From The Barn

Gophers first Big Ten game in Lincoln is a must win

Posted on 04. Feb, 2012 by JF.

When the Golden Gophers lost to the Iowa Hawkeyes this week it wasn’t a must-win game, and thank goodness for that. The Gophers won the middle twenty minutes of the game, but were absolutely dreadful in the opening and closing moments, and let what should have been a win slip away. Now with only eight games left on the conference schedule, the Gophers face the prospect of nearly every game being a true must win.

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Selfishness vs. Selflessness: The Gophers head to Iowa

Posted on 31. Jan, 2012 by JF.

Minnesota beat Illinois, in part, because of unselfish basketball. Players made the extra pass, looked to get their teammates involved, and did not settle for poor shots. A couple of weeks ago, the Gophers lost to Iowa because they made the extra pass, deferred to their teammates, and would only settle for the “perfect” shot. Unselfishness is good, to a point, and at that point, every offense needs a player who will take charge and score on his own.

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Gophers vs. Illini starts key three game stretch

Posted on 27. Jan, 2012 by JF.

A big game on a cold January Saturday night. What could be better?

This space is usually reserved for disclaimers that there is no such thing as a must win game in January and platitudes about how a season isn’t over until it’s over because of the automatic NCAA tournament bid awarded at the end of the Big Ten Tournament. Nope, I’m not going to do it this time. This is a must win. There is a road to a 6-5 conference record with what could be an absolutely monstrous match-up with the Badgers at The Barn on February 9th that could transform the rest of the season. Illinois is the entrance ramp, and if they miss it things get complicated.

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Gophers streak into East Lansing with something to prove

Posted on 24. Jan, 2012 by JF.

Welcome to the most important week of the 2011-2012 Golden Gopher basketball season. That I can use the word “important” and that there is even basketball worth watching at this point is in itself remarkable.

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Gophers go for two on the road at Penn State

Posted on 14. Jan, 2012 by JF.

Momentum, if it even exists, is extremely fleeting. It can be neither created nor destroyed. It just happens, and then leaves as quickly as it appeared. A bad break combined with a bad bounce can turn around a game. A fifteen footer from a bad shooter can save a season. If momentum exists, the Golden Gophers have it after their still stunning win in Indiana, the best road win in the hundred plus year history of Gopher basketball. Now the young Gophers must use it before it is gone.

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A Gophers win in Bloomington would make sense in the Bonkers Big Ten

Posted on 11. Jan, 2012 by JF.

In the bonkers Big Ten, nothing is certain except the chaos. Wisconsin has as many homes losses as Ohio State has total losses. Illinois barely beat the Gophers but then beat the Buckeyes. Seemingly every game, except of course Minnesota’s loss to Purdue or Purdue’s loss to Penn State, has gone down to the wire. Everyone can beat anyone at any time anywhere. No one likes to see the Gophers season slip sliding away, but college basketball junkies can find some solace in at least one team trying to make sense of a mind boggling loss almost every night of the conference season.

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Boilers come to town with Minnesota’s season on the brink

Posted on 08. Jan, 2012 by JF.

  Thank goodness it has been a mild winter. I don’t ask much from Golden Gopher basketball other than to be a distraction through the coldest months of the year. Now, on January 8th, the season is already in danger of spinning hopelessly out of control. I won’t rehash the home loss to Iowa other [...]

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Pre-game chatter: Iowa Hawkeyes

Posted on 03. Jan, 2012 by zipsofakron.

The Iowa Hawkeyes come to town to face Minnesota in the team’s first home conference game. Rick Reese from Black Heart Gold Pants provided some input on who the Hawkeyes are this season and what we can expect come game time. Check out our answers to Rick’s questions over at BHGP. FTB: A less-than-stellar non-conference season [...]

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Gophers travel to Michigan hoping to replicate last season’s success.

Posted on 31. Dec, 2011 by JF.

For the Golden Gophers to make the NCAA tournament, they will have to win a game or two on the road that they are not supposed to win. Games against the bottom tier of the conference (the Iowa’s and Penn State’s of the world) should be wins.  Winning at Wisconsin and Michigan State isn’t impossible, [...]

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Gophers hope for upsetting Big Ten Opener at Illinois

Posted on 26. Dec, 2011 by JF.

The first Big Ten road game is usually a rattling at best experience, especially for a young team that hasn’t played a true road game this season. Assembly Hall has been especially cruel to the Gophers who have won once their since 1996, and even in that game, a win that went a long way [...]

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Gophers vs. North Dakota State: The perfect trap

Posted on 21. Dec, 2011 by JF.

Non-conference games against low-major teams always make me the most nervous. Nothing good can come from them. If the Gophers win, they do nothing but meet expectations, while risking injuries, laziness, and ultimately a loss that could ruin a season. Close games against unimpressive competition doesn’t produce the giddy excitement that makes college basketball the [...]

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From Ahanmisi to Zeigler

Posted on 12. Dec, 2011 by JF.

2010 was the year of the high school point guard. That year’s graduating class had more top flight point guards, and more teams in dire need of a floor general than any in recent memory. The Gophers were involved in that sweep stakes if your remember, putting too much faith in the brother of a [...]

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Here come the Peacocks!

Posted on 09. Dec, 2011 by JF.

The Gophers start to wind down their non-conference schedule Saturday against the St. Peter’s peacocks, and I can’t help thinking this game was scheduled a year too late. For almost all of last season, Fairfield was the trendy pick to go on a deep NCAA tournament run, and break all the brackets of those not [...]

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Appalachian State preview: As big as mountains but not nearly as good at basketball

Posted on 05. Dec, 2011 by JF.

And now for the non-conference doldrums. There isn’t anything particularly inspiring about the Appalachian State Mountaineers, the Golden Gophers opponent on Tuesday night at Williams arena, and there won’t be much to look forward to until the Big Ten season starts the day after boxing day, and this break of sorts is just what the team [...]

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Gophers should speed up the Trojans, for our sake

Posted on 02. Dec, 2011 by JF.

The Gophers face their second BCS opponent this week when they play the USC Trojans Saturday afternoon at Williams Arena. When the game was first announced, it was immediately circled on the calendar as an opportunity to pick up a quality win over a team that people actually know. Instead, it will likely be a [...]

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