Weekend Preview

With baseball in full gear and NHL and NBA playoffs starting the two month long playoff season, there is a lot for a sports fan to watch. Here is some of the things I look forward to watching.

• Royce White will be involved in the Jordan Brand Classic on Saturday at 7pm on ESPN2. He will be competing against the best high school players in the nation, many of which are McDondald's All-Americans. It will be a very good measuring stick of what kind of expectations we should have for the kid when he hits campus next fall.
• The Twins welcome Torii Hunter and the Los Angeles Angels into town for 3 games. The Twins have gotten off to an underwhelming start but it still should be fun to see Torii Hunter patrol centerfield in the Metrodome again. I will be attending the game on Sunday and hope to see another great start from Glen Perkins.
  
• The NHL Playoffs started on Wednesday and have plenty of games on Versus or NBC this weekend. Teams I am cheering for: Boston Bruins (have Wheeler and Kessel) and the San Jose Sharks (like J0e Thorton and they can stop the hated Detroit Red Wings).
• The NBA Playoffs start on Saturday and some of the steam has gotten taken out with Garnett missing the playoffs and wrecking the Celtics chances to repeat. Games will be on ABC, ESPN or TNT. Teams I am cheering for: Miami Heat (Wade is my favorite player and a big Beasley fan), Orlando Magic (Dwight Howard is an absolute beast), and the Portland Trail Blazers (He has started slow but I'm still a Greg Oden fan).
  

Tragedy and Other News

• After throwing six shutout innings against the Oakland Athletics, 22-year old uber-prospect Nick Adenhart was killed in a hit-and-run accident after a driver ran a red light. This is a great tragedy to lose someone who was so young and future was so bright.
• Travis Busch has left the Gophers Basketball program. This is not a great surprise as there wasn't a scholarship for him next year and their also did not seem to be a lot of playing time for him also. Busch may not have been blessed with a lot of talent but he worked hard and contributed more than anyone thought he would when he transferred here from Cal-Poly.
• Royce White was named Mr. Basketball. The chairman of the award commented that he had the ability to score far more but chose to do whatever to make the team better and lead them to an undefeated season. For those that like to hate on Royce they fail to see how he came in to an already formed team and instead of making it his team and taking it over he found a role on the team that became one of the best in MSHSL history. I would look for him to do the same thing next year with the Gophers.
  
• I attended my first Twins game of the year last night. It was student night so I was way up in the Upper Level GA seats. Sitting 3 seats away from me was on Adam Weber and it was a shock in more than one way. He is listed by the Gophers at 6'3" 217. That is not true, he was shorter than me and at best he is 6'1" 210. He also had a less that stellar posse. You would expect the Big Ten quarterback would have a girl on each arm at a game but his posse was 5-6 guys who all looked to be 17 years old and seemed more likely to play D&D than football. Weber did have a good time and was a little drunk by end of the game.

It's Been a Good Year and the Future is Bright

Well, just like that the Gophers season is over. To break down what happened in the Texas game takes just one sentence. Abrams got hot and the Gophers panicked. It was a 3 point lead in the second half and then Abrams hit 4 straight threes. The Gophers then tried to score quick and from the outside and with this team that is a disaster. Damian Johnson did well on Damian James, but no one was stopping A.J. Abrams and no matter how hard Sampson and Iverson tried they were never going to be able to hold down Pittman who only Dejuan Blair might be able to stop.

This loss does not detract from what was a good season. The program has excitement that has not been around since 1997. This team made the NCAA tournament with NIT talent. This loss early should drive the returning players and especially the freshman to work hard in the offseason so this doesn't happen this year. Kentucky message boards in an effort to disparage the Tubby success says that the Gopher fans are just happy to be in the tournament and have low expectations. That was true this year but that is not the expectation for next year. I expect them to not be on the bubble and I expect them to be playing a lower seeded program in the opening round next year and not the 9 seed.

In a lame attempt at a season recap I will show the Gophers resume as if they were the next opponent.

Minnesota Golden Gophers (22-11, 10-10)

Wins to Showcase:

• Vs. Louisville 70-64
• at Wisconsin 78-74

Losses to Hide From:

• at Northwestern 65-74
• at Penn State 63-68

Assets:

• Interior Defense: This team had four very capable shot blockers in Sampson, Iverson, Johnson and Carter. They also after some issues in the non-conference schedule became a very good rebounding team. With the addition of bulk in Mbakwe and White, I don't see any opponent having any success down low next year.
• Free Throw Shooting: Outside of Colton Iverson, this entire team is very good at shooting free throws. That may seem small but many games were salted away by Westbrook and others not missing a free throw down the stretch. Sampson is very good at 75% that will be very benficial for a big man who should see the line a lot in his future.
• Damian Johnson: I don't care what the coaches decided but Damian Johnson is the best defensive player in the Big Ten. He can guard almost every postion and is all over the place with blocks, steals and rebounds. Towards the end of the season his offensive game really started to develop. He ended the season with 9.8 ppg but in the last 8 games he averaged 12.1 ppg. If he continues to develop in the offseason he can be a 14-15 point scorer next year while providing his world class defense.

Issues:

• Outside shooting: This was what held the Gophers back all season. They lacked a scorer who makes threes in their sleep that all successful teams have in College Basketball. Going into the season many asssumed it would be Blake Hoffarber but that just did not happen this year. Westbrook can make them but for often then not forced a contested one. Joeseph didn't shoot a lot and was also hot and cold. This is my biggest worry for next year as the recruiting class does not address this issue. The Gophers will need Hoffarber to bounce back and Joseph develop his shot and confidence where he can be that shooter. I think it is possible but we can not shoot like we did this year and be successful next year.
• Turnovers: We were too sloppy with the basketball too often. Many blamed Nolen for this issue but he had an assist to turnover ratio of 2.5 which is pretty good. It wasn't one persons fault but the team as a whole. For a poor shooting team like the Gophers they needed all the possessions they can get. This should improve next year with everyone becoming more experience and improving.
• Go-To Scorer: Lawrence Westbrook usually tried to fulfill this role but he is merely just holding it for someone else. A slow 6' footer with a mediocre shot is not who you want to be counting on down the stretch. The Gophers lacked some one like A.J. Abrams who you can count on to get hot and take over the game. They need a player or players that they can count on for 15-20 points a game and to get us through the lulls that plaugued us this year. I see Sampson, White and Joseph potentially be one of those guys but I don't know if that will be by next year. One thing I do see is Westbrook won't be the only player averaging double digits.

It was an exciting year and while sometimes frustrating it was a very enjoyable year. This will be a very long offseason as Midnight Madness can not come fast enough. This season was a stepping stone and next year should be the beginning of a long and beautiful run as a player in the college basketball scene.

Michigan Preview

Minnesota Golden Gophers (19-6, 7-6) at Michigan Wolverines (16-10, 6-7)

This game is very similar to the Penn State game. Michigan absolutely needs to win this game and should bring their best effort. The Gophers need to show up on the road and a win in Ann Arbor would almost punch their ticket to the tournament. While a loss is not a catastrophe it puts a lot of pressure on winning the home games and would further hurt the sinking confidence. Here is Michigan's resume:

Wins to showcase

• Vs. Duke 81 - 73
• at UCLA 55 - 52

Losses to hide from

• at Penn State 58 - 73
• vs Wisconsin 61 - 73

Assets

• Free Throws: Shooting 76.2% from the line best in the Big Ten
• Manny Harris: 17.5 ppg, 7.2 rebs, 4.3 ass
• DeShawn Sims: 14.6 ppg, 7.3 rebs, .8 ass

Issues

• Shooting: Shoot 42% from the field and 31.7% from behind the arc, both worst in Big Ten
• Defense: Opponents shooting 43.2% 2nd worst in Big Ten
  
• Scoring Depth: Harris and Sims account for 48% of the scoring. Next highest scorer is Laval Lucas-Perry averaging 7.3 ppg and only 4 players average more than 5 ppg in Big Ten games. Conversely, 6 players are doing so for the Gophers.

Every one is aware of Michigan's wins over UCLA and Duke. The problem is that was in the past and the Big Ten season hasn't been as kind. They beat Illinois at home but do not have another decent win. The other 5 wins consist of Iowa, Northwestern and Penn State at home and Indiana and Northwestern on the road. The biggest problem is that if you stop Harris or Sims or even slow them down they are very beatable.

Prediction

Michigan is a very beatable team and like Penn State, while fighting to make the tournament will likely end up in the NIT. If this game was at the Barn as it will be later this season I would expect a Gophers victory but it is on the road and that changes everything. One important thing is that Michigan plays the 1-3-1 on defense that the Gophers struggled against at Northwestern. I would hope that Tubby has the guys ready to crack it and they don't play it nearly as well as Northwestern does. This game should be a very similar sight for Gopher fans. It will be sloppy with turnovers and poor shooting percentages. I think Michigan's desperation and Minnesota's road ineptitude will be too much.

Michigan 62, Minnesota 60

Other Note

• Royce White was not named to the McDonald's All-American game. I think this is a shame. The biggest issue I have is that they picked the Wear twins David and Travis. They have the notch of being twins and are both headed to UNC so they got picked but they are ranked 41 and 42 by ESPN and 68 and 69 by Rivals. White is 25th on ESPN and 19th on Rivals. If Royce was headed to a traditional power like UNC or Duke, I would wager he would have been selected.
  

More Maresh Setbacks

It is being reported that Sam Maresh has had another setback to making his Gopher debut. Doctors have discovered a tumor on his left leg. There is good news to this story. It is not related to his heart condition that required heart surgery causing him to miss this past season and there is also a very low chance of it being cancerous. It is also not made up of blood vessels but it is causing him pain and needs to be removed. It is tough to see a 19-year old kid face so many obstacles in trying to just do what he loves in playing football. I hope all goes well and I think I speak for all Gophers when I say I hope to see him leading the Gophers on to the field in the first game in TCF Bank and he is in uniform.

In other Gopher football news, Brewster has hired a new Wide Recievers coach to replace George McDonald who left for the NFL. It is Richard Hightower. He spent the last few years as an assistant for the Houston Texans. He played for the University of Texas from 1999-2002 as a defensive back and wide receiver. I think the reason for his hiring is thinly veiled. He is a Texan through and through being born and raised in Houston and he will be used to recruit the Texas area where we have done fairly well under Brewster getting Hasan Lipscomb, Kerry Lewis, Spencer Reeves, and Keanon Cooper. His obvious main objective is to lure Mike Davis up north.

On Gopher Illustrated it has a story about how junior guard Jacob Thomas wants to be a Gopher. He has flown so far under the national radar but is likely the best junior guard in the state and might be the best junior in the state. He is averaging 21.5 ppg and scored 41 against Cooper and Rodney Williams and 30 in his last game while Saul Smith was in attendance. I think he will be a very good player the problem is, in my opinion, whether he becomes a Gopher or not is out of his hands. It is in those of Cory Joseph. He is the younger brother of Devoe Joseph and by accounts might be the better of the two. He is more of a true point guard than Devoe. He is the point guard for the #3 high school team in the nation and along with an offer from the Gophers he has offers from Georgetown, Louisville and Marquette. If he heads to Minneapolis there won't be room for another guard, but if Joseph heads elsewhere you will likely see Thomas in a Gophers uniform come the Fall of 2010.

I mentioned in the previous post about Hopkins making a name for it self on the east coast over the weekend. Well, I wasn't just talking. They are now the #16 team in the nation and ESPN.com in it's coverage of the event listed Royce White as the most impressive player in the event which featured Lance Stephenson (#9 in nation) and Dexter Stickland (#17 in nation). I almost just want this season to end so we can see Royce in maroon and gold. He should come in next year and win Big Ten freshman of the year.

Stats of the Day

• 0: Minnesota players in the Rivals Top 150 for 2010. There are 5 in the 2009 Top 150 and 2 in 2008. Tubby is going to have to look elsewhere for his recruits like he did in 2008.
• 87 - 57 : The average score of a Hopkins game this season. When you average beating a team by 30 you need to find a harder challenge.

Penn State Game Review

I almost hit this one on the button. I predicted Penn State 67, Minnesota 63 and I was off by one point. So I can't say that I'm am surprised by the result. This is a team that is regressing to what they were supposed to be this year. A decent team that would be on the bubble. Slightly better than last year but not significantly, certainly not a top 25 team. That said while not playing well they still are in good shape to make the tournament. They need to finish 3-2 down the stretch and they have three games at home left.

In an interesting twist the player of the game is also the goat of the game. Devoe Joseph went berserk in the second half. He ended up with 23 points going 8-11 from the field and a whopping 7-8 from behind the arc. He simply could not miss. He became the goat when Talor Battle picked him clean and went down and made the layup to make it a 4 point lead with under a minute left. The last few minutes showed were Joseph is best served. He isn't able to create his own shot especially being guarded by someone as quick as Talor Battle. What he can do is come off screens. So those who think he should see more time at point than Nolen, I think he should see more time as the 2 guard than Westbrook who has disappeared averaging 4.5 ppg in the last 4 games.

This game once again showed the fatal flaw in the Gophers team this season. No one on the team is able to consistently create their own offense. If you take away Joseph's performance the Gophers went 12-38 or 31.6%. That is not going to win you road games. The Gophers can not shoot and no one can make some offense in the half-court. The biggest reason is that neither Iverson or Sampson has developed enough presence down low that the wings have to collapse down on them or double team opening up the wings. It will happen that they will dominate down low but it is not going to happen this year. Even if they make the tournament this team is currently able to make any noise in March, it will be nice to be in the tournament but this is not a sweet sixteen capable team.

The next game will be interesting because it is the same circumstances as this game. Michigan needs this game to keep the tournament hopes alive. The only change is that it is a little more important for the Gophers. If they lose this game they will have to win all 3 games at the Barn. If they win it gives them a little room to breathe.

Other News

• Hopkins headed to New York this weekend to play in the NIKE Super Six. They dominated a Thomas Jefferson team from New York. It wasn't the best opponent but if you read this blog during the game Hopkins gained a lot of respect for not only themselves but Minnesota basketball. White dominated with 22 points. I think that Hopkins team could beat any high school team in the nation.

Stats of the Day

• 27: Fouls committed by the Gophers. One major reason for the loss was that all our post players were in foul trouble and could not play aggressively like they normally do. It also allowed Penn State to make 21 free throws. It helped them whether the Joseph storm.
• 28: Minutes played by Travis Busch a season high. This was a result of the other's foul trouble. While he played ok (4 points 5 rebounds) it is not a good sign when you get that much time out of Busch.
• 30: Points scored by Gophers not named Joseph or Nolen. We had 9 other players play and they averaged 3.33 points per player. That is unacceptable and down the stretch it was clear the rest of the players were just hoping Joseph would save them and they were not even looking to do something offensively.
  

TGFI

I know it is only Wednesday and I'm not dyslexic. It is Thank God For Indiana. Only Indiana would let us get away with playing the sloppy disinterested game we played on Wednesday. The Gophers gave the ball away 19 times. Indiana responded by turning the ball over 26 times. It was an absolutely brutal game and the Gophers looked nothing like a tournament team outside a run in the second half.

The player of the game is obviously Paul Carter. He put up 22 points, 6 rebs, 1 block and 2 steals. I've remarked before about his lack of shooting and this was evidence of what he can accomplish with his skills given a decent shot. He went 7-13 from the field and more impressively went 7-8 from the line. Until he develops an outside shot he needs to force the issue down low and get to the free throw line. He is actually a 72% free throw shooter.

The other player that needs to be mentioned is Devoe Joseph. He was the only player who played with any effort on both ends in the first half. He ended up with 9 points and 4 rebounds. He played alot as the off-guard with Nolen at the point and I think that is where he is at his best. He still struggles to run the half-court offense, but can play up-tempo, has a good shot and also has the ability to create his own shot. I would like to see him get 20+ minutes a game with half of it as the 2 guard. The next game is an important one at Penn State.

Other News

• Royce White has been named to the Jordan Brand Classic which will be at the Madison Square Garden on April 18th on ESPN2. This game is not as big as the McDonald's All-American Game but this is a good indicator that he might be a McDonald's All-Star. Only one player (Lance Stephenson) out of the top 10 players on Rivals will not be attending. Even if he doesn't make the McDonald's Game it will be great to see him against the nation's best on national tv.
• Brett Farve has retired again. I will believe he is truly retired when it is September and he is not on a team. I think it is more that he doesn't want to play for the Jets than he doesn't want to play. I think if the right team came along he would put on the uniform because he has to feed his almighty ego that took a hit by his sup-standard play in New York.

Stats of the Day

• 14: Steals by the Gophers against Indiana. Nolen lead the team with 4 steals.
• 24: Points off turnovers by the Gophers. That needs to be better off of 26 turnovers.
• 8: Points scored by the 3 leading scorers (Westbrook 4, Nolen 4, Johnson 0). They average a combined 29.4 ppg. They shot a combined 2-16. The biggest problem with the team is a lack of a superstar who can put us on his back consistently.