Hoffarber Leads Minnesota Past #8 Purdue
by PJS on Jan 13, 2011 8:50 PM CST
in Gopher Basketball
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PrintBlake Hoffarber's sweet left-handed stroke had venerable Williams Arena rocking Thursday night as the #25 Gophers upended #8 Purdue 70-67. Hoffarber's 26 points helped Minnesota to what was arguably a must-win after early conference losses at Michigan State, at Ohio State and at Wisconsin. For this team, after dealing with the transfer of Devoe Joseph and an off-the-court distraction involving Trevor Mbakwe, this win must have felt great.
The game was easily the most entertaining game the Gophers have played all season. An up and down affair in the first half, the Gophers went into the half-time locker room up 41-40. Both teams were running and hitting their shots. It was frankly just very fun to watch, and I'd say that regardless of who had won the game.
Purdue was led by JaJuan Johnson who was simply fantastic. Johnson started quickly, hitting from the outside, knocking down fadeaways that just aren't defendable. But as the game wore on in the second half, the Gophers took Johnson out of the game as best they could. They doubled him in the post constantly, and Purdue didn't hit enough outside shots to take advantage.
The game was in doubt until the final seconds. Al Nolen hit a late three to put the Gophers up three points and Purdue missed two threes in the final seconds that could have send the game into overtime.
Significant kudos to Nolen for playing 39 minutes, scoring 13 points and adding 8 assists, 3 steals and 3 rebounds. Hoffarber's 26 points came on 10-15 shooting (4-6 from three). He added 4 assists. Combined, Hoffarber and Nolen had 12 assists to 4 turnovers. Pretty good.
Hoffarber was certainly the star on this night for Minnesota, but a considerable honorable mention goes to the Williams Arena crowd and home-court advantage. If you're going to compete in the Big Ten at the top of the conference, you must beat very good teams at home. The Gophers haven't done this in recent years. They've lost close home games to the team's best teams. Tonight, with the support of what sounded like an extremely lively home crowd, the Gophers got the job done.
Lots of observations below the jump, but first, man this feels good. It's been tough to slog through with this team in the past few weeks. There's been inconsistent defense. Off-court headaches. Disappointing losses. But the win breathes new life into the Gophers as they now have their most difficult portion of the schedule behind them.
- Just a few days after complaining about Tubby's rotations and calling for him to shorten his bench, he did just that. Nolen played every minute he could. He looked a bit winded during a couple possessions, but it was great to see him play 39 minutes. Maverick Ahanmisi played just 1 minute in the first half. Hoffarber played 35 minutes. The two other freshman, Chip Armelin and Austin Hollins, played 11 and 4 minutes respectively. The Gophers needed their two top guards on the floor for every one of those minutes.
- Of the three freshman, tonight it was Chip Armelin who earned a bit more playing time. Four points, 3 rebounds and an assist and steal in 11 minutes. Not bad. I also liked his composure in the second half when he was storming up the court with the ball, seemingly inclined to attack the basket. Instead, Armelin pulled the ball out. It was the right call and a heady play for the freshman.
- Colton Iverson started and continued playing better than Ralph Sampson III and Sampson continues to get more minutes. Iverson was 3-3 from the field. Sampson was 3-7. Both had 2 rebounds. But Sampson saw 31 minutes to Iverson's 18. I just don't get it at this point. I suppose Tubby likes Sampson's ability to hit an outside shot.
- No double-double on this night for Trevor Mbakwe. He sat the first 4 minutes until the fans started chanting for him to enter the game. He finished with 7 and 10. The Gophers really didn't look for him offensively. I'd like to see Tubby dump him the ball in the post more often.
- E'Twaun Moore? Not so much. 2-14 from the floor and 1-7 from three. The guards did a fantastic job not letting Moore get off.
- While there's a fine line between pushing tempo and playing too fast, the Gophers are clearly better when they're running. They've never been a great half-court team under Tubby and this team's athletes allow them to attack the rim in transition. Rodney WIlliams excels at that pace. So do Nolen and Mbakwe. The Gophers typically play at a faster pace than most Big Ten teams, but I'd like to see them push it more often.
- Even when they weren't running in transition, and as Dan Dakich noted at half-time, the Gophers were driving. When they do that, they're so much better than when they are playing on the perimter. Rodney Williams took advantage of the baseline. Hoffarber put the ball on the floor. And Nolen took the ball to the basket.
- I think Dakich is great by the way. One of the best Big Ten analysts I've seen.
- This site has had quite a few debates about Rodney Williams. Is he an NBA talent or not? I sure don't think he's ready yet, but I keep seeing glimpses of him blossoming. He's getting better every game with handling the basketball. He is understanding that his game is to get to the rim, and he's using the baseline very well. If he played 4 years at Minnesota, I think he could be dominant in the Big Ten by his senior year. Defensively he's getting better too. His blocked shot in the final minute, where he helped on defense the way I'm sure Tubby teaches, was a game-changer and an absolutely great defensive play.
- Next up? Iowa comes to Williams Arena Sunday at 6 p.m.
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Hell of a game by you guys,
Giving you a ton of credit.
A futile crusade to prevent mass ignorance
HammerAndRails, SBNation's Boilermaker Blog
good recap TMill
it is hard to win on the road in the Big Ten isn’t it?
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by GopherNation on Jan 13, 2011 9:45 PM CST up reply actions
Most definitely
It would have been interesting if we had had our usual E’Twaun Moore. The fact he was held to 2 of 14 was a huge difference. several of his looks were good looks that didn’t fall, either.
A futile crusade to prevent mass ignorance
HammerAndRails, SBNation's Boilermaker Blog
Moore struggled
but you also got a MONSTER game out of Johnson.
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by GopherNation on Jan 14, 2011 10:21 AM CST up reply actions
Very nice analysis PJS
What a great game to watch. This was our best win in the Tubby Smith era imo, without a doubt! Don’t even argue with that neutral court win over jet-lagged and tired from playing the night before Louisville. This Purdue team is a great team and JuJuan Johnson is a beast, throwing shots in from every angle and the Basterds didn’t miss a single foul shot.
Since the 2nd half of the OSU game, we figured out that we could get better shots pushing the ball up the floor. I would add Armelin and Hoffarber to your list of players that play better in transition. Hoff, because he consistently hits that three when he is trailing and they kick it back to him. Tubby has the horses to run now- so run em!!!
My vote
…for best win in the Tubby Smith era goes to the OT thriller against Michigan State in last season’s Big Ten tournament. Considering the stakes (NCAA hopes on the line), the quality of opponent (Sparty ended up in the Final Four), and national stage, it has to be at (or near) the top.
Journalism. Enhanced.
I agree about Chip and Hoff in transition
Chip seems to very much like being in the open court. And he made good decisions yesterday, both to attack and pull back when having a break opportunity.
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what a good game
it feels good to get a win over a good team.
excellent points by PJS.
- Armelin looked very good and composed tonight, still my favorite freshman
- Hoffarber did a great job putting he ball on the floor and scoring in the mid-range
- Rodney Williams is really improving. He’s gone from being a near non-factor to being a strong contributor. Next step is to start being a difference maker.
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Great Game
I was at the barn tonight and it was a ton of fun. Two things to start:
1) 6pm games = crap! I know espn was the reason for this, but game 2 is UNC v VT, which started at 9pm east coast time. Why weren’t these games switched? The barn was half full until the 10 minute mark of the first half.
2) I think it was the 1-3 start that had everyone apprehensive, but the first half and the first 5 minutes of the second half it seemed as though everyone in the crowd was a little tentative. Everything got going in the second half, but it was a little odd.
Now to the game:
I think Iverson would have seen more playing time in the seconf half, but he picked up two fould within the first minute opf the second half that i think really limited his minutes. Too bad, because Ralph just looks lost right now. He is not decisive, adds nothing on offense, and is getting worked on the defensive side. I really think that he is really needed for this team to do anything in the postseason, but right now he looks worse than he did as a freshmen.
I am not sure Tubby has the horses to run right now. Until Mav can play some significant minutes Al might pass out on the floor if he is expected to be as active defensively, as well as run on offense. The Gophs didn’t run tonight and Al looked completely gased at the end of the game.
Rodney is really improving. I know it is not showing up in the boxscore, but he is active on offense, on defense and now he is really attacking the glass and rebounding well. I think if he can develope any midrange game he is going to be something special.
Blake was awesome, JuJuan Johnson was Awesomer (i know it is not a word). At first i thought we were playing him soft, but he was killing fadeawys and floaters that we completely undefensible. My vote for big ten POY.
Lets beat the hell out of Iowa.
If the Barn has half-full for the first 10 minutes, it didn’t sound like it on TV. Sounded very loud.
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I literally arrived 30 seconds before tip
and it was mostly full when I sat down. I would say it was at least 80% full when the ball was tipped and it didn’t take too much longer for it to fill up. It was definitely loud and a fun atmosphere.
maybe i was being a little dramatic
…but i thought it took a little while for the barn to fill and for the crowd to get into it.
Looked like a lot of empty seats on television
I was going to ask about attendance, because on ESPN, even in the 2nd half, it looked like a lot of 2-4 seat gaps all over the place. Big holes on television. I couldn’t believe it for a home Big 10 game against a top 10 team.
It seemed to fill up pretty quick
Those early games are tough for some people to get to I guess and with the snow and all…..I had to take Unversity over from St. Paul as their was an accident on 94 near Snelling…..I made it on time, but there were some empty seats on the end opposite the Students….
by rangerrodent on Jan 14, 2011 11:40 AM CST up reply actions
6:00 midweek games are tough to get to
And traffic was slow yesterday due to the dusting of snow we got.
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by GopherNation on Jan 14, 2011 2:27 PM CST up reply actions
Agreed on RSIII
Its been over a week and a half since I saw him live at the Indian game. His passion for basketball seems gone. Even last year you saw some emotion on the floor. This year he is a slug out there…eventually a blind squirrel who is 6’11" finds a nut, or a rebound or a basket. Overall he is horrific on defense. I wonder if there is a +/- rating like in hockey. The team tends to build points when he is on the bench. On offensive sets he is tentative and seems to clog up the middle for our offense rather than creating space and opportunity. After shots he is horribly man-handled by smaller opponents and is in poor rebounding position at best. I think Tollackson was much better than him by the time he was a Jr.
by DallasGopher on Jan 14, 2011 6:58 AM CST up reply actions
1 more thing
Either have fewer TV timeouts, or only give eash team 3 timeouts per game. Sometimes all the timeouts take the wind out of the game.
More playing time for Chip
Let Armelin run the point and keep pushing the hell out of the ball. Run em, and btw, I thought we pushed the ball quite a bit tonight.
I'd like to see ...
… Chip use his right hand a bit more if we’re going to let him play point. But if he has the handles to play that position I agree. He’s very quick with the basketball in his hands.
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Whew...
…we needed that one. Given our tough schedule, it is good to get out of this 2-3. Obviously, I wish we could have won one of those tough road games, but 2-3 isn’t that bad.
I just hope that we show up on Sunday. Thankfully, the game is at home. Iowa has played Illinois and Ohio St tough, so we still need to play well to win. This could be a candidate for a letdown game, but playing at home should mitigate that.
Looking ahead, the next three games will really define our season. They are all winnable games, but not gimmes. Last year we were able to blow out Iowa, but Northwestern split with us and Michigan swept us.
I agree with the sentiments on Rodney Williams. He does some good things when driving and during transition. His shooting is still awful—I would rather see Sampson shoot jumpers.
Rotation was key
Tubby’s coaching won this game. More screens to the Hoff inside the arc made a bit difference. People load up on him around the 3 point line.
by Gopher Fan from Wisconsin on Jan 14, 2011 8:03 AM CST reply actions
Agree on Blake
I was at the game last night and I was thinking this same thing. It was great to see them set more screens inside the arc for Hoffarber. Seemed to open up the 3 for him later on. It was a great win and very glad we didn’t have to go to OT. We were really dragging at the end. Guys were still giving it all they had, but the tank was on empty. Purdue’s tank must have been emptier. Hope for no letdown against Iowa. Anybody can beat anybody in this league.
by rangerrodent on Jan 14, 2011 8:53 AM CST up reply actions
Hate to be critical, but
I agree with all the above comments and good recap PJS. I do have a problem with Tubby and his use of timeouts. Nolan was completely gassed at the 5 minute mark and had a very rough 2 minute stretch that very easily could have been costly had Purdue taken advantage. Someone has to see that and either give Nolan a breather or take a T/O. I am in the Chip camp bigtime and would not hesitate to put him in for short time periods. Tubby invariably has a couple of unused T/O’s at game’s end (2 last night). If you are going to shorten the bench, go more up tempo (which I like), and ask a hobbled Nolan to play 39 minutes, you have to be cognizant of his condition. Other than that and my usual take on RS111, great game. I really like the intensity I saw. Overall, great win by Tubby and the guys.
Timeouts
I tend to like holding onto those timeouts until the end of the game. It just worked out last night that they could have been used earlier. It was a one possession game until the end, having timeouts in your back pocket to call on a tough inbounds, or to substitute offense for defense, or to draw up a way to break an impromptu press,is extremely valuable.
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PJS
I know what you mean, but we were fortunate that it was a one possession game at the end. Timeouts in the “back pocket” don’t do any good if you lost the game earlier. I really wanted Al to get a breather at the 5 minute mark—-I would like to have seen Chip put in as soon as Nolan started pressing. The guy played an extremely gutsy game though.
Chip
I’m just not on the Chip should play point bandwagon. I could be wrong, but I haven’t seen that his handle is to a point yet where he could handle it. IMO Nolen needs to play 35-40 minutes per game for this team to win.
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agreed
I like Chip a lot, but I don’t see him as a point. He is more of a slashing SG, imo.
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by GopherNation on Jan 14, 2011 2:28 PM CST up reply actions
Reading through the preview over at Hammer & Rails
they painted it like Hoff is just an average shooter and Al is just an ok PG and basically said that Purdue had a big advantage on the perimeter. I love when people take our backcourt lightly even though Blake and Al are both seniors and are very solid (Al would be unreal if he could shoot). Most analysts would rank Purdue’s backcourt ahead of ours and I get that, but as it turns out our guys aren’t slouches. Moore was off but JJ made up for it by putting on a shooting display, I was very impressed with his game. Was a very fun game to be at!
PJS
I am on board the Chip should play PG wagon. He can definitely spell Al at the point IMO. You can tell the guy was recruited to play DB at SEC schools. I sure wish some of that toughness would rub off on RS3. Speaking of freshmen, Hollins played some solid minutes also.
Chip
He’s been OK. Like his energy and ability to get to the rim. But he has one hand. A left hand. That’s it. I haven’t seen him handle the ball. Just because he’s built like a point guard, fast enough to be a point guard doesn’t mean he’s someone that can handle the ball and run an offense. Again, I’m not saying he couldn’t handle it, but the skills I’ve seen don’t shout PG, at least not yet.
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Calling Hoff an average shooter...
…is moronic. I could see them accusing him of ONLY being a shooter…but an average shooter is just silly.
He’s turned into a well rounded basketball player over the years. Last night was a special night for him though.
I look at this as a nice win, unexpected for me. I thought we’d lose a tight game, not win one…so I was pleasantly surprised. However, I’m still very concerned about the season, but maybe that’s just because I occasionally catch the strained, painful look on Sampson III’s face and it leads me to believe nobody is having fun and basketball is the most miserable cursed game ever invented. Seriously, he reminds me of Trevor Winter. I remember looking at that guy on the court and cursing him for being so physically gifted, yet having NO, NADA, ZERO internal drive to compete. He just slogged through game after game, rarely, if ever, appearing to have fun.
Somebody needs to slap RSIII across the face and dump a bucket of ice water on him to wake him up. If not, I can’t stand seeing him painfully work his way through each game in misery. I kind of wish he’d make a public statement that he hates the sport of basketball and his parents made him play as a child. Though I’d argue he DOES make this statement every time he steps on the floor…so I take back that statement.
they never said he was an average shooter
they said if their perimeter defense continues to frustrate shooters then they can eliminate him. Their perimeter defense is very good and Hoffarber can be eliminated (Ohio State game and previous 3 Pur games).
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by GopherNation on Jan 14, 2011 2:33 PM CST up reply actions
here’s the link off the aricle I was mentioning from hammerandrails and here is the part of the article I was basing it off of
I do think our guards have a major advantage though. They need to disrupt things on the perimeter as they have done all year and prevent penetration to the post. Offensively, I don’t think Minnesota has anyone with LewJack’s quickness or Smith’s shooting ability.
I guess I probably overstating it by saying they called him an average shooter, but saying we don’t have anyone to match Smith’s shooting ability when we have one of the best shooters in the conference to me states that they don’t think he’s a great shooter. Also, LewJack is definitely quick, but so is Nolen. I know Nolen got beat off the dribble a few times, but that’s because he cheats a lot on defense to try for steals (IMO).
Still have the game running in my head
others have said it, but Rodney has shown some improvement. Too bad he could not have gotten that alley-oop from Hoff to go down—-great pass and well executed—-would have been spectacular.
Defense
I watched a replay of the game this morning. I didn’t realize it at the time, but Purdue made it’s last field goal with 9:22 left in the game giving them 61 pts. From there, they only managed 6 free throws the rest of the game. Our defense came up big in the end when we were running clock.
Perimeter defense deserves some credit
after being terrible for so long it was nice to see some defense on their perimeter players.
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And it still wasn't great
Purdue still had too many open looks, but, yes, we did clamp down on them a little bit more.
It also helps that Purdue missed their last 10 shots, which means they were shooting 46% from the field before the cold spell. 7 of those 10 shots were from behind the arc, so they were at 50% from three point land prior to going cold. Some of those were open shots. But we put a hand in the face of the shooter more often.
Yeah a lot of those final shots
Were contested or hurried. I think we can actually feel pretty good about our perimeter defense this game and hopefully moving forward.
"If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be." - Yogi Berra
regarding Chip
I understand why some of you guys are hesitant to go all in on Armelin, but I have a very good feeling about his future. I see a guy that can play tough D, can penetrate, can finish shots going to the rim, who can kick it out when the D collapses on him. Even his jumper looks like it has potential. This isn’t like me to be so gung-ho about a guy so early in his career, but can’t help it.
It's not being down on him. ....
…. I have simply only seen him dribble with one hand!
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I'm not down on him either
he’s our best freshman. He is really athletic and he is the only one in B10 games who doesn’t seem like a deer in headlights. But I’m not at all on board with viewing him as a point guard. I’ve seen nothing that shows me he can play point.
He has a bright future as a penetrating shooting guard.
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by GopherNation on Jan 14, 2011 9:28 PM CST up reply actions
Talk about upside.....
He hasn’t even needed to use his right hand yet, woo-hoo!!!!!
(How’s that for a positive spin?)
Hollins/Armelin
I also like Hollins and his 3 pt ability. Hollins is 36% from 3 pt land. I think they should use him in early game situations to get some base line kick outs for open 3’s. You have to have hoff in the game, kick it to him and swing it baseline or wherever to Hollins. He will be open. Especially since every team has played us the same down low, 2 or even 3 guys collapse to the ball and they slide to cover a kick out to Hoff.
I also like Armelin…I dont get too worried about him when he is out there…he seems to be able to manage a simple offense and pushes the ball nicely in transition.
I just wonder where all those Iowa fans from football season went too….they disappear during basketball season lol!
Next recruiting class
Is next year’s incoming class going to be any better than this year? I’ve heard a few mention that this year’s freshman are all role players, but I’m not sure we’ve made a big splash in recruiting for next season either.
I think they are a bit better than that, and the jury is still out on the big guys since there was a glut of big bodies already on the roster.
Also, does Mo Walker get to be a redshirt freshman next year?
Next year
I inquired about Walker and the response was “I don’t think they know yet. He played in 12 games so I doubt that he will be able to redshirt.” I’m sure they’ll try but who knows.
On next year’s incoming freshman, they are both much more highly rated than anyone in this particular class.
Current Freshmen guards
Hollins – 3-star, unranked, offers from Ark, Memphis and Oregon St
Armelin – no stars, unranked, offers from North Texas and LA Tech
Ahanmisi - no stars, unranked, offers from UC Santa Barbara and Loyola
Incoming Freshmen guards
Andre Hollins – 3-stars, 126th nationally, 40th best SG, offers from Aub, Miss, Stanford
Joe Coleman – 3-stars, 116th nationally, 34th best SG, offers from Seton Hall, Col St, Iowa St, smaller
ESPN ranks both of our guards as top 100 guys and 4-stars. Hollins plays for a Tennessee powerhouse program and obviously Coleman does as well.
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by GopherNation on Jan 17, 2011 3:15 PM CST up reply actions
so
it appears as though next year’s guards are more highly ranked with better offer sheets. Hollins has a very good shot at being our starting PG next year. SG is going to be wide open. SF, PF and C should be locks assuming nobody makes a strange attempt at the NBA draft.
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by GopherNation on Jan 17, 2011 3:16 PM CST up reply actions
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