Best Gophers of the Tubby Era: #34-31

Throughout the summer I'll be writing up each of the 34 players who played for the University of Minnesota under Tubby Smith.  Why Tubby?  Because it's the most recent era that's over.  If this goes well perhaps I'll go back and do Monson as well.  I'll be looking at any player who played at Minnesota under Tubby at some point, even if it was just a year.  And I will be considering their entire Gopher career, so guys who started under Monson or finished under Pitino will have their whole career considered, but anyone who transferred in or out is only evaluated on their Gopher stats.  With me?  Here we go:


34.  DOMINIQUE DAWSON (2010-2011).
-  This is the one guy I actually don't remember, perhaps because he only played in 10 games in his career totaling just 23 minutes.  Unfortunately he only managed four shot attempts and missed them all, and since he never got to the line he ended his Gopher career with 0 total points.  Following the 2011 season Dawson transferred to Division II Kentucky-Wesleyan where he averaged 9.5 points and 6.5 rebounds his senior year.  Good for him.

33.  BRYANT ALLEN (2009-2010).
-  I remember Allen, though maybe only because he was going to be a two sport star.  Unfortunately he totaled just 7 points on the basketball court (and 21 receptions on the football field) in his brief time as a Gopher.  He would then transfer to Illinois State in a recently completed trade for Reggie Lynch and Zach Lofton and drop football to concentrate on hoops.  He averaged 8.3 points per game for the Redbirds across two seasons, then was dismissed from the team because of drugs.  Well, being arrested for drugs.

32.  WALLY ELLENSON (2012-2014).
-  He has better stats than a few guys who I'm ranking above him but that's mostly because of his playing time coming from his family using his younger, better brother to hold the coaches hostage.  He played in 9 games in both of his seasons here and was terrible.  He flashed an insane amount of athleticism to be sure, but shot just 31% for his career on his way to a total of 34 points, mostly because he absolutely loved to shoot and did not care one little bit if he, or anyone else, was open.  He also only managed one career steal despite being one of the most athletic guys on the court every time he stepped out there.  Basically he was terrible, a chucker, and a whiner with a over involved meddling family and a complete waste of a scholarship.  He's at Marquette now and regains eligibility next season so that should be fun.  I wish I could rank him lower.

31.  CHRIS HALVORSEN (2011-2013).
-  I only sort of remember Halvorsen, kind of like if you go to a fourth of July cookout at your wife's friends and one of her friend's husband is there and you get introduced and you make a note that he's the douche wearing his sunglasses backwards.  He's a Minnesota kid from Henry Sibley who originally played at Valparaiso before transferring back to walk-on for the Gophers in a move that seems backwards.  He didn't play much for the Crusaders so maybe he decided well whatevs, I'd rather sit the bench for the home team which is kind of nice.  Played two years and in 16 games totaling 31 minutes, scoring a total of five points.  Seems like a good guy.

Gophers 84, Montana 58

Well that couldn't have gone much better.  Montana is a step up from Lehigh and will be in the running for an NCAA bid (by winning the Big Sky, not at-large) and the Gophers simply crushed them.  The press hassled Montana from the get go and helped the Gophers jump out to a big lead they'd never relinquish.  The Gophers (still questionable, imo) front court was able to destroy the Grizzlies on the glass 45-29.  Although the rebounding margin should be celebrated too excessively given that Montana is a horrendous rebounding team, for the Gophers it is definitely a step in the right direction.  The Gophers also unleashed the three, which will likely end up being a big part of their offense, and hit 11 of 25.  Much of the Gophers success this year will be determined by their ability to create turnovers with the press while limiting their own, being competitive on the glass, and being able to hit the outside shot.  I'd say this game was an A+.

Player-by-Player:

Dre Hollins - simply a star.  He looks like he's taking his game to another level, and he's a rare player who can score from three, taking it to the rim, or with a mid-range jumper and can do all efficiently.  His free throw shooting will be a huge asset this year with the new rules continually putting driving guards at the line.  The addition of Mathieu makes him even better because he can play off the ball and run off of screens.

Dre Mathieu - I love watching him play.  He may get himself in a little too deep driving the ball from time-to-time, but that's just his mentality - he gets the ball and looks to drive.  His excellent vision is going to create a lot of open shots for teammates, and he's so fast he should be able to get to the line quite a bit simply by taking it right at his defender and creating contact before they can get out of the way. 

Austin Hollins - I have a feeling these three are going to be talked about a lot this year.  Austin continues to have a clear sense of purpose, confidence, and leadership, and when he needed to help out in the paint he just went ahead and grabbed 10 rebounds.  Very much a senior year Damian Johnson type of feel to him right now in terms of leadership and just rising to the occasion. 

Elliott Eliason - He's starting to develop and almost adequate offensive game, and his defense and rebounding are absolutely crucial to this team as the only real post presence (we'll see about Mo when he's back).  Even when his numbers aren't there (they were last night with 8 boards and 5 blocks), he alters enough shots and takes up enough space to make the defense much better.  Whenever Eliason is in foul trouble it is going to be a very big deal.

Oto Osenieks - Hit two threes and grabbed six rebounds and finished without a single turnover.  You can actually see his confidence starting to return after the combination of a horrible year and Tubby somehow reduced him to worthless.  I said before the year started that if he could find his shot he would be able to thrive in the type of system Pitino is going for, and although he isn't nearly there yet he's moving in the right direction.

Joey King - Still drives me crazy, but at least he dialed back the perimeter stuff and attempted six two point shots compared to just one three point shot.  Managed just two rebounds in 15 minutes, and one of them was tipped out to him on the perimeter.  Also clapped for himself when he made a shot.

Malik Smith - Any time someone is described as a streaky shooter you know what you're getting, and right now Smith isn't looking impressive at just 3-11 while doing absolutely nothing else on the court.  I assume at some point the buckets will start falling and he'll probably basically win a game for the Gophers single handedly.  At least that's the hope.

Maverick Ahanmisi - I don't even know what to write about Mav anymore.  He's questionable with the ball, passable defensively, rebounds well for his position, and can knock down an open shot.  Rinse, repeat.

Wally Ellenson - I have no idea why he's on the team other than as a ploy to try to get his brother to commit here.  Amazing athlete without much skill.  Loves to shoot.


All in all, I'm very encouraged by that game as I expected the Gophers to struggle, at least a little bit, before ending up with a low double-digit win.  I certainly didn't expect them to nearly win by 30.  Everything went right that game, but things get a lot tougher this weekend with a trip to Richmond.  The Spiders are a step up from Montana (I like the first three game opponent difficulty progression quite a bit) and being on the road is always dicey.  After tonight, confidence is high, however when I write my later this week I suspect I will talk myself out of it.

Notes from #RaiseTheBarn Scrimmage

I attended the open scrimmage on Friday night, sort of, and these are some impressions I came away with.  Keeping in mind it's an officiated scrimmage so it's kind of tough to get a true read on everything, I had to leave at halftime because Wonderbaby^TM (who is now 5 if you can believe that) hates fun, and I had to manage potty breaks, popcorn, and Mello Yello so take these for what it's worth.

-  The seniors look extremely confident, as seniors tend to before a breakout year.  As such I feel confident predicting a true breakout year for Austin Hollins.  He's never been a shrinking violet or anything (that's a thing, right?) but he was carrying himself with a little bit of swagger out there, and I love it.  Going to be a big year.  As for Maverick, he is carrying himself with a lot more confidence as well.  I have no idea what that might mean, but I'm guessing it's either going to be real good, a total disaster, or mean very little change at all.  I'm out on a limb here.

-  Mo Walker looks like a completely different person.  I'm serious, he looks completely different.  He looks like a normal human being instead of a fat one, like when Jack Black lost all that weight for a little while and still wasn't funny.  I tried to watch him to see if there was a difference in his agility or athletic ability, and although I was pretty distracted I didn't notice anything different at all which sucks.  I always thought Mo had a good amount of potential, mainly because he was a very good passing big man as a freshman which generally bodes well for overall skills, but whether it was the knee injury or just how he always was the lack of athletic ability is a major anchor, as it were.  Hopefully something changes, because otherwise gross.

-  On that note, power forward is going to be a serious, serious problem.  I can already tell Joey King is going to drive me absolutely crazy.  He rarely steps inside the three point line on offense, doesn't appear to have either the strength, instincts, or drive to be a great rebounder, and I don't think he's big or strong enough to play defense in the Big Ten.  Maybe worse, against the press tonight twice he helped break it and then committed the major fundamental mistake of picking up his dribble right after he crossed half court, leading to a another trapping situation, and a turnover one of the times.  That kind of shit isn't going to fly.  I'm very nervous for the Joey King era.

-  Believe it or not, the PF who looked the best tonight was Oto-matic.  I won't say he seemed confident because he didn't, but he didn't look like a shell of a person like he did most of last season.  I actually saw him make a 3-pointer which I think is more than he made all last season, and I saw him get an offensive rebound which may have been the only one a Gopher got tonight (seriously rebounding and inside play is going to be a major, major deal).  I'm not saying he looked great, just that he looked the best of all the PF candidates.  So scary.

-  The other PF candidates, Wally Ellenson and Charles Buggs were less than inspiring.  Ellenson is crazy athletic and not remotely shy about trying to score or flying around, all of which are promising, while Buggs, well, Buggs isn't what I hoped Buggs would be.  I thought he could be the long, range-y, semi-athletic big guy with a good perimeter shot in the mold of KG, Hakim Warrick, and JaJuan Johnson.  Yeah my bad.  He still has plenty of time to turn into something like that, but he's not there yet.  No, he is not.

-  Dre Hollins was pretty much in coast mode, which I'm cool with considering he's the best player on the team (OR IS HE?!?!?!?!).  Nothing wrong with letting everyone else get involved in a thing like this where it doesn't count.  When he did decide to take over a couple of times, he scored.  So we cool.

-  It was sweet to see a little bit of offensive innovation, if by innovation you mean things pretty much every other team was doing besides the Gophers.  If you think back to the Tubby Smith era, you'll remember that the Gophers ran 3 plays:  Flex, 3-man weave 30 feet from the hoop, and pass the ball sluggishly around the perimeter until the shot clock runs out.  I was a fan of none of these plays, for the record.  Anyway, I noticed three things:  they actually ran a pick-and-roll, while running said pick-and-roll there was another screen to free a shooter at the same time (2 plays in one!!), and the 3-man weave happened but it was far closer in and looked more like the dribble drive thing Calipari loves so much.  If nothing else, seeing these plays made me weep with joy until Wonderbaby^TM asked me if I was crying and I was like "no it's really dusty in here" and then she was like "no it's not" and then I was like "shut up, you can't even spell."

-  Those who are aware of my crippling obsession over Rico Tucker have pointed out to me that Dre Mathieu sounds an awful lot like him and fully expect me to fall in love all over again like it's just that easy to go from guy to guy.  Well I did so shut up, no slut shaming allowed on this blog.  He's just like Rico Tucker if Rico was slightly less athletic but had played two years of Juco with a coach who knew how to reign him in and teach him to play in control instead of playing for a coach who had no idea what to do with an all-world talent who needed to be harnessed.

Mathieu is super fast, but he uses it as a weapon rather than looking like my kid trying to play Mario Kart on 150cc.  He kind of reminded me of Phil Pressey, formerly of Missouri, but where Pressey was always looking to use his penetration skills (like me with your mom) to set up somebody else (which is good) Mathieu is generally looking to score (also good).  He strikes me as a nearly perfect 6th man to help jump start the offense.  Of course if he keeps scoring a billion points all the time it's going to be tough to keep him out of the starting lineup.  Or my dreams.

-  The other newcomers probably deserve to be talked about just so I can give my spot on impressions.  Malik Smith shot about a million three pointers and missed all of them, but that's ok I guess because he's a shooter or something.  Obviously I'm not dumb enough to judge a shooter on one scrimmage so we'll just see what we see I guess.  I noticed nothing else about him.  Daquein still doesn't have a second A in his name and I saw him hit a three-pointer and that was pretty much it.  In retrospect this note is pretty much worthless, but seeing as I don't believe in retrospect it's staying.

-  The press was interesting to me.  It kind of looked like a good ole fashioned diamond press, but the off guy of the three at the front never left his man to guard the most obvious pass recipient - the guy who passed it in from out of bounds.  I watch a ton of college hoops, obvs, but have never really paid a ton of attention to the Xs and Os of the press so I don't know if this is a thing now or what, but I'm not familiar with it.  And like an old man with a Tivo I'm uncomfortable with things I don't understand.  Now, in a way it's kind of genius because in theory most teams make their shitty ball handling power forward throw it in, so if you just trap the PG and make that dude bring it up and trap him when he picks up his dribble right after crossing half court (Joey King -> hi) it could work out well.  I'm very interested to see how this goes.

-   Overall the team seemed much more uptempo, did a lot more trapping of many varieties on defense, and was more varied on offense.  Again, I know it's a stupid scrimmage but they looked pretty good.  I would say that they're going to get killed on the boards and by teams who are talented in the front court because they quite literally only have one guy who can play post defense or rebound, but because of the way the team is constructed they'll probably pull off at least one upset because they have so many guys who can score on the perimeter and shoot the 3.  Some game they'll go like 14-24 from three and knock off Michigan or something.  It should be fun.  And horribly maddening.

Gophers 69, Northestern 51

 Well I'm not sure I can call it a good win, but they did end up covering the spread and so just looking at the final margin everything looks good, even if that first half was some of the ugliest basketball I've ever seen and was so boring even Bo Ryan wanted them to speed up the game.   They managed to make adjustments in the second half and ended up winning easily - a pretty impressive feat that once again shows how good and experienced this team is.  I'll make a few other points, once again in list style like I did after the Michigan State game because it's easier and then I don't have to bother with those pesky transition sentences between paragraphs.  Those guys are jerks.

-  I was stunned Tubby wasn't running any kind of a press to try to jump start the tempo of the game, since it was obvious from the beginning (and should have been obvious before the game, based on stats) that Northwestern was going to try to limit the number of possessions in the game.  I give him a little bit of credit for at least figuring that out in the second half, even if the full court pressure was more of a token man-to-man the half-court man trap definitely got the game moving.  With the pressure upped it caused more steals and more shots from the Wildcats earlier in the shot clock, which led to more opportunities in transition where Northwestern got killed by Michigan and, sure enough, the Gophers had a significant advantage and it's basically what changed the game.  Once again, I'm right.

-  The Gophers' edge in athleticism also manifested itself, along with their size advantage, on the boards where Minnesota grabbed as many offensive boards as Northwestern had total, and the overall rebounding margin was 45-20 in their favor.  Northwestern just had no answer.  I will say that Alex Olah is eventually going to be really, really annoying.  He's already a beast size wise and is just a freshman, and even though he got pretty well schooled by Mbakwe in this game it'd be hard to find a freshman big man who wouldn't.  I may be overrating him a bit but it wouldn't surprise me at all if he ends up a double-double guy by the end of his career.  That's assuming he progresses in his game and gets quicker and more athletic.  If not, well, hello Luka Mirkovich v. 2.0.

-  Despite all that goodness, the turnovers are still rough.  The Gophers gave it away 15 times against a team that doesn't cause very many of them.  This needs to change, or it good be the difference between a great season and merely a very good one.

-  I think the Austin Hollins run of five three-pointers was the most fun I've had at a game all year.  The Rodney and Mbakwe dunks (and Coleman, I suppose) might be more individually exciting, but there's just something fun about a guy just being absolutely on fire from 3.  I just love watching the heat checks.  Like how Hollins' third three pointer was probably a little bit of a bad decision but who cares because he already hit two, and then his fourth was just a deep, deep three-ball he never would have taken if he hadn't hit three already.  Just fun to see.  The Gophers may not have a reliable shooter this year (sorry but no, they don't) but they have two guys who could hit eight in a game and it would phase me.  And they're both named Hollins! What are the odds?!!?!??!?

-  Speaking of Mbakwe dunks, how terrifying was that absolute monster he threw down?  This one:



I think my favorite part is how there are four Northwestern players near the lane and none of them do anything about it, especially Swopshire who just kind of chills out and watches.  Not that I can blame him, I'm actually surprised there isn't anybody actively running out of the lane, which is would I'd do.  That's one of those where if they were still using the same kind of back boards from back in the Shaq and Jerome Lane days there'd be a rain of glass and a healthy delay. 

-  Wally Ellenson certainly isn't shy.  Six shots in six minutes.  He's obviously not shy, and his amazing jumping ability means he can probably get that jumper off against almost anybody.  He looks like he's heading for an instant offense type role off the bench next season.  Assuming he makes enough shots, since the difference between instant offense and chucker is merely how many go in.

-  For Northwestern, I thought both Reggie Hearn and Jared Swopshire looked good.  Hearn had some real nice moves, although you could tell he was still hurting.  It's no surprise he's their leading scorer.  As for Swopshire, he looked really good on a few plays but then would disappear for long stretches.  He actually reminded me so much of Dan Coleman it was incredible.  Excellent tools - athletic, skilled, tall, good shooter - but for whatever reason just completely disappeared at times.  I'm convinced Northwestern has enough good role players to be at least a fringe bubble team, but nobody to pull them altogether.  Would have been interesting to see this group with Crawford. 'Tis a true shame.

-  I also can't believe they managed to find a little Shurna clone with a worse haircut.  How two different D-I caliber players can both have that same ugly jumper - but both still be good shooters - and both end up at Northwestern is uncanny.  I spent at least five minutes at the game convincing to my dad that "that guy with the funny shot" actually graduated and this was a brand new guy.  Thanks Kale (lol nice name) Abrahamson.  Looking forward to three more years of that.

-  Finally, speaking of my dad, I mentioned on Twitter that he was the Season Ticket Holder of the Game since he's had tickets since the mid-60s.   Was pretty cool overall.  We (me and Snacks got to go up with him since we're his sons) got to go to halfcourt and they made the announcement and took pictures and he got a ball autographed by Tubby that Snacks and I are already fighting over.  The only negative was that god damn Goldy.  He kept touching our heads and photo-bombing the pictures my mom was trying to take from the stands and just being a general nuisance, as mascots are known to be.  Seriously, what must be wrong in someone's head to make a grown man/woman actually want to be a mascot?  Being a cheerleader is weird enough but at least you get to grab chick's asses and hang out with them on road trips and stuff.  Being a mascot is just sociopathic.  At least Snacks got a little revenge, turning to Goldy after the pictures were done and telling him, "We're going to photoshop you right out of there."  The dumbass mascot seemed legitimately disappointed that someone didn't like him, which, again, points to sociopathic tendencies.  As usual, I'm always right.

;-  Up next is the toughest road trip of the year, and it's a good time for it.  Going to Illinois (who just crushed Ohio State) and Indiana is one hell of a test.  If the Gophers manage to win one of these you can go ahead and up your expectations of the team a bit.  Even if they lose both they still look like a Sweet 16 team, and who can complain about that other than Fat Reusse?

Gophers vs. NDSU Live Blog

I couldn't make it to the game tonight, but will be watching live, so why not live blog for the first time this year?  I used to do this to some critical acclaim, so might as well fire it up.

20:00 - Announcer guys point out Tubby has 113 career wins with Minnesota.  Pretty sure nearly 4 of those are against good Big 10 teams.  Need to double that up this year.

20:00 - How bad is that Kevin Correia signing by the way?  And 2 years!??!??  He's a right-handed, National Leagued Nick Blackburn and they already tried that last year with Jason Marquis.  I guess somebody has to mop up the fifth spot, but why not let's the kids throw rather than burning it on a younger Marquis?  Or, they think he can be the #3 guy, which is the worst thing I've ever heard.

20:00 - ZOMBIE NATION!! Oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh, oh oh

19:47 - Elliott Elliason draws a quick foul.  Unguardable.

19:43 - Rodney with a long 2.  Terrible shot, but it went down.  Gonna be an easy game if that's happening.

18:38 - NDSU plan seems to be get the ball to Bjorklund on the block against Elliason, and Gophers are content to not help, which is a good call since NDSU shoots the three so well.  They've gone to him on all three possessions so far and gotten a block shot by Elliason, a hoop, and a 3-second call.  And, not for nothing, but Elliason needs to be able to handle Summit League big men before he can get a lot of conference minutes.

17:21 - Joe Coleman gets lost on defense again (although to be fair he's been MUCH better this year) which leads to a wide open monster dunk by NDSU white guy, which is actually the kind of play you can't let the Bison get off because pretty soon they're going to "start to believe they can win" which is a total cliche but cliches are true for a reason and I really don't want these farmer dorks hanging around.

16:55 - Coleman gets burned by the guy with the ball after not switching quickly enough off a pick.  He is a truly horrendous defender.

16:04 - Both Hollins's have missed open threes.  Don't like how this game is going.  Not just the score (9-4 NDSU) but everything about it.  This game is french fried taters and I'm the opposite of the sling blade guy.

15:30 - Rodney dunk.  He has all six for the Gophers.  At least he looks good.

15:03 - Going to TV timeout at 9-6 NDSU with Dre going to the line.  Gophers really upped the intensity all of a sudden.   Hopefully that translates into you know, winning, and stuff.

15:03 - Weird D-Backs and Indians trade just went down.  Looks like a 6-player swap of prospects and middle relievers.  The bad news?  Trevor Bauer to the Indians.  Would really prefer to NOT have him in the AL Central.  Felt the same way about Chris Sale, and see?  I'm always right.

14:57 - Andre missed both.  Sweet heavens of jesus wept.

13:41 - All they do is run Felt (big-time 3-point guy) around screens the whole time he's in there.  Good test for Austin since you know he's going to be getting all the toughest defensive assignments.  Well him or Joe Coleman.

12:51 - Maverick throws the ball directly to a NDSU player.  He was trying to hit Oto on the wing though, so it's probably a wash.

12:25 - I'm going to pretend Welch tried to bank that one.

11:59 - Felt drives into the lane and manages to get called for a charge and airball a floater at the same time.  I'm guessing that's why they tell you to hang out on the perimeter, wiener.

11:34 - Has Oto gone retarded?

11:28 - I think there may have been more to that trade.  I'm only getting partial info from Twitter and it's too hard to search for it while trying to count how many passes Osenieks can drop on one possession.  Also, Mbakwe grabbing every board in sight right now.  13-12 Gophers.

10:48 - Ahanmisi hits the 3-ball off a Mbakwe kick out (3 fantasy points for me!).  I hate to say it - like really really hate it - but he's not been completely horrendous this year.

9:39 - Welch/Ahanmisi/Osenieks/Ingram/Mbakwe is not a good look.  There's nobody in that group who can create offense.  Mbakwe is the closest thing but I don't know if it's the knee or what but he doesn't seem to have much of a post game this year.

8:16 - This appears to be one of those games where Coleman plays with his head in his rectum.

7:58 - Did you ever stop and think that the classic Christmas song "Baby It's Cold Outside" is about date rape?  Think about it.

7:11 - I don't take back what I said about Coleman, but my goodness is he clever when he has the ball in the lane.  Probably from playing in the driveway with the taller Dan growing up.  Then again, he probably could just bump Dan once and he'd quit and go inside to play Bubble Bobble.

5:36 - Rodney Williams with a 360 that somehow managed to also be an absolute hammer dunk.  Got to be #1 on SportsCenter.  They like dunks and stuff.  Gophers 26, NDSU 20.

4:41 - I cannot decide if Mo Walker looks good or horrible.  It's the same every game.  He's a two-face.

4:14 - Wait, a two face either looks good or bad.  Mo is a decision I just can't make.  Rather than a two face he's more like Michelle Williams or Robin Tunney.

2:40 - Back to back 5 second calls.  You don't see that every day.  Or ever.

0:53 - Tip-jam for Mbakwe.  Does my heart good to see it.  Like a bunny holding a kitten.

0:00 - Hollins' three as the half ends and the Gophers close on an 8-0 to go into the half up 11.  They should (SHOULD) just need to just keep putting the hammer down to win this one easily.  We shall see.

0:00 - Rodney dunk already on youtube thanks to zipsofakron who writes either for the Gopher Hole, From the Barn, or both:

0:00 - So this has nothing to do with the Gophers, but I can't stop laughing at this Jay Cutler story since I read about it about a week ago.  I mean, it could be a completely random time of the day with nothing going on and I'll think about it and just laugh.

Friend is in a bar in Chicago during the off-season. He goes to the bathroom and sees Jay Cutler, hat on backwards, taking a piss at the urinal. So the guy starts going to the bathroom and says, “Hey, I’m a huge fan, also went to Vanderbilt… ”
Jay throws his head back, still pissing, eyes half-closed because he’s drunk, interrupts him with, “DOOOONNNNTTTTTT CAAAAAARRRREEEEEE.”

 Cannot stop giggling.  Like a little girl.

20:00 - Choo to Cincy is the main piece of the trade, with the Indians getting Bauer and Drew Stubbs.  I can't wait to watch Stubbs face Correia.  The stoppable force vs. the movable object when it comes to strikeouts.  Gonna be sweet.

17:23 - 37-29 Gophers.  I missed the start of the half because I was melting american cheese on saltines which is delicious and Mbakwe is already in.  Maybe he started the second half which maybe we are done with this nonsense.

16:44 - Mbakwe with 10 boards already.  Looking pretty good.  Twitter nerds attacking that dude who wrote how he "had no explosiveness" anymore.  Relax, nerds.  So Trevor dunked.  He didn't even do a 360 or anything.  I'm going to go make this same joke on twitter now, as I watch Mbakwe make another lay-up against some hapless fool.

15:43 - Dre Hollins takes it to the rack 1-on-4 in transition, has it knocked away out of bounds.  I don't care what fundamental dorks say, I like a little reckless in my PG.

15:26 - Gophers realizing NDSU can't deal with either Rodney Williams or Mbakwe down low and just feeding the post.  Nice to see them appear as if they are coached.  For the last several years, whether Tubby was coaching or not, it sure didn't look like it.

14:29 - Mbakwe air-balls a free throw.  That's his second one this year (at least).  Between that and Andre Hollins actually missing free throws something weird is going on.  Even more weird?  Coleman, Elliason, and Williams all hitting 70%.  It's kind of like when you're playing Contra and you lose all your lives but player 2 has some left so you just steal one.

 13:30 - 49-32 Gophers and looking like they've taken control.  Best news of this game is that Mbakwe is looking a lot like his old self tonight, absolutely crashing the boards with reckless abandon with 13 boards and 6 on the offensive end.  Remember last year when he'd all of a sudden just decide, "yeah, I'm going to get every missed shot now"?  It's like that.  In sad news, do you realize when Williams and Mbakwe graduate next year's big man duo will be Elliason and Walker.  Oof.

12:55 - Andre Ingram would be a very promising sophomore.

12:08 - Osenieks really shoots like a shooter.  He doesn't make them like a shooter, but he shoots like one.

9:45 - The way Walker has played tonight, and he just missed a lay-up, I'm starting to think he's not a two face he's just ugly.  I'll give him the benefit of the doubt since he's still dealing with coming back from an injury, but that feels like an excuse.  That's an excuse, isn't it?  It is.  I knew it.

7:28 - Gophers trying to let NDSU back in the game here up just 57-45 now.  Good thing NDSU is terrible.

6:43 - Wow.  Rodney Williams just blows right by his guy coming from the perimeter, then when dude overcommits to stop the drive he stops on a dime, pivots in the other direction, and hits the turnaround jumper.  NBA level move right there.

4:42 - Another rebound for Mbakwe.  That's like, 15 or something.  Austin hits a J on the break and Gophers up 66-50.  I'm getting tired.

3:37 - Wally Ellenson on the floor for the Gophers.  I guess we solved the question of the redshirt.  And he immediately turns it over.  Great.

2:55 - Ellenson nearly turns it over again but is bailed out with a foul call.  EVERYTHING IS GOING GREAT!

1:40 - Ellenson continues to play like a walk-on.  I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, obviously since it's his first game, but not exactly impressed.  Gophers up 70-57.  Line is 14.

0:00 - Gophers win 70-57.  Do not cover.

Gopher Hoop Recruiting Update

Oh, fall.  The time of year where the leaves are changing, Halloween is right around the corner, and people are obsessing over football.  With women putting back on the baggy sweaters and nary a short skirt or cleavage to be seen, where else can a man's mind turn other than the wonders of college basketball.  With college basketball preview magazines starting to hit your local newsstand, I figured it's time to get to moving.  Right around the corner we'll start up some of the award winning conference previews I do here every year, but before we look ahead let's look further ahead.  The Gophers are still in the hunt for some interesting players for 2012-2013, including a few who have visited or will visit in this key early signing period.  Let's talk about a few.  All player rankings from Rivals.com because that's where I have a membership. 

-  C Adam Woodbury (Sioux City, IA); 7-0, 230 lbs; #7 center, #42 overall.  The highest ranked recruit left the Gophers have offered (and third highest overall), Woodbury would be an incredible coup if Tubby could snag him.  Not just because of his talent, which is considerable, but because of the competition for it.  Not only would he be battling some top clubs (Ohio State, North Carolina, possibly Kansas and Duke as well), but he'd also be going against Woodbury's home town team (Iowa) who has only one scholarship remaining and can really focus on him, as well as recruiting nemesis Bo Ryan and Wisconsin.

The good news, however, is that there a few reasons for optimism.  The first is that Woodbury is from Iowa, and everybody knows that people from Iowa are afraid of the city and anywhere that isn't the midwest, so Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa definitely have the advantage here.  I also found an interview with him where he specifically calls out the Gophers (along with Ohio State, Stanford, and Iowa) as having been recruiting him the longest - not his favorites, although he doesn't claim any favorites right now - but those who have been after him for awhile.  That's a nice positive.  The Buckeyes also seem like they've put him on the back burner a bit - another positive.

If I had to bet money, and I probably would if I could find a site with this bet, I'd guess he's either heading to North Carolina (small townish and his AAU teammate Marcus Paige is already heading there) or Iowa (home town team).  But, if he wants to break away from home, but not too far away from home, and thinks about his midwest roots and which teams have shown him loyalty and love from the beginning, he'll probably go to Wisconsin.  But if they pull their offer or run out of schollys then the Gophers have a chance.

-  C A.J. Hammons (Mouth of Wilson, VA); 7-0, 260 lbs.; #18 center, #123 overall.  This is the guy I'd call the most important name of this group, mainly because I think he's the guy they have the best shot at snagging.  He's a midwestern kid from Indiana who is playing out in Virginia after transferring to Oak Hill Basketball Factory Academy, but who had said at one point that he wanted to play in the Big 10.  The Gophers have stiff competition here because Indiana and Illinois have both offered and Purdue is in the mix, but I'm giving the Gophers a very slight edge because Hammons has mentioned the Gophers specifically in an interview as a team that's been in the mix for a while and also because he counts his mom as helping him to make his decision, and you know Tubby kills it with moms.

Personally, I'd love to get this kid because he's 6-11 or seven feet tall but has measured at a 7-3 wingspan and is generally regarded as one of the best defensive centers in this class with good strength and excellent rebounding and defensive instincts who can score in the post from either block.  That's just an awesome description.  Of course, since he's not ranked #1 there are some negatives which include conditioning (can be mixed) and motivation (a bit nervous here thanks to 3 years of Ralph).  I figure his downside is pretty much Ralph Sampson, so let's get this get on board.  According to Chris Monter at gopherhole.com he's visiting this weekend, so let's hope we hear some really good news soon.

-  SF Andrew White (Chester, VA); 6-6, 210 lbs; #12 SF, #56 overall.  Probably the least likely get on this list, but I'm including him because there's nothing out there to say the Gophers are out of the picture.  There's no real good news here either.  White has 25 offers, including Texas, Kansas, Maryland, Louisville and like everybody.  He's also already visited (unofficially) 5-6 schools and has officials setup to 3 more, none of which are the Gophers.  I can't come up with a single reason this guy would end up at a Gopher, but he mentions his dad as an integral part of making his decision, and, as I mentioned earlier Tubby is great with parents.  Moreso with Moms, but if you get the crazy involved dad who really wants his kid to grow up to be  a man and get an education Tubby could sway him.  If you get the crazy dad whose looking to maximize his son as an asset to get his payday Tubby doesn't have a chance, but we already did that dance with the Kardashian kid, and I'm not interested in an encore anyway.  Unless of course we get Kim here somehow.  I could get down with that.   


-  SG Sherron Dorsey-Walker (Detroit, MI); 6-4, 175 lbs.; #24 SG, #122 overall.  Another guy who fits the combo-guard mold that Tubby seems to be after these days, another guy like White who has been collecting offers because he's up to 16.  Even though I prefer a pure point guard and thena  couple wings, Memphis under Calipari and Huggins' WVU teams intrigued me with their collection of interchangeable parts, and I think if they get this guy they are pretty much going to be doing that, at least with the perimeter players. 

From the sounds of things his upside is pretty huge.  I can't find any references to weakness and at some pint in the various articles I've seen shooting, ball-handling, passing, and driving and scoring at the rim listed as strengths which I guess probably means he isn't the best defender since I can't find any reference to that but whatever since that's the only thing Tubby really truly knows how to teach and with his athleticism I'm sure he could be a capable defender in no time. Well lookit here, I've apparently talked myself right into this kid.

He says he's planning to commit sometime in October and the Gophers are very much in the mix.  He has visits planned already for B.C., Temple, and Iowa State (damn you Hoiberg!  :shakesfist:), but lists the Gophers amongst the teams he's considering for his final two visits (along with VA Tech, Florida State, and Baylor).  Maybe I'm crazy at this point, but I still believe whenever Tubby gets this close he's got a chance.  He mentions Tubby and his respect and good feeling about him in one of his interviews.  Of course he also said he was planning on making his decision in August and yet here we are so maybe he's just a pathological liar.

-  PF Chad Rykhoek (Fort Worth, TX); 6-9, 215 lbs.; #39 PF, #135 overall.  He could be the first one to sign somewhere, whether with the Gophers or elsewhere, since he's already said he's planning to commit during the early period which ends in November.  That's bad news for the Gophers because he's already set up four official campus visits for the coming months (Missouri, Rice, Colorado, and Nebraska) and is trying to decide which school he wants to make his fifth official - SMU, North Texas, TCU, Drake, or the Gophers.  SMU is his home town school and he mentions Drake as having been after him the longest, so they have the inside track, but Minnesota is the highest profile program of those five so who knows.  I'd probably write the kid off as the Gophers not having a shot, but that seems like a fairly underwhelming list of offers, no?  And in the few interviews I read he doesn't seem like he's exactly chomping at the bit to sign with any of them, so I'll give Tubby and the Gophers an outside shot here.


I didn't bother discussing Jevontae Hawkins because he seems like he's practically a done deal for West Virginia and even if he isn't I don't think the Gophers can steal him away.  I also didn't include Jodan Price who dropped the Gophers from consideration after they signed Wally Ellenson or Demarquise Johnson who looks like he's going to stay somewhere out west.

As far as a list of target's for the spring session I think it's solid.  The team will probably have two scholarships or so, so you don't want to overextend yourself if these are the guys you want.  Keep in mind the three guys I didn't include plus Ellenson mean they've offered nine guys and that doesn't include guys who they offered who signed elsewhere (including recent losses Brandon Taylor to Penn State (ouch) and Nick Banyard to New Mexico (double outch)).

I like the quality here as well.  Outside of home town kids I think if Tubby focuses on the players in the #50-#150 range that's how he can build up the program.  Getting kids of that caliber (AND KEEPING THEM, DAMMIT) can help create a winning program that will allow him to sweet talk some top 50 types once in a while.  Plus, since he's allegedly a good coach who can coach players up, that level of player should be perfect - talented enough to develop into a great player, but not so talented they already think they can't really be coached - not that that stops Calipari.  I'm just afraid that if they whiff on all these kids or get strung out too long they're going to end up in a scramble situation again and end up with lower tier talent again.  Self-perpetuating and self-defeated cycle, and I think they're already scrambling on the edge to stay off that ride.

One guy I wish they'd offer is PG Ray Lee from Michigan, who has already said he wants to play out of state so that takes Izzo (and Beilein) out of the running.  He's a big kid at 6-3 and ranked #142 overall in the country.  His number 1 priority is playing time, and with the Gophers absolutely refusing to address their PG problem he'd be perfect.  The problem?  Priority #2 is "an offense that is fast paced and allows the freedom to drive and create while being allowed to play through mistakes."

Cue:  sad trombone sound.

WAAAH WAAAH WAAAH WAAAHAAAAHAAAAH.

Gophers get started on 2012 class

Two quick things before we get to the sportsy stuff:

1. Words like "mitigate" and "optimize" sound great when presenting something, but they completely lose their effectiveness if you say "um" before them each time you use them.  It ends up having the opposite effect you're going for and you just sound like someone who is trying to use big words but is very uncomfortable with them.  Stop, and learn how to speak in public.  They have classes for this now.
2. When there is a meeting where one person is presenting and informing others it is still just called a meeting.  It is not, under any circumstances, to be called a "download."  I'm not making this up.  Don't we have enough bastardized words shoe-horned into every day parlance without making up more?  It's not a download.  It's just a meeting.  Stop this immediately, if not sooner.

Thanks for listening.  And go:

As I mentioned in the headline, Gopher hoops signed their first dude for 2012.  This actually happened a couple days ago, but like NBC always said if you haven't seen it, it's new to you.  Said signee is Wally Ellenson, a shooting guard out of Rice Lake, WI who is a bit of an anomaly in that he's a white dude whose best skills are his athleticism and dunking ability (which would explain why Bo Ryan had no interest).  I've read that he needs to do some work on his ball-handling and passing skills, so I don't think he's a potential answer to the point guard issue the Gophers.  I've also read varying reports on his shooting, from that he's a deadeye to that it's something he needs to work on.

Ellenson is really a bit of a mystery to those that haven't seen him play, which would include myself.  Rivals doesn't rank him (which means they haven't scouted him).  Scout doesn't rank him (ditto).  ESPN gives him an 89, although what that means I couldn't possibly tell you, and ranks him as the 36th best SG in the class but doesn't give us a scouting report.  We know he's a great athlete because he is a state champion high jumper and holds his school's record in that event, and we know he must have some skill since he was also offered by West Virginia, Washington, and Oklahoma State, amongst others.

Despite a bit of mystery I'm on board with this signing.  Check out this roster for the 2012 season:  Ellenson, the two Hollins, Mo Walker, Oto Osenieks, Joe Coleman, Maverick, Chip Armelin, Elliott Eliason, Andre Ingram, Julian Welch, and Rodney Williams assuming he doesn't go pro, along with another scholarship.  Notice anything?  That is a whole shitload of interchangeable parts.  Obviously Walker, Eliason, Osenieks, Maverick, and Welch don't fit that mold, but most of the rest of these guys can do a little bit of everything and fill a lot of different roles with their athleticism.  You've got Rodney, Coleman, Armelin, both HOllins's, and Ingram who are all plus athletes with varying degrees of ball-handling ability - that sounds a lot like both Memphis's Final Four team and West Virginia's Final Four team.

I'm not saying they'll have that kind of talent, but intentional or not Tubby seems to amassing that type of team, and it gives you all sorts of options.  If they can pick up a big man who has some perimeter skills - and no, I don't mean a dandy like Rick Rickert or Ralph Sampson who prances around the three-point line in their metaphorical sun dress - somebody like a Jon Leuer or JaJuan Johnson (although likely far less talented) I am really going to be pleased with the direction they're heading in. 

Of course if Welch was playing at UC-Davis for a reason and the new Hollins really is more of a shooting guard/wing than a combo guard/point guard (my fear) and they have to have Ahanmisi do the majority of the ball-handling this is all moot anyway and we might as well start lining up to watch the Lynx.  Let's move on to happier things.

Happier as in happy 1st birthday to Baby Ben^TM. Hard to believe it's been a year already, and I'm now realizing that I never really talk about my stupid kids on here anymore.  Well Benny's all dude, and just wants to play sports all day.  As a one-year old that just means picking up a random ball, throwing, and crawling after it mostly, but he has mastered picking up a ball and putting it in the little kiddie hoop we have already.  Future super star, although the bad news is he's pretty clearly right-handed.  His other favorite past times include playing with cars, banging shit together, and throwing things that aren't balls across the room.

As far as Wonderbaby^TM goes, she's now 3-years old and although she loves climbing things, running around outside, and playing with rocks and dirt, she's also got a "pure girly girl" streak running through her.  The other day we were sitting around and I asked her if she wanted to watch my animated copy of "The Hobbit" on DVD and her first question was, "Does it have a princess in it?"  So yeah.  But at least she loves Phineas and Ferb, which is a kid's cartoon but is also one of the funniest shows on TV.  Even better, I'm finding out that Dad's love the show and Mom's hate it, which is exactly what I want to raise my kids on.  They both get a nice sampling of Boy Meets World and Saved by the Bell, too.  Father of the year?  Yes, Father of the Year.

The boy, showing a nice jock/nerd mix:

The Girl, being a delightfully weird 3-year old:

 

And a closer up pic of the girl so you can see how cute she is: