Michigan State Aftermath

I've taken some time, calmed down, self-medicated, and I'm ready to discuss the Gopher basketball team again.  Not specifically the Michigan State game because if we start talking about that I will probably murder all the furniture in my house, but in a more general, "this whole year sucked" compared to "last night sucked" sense.  I have so many conflicting emotions about it all - sadness, anger, confusion, anger again, sleepiness, horniness, then depression - that I can't really sort it all out, so let's do it in self-interview fashion.  If it helps your visualization techniques you can picture the questioner as Benicio del Toro and the answerer as me without any pants.


Q.  There are some pretty legitimate reasons why the Gophers suck now, right?

A.  Yes, and that's why it's hard to get too enraged (but make no mistake, I'm still enraged) because it's pretty easy to assign the most blame for this disaster on God/Buddha/Allah/Kali/Tiamat/Merlin, as misguided as that might be.  Of course, it all starts with Al Nolen's injury - or perhaps it starts with Devoe Joseph's defection - but in any case the net results is zero point guards, zero depth, and complete disaster.  Blake playing the point when he's not remotely suited for the role, with the sweet double whammy of putting the teams only perimeter threat in a position where, given his abilities, it's more difficult to get shots and score.  Ralph Sampson playing the three, where no matter how badly he wants to be a perimeter guy, he just doesn't have the skill set.  Is he a good perimeter player for a big man?  Absolutely.  Is a three?  Hell mother flipping no.  And you have three freshmen that should be playing 20-25 between them playing about 20 minutes each.

I mean, you can trace most of their close losses to an inability to play well at the close of games, and so much of that starts with a competent lead guard.  Michigan State had Kalin Lucas last night.  Penn State beat the Gophers because Talor Battle made plays.  Hell, Wisconsin just barely beat Michigan, but they did because they had Jordan Taylor out there making plays (and a little luck) just as he did against Purdue.  The Gophers don't have that.  Instead they have players who travel unguarded on a final possession, players who panic at the first sign of a trap, and an inability to execute half-court plays at the end of the game because the only player good enough to get the ball to a shooter is the shooter himself, and passing to yourself is traveling.  Unfortunately.

This game should have been a battle between two snake-bitten and underachieving teams.  Hell, Tubby Smith and Tom Izzo could have traded war stories like Captain Quint and Hooper on the Orca.  Instead of stories about a big Chinese fella in an arm-wrestling contest and a thresher shark's tail, they could have discussed player defections, suspensions, and injured players.  But instead it was more like Tubby was Chief Brody, just sitting there with stupid smile on his face.  Or that dumb Alex kid who paddles out too far on his gay little raft.

In any case, yes, there are plenty of easy excuses as to why this team has underachieved, should you choose to latch on to them.


Q.  Doesn't it seem like some of these guys should be better though?

A.  And really, here is my biggest issue.  I could excuse a bad season if it wasn't playing out in this particular way.  I mean, was every recruiting service wrong about some of these guys or is the seeming lack of development on far too many players indicative a real problem with the way they're taught?  Some of these guys were major, big-time recruits, but I'm not seeing the development.  I mean, Chief Brody was afraid of water and stayed in the car on the ferry ride over to Amity Island from the mainland in the beginning, but ended up the badass who killed the crap out of the shark - where's that kind of development here?  Was Sampson destined to fall in love with his perimeter game and shrink in big spots whether he was a Gopher or a Terrapin?  Would Colton Iverson be nothing more than a stronger, heavier version of the same gangly, elbow-y, pasty tornado if Billy Donovan was in charge of him instead of Tubby?  What about Rodney Williams lack of development?  He's exactly like last year - flashes of potential sandwiched in between long stretches of invisibility.  Would he be stuck in this holding pattern of mediocrity if he had ended up at Kansas or UCONN?  Obviously I don't have a flux capacitor nor any plutonium so I can't generate 1.21 gigawatts to travel to an alternate universe so I don't know the answer to these questions, but it bugs the shit out of me that we aren't talking one guy, or even two, but we're talking three.  Throw Devoe in if you want.  Like, literally you can throw him into the shark-invested waters off Cable Junction near Amity Island if you want.

Then there's the inability to draw up anything resembling an effective play out of a timeout, something I did mention was harder without a true point guard, but it was an issue back when Nolen was still around and has just gotten worse.  Or the way the freshmen seem to constantly freeze in nearly every high leverage game situation - either freeze or go balls out, either way it's a bad choice.  Or the random substitution patterns and inability to stick to anything resembling a consistent rotation - granted that's suddenly become less of an issue this year.  The mass defections of quality players - even excepting Paul Carter that's still far too many transfers in two years.  How about, due to those transfers, there isn't a viable starting point guard on the roster outside of Nolen, and there isn't one on the roster next year.  Maverick Ahanmisi's upside is a good back-up, and, for all the talk that Andre Hollins is going to be the PG next year, he's 1.  a freshman and 2.  playing SG in high school.  It's got disaster written all over it (not him, but the sitch).

Perhaps my biggest complaint is that I thought we'd be farther, here.  This is year 4, and although the team is in better shape than when he first arrived, you don't really hire Tubby Smith to get your program back to mediocrity - that's why you hire Todd Lickliter.  I guess the best way I can put this is that I was expecting this:  "Y'all know me. Know how I earn a livin'. I'll catch this bird for you, but it ain't gonna be easy. Bad fish. Not like going down the pond chasin' bluegills and tommycods. This shark, swallow you whole. Little shakin', little tenderizin', an' down you go. And we gotta do it quick, that'll bring back your tourists, put all your businesses on a payin' basis. But it's not gonna be pleasant. I value my neck a lot more than three thousand bucks, chief. I'll find him for three, but I'll catch him, and kill him, for ten. But you've gotta make up your minds. If you want to stay alive, then ante up. If you want to play it cheap, be on welfare the whole winter. I don't want no volunteers, I don't want no mates, there's just too many captains on this island. Ten thousand dollars for me by myself. For that you get the head, the tail, the whole damn thing" but instead I think we got the idiots who try to catch the shark using a pot roast with a tire for a bobber.

Q.  How do you foresee the rest of the year/offseason playing out?

A.  It really wouldn't shock me to see them lose the next four games and just call it a season, but I expect them to win two of the next three, win the B10 tournament opener, lose their second, and make a very prestigious appearance in the NIT.  From there who cares.  Then things get interesting.  Who leaves, like Roy Scheider after the sequel, and who sticks around like Lorraine Gary until the disaster that was Jaws 4?

Does Tubby leave?  A frustrating year, an inability to advance the program, and lack of progress towards his precious practice facility could make leaving while his name still has plenty of cachet an attractive option for someone closing in on his last run.  People always question if he'd really want to start over at a new program at his age, but I ask what's worse, that or squandering your last opportunity?  It would surprise me if jumping ship to somewhere that's more of a basketball hotbed and has state-of-the-art facilities and a rabid fanbase (read:  NC State) suddenly looks better to him that what's going here in basketballs Siberia.  Don't forget, he was in play at some level before they hired Sid Lowe, who's about to get canned.

And how about Rodney and Trevor Mbakwe?  There are convincing arguments for either of them to jump ship and go pro.  Rodney could enter the NBA draft and based solely on potential have a shot at being a late first round pick.  He shouldn't, and anybody who takes him should have their head examined, but it's a possibility.  Not to mention the chance that he just decides things aren't working out here.  He's not developing into the NBA player his high-school career suggested he would and I'm guessing he's not blind or myopic enough that he can't see that.  It wouldn't shock me if he decides that he's not ready for the NBA but that Minnesota isn't he place to make that happen.  As far as Mbakwe he's not an NBA player, although he could potentially develop into one with some improvements to his game, but he could make a living playing overseas.  There's got to be a temptation factor there for an "old" senior who has had multiple legal issues and has been in school for too many years.  If he's offered six figures to play pro ball in Australia or Israel, who'd begrudge him for leaving?

The only other transfer risk I really see is Mo Walker.  With his best bud (get it, bud?) and possibly a guy who had a heavy hand in getting him here (although that seems less likely now) gone is he interested in sticking around, especially considering he has essentially a zero percent chance of starting next year?  I think he'll probably stick around, but you never know.

Actually, I think most of them stick around.  I'd say Walker is about 10% to leave, Williams 20%, Mbakwe 25%, and Tubby 50/50%.  I hope they all stay.  I really do, because I'm not ready to give up on Tubby going from the baby shark that ate the license plate to the shark that ate all them people, but I really didn't expect this team to still be sitting where it is.  I really thought they'd be much farther by now.

Q.  So what do you make of the Gophers' chances at this point to earn an NCAA Tournament bid?

A.  Farewell and adieu, to you my Spanish ladies.  Farewell and adieu, you ladies of Spain.  For we've received orders to sail back to Boston, and so nevermore shall we be seeing you again.

Live Blog: Minnesota Gophers vs. Penn State Nittany Lions

You know what's great?  Technology.  You know why?  Because a working dad like me can come home from work, eat dinner with his family (homemade pizza), play with the kids, put the kids to bed, watch the best show on TV (Parks & Rec), spend quality time with his wife (wink wink) and still watch a game that started at 6pm thanks to the miracle of DVR.  And I already have a buzz on.  Sweet.

Keep in mind throughout this game that I made a semi-large wager on Talor Battle over 26.5 points+rebounds+assists, so I'll be rooting for him to do well at the same time I'm dying for a Gopher win.  Here's what I know:  Bogart told me to look for Mbakwe at 6:11 left in the first half, and Dawger called me at 8:24, which would be not long after the game ends.  I've been trying to figure out why he'd call me, but I'm guessing at this point we're going down to the wire.  Let's see.

19:24 - Iverson fouled on the games first possession, makes one.  Sounds about right.  It's a bit disconcerting that with the big lineup in the ball didn't get anywhere near the point until there were 4 seconds left on the shot clock, but whatever.

18:36 - Gophers in a zone and are really shading Battle.  Whichever area Battle is the defender is almost playing man on Battle, even without the ball.  Interesting strategy which leads to Battle getting nothing but backboard on a pro range three.  What a stupid bet.

17:27 - Jesus christ, Ralph.  Although I don't know if that's really his fault, not really sure why Mbakwe thought it would be a good idea to outlet to Sampson.  But sheesh, that was like watching a baby deer try to stand up for the first time.

16:35 - Rodney Williams with the travel trying to drive, moving his feet before he gets the ball on the ground.  How many times has that happened this year?  Twice per game or so, no?

16:10 - Battle for three.  5-3 PSU.  Sampson with a deep two-pointer to tie it up.  That guy sure loves his jumpshot.

14:26 - Battle with another three to make it 11-7 Penn State.  Hair trigger style too, he looks incredibly dialed in.  Obviously that's a negative.  They have him running baseline against the Gopher 2-3, and they're going to need the wings to pay more attention, because he completely ran Iverson into a pick on that one.

13:38 - David Jackson misses another three.  This guy should play for Michigan.  Complete and total chucker, never saw a shot he didn't want to take, and at 6-7 basically refuses to go anywhere near the paint.  I should also mention he's a starter on my fantasy team.  Yes, my team sucks.

12:27 - Why do they keep calling Jackson "DJ Jackson?"  Is that what he actually goes by?  Because all the literature on Penn State calls him David.  Not that I'd ever question Stephen Bardo, the worst starter on that awesome '89 Illinois team:  Bardo, Kendall Gill, Nick Anderson, Kenny Battle, Lowell Hamilton.  That was a hell of  a squad.

12:04 - Armelin loves shooting.  And that's good, because at least somebody is always looking to score.  He doesn't really even seem to force it very often, it's just whenever it's open he's going to take it.  He could end up being a pretty big-time scorer some day.

9:12 -  Another three by Battle, 14-11 Penn State.  Assisted by Tim Frazier.  Those two give me nightmares.  Battle can't graduate fast enough for me.  Or run out of eligibility.  Whichever.

8:16 -  A three by some guy and penn state has five threes making up 15 of their 17 points.  And it could easily be more but "D.J." Jackson can't shoot for shit.  God damn the Gophers are awful at defending the three-pointer.

7:55 - Hey I have a book recommendation for the five of you who read this blog who actually read books:  Scorecasting by Tobias Moskowitz and L. Jon Wertheim.  It's basically like Freakonomics, but with sports topics.  So where Freakonomics (also a great book) dug into the economics of drug-dealing and the socioeconomic patterns of naming your children, Scorecasting looks at things like "Does defense really win championships?" (yes, but so does offense), "Does calling a timeout to ice a player work?" (no), and "Why does home court advantage exist?" (it's the referees, for real.)  Just really great stuff, clearly researched by nerds but presented in a way that normal people will enjoy reading.  Read it, if for no other reason that the next time you want to throw something at your tv when your team is on the road and you're convinced they're getting screwed, you'll at least have some facts that support you.

7:42 - Hoff for three, 19-16 Penn State.  Let's do more of that, please.  and Battle answers with a shot that doesn't even make any sense that he made it.  I hate to say I told you so, but he's looking like he's beyond dialed.

6:42 - It's almost 6:11.  I'm giddy with anticipation.

6:11 -  Yep, that'll do it.  Bardo calls Mbakwe a "grown man" which is still the stupidest compliment in history.  Well, other than "dapper."

4:40 - Whoa.  Battle missed.  That's whack.  PSU grabs the o-board of course.  Luckily some guy who isn't Battle clangs the open three-pointer.  Hoff with his third three and it's 26-24 Penn State.  I don't understand how that guy gets open threes against anybody.  If I was a coach every time my team let Hoff have an open three-ball they'd be running laps.  And I don't mean at practice, I mean I'd take whoever's fault it was out right then and there and make him run around the court in front of the fans and cameras and everything.  I'm tough like that.

3:50 - Ralph scores with a jump hook.  I bet you can't guess who Bardo compared him too.  Go ahead, you'll never get it right.  Oh.  Yeah.  It was his dad.  For the 53rd time this season. 

1:41 - Another high-low from Iverson to Mbakwe and teh Gophers are up 28-26.  They are killing them inside, but it should be even worse considering Penn State's only good inside players have both been on the bench for much of this half with foul issues.  Just sad.  I don't feel good at all right now.

0:28 - You know what the best movie I've seen in a long time is?  Threat Level Midnight.

0:00 - 29-28 Penn State at half.  Terrible half if you aren't Trevor Mbakwe (10 pts, 10 rebs at half).  And that's with Jeff Brooks missing basically the entire first half.  My tummy hurts.  I need a beer.

19:24 - Frazier hits a desperation three-pointer with the shot clock at 1.  Great.  Good omen. 

16:54 - Good god does Penn State love to launch the three-pointer.  Is the Big Ten just a three-pointer dominated league?  Northwestern, Michigan, and Wisconsin are all in love with it, and apparently Penn State is too.  Hold on, let me get my tape recorder out:  "Do some nerd research on if the Big Ten is a more three-point heavy league than the other ones."  There. 

16:04 - I desperately want to see Iverson shoot a three-pointer.  What would that even look like?  Probably similar to watching Ralph try to play PG on a fast break.  Also the Gophers are still losing, 34-32.  They really need to do something about that.

14:29 - Sampson hits a three, white announcer guy gushes, Bardo references his dad (#54 this year).  Seriously, can we calm down with the moistness after Ralph hits a perimeter shot, please?  Yes, it's great that a 7-footer can hit a three, but what would be even greater is if that 7-footer could spend more than 10% of his time in the paint instead of flitting about on the perimeter.  You're a big man, get your ass in the paint and post up.  If the perimeter jumper comes to you, great, but you should not be looking for it.  It's like a counselor once told me, you're not an alcoholic if you're hunting the booze, you're an alcoholic if the booze is hunting you.  Which means I need another beer.

13:32 - Here's my impression of Tim Frazier:  I'm going to drive the lane because nobody on this slow ass team can stop me but I have no intention of even looking to score but it doesn't matter because the Gophers haven't figured this out so they collapse to stop me and guess what I know exactly where my buddy Talor is and I just found him for another open three-pointer which he of course nailed.  Boom roasted.

13:06 - And it's all falling apart.  Fart.

11:53 - Talor Battle must have the patience of a saint.  If I were him and these were my teammates I'd be in prison.

10:38 - Sometimes doing a live blog isn't fun at all.  Penn State 47, Minnesota 37.  I might not type anymore.

8:25 - Five straight for the Gophers, getting it inside to Mbakwe and finding Hoff for a 3-pointer.  Why is it those are literally the only two scoring options for this broke ass team?

7:43 - huh.

6:44 - Rodney Williams for three?

5:59 - Well lookie there, we're tied at 50 on what has to be Iverson's fifth assist at least.  And then he follows it up with an idiotic out-of-position foul where he should have just given up the layup but instead tries to do something and ends up giving Penn State a free point.  Apparently there's no magic IQ juice in retinol.

5:04 - Rodney with a great take and pull up and barely hits the far side of the rim.  Love the aggressiveness, love using the athleticism to create an open jumper, hate the inability to shoot.  And there's a lay-up and the foul for Rod.  Free throw to tie.

5:04 - No.  Of course.  Christ.

4:45 - Rodney now looking extra aggressive, took the rock to the hole.  Unfortunately his handles aren't exactly The Professor level and he basically handed the ball to Frazier.  Fortunately, the refs inexplicably called him for the foul, and fortunately Rodney somehow made both free throws.  55-54 Penn State. 

4:10 - Battle airball from about 35-feet as the shot clock expires.  This I like. 

3:49 - Rodney with a great fucking pass from the top of the key to find Iverson for a lay-up.  Is this a coming out party?  I feel like it might be a little bit.

2:09 -  Hoff to Iverson for a dunk and 3-point Gopher lead.  That was quite pretty, especially when you consider it was a couple of white dorks.

1:08 -  Hoff takes a retardedly stupid shot, which he misses, which leads to a break for Penn State, which leads to an open 3 for Battle, which he of course makes, and it's now 62-60 Nittany Lions.  Mother fuck.

0:52 - Do something, idiots.

0:38 - Hollins travels with 2 seconds on the shot clock.  Here is what happened after a Tubby Smith timeout:  pass in to Hoff, pick with no roll with Mbakwe at the top of the key, over to Rodney on the wing, dribble, dribble, throw to Hollins 35 feet from the hoop with 4 seconds on the shot clock.  That's your play?  Did you even draw anything up or did you just spend the whole time telling the team to play defense?  Honest to Odin, Tubby is a bad game coach.  Not terrible or horrible, but bad.  Bad bad bad.  What the fuck was that exactly?  Every single time they need to run a play at the end of the game they got nothin?  When they get in the huddle do you think Tubby just shrugs his shoulders?  Embarrassing, predictable, and ridiculous.  Also, for the record that's pretty much was Mrs. W says to me each night in bed.

0:22 - 16 seconds.  It took 16 seconds to make sure to foul Battle.  Fuckin' bunch of geniuses here.

0:22 - Lane violation?  Please let this matter.  It would be too sweet for it not to.

0:17 - Oh good, a timeout.  I'm sure we'll be seeing an absolute superb play here.

0:14 - Hoff throws it directly out of bounds.  I'm going to murder someone.

0:06-  Hoff for three after two PSU free throws.  Penn State still up by 2.  I have no idea why I'm still typing words.  FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFfff.

0:06 - Battle misses the first.  There's still a chance.  Makes the second.  Timeout Penn State.  Can't wait to see what kind of brilliant play Tubby draws up.  I'm willing to bet it ends up with Maverick getting the ball at the near free-throw line having to Tyus Edney it, but he will get to about mid-court and then throw it out of bounds.

Great play.  Just great.  Awesome.  Coaching genius.  I hate this team.

Game Preview: Minnesota Gophers vs. Indiana Hoosiers

Once again, rather than rehashing everything I wrote in the previous game vs. Indiana's preview (which you can peruse at your leisure right here), I'm going to just focus on some things that have changed since the last time these two teams met, a hard fought 67-63 Gopher win here in Minneapolis.

1)  So, like, is Indiana good now?  Let's not get crazy.  Despite the win over Illinois (vastly overrated) and pushing Michigan State to overtime (vastlier overrated), this still isn't a very good team, but there's no doubt they're are pesky, plucky, gritty, and very David Eckstein-y.  On top of that, they have actually developed one of the better offenses (efficiency wise) in the country, ranking at #41 in the country in that metric, although that's still 8th in the Big Ten.  The nearly all white guy Hoosiers are an excellent shooting team, knocking down 38.4% of their threes (37th) and 52.6% of their twos (29th) and any team that has the ability to shoot like that can be dangerous on any given night.

2)  What's up with this Jordan Hulls cat?  He's slowly developing into a hell of a point guard.  With Maurice Creek slowed and now out with that knee injury and Verdell Jones banged up as well, somebody had to step up and help out Christian Watford, and Hulls answered the call.  After scoring in double figures in just 5 of the team's first 12 games, he's now hit that mark in 10 of the last 11, and scored 17 and 18 in those two big games against the Illini and Spartans.  He can get loose from three (49% this year), but one of his biggest strength is putting the ball on the floor and getting into the lane.  I'm not so worried about Watford, because he does the majority of his damage inside and the Gopher bigs held him down in Minneapolis, but I'm very concerned about who checks Hulls with Nolen out.  That will probably decide this matchup. 

3)  Can the Hoosiers follow Purdue's blueprint to slowing the Gopher offense?  Purdue held the Gophers to their second-lowest point total of the season (and Wisconsin shouldn't count) and one of the main ways they did it was staying up in Hoffarber's face and making it very difficult to get the offense started anywhere near where it should, leaving Blake to pass off to the wing further out than they'd like.  I'd love to say this was an anomaly due to a great defender, but Purdue used Ryne freaking Smith.  With Hoff's (god love 'em) inability to drive past his defender, Indiana won't need a lightning quick defender to replicate this success.  All they'll need is a pesky, annoying white dude, and that is something their is no shortage of in Bloomington.

4)  So are we screwed without Al Nolen then?  If you remember back to the last time these teams played, the Gophers fell behind and were only able to come back and grab the win due to some incredible play from Nolen, causing me to write this love missive (which is probably more romantic than anything I've ever said to Mrs. W, sadly).  The way he brought the team back was simple enough:  getting passed his man and into the lane, then either scoring or finding an open teammate; simple enough for him, I should say.  Since the Gophers currently lack any player with the capacity to do that, other than maybe Chip Armelin whose ball-handling is too suspect, I'd say this doesn't bode well for them. 

5)  Is this a must win, and can they do it?  I wouldn't say it is a must win, because I think I'd actually be more impressed with a win than disheartened by a loss, but it is the kind of game that can help put a more accurate label on this team.  Road wins are always hard to come by in the Big Ten, and kenpom.com predicts that although the Gophers win it will be by a mere point, so you can expect a hard fought game.  I still believe that the three-big lineup is a huge weapon, and one that could potentially destroy Indiana (along with many other teams), but the Purdue game reminded me that it doesn't matter how good your big guys are, somebody has to get them the ball.

Indiana 66, Gophers 60

6)  Wait, after you wrote all this you just saw the news that Christian Watford is out for an indefinite period with a wrist injury.  Doesn't this change everything you wrote?  Yes.  Yes it does.  Now they're whiter, pluckier, and nearly devoid of any talent.

Gophers 70, Indiana 58

And finally, my Big Ten Power Poll for the week:

1)  Ohio State Buckeyes.  Not only the best team in the conference, but the best team in the country.

2)  Wisconsin Badgers.  No big surprise they were able to beat Purdue at home, but it was impressive the way they were able to come back with a minute left after squandering a 6-point lead late.  Who could have guessed Ryan Evans would be the guy who hit the biggest shot of the game? 

3)  Purdue Boilermakers.  They look good and definitely pass the eye test, but I can't really get on board until they manage a really good win.  Their two best victories are home wins over Michigan State and Minnesota - not the most impressive resume. 

4)  Minnesota Gophers.  Whether they are merely an NCAA Tournament team or an NCAA Tournament team that can do some damage depends on the success of the 3-big lineup, Blake's ability to handle the point, and the development of some freshman (and if Rodney Williams can step up an offer some consistent scoring).  That's probably too many ifs for this team to make a significant March run.

5)  Illinois Fighting Illini.  Most overrated team in America. 

6)  Penn State Nittany Lions.  Jeff Brooks went down with a shoulder injury last night and Penn State needed either Andrew Jones or David Jackson to step up to give them an inside presence if they were going to compete with Illinois - neither could do it.  If Brooks is out for any kind of extended period of time, even more than 1 game, kiss that long shot NCAA bid good-bye.

7)  Michigan State Spartans.  Most underachieving team in the country, or just that overrated?  Watching them try to play defense, I'm starting to lean towards the latter.  Something has to change, and in a hurry, or you're looking at an NIT team.  If anybody can figure this out, it's Izzo.

8)  Northwestern Wildcats.  The only thing keeping them this high is that they've beaten the three teams below them.  What a disappointing season for them.

9)  Michigan Wolverines.  Two game win streak is a nice start towards turning the ship around.  With a lot of youth on board - there isn't a single senior on the roster - they could be setting themselves up to be a nice sleeper team next year.

10)  Indiana Hoosiers.  The big win over Illinois finally gives Crean something to build on, but did the choke away of a second one (at Mich State) deflate the momentum?  If that didn't do it, the injury to Watford probably did - that's a killer.

11)  Iowa Hawkeyes.  The signs of life out of Indiana and Michigan doom Iowa to the basement

Game Recap: Gophers 81, Northwestern 70 (plus Purdue mini-preview)

Who knew that putting a 6-11 guy, a 6-10, and a 6-9 behemoth, none of whom possess ball-handling skills that would rank higher than "6th grade" would result in Globetrotter ball breaking out?  Ralph Sampson, Colt Iverson, and Trevor Mbakwe started last night's game together and were in almost the entire time, spending much of it displaying interior passing that surpassed the realm of shocking and went straight into mind-boggling.  Did you know Colt Iverson could pull off a deft touch-pass leading to a Mbakwe dunk?  No you didn't, liar.

Combine the size of those giants (along with a 6-7 Rodney Williams playing shooting guard) with a Northwestern front-line that ranged from "slight and frail as a 12-year old girl with a skinned knee" to "mobile as an oak tree" and it's easy to see why the Gophers dominated the game.  They were layuping and dunking all over people's heads, leading to 53% shooting on a night they went 2-11 from three (the bigs were 15-24), while on the other end the Wildcats (more like Mildcats, am I right?) treated the area inside the three point line as if it were poison, chucking up 39 three-point attempts (61% of their shots) from behind the arc.  Despite getting cracked in the chin, John Shurna was the only player who seemed to try to penetrate at all, and on a night when the shots weren't falling (just 12 threes went in), it wasn't too difficult to shut them down.

Their switch to that dreaded 1-3-1 seemed to confuse the Gophers for a time, something it's done to no other team this year, letting Northwestern creep back and actually grab the lead at the half, but credit Tubby for fixing that issue in half #2.  Getting the ball to Sampson at the top of the key, where he essentially posted up, allowed him to turn and see who had the advantage on their man out of Mbakwe and Iverson, and get them the ball.  Credit Ralph, because as soft as he is on the interior at times, he is a good enough passer that they can get away with playing him at the 3 in these situations.

Blake passed his first test as the team's new point guard, and really surprised me by still being able to score and get shots.  The freshman back-ups were used sparingly, but were effective enough at not screwing up to help get Blake the ball, and Rodney Williams played one of his better games as a Gopher, I thought.  He wasn't flashy, outside of that monster dunk that was #2 on Sportscenter's plays of the night, but he was very effective.  Although he had just four points, he chipped in 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks with just 2 turnovers (44 fantasy points) despite handling the ball more than usual.  I was impressed.

So the Gophers passed their first test post-Nolen, but a far bigger challenge awaits this weekend, traveling to West Lafayette to take on #12 Purdue.  I previewed the Boilers just a couple weeks ago, so you can read that here, but specific to this matchup I have a few quick questions:

1)  Who the hell is going to guard Lewis Jackson?  Seriously, I need to know.  Blake can't.  Rodney probably could, but then who guards E'Twaun Moore?  Maverick can't.  Hollins?  Armelin?  Go zone?  All I know is that even Al Nolen had a hell of a time keeping Jackson out of the lane (remember, Al's biggest successes when Jackson drove were either blocking his shot or stripping him of the ball, not keeping him out of the lane), so I don't have a clue how they're going to stop him from penetrating.  It'll be like a date with your sister.

2)  Will that 3-big lineup work again?  On offense, yes.  Purdue isn't inept on the interior, but outside of JaJuan Johnson (and that's a big "outside of" by the way), their two other size guys (Patrick Bade and Travis Carroll) don't exactly make big contributions (combined average of under 18 minutes per game).  Defensively, however, I'm not sure how it's going to work.  Hoffarber and Iverson will be liabilities, but Purdue isn't exactly the most athletic team in the conference (Carroll, Ryne Smith, DJ Byrd), but if they can play that 2-3 zone as effectively as they played it against the Wildcats they'll have a chance.  And besides, what's Tubby's other option anyway?  They have no choice but to go with Hoff, Rodney, Colt, Ralph, and Mbakwe for the majority of the game.

3)  Is Purdue overrated?  They rank #12 in both polls and #10 in Ken Pomeroy's statistical rankings, and I'm going to say slightly, and also very much at the same time.  Slightly, because I think they are a top 15 type team nationally based on watching them play.  Very much, because if you look at their results they've done basically nothing so far this year.  Outside of a win over Michigan State, they don't have a single win over a top 50 RPI team, losing in their other three opportunities, and they just got shellacked by Ohio State (although, realistically, there's no shame in that - the Buckeyes would have beaten any team in the country last night, including the NBA).  So although they look like a good team, they haven't really proven to be just yet.

4)  Can the Gophers win in Mackey Arena?  Can they?  Yes.  Will they?  I'd say probably not, but I got a funny feeling and it's not just in my pants.  The three bigs lineup has me feeling confident.  Maybe it's just the "shiny new toy" aspect, or maybe I'm a deranged homer, but I just don't see how Purdue can stop it short of Hoffarber shatting himself, and I don't see that happening.  So it all really comes down to if you think the Gophers can stop Purdue.  And guess what?  I think they can.

Minnesota 67, Purdue 64.

Live Game Blog: Minnesota Gophers vs. Purdue Boilermakers

Alright, I'm not a true fan.  It's now 8:00pm, and I'm about to watch the Gopher/Purdue game.  I couldn't watch it live because I'm stupid enough to have two kids, and said kids take up too much of my attention for me to be able to pay any kind of attention to the game, so I Tivo and I wait.  Such is life.  So now I'm here with my remote, a box of Turning Leaf chadonnay, and a bowl full of beef-flavored ramen.  Since I'm clearly living the high life, I thought I'd invite you along with me.  I'm really hoping the Gophers can pull this one out.

19:28 - Colton Iverson (starting for Trevor Mbakwe) with a really nice move, taking the ball from the free-throw line to the block with two dribbles, backing in on whoever Purdue's dorky white center is, faking to the left and tossing up a nice jump hook to the right.  Swish.  Honestly that whole thing was a thing of beauty.  It's amazing how he can do that and then look like the fat kid who quit hockey to play basketball on the 8th grade B team the next trip.  I coached 8th grade B team once.  I know of what I speak, and it ain't pretty.

19:04 - Rodney draws E'Twaun Moore.  I love this.  Challenge Rodney and hope he steps up. 

18:18 - Ok, JaJuan Johnson has now hit a three-pointer and an 18-footer to give Purdue a 5-4 lead.  Hopefully Ralph will soon realize that you have to guard him on the perimeter as if he was a guard, not a typical plodding center.  And he just hit a turnaround 12-footer over Iverson.  This is ridiculous.  We on this blog have been calling him "The college KG" since his sophomore year (because we have such an eye for talent), but that might not be high enough praise. 

16:58 - And he hits a turnaround over Ralph.  This is just ridiculous.  I think "The college Jesus" might not be high enough praise.

16:16 - Trevor Mbakwe in to a nice ovation.  I approve of that.

15:53 - Rodney and Nolen can't decide if there's supposed to be a switch on a pick, leading to a wide open three-pointer for Purdue and a 12-6 lead.  I don't know if the Gopher players are dumb or if Tubby just can't coach, but this shit happens way too often. 

15:50 - By the way, how about everybody out there pays attention to flights from MSP to Chicago (either airport) leaving either the 17th or 18th of March and returning the 20th and then email me if you find something cheap.  Sound good?  Thanks guys, you're the best.

14:59 - Mbakwe draws the foul inside and that might have been against Johnson.  I'd know for certain if this announcing team was remotely competent, but instead they're busy telling us that the only way to stop E'Twaun Moore is to hope he gets food poisoning.  Really, jackass?  I know you're trying to be cute but it turns out you're just a retard.

14:30 - Austin Hollins with a nice take for a lay-up and the foul, cutting the lead to 14-12 (13 if he makes the free-throw).  Where the hell has he been?  And he misses the free-throw.  Hollins has been awfully non-descript for several weeks.  I know that's probably typical, but I liked it better when he was a tish more dynamic.

12:53 -  Looking like a white-boy shooting battle might be breaking out between Blake and Ryne Smith.  My money's on Blake.

12:03 - Noeln for three!  And we're tied at 17.  Do you remember in my preview of this game how I said D.J. Byrd was the new Brian Cardinal.  Well, he's in the game and he's rockin' black socks, a shooting sleeve, and some sort of tank top under his jersey.  He just looks annoying.

11:44 - I love how they have Magic Johnson talking about "content of character."  I love the guy, he's still my favorite all-time NBA player besides Billy Hoyle, but this is the guy who cheated on his wife for years and years to the point where he contracted HIV and was damn lucky he didn't end up giving it to her or his kid.  I really don't think a "content of character" piece is really the place for the Magic Man.

10:17 - This announcer is so bad I seriously want to kill him.  My head is literally exploding right now.

9:43 - God damn this ramen is hot!  Why you gotta play me like that, ramen?

9:00 - Nolen airballs a three.  That's more like it.  22-21 Purdue thanks to a DJ Dickface three-pointer.

8:31 - Chip Armelin just stole Moe Hargrow's move.  He got the ball on the break on a 2-on-2 situation, saw the Purdue's guy guarding him was a white dude, and just took it right at him and ended up scoring.  Hargrow used to do that every time.

7:48 - Lewis Jackson now abusing Al Nolen for back to back lay-ups.  That's not supposed to happen.  I thought Nolen was a better defender than that.

6:54 - Jackson splits the top of the zone (Nolen & Armelin) and finds Moore for a wide open three.  I know the guy is quick, but that's just awful.  Just awful.  Once again, either these guys are kind of dumb or Tubby is an overrated coach.

5:26 - Nobody bothers to pick up Barlow on the wing and he coasts in for a lay-up.  The amount of mistakes this team makes on a nightly basis is mind-boggling.  I'm starting to think they're more talented than I give them credit for, just because they can actually compete despite making so many dumb plays.

3:23 - Sampson gives the Gophers the lead back at 34-33 with a jump hook over Johnson, but the importantly is that he got the ball on teh block, ignored the double-team, and aggressively went for the bucket.  I don't even care that he made it, just showing that kind of aggressiveness is a good sign. 

2:45 -  Jackson tried driving on Nolen again, but this time Nolen blocks his shot and causes the jump ball.  Much better.

1:21 - Rodney misses an alley-oop dunk.  Freaking awesome.

HALF -  Gophers lead 41-40, and that was a great, great half of basketball on the offensive end.  Even their half-court sets are looking smooth and and working.  JaJuan Johnson (18 pts already) is ridiculously hot and making everything, but they've managed to take E'Twaun Moore out of the game for the most part (1-8 shooting).  If the Gophers keep playing like this the rest of the game, they're going to take this one.  That Lewis Jackson/Al Nolen match-up might be the key to the game. 

19:42 -  That play where Blake comes from the corner off a double-pick and curls to the free-throw line seemingly works every time.  I'm thinking his rep as a guy who only shoots threes leads to poor defenders on him, and when he takes that cut further inside they can't keep up.  With a sample size of tonight, that certainly looks to be the case, because Ryne Smith isn't going to win any defensive awards.

18:41 - Sampson goes to the deck to dig out a steal, and it leads to a three-pointer by Blake to give the Gophers a 46-40 lead.  They just have more energy right now, and Purdue seems near meltdown mode.  Of course, this is usually where the rug gets pulled out and the Boilers go on a 11-2 run.

16:59 - Lewis Jackson just hit a fadeaway three-pointer.  Lewis Jackson can't shoot, and never shoots threes, and only chucked up that one because of the shot clock about to expire.  Great.  And just to add insult to injury, announcer guy tells us that Jackson is back from injury and healthy and is hitting 45% of this three-pointers this year.  But, in reality, he's 1-5 on the season.  So this guy is still a jackdonkey.

16:11 -  Hoff from 28 feet.  Dude is dialed tonight.  I'm hoping we get a heat-check from 35, Jake Sullivan style.

15:14 - Hoff hits the jumper on that same curl pick play, and is fouled.  Tonight is his night, folks. 

15:14 - Of course he misses the free throw, because that makes total sense.  53-45 Gophers.

14:53 - Jackson beats Nolen again for the lay-up.  This is embarrassing for Al, for real.  It's also embarrassing for everybody else.  Where the hell is the help every time this guy gets in the lane.  He's 5 foot 9, somebody slide over and make him pass it, jesus christ.  I think I learned that in third grade.

13:37 - Purdue just took the lead 54-53 on two Johnson free throws.  Yes, they made up 8 points in a minute and a half.  I'd go into detail but it's depressing.  Let's just say that after a near flawless night from the team overall they've suddenly decided to do stupid crap on offense and stop playing defense.  My mood is darkening.

12:48 - Nolen just passed up a wide-open three-pointer because he missed his last two attempts.  God damn it's hard to win with a PG who can't/won't shoot.  And, as I type, he then steals a pass for an easy dunk to give them back the lead.  The love/hate is strong with this one.  He's the Sam to my Diane.

11:37 - Iverson with literally the worst defensive play I've ever seen to give Johnson a three-point play.  He's half-fronting him and decides to try to steal the entry lob but half-way there realizes he can't get it and stops, but by then he's so far out of position he's really just rubbing up on Johnson's hip and giving Johnson a wide open layup and instead of saying "Fuck it, I fucked up" and letting him score, he kind of pelvis-checks him but not hard enough so he can't score, just perfectly hard enough to get called for a foul.  Brilliant.

10:51 - You know what would be really god damn awesome?  If they could avoid allowing Johnson to catch the ball when he's already in the lane.  You're allowed to push him out before the ball gets there, girls.

10:09 - Nolen again passes up the wide open three.  Even if he misses he really, really needs to shoot that shot.

9:44 - Sampson might actually be retarded.

8:14 - Chip Armelin is suddenly everywhere.  Announcer guy wants us to know that Chip Armelin "did a great job of pulling out."  That's what Mrs. W said last night.

7:47 - Steal by Nolen, then Rodney decides to just glide with the ball and not really bothering putting it on the floor.  Turns out the refs don't like that very much.  We're tied here at 61 folks.  Barn-burner.  Need more expensive fancy wine.

7:25 -  Remember in Major League how Willie Mays Hayes had to do pushups every time he hit the ball in the air?  I'm starting to think Mbakwe should do push-ups every time he doesn't get a rebound.  Good lord.

7:00 -  Nolen with his patented "drive into the lane pick up the dribble with no idea what to do and turn it over."  I don't like this Nolen.  I like the gooder Nolen.

5:55 - Nolen with the rip right out of Moore's hands, leading to a lay-up and possible three point play by Rodney.  This is the Nolen which is the good one.  He's like some kind of god damn two-face.  In fact, I'm going to roll with it.  He even kind of looks like him:

4:35 - Sampson gives the Gophers the lead with a nice hook in the lane, which naturally leads to these announcers having to gush about his dad and then show footage of him from when he played for Virginia.  I can't even express how old that has gotten, I can't even imagine how much our Ralph must hate that.  I'm surprised he hasn't gone all Oedipal yet.

4:12 - We're down to 14 on the shot clock before Nolen passes the ball.  Timeout, Gophers.  Thank god.  Tubby is a master at drawing up out-of-bounds plays after a time-out (see:  Ohio State game).  This is sure to lead to points.

4:00 - Apparently the play was for Sampson to can an 18-footer.  Ok then.  Sampson jumpers are kind of like a handjob from a fat chick.  It's not really what you want, there are better options, and it's not the way things are supposed to go, but if it works you'll take it and be happy.

3:34 - Tied again.  Time to figure out a way to get the Hoff a look.  Or Nolen, who had another wide open three and this time didn't turn it down, and buried that sumbitch.  Hey, if Lewis freaking Jackson is going to be perfect from the free-throw line even though he only shoots 60% on the year and is going to hit a fall-away three, we get to have Nolen hit a couple treys.  It's only right.

2:05 - Gophers 70, Purdue 67, Boilers ball and a timeout.  Great googily moogily, this game reminds me why I love college ball and specifically the Gophers.  Please don't make me remember why I hate them.

1:45 - After Ryne Smith misses a wide open three (thank you), Purdue grabs the board and it leads to Moore with an open three from about 23 feet.  He hits backboard first and it clangs away.  Seriously, something is wrong with Moore.  This is three straight just awful shooting games.  I mean, it's good for the Gophers and all, but wow.

1:12 - Hoff drops the ball out of bounds.  Shit.  Still a three-point game.  Wow, not off Hoff.  Should have been a foul and if not should have been Gopher ball.  Yuck.

0:53 - Rodney blocks Jackson's shot and it ends up Gopher ball.  Remember how I talked about how when Jackson drives there needed to be people coming to help?  If you don't recognize how I'm a bonafide god damn genius I'm going to drive to your house and shoot you to death.  With logic and trivia.

0:30 - White guy on Nolen!  White guy on Nolen!  Drive! Drive!

0:27 - Yes!  He drives and is fouled.  Ha ha, stupid white people.  Go play hockey.

0:25 - Naturally, Nolen misses.  Did I mention it was 1-and-1?  Freaking great.  Guaranteed E'Twaun Moore three-pointer here, even though he hasn't hit shit all night.

0:10 - Timeout Purdue because the Boilers are running around like a bunch of guys playing in an intramural league who decided to go get blitzed before their game.  Which I assume is all of them.

0:10 -  Announcer guy's big plan is for Ryne Smith, the smallest guy on the court other than Lew-Jack, to set a single screen to get JaJuan open for a three-pointer, even though he's not actually a three-point shooter.  God this guy is a freakin' idiot.

0:00 - Ball game.  Gophers win 70-67.  Apparently Matt Painer went to the Tubby Smith school of drawing up plays because Purdue ended up with DJ freaking Byrd shooting up a forced three pointer.  Brilliant. 

Awesome awesome win for the Gophers.  I said this wasn't a must-win, but getting it here is just so big.  Not only does it give them another marquee win, but it proves that they are a quality team, something that has been in question since Puerto Rico.  I'm a very happy guy right now.

And by the way, check out what this guy predicted this game's score to be (at the bottom).

Gophers vs. Badgers: Live Blog

Seeing as how it's the opener of Big Ten play, I figured I might as well hanker down with my libration of choice and put some thoughts to paper.  Well, to screen.  You know what I mean.  You don't always have to be so liberal.

20:00 - Ah, the Kohl Center, full of a bunch of retards dressed all in red.  Did I ever tell you I was there for the Lawrence Westbrook game?  So awesome.  When he hit the shot to send the game to OT the entire place went silent, except for me, Bogart, and Dawger up in the upper deck who were pretty much losing our damn minds.  Such a great time, especially later when Dawger slapped a piece of pizza out of some insolent jerks mouth.  But that's neither here nor there, and not my story to tell.

20:00 - By the way, I'm just going to go ahead and admit I'm going to misspell Bruesewitz throughout this entire thing.

19:35 - Great defense by Ralph Sampson right off the bat forcing Jon Leuer into an airball, and he then gets the ball on the block, backs Leuer in, and scores on a nice hook shot.  Great start for the big guy.  It can be easy to take him for granite and concentrate on Mbakwe, Nolen, and Hoffarber, but Sampson is going to have to come up big if the Gophers want to grab an upset.

18:55 -  Rodney Williams just fouled Keaton Nankivil on a 3-pointer, and he makes all three.  Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb.

18:36 - Rodney makes up for it with a big dunk and the foul.  He even makes the free throw which is pretty unexpected. 

17:39 - Jordan Taylor and Leuer miss 28-footers on back-to-back possessions sandwiched around a missed Blake jumper.  If they're going to keep taking those shots they can have them all night long. 

16:57 - After Mbakwe picks the ball cleanly from Taylor (for serious), Nolen puts up a three-pointer early in the shot clock, hitting backboard before he hits anything else.  Let's just keep the ball inside, ok?  Like right there where Rodney gets it deep against Bruesewitcz where Rodney's athleticism makes it a complete mismatch. 

15:23 - 7-7 as we go to the first timeout.  If the Gophers continue to pound the ball inside they have a chance, and so far the switching man-to-man they're playing has worked well.  I really wish Mo Walker wasn't hurt, because for those 10 minutes he gives per game he is a very quality player, and is particularly missed in a game like this where the Gophers need to get the ball in the paint as much as possible.  Hopefully all he needs is a little tender love and care and he'll be back soon.

15:23 - You know who Mo reminds me a little bit of?  Courtney James.  I mean, Courtney was definitely better as a freshman, but I think Mo has that potential if he loses a bit of weight and works hard.  Or, it might be easier just to get Courtney back.  You know he has eligibility left.  What's the statue of limitations on hitting somebody with a phone book, anyway?

15:12 -  See what I'm saying?  Get the ball inside to Mbakwe and Wa la!  2 points.

14:25 -  Berggren hits a 18 footer and I guarantee this guy is going to be annoying as all hell the next two years.  I don't understand why Wisconsin always has to have someone of his elk.

13:04 -  Hoffarber from 28 feet.  BANG!  Gophers now lead 14-9.  Man, I have really done a 360 when it comes to my opinion of the Hoff.  Maybe it's because they have enough size, maybe it's because they have enough good defenders, or maybe Hoffarber has just developed a complete game this year, but I can't imagine this team without him.  Although yes, he still makes me want to strangle a stranger watching his defense at times.

12:28 -  Wisconsin missed three lay-ups.  That boats well for the Gophers.

10:49 -  Whoops, my comment about Walker earlier is now a mute point, because they just flashed the graphic that he's out for the season.  Really a bummer.  Hopefully he doesn't use eating and more eating to ease the pain.  Not that I've ever done that.  Shut up.

9:20 - Nolen with a rebound.  That's two fantasy points.  And Sampson misses a  three.  He's a little too much in love with that.  Don't be a Rickert.

8:30 - Holy crap move there by Armelin.  This guy is unbelievably athletic.  He's the closest thing to Rico Tucker I've seen since Rico Tucker.  Hopefully Tubby is a smart enough coach to give him a little bit of rope and won't bench him for every turnover the way Monson handled Tucker.  He really just cut off his nose despite his face on that one, and it came back to haunt him.  I mean, you know that's why he was fired, right?  Mishandling the greatest Gopher prospect of all-time is a pretty big deal.

6:58 - 19-19 heading at the timeout.  Jordan Taylor is starting to penetrate and then either score or find an open jumper for any of the plethora of white guys Wisconsin trots out.  Gophers need to nip this in the butt before it gets out of control.

6:00 -  I really don't understand how any of these guys from Minnesota could go to Wisconsin.  What a bunch of traitor jerks.  Wisconsin sucks and smells like venison and cheese and brandy and dumbness.  Who would ever voluntarily move there for four years?  There must be some really good french benefits we aren't aware of.

5:48 -  Devoe cannot guard Taylor.  At all.  Tubby may need to go a "only rest Nolen when Taylor is on the bench strategy."  Whatever, I'm sure he'll play it by year, but if Taylor can do whatever he wants all game things aren't going to go well.

4:11 -  Devoe with a pull up three that hits nothing but the backboard.  He then fouls Taylor on the drive, sending him to the line where he will undoubtedly make both.  Really gunning for least valuable player here, aren't ya?

2:20 - Sampson with a nice little pump-fake from 18 feet out, getting Leuer off his feet and then a nice drive inside for a three-point play to cut Sconnie's lead to 3.  That was badly needed. 

1:49 - Gophers go to a zone,  a move I really hate here because the Gophers suck at playing a zone.  And, on queue, Leuer knocks down a three-pointer.  If Wisconsin goes on a run here, Tubby is going to be this game's escape goat, and it will be well deserved.  Going zone against these guys is loonacy. 

35.6 - 33-27 Wisconsin, and it should have been more but the ball slipped out of Leuer's hand on a wide open layup.  Irregardless, the Gophers are going to need to play better, and are going to need Al Nolen to stop Taylor if they want to win, let a lone stay in the game.

HALF - 33-29 at half thanks to a nice bounce pass by Armelin leading to a dunk by Iverson.  Gophers are within reach, but their defense needs to get much better.  They also kind of drifted away from pounding the ball in the paint on offense.  If they can get back to getting the ball to the post on offense and get back to a man-to-man with Nolen on Taylor, they have a shot.

HALF -  Arapaho of nothing, I'm a little bit annoyed by this Twins offseason thus far.  The losses off the team far outweigh the gains, meanwhile the Tigers and White Sox have clearly improved their teams.  And I don't really see any moves the Twins can make to really upgrade at this point.  Thanks Mauer!  We're now a third place team every year.

19:16 -  Taylor blows by Nolen and finds Gasser for a lay-up, Nolen blows by Taylor and misses a layup, Taylor then finds Leuer for a three-pointer and it's now 38-29 Badgers.  For all intensive purposes this game is over.

18:15 -  Jordan Taylor is completely unguardable.  Case and point, he just went right passed Nolen and then hit a jumper over Sampson who was just a half-second too slow jumping out.  This really isn't fair.

16:56 - The Gophers have made 11 field goals tonight.  Great.  I mean, I could really care less how they score, and if they are scoring from the line that's great, but the offense has been pretty ugly tonight.  Which, along with the defense makes a perfect pear.

13:35 - Badgers now up 45-36 and the Gophers are starting to miss a lot of open shots.  Might be time to give up the goat on this one.

12:32 - I take it back, it's now just 45-41 after a Hoffarber three-pointer.  Taylor called for a pretty clear blocking foul against Nolen, but announcer guy thinks it was a bad call.  I'm pretty sure announcer guy is a complete jackwagon.

11:42 -  Another three by Devoe hits nothing but backboard.  I'm starting to think he might be the worst good shooter in America.  Besides Scottie Reynolds.

10:40 - Joseph for three to cut it to 48-44.  I'm like a reverse jinx tonight.  Seriously this game is chalk full of examples where I rip somebody and then they do something good.  And on that note, Rodney Williams sucks!

8:56 -  Rodney with a great drive.  He missed, but Mbakwe cleaned it up to cut it to 2.  And then Tim freaking Jarmusz hits a three to make it 5.  That's so stupid.  This entire wisconsin team is nothing but two good players and a bunch of dandy little nancies who shoot three pointers every time they get the ball.  It's like watching Michigan play.  When the Badgers play the Wolverines there might not be a two-pointer attempted all game.  Fairies.

6:56 - Gophers just took the lead on a great drive by Devoe who dished to Mbakwe for the dunk, now 54-53.  I have no idea how Minnesota is leading in this game.  My brain is literally exploding right now.

6:42 - So what's Wisconsin's answer after a timeout?  A 27-footer by Leuer (which he missed).  It's like Bo Ryan has completely lost his mind.  I mean, there's no love loss between me and Bo, so I could care less, but it's just bizarre watching them completely disregard anything inside that line.

6:11 - Nankivil for three to give Wisconsin the lead back.  These guys are so gay.

5:20 - Sigh.  Sampson just sits there and let's Taylor hit a three.  Awful defense.  That was as easy as Taylor going to the corner and putting his PIN number into the ATM machine.  Easy money.

5:10 - And Hoff throws it away.  God damn it.

3:56 -  That is now the third three pointer Joseph has put up that has hit nothing but backboard.  You could go ahead and say I'm flummoxed by this, as well by the lack of playing time for Nolen.  That is not helping my fantasy team Tubby.

2:00 - Nolen misses a runner and a lay-up, but Ralph's o-board and draw of the foul on Leuer mean he'll be shooting free throws with the Gophers down 3 when we get back.  Please make them.

2:00 -  Sampson makes just one, but the rebound on the second goes out-of-bound off Wisconsin.   Time to get a bucket here.

1:38 -  Nolen goes right by Sampson but misses the lay-up, offensive board to Ralph who is fouled.  Big shots here. 

1:38 - makes the first.

1:38 - misses the second, dammit.  Gophers down by 1 right now, despite a 40-22 rebound margin.  Everybody has said that the Gophers' poor free throw shooting would cost them, and now it's looking like those chickens might be coming home to roast.

1:10 -  Taylor with a three point play.  I really hate that guy.  He's such a jack of all traits, and he always seems to kill the Gophers in the end.

52.4 - Sampson with a short jumper to pull the Gophers to within 2.  It's not over yet, but I honestly have no faith in the Gophers to stop Wisconsin.  I just don't think they're up to stuff.

18.3 - Nolen with great defense to force a miss by Taylor, but Leuer grabs the huge huge rebound.  Watching that on replay, that is 100% Sampson's fault because Leuer straight up beat him into the lane.  That was a huge play, and should have been completely avoidable.  Just awful.

16.7 - Sampson fouls out to send Leuer to the line for a one-on-one in a 2 point game. 

16.7 - makes both.  Joseph puts the pedal to the medal but misses the shot, and a foul on the rebound by Nolen.  Shit. 

0:00 -  Final score:  Wisconsin 68, Minnesota 60.  The Gophers played better than I thought and at several points were a hare's breath from taking control of this game, but just couldn't get it done.  There are still some glaring on this team, and I don't know how many of them are fixable.  We'll have to see how they rebound from an 0-2 start, because they have no chance at beating the Spartans on Friday.

I'm really bumped out right now.

California Love

Now let me welcome everybody to the wild, wild west, a state that's untouchable like Elliot Ness
The track hits your eardrum like a slug to your chest, pack a vest for your jimmy in the city of sex.

By the way, that means I'm in Los Angeles for work.  Which also means I couldn't attend nor watch the Gopher game last night, but it looks like the Gophers went with their standard operating procedure of sucking for the majority of the game and falling behind to a far inferior opponent, and then turning it on in the second half to cruise to a win that looks a lot easier than it really was.  That's all well and good, but if they are still doing that crap once the Big Ten season gets underway it's going to get ugly in a hurry.  Maybe Nolen can fix all that, maybe not.  We're going to find out.

-  No real exciting meals to report.  Well, actually I had one of the best burgers in the history of burgerdom last night at a place in Hollywood called Lucky Devils.  Kobe Beef burger (medium) with lettuce, onions, and some kind of home made secret sauce.  Outstanding.  And the rosemary garlic fries were out of this world.  Although I think Elk, who I am out here with, made the best call of the night (besides the restaurant) going with the Diablo burger, which was a spicy version of what I had.  I had a chance to try their hot sauce and it was really, really good.  I should have ordered that.

Later in the evening we hit up an establishment called the Pig and Whistle for a couple after-dinner drinks and ended up having one with a Michael Jackson impersonator - unless it was really him and the whole "death" thing was a sham.  Stranger things have happened.  Or not really, I guess.  That would be pretty strange.  In any case it was a bit of an unusual occurrence.  But now I'm in the room with nothing but a few Coors Light silos to keep me company, so let's see what things are going on.

-  Jesse Crain to the White Sox, huh?  And Guerrier to the Dodgers, but that doesn't interest me nearly as much since Crain is going to the most hated rival in the world.  They pretty clearly overpaid, but Crain showed just enough in the second half of last year when he started using that slider all the time where I'm pretty nervous to be facing him in the division.  Will he give up tap measure home runs?  Of course.  But the first time they bring him in to face the Twins in the 8th and he shuts them down 1-2-3 I'm going to die a little inside.

-  And speaking of free agents, this Cliff Lee to the Phillies thing is really unfair.  I know the Giants won the series this year with a combination of insane pitching and Buster Posey and that's it, but the Phillies actually have an offense.  Howard is going to hit 40 bombs, Victorino has developed into one hell of a hitter, and Utley and Rollins are great hitters for their positions, even if they were a bit off last year.  I know Werth is gone, but it doesn't really matter who plays left or center or third or whoever the hell their catcher is.   And their only going to have score 2-3 runs a game to win most of the time, and they won't even need a bullpen because Halladay and Lee are just going to pitch complete games every time out anyway.  Halladay, Lee, and Oswalt are all in the top 14 in active complete game leaders, and that includes ancients like Tim Wakefield and Jamie Moyer.  Actually, Halladay is 33, and amongst pitchers 33 or younger they rank 1, 5, and 6.  Ridiculous and basically just unfair.  The over/under for their season wins is going to be like 110.

-  Oh, and if the Twins trade for Joe freaking Blanton and his Nick Blackburn-like career 1.34 WHIP I'm going to drive down there and maim somebody.  Why make a trade for a fifth starter when he's worse than whoever you call up from triple A?  Come on geniuses, don't be stupid.

-  Of course, this is not my first time in Los Angeles for work.  Prior to this I was introduced to the weirdness of everybody in the city trying to get a movie produced, and before that I was lucky enough to become good friends with Larry David and learned a little about women.  L.A. is weird, but I always have a good time.  Plus, I was in a Curb Your Enthusiasm episode that time with my good friend Larry.  You can actually see my bald spot in the scene.  I'm famous.

-  Interesting week in college hoops so far.  Three teams who I don't think anybody was super sure what to make of (Louisville, Tennessee, and UNLV) all went on big runs early, picked up huge wins (Louisville over UNLV, Tennessee over Pitt, and UNLV over Wisconsin and Va Tech), got themselves highly ranked (Tenn #7, UNLV #20 , L'Ville #20) and then all crashed and burned this week.  Louisville got beat at home by Drexel, Tennessee got beat at home by Oakland, and UNLV by Santa Barbara.  But no real worries, because they're all still better than Gonzaga who is an absolute nightmare right now.  They're going to end up scrambling to even sniff an at-large bid.

-  In case you're wondering what's going with the world's worst shooting guard, Scottie Reynolds was picked 13th in the first round of the NBDL draft by Tulsa, who then immediately shipped him off in a trade to get of his stink.  Since play began he ranks 19th in scoring (behind guys like Pat Ewing Jr. and Roderick Wilmont), and 19th in assists (behind guys like Curtis Stinson and Luke Jackson).  Nicely done.

-  Speaking of the NBDL draft, other picks of interest:
First Round:  Alan Anderson (Mich State like 100 years ago), Robert Vaden (UAB), Magnum Rolle (LA Tech - love this guy).
Third Round:  Lawrence Westbrook (averaging 7 pts, 2 rebs, 2 asts per game with Maine)
Fourth Round:  Derek Raivio (Gonzaga, the living clone of the Professor)
Fifth Round:  Daniel Horton (Michigan, this guy sucked)

And that's it.  Every year I think there's going to be a bunch of funny in this draft, and every year it turns out I've only heard of a handful of guys.  And I know way too much about college ball to not know who this many guys are.  So where are these guys coming from?  Some secret basketball concentration camp?  This is bullshit.

-  John Shurna tonight:  28 pts, 4 rebs, 2 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks, 1 turnover.  That's 64 fantasy points, baby.  And guess whose got 'em?

-  Shelden Williams is still in the NBA?  What the hell?  The guy's offensive game rivals Miles Tarver and his defensive game is what I imagine Blake Hoffarber would look like if he was taller and blacker. 

-  You ever just sit around wondering who the top scoring Big Ten college basketball players would be in a Bi g Ten fantasy league (pt = 1pt, reb = 2 pt, assist = 3 pt, block or steal = 4 pt, turnover = -2 pts)?  Well wonder no more.  The top ten in our league:
1.  Jon Leuer, Wisconsin
2.  Darius Morris, Michigan
3.  Trevor Mbakwe, Minnesota
4.  Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin
5.  Blake Hoffarber, Minnesota
6.  Draymond Green, Michigan State
7.  Jared Sullinger, Ohio State
8.  JaJuan Johnson, Purdue
9.  Demetri McCamey, Illinois
10.  E'Twaun Moore, Purdue

It's worth noting I have none of those people, and also - not coincidentally - I'm the only team that's 0-2 thus far.  Also props to Snacks, Bogart, Snake, Dawger, Elk, Grandslam, and Optimator.  I sent an email one random morning asking if anybody wanted to do fantasy Big 10 hoops, and by that afternoon we were in round 3 of the draft.  Nice work, gentleman.

-  By the way, yes, that's Blake Hoffarber at #5.  He's having a hell of a year.  14.8 points per game (13th in the B10), 4.9 assists (3rd.  THIRD!!), 3.5 rebounds (39th), and 1.7 steals (5th, and wow) all while shooting 40% from three (leading the conference in both makes and attempts) and turning it over just 1.6 times per game despite being the defacto main ball handler.  Actually, he's been efficient enough on offense to rank #63 in kenpom.com's offensive efficiency ranking, which may not sound that great but keep in mind there are 340-some teams and this ranking includes all those dudes from smaller conferences who dominate.  In terms of Big Ten players, he ranks behind just Jon Diebler, John Shurna, Jordan Hulls of Indiana, and Jordan Taylor.  Combine fantasy points, which shows he's putting up numbers, and efficiency rating, which shows he's, well, efficient, and you could make a case for him to be behind just Taylor as the most valuable player in the Big Ten this year.  I can't believe I just typed that sentence.  I'm now going to pull my fingers off with bolt cutters.  Which I just happen to have here in the hotel room.

Minnesota Gophers 83, St. Joseph's Hawks 73

Well it wasn't exactly pretty and didn't really cement the Gophers as a top 25 team, but a win is a win, a road win is always good, and not losing to a terrible terrible terrible team is even better.  St. Joe's hit 9 threes to stay in the game, which is too high, but shot just 31% because they had to hoist 29 attempts just to make those 9 trey-balls.  A cynic would say that St. Joe's really should have made more because they kept getting open look after open look, but are just a poor shooting team.  And that's exactly what I say.  The perimeter defense is still terrible, but at least they got a win.  I'm going to just jump ahead to the player-by-player comments here before I get way too negative after a win.  And yes, I was the kind of sucker who paid cash money so I could watch this game.

Devoe Joseph (19 pts, 3 assists, 4-6 on threes):   Those of you out there who complain about him not moving the ball enough or trying to do too much on his own, I'm very sorry to tell you this, but you are idiots.  He's not a point guard, he's a shooting guard being forced to play point, so naturally he's not going to be a elite distributor.  He's a pure scorer, and he hit a couple of huge threes down the stretch to make sure the Gophers didn't lose this game.  Once again, stop complaining about him.  If you don't I will come to your house hit you in the balls with a tiny hammer.

Ralph Sampson (10 pts, 5 rebs):  Pretty ugly overall for Ralph, whether because CJ Aiken is a good defender or because his dad was in attendance and sending weird satan vibes his way I couldn't tell you, but he did seem to perk up in the second half of the second half, and just in time.  He hit a couple of very nice buckets late right as St. Joe's was attempting to make a run, and he still looks so insanely smooth (think Rob Thomas featuring Santana) out there, but this tendency to shrink when he finds resistance is troubling.  As a freshman it's almost expected, but as a junior I'm a little bit irritated. 

Rodney Williams (2 pts, 1 reb):  Maybe the worst game he's played.  Got in foul trouble early and ended up playing just 8 minutes.  Let's move on.

Blake Hoffarber (14 pts, 3 assists, 4-6 on threes):  He still leaves a lot to be desired on the defensive end - both on and off the ball - but when he came up limping after hitting a three-pointer in the first half you can bet I was holding my breath in horror (just like at the end of the Blair Witch Project, which I don't care who you are if you didn't think that was scary in the theater you're either a liar or a moron).  He's just such a steadying influence on this team, not to mention he's shooting out of his head this year, and for him that's saying something.  I can't get over how much he means to this team.  I never, ever imagined myself saying that.     

Trevor Mbakwe (12 points, 16 rebounds):  Player of the game, which is something I have a feeling we're going to be saying a lot.  He nearly had a double-double at half time and kind of faded a bit, and he shot a brutal 16-footer early in the game that reminded everyone why he shouldn't be wandering outside of the paint very often, but he's just such a POWER FORWARD.  I love it.  It's like a regular player ate one of those magic mushrooms from Mario Brothers, he's just a beast.  Here's an awesome summary from the game play-by-play:

Awesome.  It would have been better if he scored instead of turned the ball over, of course, but still awesome.

Maurice Walker (10 points, 5 rebs, 4 assists):  The night belonged to Mo, who not only put up some excellent numbers but displayed enthusiasm and emotion (and effort) he hadn't really shown yet this year.  He was demanding the ball in the post, scoring when it was there and finding open teammates when it wasn't, and then yelling, chest-pounding, and generally whooping it up out there.  It was unreal from somebody who seemed disinterested a large chunk of the year thus far.  Seriously it was like Taco Bell announced they were going to an all-you-can-eat business model.

Chip Armelin (4 points, 4 rebs):  Not to overstate things, but this guy is amazing to watch.  He never, ever stops moving, and when the Gopher offense does that stupid crap when it stagnates and everybody looks lost having a guy who likes to run from baseline-to-baseline for fun can be a major asset, and that's what he did when St. Joe's went zone.  His numbers don't look all that great, but he is a major component of this team and a huge part of how well the offense plays on any given night.

Austin Hollins (6 pts, 4 assists, 4 steals):  Steady.  Guy is just steady, which is a major compliment for a freshman.  Other than a semi-flashy steal late and perhaps one of the worst air-balled wide open three-pointers in the history of basketball he pretty much went unnoticed.  Maybe it's his play, or maybe it's because I was watching a crappy internet feed while holding a screaming baby and trying to get Wonderbaby^TM to stop throwing Teddy Grahams at the dragons on the TV, but I just don't take much notice of him.  Much like that baby I just mentioned.  Dude is just steady.  Like Eddie.

Colton Iverson (0 pts, 3 rebs):  Outside of those statues on Easter Island that were obviously put there by aliens or time travelers, I've never seen anybody or anything so effective at just taking up space.  There will be teams he just can't play against due to his physical limitations (which would be moving at relatively the same speed as those same statues), but St. Joe's ain't one of 'em.

Maverick Ahanmisi (6 pts):  This is way up on the list of things I wasn't expecting to say at any point in the next four years, but Mav looked quite good out there today.  Not that this is a huge bar here, but I think he already looks like a better player than Justin Cobbs.  Now, we haven't gotten into conference play yet so things can change, but swapping Cobbsy for Maverick looks pretty good to me right now.


Lastly, here is the link to this week's Star Tribune Big 10 Power Poll as presented by Myron P. Medcalf.  Check it out for the overall rankings.

Here is the ballot I submitted (remember this is through Tuesday's games):


1.  Ohio State Buckeyes - They haven't played since the last poll, but nobody can convince me there's a better Big Ten team.

2.  Michigan State Spartans -  Definitely in the upper tier with Ohio State, but if this was anybody other than the Spartans with their reputation for slow starts and runs in March, I'd be very concerned with their inability to beat any top-flight teams.

3.  Illiinois Fighting Illini - A very nice win over Gonzaga shows the Illini's early season struggles are behind them, they are deep and are seemingly getting better every time out - a scary proposition.

4.  Purdue Boilermakers - It feels like they're struggling, but really the loss to Richmond is the only blip on their schedule.  Wins last week at Virginia Tech and vs. Alabama might not be exactly marquee, but they are quality.

5.  Wisconsin Badgers - It might have been a fluke, but NC State should be a bubble team at worst this year and Wisconsin throttled them by 40.  Jon Leuer might very well be the best player in the conference.

6.  Northwestern Wildcats - The only undefeated team in the conference other than Ohio State, Northwestern has handled their business against inferior opponents.  Unfortunately the schedule is empty as can be until Big Ten play starts, so we won't really be able to get a handle on how good Northwestern is until then.

7.  Minnesota Gophers - The loss to Virginia and narrow win over Cornell exposed some pretty big weaknesses in the Gophers.  It's tough to say how things would look if Al Nolen wasn't hurt,

8.  Michigan Wolverines - I still think people are sleeping on the Wolverines a bit.  That win over Clemson is a good one, and .  Darius Morris is the real deal, if they get anything out of their front court (and Jordan Morgan suddenly looks interesting) they could shock a team or two.

9.  Indiana Hoosiers -The record looks nice at 7-1, but those seven wins were against teams with a combined 12 wins against Division I teams combined - not exactly murderer's row.  Let's see how they fare against Kentucky on Saturday, that will let us know if we need to pay attention or not.

10.  Penn State Nittany Lions -  Saturday's win over Duquesne is decent, but the Nittany Lions still need to get a big win - they've whiffed against Ole Miss and Maryland so far.  Sunday's game against Virginia Tech is their last chance before conference play, but getting taken to the wire by Mount St. Mary's doesn't bode well for their chances..


11.  Iowa Hawkeyes -  The win over Northern Iowa pulls them closer to leaving the cellar.  Too bad UNI is way down this year.


Actually I'm kind of thinking this is separating itself into tiers pretty clearly.  You have the Spartans and Buckeyes in a class by themselves at the top, with Illinois a half-step below.  Then Purdue, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Northwestern in another tier.  Below them is Michigan and Indiana, and then in a final, sad tier is Penn State and Iowa.  Obviously there could be some shifting here and there, but it's pretty clear to me where the teams separate themselves from each other.

Did you know mannequins don't have a weiner?

Gophers outlast West Virginia, Capture Puerto Rico Title

The Minnesota Gophers had ever opportunity to coast in last night's game against the West Virginia Mountaineers.  They had already beat the North Carolina Tar Heels to give them a signature victory, WVU's Casey Mitchell was hot as fire and unguardable, they were down by 9 early, and it would have been easy enough to just call it a day.  Luckily, they're better than that, and what resulted was a second weekend NCAA Tournament quality game with the Gophers coming out on top and winning the championship of the 2010 Puerto Rico Tip Off, while simultaneously letting the country know that this team is going to be a contender.

It was a great overall game by the Gophers, and really highlighted why great depth is so important.  Ralph Sampson, arguably the team's best player thus far, was off.  Not only was in foul trouble, but the rough-and-tumble Mountaineers helped remind us of Ralph's biggest weakness - rough him up and get physical and he has a tendency to disappear.  Worked like a charm, but didn't matter because famous offensive brick wall Colt Iverson was more than game to step in and bang. 

Colt seemingly grabbed every rebound (he finished with 8) on both ends of the court ( 4 were offensive), and managed to convert most of his opportunities around the basket (scored 15 points on 5-7 shooting) and even hit his free throws at nearly an acceptable rate (5-9).  He even managed to steal a pass at the top of the key and take it coast-to-coast for a breakaway dunk.  I'd say it was a breakout performance, but we've seen this before, and tonight was a great reminder of what he brings to the table.  Solid reserve who can rebound, bang, and take up space at worst, able to control a game in the paint on rare occasions.  He's an excellent compliment to Ralph, and I'm damn glad he's on the team.   

One of the other player performances that really stood out was the play of Al Nolen.  He was absolutely the player in charge out there tonight, on both ends of the court, reminding everyone just how valuable someone with the tag "senior point guard" can be.  It's hard to think of a really good point guard for the Gophers since Eric Harris, but Nolen could be well on his way.  He scored 17 points, made a mind-boggling 11 of 12 free throws, completely shut down Truck Bryant, and just controlled the game on both ends.  I mean, he opened the Gopher scoring with a drive and step-back jumper from 15 feet, and I know I have never, ever, ever, ever seen him do that.  I don't think I've ever seen him do that.  I don't think I've ever seen him attempt it, actually.  He's never going to be an awesome offensive force, but he's improved enough that he's no longer a complete liability, and with his ability to blow by anybody that's really all you need.   

One last performance of note was that of Chip Armelin.  With Rodney Williams struggling and Austin Hollins not playing as well as he had in the past, Tubby turned to Armelin as his small forward of choice, even giving him the crunch time minutes, and Armelin repaid that trust by coming up with a couple of huge plays.  He had a big rebound late and made the assist on the game-winning three pointer by Hoffarber on a nice rotation around the three point line.  Huge game for Chip, and shows that this team will be 9 very quality players deep.

Tonight the players who carried the Gophers in the first two rounds - Sampson, Trevor Mbakwe, and Blake Hoffarber - were overshadowed by Iverson, Nolen, and Armelin, and that couldn't possibly be more of a positive. 

A Championship for the Gophers.  And let's not forget, they did it without Devoe Joseph.  This team has a legit shot at being special.  How special remains to be seen, but this is a hell of a start.

Minnesota Gophers 95, Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 77

It was a tale of two halves in last nights Minnesota Gophers vs. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers matchup in the first round of the Puerto Rico Tip Off.

You know how whenever anybody criticizes the Big Ten they inevitably mention a "lack of athleticism" and how the players are "slow"?  Generally I think, "hey, maybe Northwestern and Wisconsin and Iowa and some others, but this year's Gopher squad is their most athletic in years and can hang with anybody."  Boy was I proven wrong, because Western Kentucky was far more athletic and far, far, far faster than Minnesota, and during the first half at times I thought we were doomed.  Doomed like poor, stupid Dumbledore. 

The Hilltoppers were getting out in transition, whether after a miss, turnover, or even a Gopher make it didn't matter, and beating the Gophers down the floor to get good shot after good shot.  They were mostly threes, and they were mostly makes, and my tummy got queasy like that time I had buffalo wings with a side of chili for lunch.

Now, there were signs that the Gophers were probably the better team.  WKU couldn't really do anything in the half court, turning it over more often than they scored (or at least it seemed like it).  They couldn't do anything in the paint, because Ralph Sampson and Trevor Mbakwe (and Rodney Williams) basically had it closed off like an amish virgin's pantaloons, and conversely they had no way of stopping the Gopher big men on the block.  Basically the Gophers seemed completely in control on both ends of the floor in the half court, but WKU's transition offense and sloppiness with the ball on Minnesota's part led to it just being a 6 point Gopher lead at half after an Al Nolen three at the buzzer, but it looked like either team could grab control at any point.

And grab control the Gophers did in the second half, starting out with a 12-2 run to start out the half, highlighted by yet another Sampson dunk, and never really looked back.  It turns out you can negate a team's advantage in speed pretty quickly if you just score.  And score, and score.  The second half was essentially a lay-up/dunk line for the Gophers, who just pounded the ball inside, penetrated at will (like me with your sister), and essentially looked completely unstoppable leading to 63% shooting for the game.  Taking away the Hilltoppers ability to run made them play in the half court where they were at a substantial disadvantage, and really led to the Gopher win.


Player-by-Player:


Ralph Sampson (22 pts, 8 rebs, 7 blocks).  The star of the game, as he usually is, Ralph realized early that WKU had nobody who could handle him inside and didn't bother with the perimeter foo-foo stuff.  He attacked inside, early and often, showcasing that hook shot and being just an effective, efficient low-post scorer.  A thing of beauty.  And if that's not enough for you, he also controlled the paint on the defensive end with 7 blocks.  Big Ten Player of the Year?  Big Ten Player of the Year.

Rodney Williams( 17 pts, 7 rebs, 7-10 shooting).  This was exactly the Rodney Williams who gets all the "lottery pick" talk.  He hit threes and did his jumping and dunking thing, but more importantly he put the ball on the floor and got to the rim, he showed a nice mid-range game, and he played good defense and rebounded well.  This is the first time I've really thought we weren't going to see Rodney all four years.  Great game.

Trevor Mbakwe (18 pts, 10 rebs).  He makes such a difference from last year.  Just the prototypical power forward, very strong, very good rebounder, and great athlete.  Controls the paint when he's in, and isn't afraid to mix it up and do some of the dirt work.  He and Sampson are a great combo inside.

Blake Hoffarber (16 pts, 9 assists).  It's pretty clear what he means to this team since Tubby played him 38 minutes (actually he played all the starters at least 32 minutes), and he once again showed why he has that trust.  Guy is just a really solid, smart player who would be an absolutely outstanding point guard if he was a bit quicker.  Or a lot quicker.  But no matter.  WKU is an athletic team, the kind of team that would have taken Blake completely out of the game even a year ago, and he ended up with a huge game.  I don't know if it's his own improvement, a better team around him, or coaching, but Blake looks like the real team leader out there.

Al Nolen (12 pts, 3 assists).  Hit two huge three-pointers in the first half, both from about 25 feet and both after being left wide open.  He doesn't have to be an offensive force, but he does have to keep defenses honest, because if they have to cover him on the perimeter it makes it easier for him to get in the lane - and it did.  He also had an absolutely sweet drive and dish to Mbakwe for a monster dunk.  Seriously, there is very little as fun to watch as good Nolen.  Too bad he's essentially a freakin' two-face.

 
Austin Hollins (3 pts, 3 rebs, 11 minutes).  He's pretty clearly the sixth man, at least until Devoe gets back, and he should be.  The most important thing for a freshman is to understand teh game and play smartly, and he's got that down, but he also brings an excellent jump shot, a good handle, and a quick first step.  Love this kid. 

Colt Iverson (4 pts, 8 minutes).  Missed two layups in one possession at one point and dropped at least one pass, making it clear that he's pretty much always going to be a threat to be an offensive brick wall on any given night.  Still, he's pretty good at taking up space.

Maurice Walker (1 reb, 5 minutes).  Actually kind of looked disinterested in his 5 minutes last night.  Also good at taking up space, but is less efficient than Colton and doing things like blocking shots and grabbing rebounds.  I honestly still can't figure out what exactly we're going to get out of him this year.  Could range from solid contributor to benchwarmer and it wouldn't surprise me.

Chip Armelin (3 pts, 5 minutes).   Still love this guy, and he hit a big three in the first half.   Still don't really trust him, and he had two turnovers in his five minutes.  He reminds me so much of Rico Tucker it makes my pants tight.   

Maverick Ahanmisi (2 minutes).  I was pretty surprised to see him out there at all, actually.  I'm just impressed that he didn't screw anything up 


Really, an incredible offensive second half.  Don't let the 18 point win fool you, this Hilltopper team is going to be very good and should blow right through this consolation bracket.  Come tournament time this win will look very good on the Gophers' resume. 

Speaking of resume building, I can't wait for tomorrow's game against North Carolina.  Not only is it the highest profile opponent I remember the Gophers playing since Kentucky way back in the Final Four that never happened, but it's a team the Gophers could actually beat.  John Henson and Tyler Zeller are big, but Ralph and Mbakwe are stronger - great matchup.  How will Larry Drew handle Al Nolen's pressure?  Will the Gophers be able to score in the half court against a solid UNC defense, and can they minimize turnovers?  Nineteen tonight was way too many and if they do that again they won't beat the Heels.  This is going to be fun.  I have a feeling North Carolina will be a little tougher in the half court than WKU was, but I said the Gophers were the better team the other day and I pretty much have to stick with it.

Minnesota 75, North Carolina 71