Gopher Basketball With a Big Ten Winning Streak After 14-Point Win at Penn State
by GopherNation on Jan 16, 2012 2:07 PM CST
in Gopher Basketball
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PrintAbout a week ago I may have been down on this Gopher squad more than anybody else. But the rumors of their demise may have been greatly exaggerated.
Not only do our favorite hoopsters have a winning streak but they have won both games on the road. As pointed out on the BTN broadcast this is the first time since 2009 that the Gophers have won two consecutive road games. It was wins at Iowa and then at Wisconsin exactly three years ago to the day. But this particular win streak has to be a huge confidence builder for a Gopher team that was really struggling after starting 0-4 in the Big Ten. Can these two wins propel them to several more Big Ten wins? They figured out a way to win a close one over a highly ranked Indiana team and then they learned how to pull away against an inferior opponent with the 14 point win over Penn State.
After a tightly contested first half, the second half was a game of runs that eventually allowed the Gophers to build up a lead that was too much for Penn State to overcome. Early at the start of the half the Gophers used an 11-0 run. Joe Coleman scored six straight then Rodney with a big dunk in the paint and the run was finished by Austin Hollins nailing a three. But then Penn State when on an 8-0 run over about five and a half minutes to get the lead back down to three. Then it was Minnesota's turn again. Over the next two minutes they went on another 11-0 run to open up a 14 point lead.
But the story of the game for Minnesota was clearly the continued emergence of Joe Coleman. The freshman started his third game for the Gophers and he tallied a career high 23 points. Coleman is providing some aggressiveness and willingness to draw contact going to the basket. Today he got himself to the free throw line 12 times early and he converted all 12 free throws before going 1/2 in the final minute to finish 13/14. His toughness has given us a much needed spark that was desperately needed.
This team is certainly playing better and with more confidence but there is still a long way to go. There are still 12 Big Ten games remaining and we dug ourselves a pretty big hole by losing the first four (DAMN that Illinois game!). And while we are playing better on both ends there are still some things that need to be cleaned up.
Penn State really did dominate the boards as I thought they might in the Open Thread post. They only grabbed a couple more in total than Minnesota. But that was mostly because they missed a lot more shots than we did (they missed more shots than we took!!), this is a pretty good base case for why efficiency stats are so much more valuable than box score stats. They had 15 offensive rebounds that led to 18 second chance points. And they held the Gophers to just 3 offensive boards which is rare for the Gophers even without Trevor Mbakwe. That is quite an advantage that was fortunately not an issue this afternoon.
The second story of the game for the Gophers was their defense, holding PSU to 30% shooting from the field, which is an incredible number. Not more more to say about that other than this was some of the best team defense we have seen all year. We are getting to three-point shooters better and we defended the high pick-n-roll better than we have for most of the year. It wasn't perfect but it is an improvement. It appears to me like Tubby and staff are getting these guys to play better.
Will this win catapult us to bigger and better things? I still don't want to get too carried away but for the first time since right before the Mbakwe injury there is a reason for optimism. The season is not over...yet.
Up next is a home game with Northwestern. Personally I think that we match-up horribly with the Wildcats. Teams that shoot very well and who are disciplined enough to run their offense well are not good for us. Then on the other end they play a tough 1-3-1 zone defense, we have fared poorly against zone defenses this year. But the good news is that we have a week to prepare for this game while they travel to Wisconsin on Wednesday. If there is any team in the conference that I'd want to have extra days to prepare for it is Northwestern and their unique offense and defense. Given our recent confidence boost and then seven days to prepare for a home game, I feel better about this game.
Renewed hope for the season and games that are more enjoyable to watch. This team is playing better together and the season isn't over quite yet for Gopher basketball.
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Good Win
I was a little nervous about this one, but all for naught i guess.
Couple thoughts:
1. Can’t say enough about Joe Coleman. I won’t add too much to what everyone has already said about him, but I really enjoy watching how agressive he is. He rarely misses an opportunity to exploit the defense and seems to make the proper pass when he has no alternate.
2. Rodney has been fantastic these last couple of games. Not sure if Coleman is rubbing off on him, but he has been very assertive on offense when the opportunity is present.
3. Is Elliot Eliason our best defensive player? At the start of the year i thought he was going to be a foul machine, but he seems to put himself in the right position to challenge shots and defend the paint. Even though his offense isn’t great he really improves the team when he is out there.
4. RSIII played a quiet but good game. Didn’t score many points, but i thought he has looked much better in the last 2 games. We always focus on the bad things that Ralph does that sometimes we forget jus thow good of a passer he is.
5. Any idea when Mo is coming back?
3 – YES he is. He gets his blocked shots but he usually stands BIG in the paint when defenders get there. Our other bigs start to drool over a mammoth block shot and then end up fouling. Eliason makes shots in the paint very tough by just being big.
5 – I was wondering the same thing. A couple games ago I thought him coming back and providing a spark was our only shot at winning a few games. Now I wonder if he’ll come back and spark us to some upset wins. Or he’ll redshirt and we’ll get him for an extra year. I want him to play but I also would appreciate having him for an extra year.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you The Daily Gopher
by GopherNation on Jan 16, 2012 12:18 PM CST up reply actions
I'm starting to think he should sit
We’re playing well and he has the redshirt available.
I would agree but,
Even if he came back and only played 10 minutes a game, at least he would get some Big Ten experience, which might go a long way to helping him get ready for next year.
On Northwestern
We struggled mighily against the 2-3 against Iowa. Against Purdue we did a little better. Against Penn State we ate it up, largely thanks to Coleman penetrating from the wing.
As for 1-3-1, I don’t think we’ve seen it since the non-conference, and even then, we didn’t see much. Time for some coaching and som baseline acrobatics from Rodney.
Beating the 1-3-1
is something that Minnesota will have to shoot its way out of (and being back in Evanston, I haven’t seen the Gophers’ shooting recently), most likely. How’s the shooting improved since then?
Regardless, your point about driving is well-received. We have players who respond in very different ways to a drive, from the Curletti “Swift Forearm of Justice” to the Shurna “Let ’Em Drive”. I’m personally hoping that we slow the game down to the point of uncomfortable for the Gophers, sit in our Princeton offense, and shoot/defend as well as we did against MSU on Saturday.
shooting from the wings and corners but if we can get the ball in the high post area at all then Williams should be able to cut along the baseline (or short corner) for some big dunks.
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by GopherNation on Jan 17, 2012 12:58 PM CST up reply actions
NW is churning too....
they are thin. We should take them.
I’ve admitted eating some crow on my criticism of this team. They are better than I thought or expected, which is nice. Coleman is cutting his teeth nicely, Eliason has also impressed me.
I also still think we got better since Mbakwe went down. I am ready for the criticism to come, but this team is far superior to the team playing the first 10-12 games, struggling at every turn. I’m not saying we’re better BECAUSE Mbakwe got hurt, just that we’ve improved in every aspect, seemingly, since he went down. Shockingly, I feel our offensive rebouding and second chance points are up and since the Iowa game I feel like we’ve just worked/played harder. I’m more surprised that we were able to stay in games at Michigan and at Illinois the way we did. And winning at Indiana cannot be understated.
I still can’t imagine a scenario where we are even near the NCAA bubble…but I am softening my stance that we wouldnt make the NIT. I can see an NIT invite in our future. Which I guess is a win considering we lost our best player on an already thin roster of youngsters.
The win at Indiana took away any form of embarrassment for the year. The rest is going to be gravy for me as I prepare for a better than expected 2012 football season.
God speed gopher fans….
two more wins and we are NIT eligible!1
what you say here can, and will, be used against you The Daily Gopher
by GopherNation on Jan 17, 2012 12:59 PM CST up reply actions
NCAA Tournament
first of all, I do not think we are good enough to make the NCAA Tournament. But if they keep playing well, and improve a bit; the NCAA Tournament is not that far off.
They were in Lunardi’s first four out and Stat Junkie has them in.
We have a high RPI (not sure why or how but we do) and we have a signature win. We need more obviously but we have some very winable games in the next couple weeks.
NU, @MSU, Ill, @Iowa, @Neb – that could really be 4-1 putting our record at 6-5 with seven games left. Eight Big Ten wins plus one in the tournament might be enough to get it done. The last seven games are brutal and we could finish 1-6 or 2-5, which would hurt; but I don’t think it is out of the question considering how they played last week. It needs to continue and we really need to go 4-1 in the next five games. Then we’ll talk.
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by GopherNation on Jan 17, 2012 1:09 PM CST up reply actions
It happens every year...
they win 2 big ten games they shouldn’t
they lose 2 big ten games they shouldn’t
and there NCAA hopes ride on what they do with the other 14 games.
So far they have lost 1 they should have won (Iowa) and won 1 they should have lost (Indiana), they are 1-2 in the toss up games (some will say that Purdue at home should be a game we win, but with this program you cannot count any game against the upper echelon teams at Williams a should win, they just haven’t been consistent enough to warrant that).
Should Win (3-1)
NW
@ Iowa
@ Neb
Neb
Should Lose (1-3)
@MSU
OSU
@Wis
MSU
Up For Grabs
Ill.
Wis
Ind
@NW
I see them going 2-2 in these games, which would give them an 8-10 record in the Big Ten. This would mean they would have to win at least 1 in the B1G tourney to be considered for NCAA, but likely means they have to win at least 2 B1G tourney games.
I don't see any game against Wisconsin or Indiana as up for grabs
I would put the Wisconsin and Indiana home games down as a “should lose” and make them 1-5 in those games. They split the Illinois/@NW games. I am still forecasting 7-11 in the Big 10.
I see upside to 8-10 if they can win all of the “should win” games and 9-9 is possible if they can take both of the Illinois/@NW games. That should be enough to get them in the field of 68. There’s still a chance but it is unlikely. I’ll enjoy it quite a bit if they make it.
Have you been watching Wisky play?
I was at the Kohl Center on Sunday when they played Nebby. They are not playing well and I’d argue that they just aren’t a great team. I’m not saying they are horrible. But I’m saying they are completely beatable, especially at The Barn. As of now, the Wisky game in MN is a tossup for sure.
Agree I would lean toward putting wisky
as a game we should win or keep it at “up for grabs”. They have really struggled, especially for the usual Wisconsin teams we are used to seeing. I would then say it’s a wet dream for Indiana to be up for grabs just because we snuck away with one. I would quickly move that to the should lose bucket. Then replace it with the @ Wis game to net the same. I also don’t look forward to playing Illinois again and would lean toward putting that one back into the Should lose bucket too.
The fact that we could even be speaking about NCAA is why I tip my hat. And why I grow more furious with the Illinois game by the day….have I said Fuck Illinois lately? Well I just did…god damn it I hate that institution….
Anyway, I’ll come out and eat crow about my harsh treatment of this team at any chance I can….I was far too critical, regardless of where we end up this season. The team has already fared better than I ever expected. Cheers to that.
By the way
I am well aware that all of this is a tad premature. It is possible that the GOphers simply had a good week last week and any postseason talk is getting ahead of things. That said, i love the way the team played last week and am basing any predictions on them sustaining that level of play.
my point
was not that they have a good chance or even that they belong…just that it isn’t exactly our of the realm of possibility yet. They have a nice stretch here in the next couple weeks and then it get tougher. They’ll have to earn it but it is still possible.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you The Daily Gopher
You've been very fair.
If you look at their entire body of work in Big 10 play, it is strong. Sure we lost the majority, but we’ve competed. Other than Purdue who played out of their shoes…and Iowa out hustled us at every position. We can fix the Iowa problems. We can assume the law of averages and that Purdue next time will be more competitive as they may actually miss a shot.
So I think you’ve been fair, and I’ve been critically unfair. NCAA is not impossible at this point, as we’ve shown enough competitive spirit to where we can compete with at least a handful of conference teams, if not most given all the teams have stuggled on one night or another this season.
I think we are both on the same page, or all of us are on the same page, that the NIT is the best we could “expect”….
Indiana continues to fade...
..NEBRASKA??? Slowly, that marquis win is tarnished….and perhaps Nebraska isn’t the walk in the park we expected.
Reminds me of when we beat Penn State ranked #2…they then went on to suck balls the rest of the year, finishing unranked. Or when we beat Michigan and they went on to lose.
Can’t we just beat a great team and enjoy it!?!? Do they always have to end up not being the great team we thought they were when we beat them?
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