Iowa - 50
Minnesota - 63
BOX SCORE
I'll try to make this quick (although I tend to ramble).
This game really did feel as though we were in control whenever we wanted to be, but letting them back into the game was troubling.
Iowa made a nice 2nd half run to take a brief lead at what I 'think' was 42-41, but that was it and the Gophers dominated the rest of the game. I got the feeling that the Gophers were more disinterested than anything else. Tubby called a time out, they looked up at the scoreboard and thought "what? we're losing?" Then they flipped the switch and won. The problem is we are not nearly good enough to flip a switch or take 10 min off during the game.
Some threes from Freeman and Johnson were expected (7 combined), what was nice is that they didn't shoot a great percentage and the Gophers won the other necessary battles.
Here is what I liked...
** We rebounded. If you were able to watch the game you might have heard the announcers mention that Iowa did not get an offensive rebound until very late in the game (if you didn't get to see it, they may have mentioned that stat only about 39 times). That is something we just don't see from this team and it helped a lot towards this W.
** Abu-Shamala starting. I am NOT a big fan of Jamal's game or talent. BUT he adds a steadying influence on the game. He boxed out well he kept his guy in front of him and he took a charge to start the 2nd half. He is not all that talented but he isn't skiddish either.
** Al Nolen is back. He was given credit for 3 steals but once again I think our stat crew was watching goldy spin his head around and missed a couple. His ability to anticipate and get his hands on balls reminds me of Bobby Jackson. Offensively he has plenty of room to grow but defensively he is a LOT of fun to watch. Oh, and he had 8 assists!
What I didn't like? - I didn't like our lack of focus for about 6 min in the 2nd half. We were controlling the boards, getting steals and beating Iowa at their own game, but we let them creep back into it and take a brief lead. We won't be able to get away with that tomorrow vs. Illinois.
Player of the Game - Al Nolen
11 pts (all in 2nd half)
8 assists
4 reb
3 steals
Just a great game for the freshman. Any thoughts of him hitting a wall were dispelled for now. What are his chances for making the All Big Ten Defensive team as a freshman?
Tempo-free Zone - just the stats m'am
Rebounding 90% of their misses and turning them over 35% of the time more than makes up for their shooting percentage.
Up Next? - Illinois
This will be a great home test. To date we have lost to every team with an RPI in the 1-100 range and we have beat every team with an RPI of 101 or greater. Illinois stands at an RPI around 123 so history should suggest that we will win this game.
The Illini are starting to play better. They have lost three in a row but @MSU (by 10), Pur (by 8) and Indiana (in OT) is no worse than what you'd expect MN to do in that stretch. They are playing better and this will be a very good test for us. It won't be that defining win we so desire but it is a win we'll need to be at least 9-9.
February 11, 2008
Breaking Down the Box - Iowa
GN Power Poll - week 6
Here is my official no frills B10 Power Poll.
1. Purdue - Do I hear a "this is our house" chant coming from Boilermakers in Madison?
2. Indiana - 2 nice road wins last week, now they get the gauntlet of tough teams
3. Wisconsin - if they didn't have to play Purdue they'd be #1
4. Michigan State - I can't get over loss to Penn State
5. Ohio State - came back to the pack a bit but should have a couple wins this week
6. Minnesota - beats every team below but loses to every team above
7. Illinois - lost 3 straight but they scare me this week
8. Iowa - if they played all home games they might be dangerous
9. Michigan - did Pryor commit yet?
10. Penn State - credit for MSU win is negated by Michigan loss
11. Northwestern - officially I feel sorry for the Wildcats
February 8, 2008
Iowa @ Minnesota - Preview
As stated by me previously and PJS in his Iowa preview, the initial reaction to only playing the Hawkeyes at home was disappointing. The more road games you can play against the bottom 3 teams in the league the more road games you have a chance to win. Iowa was bad last year and appeared to be in a Tim Brewster type rebuilding mode this year. After an uninspiring 7-6 non-conference record I was certain the Hawkeyes would be fighting with Northwestern and Michigan to stay out of 11th.
BUT the Hawkeyes are playing much better than they were in December and are fighting with the Gophers for 6th in the conference. So with that all said, I am grateful that we don't have to make the trip to Iowa City this year.
Match Ups - all match ups go in favor of the Gophers with the lone possible exception of Justin Johnson and Hoffarber. Were this game played in Iowa City the match ups would look different.
Westbrook vs. Tony Freeman - Freeman is a nice junior point guard for the Hawks, he is quick and leads the team in scoring. I'm giving this edge to the defensive combo of Westbrook and Nolen. Freeman can get to the land and score but he is also prone to turnovers averaging 4.5 turnovers per Big Ten road game. Freeman is capable of scoring a ton and carrying Iowa to an upset (or near upset) but Westbrook and Nolen play good defense and should keep him contained.
Hoffarber vs. Justin Johnson (pictured right) - this is the guy to look out for. At 6'6" Johnson has good size and has been an outstanding shooter for the Hawkeyes this year. Johnson has hit six or more threes in a game five times this season. He seems to be much more comfortable at home as he is averaging 14.6 ppg at home (prior to Wis game) and 9 ppg on the road. With the Hoff getting the start this is a match up of two of the most dangerous three point shooters in the nation. They key will be defending Johnson and not letting him get comfortable.
Abu-Shamala vs. Jake Kelly - in 11 Big Ten games Kelly has scored 3 or fewer points in 5 of them. While Abu-Shamala does very little to get me excited I think he's capable of winning this match up.
Coleman vs. Cyrus Tate - 6'8" junior who isn't setting the world on fire with scoring (6.3) or rebounding (4.6) but he has increased production in both areas during the Big Ten season. But this is one that Coleman can not only win but dominate. DC averaged 17.5 vs. Iowa last year and I'm counting on 16+ tomorrow as well.
Tollackson vs. Seth Gorney - 7' senior center who is averaging an uninspiring 4 pts and 5 reb per game. I don't expect Tollackson to exactly dominate in the paint but this is a match up he should win.
BENCH - Iowa goes about two deep with Looby backing up the frontcourt and freshman Jeff Peterson contributing turnovers minutes to the backcourt. Add their short bench to the fact that McKenzie and Johnson will be coming off the bench, the gophers bench should dominate the Iowa bench. I'd like to see a tighter rotation allowing the top 8 or so Gophers get more experience playing together and seeing very little of Williams, Payton and Busch.
Keys
1. Turnovers - Minnesota is near the tops in the nation forcing turnovers while Iowa ranks 318th in the nation turning the ball over on over 25% of their possessions. But in addition to forcing turnovers we need to reverse a recent trend of turning the ball over ourselves.
2. Tempo - Iowa is a half court team that will score and defend you if the game is a half court game. We need to force turnovers and keep the game moving along. We are not a great scoring team in the half court (lack of athletes) so we need to dictate tempo.
3. Stopping JJ - He isn't exactly Redick, but Justin Johnson can take over a game. Keep him from hitting eight threes and we should be fine. Hoffarber will start out on him but I would expect to see Damian Johnson winning the Johnson vs. Johnson match up. I see Damian getting a big perimeter block on Justin and that will slow JJ's trigger just a little bit.
Prediction
This game does not worry me (although maybe it should). I think we match up well and since the game is at home I see no reason we can't win this game by double digits. Coach Lickliter has his team playing better and competing (even beating-GASP) with the best of the Big Ten. But I like how we match up.
Gophers control tempo, get several easy baskets and win.
Minnesota - 71
Iowa - 59
February 6, 2008
Minnesota doesn't have an ocean or mountains...
That was basically Glen Mason's motto, but Tim Brewster must have convinced kids from around the country that Minnesota is warm, has an ocean and mountains.
Today is National Signing Day and this is a big day for Gopher Football.
(and I totally stole that icon from ESPN, don't tell 'em)
Tim Brewster came in just over a year ago and promised a couple of things. 1-Rose Bowl was the goal and 2-he and his staff would recruit tirelessly to bring in a new level of talent. So far he has delivered 50% of his initial press conference promises.
I have not avidly covered Gopher recruiting before this year but by most accounts this is probably the most talented recruiting class in decades. In the age of internet coverage take a look at the Rivals.com ranking of recent Gopher classes...
| National Rank | B10 Rank | Key Players | |
| 2008 | 17th | 3rd | several key players |
| 2007 | 57th | 8th | Anthony Jacobs |
| 2006 | 62nd | 9th | Adam Weber, Dom Alford |
| 2005 | 55th | 10th | Alex Daniels, Ned Tevale |
| 2004 | 58th | 9th | Dom Barber |
| 2003 | 37th | 4th | Lawrence Maroney, Tony Brinkhouse |
| 2002 | 55th | 9th | Greg Eslinger, Matt Spaeth |
Say what you want about Brewster's results in his first season on the field, but there is no denying his talent for recruiting players. He pulled in a top 20 class (3rd in the Big Ten) coming off a 1-11 season.
| Nntl Rnk | Big10 Rnk | |
| Rivals.com | 17 | 3rd |
| Tom Lemming | 3rd | |
| Scout.com | 24 | 4th |
| ESPN Insider | 4th |
Of course Rivals rankings and star ratings are far from a perfect science (FAR from it). Star ratings give us some indication of the incoming talent but the transition from high school to major college competition is more than some kids can handle. The mark of a great recruiting class is one that finds the 2 and 3 star kids who become stars of your football team. Time will tell if Brewster has an eye for true talent, but there is no denying that he will be able to upgrade the overall depth of talent for Gopher fans.
As posted below the Gophers are bringing in seven 4-star recruits with this class (a total of four 4-start in previous six years). These kids should headline this particular recruiting class. The hope is that all of these kids all live up to their 4-star rating AND some of the 2 or 3-star kids become diamonds in the rough.
Below I am going to list the 4-star kids, the guys I think will be pleasant surprises and then the rest of this massive recruiting class.
4-Star Commits
QB - MarQues Gray - strong arm, fast, athletic and should be the perfect fit for the Spread Coast Offense down the road.
2008 impact: likely redshirt
S - Keanon Cooper - very late commit, starred on a dominant defense in Texas that was a quarter finalist in the 5A State tournament.
2008 impact: should be given every opportunity to start at SS
WR - Brandon Green - well over 1,000 yds receiving in his sr. season and 20+ TDs in both his jr and sr seasons.
2008 impact: likely starter
WR - Vincent Hill - prep school recruit who has decent size and is strong. Hill did not put up great numbers this year at Milford Academy but should be a regular contributor soon.
2008 impact: likely contributor, not a starter
LB - Sam Maresh - the one Minnesota kid who could have gone anywhere and is staying home. Should be a fan favorite from the beginning. Good size and physically may be ready to play immediately.
2008 impact: a real chance to start at MLB
ATH - David Pittman - JUCO recruit who played QB last year. Incredibly athletic and will be an impact player, position is yet to be determined. Could be WR, QB, DB or returner. Pittman is already signed and enrolled at the U in December.
2008 impact: no idea, big wild card, if impact this year I think it will be in return game
CB - Traye Simmons - another JUCO signing. Big Play Traye is a play maker with confidence and the ability to back it up.
2008 impact: starter at CB (pending enrollment)
Pleasant Surprises (8) - 2 or 3 star guys who I think could be impact players
DT - Jewhan Edwards - Big and quick off the ball, Edwards can be a run stopping DT who demands double teams. ESPN ranks Edwards as the #7 DT.
2008 impact: starter at DT
OLB - Spencer Reeves - may be a little on the small side coming in but Reeves is athletic and fast.
2008 impact: should compete for starter at OLB
RB - Kevin Whaley - smallish RB who racked up incredible yards in his high school career (6,300 yds). Had offers from Vir Tech, Penn St and West Virginia.
2008 impact: RB is open for Whaley to compete, should be a contributor
DB - Tramaine Brock - JUCO signee who is potentially a starter at FS. Brock has been clocked at a sub 4.4 forty who can cover and defend the run.
2008 impact: starter at FS
ATH - Troy Stoudermire - explosive athlete who I think will play WR for the Gophers. Could move to DB as well, but the elusive and shifty athlete will be fun Gopher to watch over the next 4 years.
2008 impact: tough to say, could red shirt or contribute as 4th or 5th WR
LB - Rex Sharpe - 6'3", 245 and fast. Sharpe has a nose for the FB and has the size to make an impact right away. JUCO transfer currently enrolled at the U.
2008 impact: could start, will contribute immediately
LB - Gary Tinsley - incoming freshman who will be a LB we will rely on down the road.
2008 impact: I'm guessing red shirt
TE - Eric Lair - big and athletic. I have visions of Lair running down the seem and getting behind the defense having a real impact his last 2 or 3 years as a Gopher.
2008 impact: I'm guessing red shirt
The Rest of the Class (15) - many of these kids will contribute down the road but I expect most will red shirt and help us in a couple years.
WR - Broderick Smith
WR - Xzavian Brandon
Ath - Terrell Combs
Ath - D.L. Wilhite
Ath - John Nance - St. Paul kid
DB - Jonathan Dandridge
DB - Simoni Lawrence
DB - Da'Jon McKnight
DB - Johnny Johnson
RB - Deleon Eskridge
RB - Shady Solomon - St. Paul kid
DT - Brandon Kirksey
DT - Tim McGee
DE - Cedric McKinley
LB - Ryan Grant - Eden Prairie kid
The University's official page has 30 signed athletes (31 if you count Carufel who will sit a year for transferring and be eligible as a sophomore in 2009).
I'll give a little recap of the rest of the Big Ten at a later date, but for now lets enjoy this class and spend tonight dreaming of watching them play in Pasadena!
So now we get to look into the 2009 class!
February 5, 2008
Skyline 3 4
Tomorrow is of course National Signing Day for college football. If you are reading this, you probably already knew that. I'll give a little coverage tomorrow, but it looks like the Gophers have stolen a previously committed 4-star recruit.
A many of you know we have signed a trio of players from Dallas-Skyline.
- 3-star - LB - Spencer Reeves
- 3-star - Ath - Troy Stoudermire (T-Stud)
- 2-star - DB - DaJon McKnight
Cooper makes for the 7th Four-Star recruit to sign with Tim Brewster after his stellar 1-11 season.
The star rankings are far from an exact science but it is the best indicator we have at this point. Tim Brewster's class (more to come later) is clearly the best in decades and ranks as high as 18th nationally.
4-Star Recruits by year...
2008 - 7
2007 - 1
2006 - 0
2005 - 1
2004 - 0
2003 - 2
This should be a fun class to build on and more will follow tomorrow on the class in it's entirety.
Big Ten Power Poll - Week 5
So Purdue garners four, first place votes and is unable to move ahead of Indiana. Very interesting.
- Penn State moves up after their big Spartan upset.
- Minnesota drops behind Iowa
- Wisconsin moves from 3rd to 1st
And I'm not sure what I did wrong but apparently all of the Ohio State bloggers have collectively decided to not participate in this week's power poll. Sorry guys, I won't make fun of you losing to the SEC all of the time.
| Avg Pts | Tot Pnts | ||
| 1. | Wisconsin (9) | 10.64 | 149 |
| 2. | Indiana | 9.21 | 129 |
| 3. | Purdue (4) | 9.07 | 127 |
| 4. | Mich State (1) | 8.29 | 116 |
| 5. | Ohio State | 6.57 | 92 |
| 6. | Iowa | 6.00 | 84 |
| 7. | Minnesota | 4.64 | 65 |
| 8. | Penn State | 4.14 | 58 |
| 9'. | Illinois | 3.21 | 45 |
| 10. | Michigan | 1.93 | 27 |
| 11. | Northwestern | 1.07 | 15 |
PARTICIPATING BLOGS
Big Ten Chronicle - Big 10
Hoopraker - Big 10
Hoosier Report - Ind
Hoosier Fun Ball - Ind
Black Heart Gold Pants - Iowa
Maize n Brew - Mich
MSU Sparty - Mich St
Enlightened Spartan - Mich St
Gopher Nation - Minn
Down With Goldy - Minn
Paging Jim Shikenjanski - Minn
Lake the Posts - NW
Around the Oval - Ohio St
Eleven Warriors - Ohio St
Buckeye Battle Cry - Ohio St
Black Shoes Diary - Penn St
Nittany White Out - Penn St
Off the Tracks - Pur
February 3, 2008
Breaking Down the Box - Wisconsin
Wisconsin - 63
Minnesota - 47
BOX SCORE
While I wasn't anticipating a win, I was at least hopeful for a competitive game. At the very least we needed the three seniors to put up a fight and they were all non-factors. As expected Wisconsin dictated tempo and executed their game plan for 40 min.
This game doesn't hurt much and what will be interesting is how we make adjustments when we travel to Madison in a couple weeks. But today was uninspiring.
Some individual player thoughts...
Westbrook - has been scoring more but he has also turned into a turnover machine. I wouldn't exactly count them as aggressive play that results in a turnover there are at least 2 per game that are just careless and bad decisions.
Hoffarber - Myron Mecalf thinks that the Hoff needs to learn to create his own shot, but he doesn't have that ability in him. He is savvy and a great shooter, but he is not athletic and able to get by people with the dribble. What needs to happen is the rest of the team needs to learn how to get him the ball so he can score. Hoffarber can develop a pump fake, dribble pull-up, but he isn't going to be able to beat people off the dribble, he's just not athletic enough. Ultimately we need to find a way to get him more open looks. If teams are going to glue a man on him we need to make them pay. If the Hoff is on the right wing with a player stuck on him then Nolen/McKenzie/Westbrook need to penetrate that gap on the right and get to the hoop.
Johnson - continues to improve and contribute in a number of ways. Double digit scoring for only the 2nd time since Dec. 12th, but he did so much more than that. 5 blocked shots, 2 assists, 3 reb and a steal are great hustle stats.
Nolen - notched way too many turnovers today but he was a real spark off the bench. 9 rebounds is incredible for Nolen. He was given credit for only 2 steals but I think the scorekeeper missed a couple more. At the very least he was responsible for 4 or 5 Badger turnovers. Unlike Westbrook, Nolen's turnovers were aggressive moves that resulted in Wisconsin getting the ball back.
Tollackson - two numbers jump out; 1 and 4. One rebound for the game and four minutes played in the second half.
McKenzie - paging Lawrence McKenzie...come in Lawrence...are you there?...ANYONE?
Coleman - wouldn't consistency be nice? 9 pts and 4 reb is a very nice first half line when you are playing a rival at home. Seeing DC step up to LEAD this team to a signature win would really be nice to see but currently is is the 'best of the lousiest and the lousiest of the best'.
Bottom of the Bench - I think Tubby needs to reign in his bench. Busch and Payton should not see the floor. Abu-Shamala was a nice story last year but he really shouldn't be playing. Williams is a necessary evil since we have no frontcourt depth. But off the bench it should be Nolen, Hoffarber and Williams in that order.
Player of the Game - Trevon Hughes
20 pts
3 asts
6 steals
Hughes was the best player on the floor. He had a handful of turnovers but his 6 steals more than made up for that. A very impressive game for the sophomore guard.
Temp-Free Zone
This was actually one our better rebounding games, which was probably aided by the Badgers shooting such a high percentage.
The Gophers shot an eFG% of 62% on Thursday @Michigan but that dropped to 39% today.
Up Next?
Can the Gophers get three wins in a row now?
@Northwestern - Wed
Iowa - Sat
Illinois - Tues
Those are all games we should be favored to win and games where we can dictate tempo and play our game. In fact if we win these next three there is a real good chance that we can win 5 of our next 6 and put us 8-5 in conference heading into the last several games.
February 2, 2008
Some thoughts on Big Ten Basketball...
I've been able to watch some basketball today and look forward to watching the big game tomorrow (Wis @ Min of course).
*** To start the season I was a little disappointed that the Gophers only played Iowa once and it was a home game. Obviously my thought process was that any game against a bottom 4 team is preferable to a road game against anybody else. Now I feel fortunate that we don't have to travel to Iowa City.
The Hawkeyes have now beat Michigan State and Ohio State at home, and don't forget the near upset of Indiana. There is a reason they have 6 losses and in the Barn I feel pretty confident that we'll beat them.
*** The vaunted Ohio State zone allowed 11 threes today, including 8 for Justin Johnson. My question is this...Why were the Gophers unable to get any open looks when they played in Columbus last week? We made a total of 6 and Hoffarber was 1/7. Maybe we just didn't shoot it very well, but I think we just didn't get very many good looks.
I hope that Iowa developed a blue print that Tubby and friends will learn to execute on March 1st.
*** What the hell happened to Penn State? This team has looked completely inept since the loss of Claxton (and they weren't much better than inept with him), and now they BEAT? Michigan State? I know it was a home game but the Spartans have been playing great in the last couple weeks. This game has been a lot of fun to watch. The Nittany Lions are finally playing with some fight in them. Again, I'm glad that our only remaining match up on the schedule is at home.
*** There is some very good young talent in the Big Ten. I haven't done any research to compare this to other conferences but the athletic ability and talent of some of these young kids is very good. I'm not talking about Eric Gordon here, I mean there are is a lot of talent that will be in the conference for at least 3 if not 4 years.
Guards
- Kalin Lucas (MSU) - super quick, excellent penetrator and scorer
- Eric Gordon (IU) - leads league in scoring, will likely be gone very soon
- Manny Harris (Mich) - 16.3 ppg, 3 apg and 4.5 reb? He is very good.
- Jordan Crawford (Ind) - 4 games of 16+ pts, a dangerous scorer
- Jon Dielber (OSU) - a dominant scorer who may need a year to adjust but watch out for him in the coming seasons
- Evan Turner (OSU) - he doesn't get the press but watch him dominate come March
- Al Nolen (MN) - leads Big Ten in steals and quietly one of the best on the ball defenders
- Blake Hoffarber (MN) - may be the best pure shooter in the league, not very athletic
- Taylor Battle (PSU) - nearly 10 ppg but is really growing into a leader with Claxton out
- E'Tauwan Moore (Pur) - double figures in 7 of last 8 games, 3 turnovers in last 4 games
- Demetri McCamey (Ill) - increased scoring avg in conference play by 2+ ppg
- Michael Thompson (NU) - nearly 5 assists per game and can score too (12.6)
*** I'm tired of hearing how tough it is to play at certain arenas. It seems to be a popular subject lately. Especially Big Ten Network commentators love talking about how Wisconsin and Michigan State are two of the toughest places to play. But is that really true? Do the Badgers and Spartans have a decided home court advantage? Or do they just have gaudy home records because they have really good teams?
What venues are more difficult to others is tough to quantify but I bet a year or two ago Illinois would be on that short list of the toughest places to play. Why? Because they were good not because their student section or a quirky court aided their home games, but I don't think teams are fearing Champaign this year. They are 2-3 at home beating Michigan and Northwestern.
I just think it's dumb.
Wisconsin @ Minnesota - Preview
With all due respect to coach Sampson, coach Izzo and coach Carmody; this is the match up of the two best coaches in the Big Ten. While I don't care for the Badgers whatsoever, I have a lot of respect for coach Ryan. He is the most underrated coach in the country in my estimation and I fear his teams regardless of talent level on his team.
Stat Comparisons - HERE
| Wis | Min | |
| AP | 13 | um… |
| KenPom | 5 | 40 |
| RPI | 17 | 84 |
| SOS | 59 | 130 |
Badger teams in the Bo Ryan era are incredibly disciplined on both ends of the floor. They execute their offense and consistently take advantage of your team's weakness with their versatility and patiences. Defensively they don't make mistakes keeping you out of the paint and are very good at not putting you on the foul line. Their offensive and defensive points per possession illustrate this point.
Off PPP - 1.127 (3rd in B10)
Def PPP - 0.818 (1st in B10)
Differential - 0.309 (1st in B10 but a large margin)
I should disclose that I am writing from deep in the heart of Badger country so maybe there is something in the air making me delusional.
They are not perfect and this particular team won't overwhelm you with talent but they are very versatile and can beat you in a number of ways.
Match Ups - On paper the Badgers get the edge on all match ups. I think we match up well with the Badgers but I would give a slight advantage everywhere except bench vs. bench.
Westbrook vs. Trevon Hughes - Westbrook has been playing well lately on both ends. Offensively he is asserting himself and really contributing and on the defensive end he has shown some very good on the ball defending. Hughes is a scoring guard capable of getting to the lane and drawing the foul. He is slightly turnover prone (2.6/gm) and lately has not shot particularly well from behind the arc (3/12 in the last three games). For the Gophers to contain the Badger's leading scorer they'll need to keep him out of the lane, keep him off of the free throw line and force him into 4+ turnovers.
McKenzie vs. Michael Flowers - sr guard who is athletic and very dependable. Flowers is the glue of the Badgers (my opinion). He is capable of having a monster night in the box score and if not he'll contribute in many other ways to help his team win. This will be an interesting match up, considering McKenzie has been scoring more lately and hopefully his shooting will remain hot.
Johnson vs. Joe Krabbenhoft - So this is actually a winable match up for the Gophers. Johnson has been the most improved Gopher from day 1 and continues to impress as the season wears on. Krabbenhoft isn't likely to blow up scoring but we can't allow him to have the same stat line as their Indiana win on Thur night. 6 pts, 12 reb and 5 assists with zero turnovers. If we hold him to 6 pt, 6 reb and a couple assists that will be a win for us.
Coleman vs. Marcus Landry - Landry has the most upside of any Badger. He is very athletic and capable of carrying the Badgers. He struggled early averaging 8.75 ppg through the Marquette game, but since then he is scoring 12.4 and been in double figures 9 of the las 12 games. This will be another very interesting match up. Coleman will need to use his 2" advantage and really try to out muscle Landry. Coleman is capable of winning this head to head but he'll need to stay focused at all times and hopefully he can draw a few fouls being aggressive on the offensive end.
Tollackson vs. Brian Butch - these guys can both put up legit arguments for being the most underrated big men in the conference. First of all don't let Butch's 6'11" size and 18.9% fool you, he is very capable of nailing the three. He shot 34% last year from behind the arc so we absolutely have to guard him out to the line. But most importantly Butch has to be contained in the paint. 12.9 ppg and 7.7 reb is significant and should be a solid challenge for Tollackson. Fortunately Tollackson has more trouble with athletic big men, not big white guys like himself. I don't expect he'll dominate Butch or even win this match up, but he is capable of keeping him contained.
BENCH - The Badgers really are not very deep. In their 13 point win over Indiana they used 2 players off the bench. The athletic and talented shooter, Jason Bohannon played 26 min. And in the frontcourt their 6'11" shot blocker, Greg Steimsma played 10. I would expect to see freshman Jon Leuer get some minutes but his playing time has decreased as the conference season wears on. The key for MN will be their bench players. At Michigan the bench was not utilized much. Particularly we need contributions from Nolen and Hoffarber. This is also a game where big John Williams can give some quality minutes.
KEYS
1. Get to the free throw line - Getting any of their starters in foul trouble and getting some free points from the line will help tremendously.
2. TURNOVERS - this has been our bread and butter this year. We have to force the Badgers into some uncharacteristic turnovers. And we have to value our possessions and not give it up to them. This will not be easy but we absolutely have to turn them over.
3. Senior Trio needs to lead - It has been rare this year that all three have significantly contributed, but they all came through at Michigan on Thursday. We need them all to play well and then I'll get greedy and as for some additional help from the bench this time. Nothing too much just a couple threes from the Hoff and steals from Nolen that lead to layups. But ultimately the seniors need to play well.
Prediction
We don't have to play perfect but we need to be close. Wisconsin scares me more than any other team in the league because they just don't make many mistakes.
As far as our post season hopes this game really won't hurt anything. Losing this game will not be a blemmish on the ol'resume. BUT winning this game will do a ton for us.
I want this win so badly and I think we can do it, but I wouldn't be able to look myself in the mirror if I actually picked the Gophers. I like our team and have been pleased with what Tubby has done, but not even I can argue that we have the talent to be a top 4 or 5 team in the league. If we play well and can dictate tempo we can win, but most teams don't dictate anything against the Badgers.
Wisconsin - 68
Minnesota - 57
February 1, 2008
Breaking Down the Box - Michigan
First of all, congratulations on win #400 for Tubby! That is great and I'm glad he's donning a maroon and gold tie when he earned it.
Minnesota - 77
Michigan - 65
BOX SCORE
WARNING: I am going to pull a Reusse on you here. While I am pleased that we earned a road win that was never really in doubt. There were a few aspects of our game that concerned me. The first two are effort issues that were uncharacteristic of 2007-08 Gophers.
1. Careless Passing - This is particularly a 1st half issue where we had 8 turnovers. That number isn't terrible but what bothers me most was how we didn't value our possessions. Passes were very nonchalant and we seemed content to give away a possession.
The prime example of this mid way through the first half, up 21-11. Ron Coleman hits a 3. We inbound, dribble up, then attempt a pass from half court down to the block which goes out of bounds. Ron Coleman hits another 3.
That was a 0-6 run in 20 seconds because we didn't value the possession and attempted a very careless pass.
2. Coleman's Contentness - There were a handful of defensive possessions when DC was happy to get screened and sit behind it for a second while his man would take a wide open three. DC needs to anticipate the screen so he doesn't get picked so cleanly and when he does get screened there is no reason to take a breath and then try to get around it.
While we are talking about Coleman's defense it should be noted that Ron Coleman hasn't scored double figures since Dec 15th, he had 10 at halftime last night.
3. Freshman Wall? - the Hoff played 2 minutes? What is up with that? Nolen only played 13 and both were completely non-factors in this game. Was Hoffarber injured or was this just an example of Tubby shortening his bench (Payton didn't play at all)? I'm not sure what the issue was but I hope that this was an aberration because I think we clearly need Nolen's defense and Hoffarber's shooting if we are going to beat any of the 5 teams ahead of us in the standings.
With all of that said I do believe that we earned this win. And Tubby hit the right buttons because we played much better in the 2nd half. First half we shot 55.6% (which is really good), but when we executed better on offense and controlled the boards we shot 61.5% in the 2nd half (which is incredible).
Player of the Game - Lawrence Westbrook
15 pts
4 reb
3 assists
3 steals
McKenzie had a great game and led us in the 2nd half, but I really like how Westbrook is now finding his role in the offense. In the first half he had 9 points, 2 assists and zero turnovers. He is playing very good defense and him stepping up will really help this team down the stretch.
Tempo-Free Stats
Coming into the game our eFG% was 51.9%, last night we shot 62.2% and we only hit 3 from behind the arc. Statistically this was a solid game, not a whole lot to say.
Up Next?
Wisconsin - home
STAT COMPARISON
This could be ugly. I have been rather impressed with the Badgers all year, especially last night when the controlled Indiana for 40 min. They don't make mistakes, they play very good D and they execute their offense better than anybody in the conference.
We could make a game of it since it is at home and hopefully there will be a little let down after their Indiana win. But we will have to play much better.
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