Dreaming of What Could Be

Rivals has updated its Top 150 recruits for the Class of 2010 and it leads to dreams dancing in the minds of all Gopher fans. Here is where possible Gopher recruits fall on the list.

#2 Harrison Barnes - A 6'6" wing from Iowa who has some connections to the U.
Positives: Played on the same AAU as Royce and Rodney. His mom is a huge fan of Tubby and if he wants to stay close to home it is probably his best option.
Negatives: We are competing against every team in the nation and he is a Duke fan.
Likely Destination: Duke or Kansas

#6 Cory Joseph - 6'3" guard who is the brother of Devoe Joseph.
Positives: Brother is a major component on the current Gophers team. We have been recruiting him since before his junior year.
Negatives: With his stock soaring a lot of teams have gone after him with Louisville going hard after him.
Likely Destination: Depends on how the Pitino - Louisville situation ends up but it is likely the Gophs or Louisville.

#11 Jelan Kendrick - 6'6" wing from Georgia.
Positives: RSIII is from Georgia and we have been watching him for awhile.
Negatives: Isn't being recruited as hard as others and does not seem to be a priority compared to others.
Likely Destination: Kentucky or Georgia Tech

#26 Vander Blue - 6'3" guard from Wisconsin
Positive: Just recently de-committed from Wisconsin and it has been reported the Gophers are going to go hard after him.
Negative: It is believed he left Wisconsin to head to either Marquette or Louisville who were still after him while he was committed.
Likely Destination: Marquette

They may not get any of these players, but it is just another sign of the Tubby effect that 4 of the top players in the nation who aren't from Minnesota are giving the Gophers legitimate consideration. The Gophers have 3 scholarships for 2010. I think they will get 1 of these 4 players, a big man like Elliot Eliason or Alex Kirk and Jacob Thomas for 2010. We were all excited for the big class with Royce and Rodney but it is possible that would look like small potatoes. If we got Barnes and Joseph we would possibly have the #1 class in the nation. The future is truly bright in the Barn these days.

Why I Can't Wait for the Gophers to be a Powerhouse

In anticipation I was thinking about the upcoming Gopher game. I was happy to see that we are getting Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg doing the game because I do enjoy them. Then I thought about the thing I hate the most about the Gophers not being a known commodity. Those of us following the Gophers have to hear the same damn info about our team every time we get new announcers. So here is a checklist of what you are going to hear when Nantz and Kellogg cover us for the first time.

• Did you know that Lawrence Westbrook is a cousin to Eagles running back Brian Westbrook? They will mention this after he makes a drive to the hoop. They will then comment how he is built like a fullback or halfback. They will remark on how he barrells into the lane like a running back despite going the speed of a truck and not a 4.4 running back. They may also mention that he scored 40 ppg as a high school senior.
• Did you know that Ralph Sampson III is the son of legend Ralph Sampson Jr? They will make this comment after his first block or hook shot. They will then pan to his father for 15 seconds, who looks to not be enjoying himself at all. Clark Kellogg will then remark about how good Ralph Sampson Jr. was and how he won 3 Player of the Year awards.
• Did you know Devoe Joseph is from Canada? After his first long range make, they will remark that the young freshman hails from Ajax, Onterio in Canada.
• Did you know Damian Johnson has the wingspan of a 7 footer? This will be said after his first block how he is only 6'7" but he is quick and has a 7 foot wingspan.
• Did you know Paul Carter has moved a lot? This will happen if he contributes but it usually is only spoken while he is at the free throw line.
• Did you know Blake Hoffarber has been nominated for two ESPYS? This hasn't been mentioned much this year because he has had limited success this year. It might also not get mentioned because it is usually on ESPN to pimp their own awards.

This will all be mentioned in between non-stop gushing over Tubby Smith. They will mention his national title, NCAA appearances and consecutive 20-win seasons. They will mention how he was not appreciated by Kentucky and likely how Kentucky is not in the tournament.

This is why I can't wait for the Gopher powerhouse. I look forward to turning to ESPN and CBS and not having to listen to the announcers try and introduce the Gophers through unique meaningless stories. Instead they won't have to because the nation will already know about Ralph Sampson, Royce White and Rodney Williams.

Wisconsin Game Review

I have never been a huge Westbrook fan but as much as I dislike him, the whole state of Wisconsin hates him. He has been inconsistent all year and has disappeared for most of the Big Ten but he has single-handedly beat Wisconsin twice when we had no business winning either. Westbrook didn't equal the 29 he scored in Madison but he scored 15 all in the second half. He scored the last 10 points for the Gophers.

This was a huge win. If we had lost that game we would have needed a huge run in the Big Ten tournament. Now, if we beat Michigan on Saturday, we will be in the tournament regardless of how the Big Ten tournament turns out. In fact CBS Sports with the win moved us off the bubble and has us listed as safe. It might be true but I would not like to test that theory by going 0-2.

Another interesting development was that of Devoe Joseph. He started the game at point guard in place of Al Nolen who has been much maligned in the blogosphere. He did not do much only getting 2 points, 2 rebounds and 0 assists but the interesting thing was at the end of the game when we needed stops he was out there and not Nolen. He was in charge of stopping Hughes when we desperately needed stops and he did. He forced back to back misses from Hughes and he also had a hand in the shooters face for both missed 3's down the stretch. While I think he is better as a shooting guard, his defense has drastically improved this season and I would guess he will get the starting nod again on Saturday.

Stats of the Game

• 53.6%: Percentage of Gophers scoring by Westbrook in the second half. He won this game for us down the stretch by being the scorer in the half court.
• 11.25: PPG for Damian Johnson in the last 4 games, outside of Westbrook down the stretch he is the only one who consistently gives the effort and is trying to will the team into the NCAA's. He has become the on-court leader this team needs. He is a lock to win Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
• 2-22: The Gophers from behind the arc in the last 2 games. They currently have no perimeter game. The two 3's were made by Paul Carter and Travis Busch, not exactly the likely suspects. This team would be so different if Blake returned to last year's form but it just is not going to happen.
  

Michigan Review

We have officially have hit zero on the margin of error scale. The Gophers have three home games remaining and assuming they won't win at Illinois they will need to win all three games at home. All three games (Wisconsin, Northwestern and Michigan) are winnable but they have no room for a bad game or a slip up. They have to turn it around but it helps they head back to the friendly confines. It is hard to know how much of the slump can be attributed to being on the road or how much is the struggling of the Gophers.

It is hard to think with the struggles that if the season ended today the Gophers would still likely be in the tournament. There RPI is still 38. They are higher than teams like Gonzaga, Arizona, Texas and Florida . That said I don't think they can go 2-2 and make the tournament unless they make a serious run in the Big Ten tournament.

On to the game itself. It comes down to one simple reason that I didn't think would be a problem. Defense. They had no perimeter defense allowing Michigan to make 13 3-pointers. It is no secret that the Gophers love the blocked shot and so Michigan would penetrate and the whole team would converge looking for the block and he would simply kick it out to a wide open shooter and they hit it. The other issue was getting back on defense. There were multiple times the Wolverines just beat the defense down the court and got easy layups and dunks.

The Gophers player of the game is the same as last game. Devoe Joseph again lead the team in scoring with 14 points and 4 assists. We wasn't as hot as he was against Penn State but still went 5-9 and 3-6 from behind the arc. He got significant playing time with 31 minutes and Nolen only had 18 minutes. I would look for Joseph to start in place of Westbrook on Sunday which would be good because Westbrook is my least favorite player and he showed why again yesterday. This team is lacking a leader and he is an anti-leader. He is selfish with the ball and if he is not scoring he does nothing else, he doesn't play defense and gives no effort what so ever. He got 12 points yesterday but it took him 15 shots to do so. I can't wait till we get more talent next year so Westbrook can fade to the background and we don't need him.

Stats of the Game

• 28: Points scored by Michigan inside the 3 point arc. 39 points came from behind the arc.
• 30: Points scored by Zach Novak and Stu Douglass. They average a combined 12.6 ppg for the season.
• 3.9: PPG by Colton Iverson in Big Ten games. He can block shots and rebound but he has disappeared as a low post threat. Lack of low post scoring is the biggest reason for the half-court offense struggles.
  

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.
  

Well That Was Interesting

That folks is what it looks like when a Final Four caliber team plays angry. MSU was an absolute buzz saw. Even if the Gophers played great (which they happened to do the opposite of) they still would have lost by double digits. Michigan State was fast and aggressive on both ends of the court and got and did whatever they wanted to do.

There was nothing the Gophers did well in this game. They shot 29%, 25% from 3. They turned the ball 15 times and only had 6 assists. They were outrebounded 38-21 (although it is hard to win when you are missing and the other team never does). There is nothing the Gophers can hang there hat on except that they played even in the second half when the game was over and that Devoe Joseph made some shots.

While this game was extremely hard to watch, in the larger picture this game means little. A loss to Michigan State on the road does nothing to hurt our NCAA chances or seeding. It ends our chances to win the Big Ten but those chances were never real. It was just a bad game. The Gophers aren't the only ones to have letdowns on the road. Duke lost to Clemson by 27 and Wake Forest also lost to Miami by 27 last night. If 'elite' teams can get blown out on the road it is ok that Minnesota lost to a Top 15 team on the road. The difference is how they bounce back. Duke and Wake will come back and play very well in there next game just like Michigan St. bounced back from a loss to Penn St. to lay the wood to Minnesota. This just makes the Ohio State game more important.

Stats of the Day

• 17 - 16: Points scored by Durrell Summers in the first half versus points scored by the entire Gophers team in the first half. He ended with 21 points in 21 minutes.
• 32.6%: 3-pt shooting percentage for the Gophers in Big Ten games. Only Illinois and Michigan are worse.
  
• 39th: The ranking of the Gophers recruiting class by Rivals. Last years was 17th.