Without Gaines' defense...

[Medill90]

...that Ignas dude takes 3-5 more shots, scores another 5-6 pts and NU never has the lead.

Anthony gave up 3-4 inches on a big, athletic 3-4. Just an incredible job that allowed NU to get back into the game. He was also NU's second leading rebounder and some of those came at critical times and were 50/50 grabs.

Going against NU you've got Law, Gaines, Pardon and sometimes Ash defending....that's not pic nic.

Michigan's average win margin before this game was 17 pts. and they had large margins against North Carolina, Villanova and Purdue. All ranked teams.

This is an excellent NU team.

 

[TheC]

...that Ignas dude takes 3-5 more shots, scores another 5-6 pts and NU never has the lead.

Anthony gave up 3-4 inches on a big, athletic 3-4. Just an incredible job that allowed NU to get back into the game. He was also NU's second leading rebounder and some of those came at critical times and were 50/50 grabs.

Going against NU you've got Law, Gaines, Pardon and sometimes Ash defending....that's not pic nic.

Michigan's average win margin before this game was 17 pts. and they had large margins against North Carolina, Villanova and Purdue. All ranked teams.

This is an excellent NU team.

I completely agree. As frustrating as it is to have a guy on the offensive end who the other team really doesn't have to guard, his defense was game-changing last night. That Iggy guy was killing us in the first half and Gaines almost entirely shut him down in the second. Extremely impressive. Just wish he could hit that spot up 3 like Sanjay could.

 

[willycat]

I completely agree. As frustrating as it is to have a guy on the offensive end who the other team really doesn't have to guard, his defense was game-changing last night. That Iggy guy was killing us in the first half and Gaines almost entirely shut him down in the second. Extremely impressive. Just wish he could hit that spot up 3 like Sanjay could.

And when you put Ash out there as well then it's basically 5 vs. 3

 

[JournCat]

I completely agree. As frustrating as it is to have a guy on the offensive end who the other team really doesn't have to guard, his defense was game-changing last night. That Iggy guy was killing us in the first half and Gaines almost entirely shut him down in the second. Extremely impressive. Just wish he could hit that spot up 3 like Sanjay could.

Didn't Gaines have good moments playing out of the post last year? Wonder if we can go back to that, though we may also not have enough spacing unless Taylor and Turner start hitting 3s regularly.

 

[DaCat]

We need the defending of Gaines, but hope that the freshman still get decent minutes.

 

[Alan Smithee]

I completely agree. As frustrating as it is to have a guy on the offensive end who the other team really doesn't have to guard, his defense was game-changing last night. That Iggy guy was killing us in the first half and Gaines almost entirely shut him down in the second. Extremely impressive. Just wish he could hit that spot up 3 like Sanjay could.

Many on the board spent 3-3.5 years complaining about Sanjay's offense. I didn't mind that he wasn't a potent weapon, not only because of his defense, but because he was also judicious with his shots. A guy who isn't a big scorer is a much bigger problem if he takes a lot of bad shots than if he takes a few good ones. Your mileage may vary, but I already see good signs in that respect from Gaines.

 

[Turk]

I completely agree. As frustrating as it is to have a guy on the offensive end who the other team really doesn't have to guard, his defense was game-changing last night. That Iggy guy was killing us in the first half and Gaines almost entirely shut him down in the second. Extremely impressive. Just wish he could hit that spot up 3 like Sanjay could.

I think he has that Sanjay spot up. In pregame he was hitting those like World B Free. Both him and Turner. So, we know he could have a moderate outside game. Last night, the entire second half, Michigan doubled Pardon. Pardon kicked out to a wide open Gaines twice. And twice, Gaines passed it up like the ball was a hot potato. Gaines has to learn to take that shot. If he makes 3 out of 10 then so be it. I don't have the answer but for whatever reason he stands down on shooting wide open looks. If it's confidence then that can be fixed, but it could be that Collins tells him not to take it.

He does have to work on his free throws BIGTIME. It's not a good sign when the opposing coach picks him to shoot the free throw after Pardon went down.

 

[spartcat]

I love Gaines' D too, a great job. But remember that Mich. benched Simpson, their leading scorer at that point, for taking open 3s he couldn't hit. Gaines should work on his shot, take one once in a while, and drive and dish when they let him. For now that seems like our best choice for now.

 

[Katatonic]

Many on the board spent 3-3.5 years complaining about Sanjay's offense. I didn't mind that he wasn't a potent weapon, not only because of his defense, but because he was also judicious with his shots. A guy who isn't a big scorer is a much bigger problem if he takes a lot of bad shots than if he takes a few good ones. Your mileage may vary, but I already see good signs in that respect from Gaines.

Think CC would take Gaines being a Sanjay mini-me.

While Lumpkin didn't score a lot, he was pretty efficient when he did (this is where Gaines could improve).