From The Barn

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 fall to 0-3 in latest conference loss

Posted on 05. Jan, 2012 by zipsofakron.

At first glance the numbers from the end of Minnesota’s latest comedy don’t seem that bad: They lost by merely two points They shot 44% from the field They won the rebounding battle But for those of us who had the misfortune of actually tuning into the latest shortcoming by the Gophers know the real [...]

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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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B1G Preview: Iowa Hawkeyes

Posted on 19. Dec, 2011 by zipsofakron.

Whatever momentum was gained by taking down then-ranked No. 6 Purdue in last season’s regular season finale has surely waned in an abysmal start to the new season for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Despite only going 4-14  in the conference last season, our rival to the south was hoping to build on a core of returning [...]

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BACON FOR EVERYONE!!!!!

Posted on 29. Oct, 2011 by JF.

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Big Ten Tournament Preview: The Bottom Six

Posted on 09. Mar, 2011 by JF.

With Gopher basketball mired in meaningless land with the late season collapse, it will take a miracle, the likes of which has never happened for any team in Minnesota, to make the NCAA tournament. Knowing that the season has spun hopelessly out of control shouldn’t take away from the great basketball that takes place during [...]

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Gophers stop the bleeding; rout Iowa on the road

Posted on 14. Feb, 2011 by zipsofakron.

Maybe it was Tubby’s post-Illinois tirade that cleared the heads of some players.  Maybe the team had a moment of clarity in the aftermath of the first four-game losing streak in the Tubby Smith era.  Maybe they were just playing a crappy opponent. In any case, Minnesota came together and flashed a style of dominance not [...]

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Game 25 Preview: The Game After the sky fell

Posted on 12. Feb, 2011 by JF.

Golden Gophers vs. Iowa Hawkeyes 5:00 pm (CST) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena (Iowa City, IA) TV: Big Ten Network I sincerely hope that you were inside a sturdy building on Thursday night, or at the very least had an umbrella if you ventured outside, because apparently the sky fell. If you read anything by a grossly [...]

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Gophers avoid letdown, upend Iowa 69-59

Posted on 17. Jan, 2011 by zipsofakron.

Fresh off a thrilling home-court upset over the Purdue Boilermakers, many considered the Iowa Hawkeyes to be merely a speed bump in a string of games against lower-tier Big Ten opponents, looking past the bottom-dwelling Hawkeyes towards more intense games.  Consider the Gophers part of that group. Fighting through disinterested, lackadaisical performances, Minnesota gave away [...]

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Game 18 Preview: I want to hate Iowa

Posted on 16. Jan, 2011 by JF.

Golden Gophers vs. Iowa Hawkeyes 5:00 pm (CST) at Williams Arena (Minneapolis, Minnesota) TV: Big Ten Network Tickets: Row 16, behind the basket, upper deck You won’t hear many Gopher fans say this, but I want the Hawkeyes to be better. I want Carver-Hawkeye arena to be full and loud and an intimidating place to [...]

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Big Ten Roundtable: Players to Watch

Posted on 10. Nov, 2010 by zipsofakron.

Recently, FTB thought it would be fun to preview the season by connecting with our fellow Big Ten bloggers to get their thoughts on various topics, both Big Ten-related and not.  This is the fourth in a series of five preview discussions that include input from 10 of the 11 Big Ten teams.  Northwestern was unavailable for [...]

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Big Ten Roundtable: Must-See Games

Posted on 04. Nov, 2010 by zipsofakron.

Recently, FTB thought it would be fun to preview the season by connecting with our fellow Big Ten bloggers to get their thoughts on various topics, both Big Ten-related and not.  This is the second in a series of five preview discussions that include input from 10 of the 11 Big Ten teams.  Northwestern was unavailable for [...]

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By the Numbers: Nine to Go

Posted on 04. Feb, 2010 by zipsofakron.

Gophers: 13-8, 4-5 in the Big Ten.  Nine games to go.  Lost four of their last five.  Can things look bleaker? It’s hard not to be discouraged after a season in which such high hopes have disintegrated into an abysmal pool of mediocrity.  Results have fallen miles short of expectations, players have walked away from [...]

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Barn Blurbs 1/25/2010

Posted on 25. Jan, 2010 by zipsofakron.

Royce White was officially charged in the missing laptop incident.  Still unclear if/when he will join the team. It goes without saying, but as Wisconsin found out there are no easy games in Big Ten play. Iowa goes to Bloomington and mauls Indiana by 15.  Really? Michigan State has decided to redesign it’s classic Spartan [...]

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Quick thoughts: Gophers 86-74

Posted on 03. Jan, 2010 by JF.

Ten hours in the car over two days and one night in Iowa City in a motel room pushing 80 degrees aren’t conducive to writing a coherent article (just ask Marcus Fuller who thinks the Gophers almost lost to Iowa). So instead, add your own transition sentences, or enjoy the bullets. My journey to Iowa [...]

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