gophers/ncaa

So why is the picture of the Washington State game? Were all of the Trib's photographers at the Vikings game? Ridiculous!

It's telling that after a game of this caliber (probably the biggest win of the season and an historic night for Banham), there is only one comment and it's a) critical and b) not at all related to the actual quality of play evident in this game (during the second half, at least). If the gophers had lost this game I guarantee that there would be at least two comments at this point predicting the impending Pam Borton train wreck and lamenting the decline of the program. If the Gophers were a stock, I would be buying right now. Negativitu is high and good news and solid fundamentals are being ignored.

You may be right, Informed One, but I don't think the Gophers are going to be able to come back against many Big Ten teams if they get down by 20. Until the program shows otherwise, on the basis of the last few years I still regard Borton as an underachieving, overpaid coach. It's not like they are playing UConn in the pre-conference schedule.

While the first half was pretty ugly, this was a win against a good team. Their only two losses this year were against top twenty-five teams and they beat a good Nebraska team. The Gophs are showing progress.

While I agree this was a nice win against a pretty good team, let's keep things in perspective. While Creighton's two losses prior were against top-25 teams, some of their wins were against perennial "powerhouses" such as South Dakota State Jackrabbits, South Dakota Coyotes, North Dakota State Bison, Houston Cougars, and South Florida Bulls. Two of the Lady Gophs losses were against teams that were not ranked. And Creighton's third loss (to the Lady Gophs) was against a team that's not ranked. So to try and make some type of comparison/statement based upon an opponent's W/L record and who the losses were against doesn't mean as much as some would like to make it out to be.

Also, given that this year's Big 10 schedule looks to be tougher than last year's, with 2 games each against Purdue, Penn State, Ohio State, and Nebraska, the Lady Gophs will probably be lucky to match last year's record of 6-10 in the conference. Hopefully they will prove me wrong and maybe even get to .500 in the conference. However, I just don't think playing such a soft non-conference schedule helps them out - Richmond Spiders? James Madison Dukes? UMKC Kangaroos?? Robert-Morris Colonials?? What is it with most of the Gophers' sports teams and scheduling creampuff teams?!?!

Borton snubs Janning who made 4 of 5 three pointers for 18 points. The Gophers need 3 point shooters obviously.

This was a quality win against a tough opponent but Creghton did show off some glaring weaknesses in the Gopher's game. Our players were unable to stop Creighton's offense until they started full-court pressing in the second half. Combine that with the fact that our starters ended up playing over 60% of the available minutes in the game and aaccounted for over 70% of the scoring, and the picture doesn't look as rosey. The Gophers can't afford to play full-court press for the majority of games if the bench isn't allowed to contribute. I was close by when Banham went down in the first half and I wasn't sure she would be coming back because she looked in severe pain, but I give her all props for toughing it out. I do wish she wouldn't keep throwing herself around the court so much: one of these days she will end up hurting herself and the team will be sunk.

Choo choo!

Given that the RPI for Creighton and the Gophers is 50 and 51 respectively, this game played out pretty much how it should have. And not sure Borton snubbed Jannings. She may have been recruited and decided that she didn't want to play behind Banham, may have wanted to go to a smaller school, etc. Who knows?