Minnesota moved its record to 2-0 Monday night with a 78-69 victory over Utah. The win was the first over a high major opponent after opening up against Nebraska-Omaha.
More times than not, the Gophers provided evidence that they can be a high quality team. Although they were stagnant at times, the good far outweighed the bad in the nine point win.
Here are some takeaways from Monday night’s performance.
OFFENSIVELY
The starting lineup rolled again
For the second game in a row, it is evident that Minnesota’s staring five is going to be an effective group. Against Omaha, four starters finished in double figures, and combined for 69 points. Monday night, all five had ten or more points as they combined for an impressive 68 of the team’s 78 total points.
The chemistry was once again present as each player brought something different to the table. Gabe Kalscheur was deadly from deep with 19 points. Amir Coffey brought it again from inside and outside from the point guard spot with 14 points and 6 assists. Daniel Oturu added 13 in his second college game, doing yeoman’s work inside. Dupree McBrayer was effective getting into the lane against the zone. He had 11, as did Jordan Murphy who once again was Jordan Murphy. That is to say he is a walking double-double who had 11 points and 17 rebounds.
This team will be hard to zone
We will admit, Utah’s zone did cause Minnesota problems in the first half. They went to it out of necessity. The Gophers got to a quick start. The home team was too big at every spot and too athletic. Larry Krystkowiak answered by going to a 2-3.
As well as it worked in the first half, the Gophers answered in the second. For starters, they knocked down seven trifectas. Coffey and McBrayer both hit one, but the king of the ball was Kalscheur. He knocked down his first four tries and hit five of six for the game. Kalscheur was equally as effective against man to man as well. Utah made the mistake of going under the ball screens and the freshman made them pay. He also proved that all he needed was a small window to get off a quick deadly three.
Richard Pitino also made the appropriate adjustments which the team executed. They overloaded to one side, then threw the skip pass, usually from corner to wing. Once the pass was made, the lanes were open for a drive. The Gophers also did a good job with the weak side screen and roll off of the skip.
Murphy was also a zone breaker from the foul line area. He positioned himself in the high post and attacked the bucket off the catch. He also caught the Utes in several mismatches against the man in the same area of the floor. Murphy is proving himself to be equally as impressive off of the face-up.
This is a very good passing team
For the second game in a row, the assist to field goal ratio was off the charts. In the opener, 28 of the 39 made buckets came via the pass. Against Utah, 20 of 29 came from the assist. That is good for 48 assists in 68 field goals for the year. Normally, a team that makes an assist on half of its makes is doing well.
Not only did McBrayer and Coffey have six assists apiece, Murphy had five from the power forward position. That brings us to this conclusion. The post to post passing was very good. Murphy saw his share of double teams. This is something he can expect to see. But he made them pay. Oturu did a tremendous job of getting to the front of the rim for the pass and dunk whenever his man left him for Murphy. The freshman also was effective sealing the backside forward in the 2-3 for the feed from Murphy.
The negative, they can’t be too dependent on Murphy
This shouldn’t be a problem, and from all of the accolades we have heaped on the offensive unit it seems like a surprise that it was.
But Murphy went to the bench with 13:11 left in the first half with two fouls. Minnesota led 12-7 when he was subbed out. Utah went on a 11-2 run. Of course, Krystkowiak went to the zone at the same time Murphy left the floor. Interestingly enough, he opted back to the man after causing several empty possessions. Pitino rolled the dice and put Murphy back in with two fouls. His experience came through, and he did not pick up a deadly third one in the first half.
Minnesota was + 13 in first half point differential while Murphy was on the floor. To put that in perspective, the Gophers only led by seven at the half.
This team should be able to overcome games where he is foul trouble or he has problems scoring. There are lots of scoring options on this team, but having Murphy on the floor seems to be a soothing factor for the other players. That is something they will need to get over.
DEFENSIVELY
This is a better defensive team than last season
Before attrition and injuries set in last season, the Gophers got as high as No. 12 in the country in the polls. But even then, I did not like the defensive play of that team and could foresee trouble on the horizon. The help side was non-existent, and they got blown by on the dribble. But the kiss of death in modern day basketball is not being able to guard the ball screen. Last year’s team was bad at that.
This year’s squad is much better at doing things away from the ball. All of the factors I mentioned are night and day from last year. The length and size of this team is also troublesome for opponents. With only one starter shorter than 6-foot-6, this athletic group is tough on the ball and can get their long arms into the passing lanes.
I particularly like Coffey’s size at the point guard spot. Sedrick Barefield was Utah’s go to guy. He did score 14 points, but did it on 5 of 15 shooting. Coffey neutralized him for much of the game before he made a couple of late clean up shots.
There are a couple of thing that need to be worked on. Utah ran a lot of curl action off of the help side. The cutter from the opposite wing was open curling into the foul line area but the pass wasn’t made. That is where Minnesota’s length came into play. Utah’s guards didn’t have the size to make the pass attractive. The defender guarding the screen will have to do a better job bumping the cutter.
In the second half, Utah looked to clear out a side, and isolate a smaller quicker guard on a bigger player. Even though the Gopher players were beaten a couple of times, the team defense was good enough where Minnesota’s length altered shots around the rim and caused some point blank misses. With the big lineup Minnesota is using, look for opponents to use more of this action. Expect Pitino to counter with focus on the help side when the opposite wings are isolated.
The Gophers’ next game will be against Texas A&M this Sunday. The tipoff will be at 8:30 CST and will be televised on ESPN2.
More times than not, the Gophers provided evidence that they can be a high quality team. Although they were stagnant at times, the good far outweighed the bad in the nine point win.
Here are some takeaways from Monday night’s performance.
OFFENSIVELY
The starting lineup rolled again
For the second game in a row, it is evident that Minnesota’s staring five is going to be an effective group. Against Omaha, four starters finished in double figures, and combined for 69 points. Monday night, all five had ten or more points as they combined for an impressive 68 of the team’s 78 total points.
The chemistry was once again present as each player brought something different to the table. Gabe Kalscheur was deadly from deep with 19 points. Amir Coffey brought it again from inside and outside from the point guard spot with 14 points and 6 assists. Daniel Oturu added 13 in his second college game, doing yeoman’s work inside. Dupree McBrayer was effective getting into the lane against the zone. He had 11, as did Jordan Murphy who once again was Jordan Murphy. That is to say he is a walking double-double who had 11 points and 17 rebounds.
This team will be hard to zone
We will admit, Utah’s zone did cause Minnesota problems in the first half. They went to it out of necessity. The Gophers got to a quick start. The home team was too big at every spot and too athletic. Larry Krystkowiak answered by going to a 2-3.
As well as it worked in the first half, the Gophers answered in the second. For starters, they knocked down seven trifectas. Coffey and McBrayer both hit one, but the king of the ball was Kalscheur. He knocked down his first four tries and hit five of six for the game. Kalscheur was equally as effective against man to man as well. Utah made the mistake of going under the ball screens and the freshman made them pay. He also proved that all he needed was a small window to get off a quick deadly three.
Richard Pitino also made the appropriate adjustments which the team executed. They overloaded to one side, then threw the skip pass, usually from corner to wing. Once the pass was made, the lanes were open for a drive. The Gophers also did a good job with the weak side screen and roll off of the skip.
Murphy was also a zone breaker from the foul line area. He positioned himself in the high post and attacked the bucket off the catch. He also caught the Utes in several mismatches against the man in the same area of the floor. Murphy is proving himself to be equally as impressive off of the face-up.
This is a very good passing team
For the second game in a row, the assist to field goal ratio was off the charts. In the opener, 28 of the 39 made buckets came via the pass. Against Utah, 20 of 29 came from the assist. That is good for 48 assists in 68 field goals for the year. Normally, a team that makes an assist on half of its makes is doing well.
Not only did McBrayer and Coffey have six assists apiece, Murphy had five from the power forward position. That brings us to this conclusion. The post to post passing was very good. Murphy saw his share of double teams. This is something he can expect to see. But he made them pay. Oturu did a tremendous job of getting to the front of the rim for the pass and dunk whenever his man left him for Murphy. The freshman also was effective sealing the backside forward in the 2-3 for the feed from Murphy.
The negative, they can’t be too dependent on Murphy
This shouldn’t be a problem, and from all of the accolades we have heaped on the offensive unit it seems like a surprise that it was.
But Murphy went to the bench with 13:11 left in the first half with two fouls. Minnesota led 12-7 when he was subbed out. Utah went on a 11-2 run. Of course, Krystkowiak went to the zone at the same time Murphy left the floor. Interestingly enough, he opted back to the man after causing several empty possessions. Pitino rolled the dice and put Murphy back in with two fouls. His experience came through, and he did not pick up a deadly third one in the first half.
Minnesota was + 13 in first half point differential while Murphy was on the floor. To put that in perspective, the Gophers only led by seven at the half.
This team should be able to overcome games where he is foul trouble or he has problems scoring. There are lots of scoring options on this team, but having Murphy on the floor seems to be a soothing factor for the other players. That is something they will need to get over.
DEFENSIVELY
This is a better defensive team than last season
Before attrition and injuries set in last season, the Gophers got as high as No. 12 in the country in the polls. But even then, I did not like the defensive play of that team and could foresee trouble on the horizon. The help side was non-existent, and they got blown by on the dribble. But the kiss of death in modern day basketball is not being able to guard the ball screen. Last year’s team was bad at that.
This year’s squad is much better at doing things away from the ball. All of the factors I mentioned are night and day from last year. The length and size of this team is also troublesome for opponents. With only one starter shorter than 6-foot-6, this athletic group is tough on the ball and can get their long arms into the passing lanes.
I particularly like Coffey’s size at the point guard spot. Sedrick Barefield was Utah’s go to guy. He did score 14 points, but did it on 5 of 15 shooting. Coffey neutralized him for much of the game before he made a couple of late clean up shots.
There are a couple of thing that need to be worked on. Utah ran a lot of curl action off of the help side. The cutter from the opposite wing was open curling into the foul line area but the pass wasn’t made. That is where Minnesota’s length came into play. Utah’s guards didn’t have the size to make the pass attractive. The defender guarding the screen will have to do a better job bumping the cutter.
In the second half, Utah looked to clear out a side, and isolate a smaller quicker guard on a bigger player. Even though the Gopher players were beaten a couple of times, the team defense was good enough where Minnesota’s length altered shots around the rim and caused some point blank misses. With the big lineup Minnesota is using, look for opponents to use more of this action. Expect Pitino to counter with focus on the help side when the opposite wings are isolated.
The Gophers’ next game will be against Texas A&M this Sunday. The tipoff will be at 8:30 CST and will be televised on ESPN2.
