2008-2009 Gophers

[guideman]

Duke Blows!!!

"Ace"

[LMITOUT]

Duke Blows!!!

......through the ACC tourney for their 8th title in the last 11 years.

[guideman]

So what does that mean???

They could win the National championship every year and they would "STILL BLOW".

They were fortunate to have the top seeds get upset by FS and Maryland, they had already lost twice to Nc and they would have lost to them again.

So like I said before,

"DUKE BLOWS"!

"Ace"

[fishingMN4eyes]

Let's focus on Texas first

[Mudcutter]

texas has the beef and talent 1-5,, but the gophers have the speed and def 1-8. If the Gophers can get to the FT line and hit 80%, and shoot somewhat decent from the field,, they will beat a Texas team that has given up. Abrahms is the only player that scares me as long as we can contain the near 300lb beast they put down low--- that also shoots FT at 6-10 a clip.

We've got the bodies to put the hurt on the them, just not the individuals. The longer the game goes on,, the better it looks for us.

[The Donk]

I just see the trend of the Gophs being in foul trouble early continuing and Texas shooting way too many free throws to lose. Anyone else think the Gophers foul too much??? They play great defense, but every third time down the floor they give up a cheap foul with like 20 seconds on the shot clock. They could definitely win if they tighten it up

[Willy]

I don't think they foul any more than any other team out there. Those fouls are a result of an aggressive defense and picking teams up full court at times.(2 of our strengths) Our best chance to win is to make it a full court game, press and run. Let our depth help us and our lack of any half court offense not hinder us.

That, cut down TO's and don't give up the 3 to their point guard and we get to take on Duke.

[fishingMN4eyes]

Willy, that has been the key the whole second half of the year we've been saying. I don't think their half court offense is going to suddenly turn into something special. Their only hope is to press and get out and run like you stated. The three pointers for the Gophers opponents will be key as well. If they can keep the three point opportunities to a minimum, I like their chances.

[Scott M]

Well, down 4 at the half. Quite honestly given what this team has shown Gopher fans in the last 6 weeks you have to be ecstatic for this effort, even if they still gave up yet another shot before the half. Damian Johnson has been on the bench for most of the first half with 2 fouls, so take what you can get.

The half court offense looked better and the team's guards looked to attack. I just wish I knew why Nolen is always looking to pass when he gets a step on his guy....one time from the camera angle we were given it looked like he passed up a wide open lay up for a 10 foot baseline shot that turned into a charge.

Pittman is killing the Gophs inside. Minnesota just doesn't have anyone that can stick with him physically except Jon Williams, but Jon is great at getting dumb fouls on both ends of the floor. When Pittman can create space with his body he can negate the shot blocking abilities of Sampson. Abrams got off to a decent start too, netting 11. He already has 7 trey attempts, so the Gophs have to stay locked in on the guy and not let him go nuts in the second half. Stop one or both of those players and the Gophers have a chance. But if the lead gets blown up and the Maroon and Gold has to play catch up, it could be over.

The gophers are in striking distance and are playing as well as we've seen in a long time. For once they came into a big game with a semblance of a game plan and are doing a respectable job of executing it. The gophers need someone besides Westbrook to step up. I'm hoping that guy is Paul Carter, who has missed a couple shots inside of 5 feet (granted they were contested).

On to the second half...

[petepeters]

WOW! the gophers are ice cold. Nolan is a major disappointment and hohffarber is a bit of a letdown. Oh well.... It could be worse... they could be NDSU. HA!

5:00 left. They will not come back.

[fishersofmen]

Someone needs to teach these guys how to dunk the ball when they are a foot in front of the rim. A ton of missed shots at point blank range. Same song and dance as all year in the end, the offence just went completely stagnent. It was fun while it lasted..........

[petepeters]

Observations....

1.They can not shoot.

2.The Texas center is listed as 6 - 10? So are the two big guys for Minn.. Actually Sampson is listed as 6 - 11. Sure looks shorter than the Texas guy to me - both do. Plus they are skinny, we need a bruiser.

3. Did not look like Gophers wanted to win. No enthusiasm. Flat.

4.Good start in first half - shows coaching. Fading away- shows absence of talent.

5.Minn has to start recruiting hard or good coaches will not be enough.

Next year,, maybe..........

[Scott M]

Kind of a rotten second half for Minnesota as they watch AJ Abrams catch fire. Abrams will probably be a poor man's JJ Reddick in the NBA on his 3 point shooting alone, although he will have problems getting his shot off at under 6 feet.

Too much incontinuity and lack of ball movement stings in the half court. The defense wasn't getting back and was giving up transition points. Once Texas got things spread out they could drive and dish, post Pittman, let James work his game, and allow other players to play their complimentary role. And it compounded things further when Minnesota missed, by my count, 3 bunnies at the rim.

Gophers lose by 14. Make your <5 footers, contain Abrams, and you would have had a ball game. Two inconsistent teams were matched up and Texas came out on top by the fiery stroke of AJ Abrams.

It was a good season all things considered for a young Minnesota team. Given a chance to sleep on things it will be fun to recap the season and start talking about next year and hopefully a deeper NCAA run. Other posters are encouraged to do the same.

[DTro]

It's just the beginning for this team. I went with my heart and picked them to win, when i really didn't feel it.

RS3 needs to go on the Pittman diet and we are golden.

[wahoohendoo]

the worst saying their is and all us minny fans have become custom to: Well theres always next year. man i hate that one

[Coach Dog]

Abrams was on fire. WOW! They were just outmatched but I'm a bit surprised Tubby stayed with that zone for so long in the second half when AJ started hitting 3's. Oh well.

[Dotch]

I saw Texas play several times between naps earlier in the season and had no doubt they would probably handle the Gophers, particularly if the second half of the season Gophers team showed up. In the second half it did and the rest is history. Pittman is a load and was in every game I watched. I doubt if Sampson III, Johnson and Iverson combined could eat as much as that guy. Oh well, still a fun season to watch at least until mid-January. We sometimes forget this is a pretty young team and will get better when some of the youngsters grow into leadership roles. 3 pt. shooting after going 9 for 9 against Penn St. pretty much evaporated. They need to get that back on track. Hoffarber needs to work his butt off to get back to where he was in the '07 - '08 season if he plans on contributing next year. Damian and Nolen need to be able to take those open 3's with confidence rather than hesitating like they did in the 2nd half of the season. Think back on how many of the games they lost they still would've been in had they been clicking from 3 pt. land instead of clanging balls long off the rim giving their opponents the easy rebound. Someone mentioned finishing with the dunk which is part of going strong to the hole and finishing, something they desperately need to work on. The Gophers have some good athletes but they tend with a few exceptions to be the finer boned variety when you compare them to teams like Mich St., Texas, etc. Someone said they need some big bangers and I agree. A team full of gazelles has a tough time competing with the lions in the middle, especially the way the Big Ten games are generally called. Hopefully they can recruit some of those and put a more potent scoring threat on the court while they're at it. I've been watching Gopher basketball since the Musselman days and Johnny Kundla taught my conditioning class when I was a student at the U. After seeing what this team accomplished in the 1st half of the season, was thinking they might be something special. They fell short of that expectation for me but still kept me interested, something Monson's teams failed to do the last 2 or 3 seasons. I still bleed maroon and gold; always will.

[hanson]

Gophers got to figure out how to score!! They had what... 11, 12, 13 attempts in a row in the second half that didn't go down. Some were even under the basket. Grrrrr!!!! Meanwhile Abrams went out of his mind shooting 3s for Texas. You can't win games if you can't put points on the board. Pretty simple.

The Gophers really know how to make a guy lose interest in a game.

Oh well... still got my Bison to cheer on today!!

[fishersofmen]

If it wasn't for Westbrook's 19, it would have been very ugly. We need at least one more consistent scorer to compliment him. Not to say he has been consistent but.............

[The Donk]

The guy from Texas in the middle was the biggest problem... the guards had to collapse on him otherwise he would just move Sampson or Iverson out of the way and bounce the ball off their heads after dunking. This opened up Abrams or anyone else to shoot wide open. The way I see it, these are both freshmen and after the workout program Tubby will put them on they might bulk up some and be able to hang with someone like that monster.

BTW, the Hopkins player going to the Gophers next year already looks bigger and more athletic than either of those stringbeans down low this year for us. Hey, Wait till next year!

[Scott M]

Back page of the Sunday Sports pages said Kevin Payton and Travis Busch will be released from their scholarships. Doesn't really surprise me since they needed the scholarships for their incoming 4. Payton wasn't ever going to play much and from what I've read is a better part student in the student-athlete equation. Busch is scholastically finished and wants to play. His scholarship release surprises me the most. He really stepped up in the first half of the season. You might recall he was a huge contributor in the Louisville game.

I thought he finally earned the scholarship and the Mr. Basketball title from a few years ago. I read he might transfer to Winona State and take graduate classes.

All things considered it’s a sign of the times. Tubby wants a different caliber of athlete and will play tough guy to do it.

[Dotch]

Yeah, I can see it being good and bad in some respects. If we want to watch a potentially better quality product on the floor, it's probably good as long as they don't get caught violating any rules in the process. I'd hate to spend all season watching games that never happened again. If the aim is to produce stellar quality U of M gentlemen and scholars such as ourselves then it's probably not so great. I too thought Busch was a grinder who had earned his way onto this team. Not flashy but he could give the starters a rest while he was out there scrappin'. Guess that's why Tubby's the coach and I'm scratching my head wondering why all these new fangled contraptions won't communicate allowing a farmer to plant his corn.

[Scott M]

Gophs get Miami at Miami December 2 of this year for the Big Ten ACC game.