I pray that we beat Iowa, coming up.. It is going to be a very difficult game for the Gophers for a lot of reasons.. I watched Iowa against #1 ranked Gonzaga and Iowa was coming back on them, though Gonzaga coasted a bit towards the end.
I know everyone and his brother thinks the game plan should be to stop Iowa's Luka Garza down low.. First, I don't see a situation where we can stop him completely but secondly, I am not sure that he poses the majority of the threat of that team. They have other weapons that I think enhance Garza's game around him and make it miserable for opponents. Fran McCaffery has his best team in Iowa City, that I have seen play anyways.
Luka Garza is fun to watch if you are just a fan of good basketball.. He has a very strong base(legs and hips as well as strong upper body) and works hard for positioning. If you watch his footwork, it is really good most of the time. Very RARELY, IF EVER, IS HE OUT OF BALANCE. Those feet get squared to the rim down low for rebounding and making shots. He is very patient and works hard on each trip down the floor. Because of his strength, he can create spacing from the defender for himself very well and he has worked himself to be more and more skilled.. I am not predicting future success in the NBA, mind you, but for the college game on down, he is a great example on how to play down low and fun if you like quality play from the pivot.
Personally, I watched Iowa play and I think they are most dangerous when the outside shots are falling.. Because then what happens is you have to extend the defense outward from the basket and leave Garza inside to be guarded one on one. That is when things can get difficult against Iowa because defensively, you have to pick your poison to try to stop. You have to find the shooters when running back on defense and EVERYONE has to hustle back or things get ugly.. Then they bring that Toussaint kid at guard in the game and he has a quick first step to the basket. It could be a layup drill if we dont improve our defense in driving to the basket. This is the reason that it could be a real nightmare for the Gophers, who have struggled defending the paint, anyways.. If Iowa hits those 3 balls, we are in for a long night, in my opinion. Frannie Mac will force you into a man to man defense, which if you go that route, it is an open invite for Garza to take over the game and clear the key area to get easy layups for Toussaint.
We have our hands full in this one. Robbins is going to have to play his best game of the year.. We are going to need to make our ball movement and off the ball player movement better. We cant just dribble in place but move that defense with passes and maybe some 'drive and kick' action. We have to dictate play and shoot well. Iowa may bring some pressure in the form of a press so our guys are going to have to make good and quick actions to be decisive. Iowa has length at the wings so we have to constantly penetrate and get good 'off-the-ball' movement towards the rim. Gotta be careful with the skip passes as that length on the wings for them, can turn us over quickly.. Minnesota is going to get a real test and I believe it will be the toughest test of the year, so far. If we play well and get an upset, that could be transforming for the Gophers' season this year.
If we give the effort, we can dictate the pace a bit. But guys have to stay out of foul trouble and with how Iowa plays, that will not be easy for whomever has the task of guarding Garza.
I know everyone and his brother thinks the game plan should be to stop Iowa's Luka Garza down low.. First, I don't see a situation where we can stop him completely but secondly, I am not sure that he poses the majority of the threat of that team. They have other weapons that I think enhance Garza's game around him and make it miserable for opponents. Fran McCaffery has his best team in Iowa City, that I have seen play anyways.
Luka Garza is fun to watch if you are just a fan of good basketball.. He has a very strong base(legs and hips as well as strong upper body) and works hard for positioning. If you watch his footwork, it is really good most of the time. Very RARELY, IF EVER, IS HE OUT OF BALANCE. Those feet get squared to the rim down low for rebounding and making shots. He is very patient and works hard on each trip down the floor. Because of his strength, he can create spacing from the defender for himself very well and he has worked himself to be more and more skilled.. I am not predicting future success in the NBA, mind you, but for the college game on down, he is a great example on how to play down low and fun if you like quality play from the pivot.
Personally, I watched Iowa play and I think they are most dangerous when the outside shots are falling.. Because then what happens is you have to extend the defense outward from the basket and leave Garza inside to be guarded one on one. That is when things can get difficult against Iowa because defensively, you have to pick your poison to try to stop. You have to find the shooters when running back on defense and EVERYONE has to hustle back or things get ugly.. Then they bring that Toussaint kid at guard in the game and he has a quick first step to the basket. It could be a layup drill if we dont improve our defense in driving to the basket. This is the reason that it could be a real nightmare for the Gophers, who have struggled defending the paint, anyways.. If Iowa hits those 3 balls, we are in for a long night, in my opinion. Frannie Mac will force you into a man to man defense, which if you go that route, it is an open invite for Garza to take over the game and clear the key area to get easy layups for Toussaint.
We have our hands full in this one. Robbins is going to have to play his best game of the year.. We are going to need to make our ball movement and off the ball player movement better. We cant just dribble in place but move that defense with passes and maybe some 'drive and kick' action. We have to dictate play and shoot well. Iowa may bring some pressure in the form of a press so our guys are going to have to make good and quick actions to be decisive. Iowa has length at the wings so we have to constantly penetrate and get good 'off-the-ball' movement towards the rim. Gotta be careful with the skip passes as that length on the wings for them, can turn us over quickly.. Minnesota is going to get a real test and I believe it will be the toughest test of the year, so far. If we play well and get an upset, that could be transforming for the Gophers' season this year.
If we give the effort, we can dictate the pace a bit. But guys have to stay out of foul trouble and with how Iowa plays, that will not be easy for whomever has the task of guarding Garza.
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