Gophers Battle Back But Come up Short Losing to Badgers in Overtime
by GopherNation on Feb 10, 2012 10:00 AM CST
in Gopher Basketball
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PrintAnother missed opportunity for the Gophers to get a big resume boosting win. Not that we have missed on every opportunity, we did beat Illinois and won at Indiana, but the list of missed opportunities is growing.
They could have and should have won at Illinois with a couple late free throws. They never should have lost to Iowa (twice). Had a chance to win at Michigan down one with 1:04 left. And had the opportunity to win last night's game over Wisconsin on your home floor but came up short. In every one of those games the Gophers had the ball with under a minute remaining and an opportunity to tie or win the game. We haven't missed on every opportunity but it certainly feels like it.
Last night the Badgers rode a first half of hot shooting that they eventually expanded to 13 in the second. But then a combination of increased Gopher defensive pressure, the Badgers finally missing their end of shot-clock prayers and Andre Hollins coming to life offensively carried the Gophers on a 15-2 run over the final 9 minutes of the half. That is the entire game in a nutshell.
Wisconsin's shooting from behind the arc through the first 30 minutes was an incredible 53% before finishing regulation 0-5 during the Gopher's run. 53% is really good but draining deep threes, with pressure as the shot-clock is expiring was just cruel. Eventually the law of averages played itself out but it is hard to battle back from down 13 against a very good defensive team.
Overall I thought the Gopher defensive pressure was pretty good. They occasionally employed a half-court trap to get the ball out of the hands of Jordan Taylor and to try to speed up the pace of the game and make Wisconsin a little uncomfortable. They kept their focus during long Badger possessions and were it not for a couple loose ball's that would trickle to a Badger shooter who would make a deep three as the shot-clock expired, they made some nice stops. Considering how much I have harped on the Gopher defense for most of the year, I thought last night they did a decent job of trying to keep Wisconsin off balance.
And finally we get to Andre Hollins who is finally starting to show signs of a bright basketball future. The freshman scored 11 points in the 15-2 run on his way to 20 for the night. He hit a couple big threes and he was the one responsible for guarding Jordan Taylor in the second half. Dre was willing to get physical with Taylor and never backed down from the senior point guard on either end of the floor. The true freshman has averaged over 11 points per game in his last four games and is starting to make me excited about his future as a Golden Gopher.
Tough game to lose and there are no consolation points for taking a ranked team to overtime only to lose. This team is missing that go-to scorer who can nail the dagger when you need a game finishing basket. It only gets harder from here as we host Ohio State on Tuesday and face a total of four ranked teams in the next five games. More opportunities are there to earn another big win, but the question is will the Gophers capitalize on these opportunities or will there be more close losses in our future?
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My 2 cents
Good game last night. I was at the game. The Barn was rocking when DRE hit that deep 3 to bring us to within 2. I started the day agreeing with Ruesse that the Gophers need a new facility, but left last night agreeing with Rand. Damn the confusion!
Thinking back on the game last night i think there may have only been 3 easy baskets in total last night. Wisconsin had 2, once when they broke the press and another when Evans dunked. The only easy basket i can think of was Ralph had a layup in the 1st five minutes. Were there any transition points other than the one mentioned above?
All the credit in the world to Bo Ryan and his ability to create a perennial winner in Madtown, but how on earth does he ever land recruits? That is the most boring brand of basketball ever! I know its hard to argue with becasue they win, but as a fan it is awful to watch. No flow to the game, very little pizzaz, incredibly slow paced, just boring.
Why do Big Ten refs let people get mugged on the way to the rim and not call a foul, but will call a freaking hand-check 30 feet fromt he hoop?
What is going on with Joe?
Dre was great? His D on Taylor was fantastic and he didn’t seem to shrink from the opportunity to be a big part of the Gopher comeback. Good signs in my opinion.
Its these games and the games coming up that really reiterate the fact that those 2 Iowa games are going to kill us. We should be 7-5 right now, but now we have to pull out 4 wins against OSU, MSU, Indiana, Wisconsin, NW and Nebraska. YUCK!
How does Bo recruit?
Nothing special. Bo has not had a highly-recruited guy on his roster for many years. Bo makes players rather than recruiting them. Minnesota had far more pure athletic talent on the floor last night than Whisky. Taylor of course was a diamond in the rough but the other two Minnesota kids starting for Bo would not show up in Tom Izzo’s uniform. Bo is a great coach. Jerry Kill reminds me of Bo.
So are you saying we should have won that Illinois game?
That foul and 3 point play was 1 in a million.
The rest i agree with, except, recruits like guaranteed trips to the NCAA (2nd, 3rd rounds) more than a guaranteed exciting offense.
We should have won the first and lost the second...
but that evened out.
The question about Bo is more a retorical/hyperbolic question. I know why he gets guys to Madtown, and truth be told, i marvel at the way he takes players and makes them into his own, but it doesn’t make it any more interesting or fun to watch.
I wish I knew
Why the refs do that, but to their partial credit, they are pretty consistent about it. Frustrates the heck out of me though.
I still think 3 wins and one in the conference tournament could do it. Obviously 4 would be significantly more comfortable.
Like I said earlier
very impressed with the potential Andre Hollins is showing. However, I sure would like to see him get others involved in the action I.E. be a PG!!!. I would have to go back and look, but I remember thinking on that last play of regulation, that once the D collapsed on him, he had Welch open who he could have kicked out to for a good look at the basket.
probably right
he was pretty much hounded by 3 guys the second he started penetrating. Inexperience i’m sure played into the shot selection.
So let me understand this, Tex
In the 23 seconds that elapsed from the timeout to Andre’s final drive to the hoop resulting in a poor, forced shot, he what? Simply forgot Tubby’s instructions for how to set up the last play? I don’t think so. I don’t even think there was a last play.
It is an undeniable hallmark of Tubby Smith’s Gopher coaching career that his teams cannot .. ever .. execute a last possession. Often they don’t even get a shot. In best cases like last night they get a forced (Andre) or impossible (Austin prayer) last shot.
If you look at the good college coaches in the country and give them the ball, at home, with a time out, and a tie game they will win about 85% of the time. They draw it up and the players have practiced it. They get the shot and score or go to the line and win there. Tubby has never been able to pull it off.
Tubby looked pretty fleet of foot on that last play...
he also looked alot like Andre Hollins.
The last play was all about the tough D from Wisconsin. No play was going to breakdown that defense, because no play had broken down that defense all night.
Monson could draw up an inbounds play
It was one of his strengths. I think he had a stack of them from his dad.
I've thought all along that JW should be point with Dre as the off guard
He doesn’t seem to be a PG to me
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by GopherNation on Feb 10, 2012 1:41 PM CST up reply actions
I would agree with you on Julian
but he has been pretty careless with the ball these last couple of games.
Why?
You’ve said that before, but I still don’t really see it. He’s comfortable with the ball and he’s better penetrating than he is catching an shooting. That says point to me, even though he’s not yet there as a distributor yet.
Meanwhile Welch is better at the catch and shoot and isn’t really a play maker either. He’s done a pretty good job since moving over to point, but he still seems to me like a guy who really should be at 2. We’re better off having Coleman and Austin out there so overall we’re better with him at point, but I think that’s because of the other two guys more than him being in his best position.
Dre is also a significantly better on the ball defender, but, of course, he can still guard the other team’s point even if he’s at off guard on offense.
I agree with you that Welch is a better shooter and I don’t really view Dre as a “shooting” guard. I feel like JW is better at running an offense and getting all five guys involved. Dre has that scorers mentality, while he isn’t a great shooter (yet) I think that he is a better scorer from the wing when he can get the ball passed to him within the offense.
And I think that Welch is far more comfortable with the ball in his hands. When I watch I feel like he is controlling that ball more than Dre does.
Both are pretty good on-the-ball defenders. Welch is very good about being physical with his chest and he is quicker than he appears. Dre is quicker and he probably played his best defensive game last night.
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by GopherNation on Feb 10, 2012 4:28 PM CST up reply actions
I mostly agree
Except I’m not sure that I see a big difference in comfort level with the ball in their hands.
Maybe we could
“view Dre” as any kind of guard imaginable, shooting or point. Does anybody realize he nailed five straight threes to almost win the game for us?
Andre Hollins is probably the best talent Tubby has brought to Minnesota.
Don't know about that
But against Wisconsin, every time someone penetrated and tried to dish, they adjusted and got the open man covered. Every. Darn. Time.
Where hasn Joe gone?
zero points in three games.
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Partly defense
But partly he doesn’t seem to be trying to penetrate as aggressively. He needs to put the ball on the floor and try to get to the rim or the line more.
could be defense
I really think that Coleman and Hollins are going to be great playing off each other. Especially when Dre becomes a reliable shooter.
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by GopherNation on Feb 10, 2012 4:31 PM CST up reply actions
it would be nice
If Coleman could become a reliable shooter too. There were a few times last night when it would have helped if he could put of a three.
Of course, maybe he can, I actually don’t know, because he never does it.
Joe got found out
The other coaching staffs in the conference are not asleep. They discovered Joe was a one dimentional guy who drove to the basket with his right hand on the dribble. That is pretty easy to adjust to and defend, thus, no points or free throws for Joe the last three games. Without a jump shot and the ability to go both ways, Joe just peaked a couple of weeks ago.
that happens
he’ll get better at other things (using his other hand and shooting), the coaching staff will hopefully find ways to get him position to use his strengths and then teams will sleep on him again as they have to focus on Dre’s improvement.
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by GopherNation on Feb 13, 2012 11:02 AM CST up reply actions
Armelin has more ways to get to the basket
Might be time to put Coleman back on the “freshman” team and bump Armelin up with the upperclassmen.
I can't decide if OSU losing helps/hurts our chances
you would think hurts but not sure. Watching Tom Izzo is like watching a genius at work. Love that guy—-unquestionably one of the all-time greats. I can’t help but make the comparison between him and Tubby—-especially when we get under two minutes. DAC is correct but it is not so much he is a one-trick pony, but rather we don’t have anyone or offensive scheme to set him up. Everyone wants to be a Derrick Rose type PG these days. Not a better sight in BB than watching a PG who runs the show, involves everyone, makes the whole team greater than the sum—-calling Andre Hollins??? I said at the beginning of the year this was “make or break year” for Tubby in my mind. And to tell the truth, the verdict is still out. 6 games Tub, finish strong.
I don't think it's 'make or break' for Tubby
Tex: There are several reasons I don’t think this season is make or break for Tubby’s continued tenure. First, neither an out-going AD before July 1 nor an in-coming AD after July 1 is going to fire Tubby Smith. Second, he has in his freshman and sophomore classes three Players of the Year from Tennessee, Minnesota, and Nebraska respectively. He is a strong post player away from competing for a conference championship next year. That could come in the form of Trevor’s return (not good odds), Mo’s return, or 36 minutes a game of warrior play by Elliot. Based on the young talent he has assembled he deserves another year or two no matter how we finish this one.
My criticism of Tubby is that he just isn’t quite into it as he drifts toward retirement and that he has a blind spot similiar to Glen Mason. Both are/were good coaches but Mase couldn’t figure out defense and Tubby can’t figure out offense. Not awful, just not up there with the real good coaches.
even if it was
I’d already say “make” given how well they adjusted to loosing Trevor.
But I don’t think it’s a make or break year.
by amiller92 on Feb 12, 2012 9:59 AM CST via iPhone app up reply actions
But speaking of defense
Is anybody else shocked, as am I, that Tubby has abandoned the full-court press and all-game pressure style of basketball that he once used so effectively? He pressured 94 feet one year at Minnesota — his first, with Monson’s players. That’s the last we saw it.
I am very surprised with a ten-deep roster of pretty good athletes he is not running the pressure game now. To me it’s another indication Tubby is relaxing a little.
I agree DAC
I have wanted to see “40 minutes of Hell” all season. Agst. Wisky I would have alternated guards on Taylor and made him work the entire length of the court. By halftime, his tongue would have been dragging on the court. Mav and Chip are plenty good enough athletes that they should be playing better, more intense, more aware, defense. But to DAC’s point, why not?? You have a deep roster, all good athletes, and it might open the court and lead to a faster, more transitional type game that I think that this current roster plays best. ,
by Texas Gopher on Feb 12, 2012 10:48 AM CST up reply actions
My point exactly
This current roster is made in heaven for 40 minutes of full court pressure. We don’t have the conventional aircraft carrier to run the offense around so why not bring 40 minutes of hell on defense and play fast break, transition offense. Chip, Julie, Dre, Mav, Rodney, Oto, Joe … they are all great slashers in the open court. Why, Tubby, Why? Wasn’t this a Tubby trademark in his earlier career?
They aren't that good at full court pressure
Michigan State tore their press apart.
I've love to see it to
and I’m not sure why he abandoned it. But I don’t see how pressing or not pressing is an indication of Tubby’s level of comfort. Maybe he’s coasting or mailed it in, but I don’t see how the press has anything to do with that.
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by GopherNation on Feb 13, 2012 11:03 AM CST up reply actions
Last Shot(s) By Gophers
Obvious but they needed to get better shot(s) than those 2 FGA.
Wisky was an important W for Gophers but turned out to be L.
by FortyYearCatFan on Feb 12, 2012 9:54 AM CST reply actions
GN, you don't see it?
You don’t show up an hour before game time and say, “hey by the way, we’re going to press full court 40 minutes tonight.” That is something that must be coached and practiced intensely from day one. It is a ton of work for the coaching staff to try to coach that. Tubby is not up to that kind of intensity. The FSO fits his personality much better these days. There have been a number of games where someone unfamiliar with the Gophers would spot Tubby nearly asleep on the bench and ask, “Why did the team invite that fellow to come along and sit on the bench? Is he somebody’s uncle?”
While I want to agree about your read on Tubby...
…I can’t. Coaches aren’t normal people when it comes to this “riding off into the sunset of retirement”. They are warriors who usually don’t know when to or cannot stop going 100%. I’d bet Tubby goes home and throws up every time he loses, unable to sleep, trying to figure out what he can do to right the ship. His fire still burns bright as all coaches’/players’ do. At least the good ones. I’d bet he is as hungry to succeed now as he ever was. This is his legacy. His legacy can’t be getting run out of Kentucky by an entire fan base, then having that school rise quickly to national prominence rather immediately upon his departure. Accused of using other coaches’ recruits to succeed. Or what he did at Tulsa. It is Minnesota. His legacy HAS to be what he does at Minnesota. He’ll be here how long….5, 6, 7 years???? There will always be a metaphorical asterisk by his Kentucky championships if he fails to do anything better than a few first round losses at Minnesota.
That being said, I’ll say this again…I’d give anything for the Gophers to play as hard as Iowa plays. Non-stop hustle out of those guys. Maybe my first paragraph is just how I WANT to perceive Tubby…guess we’ll never know.
The stereotypical image of a coach
Just doesn’t always apply. My hunch is Tubby has not gone home and thrown up since the fat girl chased him home in 3rd grade. Clem actually won basketball games by ripping his suitcoat off, firing it into the stands, and taking a T. The Gophers then woke up and won. Tubby looks half asleep on the bench.
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