Gophers enter the Vault as 7.5 underdog

[BTF69]

Yes , but Illinois is always going to be a good team. A loss won’t hurt you that bad if you lose to them A W will be help you immensely. That wouldn’t be a guarantee if one of those teams would schedule a Nebraska.

I mean...until Underwood got to Illinois they missed the dance 4 years in a row.

 

[Big bo fan]

I mean...until Underwood got to Illinois they missed the dance 4 years in a row.

I was talking about Illinois now with Underwood. Basketball schedules minus some pre conference tournaments are basically year to year.

 

[V-Doub]

I totally get the idea of gaining some confidence and momentum but you probably get more confidence losing a close game to say...Houston (in basketball) as opposed to beating Our Lady of the Worthless Miracle by 20.

Easy… My aunt graduated from Our Lady of the Worthless Miracle. It’s a good school

 

[dinglefritz]

Last year's roster was way better. KT, Mast, Allick, and Lawrence are better players than Rollie, Essegian, and Morgan/Berke/Meah.

Berke and Meah have disappointed me greatly. I would say Morgan is about what I thought he would be or maybe even a little better. Meah started the last game 1 for 6 from the free throw line. We can't win with that kind of foul shooting form him and Berke.

 

[scarletred]

I guess as an example we can look at the Illini and their non-conference schedule

Bama: L
Arkansas: W
Mizzo: W
Tennessee: L
Duke: Beat down of epic proportions

But going 2-3 in those games doesn't hurt, all it does is give them two more "good" wins.

More importantly they are 11-8 in conference play.
That gets you in the dance.

 

[V-Doub]

Berke and Meah have disappointed me greatly. I would say Morgan is about what I thought he would be or maybe even a little better. Meah started the last game 1 for 6 from the free throw line. We can't win with that kind of foul shooting form him and Berke.

Fred convinced Williams and Gary to ride it back, as he should’ve. Two players that would start for almost every D1 team. (Gary would probably be 6th man type on some of the more talented teams) Then Fred completely failed at bringing in a supporting cast to help them be a legit tournament team. At the bare minimum we needed…

1. Solid point who could dictate pace and score. FAIL
2. Reliable 3 point shooter who ideally isn’t just a one trick pony. FAIL
3. Solid post player. Someone who can do more than 1 thing well. FAIL

We also could’ve used a good wing player. Someone who could hit outside shots, stretch the defense and then get to the rim on both ends. FAIL on that too.

Season is almost over and I honestly can’t even say who our best addition is? Can anyone? Essegian… maybe? Good shooter, moves around well without the ball on offense and makes his defender run all over. But he’s not a consistent outside threat, his defense is terrible and he’s not nearly as good at scoring inside the arch. Tominaga was a little streaky as well, but he still found ways to score if the 3s weren’t falling. Beyond that… I’ll say Berke was looking pretty good before the ankle injury, but he’s been dreadful to watch since. Kid is lost at sea and can’t throw a pebble in ocean right now. Was hopeful and optimistic about Rollie, but he’s such an extreme liability on offense that it affects his whole game. Seems like his confidence is just shot. 🤷‍♂️

Damnit, we suck 😞

 

[cubsker]

Berke really should be better than he is. An athletic big like him and he's just brutal in the lane trying to score. He might end up being really good, he's just not there yet unfortunately.