2012-2013 Gophers

[DrJuice1980]

So much hate, geez. Lets be a little more negative here. It's tourney time, the local squad is in, everybody is 0-0, and you're mad? Personally I can't wait to watch the game. I think they have a great chance with UCLAs big man out. Florida round 2 isn't out of the question either. Georgetown has been hot lately but they have been a little iffy this year and They're never that reliable come tourney time. If its one thing the Gophs have been this year it's been unreliable but they got a chance.... Can't wait! All you negatives will be watching for a loss, don't call yourselves fans.

[thatoneguy]

Yes, Florida is out of the question. They would beat these Gophers 100 out of 100 games.

[CodyDawg]

How many times would Indiana beat these Gophers out of 100? And Indiana would beat Florida more often than not.

I will be living a conundrum during the game. I love the Gophers and want them to win short term....but at the expense of long term? By that I mean if they win now, Tubby may save his job, which dooms us to having a bad team for another year at least. This team has the talent to probably win it all with a great coach. Can they make some noise despite having a horrible coach? I dunno. On one hand I will be cheering for every basket.....then when they cut to a shot of Tubby, I will wonder if I should hope for a loss so we can turn the program around. In the end, I find it impossible to hope they lose. Best case scenario.....Tubby gets ejected every game in the first 5 minutes, they win the championship and Tubby retires! Booya!

[alleyes]

THIS ^

[Scott M]

Giant Killers from ESPN

Never in the history of Giant Killers has a game materialized in this way. On Wednesday, our model ranked UCLA as the Giant most vulnerable to a potential upset. Then, on Friday, it pegged Minnesota as the second-best likely GK, behind only VCU, which earned a 5-seed and thus can't be a GK. The result is an upset rating the likes of which we've never seen, with the Golden Gophers expected to win three-quarters of the time. And that's based on stats UCLA accumulated with Jordan Adams, who is now lost for the season with a broken foot.

Even subjective analysts latched on this game immediately on Sunday, targeting Minnesota's rebounding prowess and UCLA's weakness inside. But they didn't know the extent to which that stat will matter; our model shows that offensive rebounding is a consistently strong trait among successful GKs and a standard weakness for slain Giants. The Gophers, of course, lead the nation in offensive boards (44.3 percent). UCLA is just 227th (30.2 percent). Good luck keeping Trevor Mbakwe and Rodney Williams off the glass.

Oddly, the Adams injury could inadvertently force UCLA to match up better with the Gophers. The Bruins went small after a slow start this season -- moving Kyle Anderson to the 4 -- to improve their suspect man-to-man defense and spread the floor on offense. Now, they have essentially no backcourt depth, and it might make sense to play two bigs most of the time with Anderson at the 3 and Shabazz Muhammad at the 2. But in the Pac-12 final, Ben Howland opted to stay small for the most part. We'll see if he changes his mind.

Losing Adams creates two other problems for UCLA, though. He had the highest steal rate on the team, another key factor for Giants. And he had the most made 3-pointers on a team that struggles from deep. That's rough for UCLA, especially considering the Gophers also force plenty of steals.

It is somewhat scary that this game has become such a popular upset pick. But our model is oblivious to such feeble human woes, and loves this matchup more than any other game on the board.

****************************************

Well, round of 32 is looking like a real possibility. I'll go against what I said earlier and take them in some of my pools.

[chanfish]

As much as i want to, its hard to go with this upset and i bleed maroon and gold..This team and coach look and act like they are already beat! I look at their eyes and body language and something is wrong...I still remember the day i graduated from U of MN grad school, i went home and watched willie burton go off for 40 some points with a broken nose and gophers went to sweet 16 and knocked off syracuse..then it was bobby jackson taking the whole team on his back to the final four and lynch missing the 3 against GT. What a ride. I have been hooked ever since....go gophers...

[Huskie]

I'm picking them in the first round, would like to see them go deep, but one win is all they will be able to get, max. It will be interesting to see what the AD does when the Gophs are eliminated, next year might be a struggle whoever is coaching. All I know is uncertainty at the coaches future could eliminate any chance of getting even 1 of the 3 Mn kids hurts the chances of getting recruits to fill out next years roster also.

[CodyDawg]

I heard an analysis of giant killers and the first criteria was maximizing your offensive possessions. The pundit then went on to say that because we rebound well, we maximize. but what he failed to say is we turn the ball over at an alarming rate....this is not maximizing. It also doesnt mentioned that we were outclassed by a 350 lb behemoth who averaged like 0.8 points per game in Nebraska and that we fold the moment we hit a little adversity and dont have a coach than coach us out of it.

Minn 65 UCLA 63

Then the whoopin'. Fla 82 Minn 56

[otterman91105]

Well only a couple of days to the game i sure hope the gophers can pull off a win. There are a lot of people saying that the gophers have a good chance. Depends on what gopher team desides to show up.

[chanfish]

the guards have to step up and carry us. somone needs to get hot now..dre needs to get the green light. he can carry us with his shooting..shoot early and shoot often...we have lacked that leader.. tubby's been talking about that too..get the guards into the game early. we can control the inside.. otherwise it will be the standing around, hestitating and turnovers that it creates..push the tempo up!!! thats when coleman is most effective...stop standing around and take it to the hole..

[otterman91105]

Well the game is tonight lets hope that the gophers come to this game to play would be nice to see them win.

[DrJuice1980]

Got that fire! And Eliasons stoking it

[DrJuice1980]

Very poor officiating here. I guess consist inconsistency is the way to go. Got to be a record for whistle blows

[schmitty3]

Dre came to play!

These refs are awful. Really slowing down the game.

[Scott M]

Gophs couldn't get a better matchup. They had deer in the headlights at the tap but didn't get jumped by the opposition. UCLA is 7 deep, bigs in foul trouble, and Mohammad couldn't hit a shot in the first half. Nice job taking care of the orange and good contributions from the bench. I'll cross my fingers against Florida. Dre Hollins really carried this squad. Florida is going to be trying to keep him outta the lane and guarding his 3 point attempts. Would be nice to see some other guys step up on Sunday.

[otterman91105]

Congrats to the gophers on a good game.

[mr_jman]

Florida defends the 3 point line very well. The Gophers are going to need their best performances of the year out of Mbakwe and Williams. It's time for the seniors to step up and play like leaders.

If they do that, this game could go the Gophers way!

[mrklean]

the way the first 5 minutes started with no FG i was hoping to see a 20-18 finish good to see them win but they need to step it up big for the Florida game

[DrJuice1980]

Oseniks needs to have his time limited. He played way to many minutes last night. At one point I saw him jog right past a loose ball rolling. Williams needs to stop taking bad shots and needs to clean up the boards and block shots. The Hollins boys need to put in the same effort and Mbakwe needs the touches down low and get Yugete in foul trouble. Eliason needs to be the player we all know he can be and show up like last night and big Mo needs to be an athlete out there and stay on his feet, he flops way too much.

[schmitty3]

Oseniks needs to have his time limited. He played way to many minutes last night. At one point I saw him jog right past a loose ball rolling.

I've been saying this all year. He is terrible. I guess he can fit into the zone, and rebound a bit, but he is a HUGE liability on the offensive end. I have never seen a player throw up so many air balls and bricks off the side of the rim in my life. When in the game Florida can pretty much just double the ball and leave him open lol.

[Scott M]

Rough game. Dre Hollins gave the Gophers his best shot, but it wasn't enough. They made a game out of it heading into the final 8-9 minutes but had to play perfect to close it and couldn't. The refs were inconsistent but it didn't cost the Gophers this game. Minnesota didn't do a good job defending the 3 point line on cross-screening action.

Dre Hollins needs the green light more often but it's going to get a lot harder for him with more attention and even less backcourt help next year.

This team was dead in the water going into halftime (-24) and got it down to 8 points so at least they showed some grit.

I'm not sure how to judge this season, it's still too early to say. A better seed might have helped but they didn't earn one. I see Florida coming out of the South. Are the Gophers a top 32 team? Yes. Are they a top 16 team? Probably not. With a little luck in some pairings they might have made it. Too many turnovers, bad defensive rebounding and 3 point defense, limited offensive players, an inconsistent bench, and an inability to imbound the ball were some repetitive deficiencies.

[blue_healer_guy]

The game was what it was. But to leave the only offensive weapon that night on the bench for 6 min down 13-15 with 4 fouls is hopefully gonna get him out of here. 6yrs, 1 ncaa win, see ya!

[Snag]

Should be an interesting week. The two in bounds turnovers after time outs in the first half, Otto and Mav getting minutes, Dre on the bench with 4 fouls and then switching him out with Welch offense for defense was laughable. Not developing any players in six years, the transfers and 9th place in the Big Ten this year.

Sounds like Izzo has Tyus Jones wrapped up. I don't think Tubby even goes to his games anymore. Hopefully he is one and done and we don't have to watch that for more than 1 year.

[BartmanMN]

Was it just me or did the 2 guys that came off the bench when Dre had his fouls look lost out there.

[bbfenatic]

He gone.