I suppose I should write about the Gophers' 79-60 loss to Purdue last night, but I really don't think I have much to say. The Gophers did some things really well, some expected (causing turnovers) and some not (hitting the boards hard and actually outrebounding Purdue 35-33). They also did some things poorly, some expected (shooting 31%) and some not (allowing near constant dribble penetration leading to the Boilers shooting 52%). Overall, I'm more encouraged by a 19 point loss than I rightfully should be.
The Gophers went toe-to-toe with one of the best team's in the country in their house and battled them most of the way to a pretty good game. Purdue used a big start of the second half run to get a comfortable lead they never really reliquished (they did the same thing to a very good West Virginia team last week), but if the Gophers shots are falling who knows how this one goes down - a lot of the shots were good ones, they just didn't fall. If Sampson is playing, no matter what you might thing of his fire and emotion, maybe this is different with a better defensive presence in the paint. If Westbrook finds a way to keep his hot start going longer than five minutes, who knows? If the refs aren't engaging in quite so much home cooking (and I almost never blame refs, but it was noticeable last night) maybe the Gophers are right there until the end.
Obviously they have to shoot better, 30% isn't going to cut it and if Nolen is going to keep getting open shots his 1-10 is completely unacceptable, and it wouldn't kill somebody on this team to shoot a pull-up jumper on a drive, especially against a team that collapses on drivers as well as the Boilermakers, but I'm not ready to panic. Nobody (outside of Dawger) thought they would win this game, and as long as they take care of business and win the games they are supposed to, this will still be an NCAA Tournament team.
Right?
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
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12 comments:
The officiating was flat out terrible. Too many phantom calls (Hoffarber on that 1-1 fast break) and too many missed hard fouls (see any play the gophers had in the paint, late in the 2nd half). Add that to the numerous missed traveling calls. We had a few bad calls go our way but the majority were in their favor. We couldn't draw a foul in the paint to save our life. Did they have some rookie refs out there? Seriously though.
What's up with Paul Carter though? He had some nifty moves and went strong to the basket numerous times. Not something I'm used to seeing from this team other than maybe Westbrook which half the time he looks out of control.
The game was probably out of reach at this point but I think the gophs had just made a push to cut the lead to 10 when the following series of events took place: Hummel grabbed a rebound, Westbrook tied him up, Hummel shoved Westbrook, the refs called a foul on Westbrook and a technical foul on Damien Johnson???? Explanation anybody? It was a very slim chance that the gophers would have made the come back complete but I was at the Wisconsin game in Madison last year so you never know.
The refs were bad, but they usually are to road teams in hostile environments.
How many times were the gophers going to drive into the lane then not dish it out to somebody open? It seemed like whomever was driving into the lane, was going to try and get the shot off, by hook or by crook.
The gophers half court offense struggled, as usual, and Iverson, is a bit too slow to play with the big boys down low and always wants to dribble before making a move.
Www...
Your take on the Washburn offer? If the Twins sign him, I might pull my hair out. Fly ball pitcher, in a significantly smaller ball park with a bad fielding outfield (compared to the rockstar outfield in Seattle). Just too much money for a 5 era guy. We've got plenty of average crap already that can do that.
Why the hell would the Twins want Washburn? Aside from the fact that he sucks, they already have Baker-Slowey-Blackburn-Pavano locked into 4 rotation spots. Then have Liriano, Duensing, Perkins and others available for the 5th spot and to provide depth. I haven't seen any details on the offer, but anything much for another SP seems like a HUGE waste of money for a team with big holes at 2B and 3B and a limited budget. The only thing I can think of is that they might have a deal on the table for a 2B/3B that involves one or more of their young pitchers
They didn't actually make an offer to Washburn, did they?
Another year, and another snub for Circle me Bert to the HOF. I love it. To add to it they didn't let Robby Alomar in either, well done Baseball writers, well done.
I'm beginning to think letting the writers vote for thing is a bad idea. And I was so encouraged by the Cy Young winners, too.
Bert was only 5 votes short, so he's pretty much a lock to get in next year.
I think the Alomar thing has to do with the fact that many of the crotchedy old writers have some notion of their being a difference between a "first ballot hall of famer" and a "hall of famer." I think I read that there was at least one person who didn't vote for Rickey last year. Alomar will get in easy next year when those morons vote for him because its his second go round.
snacks you are a retard if you cant get that by signing Washburn you open up the door to trading some young pitchers for a 3b or 2b.
Anon - reread my post dipshit. I specifically mentioned that as a possibility. You are the retard.
I am guessing Anon = Dawger.
You are guessing that you are me? Snacks is right, you are a dipshit.
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