Minnesota Defeats Kansas City 71-56
Minnesota's first official game of the 2021-22 season saw them host Kansas City at Williams Arena, coming away with a 71-56 win in the first game of the Ben Johnson era. Minnesota led by single digits for most of the game before pulling away late, and these are some of my takeaways from the performance.
Though they gave up a quick four points to preseason all Summit League selection Josiah Allick, Minnesota secured a lead pretty early and held it for the length of the game to finish with a 71-56 win over Kansas City. The Gophers' had a strong first half defensively, though they struggled in the second half on both ends of the floor as Kansas City had it down to a one possession game pretty late in the second half. Relying on some energetic plays from EJ Stephens, Minnesota was able to go on a late run to secure the win. These are three of my key takeaways from last night's game.
Defending As A Unit
Let's face it, this Minnesota team does not have a lot of size in the paint, nor does it have a lot of depth. Because of this, teams are going to look to exploit them in the paint, especially when they have a go-to post player like Josiah Allick. We saw the Gophers give up a quick two buckets to Allick, but then adjust to defend him as a team rather than 1v1. Guys were always active off the ball, getting into good help-side position or getting in the driving lanes to stuff opponents from getting into the lane. Even when some guards and wings were getting switched on to Allick, they were playing with tenacity that made it difficult for him to even touch the ball, limiting his looks in the first half. Time and time again I saw multiple Gophers players contesting just about every shot around the rim, as they forced bad shots or contested looks on just about every possession in the first half. They struggled a bit in the second to contain Josiah Allick, but holding a Division 1 team to 56 points, especially with a brand new group of players is promising to see this early in the season. The Dave Thorson effect? Could be.
Minnesota's Off-Ball Movement Offensively
Coming in to the season we knew that Minnesota wasn't going to have a guy like Marcus Carr in the past who can create his own shot off the dribble just about any time he wanted. Because of this, Minnesota looks to be relying on playing high IQ basketball and moving without the ball to create high percentage looks. We saw it a handful of times last night where Minnesota caught Kansas City without a player in help-side position around the paint, and a wing took off to beat their man with a backdoor cut leading to a wide open finish. I know Jamison Battle did this on at least two occasions, with one leading to an explosive two hand slam that gave the team a boost of momentum and got the crowd into the game. With a smart and unselfish trio of guards in Payton Willis, EJ Stephens, and Luke Loewe who combined for 12 assists last night, you can bet that if a player gets open with a hard cut one of those three will be able to hit him in stride towards the basket.
Seven Man Rotation?
Yes, Will Ramberg did see four minutes in the second half to make it eight players who played for Minnesota last night, but for the most part it looks like the Gophers will be going with a small rotation of just seven players. That includes the five starters, and Sean Sutherlin and Charlie Daniels off the bench. Once again there wasn't much in terms of scoring coming from the bench as they combined for just 1-6 on field goals, although Sean Sutherlin was 6-6 at the free throw line. What I do like about those two is how well they rebound the ball. The two combined for 9 rebounds, despite playing just a combined 34 minutes (about the same as most of the starters). They crash the glass hard, and you can tell there is an emphasis to find a body to box out after every shot. Minnesota gave up just four offensive rebounds last night compared to the 15 they allowed against Concordia St. Paul, and I think those two have a lot to do with that improvement. They know they won't be relied upon to be big scorers, so they're going to earn their minutes playing hard defense and swallowing up rebounds.
Key Players For Minnesota
Jamison Battle- 18 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals
Payton Willis- 13 points, 6 assists, 2 steals
EJ Stephens- 13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
Key Players For Kansas City
Josiah Allick- 21 points, 5 rebounds
Marvin Nesbitt Jr.- 11 points, 7 rebounds
What's Next?
Minnesota travels to North Carolina for the Asheville Championship where they'll start off playing Western Kentucky on Friday night. This Western Kentucky team has a ton of size, as they feature 7'5 junior Jamarion Sharp, 6'10 295 lbs sophomore Darrius Miles, and 6'9 senior Jaylen Butz. 6'8 forward Jairus Hamilton led WKU with 21 points in their season opener last night, while point guard Dayvion McKnight finished with 19 points and 6 assists. This figures to be Minnesota's toughest test yet.
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