Friday, January 16, 2009

Giving it up to the Gophs

Well, ouch. Blowing a double-digit lead at home, and a three point lead on the past possession, all do to multiple foot-shootings (aka turnovers) is never fun. And neither is losing at home to a neighboring rival, in a game that allows your rival to really feel as if he's on the make. Yi. A few observations---

- This team doesn't seem deep enough. Maybe the upperclassmen mainstays (Hughes, Bohannon, Krabby, Landry) were tried down the stretch. Maybe they weren't. Regardless, not being able to rest, get hydrated and evaluate what's happening in the game can't help matters. Nankivil really needs to be able to contribute some solid minutes, and his disappearing act in the past couple of games is really disappointing. His issue seems to be a lack of comfort and you only get more comfortable when you get more experience. I hope he rallies and maintains at least 15 minutes a game for the rest of the season.

- The issues against pressure D are a bit infuriating, and I'm confused as to why it seems to be such an issue this season compared to last. Butch and Stiemsma did not handle the ball much. Flowers is a loss, but you'd expect the upperclassmen quartet to be able to handle pressure pretty well. Maybe, again, it comes back to depth. They need more help from everybody else than they're getting. Argh.

- Anyhow, you have to hand it to Minnesota. They busted their butts, rallied from a huge deficit, and stole a huge win. Give it up to the Gophs. In their honor, here's a Kenny Loggins-influenced Caddyshack montage.

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