Where are the Gophers?

[glenn57]

Men's gopher hockey at 7 pm tonight on BTN. WAY better than hoops!

Gopher hockey better than Gopher Basketball .......................duhhhhh!!!  Been like that for the last 20 years & might be for the next 20 too. Although I do think a lot of it is that it's MUCH EASIER for you to follow WTH is goin on when your watchin 1 instead of the other.                    

naw i just like hockey way better then basketball!!!!!!!!!

i do like watching the college NCAA tourney when it gets down to the sweet 16.............

kinda looking forward to this new football league to start up though!!!!!

[Gunner55]

  Meh..................sounds like it's just gonna be a testing ground of equipment & rules by players not good enough to get to the NFL too me.  Might last a bit longer this time though with Roger & buddies backin 'em, we'll see.

[glenn57]

Meh..................sounds like it's just gonna be a testing ground of equipment & rules by players not good enough to get to the NFL too me.  Might last a bit longer this time though with Roger & buddies backin 'em, we'll see.

no argument from me.......i like to watch football at any level........over basketball!!!!!!!

[Gunner55]

  NO NBA, just college, for me. Don't they have pee wee football in CS? You could volunteer to coach then you could watch all the football you wanted.        

[glenn57]

NO NBA, just college, for me. Don't they have pee wee football in CS? You could volunteer to coach then you could watch all the football you wanted.        

[Dotch]

Gophers made a game of it after trailing 70 - 43 at one point in the 2nd half. They cut it to within 3 with 5 seconds remaining. Willis had 7 three pointers to lead the comeback. Battle didn't have a great game scoring but had 7 boards as did Curry. Curry had 6 points but couldn't help but wonder where that 15' jumper was he lit up Penn St. with a few weeks back? Looked like it was open several times but he chose to pass the ball off instead. Could've taken some of the heat off outside or allowed Battle to drive had he made a few of those to keep them honest. 

At Maryland on Wednesday at 8 p.m. on BTN.   

[Gunner55]

I watched most of the 1st half but flipped around after they got down big in the 2nd. Hoosiers were gettin a lot of shots at the rim & then the 3's started falling. Gophers got off to another slow start too, Curry & Loewe really struggled. Hawks have NW @ Carver tonight at 7, BTN.

[Gunner55]

An EZ win but still pretty hard to watch as not much was falling for either team. Hawks had 2 that shot pretty well, they only had 1. A big advantage on the offensive glass for Ia again played a major part in the W.

[Dotch]

I saw that Hawkeye game Monday in part. Every time I looked in on it, the Hawks had it pretty well in hand. Northwestern looks to be struggling down the stretch. 

Gophers come up short last nite 84 - 73 against Maryland after cutting it to 2 pts. with 2:34 left. Battle put up 39 pts. & Willis chipped in 21. Loewe had 5 while Stephens & Sutherlin had 4 apiece Curry out with an injury (imagine that) and the Gophers were outscored 46 - 16 in the paint. Maryland had 15 bench points vs. 4 for the Gophers. Tough to win many games with stats like those.

When Battle is on like last nite he's tough to stop. Get Ihnen (6' 9") back for next year with Parker Fox (6' 8") healthy after sitting out this season and games like these could have a different outcome.

Final regular season game at Northwestern Sunday 6:30 p.m. on BTN.

[Gunner55]

Watched the 1st 1/2 & start/finish of the 2nd of the Gopher's game. Tough to win on the road with only 2 in double figures when the home team has 5. Iowa/Michigan in Ann Arbor @ 8 tonight, FS1.

[Dotch]

How 'bout them Hawks? 

[Gunner55]

How 'bout them Hawks? 

  Still got a little nervous when it was down to 7 with ~ 2 minutes to go. Hawks got 2 quick TOs then though so it was over. Hawks outscored 'em by almost 20 on FTs & 3s, #15 & #3 were 9/11 from deep, & that's tough to beat. Some good D too as we had 10 steals.

[Dotch]

See the Fuskers upset Bucky at the Kohl Center this afternoon! Couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of jerks... Ohio St. got picked off by Michigan too. Hopefully the Hawks do same against Illinoise. IA has the length to compete with them. The Gophers against Northwestern? On the road so who knows. Be nice if they're healthy for a change. Have heard nothing to the contrary so we shall see...  

[Dotch]

Same Gophers team playing the 1st half that lost to the Fuskers... Hawks looking good 

[Gunner55]

Hawks missed 12 of 22 FTs  , most of those in the 2nd 1/2.  They make their usual % & they win by 4. 

[Dotch]

Really thought the Hawks had 'em but as you say, ya gotta hit yer free throws. 

Gophers looked tired right out of the chute. Battle & Willis played the entire game. Stephens played 37 minutes. Curry looked like he was still injured. Outrebounded 48 - 31. Sutherlin had all 8 bench points & Loewe struggled, again. They get Penn St. in the Big 10 tournament after the NU/NE tilt Wed. They're tired and not goin' anywhere so they may as well start on next year ASAP. They have A LOT of work to do.

As far as their season goes, I'd give them a B- based on the hand they were dealt. I defy any of the teams in the Big 10 or country for that matter to go through the wholesale lineup change the Gophers had to, then have two of the players who did stick around injured for the season and try to put a championship product on the floor. All this with a new head coach who had never coached before!  Appears the guy can coach. Given the late start he got, he recruited better than I would've thought at least through the portal. Now he needs some higher caliber players. He has some. Battle is a future All Big 10 forward if he can stay healthy. Any team would love to have a guy like that. Parker Fox should be a contributing factor not only scoring but on the boards. Being out for a year, Ihnen is an unknown quantity although that wingspan should translate into more rebounds. He also had an outside shot that could come in handy. Thompson needs to hit the weight room and learn some dance moves. Caught some glimpses of what he could be but as mentioned, has a lot of work to do. Guards suddenly become the question for next year. Who will they find?       

 

[Gunner55]

  I've got to agree on the Gopher's season, Dotch. They kept me checkin in to see how they were doing. Another year, stay away from all the injuries, add a couple key players, some depth, & you never know what could happen next season. Is Willis coming back or is he done?

[Dotch]

Afraid Payton Willis is done unless the NCAA comes up with some new goofy rules. 

[KEN W]

Well....the season is over. They played like the number 14 seed.  Hopefully some good recruits will help next year.

[Gunner55]

The 1st 1/2 was hard to watch as nobody could get anything to drop. Stephens not being able to play had to hurt. I didn't realize so many of their guards were seniors, definitely going to need help there next season. Ind/Mich is the 1st game @ 10:30, Ia/NW @ ~ 2.

[roony]

Two words: No Depth

[dutchboy]

I made my first attempt at watching them yesterday, didn't last very long. Watching re-runs of NCIS was less predictable.

[Dotch]

The boys were tuckered when the 2nd half rolled around. All the starters except Curry played the entire 40 minutes. Stephens, once he recovered from his migraine enough, spelled him for 1 minute. Curry still looked injured judging by the hitch in the motion on his jumper. He battled Harrar admirably tho, holding him to 6 pts. Didn't realize that 3 of the Gopher starters were in the top 4 in minutes played in the Big 10.

Not sure yet who the Gophers might have hiding in the weeds as far as guards. At least we have a head coach this year, something we didn't have once Pitino got fired. The recruiting process is already in place and not last minute. Some naysayers saying Johnson should've played his bench more. Perhaps, but think he might've been sending a message to the MN HS players of note that if you come here or come back here, you will play once you're ready anyway. Can't help but think of MN Mr. Basketball Isaiah Dahlman who rode the pine at Michigan St. for 4 years. What a waste.   Had Curry not been hurt or COVID not been a factor, they probably would've red-shirted Thompson.   

[Gunner55]

  Closer to 1:15 for the 2nd game today.

[Dotch]

Hawks squashing Northworstern 64 - 31 at the half...

[Dotch]

Michigan goes down vs. Indiana while Hawks complete 112 - 76 drubbing of Northworstern. They look serious. 

https://gopherhole.com/what-is-next-gophers-basketball-offseason-preview/

[KEN W]

Gophers had a bench full of players. Evidently none of them are good enough to play for a team that finished last out of 14 teams. How many are seniors? What will happen to them when a new class of freshmen come in? Cut them?

[Dotch]

Gophers had a bench full of players. Evidently none of them are good enough to play for a team that finished last out of 14 teams. How many are seniors? What will happen to them when a new class of freshmen come in? Cut them?

Wasn't paying much attention to who was on the bench the other nite but here's the breakdown on who's who:

Non-starting seniors included Ogele, Sutherlin, and Daniels. Kern is a grad student.
Starting seniors included Willis, Curry, Stephens and Loewe.
Sophomores are Battle & Ramberg.
Juniors are Parker Fox (injured) & Ihnen (injured)
Freshmen are Thompson, Purcell & Thiam.

This is the list of players for next year, scholarship & walk on players so far:

G: Braeden Carrington/Abdoulaye Thiam
G: Joshua Ola-Joseph/Jaden Henley
F: Jamison Battle
F: Isaiah Ihnen/Pharrel Payne
F/C: Parker Fox/Treyton Thompson
*Walk-ons: Will Ramberg, Jackson Purcell

Johnson has 4 more scholarships to dole out yet the way it sounds after the commitments listed in that gopherhole article I posted. Some of these bench guys are part of the practice squad that scrimmages the starters. Even in Dutcher's & Clem's days, there were numerous players who rarely saw the court in games that counted. Simply weren't good enough to compete at that level. Will some of them be forced to leave? No if they're scholarship athletes but some of them may leave on their own if they're walk-ons and someone who is better with a scholarship shows up.   

[Gunner55]

Michigan goes down vs. Indiana while Hawks complete 112 - 76 drubbing of Northworstern. They look serious. 

https://gopherhole.com/what-is-next-gophers-basketball-offseason-preview/

WOW!!   Got those thugs from NJ today @ ~1, hope they didn't use up all their good mojo yday.

[Dotch]

Penn St. picks off OH St. so that was an interesting turn of events. Harrar sticking around another year & remaining healthy was a huge factor for them.