Just 2 months ago, we were being considered a darkhorse for Big Ten title contention. Now, we are towards the bottom of the league. We have beaten 4 TEAMS that currently or once held a TOP 5 POSITION in the college rankings this year(Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa, and Michigan State). Looked unbeatable at home, 2 months ago. Now I am not sure we can beat anyone in the conference.
That resume of beating those top 5 teams would be tough to keep out of the tournament. But NOW things are different as we have lost to the worst teams in the Big Ten, most recently. Penn State has the type of shooters that can give us problems and Rutgers is not a picnic game for anyone so I think we could easily enter the Big Ten tournament with a 7 game losing streak.
It was found that Both Gach has played with a sore foot, most of the season.. Liam Robbins injured the ankle and Gabe Kalschuer has an arm injury.. But the Robbins and Kalschuer injuries came after we started sliding downward. It is really a shame for Gabe as he was starting to regain his shooting touch from the outside. Jamal Mashburn was starting to come on but we have had very little help from the small forward position, either offensively or defensively, this year as a whole.
Then, Maryland and Purdue found our weaknesses. Mostly Maryland.. Maryland went to a 5-OUT offense against us, which means no post player. But you have to play them outside because they can all make the 3-ball. So it exposed the fact that we are not good defenders on the ball, except for Kalschuer, while in space. Maryland forced us out to guard, which opened the driving and passing lanes.. Minnesota was used to help defense inside, and when that happened, Maryland would kick it out for the 3 ball. Happened in both games against them.. We just dont move our feet nor communicate well, off the ball so things got bad. Northwestern and Nebraska used principles from scouting that Maryland game to execute the same game plan against us.
Against Michigan(game 1) and Purdue, the opponents noticed that Robbins put the ball on the floor and wanted to turn into the key off the post entry. SO anytime he would put the ball on the floor against those teams, the opposition would try to slap the ball out of his hands. Liam needs to gain strength in a big time way, and that was exposed. Plus teams forced him to turn towards the baseline, ESPECIALLY WHEN ON THE LEFT BLOCK, where he was less comfortable. Brandon Johnson had a great shooting night against Ohio State but he has failed to replicate that in the subsequent games.. Then Tre WIlliams thinks he is a 3 point shooter when he is not a good shooter at all, of any kind of shot right now. ALL THOSE GUYS HAVE THEIR WORK CUT OUT FOR THEM IN THIS UPCOMING OFFSEASON, IMO.
Our "2nd half defense" has been terrible lately.. Teams have adjusted and we have not. I know that it seems like the majority of games we have played recently, we have allowed the opponent to shoot well over 50% from the field, in the 2nd half of games. That is NEVER GOOD.
Richard Pitino is barely hanging on.. I think he is a really good guy and hopefully he has learned some lessons here at Minnesota as I will cheer for him in the future, wherever he lands. Especially about recruiting.. He sounded exasperated in the few words he said on the BIG TEN channel last night so I am sure this is it for him at Minnesota.. I hope he realizes that HE HAS TO BE THE CLOSER in recruiting and assemble a staff of assistants that are the same, in future positions. Plus, PR in your own state is critical to establish, right off the bat. AND THE IMPORTANCE IN TODAY'S GAME OF RECRUITING GUYS THAT CAN MAKE THE OUTSIDE SHOTS CONSISTENTLY and an offense that is better, off the ball. to free up those shooters.
Marcus Carr has NBA talent, IMO.. His game translates better there, to be honest. I dont think we can possibly play like that at Minnesota and succeed but Marcus does have a ton of offensive talent. Yes, too much dribbling and not running an offense but in the NBA, that does not seem to matter much anyways.
A month and a half ago, I thought we could make a tourney run.. Now, I think we are a NIT team unless we make an amazing run in the Big Ten tournament. It is just the most weird season in my years as a Gopher fan and none of it is because of COVID.
That resume of beating those top 5 teams would be tough to keep out of the tournament. But NOW things are different as we have lost to the worst teams in the Big Ten, most recently. Penn State has the type of shooters that can give us problems and Rutgers is not a picnic game for anyone so I think we could easily enter the Big Ten tournament with a 7 game losing streak.
It was found that Both Gach has played with a sore foot, most of the season.. Liam Robbins injured the ankle and Gabe Kalschuer has an arm injury.. But the Robbins and Kalschuer injuries came after we started sliding downward. It is really a shame for Gabe as he was starting to regain his shooting touch from the outside. Jamal Mashburn was starting to come on but we have had very little help from the small forward position, either offensively or defensively, this year as a whole.
Then, Maryland and Purdue found our weaknesses. Mostly Maryland.. Maryland went to a 5-OUT offense against us, which means no post player. But you have to play them outside because they can all make the 3-ball. So it exposed the fact that we are not good defenders on the ball, except for Kalschuer, while in space. Maryland forced us out to guard, which opened the driving and passing lanes.. Minnesota was used to help defense inside, and when that happened, Maryland would kick it out for the 3 ball. Happened in both games against them.. We just dont move our feet nor communicate well, off the ball so things got bad. Northwestern and Nebraska used principles from scouting that Maryland game to execute the same game plan against us.
Against Michigan(game 1) and Purdue, the opponents noticed that Robbins put the ball on the floor and wanted to turn into the key off the post entry. SO anytime he would put the ball on the floor against those teams, the opposition would try to slap the ball out of his hands. Liam needs to gain strength in a big time way, and that was exposed. Plus teams forced him to turn towards the baseline, ESPECIALLY WHEN ON THE LEFT BLOCK, where he was less comfortable. Brandon Johnson had a great shooting night against Ohio State but he has failed to replicate that in the subsequent games.. Then Tre WIlliams thinks he is a 3 point shooter when he is not a good shooter at all, of any kind of shot right now. ALL THOSE GUYS HAVE THEIR WORK CUT OUT FOR THEM IN THIS UPCOMING OFFSEASON, IMO.
Our "2nd half defense" has been terrible lately.. Teams have adjusted and we have not. I know that it seems like the majority of games we have played recently, we have allowed the opponent to shoot well over 50% from the field, in the 2nd half of games. That is NEVER GOOD.
Richard Pitino is barely hanging on.. I think he is a really good guy and hopefully he has learned some lessons here at Minnesota as I will cheer for him in the future, wherever he lands. Especially about recruiting.. He sounded exasperated in the few words he said on the BIG TEN channel last night so I am sure this is it for him at Minnesota.. I hope he realizes that HE HAS TO BE THE CLOSER in recruiting and assemble a staff of assistants that are the same, in future positions. Plus, PR in your own state is critical to establish, right off the bat. AND THE IMPORTANCE IN TODAY'S GAME OF RECRUITING GUYS THAT CAN MAKE THE OUTSIDE SHOTS CONSISTENTLY and an offense that is better, off the ball. to free up those shooters.
Marcus Carr has NBA talent, IMO.. His game translates better there, to be honest. I dont think we can possibly play like that at Minnesota and succeed but Marcus does have a ton of offensive talent. Yes, too much dribbling and not running an offense but in the NBA, that does not seem to matter much anyways.
A month and a half ago, I thought we could make a tourney run.. Now, I think we are a NIT team unless we make an amazing run in the Big Ten tournament. It is just the most weird season in my years as a Gopher fan and none of it is because of COVID.
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