Here we are about 5 hours prior to tip. Vegas has us at -1.5 with 57% of the spread money on the Blue Raiders. I would be lying if I said I wasn't concerned. Minnesota is hands down the best team we've played all year and I truly hope our team realizes that. All the videos and things I've seen with our team for this match up put off a vibe that the game is ours. And while I appreciate their confidence, we are going to get completely rocked if we don't go into this game understanding the battle that it's going to be. We need a damn near repeat of last years game versus Mich St. (Darnell Harris, I miss you)
I've watched and won a lot of money on Minnesota these last few weeks and trust me when I tell you, these guys are good. This isn't your grand daddies Gopher Basketball team. Minnesota is 8-2 over their last 10 games (All Big 10 Conference games) with wins over teams like Purdue, Maryland, Michigan State, etc. This is a really, really good team. Pitino has also proven he is a really, really good coach too. On paper, Minnesota is the better team.
We are going to have to play one of our best games of the year in order to win this thing. We'll have to shoot at least 40% from 3 and 50% from 2. We'll have to get their big's in foul trouble and force them to use their non-existent bench. We're gonna need to press them and play tough, fast, and physical man-to-man defense. Also, our zone probably isn't going to work against these guys. If you've watched them play this year, they've shredded zone defenses left n' right 99% of the time. I expect us to be in man for 90% of the game.
I'm not saying we don't have a path to success, because we do. But I feel like the margin of error for our team is much smaller. Gun to my head, I'm taking Minnesota, but my heart says MT.
Let's go guys.
I've watched and won a lot of money on Minnesota these last few weeks and trust me when I tell you, these guys are good. This isn't your grand daddies Gopher Basketball team. Minnesota is 8-2 over their last 10 games (All Big 10 Conference games) with wins over teams like Purdue, Maryland, Michigan State, etc. This is a really, really good team. Pitino has also proven he is a really, really good coach too. On paper, Minnesota is the better team.
We are going to have to play one of our best games of the year in order to win this thing. We'll have to shoot at least 40% from 3 and 50% from 2. We'll have to get their big's in foul trouble and force them to use their non-existent bench. We're gonna need to press them and play tough, fast, and physical man-to-man defense. Also, our zone probably isn't going to work against these guys. If you've watched them play this year, they've shredded zone defenses left n' right 99% of the time. I expect us to be in man for 90% of the game.
I'm not saying we don't have a path to success, because we do. But I feel like the margin of error for our team is much smaller. Gun to my head, I'm taking Minnesota, but my heart says MT.
Let's go guys.
