Minnesota Game Thoughts

[Valpo95]

I was at the ORU / Minnesota game today and thought I would share some of my observations. Overall, I was impressed.

1) Caleb Green had a monster game, putting up 24 points and 15 rebounds. He looked good against some decent inside players. Minnesota really never doubled Green, which it seemed like they should have when it became clear he was going to have a big game.

2) Minnesota keyed their defense on Ken Tutt, who went 2 of 15 shooting for 6 points. Senior Adam Boone (who usually scores in double figures) only had four points, but he shut down Tutt.

3) Minnesota has a pretty good but not great team. They are 9-2 in non-conference play and start the Big 10 next Saturday. One of their losses was against Gardner Webb, and ORU has a much better team than Gardner Webb.

4) ORU ended up with a pretty big rebounding advantage (something like 45 to 35). That was skewed a bit because J?son Stamper did not play due to an injury, and he usually leads MN in rebounding and defense.

5) ORU ended up shooting 33% for the game. They did not have too many uncontested shots, though Green had a lot of great looks inside after the defense collapsed on the guard. I was impressed by their ball movement and general athleticism.

6) I wasn?t particularly impressed with Michalec, especially early in the game. He took a couple of ill-advised shots, especially considering the quickness of the defense. It seemed like he should have known better than shooting from a foot inside the arc for a long two-pointer and probably could have done better by spending more time down on the block.

7) The refs did not have a great game, and both teams could point to a couple of poor calls. In one case, the official from the back side called a foul on MN while the official who had perfect position let it go. A terrible call. The refs also missed one obvious foul on MN that would have sent ORU to the line. Not sure what the broadcasts said about the officiating, but it ended up being balanced out on both s sides and did not end up deciding the game.

I?d say the ORU clearly has one of the better teams I have seen at the Mid-Con level. If they had shot a little better, they would have made it a very interesting game. Like I said, I was impressed with ORU and they are a much better team than their record indicates

[tmh8286]

Thanks for an excellent recap, Valpo95. I assume from the way you wrote it that you were there? I didn't draw much from the radio broadcast about the officiating. You could occasionally hear the crowd respond to a call, but other than that, I couldn't tell much one way or another about the reffing.

Fewer turnovers and hitting a couple of treys would have changed the game completely - but can't the losing team usually point to things like that? It's rare that a team plays well and loses. If Tutt had matched his shooting percentage from the OU game, we win, or at least make it more interesting at the end.

[rlh]

I asked this after the Oklahoma game, and it sounds like a good topic for this one too....now that I have seen you play twice on TV, and seeing what was written about the MInnesota game...I wonder why your team dosen't set more picks for Tutt....he's a great shooter, but doesn't create his own shot that well....coming off the pick at the end of the Oklahoma game he drilled a huge three, then didn't get the ball again....I hope they don't start doing that against VU, but I just wondered if there is a reason that Tutt isn't utilized better....?

[Guest Rob Marshall]

RLH, I agree to a certain extent, but Tutt did take fifteen (15) shots. ORU does run sets for Tutt, particularly out of timeouts. I'd like to see the team run (for Tutt) some of the stuff Bill Self's teams used to run for Tim Gill, or try more of the stuff Utah State ran against us for their two (2) guard.

However the bottom line is still, when Tutt gets fifteen (15) shots, he needs to make more than two (2)! :idea:

[rlh]

My question is did he take 15 shots out of sets that were designed for him....or did he force many of those shots...as I've said, I think he's maybe the best shooter I've seen since Bryce in the Mid-Con...the difference is Bryce could create openings for himself better, and still had sets run for him....I haven't seen that out of Tutt in the few times I've seen him....I maybe be underestimating him, just an impression I've had from what little I've seen...I just think you'd be a better team if sets were run specifically for him more often...and you're right, him hitting 2 of 15 won't work.....

[ORUBlue]

Ken has to hit them which is not happening right now. The real problem in my opinion of Ken is his defense. Stop letting his man score layups and getting key rebounds. For the love of the game stop letting me hear Neely say layup good. Rebound Gophers layup good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please!!!!!

[ORUTerry]

I don't know enough to say whether Tutt's shooting woes are a result of a mechanical/physical problem or a confidence issue. I do know that his shooting slump is killing us. Our lack of consistent perimeter offense allows teams to sag on Green. This is a cause of our turnovers as we force the ball into Green. The problem is that Tutt is not just shooting poorly, but his defense is not the greatest either. Not sure what the answer is.... let's hope he fixes what is wrong. I do know that with the advent conference season we are going to see a lot (exclusively?) zone defense as teams concentrate on Green and dare us to hit from the perimeter.