Brewster Stealing Some Cheese

One Brewster first walked on campus he made a promise to close down the borders and stop the flow of Minnesota talent to other schools, mainly Wisconsin. While he has not completely stopped the gap (Floyd, Mobley, he has done a pretty good job. In Glen Mason's last full recruiting class of the top 10 Minnesota recruits 3 choose Minnesota (Weber, Eric Ellestad, and Sean McWhither) and 3 choose Wisconsin (Kim Royston, Brandon Hoey, and Issac Anderson). Interestingly both Royston and Carufel have both come home. In Brewster's last class of the top 10 Minnesota recruits 6 choose Minnesota with Bryce McNeal (Clemson) and Casey Dehn (Wisconsin) escaping.

It wasn't enough for Brewster to stop the flow of Minnesotans to Wisconsin he wanted to reverse the flow and bring the Wisconsinites to Minnesota. In the past week Brewster has received commitments for two Wisconsinites in Matt Eggen and Zac Epping. They join Tom Parish giving the Gophers currently 3 commitments from Wisconsin. They would have had 4 if not for this fool. So far 3 of the top 7 Wisconsin recruits are headed to Minneapolis. Of the top 10 in Wisconsin Konrad Zagzebski is the only one to commit to Wisconsin with even Iowa and Indiana getting commitments.

While the jury is still out on Brewster with this year being a turning point, nothing makes me happier than him getting kids from Wisconsin. While the results are not there yet he is bringing in a lot more talent and has done better recruiting than Mason ever did or even thought about doing. The result is our future looks brighter and Bret Bielema has the Badgers headed in the other direction much to the chagrin of Badger fans and the delight of me.

Why You Can't Trust a 17-year Old Kid

There is now a football player from Wisconsin that I hate as much as Brett Farve and it is a 17 year old kid. Linebacker Konrad Zagzebski was the first commit to Brewster for the 2010 class. He spoke about the commitment to Gopher Illustrated. Here is what he said to Gopher Illustrated on January 22nd:

"I am psyched right now and super pumped to be a Gopher. I had a feeling that an offer was coming and I knew that if it did my recruiting process would be over. I don't care who else offers, I want to be a Golden Gopher." I knew that even if all the schools in the Big Ten were to offer that I would end up at Minnesota," he said. "I felt loyalty from the Minnesota staff ever since they started to recruit me last year. According to Zagzebski, this decision is final. "The way I see it Wisconsin and everyone else had their chance, but to be honest I really never saw myself playing at Wisconsin," he said. "Minnesota is where it is at right now and it doesn't take long to recognize that they are a program on the rise. There is a lot of excitement within the program and I cannot wait to play in the new stadium. I just want to be at Minnesota. My decision is over and I can now focus on one more year of high school ball."

Surprise, Surprise 4 months later he has de-committed and committed to Wisconsin.

I know kids are fickle and de-commit all the time but this is ridiculous. No one made him be so definitive. I have no respect for anyone who can not be trusted or taken at their word. I'm glad this kid isn't a Gopher and by his actions the Badgers deserve a little flake and tool like him.

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.
  

Wisconsin Preview

Minnesota Golden Gophers (20-8, 8-8) vs. Wisconsin Badgers (18-10, 9-7)

March Basketball is officially upon us and it comes in the form of a doozy. This game will be very similar to the Illinois game, it may not be high-scoring and beautiful to look at but it should be a very intense game and an exciting game to watch. Wisconsin is likely already in the tournament but I guarantee they have not forgotten the Gophers rallying to beat them at Kohl to send them into a 6 game spiral. They would relish the chance to severly damage our NCAA chances. Here is Wisconsin's resume:

Wins to showcase:

• Vs. Illinois 63 - 50
• Vs. Ohio State 55 - 50

Losses to hide from:

• at Iowa 69 - 73
• at Northwestern 63 - 66

Previous Result

• Gophers 78, Wisconsin 74

I think it is safe to assume that we can not count on getting 29 points from Westbrook and 11 from Bostick. I would also bet against a double-double by Paul Carter. This game will be nothing like the previous game. However, I bet the Gophers press for most of the game and the length and althleticism of Johnson and Carter should still cause problems for the Badgers.

Wisconsin is a legendary tough team at Kohl but it does not always translate to the road. This year they are 4-6 on the road with the best win at Michigan but they have also lost to Iowa and Northwestern. When it comes to games in March it always seems to come down to who wants the game more and plays like it. While Wisconsin has the revenge motivation and a win will clinch their berth in the tournament I have to believe the Gophers want it more. They need this game and they have been practicing for a week for this game with Tubby in their ear about how much they need this game. This is a different team at home mainly because they play stifling defense (holding Big Ten opponents to 56.14 ppg) and actually make an outside jump shot. I think the Gophers desperation will outweigh the Badgers want for revenge.

Gophers 57, Wisconsin 53

Oh, Its a Great Time to be a Gopher

That is what college basketball is all about. I'm struggling to write this because I at a loss for words to describe how awesome that game was. I think this finalizes any complaints or naysayers saying "well they didn't play anybody". We have beaten Louisville, Ohio State and Wisconsin. That is three NCAA teams and our only loss is to an elite Michigan State team. Now to the game. It goes without saying that the MVP of the game is Lawrence Westbrook. He scored a career high 29 points including the clutch three to send it into overtime. He then preceded to score 9 points in OT including clutch free throws to seal the deal. I have been less than overwhelmed with Westbrook over his career but he was clutch and put up one of the best single game performances by a Gopher in a long time. Grier against Wisconsin and Pryzbilla against Indiana come to mind.

The other bright spot is the continued development of the Junior College transfer players. They may have scored more against Penn State but I was more impressed with their performance today. Paul Carter pulled in a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebs. He also had a clutch block down the stretch and did a great job defending Landry down the stretch. Bostick continued to showcase his offensive game. He scored 11 points with some impressive drives to the lane in the second half. When he gets aggressive on the offensive end he is quite the force.

A sign that I'm still used to Monson ball. Who thought that the Gophers were done at halftime and when they didn't cut the lead early in the second half? A Monson team would have packed it in and looked forward to the Northwestern game. Not a Tubby team. They will never stop playing hard. In all three road games they have come back from double digit deficits to win the game. This win is due to Westbrook and the work ethic and drive that Tubby has installed in the team.

Other Thoughts

• What is with the Purdue team? They seem to be the definition of inconsistent. They get crushed by Duke, crush Davidson, soundly beat Wisconsin, and they should have lost tonight to Northwestern. With the Gophers win and their lack of consistency I think the Gophers can finish second in the conference this year. Michigan State is still the runaway favorite but I see no team that is significantly better than the Gophers in the conference.
• The Don Lucia saga seems to have a happy ending. It has been diagnosed that a twinged nerve caused by infection or inflammation caused the headaches and numbness on the left side of his face. I think this great news should move the Gophers hockey team to a great second half of the season starting this weekend with St. Cloud State.
  

Stats of the Day

• 4: The number of Big Ten home losses by Bo Ryan including the loss to the Gophers.
• 20.8: The 3-pt shooting percentage of the Badgers. They went 5 -24.
• February 2nd, 2005: Last time a Gopher scored at least 29 points. Vincent Grier did it scoring 32 points against Northwestern.
  

Wisconsin Preview

#18 Minnesota Golden Gophers (15-1, 3-1) at Wisconsin Badgers (12-4, 3-1)

The Badgers are recognized to be a good team and a legitimate NCAA caliber team. The losses they have had are to elite teams like UCONN and Texas but they have yet to beat a guaranteed NCAA team. They still have done an excellent job of protecting the Kohl Center which is the hardest place to go on the road in the Big Ten. Here is Wisconsin's resume:

Wins to showcase:

• At Michigan 73-61
• At Virginia Tech 74-72
  

Losses to hide from:

• At Purdue 52-65
• At Marquette 58-61

Assets:

• Ball Control: 10.6 turnovers per game best in conference
• Defensive Rebounding: Rebound 73.8% of possible defensive rebounds, 2nd in conference
• Marcus Landry: 12.8 ppg, 4.1 rebs, 1.6 ass

Deficiencies:

• Defense: Opponents shoot 42.1% 3rd worst, force 10.7 turnovers per game worst in Big Ten
• Assists: 12 per game second worst in Big Ten
• Scoring Depth: Only five players (Landry, Hughes, Bohannon, Leuer, Krabbenhoft) average more than 5 points a game. The Gophers have 8 players.

As you can see the Badger losses are not to0 bad although they looked pretty bad in the Purdue game. Their defense is not at the level accustomed to Badger basketball. They are allowing 59.3 ppg compared to 54.4 last year and 57.9 two years ago. Opponents only shot 38.3 percent last year. This team is still a very good team but they are not as good as the Badger teams of the last two years with Alondo Tucker and Kammron Taylor.

Interesting things to watch:

• Minnesota players: As usual the Wisconsin team has a handful of Minnesota players. I don't see this as a huge problem as the players don't usually match the Gophers style of play. This current squad has 4 Minnesota players on it. Soph. Jon Leuer (Orono) is the biggest contributor with 9.8 ppg and 4.2 reb. Other players are Sr. Kevin Gullikson (5.8 mpg), Fr. Jordan Taylor (10.6 mpg) and Fr. Jared Berggren who has yet to play.
• The newcomers playing their first hostile environment. Road games at Colorado St. and Iowa are not exactly the same as what it will be like for the newcomers at the Kohl Center. With Wisconsin's size we are going to need Colton Iverson and RSIII to play strong down low. We also will need the continued growth of one Mr. Carter. This will be the real wake-up as to what a Big Ten road game really is.

Prediction

If this game was at Williams Arena or a neutral site this would be a different story. I think Wisconsin and Minnesota are fairly equal overall. The problem is that in Minnesota's two true road games (Louisville does not count) they struggled to beat a 5-11 Colorado State team that lost to a school named St. Martins and they shot 34% against a terrible Iowa team that had no offensive game outside shooting 3-pointers. To go and win in Kohl it takes a team of men or a superior athletic team. That is not the Gophers at this stage of the game. I hope I am wrong because I would enjoy nothing more than for the Gophers to win tomorrow, but I just don't see the toughness needed to beat Wisconsin at home.

Badgers 65, Gophers 57