2009-2010 Gophers

[CodyDawg]

was that video supposed to tell his side of the story or is there another one? That one was pathetic.

[Scott M]

Another garbage win last night. Got to see Hoffarber light it up. 8 of 10 on 3's, set the school record. Tubby put him back in at the end to hit that last, record breaking shot. He was on from almost anywhere. One bounced out that was halfway down. I think he's got his swagger back.

Otherwise not too much else to report. NIU might only win 6-7 games this year. They only have 1 win right now.

SDSU is next, the day before X-mas eve.

[CJH]

Just watched the first half. Hoffarber was the best player on the floor and definitely looked like he had his confidence back. He even looked quicker on D. If he keeps it up, he'll be starting the rest of the year.

[mr_jman]

Well its about time to kick off the REAL (Big 10) season for the Gophers! I can't wait to see how we do against some good competition again. Hopefully Blake stays hot and we get some good consistent post play this year. Westbrook will be Westbrook hopefully. READY TO GET IT UNDERWAY!

[CJH]

Amen to that!!! Looking forward to the game tonight! Pretty sure it is on the BTN.

[mr_jman]

Going for 2 - 0 in the Big Ten today! Games at 3pm on the BTN!

[Snag]

I read that Royce White is practicing with the team again. Maybe he will be allowed to suit up in the near future.

[Canon Guy]

I think it will be a tough game for them today without Sampson.

[bunkerbay]

off to a good start!

[Canon Guy]

I think it will be a tough game for them today without Sampson.

I take that back!

[TR21HP]

Canon Guy,

Yeah, Iowa looked bad, but the Gophers really shot well. Supposedly Iowa was missing their best player - suspended for drunk driving, but I don't think he would have made a big difference in this game.

[Dotch]

lol! After watching the Gophers lose to the Hawkeyes in the "good old days" at Carver Hawkeye Arena when they were coached by Dr. Tom and running his vaunted pressure defense, then having to listen to the games on Raycom where Mac MacCausland and Larry Morgan were the 2 biggest homers ever to broadcast a basketball game, not to mention having to put up with the obnoxious Hawkeye fans less than 30 miles away, this game was sorta like watching my old Lab Patti kill rats and woodchucks until the last couple minutes: Thoroughly enjoyable, quite entertaining and very satisfying.

[mr_jman]

It made me wonder if the Gophers were just that good or if Iowa was just that bad. A little of both today. Gophers have some tough tests coming up so we'll see how good this team really is in the next few games!

[CJH]

Once again, Hoffarber was the best player on the floor. If he can keep it up, they are a much better team than predicted. Especially considering they really haven't gotten much out of the two centers and still don't have Royce or Mbawkweesgywwayeheheh.

[Scott M]

I'm getting back into the groove of things, missed the Penn State game to go up north but watched it on TV...Westbrook looked like he did against Wisconsin last year, but he needs minutes to find that groove and Tubby's line changes often prevent that. Gophers did just enough to win that one...I'd expect PSU to finish 9th and Iowa to finish 11th, so nothing too exciting yet.

As someone said, White was able to travel to Des Moines with the team and is practicing. Maybe he should just stay off Youtube for awhile.

Didn't catch a minute of the Iowa game. It sounds like Hoff is figuring it out. He is getting open looks (although I'd expect that to slow up until the Gophers can demonstrate a post game), gets trash baskets on backdoor cuts and offensive rebounds, and is managing to get minutes despite his bad defense.

I guess we've got to enjoy 2-0 in conference play and a 7 game win streak for now. It gets brutal for a few games, nobody is going to roll over:

@Purdue

Ohio State

@Michigan State

I will say 10-8 in conference play, they barely make the tournament, and finish 4th or 5th in the conference as their will be a huge logjam in the middle of the standings.

[bunkerbay]

Big game against Purdue tonight! Does anyone know if Sampson 3 is back in the line up tonight?? Hopefully hoffarber can continue to keep it raining 3's and D.Johnson can out rebound em all again!

[Scott M]

Win tonight and I can forget about a 1 or 2 of those 3 in a row losses.

No Sampson, but that's okay because the Gophs have more athletic guys that can guard Johnson in Carter and D. Johnson.

If the Gophers press effectively like Alabama did and hit their shots, especially treys, they have a chance.

[bunkerbay]

Ok, thanks for the info!

[bunkerbay]

UGLY

[Scott M]

Hats off to Purdue. They have a team just as good as the Glenn Robinson years and they may finally be able to knock off Michigan State at the top of the conference.

I can remember back to the year after Vince Grier was a Gopher and Purdue talked about emulating Minnesota, coming from a cellar dwelling season to making it to the Big Dance (04-05). While Purdue did not do that in 05-06, the run they have made since then with Johnson, Moore, and Hummel has been impressive. You get to see what happens when a team shortens the bench, better defines individual roles, and plays hard-nosed basketball. Minnesota has the talent to do exactly what Purdue has done, but we've seen the same deficiencies under Tubby...these are the warts of a Tubby Smith program. Very poor half court offense, poor free throw shooting, and an overreliance on the 3 point shot. Tonight when those shots weren't falling, when they couldn't live off transition baskets, when they became discombobulated in the half court offense, when they couldn't get the ball off the perimeter, you saw a team push a lead in the 8-10 range to a 19 point blowout.

It all comes down, in my opinion, to a Purdue team that has been there before, that has played tougher competition, and has been forced to improve upon its weaknesses. The personnel on the Gophers this year is so similar to last year that a half court game should have developed in practice, in Howard Pulley leagues, in summer pick up ball, but seems lacking. Purdue overplays but has the athleticism to recover. And when the ball went inside, they swarmed to the ball with hands up, deflecting or blocking shots. I would have liked to see some pump fakes tonight, but I think that extra time would have just allowed a defender to step in.

I had to laugh when Lavin said something on air about missing Sampson in the half court offense. He hasn't watched much Gopher ball before or after the 76 classic. Sampson has a sweet stroke from 8-15 feet, but can't bang inside, is routinely outrebounded by smaller guys, and thinks too much with the ball. Potential is a dangerous thing. He could be great with the pedigree and size, but the flashes he and Iverson show will be stymied without the development of a half court offense and post game and the continuation of a guard oriented offense.

If I had to point to a Gopher that played well, I would point to Paul Carter or Damian Johnson. I thought they would be an x factor in the game (which didn't really happen), and with 15 points in 14 minutes, Carter was effective. Johnson filled out a nice stat line again, but got 31 minutes to do it.

The guards didn't have a good game tonight. 10 turnovers from your backcourt players is not a good thing, especially since most of those came in half court sets (Purdue pressed little at all outside of on ball pressure on the point man). Too little scoring from guys you were counting on (Hoffarber 3, Joseph 0, Nolen {1 for 10 shooting?} and Westbrook held under double figures) hurt the team.

For the Gophers, it's one game. No one counted on them winning, but if you look at this big picture, when are they going to start winning games like these? If you truly believed that Tubby was going to come here and turn this team into a national contender, when do they take the big step? The conference is on an upswing in terms of talent and coaching, so if he doesn't make an aggressive move in player development, philosophical approach, or recruiting, how do they escape mediocrity? I for one don't want to see half a decade of .500 to .600 basketball in the conference and a bubble team that has to win conference tournament games to get in. People have to remember that this team was ranked #17 to start the season...there were some expectations that this would be a good team.

In year 3 of the Tubby project, we still have a team that is looking for its identity and go to player and the warts of the program are still showing. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy Tubby is here...I remember the Monson years. But at the same time there are some expectations for this group and we should expect the program to improve if we are going to ever make a run at a conference title and national recognition.

[mr_jman]

With the amount of upper classmen, this really is a year that we should finish within the top 4 in the conference and win a few in the Big 10 tourney. It would have been a great win and had they gone into halftime down 4 instead of 7 maybe it would have been a little different.

Bottom line is we missed way too many free throws, and didn't make bunny shots that were there. Also thought the refs weren't helping our cause any but maybe thats just the homer in me.

When we were able to press its easy to see how effective this team can be at getting turnovers and easy buckets but we have to have some half court offense to set it up and we didn't make enough buckets to do that! Hopefully we can bounce back at home on Saturday vs Ohio State!

[Snag]

I watched the 2nd half. Typical big ten road game. Lots of mugging, even though I thought the refs called a lot of fouls. No flow except for a small 6 or 8 point run. I like Iverson more than Sampson. I liked the full court press. I think we can win a close one at home against Purdue.

[Scott M]

yeah, OSU lives and dies with Turner...he may be back in action tomorrow night. I'm sure he'll suit up Saturday.

[zepman]

Nice report da chise...I didn't see the game but feel like I got caught up pretty good with not only the game but the status of the program as well.

I hope Tubby is able to generate some positive outcomes with his program this year...I'd hate to see another aspect of the Gopher program(s) end in another mediocre season. Brewster, Lucia, and Tubby ALL need to get it going!!

[Deitz Dittrich]

Nice write up Chise!!!!