Minnesota beats an outstanding Michigan team by over 10 points and a couple of weeks later loses to NU by a similar amount. Go figure. The BIG10 is solid top to bottom. Collins has kept his guys together and fighting hard every night. Minnesota game was a payoff from the hard work and focus the last 10 close and not so close games. Let’s hope there is more this year and next.
On any given night...
- Thread starter charcat
- Start date
No need to be a downer - cold nights from three happen. We lost to Illinois in a nail-biter on a night we shot 24% from three. We couldn’t close out Rutgers because we shot 20% from behind the arc that game. I think we can all enjoy being on the right side of that for once without needing to make excuses for it.
I know it is hard for most people on this board to admit, but the team came in with a very good defensive game plan. If you listened to Belien during the game he praised their approach multiple times. That is high praise.
Minnesota is a bad 3-pt shooting team to begin with. Dead last in the league for 3-pt shooting percentage and they have taken the most attempts of any team in the league. Bad combination. Then you add in they are missing one of their best outside threats for the game. NU knew what it needed to do and executed. By in large they structured a defense that kept points in the paint to a minimum or at least hard earned, and let Minnesota bomb away. It’s not like Minnesota came in as a strong 3-pt shooting night and just happened to have an off night. We were thrilled for them to keep shooting from deep and it paid off. If not for us treating this game, like so many others recently, as Christmas just giving away possessions with TO’s, this would have been a blowout.
Minnesota is a bad 3-pt shooting team to begin with. Dead last in the league for 3-pt shooting percentage and they have taken the most attempts of any team in the league. Bad combination. Then you add in they are missing one of their best outside threats for the game. NU knew what it needed to do and executed. By in large they structured a defense that kept points in the paint to a minimum or at least hard earned, and let Minnesota bomb away. It’s not like Minnesota came in as a strong 3-pt shooting night and just happened to have an off night. We were thrilled for them to keep shooting from deep and it paid off. If not for us treating this game, like so many others recently, as Christmas just giving away possessions with TO’s, this would have been a blowout.
I thought an interesting stat was , MN had won 4 in a row against us but we had won 4 of last 5 at Barn (now 5 out of last 6)
I'm really thrilled for the players because they work hard and are talented guys who refuse to give up. But I think you're kind of making the point that Gato was making as well. The Cats can't expect to win in this fashion consistently. They won't be playing bad 3 pt shooting teams without their best shooter and best inside presence that insist on shooting lots of 3's often, so the propensity to turn the ball over more will be a problem. BB and MK made some big shots and hopefully that points towards growth for the future, but the fact that this game was close (let alone that the Cats had to come back from a significant deficit) isn't a positive outside of the team finding a way to get over the hump.
When we lost at IL there were plenty of ppl who seemed to be almost as happy as if we had won. Because we fought back against one of the top teams in the country. Yeah it’s nice, but Nebraska took them to OT. It’s not a great achievement. Just like winning at MN wasn’t.
But it was a win. Something we had not had for 13 games (would have been 14 had we played MI). And an example that, regardless of how strong the B1G is, even bad teams get some wins. Usually in less than 1 out of 14 games.
CC had a plan for Carr. It’s not the first time we have a decent game plan against the strong points of the other team. Garza? We approached pick and rolls with a hard show and even temporary double teams to get the ball off his hands. And Audige played good defense, being the only guy in our team with the speed and athleticism to keep up. Was that genius? No, it was competent and what a lot of other coaches have done against MN.
Our problems continue to be much bigger on offense. Way bigger. And if you choose to see beyond having won, you will be concerned about TO and relying on a player to score 19 in a half to get us to the finish line.
It’s not a popular thing to be a downer when we win. That’s why when we win you rarely see the “downers” posting. But the reality is this game meant very little. I hope it meant the one thing that can be positive: more confidence. Because that helps a lot.
But it was a win. Something we had not had for 13 games (would have been 14 had we played MI). And an example that, regardless of how strong the B1G is, even bad teams get some wins. Usually in less than 1 out of 14 games.
CC had a plan for Carr. It’s not the first time we have a decent game plan against the strong points of the other team. Garza? We approached pick and rolls with a hard show and even temporary double teams to get the ball off his hands. And Audige played good defense, being the only guy in our team with the speed and athleticism to keep up. Was that genius? No, it was competent and what a lot of other coaches have done against MN.
Our problems continue to be much bigger on offense. Way bigger. And if you choose to see beyond having won, you will be concerned about TO and relying on a player to score 19 in a half to get us to the finish line.
It’s not a popular thing to be a downer when we win. That’s why when we win you rarely see the “downers” posting. But the reality is this game meant very little. I hope it meant the one thing that can be positive: more confidence. Because that helps a lot.
The one perspective you have forgotten to mention is Minnesota’s. They absolutely needed this game to secure their NCAA chances. They came out strong as you’d expect. But we showed heart and moxie and beat them on their home court when they really needed it, and even despite a 13 game losing streak. That means something and says something about what Collins means to this team. And the one thing about NU under Collins vs. Carmody, in my opinion, is that we are much more imposing physically and we are not as much just taken for granted. We compete at a game that our opponents play, and we don’t just win when others have off nights.
1) We win? I must have missed a lot of of games
No, we don’t win, this is not 2017
2) MN - 1 elite player surround by
a) A freshman who only recently got significant minutes
b) A limited, albeit feisty and hard nosed transfer from Western Michigan
c) A transfer from Utah that has shown some talent but is in a slump and went scoreless
d) A few other players that saw little to no minutes last season. And see little to no minutes this season unless there are injuries
That’s the MN perspective
Yeah...that wasn't the part I would quibble with. I don't want to bash the guys because they are giving their all, but the sentence seems like something someone who didn't watch this entire season would say.
Well, I guess I just wanted to remember that we have won 4 BigTen games and they were not just flukes. As others and I have said, I think we are close to being good. We need a bit more talent that allows for more consistency - Buie just hurts us way more frequently than he helps us. But overall, I’ve been watching closely for decades, and I generally come into each game in the Collins era more confident about our chances of winning than in prior eras.