Game Recap: Minnesota 67, Indiana 63

Reading through the comments on the gopherhole and star tribune's website, it seemed the majority of fans thought the loss of Devoe Joseph, confirmed to be leaving the program, wasn't that big a deal, no big loss, and that the team might even be better off without him.  I hope tonight's game showed everyone how ludicrous that line of thinking is, because he was desperately needed tonight.

Sure, when the offense is running smoothly, and the set plays and motion are working, he can be a bit of a ballstop, and he's never going to win any defensive awards, this is all true.  But when the opposing defense packs into a tight zone, daring you to shoot because you only have one reliable shooter, you need a guy like Devoe.  When you want to run a deep bench, but your second line of guards is made up of three freshman, you need a guy like Devoe.  And most importantly, when the plays aren't working, and nobody can get open, you need somebody who can get their own shot, and now the Gophers have as many players capable of that as I have here on my couch.  Blake Hoffarber can shoot, but he doesn't have the athleticism to shake a defender one on one.  Rodney Williams is athletic as hell (how awesome was that dunk in the second half by the way) but doesn't have the ball skills to get free, and Al Nolen isn't a good enough shooter.  In short, this teams needs Devoe.

But whats done is done, and whats gone is gone.  I'll hold any further Devoe thoughts for if/when more information is known, however, because despite this ugly, ugly win there is one guy who deserves an amazing amount of credit for his performance tonight, and that is the often maligned Al Nolen.  Not to take anything away from Trevor Mbakwe, whose 11 pt, 16 rebound, 5 block night was the best statline, and who had several blocks that should end up on Sportscenter as well as playing great defense in holding Christian Watford to just four points, but this was Al's night.

His line is good:  14 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals with 2 turnovers (and those both game in first few minutes), but he was much more than that tonight.  He was leader this team needs, the leader a senior point guard can be, and his effort and play in the second made me fall in love with him, and I've been huge Nolen detractor in the past.

You can never fault his effort or his defense, and those were full on display again tonight, as he pestered Verdell Jones from end to end, harassing him into several turnovers and generally taking him off his game, but that's not what really set him apart this evening.  What he did was take his two biggest weaknesses - shooting, and driving into the lane without a plan - and turned them into strengths. 

He was just 1-2 from three, and he still (thankfully) doesn't look for that shot often because he knows it's not something he excels at, but the one he did hit was huge.  It gave the Gophers a 46-44 lead, and came right after Indiana had retaken the lead and stemmed some of the Gophers momentum.  His miss was a very good shot, just a little strong and off the back iron, but more than anything, his reaction showed he was confident and it was going in, and so was I.  As long as he has the confidence to shoot when open he can help keep defenses more honest, and he'll make enough of them where he isn't a liability.

The most impressive part of night, however, was his ability to score in the lane.  He's never been able to not get to the lane because he is so quick, but tonight, rather than looking like he wasn't sure what he was going to do with the ball when he got there, he attacked the basket.  He even had a move at one point that looked suspiciously like Dr. J's rock the baby move, and was far more successful than the Dream Shake Jeremiah Rivers tried at one point (which missed).  He'll never be a great shooter or a great scorer, but he completely controlled the game on the offensive end despite taking just 8 shots and, as per usual, controlled the game on the defensive end as well.

So was it an ugly win?  Yes.  Should we be happy with it overall?  Probably not, but a win is a win, they needed this one, and they got it.  More importantly, we may have seen a new Al Nolen, one whose sudden improvement rivals what happened to Eric Harris from his junior to his senior year.  It remains to be seen if this new style of play will keep up or was just a blip, but, if you couldn't tell, I'm thrilled.  Keep it up, Al.  Keep it up.