Golden Nugz 01.30.11

by GopherNation on Jan 30, 2012 8:06 AM CST in Golden Nuggets

Now that was a great weekend for Gopher fans. The big win by the men's basketball team was very nice but not as impressive as women beating #9-Ohio St. And the hockey team finally shook their Friday monkeys and earned a sweep over St. Cloud State.

My favorite takeaway from Saturday's win over Illinois was that Andre Hollins can actually play and will be a very good player for us. Amelia Rayno decided to write more about it.

"He was able to put the ball in his hand, because we recruited him as a point guard and I was impressed with the way he stepped up and made his free throws and just played like a very mature, senior player," coach Tubby Smith said. "And just being a freshman, just a special effort on his part."

I really was not expecting to see him playing that much down the stretch and in OT, but he played great and maybe this was his coming out party.

The Illini HQ reacts to the how the Illini was unable to finish out the game on Saturday.
Hail to the Orange thinks that the Illini loss kind of sucked.
After Mbakwe went down I believe I said that if the Gophers were to make the NCAA Tournament it would be Tubby's best coaching job yet. Amelia is wondering if he'll be coach of the year? In the Big Ten maybe.
Blogging the Bracket has us up to a 10 seed with eight at-large teams behind us!
As mentioned the Gopher women beat #9-Ohio State yesterday. This was only OSU's second loss of the season and a fairly huge upset.
Unfortunately the wrestlers couldn't quite beat Iowa.
Is Gopher Hockey finally back as Minnesota's Pride on Ice?
Pioneer Press has a quick interview with Nick Bjugstad.
They got a huge Friday win (FINALLY) and then won an exciting game on Saturday to earn the sweep.
And they now have a five point lead over Duluth in the standings! Still have four weekend's to go to earn a conference championship but this was a very nice weekend for the Gophers.

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Comments

If your description of how something "clearly wasn't a foul"

Doesn’t include the words " he didn’t touch him," it’s maybe not so clear.

You can watch that play and disagree with the conclusion, maybe, but I don’t see how you can watch it and think something unfair happened.

by amiller92 on Jan 30, 2012 8:29 AM CST reply actions

Happy to be lucky,

but disappointed in how confused we looked to end that regulation…the delay in fouling, the layup attempt which would have sealed the loss for us. Did we seriously not draw up a play to get a 3 point shot? How did Hollins ever think it was ok to take a layup in that situation (or any player for that matter)?

Coach of the year? It is difficult to watch this game and argue for that accolade.

And don’t mistake this post for me not being happy. Any time I can piss all over anything Illinois I am happy. But this is the kind of win where you shake your head and admit “we should not have won this game”. Should have nailed them in Champaign, so we’re even for the season with them….

I will say this, we compete in every game. We are right there…annoying the shit out of the other team. I love that aspect of this team. We have got some battles ahead, but we’ve also got another few very winnable games. They made it interesting for me this season, which I never thought they would….for that I am grateful. Ski U Mah.

by jimipig on Jan 30, 2012 9:41 AM CST reply actions

Dude...did you read the paper, or the earlier post for that matter?

“He (Hollins) saw an opening and took it. He attacked the basket and attacked the rim. It came down to making those free throws and he did. The play originally was for him to take the three but he saw something different and that’s a part of the game of basketball.”

The play was designed to be a 3 attempt for Hollins, but he ad-libed.

by tc_brent on Jan 30, 2012 9:51 AM CST up reply actions

"That's a part of the game of basketball"...

…what is? Handing the other team a victory?

by jimipig on Jan 30, 2012 9:53 AM CST up reply actions

C'mon

does one really need to explain the meaing of that quote? I guess so.

The idea that even if you draw up a perfect play the players still have to go out an execute. Every offensive scheme or play revolves around the idea of a defense reacting a certain way. if they don’t or if a player sees something different than that’s just a part of the game.

by tc_brent on Jan 30, 2012 9:56 AM CST up reply actions

I think..

the concern is that when the player had to react, he drove for the basket and prayed for a foul instead of finding another way to take a 3.

If Meyers had just stepped to the side, Minn loses the game by 1. I have to agree with jimipig that it seemed very strange that Hollins ended up driving, even if the designed play fell through.

by AustinP0027 on Jan 30, 2012 10:17 AM CST up reply actions

Actually

If Leonard got out of the way, which he had shown no penchant for doing, we would have been down 1 with 4 seconds or so to go.That’s almost always going to mean a loss, but literally always.

Also, you guys are assuming that Hollins would have continued to the basket if there was no possibility of contact, which may or may not be the case. He knew we needed three.

by amiller92 on Jan 30, 2012 10:21 AM CST up reply actions

stretccccccccccccccch.........

you honestly think he would have got a three off going full tilt to the hoop? He would have circled back out to the corner to launch?

You are a glass is half full guy! I applaud that.

by jimipig on Jan 30, 2012 11:29 AM CST up reply actions

by GopherNation on Jan 30, 2012 11:25 AM CST up reply actions

7th means Indiana, Purdue or Illinois keeps dropping

Indiana at home becomes a big game

by DJL44 on Jan 30, 2012 12:55 PM CST up reply actions

I can see

Purdue and/or Illinois falling. I think Indiana will get back on track to some extent. But yeah, if we beat them a second time we will probably finish ahead of them.

by rencito on Jan 30, 2012 6:39 PM CST up reply actions