The Daily Gopher

Gophers vs. Purdue - one more win - OPEN THREAD

2010-03-13T19:26:23Z

Jim Mone - AP

(AP Photo/Jim Mone)

This game would certainly get us into the Tournament but we have to actually win it. How could they keep a team out who has a win over Butler, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Ohio State and Purdue (and Illinois for that matter)? But looking ahead does us absolutely no good, we absolutely have to earn this win.

Minnesota is becoming a team with some buzz, and they should be after a domination of Penn State and a clutch win over Michigan State. Watching College Game Day this morning, all three of their national analysts picked Minnesota to win. The common theme was that Robbie Hummel is out for the Boilermakers. But I'm not convinced that will be enough.

We are playing our third game in three days. Add that to the fact that Purdue plays the best team defense in the conference. We are going to have to work hard on each and every offensive possession and I'm afraid that will catch up to us. To counter-act that we need to get several easy baskets whether that comes in transition off a steal or some quality inside/out offense to get some open shots for Blake Hoffarber, Devoe Joseph or Lawrence Westbrook.

Ralph Sampson III had a breakout game last time we faced Purdue. His 21 points and 7 rebounds will not likely be duplicated but one of our big men needs to out-muscle Purdue's JaJuan Johnson and you know that is what we try to do early offensively.

My pick for player of the game is Damian Johnson. DJ Swat has been playing well this tournament and for the first time he will not be faced with defending Hummel. Johnson will have more room to be an offensive weapon and should be more effective defensively.

Two Down ....

2010-03-13T05:49:33Z

More photos » Darron Cummings - AP

Tubby might never lose to Izzo again.

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It wasn't easy, no big surprise for a Minneapolis-based team, but the Golden Gophers finally beat Sparty Friday night and advanced to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals with a 72-67 win.

It's been said all year that this Gophers team lacked leadership. It lacked a certain late-game tenacity. The team simply couldn't finish, and as a result, they lost very tight games to Texas A&M, Michigan State and Purdue, among others. But after the Spartans grabbed a quick three point lead in overtime, sophomore Devoe Joseph took the team on his back and got the Gophers over the hump. Over the close game hump. And over the Spartans. Finally.

Minnesota hadn't beaten Michigan State during the Tubby Smith era and Sparty had won 8 straight, 13 of the last 14 and 18 of the last 21 meetings against Minnesota. Suffice to say, it feels good to beat Tom Izzo's Spartans.

Let's spread some kudos before any criticisms.

Colton Iverson was tremendous. He was the physical offensive force the Gophers needed against, as one commenter described it aptly, the clutch-and-grab Michigan State defense. He had 12 points on 6-9 shooting and 4 rebounds. He was strong with the basketball and created multiple second-chances for the Gophers, even if it didn't always show up on the stat sheet.

Joseph, who picked the team up after Iverson and Damian Johnson fouled out, was a total non-factor in the first half. In fact, he might have had his worst first half of the season. But Joseph rebounded and played a composed second half and a stellar overtime. He finished with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 turnovers.

Blake Hoffarber find a way to get open against the Spartans and was 4-9 from three and finished with 12 points. He also crashed the glass and grabbed 5 boards.

Devron Bostick played 15 minutes. Mostly solid minutes. He crashed the glass. He moved without the ball. And he added a physical presence on defense. He finished 2-6 and took an ill-advised shot or two, but his minutes were clutch and helpful.

For the Spartans, Tom Izzo's team was as good as it usually is. They move with quick purpose on most offensive posessions and play half-court man defense as good as any team in the country. Raymar Morgan had a game-high 23 and was undoubtedly the best player on the court. Kalin Lucas was able to penetrate and finished with 18. But the Spartans faltered at the free throw line. Morgan was 9-14. Draymond Green--who threw a cheap elbow at Iverson--was 2-6. As a team the Spartans were an ugly 52 percent from the free throw line.

Minnesota also benefited from Izzo's decision to suspend junior sharpshooter Chris Allen for the game for allegedly "being a bad teammate." The Spartans sorely missed Allen's perimeter shooting, especially in the first half when the Gophers sat back in a 2-3 zone during a cold-shooting period for the Spartans.

While Minnesota had a couple things go its way, the Gophers didn't exactly do everything right either. Put another way, they could have played much better. Devoe was not good at all in the first half. Ralph Sampson III probably put together his worst game of the season. The sophomore big man wasn't up to the challenge of Michigan State's physicality. He took a step back to his tentative ways, and it often wasn't pretty. I have high hopes, however, that Sampson will rebound against Purdue in the semifinals. He put together a great game a few weeks back against JaJuan Johnson.

The Gophers also allowed the Spartans to climb over their back for the entire first half en route to 11 first half Sparty offensive rebounds. That's way, way too many. Minnesota did turn that around in the second half and began to build a decent lead.

The Gophers held leads ranging between 8 and 5 for most of the second half until, for some reason, the Gophers went into delay mode on offense. Instead of running their sets or their high screen and rolls, during many posessions during the last five minutes, the Gophers were content to spread the floor, run a weave at times, and isolate one of our guards. The slow-down tactic played into Michigan State's hands, as it has many of our other opponents in close games this year. Sparty was able to come back and tie the game and had a chance to win the game in regulation. This seemed like a game where the Gophers changed their style towards the end and began playing not to lose instead of to win. Sparty deserves credit too for tightening its defense down the stretch, but my biggest current gripe with Tubby Smith is his late game decision making.

Minnesota eventually triumphed. And damn it felt good. And we wouldn't be Minnesota sports fans if we didn't have to sweat every big game out. Hope to do it again tomorrow!

Big Ten Tourney Rnd 2 - Michigan State - OPEN THREAD

2010-03-12T23:45:09Z

Jeff Wheeler - AP

Minnesota's Ralph Sampson III. (AP Photo/Star Tribune, Jeff Wheeler)

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Bring on the Chris Allen less Spartans. Step one is complete, now it is on to step two of ~~world domination~~ the quest for respect in the Big Ten tournament. The 21 point win over Penn State was nice but I don't think it turned any heads nor did it earn them any respect. Damian Johnson had a nice game but if he wants to prove anything then stopping Raymar Morgan from another 17 pt and 6 reb game might get it done. If Lawrence Westbrook wants to continue to prove that the Big Ten coaches should have recognized him with their end of season awards then go out and have another turnover-less game and keep Kalin Lucas to under 20 points.

The Gophers are capable but they need to play well, play together and play hard (anyone remember that from the Clem days?). Rebounding is always a key against the Spartans and more than anything else I'm looking for our interior to really play great tonight. I'd love to see both bigs get into double figures tonight and see Sampson really establish himself and that sweet baby-hook in the paint.

Finally, if this team wants to earn more respect and get themselves back into the NCAA Tournament then this is the game to do it. Penn State was nice, but let's get another signature neutral court win and at least make things hard on the selection committee.

Conference Tourney Friday - OPEN THREAD

2010-03-12T18:48:15Z

It's Championship Week, here is your place to chat about what is happening.

One Down ....

2010-03-12T14:18:05Z

More photos » Darron Cummings - AP

1 day ago: Minnesota's Damian Johnson (34) shoots against Penn State's Bill Edwards, right, in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the opening round of the Big Ten conference tournament in Indianapolis, Thursday, March 11, 2010. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

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Damian Johnson had every right to play determined basketball Thursday night in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament. Completely and utterly slighted by the Big Ten coaches, who should be ashamed for not putting Johnson on the Big Ten All-Defensive Team, Johnson led the Gophers to a convincing 76-55 win over Penn State, a team also known as the supposed team "no one wants to play."

Talor Battle, slowed a bit by an ankle injury, was mostly shut down by Lawrence Westbrook, another MInnesota senior that was shunned by Big Ten coaches for any All Big Ten honors. Interestingly, Westbrook played what might have been his best game as a Gopher. He didn't force offense at all. He didn't score until the second half, but all the while he wasn't turning the ball over and he was focused on frustrating Battle. In the second half, Westbrook's offense came to him and he put up a quick 10 points.

Devoe Joseph led the Gophers with 15 points. Colton Iverson, playing confidently inside, finished with 12.

Defensively, the Gophers were either really good, or the Nittany Lions were disinterested on offense. At times, I think it was both. The Nittany Lions looked relatively uninspired, a look Minnesota had itself just last week against Michigan. Battle, Chris Babb, David Jackson and Andrew Jones III all had 10 points to pace Penn State.

The win sets up a Big Ten Quarterfinal tilt this evening against 3-seed Michigan State. The Spartans have owned Tubby Smith and the Gophers for the last three seasons winning each and every meeting. The Gophers blew a big second half lead earlier this year at home against MIchigan State. Perhaps the feeling from that loss, combined with the entire team feeling slighted for not having one of its members named to an All Big Ten Team, will propel the Gophers to an upset tonight.

Do that and the Gophers just might get the respect that the Gophers asked for by wearing white t-shirts before the Penn State game that had "respect" written on them.

Win, and the Gophers just might pump a little bit of life into its NCAA Tournament chances.

Big Ten Tourney Rnd 1 - Penn State - OPEN THREAD

2010-03-11T22:37:04Z

Janet Hostetter - AP

Penn State's Talor Battle drives around Minnesota's Lawrence Westrbrook. (AP Photo/Janet Hostetter)

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The way I see it, we need 2 guys to step up tonight and we have four or five guys capable of doing so. In the first meeting between these ~~fine~~ mediocre teams it was Lawrence Westbrook who stepped up with 29 points while Blake Hoffarber chipped in 11. Game 2 was a little different when we had four guys who scored in the dozen to baker's dozen range. Here are the most likely candidates

Blake Hoffarber - I really think he's going to have at least one huge game in this tournament. Maybe it will be today, maybe it will be tomorrow (if we survive). He has scored 11 points or more in 13 games. We are undefeated in those games. So either he is just able to score more points against weaker competition or when he scores the rest of the team is significantly better.
Ralph Sampson III - had his second best Big Ten game at Penn state when he recorded a double-double. Ralph is capable of dominating the paint tonight and if he does things should really roll for the Gophers.
Damian Johnson - Nobody has more to prove today than DJ Swat who is rather disappointed that he was left off the Big Ten All-Defensive team. I think you'll see a typical all-around performance from Johnson, if he can get up into that 15+ point range then life should be good.
Lawrence Westbrook - how could I forget LW who had what I feel was his best game as a Gopher in the first Penn State game. The problem was the second game when he tried to recreate his first game. The result was a season high six turnovers to go with 0/5 shooting from behind the arc. He is capable of carrying this team, but he is also capable of doing more damage than good.

I'm asking for two of them to step up. The best part of this is that we can win even if Talor Battle has a good game. He averaged 22 ppg in the two Gopher meetings and his team still came out 0-2. So keep him under 25 and then take care of our own business on both ends of the floor.

Penn State is hot, but I like our chances to move on to Michigan State.

Big Ten Tournament links

2010-03-10T22:00:23Z

(updated with more links)

The Gophers are set to face Penn State tomorrow, here are a handful of links to get you ready.

Gametime - 6:30
TV - Big Ten Network
Opponent - 11-Penn State (fear this game)

Big Ten Network's tournament page. Bracket is here.
ESPN Insider Bubble-watch has each team's magic number. For the Gophers, that number is 3.

Wins over Butler, Ohio State and Wisconsin have kept Minnesota's chances alive to date. Unfortunately, a first-round foe of Penn State will earn them nothing. Even ousting Michigan State may not be enough to lock down a bid. Add Purdue to the win streak, though, and three wins will definitely make the Gophers golden.
Basketball Prospectus takes a look at the B10 Tournament.
SBN's Tournament coverage is comprehensive as always. Black Shoe Diaries also has a little primer as Penn State hopes to make some noise in the next few days.
Iowa's Quad City Times gives us 10 things to watch in this weekend's tournament.
Bucky's 5th Quarter with some analysis on the B10 season ending awards.
The Lansing State Journal's Big Ten Tourney analysis. They unofficially declared DJ Swat as the league's best defensive player.
Tubby called it a travesty that DJ Swat wasn't even on the Big Ten's All-Defensive team.
Ohio State's, The Lantern previews the B10 Tourney. They accurately call three-point shooting one of our biggest strengths and inconsistency

Gopher Football 2011 recruiting primer and roster matrix

2010-03-10T17:00:22Z

As the 2011 recruiting season is rapidly picking up I though this might be helpful for Gopher fans to get an idea of areas are going to be positions of need in the near future and approximately how many scholarships are available for this year's class.

Here is the roster matrix of scholarship players. It should be noted that this is based on the 2010 September class. So the FR class below is the current class that signed in February and the SR class are those who will be playing this fall as a senior (i.e. Adam Weber). It should also be noted that there may be some slight imperfections. For instance having to guess which spot an offensive lineman will actually play is a bit difficult, especially with the incoming freshmen. So that was a bit of guesswork and then several players are just listed at OL.

	FR	rFR	SO	JR	SR	Total
QB	2	1	1	0	1	5
RB	3	0	0	3	1	7
FB	0	1	0	0	1	2
WR	2	1	1	4	1	9
TE	0	0	0	2	2	5
OT	3	1	0	0	2	6
OG	0	0	0	0	2	2
OC	0	0	0	2	0	2
OL	2	1	0	2	1	6

DE	1	3	1	1	0	5
DT	3	1	0	2	0	6
OLB	2	1	2	0	0	5
MLB	0	1	1	1	0	3
CB	1	2	1	4	1	9
S	2	0	0	2	2	6

K	0	0	0	0	1	1
P	0	1	0	0	0	1

Tot	21	14	7	23	15

Other notes: Lamonte Edwards was put as RB, Ra'Shede Hageman was moved from TE to DE and I verified as much as I could in regards to who red-shirted and who did not last year. Also remember that things change. corners become safeties, defensive linemen become offensive linemen or vice versa and wide receivers move to defensive back or vice versa. This is a fluid situation so don't read the above matrix as anything set in stone.

There is much you can learn from this little exercise. The first thing I tend to look at are positions with several players in the JR and SR classes. These are currently areas of strength that will need to be replaced soon. TE is a great example of a position that is clearly a position of need in this recruiting class as we have 4 scholarship players in the JR and SR classes but nobody behind them. Do not look strictly at the graduating seniors and assume those are the positions we'll need to be filling. One would hope the coaching staff has recruited with more foresight than that unless you are planning on having a true freshman step in to replace departed seniors.

It is also interesting to note how few sophomores we have on scholarship. I'm sure that things will get spread out a little more and we'll be able to sign more than seven kids next year. But even if we are able to sign 10 or 12, that will be a small class and the staff will have to work pretty hard to make sure those scholarships are going to great players. 2011 will be fun, 2012 should be extremely interesting.

2011 recruiting positions of need.

TE (2) - I like the current group we have but after 2011 we'll need to replace Lair and Euree. Early in the 2011 process we have reportedly offered three TEs already and I'm sure that number will grow significantly.
OG/OC (2/3) - There are a few positions that you need to add bodies with each and every class. I think OT can take a break as we have several young tackles who are rather promising (Gjere, Michel, Lenkiewicz and Ragoo). We have several kids who are listed as OL who will end up filling the guard and center positions, but there are only three kids Sophomore or younger who are expected to fill in these positions. This area needs some bodies. One guard has given his verbal commitment but more are needed.
MLB (2) - not exactly a position of strength currently, not much depth and no true MLBs in 2010 class. Landing a couple quality LBs to man the future middle of the Gopher defense would be ~~outstanding~~ tremendous. If the early offers are any indication, the coaching staff also recognizes this an area of need with this class. Seven offers have been reported at ILB.
CB (2/3) - Only one corner was brought in last year. There are currently four juniors but most expect the only one you'll get any production out of Chrystyn Lewis. There are some bodies at this position but we desperately need an upgrade in talent.
K (1) - if Kip Smith hadn't changed his mind we'd be set here, but instead we have to replace Eric Ellestad.
WR (2) - We have only one senior receiver so the corp should be fine through 2011, but at that time we'll need some major help. I'd love to see one highly ranked receiver come in with class, give him a year to acclimate and then really step up production in 2012 when needed most.

The Remaining Positions

QB (1) - The staff has said repeatedly that they want to bring in 1 QB per class, I'm sure this year will be no different.
RB (1) - There are currently 8 RB offers out there and we have one verbal (that my not stick). So the actions of the staff indicate we are working hard at landing a quality RB. We also just brought in 3 in the most recent class so this will likely be an effort to find quality, not quantity.
FB (0) - I know that we have a senior here but there may be players switching to FB from other positions, this is a position that a walk-on could earn a scholly and I'm guessing a scholarship will not be used here. Chances are that Donnell Kirkwood may end up at FB.
OT (1) - Like I said we have probably four quality, young tackles who will have a year to develop and then step in for the current seniors. It's very likely we'll sign someone, but this isn't a huge "need" right now.
DE (2) - For depth I think we need at least a couple, but I did not list this as a position of need because two of our top three at this position will be a rFR and as Sophomore (Hageman and Wilhite). Matt Garin will also be in the playing time mix. The talent is young at this position but we do need some more depth. Actions speak volumes and we have seven offers out to DEs.
DT (1) - I really like our starting tackles, who are both juniors. And we did bring in three freshmen with the 2010 class. I'd like to see one player that is ranked fairly high to add some quality to our quantity.
OLB (1) - We have quite a few offers out there, but our current set of OLBs are pretty young. I'm not sure how bad we need to fill this position but if the right player is out there, I don't see why we'd pass on him.
S (1) - Off the 2010 class I probably like our safety group the most (maybe RBs first). So I'm not concerned about the future of this group, but we are losing two very good senior starters. We have seven offers out there so this is yet another position that indicates we are making a strong push to land a safety or two in this class.

Those numbers are pure speculation based on looking at the needs on the roster (both needs of depth and needs of playmakers). My numbers have about 20 scholarships offered and that might be a little high considering we are only graduating 15 scholarship seniors.

But we already have a jump on the 2011 class with three current verbal commitments. Tommy Olson (OG) is the early favorite to be the #1 player in Minnesota. He has been committed for quite some time. He fills an area of need and is not someone that I'm concerned will be changing his mind. James Farrow (CB) is the most recent commit, the Minnetonka native seems excited to be a Gopher and will be a top 3 or 4 player out of the state. Calvin Phillips (RB) is the final verbal. Phillips is highly touted but there seems to be a lot of drama surrounding this kid and I'm not sure how committed he truly is.

my personal top 10 wish list after the jump...

A Way too early and arbitrary top 10 wish list...

This is a total guess (actual rankings and better evaluations are not available) and I'm also trying to be fairly realistic. For instance Wayne Lyons is a safety out of Florida. He has 36 offers including USC, Tex, Flor, OSU, OK, ND, etc. I believe in Brewster as a recruiter, but no matter how bad we want him he won't be a Gopher (PLEASE prove me wrong). I love that this early in the game few schools are eliminated and favorites are extremely hard to distinguish. Kind of feels like we have a shot at a lot of very good athletes. So here is my completely arbitrary and speculative guess at a top 10 kids I'd like to see sign with the Gophers (only players with a reported offer).

Anthony Wallace (MLB) - Skyline linebacker with offers from a few "decent schools" like... Tex, OK, USC, Tenn, LSU, Notre Dame and many others highlight the schools who want him. If our Skyline pipeline is ever going to pay off, this would be the time. Wallace is a position of need and will be one of the best at his position this year. Chances are slim, but maybe Reeves, Stoudermire and Cooper can start calling him up.
Jake Keefer (OLB) - western Wisconsin native with a Badger offer. The Badgers have offered only two kids from Wisconsin and Keefer is one of them. I know this is not a position of need but this kid is close to the Twin Cities and would be a steal from Wisconsin. Also has offers from Washington St and Indiana with interest from Iowa, LSU, USC, UCLA, Notre Dame and Illinois.
Nick Vannett (TE) - Listed as one of the best TEs in Ohio this year, Vannett has a very good offer list which included Ohio St, Mich St, Wis and several others. Vannett is a long shot but it is a position of need a very good talent.
Andrew Johnson (CB) - Miami native who has been impressive in a loaded spring 7-on-7 camp. The link provided uses terms like instinctive and a "lock-down corner." The Gophers are currently up against offers from Iowa, Louisville, Texas Tech and others.
Melvin Gordon (ATH/RB) - The other Wisconsin native with a Badger offer. Gordon appears to be favoring Iowa at this point and it comes down to the Hawkeyes want him at RB and the Badgers want him to play defense. I'm not sure we can shoe-horn our way past those schools but it would be nice.
Peter Westerhaus (LB) - Minnesota kid, currently only has a Gopher offer but he will be a Big Ten caliber player as he has interest from Wisconsin, Ohio St, Iowa and others. Westerhaus is likely a top 3 player in the state and is the type of player we have to keep at home. Not a position of need, but don't let him go. My gut tells me that Wisconsin is the school to beat here, but it is early. I deeply hope that he stays, but he is only 6th on the list because I don't believe it is going to happen.
Davonta Sparks (CB) - Texas native with offers from Iowa, KU, UK and TCU. Sparks had 100+ tackles last year as a corner to go along with 3 sacks and 2 picks. 6-0 and 200 lbs, he appears to be a physical corner who also has shown some good speed (though 40 times are SO unreliable).
Kenny Wright (WR) - Michigan native and a big target at 6-4, 190. Currently does not hold a Michigan or Mich St offer but that is expected to change. Wright would be a great fit in our offense and I'd love to see him be the only receiver we land in this class.
Patrick Coyne (QB) - Ohio native who has offers from Wisconsin and Illinois. Coyne has a loose connection to Bryan Cupito who is from a rival school and who's coach was once a teacher of Coyne's. He is excited about the Gopher offer and very well could be the QB of the 2011 class.
Rayshon Williams (WR) - We have a relationship at Mullen and hopefully that will turn into a commitment from Williams. 6-0 and 190 lbs; Williams has offers from Colorado, Col St, Kansas St and UTah with early interest from several other BCS schools.
Mike Moore (DE) - Skyline kid who has no other solid offers yet and reported interest from Baylor. I expect you'll see Moore commit and the Gopher staff will attempt to utilize that to get at Wallace and other Skyline prospects.

That is the list as of March 10th. Surely it will change and if we get more than a couple from that list I probably deserve some sort of medal or something.

Daily Nugz - Wednesday, March 10, 2010

2010-03-10T12:42:39Z

Joe Nathan, ergh. Well, at least the Twins have pitching depth. Rauch had 17 saves in 2008. If he can do a passable job, the Twins have enough batting and defense to win the division, especially if Liriano pitches as well as advertised.

Only 21 days until Sean Henderson has to figure out where he is going to spend the next four years with his son.

Isn't it curious that they've gone completely silent for the past 15 days? It's now been almost three weeks since the NCAA hearing with USC. At that point, they had to have been informed that a decision won't be coming down for 6 to 8 weeks, which is outside the April 1 deadline for signing national letters of intent.

It seems there is something causing the young Henderson to not sign a LOI. Academics?

(1) Gopher freshman goalie Noora Raty is one of three finalists for the Patty Kazmaier award, given to the nation's best women's college hockey player. And, she's a freshman.

(2) If you're a Gopher football season ticket holder, you probably got your renewal form this week. Just consider this: USC, Ohio State, Penn State, and Iowa. What an appetizing schedule. And, Minnesota's going to win one of these games. As of now, I'm leaning towards the Penn State game being a surprise victory.

(3) The Spring Football game is April 24th at 1:30pm. If you don't have the aforementioned season tix, this is a great opportunity to get into the stadium and enjoy a "game."

(4) The Gopher baseball team is hosting St. Thomas tonight at Metrodump. 6:30pm start.

Daily Nugs 3.9.2010

2010-03-09T09:00:31Z

As noted in last night's fan post, Minnesota football recruit James Farrow has committed to the Gophers. Farrow has been catching the attention of recruiting experts, and although he has not yet been officially rated by recruiting services you can view his profile at this link. A new Gopher blogger reviews Farrow at this link.

Adam Rittenberg reviews Gopher football strengths and weaknesses for the 2010 season at this link. Rittenberg, who blogs on a full time basis for ESPN, is very bullish on the projected performance of Kyle Theret and Kim Royston:

Minnesota boasts the Big Ten's top safety tandem in Theret and Royston. The two finished the 2009 season on a high note in the Insight Bowl. Theret had two interceptions and a 40-yard reception on a fake punt, while Royston recorded a career-high 15 tackles, including a forced fumble.

As for the cornerbacks, Jeff over at Golden Gopher Football Blog reviews who will be competing to play opposite Michael Carter:

While some people might worry that having a sophomore in Carter and a redshirt frosh in Kerry Lewis as our starting corners would be a recipe for trouble, if those are our best two kids then that's who should play. And it would certainly be our most athletic pair of starting corners since...well since when I'm not sure.

Marcus Fuller all but squashes the Tubby Smith-to-Oregon rumors at this link:

"If I ever addressed every rumor, then I wouldn't be able to do what I do," Smith said on a Big Ten conference call. "There's always talk about coaches leaving and players leaving. It's part of the business. We're happy here. Even though this year was an up-and-down year, we feel like we have the right pieces in place. We think we can be a pretty good team in the future."

Gopher Football picks up another commitment

2010-03-09T04:24:16Z

Gopher Football picks up another commitment

Minnetonka defensive back, James Farrow jumped at the Gopher offer and accepted. Farrow's father, Mr. Farrow, is a former Gopher and this was a no brainer for James.

And here we go again...

2010-03-08T20:41:20Z

And here we go again...

Tubby is once again being linked to a job opening. This time it's Oregon and I'm sure over the next couple months the national media will link him to yet another job that would be a "step up" from Minnesota.

If it means anything to you, I'm not worried. He's not leaving.

The Big Ten's most disappointing teams

2010-03-08T20:27:52Z

More photos » Tony Ding - AP

Michigan guard Manny Harris (3). (AP Photo/Tony Ding)

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I know that I had very high expectations for the Gopher basketball season. You may remember that I once thought a run to the Sweet 16 was entirely realistic and that getting into the NCAA Tournament was a foregone conclusion. Things didn't exactly pan out as expected. But I've been wondering, even with the level of disappointment and inconsistency we have experienced this year were we even the most disappointing team in the Big Ten?

The more I think about it, the more I think we might not even be in the top 3 most disappointing teams in the Big Ten. I'd like to ask that you not take this to the next logical step, which is that I'm OK with our 6th place finish or that we have more legit excuses than these other teams. Because I'm not really OK with how our season has played out and in spite of the setbacks we've had there were several games for the taking that hurt our season and they are inexcusable.

It should also be noted that there were very high expectations for the entire conference this season. Michigan State was returning the vast majority of their roster from a national runner-up last year. And Purdue was returning everyone from a very talented team. Both ~~are~~ were expected to compete for a national title. Add to that the fact that Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio State, Minnesota, Michigan, Penn State and even Northwestern were returning large percentages of their 2008-09 points. The Big Ten was poised for a big year. Then they went out and won the Big Ten/ACC Challenge for the first time ever. Now expectations are climbing to a level not seen in several years. Talk of getting 7 or even 8 teams into the NCAA Tournament were not all that crazy back in November.

Things changed. With that said here the top 4 most disappointing teams in the Big Ten.

1 - Michigan

A Gopher fan shouldn't be pointing fingers at Michigan as the Wolverines had no problem dismantling the Gophers both times they faced them. But Michigan was 5-11 against the rest of the conference and there is no reason that should have been the case. Looking back to last year the Wolverines snuck into the NCAA Tournament as the 7th team from the Big Ten and earned a 10 seed. They gave #2 Oklahoma all they could handle in the second round, a 1 point game at halftime and a 3 point game with about 6 minutes to go before Blake Griffin took over. The point was that Michigan was playing well to end the season and they were returning their top 5 scorers. Two of those returnees were 1st Team All-Big Ten guard, Manny Harris and 3rd Team All-Big Ten forward Deshawn Simms. Things were looking awfully good for Michigan coming into this year.

A resulting 7-11 Big Ten record (two games worse than a year ago) and 14-16 record has to be the most disappointing season of any Big Ten team.

2 - Northwestern

This isn't so much a reflection of the disappointment from pre-season till now as it is disappointment from the beginning of the Big Ten season. As just about everybody knows, Northwestern is the only BCS school who has never made the NCAA basketball tournament. Things looked very promising for the Wildcats after a very surprising 12-1 start in the non-conference schedule. Sure the schedule wasn't incredibly difficult but they did beat some BCS schools in Iowa State and Stanford. And the highlight of their non-conference was a 14 point win over Notre Dame. Was this going to be the year for Northwestern?

No. 7-11 in the Big Ten was a game worse than a year ago. They have the excuse of losing their best player to injury basically before the season ever got started. Kevin Coble is very good and fits great into the Northwestern system. But they did manage to reach the 12-1 record without him and Wildcat fans had plenty of reasons for optimism with guys likes John Shurna, Michael Thompson and Drew Crawford stepping up and playing well. An eight point win over Purdue is the high point of their Big Ten season but this is still an NIT team hoping that next year will be the year. On the plus side when they expand the tournament to 96 teams next year Northwestern has a decent chance at getting in.

3 - Penn State

One could argue that Minnesota should be here, and I could easily buy that argument. But Penn State fell harder and farther than anybody expected. To start the year it was thought to be a guarantee that Iowa and Indiana would be fighting for the worst record in the Big Ten. Penn State beat them by a full game in the race for last place. Remember that this team was 10-8 in conference last year, 22 total wins and then a run to the NIT Championship. Jamelle Cornley and Stanley Pringle did graduate but Talor Battle was first team All-Big Ten and many thought he'd be in the conversation for Big Ten Player of the Year this year. He is one of the few guys in our league who can take over a game at any point and carry his team to a W.

But starting out the Big Ten season with 12 consecutive losses is a feat that is hard to duplicate, especially with a roster that has some legit talent on it. What bit the Nittany Lions more than anybody, including the Gophers, was their inability to win a close game. Penn State has six conference losses by five points or fewer (and a couple more that are within 10). This team just couldn't quite get something figured out for most of the season and they are far more disappointed with a 3-15 Big Ten finish than a team like Minnesota who didn't live up to expectations but is at least hovering around the NCAA Bubble.

With all of that said, Penn State is playing great right now. This may be the best 11-seed in Big Ten Tournament history. They finished the season 3-3 over their last six games and all three losses were very close to the three teams tied for 1st atop the Big Ten. Lost to Ohio State by eight, lost at Michigan State by two and lost to Purdue by 4. This team is hitting their stride, don't tell them it is far too little, too late.

4 - Minnesota

This season really stings for Gopher basketball fans. We all had high hopes that Minnesota would once again be relevant on the national stage. Stuff happened but as I mentioned above that really is not a very good excuse. You can't count what you never had so to use White or Mbakwe as an excuse is really lame. Losing Nolen really hurt this team but he was in the lineup for the Miami loss, the Indiana loss and the Texas A&M loss. All were very winable. That also is no excuse for leading late but not being able to hold on at home against Michigan State and Purdue, clearly he could have helped but there is no way the current roster should not have been able to hold on to those leads.

But as much as this season stings, it wasn't a total loss. We finished a few games behind where we wanted to be, but we also were competitive in most games even winning some big ones. Beating Ohio State and Wisconsin at home were fun. The Michigan State and Purdue home games resulted in losses but they were a lot of fun to witness. This season is disappointing and in my book it puts more pressure on next year. But I don't think we have fallen quite as far from expectations as the teams I listed above us.

On the flip side I think that Ohio State and Wisconsin deserve some praise for finishing with very strong seasons and arguably surpassing expectations. Had the Gophers not upset both of these schools at Williams Arena they'd be looking at either an outright championship for Ohio State or Wisconsin forcing their way into a four-some at the top of the league. Rule #1 in Big Ten basketball is never underestimate Bo Ryan, I knew that and I ignored it.

Gophers Finish Big Ten Season at .500

2010-03-08T19:35:52Z

More photos » Jim Mone - AP

5 days ago: Minnesota players, from left, Paul Carter, Colton Iverson, Lawrence Westbrook, Devron Bostick and Bryant Allen celebrate during the second half of Minnesota's 88-53 win over Iowa in an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, March 7, 2010, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Browse more photos »

Too much going on with the day job to pump out a game review from yesterday's dismantling of the Iowa Hawkeyes.

What are your thoughts on the game and Minnesota's chances against Penn State this week in the BTT opener? Anyone think this team can rattle off four straight wins?

Also, how bad is Iowa?

Daily Nugz - 3.8.10

2010-03-08T15:09:46Z

So mens basketball heads into the post season. A disappointing 18-win season resulting in a 6th place Big Ten finish. On the bright side we were 3-0 against Wisconsin and Iowa. And we did manage to upset a few ranked teams along the way. And we can take some comfort in knowing we handed Iowa their worst loss in 21 years can't we? We have beat them by more, I mean who can forget that epic 1902, 47-10 throttling.

Unfortunately barring 3 wins in the Big Ten Tourney (including over MSU and Pur) then it won't really matter and this team is NIT bound.

A 35 point win over Iowa is fun, but congratulations to our outgoing seniors who all had very good games. Devron Bostick scored 8, which was nearly 20% of his season total. Lawrence Westbrook hit 20 for the 5th time of the season on 7/10 shooting. And Damian Johnson recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 assists. Not a bad night for what is hopefully their last game at the Barn.
Gopher baseball continues to struggle in the early part of the season but the managed to salvage game 3 of the DQ Classic by defeating Northwestern 8-4 on Sunday. Loyola Marymount was named the DQ Classic Champions.
Gopher wrestling finished 2nd in the Big Ten Championships. Jayson Ness won his second Big Ten title and was named the Big Ten wrestler of the year! Mike Thorn also won a Big Ten title.
Gopher Hockey also received help from their seniors as they earned a split with Wisconsin for the weekend.
Things are looking pretty good for the Gophers in the 2009-10 Border Battle Cup. Minnesota currently holds a 390 - 170 advantage with 320 points remaining. Wisconsin currently holds the lifetime edge in the Cup winning 3 of the 5 years but things are changing!

Senior night at the Barn - OPEN THREAD

2010-03-07T21:00:29Z

We all know that an NCAA Tournament is essentially out of the picture. This was a disappointing season in more ways than one. But that doesn't mean there is nothing to play for today. A chance for Tubby' boys to finish .500 in the Big Ten and a chance to sweep our traditional rivals for the season are still on the line.

A Tribute to our Golden Gopher Seniors

2010-03-05T17:14:42Z

Lawrence Westbrook, Devron Bostick and Damian Johnson are preparing for their final regular season and Big Ten game at the Barn. Really this is probably not their final game at Williams Arena as they'll likely host an NIT game, but as far as the regular season goes this will be the last home game for Gopher seniors Damian Johnson, Lawrence Westbrook and Devron Bostick. It is only fitting to give a quick look at these three young men who have all contributed to the resurrection of Gopher Basketball.

Devron Bostick's career as a Gopher was shorter than his senior cohorts. The JUCO transfer came in as part of Tubby's first full recruiting class that was highly ranked. Bostick was the NJCAA D1 National Player of the Year and many had hoped he'd provide an athletic scoring punch from the perimeter. The Wisconsin native had probably his most productive game as a Gopher last season down in Madison. 11 points and 3 boards in 21 minutes played in a key win over the Badgers. He had games where he registered more points and/or more rebounds but his overall contribution to that game was more valuable than at any other time as a Golden Gopher.

Bostick has seen his playing time decrease in his senior year, but he has played some key minutes in a couple Big Ten games and he has been ready to contribute when given the opportunity.

	GP	GS	FG%	3pt FG	3pt FGA	3pt FG%	Reb	Reb Avg	A	TO	Blk	Stl	Pts	Avg
Bostick	31	0	42.98%	14	51	27.45%	47	1.5	24	28	4	16	125	4.0
	17	0	36.59%	2	12	16.67%	28	1.6	11	11	3	12	41	2.4
TOTAL	48	0	41.29%	16	63	25.40%	75	1.6	35	39	7	28	166	3.5

Lawrence Westbrook came to the Gophers from Winchendon Prep in Mass, but the Arizona native had remarkable season as a junior in high school. In that year he led the nation in scoring at 41 points per game breaking the Arizona single season record which had stood for 41 years! Of course most of you know that he is a cousin of Philadelphia Eagle's RB, Brian Westbrook. But Westbrook has been a very productive Golden Gopher who has had some huge games where he has carried his team to some key wins.

Westbrook became Minnesota's 35th member of the 1,000 Point Club and has steadily moved up the list into the top 25 of all-time Gopher scorers. Assuming he plays at least three more games as a Golden Gopher he'll make a strong push to surpass Michael Bauer and likely finish 23rd on the all-time scoring list. His assault on the Gopher record book does not end there. Westbrook is currently 7th on the all-time list of three-point FGs made, closing in on Voshon Lenard. With enough games he'll sneak into the top 10 for games played as a Gopher. He is 9th all-time in 3-pnt FG%. And is currently 3rd all-time in Free Throw %.

LW has often frustrating because of his inconsistent scoring and relatively high turnover totals. But it should not be forgotten how at times he has carried the scoring load and led his team to some big wins. He'll likely always be remembered for his 29 point game at Wisconsin last year that included the game tying 3-pnter at the buzzer and then finishing the game off with 9 points scored in the OT period. For my money his most complete game was the Big Ten opener this year when he scored 29 points on 11/16 shooting in a win over Penn State. Other notable highlights this year was the win over Ohio State where he hit 5/6 threes and of course his buzzer beating 2-pointer that pulled off the win at Penn State. Clearly he is the most capable scorer on the Gopher roster and that will certainly be missed.

	GP	GS	FG%	3pt FG	3pt FGA	3pt FG%	Reb	Reb Avg	A	TO	Blk	Stl	Pts	Avg
Westbrook	21	2	36.99%	10	33	30.30%	12	0.6	13	28	0	5	73	3.5
	34	34	41.96%	33	84	39.29%	111	3.3	82	64	3	31	288	8.5
	32	25	43.00%	44	123	35.77%	79	2.5	46	68	4	22	403	12.6
	28	27	47.78%	43	102	42.16%	69	2.5	61	60	2	26	353	12.6
TOTAL	115	88	43.71%	130	342	38.01%	271	2.4	202	220	9	84	1117	9.7

Finally we get to Damian Johnson. It was sometime during his junior year when the TDG community was trying to come up with a good nickname for DJ. The kid does so many things very well and though it was hard to nail down a nickname that adequately captured how much he does for us, eventually we settled on DJ Swat. You can see from his stats below that he is a factor in several areas each and every game. He scores, he rebounds, he blocks shots, he gets steals and he passes the ball. He is a prototypical "glue-guy" on the court and makes his team better by doing the little things so well. DJ Swat is one of my favorite all-time Gophers.

DJ Swat is also making his move up the Gopher record book. Knowing that he'll play tomorrow's Iowa game and then at least 1 B10 tournament game and 1 post-season game; he is guaranteed to finish top 5 in games played as a Gopher. He could move up as high as first all-time but that would require nine more games and that seems unlikely. Johnson is also solidified as a top 3 all-time Gopher in steals and blocked shots. Currently 2nd in steals with 186, needing 29 more to catch Melvin Newbern for 1st which seems unlikely. Currently 3rd all-time in blocked shots behind Kevin HcHale and Randy Breuer. He'll need 51 more to get into 2nd which also seems unlikely. But that is some select company especially considering he blocked nearly 200 shots in a small forward's body. You'll also notice that Johnson increased his production each and every season in nearly every category.

His 18 point on 7/8 shooting, 4 ast and 4 stl game in the win over Butler this year was a perfect example of what DJ Swat brings to the team. He recorded a double-double in a loss at Ohio State last year with 12 pts, 10 boards and 3 blocks. Johnson was rarely the leading scorer but as mentioned he did so many things well and is always a force defensively and was recognized as Big Ten All-Defensive team following his junior year. Johnson will be missed. His points can be replaced but everything else he does will have to be picked up by more than one guy.

	GP	GS	FG%	3pt FG	3pt FGA	3pt FG%	Reb	Reb Avg	A	TO	Blk	Stl	Pts	Avg
Johnson	28	4	36.96%	5	13	38.46%	40	1.4	13	14	18	14	44	1.6
	34	6	48.40%	10	40	25.00%	161	4.7	44	46	46	59	241	7.1
	30	30	48.51%	10	38	26.32%	125	4.2	48	42	60	58	293	9.8
	29	29	53.81%	9	27	33.33%	127	4.4	58	39	54	55	298	10.3
TOTAL	121	69	49.34%	34	118	28.81%	453	3.7	163	141	178	186	876	7.2

During any coaching change and specifically in a time when a program is trying to upgrade the overall talent and raise it's profile both nationally and within the conference; the upper classmen are usually vital to getting things turned around. Often you will see a wave of younger players coming in who are more highly touted and often more talented. While it is their talent and athleticism that the program will soon rely on, the upper classmen always play an integral role in teaching these kids what it takes to succeed at this level. These guys will be missed and hopefully they've left something with the younger group that will help them to turn Gopher basketball into a Big Ten contender.

Golden Nugz 3.4.10

2010-03-05T09:00:36Z

So Gopher basketball is a mess right now, but Marcus Fuller has a nice article on incoming center Elliott Eliason. He is, as you may recall from Nebraska and has led his team to state.

Eliason, a 6-foot-11, 235-pound center from Chadron High School in Nebraska, has been a dominant force inside this year while averaging 18 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks a game. He had 27 points and 12 rebounds to help his team win the C1-6 district title on Tuesday night.

Another big man can never hurt, even with Iverson and Sampson back for the next two years. Apparently Eliason is already planning on redshirting.

The Gophers have seen some improvement from sophomore center Ralph Sampson III this season. But fellow second-year player Colton Iverson has been slower to develop. Even if Eliason was able to help inside next season, he said he still plans to redshirt right now.

"I have a lot to learn, obviously, and they have a lot to teach me," he said. "It's coach (Tubby) Smith and the coaching staff's decision. I'm not going to say how I compare to (Sampson and Iverson). I really don't know. I have no idea. Everyone wants to play, but I don't know the situation."

Maybe this will be a better pick up than most of us assumed when we first heard of his commitment. I love the idea of him redshirting and getting plenty of time to develop and mature.

This has been a very rough start for Gopher baseball. They now sit with a record of 2-4 after losing to Wisconsin-Milwaukee yesterday. They now are getting ready for the DQ Classic this weekend.
I like this article by a Wisconsin student. He rips AP voters and their preseason ballots. At least he gives nod to Minnesota as a reasonable top 25 back in October. But can you really fault for some of the ballots cast before a game has yet to be played? Nobody can accurately predict how well new freshmen will perform or how accurately predict how team chemistry will change over the course of an offseason. Michigan is a perfect example. They made the NCAA Tourney last year, even won a game. They returned their best players but have had an awful season.
Back to Gopher baseball and the DQ Classic. This is a great event, I've attended in the past. It is laid back, you are seeing quality baseball, free parking behind and FREE TICKETS AT LOCAL DQ'S! If you don't have anything important you should head out and watch Gopher baseball.
Rittenberg over at his ESPN Big Ten Blog is continuing his series of Big Ten game-day traditions. He finally reached Minnesota. Did he miss anything?

Giant Fail in Ann Arbor

2010-03-03T01:47:24Z

The Gophers made a statement against Michigan tonight. We can all now see quite clearly that this team has no business sniffing the NCAA Tournament. That bubble? Yeah, it's sufficiently exploded.

With an opportunity to beat a very average Michigan team to take one step towards an NCAA berth, the entire Minnesota roster decided that they'd take a night off from playing defense. They had no intensity. All of them. For 40 minutes. Nothing. No spurt. No player slapping the floor encouraging a defensive stop. No heart. Almost every Michigan possession ended in either a layup or good outside look. Giant fail.

Unlike other losses, I have nothing positive to offer out of this one. And for those who want to blame Tubby Smith for this loss, don't. He tried everything defensively. He played man, but no one was playing help-side defense. No one was working. He played a 2-3 zone and the rotations were awful. He played a 3-2 zone and somehow the 3 defenders up top were allowing dribble penetration. The defense wasn't Tubby's fault. He threw everything this team has at the problem. This was a lack of execution and want-to.

Tubby has said something recently that rings true tonight, that this team lacks any poise or any leadership. That was on full display in Ann Arbor as not one Minnesota player brought with them any sort of game or intensity that justifies their scholarship.

Gophers hoping to continue hot streak in Ann Arbor - OPEN THREAD

2010-03-02T23:00:33Z

And the next game of the season is up. The Gophers are looking to exact revenge on the Wolverines who easily handled a listless Gopher squad last month in The Barn.

The Lineups

The Stats

Seriously, how did we lose to these guys last time around? Just contain Sims and Harris, we should be fine. It would also be nice to see Hoffarber get back on track as well and then watch the Gophers roll to victory!