Gophers would LOVE to Beat the Buckeyes on Valentine's Day - OPEN THREAD
by GopherNation on Feb 14, 2012 3:00 PM CST
in Gopher Basketball
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PrintOhio St. Buckeyes at Minnesota Golden Gophers, Feb 14, 2012 8:00 PM CST
The late game on ESPN might be perfect timing for Gopher fans who also have to give some time
Game Time: 8:00
TV: ESPN
| Pos | Minnesota | Pnt/Gm | Pnt/Gm | #6 - Ohio State |
Pos | |
| PG | Julian Welch | 10.1 | 8.4 | Aaron Craft |
G | |
| G | Andre Hollins | 6.2 | 6.1 | Lenzelle Smith Jr. | G | |
| F | Austin Hollins | 8.5 | 15.0 | William Buford |
F | |
| F | Rodney Williams | 10.7 | 14.3 | Deshaun Thomas | F | |
| C | Ralph Sampson III | 8.2 | 17.4 | Jared Sullinger | F | |
| Bench | Joe Coleman | 5.6 | 2.6 | Sam Thompson | Bench | |
| Bench |
Chip Armelin | 6.4 | 4.3 | Evan Ravenel |
Bench | |
| Bench |
Eliott Eliason |
2.4 | X.X | J.D. Weatherspoon |
Bench |
By most accounts it looks like Andre Hollins will be back in the starting lineup, replacing Joe Coleman. I'd actually love to see Coleman and Hollins starting with Welch coming off the bench. Let the freshmen play together and learn to play off each other as they'll be doing for the next 3 and a half years. But I digress.
I like the match-up between these two teams MUCH better if Trevor Mbakwe were to be facing Jared Sullinger, that was fun to watch last year. But obviously he is not and the Buckeyes have more dynamic players other than just Sullinger. There is a reason that this team has been ranked in the top 10 virtually all year (or maybe literally all year, I haven't looked it up). Sullinger is going to be an All-American, Thomas is having a great sophomore season, Craft is one of the best points in the conference and Buford is a very talented senior giving some veteranship to this young team.
Just looking over the rosters, if the Gophers have one area where they can maybe gain some traction tonight it will be with their depth. OSU's starters play a lot of minutes and they just played a game on Saturday night (we played on Thursday). So maybe we can catch them on a night when their legs are tired and they are looking ahead to their game on Saturday at Michigan.
| KenPom Efficiency Stats | Minnesota (45) |
Ohio State (1) |
| Record | 17-8 | 21-4 |
| Pnt / Poss | 1.085 | 1.141 (15) |
| Def Pnt / Poss | 0.942 | 0.804 (1) |
| Off eFG% | 52.3% |
52.4% |
| Def eFG% | 47.1% | 45.3% (42) |
| Off Reb % | 35.4% | 35.3% |
| Def Reb % | 67.1% | 75.4% (3) |
| TO % | 21.7% | 17.1% (19) |
They defend great, they rebound great and they do not turn the ball over (this reminds me of Wisconsin). The numbers do not look pretty and the KenPom predictor gives us a 17% chance of winning this home game. That seems generous to me.
Rebounding concerns me today. There will be times when we struggle to score, as we often do. There will be times when we struggle to stop a team as dynamic and Ohio State. But we can control if we box out and secure rebounds, I'm just not sure we will do that as well as we should.
This is one of those games where I expect the worst and hope for the best. Ohio State is very good and has a legit shot at the Final Four (though their lack of depth may become an issue). I like how the Gophers have been tough and competitive in just about every game played, I do not expect we will roll over tonight. But this is an uphill climb.
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Thanks for the early posting GN
I prefer this. We can talk about the game for hours as we wait for the horn at work to sound. Unfortunately, V-Day obligations will preclude me from watching this one. You can be sure I’ll check my phone often during my date. Good thing that my girl understands and appreciates passion for college sports and won’t get mad at me for checking my phone every 10 minutes. She is the biggest Iowa State fan I know. Our hatred for Hawkeyes makes our love stronger.
Me too
I gave my tickets to a lady from the word processing department. And I’m thinking karma means that my not being there leads to a win, right? Gotta be.
We have many words to process
Basically, they are backup or overflow secretarial support.
lol
is a relationship that is built on mutual hate really a healthy one? I’m no Dr. Drew but I"m just sayin.
Good luck tonight. If the Gophers wins you are not allowed to watch another game this season.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you The Daily Gopher
by GopherNation on Feb 14, 2012 4:43 PM CST up reply actions
HUGE Implications For Gophers
W over Buckeyes would be HUGE for Gophers’ chances of earning NCAA bid.
Easier said than done.
by FortyYearCatFan on Feb 14, 2012 4:01 PM CST reply actions
I'd venture so far as to say
A win tonight plus wins against NW and NE might be enough to get in.
Add a win in the B1G tourney and I think it’s very likely.
But as you say, easier said than done.
I should hope so
20 wins and 2 top-10 wins should always be enough
"Our attitude is we look at ourselves and we grade ourselves. And even if we don’t like what’s happening on the other side, we don’t make a — it’s not our business" - Tony Larussa
Sipping a Bordeaux.
First thing I see is the announcers tipping at Sampson about not dunking a layup and dunking the guy covering him too! So it’s not just me riding his ass! It is professionals too!
So far looks competitive. I like the energy we have.
by jimipig on Feb 14, 2012 8:16 PM CST via mobile reply actions
Man, we've been hosed by coaches calling timeouts
Remember when someone else calling timeout didn’t negate what happened on the court?
"Our attitude is we look at ourselves and we grade ourselves. And even if we don’t like what’s happening on the other side, we don’t make a — it’s not our business" - Tony Larussa
I officially take back my competitive comment. Cooked.
by jimipig on Feb 14, 2012 8:41 PM CST via mobile reply actions
Officiating was absolutely disgraceful.
Andre Ingram should never have been on the court
Austin Hollins should only be getting time when he’s shooting well
Ridiculous defense for the first 15 minutes, switch to zone helped a lot
Once again, the officiating was terrible
I damn near exploded
Good fight back, could have used more made 3s.
Didn't watch
But Austin is often needed for for d.
Well considering that the late game option
was between him and Dre (who’d been part of their zone D fightback in the firstplace) with the Gophers needing points, I really disagree with that statement.
by Sportsavenue on Feb 14, 2012 11:17 PM CST up reply actions
was your Austin comment
meant “in general” he should never be on the court unless he is shooting well? Or last night he shouldn’t have been on the court when he wasn’t shooting well.
In general I would agree with Miller that he usually deserves playing time because he is one of our better defenders. And really he plays the 3 so it shouldn’t really be a decision only between he and Dre.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you The Daily Gopher
by GopherNation on Feb 15, 2012 8:47 AM CST up reply actions
Last night
We needed to ride Andre’s hot hand because when you’re down 10 with 6 minutes to go, you need to make your open 3s. Austin is like Chip offensively. If he’s on, he’s on. If he’s not, he’s not.
As for Austin being at the 3 and Dre being the 2, the awkwardly good play of Oto put Tubby in a strange position. Down the stretch they were going tall: Elliot/Ralph, Rodney, Oto, Dre/Hollins, and Welch. Tubby really had to play Oto at the 3 due to his spectacular play which shifted Austin into shooting guard. Defensively, Dre impressed me over the past couple of games. If the Gophers were trying to close out a game, I’d obviously prefer both of them on the court because Austin defensively is one of the better players. Notably, against teams where we’re getting beat off the dribble, Tubby likes to put Austin on their main guy.
Last night, they really needed Dre’s points though down the stretch and Austin had some missed 3s with Dre on the bench that really had me thinking what if?
by Sportsavenue on Feb 15, 2012 5:32 PM CST up reply actions
Tubby had a chance ...
… to do some coaching last night. The results were mixed at best.
On the positive side he recognized Ralph as a liability fairly early and limited his damage. Too bad Elliot was a little hyper and missed a couple of bunnies but at least he brought some energy to the floor. Also positive was starting Andre and going 25 minutes with Oto. As noted here a few days ago, Coleman has peaked for this season and won’t give us much until he retools his offensive game into something multi-dimentional.
Andre needs to play because he has desire and heart and wants to win. Oto continues to be a surprise. The guy who was going to be as good a shooter as Hoff still can’t shoot but is emerging as a key guy because he is an all-around player.
On the negative side, Tubby failed miserably to become a factor in the game. How do you go 7 1/2 minutes without a point or a rebound and just watch? What did he call, one time out? This was the perfect opportunity to rip off his jacket, throw it into the crowd and beg for a T. For one thing it was a horrendous job of officiating and Tubby needed to tell the moron Hightower he demanded respect for his home team. Taking a technical would have ignited the crowd and perhaps brought the team out of its sleepwalk. My goodness, they were running away from rebounds like they were poison.
Tubby should have stepped up during the ice age. He didn’t.
I stand by my previous statement...
“we are the best ‘almost good’ team in the country”
We compete just enough to make it interesting, but we don’t really pull off any shockers. This is a good year to learn how to play in close games…even if we lose most of them. Guys will be better next year for what they are going through this year.
DAC…maybe, maybe not with your Tubby comments…but OSU is far superior to us, yet we made it a game. Or enough of a game. I think this game played out about right…not sure Tubby could have done much more. There is a gameplan with substitution that has worked at times, and failed at other times…but it’s a strategy he believes in. His use of timeouts…yeah…I guess the guys looked all out of whack out there and he could have done something earlier…but whatever. We lost to a better team and it happens.
NW….we lose that one, it is curtains.
Of course we lost to a better team
We knew they were a better team before the game but we played them anyway. Home court is a huge advantage. Tubby has not used that weapon. How many games did Clem win by standing the trend on its head? Clem would rip off that jacket and fire it half way up the stands and just ask for the T. The crowd would go wild and the players would start playing over their heads and out of their minds. The man actually won games on the sidelines.
If you go almost eight minutes with no points and on the wrong end of a 20-0 run and still have timeouts left you are not coaching. Without 20-0 it was a winnable game. We beat them in the second half. SOMEBODY sure as hell talked to Rodney at half time. If it wasn’t Tubby’s doing I’d like to know who and make him Acting Head Coach the rest of the season. If it was Tubby, good job. Just way too late.
You vastly overestimate
The power of sideline antics.
It’s hardly indisputable that taking a T is an effective way to change momentum. Given that huge swing in potential points that comes with giving the other guys two shots and the ball, I personal think it should be used sparingly if at all.
You’ll notice that the vast majority of games happen without any Ts. That kinds suggests that every coach out there agrees with me.
I'm leaning toward your anger stemming from
not feeling like Tubby cares enough, or is as angry and frustrated as you.
That’s where I argue…these guys are bred differently than us. They can’t sleep when they lose. They get sick. They get consumed thinking about why they lost. How they can fix it.
Clem was different on the sidelines. Tubby’s not like that. Welcome to the RSIII syndrome….different coaches have different approaches. Sure it was fun watching Clem go nuts, Sit Down Gene chante, bobby knight heckling, Judd Heathcoat….I was there. I felt my ears vibrate and couldn’t hear anything…the place would get so loud. That was gone when the program got hammered by Clem….and it takes decades to get that back.
Just my opinion….
Those were the days
When you had Judd, Gene and Bobby coming into the barn with the potential to absolutely lose their sh*t at any moment.
And, of course, we had a legit shot to win any home game. One of the most fun was 1990, I think, when we beat Indiana, for the first time in a long time, 108-89. Knight benched his starters for long stretches of the first half out of frustration. I ushered for that game, which meant I couldn’t actually see the action that well, but it was great anyway.
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