Slow and Steady could be Deadly

See how I rhymed the title there? That's good writing. Anyway, I'm going to attempt to preview the Gopher/Iowa game taking place tomorrow night, but keep in mind Iowa is very boring so this might put me right to sleep - much like your reaction to this post, no doubt.

When I say boring, I'm not just talking about their stupid team in their stupid state where they have a casino that won't let you in if they can smell alcohol on your breath, even if it's the morning after drinking the beer they sell in their stupid casino, I'm talking about a boring, boring team. They rank 344th in the NCAA in tempo, which ranks dead last in Division I. The scary thing, and make no mistake, Iowa is scary especially in Iowa City or Des Moines or Dubuque or wherever the hell they are, is they are very efficient with those few possessions. The Hawkeyes rank fourth in the country in effective field goal percentage, which essentially weights three pointers made more than two pointers made. They also rank 6th in 3-point shooting percentage, and 25th in 2-point field goal percentage.

They are not only proficient in shooting the three, but they shoot a ton of them. Forty-eight percent of Iowa's shot attempts are from beyond the arc, which ranks fifth in the country. And it's not just one guy who hoists 'em, the Hawkeyes have four guys in the top 25 in the Big Ten in 3-point attempts, with traitor Anthony Tucker fifth, Devan Bawinkel (what?) 18th, Jake Kelly 24th, and Matt Gatens 25th with all but Kelly hitting over 40% and Gatens leading the conference at 54%. Basically, their offense is to pass-pass-pass until you fall asleep and they get an open three pointer. If Dan Monson was still the coach this would be a slaughter by Iowa, as I'm pretty sure he didn't even tell his guys they could go beyond the three point line to play defense. With Tubby here, this is less of a concern as the Gophers only allow opponents to hit 32% of their threes, ranking in the top quartile in the country. Even better, the Hawkeyes are one of the worst in the country at offensive rebounding, so that particular Gopher weakness shouldn't come in to play. SHOULDN'T.

As far as defense goes, the Hawkeyes sort of have a reputation of being a tough defensive team, at least in my head, but they are pretty much smack in the middle of average. Their defense just looks better because they play at such a slow pace, the opposing team doesn't have much of a chance to score a lot. They don't turn teams over at all, and don't defend the three very well.

Individually, the Hawks are guard orientated, with their top four scorers (Tucker, Gatens, Jeff Peterson, and Kelly) guards and only one of their top seven in minutes who is taller than 6-6 in Cyrus Tate. The rest of the big guys are a mishmash of young guys of dubious potential whose only role is to set screens and attempt to slow down the other team's post players.

This shouldn't be a problem. The biggest key is patience and discipline. Iowa will make you work all 35 seconds on defense and offense. On defense, stay disciplined and stay on the ball. They can't beat the Gophers speed off the dribble, and they won't be able to score in the paint. Don't get lazy or reckless and end up giving up the open three, and things should be fine. On offense get out and run. Iowa doesn't offensively rebound, and they don't have the athletes to keep up with the Gophers. So run. And if it's not there, don't force it. Run a solid offense. The shots will be there both in transition and the half-court, as long as they stay patient.

That being said, since this is still the Gophers - Tubby or not - I fully expect a disappointing effort. Be honest, so are you. Too many forced shots and too many lapses on defense will lead to a ten point Iowa lead at half, and the Gophers will tighten it up at the end, but too many Iowa threes and an inexplicable offensive rebounding explosion by the Hawkeyes will bring it to the wire. That's where I'm expecting traitor Andrew Brommer to hit two improbable free throws at the end of the game to win it for the Hawks, despite his unfathomable 5-22 (23%) season at the line so far. Hawkeyes take it, 55-54.


Also, can I just quickly ask what the hell ESPN is thinking with this NBA-NCAA announcer swap? Two NBA announcers will be calling tonight's Davidson/Duke game, while some guy and Dickie V call some stupid NBA game. What is the point? Just when I think ESPN can't get any more stupid or hokey, they pull this retarded crap. Great, instead of listening to people who know about the college game slobber all over Stephen Curry, I get to listen to people who don't know shit slobber all over him instead. I just don't get it, man. Can't you just give us freaking sports news and sports highlights and leave the cutesy crap to E! or MTV?

A Few Quick Basketball Notes

- Tennessee forward Duke Crews has been suspended indefinitely by coach Bruce Pearl for violating team rules. This is not good news for the Vols, as Crews was a likely starter and one of the few players on the team with some height. No report on what the team rule was, but as long as it's not murder, I have a feeling he'll be back by SEC season time at the latest.

- Alabama point guard Ronald Steele is out for the season due to knee problems. This severely sucks for the Tide, as Steele was a pretty big key to their season. I'm not exactly sure how official this is, but the Tide dropped from #21 to #32 in the Down with Goldy rankings.

- Former Gopher signee Andrew Brommer has signed on with the Iowa Hawkeyes. This is kind of surprising, as everything pointed to Brommer de-committing and reopening his recruitment due to Tubby not thinking he was Big Ten caliber, or at least that was the speculation. Interesting to see if the Gophers just have their sights set higher than the Hawkeyes, or if Iowa coach Todd Lickliter sees something that Tubby is missing. I'm better on the former.

- I've posted on him before, and didn't pay that much attention with Nathen Garth on board, but with Garth off to New Mexico, PG Verdell Jones should be a major target for the Gophers for 2008. Add him to the list along with Sampson and Joseph as a most wanted player to add to the class with Iverson and Carter. And it sounds like the Gophers are most definitely in the mix, as this article from Scout.com says "Jones' father said that Minnesota is very strong in the mix for his son's recruitment, due to their coaching staff.

"There is an offer on the table. Lou Rawls got it wrong in that song, 'When you say Bud, you've said it all.' When you say Tubby Smith, you said it all. He has a proven track record. Look at the player he has had at Tulsa, Georgia and Kentucky. He is a great teacher of the game," Verdell Sr. said.

His father is equally high on Gopher assistant coach Vince Taylor.

"Vince has a lot of experience as a coach and player," he said. "He was a coach with Rick Pitino. We are taking a serious look at the situation and we are talking about setting up a visit."

Thanks to JohnnyGopher at the Gopher Hole for posting the article.

Oh no! Not that!

The Star Tribune reports that one signing for 2008 is backing out of his verbal commitment and will reopen his recruiting.

The Good news is that it is Andrew Brommer of Rosemount, not Nathen Garth. Brommer is a 6-8 forward who averaged 16 points per game this past season.

Even though both Rivals.com and Scout.com have Brommer as a three-star, a lot of things I've read make it sound like he's not a Big Ten caliber recruit. The speculation currently is that Tubby doesn't think he really wants Brommer around and doesn't think he'll get much playing time, and likely told Brommer as much, prompting him to reopen his recruitment.

I've never seen him play, but based on the fact that the Great Dan Monson signed him, I'm inclined to not really mind seeing him go. Teams in the running for his services look to be Wisconsin, Northern Iowa, Illinois, and Virginia. Let's just hope he doesn't go to a Big Ten team and end up being dominant or anything stupid.

2008 Prospects

As mentioned earlier, it looks pretty likely the Gophers will have four scholarships available for the class of 2008. Looking at scout.com, it doesn't look like a pretty picture, but seeing as Tubby has just started recruiting for Minnesota instead of Awesome Dan Monson, hopefully some of the players who weren't interested in the Gophers will change their minds.

The top two instate players are already gone (Thanks Dan!), both Jordan Taylor of Benilde and Jared Berggren of Princeton have signed with Wisconsin. So that sucks. There really isn't much other talent of note in the state, and the Gophers already signed two star center Andrew Brommer of Rosemount, who probably sucks since he was signed by Monson.

There are two three-star players who are listed as having interest in Minnesota right now, SF Klay Thompson from California, and PF Draymond Green from Michigan. Thompson is not likely, as every other school on his list is on the west coast, and it seems unlikely he would sign with the Gophers.

Green is a very interesting possibility, as he had originally signed with Kentucky and pulled out when Tubby left. What is also interesting about this, is that Tubby still has to hire to assistant coaches to round out his staff. According to Jeff Shelman, one person he's considering is Saginaw High School's head coach Lou Dawkins, which just so happens to be the school Draymond Green is attending.

Even more interesting, is that this doesn't look like it would be a simple hire just to get Green to sign. Dawkins played under Smith when he was at Tulsa, and has been very successful at Saginaw, going 78-7 in his three years there and winning the state title this year. Hiring him would not only get a good, up and coming assistant, but would also increase the chances of Draymond Green signing with the Gophers. So hurry up and do it already.

UPDATE: So Draymond Green is from Michigan, and I found a blog written by Joe Rexrode for the Lansing State Journal. He says that he talked to Green about Michigan State, and Green said '"Ever since I was a child, MSU was my dream school. Even this year I wanted to go there, but then Tubby Smith came and presented his program to me. I didn't have an offer from Michigan State and I can't just constantly wait, so I committed to him."
And if MSU came after him now? "I don't know what I would do right now," he said.'

So basically he wants to go to Michigan State, he just hasn't been offered (he's been offered by Minnesota, Clemson, Boston College, and DePaul.) The Spartans have signed just two players for 2008, and I have no idea what their scholarship situation is, but I think it would be nice to just hurry up and get him signed already.