gophers” when they’re winning? Or does he only get credit for the losses? Maybe that’s why he earns the big bucks?

by edkohler on Dec 2, 2009 10:16 PM CST reply actions  

i think he gets plenty of credit when they win. no?

He’s certainly turned the program around. But they’ve also disappointed so far and they aren’t doing the little things as gn noted.

Maroon and Gold Headquarters: The Daily Gopher

by PJS on Dec 2, 2009 10:51 PM CST via mobile up reply actions  

Credit

I am more than happy to give Tubby credit for taking a horrible team and just about bringing them up to the middle of the pack in the Big Ten, he has moved us up 4 places to 7th. The problem is that this team is not as good as last years. Maybe we are missing Travis Busch more than we thought, or JAS. (ha) It’s disappointing that Colton Iverson is the only player that looks to have improved over the off-season and we still don’t have a guard that can shoot from the outside consistently. Looks like we will be battling Penn State and NU for the 7th position and a bubble team, one and done again. This is not what we were hoping for, but we should be used to it by now.

by Narby on Dec 3, 2009 2:23 PM CST up reply actions  

Well...

Portland lost to something called Portland State last night. That should really help the resume….

by Rooney09 on Dec 3, 2009 8:24 AM CST reply actions  

Devron Bostick

Devron didn’t travel with the team since they haven’t practiced together for a while with Thanksgiving break. He will be available here on out. How much Tubby will use him is up in the air?

by GoldytheGopher on Dec 3, 2009 12:01 PM CST reply actions  

The gophs

 looked like a team that expects to win. You can tell that Tubby is not pleased with his team’s abilities to follow his directions. It seems like to often every guard wants to play the hero to show they can play offense and the bigs are demanding the ball and being physical. Every time they are physical they are called for a foul. That game was just depressing.

by TheEvilProfessor on Dec 3, 2009 12:33 PM CST reply actions  

You can tell that Tubby is not pleased

I actually haven’t noticed Tubby getting too upset on the sidelines. He certainly argued with the refs some in Anaheim. I might have missed it, but I haven’t seen Tubby display his displeasure with his team.

Maroon and Gold Headquarters: The Daily Gopher

by PJS on Dec 3, 2009 1:15 PM CST up reply actions  

I guess it would be more

focused towards Nolen and Westbrook at times and plus all of the other off court distractions this year.

by TheEvilProfessor on Dec 4, 2009 7:38 AM CST up reply actions  

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