Gophers Basketball

[twinsnorth49]

Tough one, they need to pull out a win and get feeling good again. Not the end of world, Wisconsin is a good team, would have been a big boost to beat them. 

 

Reggie Lynch needs to stop fouling out of games, cost the Gophers late.

[drjim]

Should have trusted my instincts.

[bluechipper]

 

Should have trusted my instincts.

Same here. I fall for the hot start every time.

[bluechipper]

I'm getting especially tired of opposing players having career days against the Gophers. Justin Jackson and Kevin Huerter killed them today- 10/12 on 3's from two freshmen.

[TheLeviathan]

It's a very young team, hopefully they're learning from some of these losses.

[drjim]

It's a very young team, hopefully they're learning from some of these losses.

Not that young, they start a senior and 2 juniors.

 

Maryland starts 3 freshmen.

[biggentleben]

The flipped call on Curry's charge was really a turning point at the end of the game, though.

 

A more experienced team recovers from that, but the Gophers emotionally just couldn't come back from it.

[bluechipper]

They have a very easy schedule to finish out the rest of the season. That's probably a good thing, since they've got a couple nice resume wins in the bag already. They just need to get a win and start rolling again.

[bluechipper]

 

Not that young, they start a senior and 2 juniors.

Maryland starts 3 freshmen.

They're young in terms of playing together and knowing how to win close games though.

[TheLeviathan]

Not that young, they start a senior and 2 juniors.

Maryland starts 3 freshmen.

Huh, for some reason I thought of all those guys as a year younger.

[USAFChief]

The flipped call on Curry's charge was really a turning point at the end of the game, though.

 

A more experienced team recovers from that, but the Gophers emotionally just couldn't come back from it.

Yeah, there was also a missed Maryland free throw a bit earlier that went off two Gophers and ended up in a three pointer for the Terps that was huge.

 

They aren't a poised team late in games, and struggle to sore too often. Still, there's some pieces to work with and I think brighter days are ahead.

[bluechipper]

Good win on the road today, even though they were a little shaky down the stretch. They also kinda lucked out with Malcolm Hill playing as bad as I can remember seeing him play. Amir Coffey had something to do with that though.

[USAFChief]

Good win on the road today, even though they were a little shaky down the stretch. They also kinda lucked out with Malcolm Hill playing as bad as I can remember seeing him play. Amir Coffey had something to do with that though.

Coffey has really impressed me defensively. Freshman mistakes sometimes, but he is already a very good defender.

 

4-6 is recoverable. 9-9 still doable.

[twinsnorth49]

Thought Springs play was good today, he scored some important points with the Gophers struggling. Mason was good, Coffey was good. Lucky neither team could shoot in the 1st half, Gophers were awful from the field.

Lynch was the main key, great game by him and stayed out of foul trouble.

[bluechipper]

A win's a win, even when it's against Rutgers.

 

Jordan Murphy has been great the last couple of games. He's such a fun player to watch as an undersized PF.

[stringer bell]

After 12 games the Gophers are back to .500 in the conference. 9-9 would be good enough to get to the NCAAs, for sure. Boy, the conference is a muddle. Wisconsin, Maryland, and Purdue are probably the top three seeds in the Conference Tournament, but from there it is who knows? The Gophers should be favored in their remaining four home games and I think 10-8 could get them a #4 seed. I think the eight middle teams in the Big Ten are all about the same. Each probably believes if they played consistently they would be in the top half of the conference.

 

There isn't much consistency on the Gophers, either. Every starter has had his moments, but also each one has had a forgettable game or two in conference play.   Defensively, there is some good stuff--Murphy and especially Lynch are good rim protectors and rebounders--while Mason and Coffey are pretty good perimeter defenders. I think the club makes the NCAAs and might get a win or two. Quite a turnaround for Pitino.

[biggentleben]

This team has been an interesting team to watch even in losses because you can see the development that has been put into the program.

 

The ESPNU guys were talking at one point today about the Gophers being able to make a legit push for as high as #5 seed in the Big Ten tourney with a strong finish. In all seriousness, did you really think it'd be feasible soon for the Gophers to have a higher NCAA seed than their Big Ten tourney seed in a season?

[USAFChief]

They are inconsistent offensively, prone to giving up runs, and yet...they've won four B1G road games. Most in like a decade. They have some talent, and three more conference wins should get them in the dance.

 

They return everyone but Springs next year (hopefully), and will add two quality guard recruits and possibly Fitzgerald back fom injury.

 

I like where they are at. Well done Pitino.

[bluechipper]

Akeem Springs with the game winner tonight, which is a good thing because he did nothing before that. Mason and Murphy carried them this game, and Coffey was awesome in the 2nd half. 

 

I really like the defense this team plays, but the inconsistent offense, especially the 3 point shooting, is my main worry come tournament time. 

[USAFChief]

Ugly win.

 

Which is better than an ugly loss.  

[bluechipper]

Ugly win.

 

Which is better than an ugly loss.

 

Those first 10 minutes or so were hard to watch. It's a good thing Nate Mason and Jordan Murphy came to play. Springs, McBrayer, and Curry all had their worst conference games from what I can remember.

[stringer bell]

 

Those first 10 minutes or so were hard to watch. It's a good thing Nate Mason and Jordan Murphy came to play. Springs, McBrayer, and Curry all had their worst conference games from what I can remember.

I'll dispute Curry. Not great on offense, but he hit the boards and made a couple key defensive plays. Productivity and consistent play from the #2 guard has been a problem, although Springs has made a lot of threes (not last night).

 

Probably the best thing about this Gopher squad is shot blocking and post defense.

[#1ShaneMackFan]

 

Those first 10 minutes or so were hard to watch. It's a good thing Nate Mason and Jordan Murphy came to play. Springs, McBrayer, and Curry all had their worst conference games from what I can remember.

Don't know if you meant Lynch instead of Curry...

 

Curry didn't score but had more big plays than most people. He was a huge part of the win.

[bluechipper]

Don't know if you meant Lynch instead of Curry...

 

Curry didn't score but had more big plays than most people. He was a huge part of the win.

Lynch had a good first half. You could tell Indiana players were worried about him when they were around the basket. Curry was good late, but he didn't score, and he missed the front end of a 1 and 1 at a big point in the game.

[TheLeviathan]

Big win last night!

[bluechipper]

I'm looking towards that double bye in the B10 Tournament. A 5 seed in the NCAA tournament is looking possible too.

[nicksaviking]

 

I'm looking towards that double bye in the B10 Tournament. A 5 seed in the NCAA tournament is looking possible too.

 

The dreaded 5/12 seed match up. Yeah, that does sound exactly like something that would happen to the Gophers at this point in their development.

[USAFChief]

 

The dreaded 5/12 seed match up. Yeah, that does sound exactly like something that would happen to the Gophers at this point in their development.

Either a #5 or a #6 would be fine with me.   

[stringer bell]

Short of winning the Big Ten tournament, I can't see them going higher than #6 seed. As far as getting the double bye, they are a game behind NW which plays Illinois and Indiana this week (I believe) and they are tied with Michigan State. Does anyone know the criteria for tiebreaking? The Gophers have beaten every team they play once (so far) but have lost twice to MSU and probably will lose twice to Maryland and Wisconsin. They have the best non-conference record of anyone who would tie them in conference.

[bluechipper]

 

Short of winning the Big Ten tournament, I can't see them going higher than #6 seed. As far as getting the double bye, they are a game behind NW which plays Illinois and Indiana this week (I believe) and they are tied with Michigan State. Does anyone know the criteria for tiebreaking? The Gophers have beaten every team they play once (so far) but have lost twice to MSU and probably will lose twice to Maryland and Wisconsin. They have the best non-conference record of anyone who would tie them in conference.

The first tie breaker is head to head, then it's who has the best record against the highest finishing B10 team. http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/100606aae.html

 

Hypothetically, if they go 3-1 in the regular season finish and win the B10 tournament, I think a 4 seed would be likely.