2010-2011 Gophers

[CJH]

The U takes on at risk kids all the time in there regular college, athletics should not be held to a higher standard. The coaches are paid to win games and bring in revenue, period.

[Scott M]

FYI Mbakwe's trial has been delayed twice this summer, once by the prosecution and another time by the judge for a conference. If it's delayed again, Maturi may let him play as he isn't getting his right to a speedy trial.

Nonconference schedule has been released!

November 2 Northeastern State (Exh)

November 8 Winona State (Exh)

November 12 Wofford College

November 15 Sienna College

November 18‐21 Puerto Rico Tip‐off

November 18 Western Kentucky

November 19 Hofstra/North Carolina

November 21 TBD (P.R. Tip-off)

November 24 North Dakota State

November 29 Virginia (Big Ten/ACC Challenge)

December 4 Cornell

December 8 at St. Joseph’s

December 11 Eastern Kentucky

December 15 Akron

I like it better than last years. They will get enough RPI boosters from that group; Wofford, Siena, and Cornell all went to the Big Dance, Virginia is a power conference team, and the Puerto Rico Tip-off should provide some lift from three teams. The conference race is going to be tight again. I guess I see Tubby stuck in the middle of the conference for a number of years unless he gets a big recruiting class or player development gets kicked up a few notches.

[CJH]

Mbakwe says on his Facebook page he will play for Gophers

By Marcus Fuller on August 18, 2010 10:38 AM | 8 Comments | No TrackBacks

Gophers junior forward Trevor Mbakwe decided to give Minnesota sports fans even more good news after Vikings quarterback Brett Favre's return to town Tuesday.

Mbakwe said on his Facebook page: "It was tough but I guess if Brett Favre can make a comeback, I can give Gopher Nation 2 years they won't forget. Let's go boys!"

The 6-foot-8, 240-pound Mbakwe already met with Gophers coach Tubby Smith about returning, Smith told the Pioneer Press on Tuesday. And Smith expects Mbakwe to give them an immediate rebounding force.

I'm not sure Mbakwe should be a starter right away. He has to earn that honor, but it probably won't take long. Several players and coaches told me last season that Mbakwe was a dunking machine and dominated inside often in practice. He'll surely do the same once practice starts Monday for the Canada exhibition tour.

-- Now that Mbakwe's situation is settled, the Gophers have another big issue looming as practice begins next week.

Canadian doctors diagnosed junior guard Devoe Joseph with a strained quadriceps while he was playing for the Canada men's development team. He only played one game on the European tour and struggled. I've heard that his injury could be more serious and different than first thought, possibly a pre-existing knee injury that grew worse since the end of last season.

Joseph will likely miss the Canada trip, which is a shame since he's returning to his native country. But that is the least of the Gophers' worries. If he needs further medical attention, then will he be 100 percent healthy when camp begins in October?

-- There are 13 players expected right now to travel on Minnesota's foreign tour: Blake Hoffarber, Colton Iverson, Devoe Joseph, Trevor Mbakwe, Al Nolen, Ralph Sampson III, Rodney Williams, Mo Walker, Maverick Ahanmisi, Elliott Eliason, Austin Hollins, Dominique Dawson (walk-on) and Eric Stark (walk-on).

Freshman Gerald "Chip" Armelin and sophomore walk-on Bryant Allen are officially on the current 2010-11 roster, but won't make the trip. Armelin didn't attend summer school and Allen is a wide receiver on the football team. Freshman walk-on Chris Halvorsen is on the roster, but won't make the trip either.

-- The Gophers considered taking radio analyst and former Gophers player Spencer Tollackson with them to call the games and do interviews for the Web site. But I was told it was too expensive to add another person.

[Huskie]

What happened to the post player that was coming from Chaldron Nebraska or is he in the next years recruiting class.

[Scott M]

Elliot Eliason, he's making the trip. Thanks for the update CJH.

[CJH]

No problem. Just hope Joseph's quad isn't too bad!!!

[Scott M]

The Golden Gopher Men's Basketball team recently returned from a three-game

exhibition trip to the Vancouver, British Columbia area. While there, the team was able to see many of the sites Vancouver has to offer, as well as compete against three of the best collegiate basketball programs in Canada.

Minnesota opened up with a 80-62 victory over the University of British

Columbia. Junior Devoe Joseph, a native of Pickering, Ontario, Canada, led the squad with 18 points, and fellow Ontario native freshman Mo Walker contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Minnesota's closest game of the trip came against Trinity Western University in game two of the trip. The Gophers overcame a hot-shooting Trinity team to win 80-68. Joseph again led the team in scoring with 15 points to go with a team-high five assists. Walker collected his second straight double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

After a day off, the final game pitted the Gophers against the University of Victoria. The Vikes led for a majority of the first half, but Minnesota made a late run in the second quarter to take a two-point lead at the half. It wasn't close from there. The Gophers finished with five players in double figures, again led by Joseph with 19.

Joseph led the Gophers for the week with a 17.3 point per game average. Senior Blake Hoffarber was second on the team in scoring at 13.0 ppg, followed by Trevor Mbakwe (11.0 ppg), Colton Iverson (10.3 ppg) and Walker (8.3 ppg). Walker averaged a team-high 7.7 rebounds per game. Mbakwe was close at 7.0 rpg, while Al Nolen led the team with 4.3 assists per game. Joseph also led the team in three-point shooting, going 11-of-22 (.500) for the week. Hoffarber made 11-of-26 (.423) attempts from behind the arc.

[Scott M]

Rodney Williams getting some serious interest from mock NBA drafts. Last year when he was getting some starts and making some noise he was getting pushed almost into the lottery, then he stopped getting PT and he dropped off.

This year he's listed at the 10 spot at nbadraftnet and the 20 spot on Chad Ford's big board.

[Scott M]

109-59 start to the exhibition season versus Northeastern State. Will be interesting when the real games get started. Starters so far are Sampson, IVerson, Williams, Hoffarber, Nolen. I gotta think Mbakwe cracks the starting rotation by the Puerto Rico tourney. Still need to see development of the bench and younger players and some semblance of a half court offense against a good defensive team.

[CJH]

Kind of surprised Joseph didn't start. Is that due to the injury?

He was one of the better players last year. Can't imagine Nolen gets the job back automatically.

[Scott M]

Yeah, he's dealing with a couple injuries from that Canada trip. When Nolen isn't scoring and guys are sagging off him forcing him to shoot Tubby is going to want to go to Joseph.

I'm going to be cautiously optimistic. Some folks are talking about 7 big ten teams getting in the Big Dance this year...If the Gophs can beat Western Kentucky two weeks from tonight, I'll be fully invested. They will have a heckuva front court, it's just if they can utilize it.

[Hory]

The Gophers need to start evaluating the character of their players and the kids they recruit. Players can have all the talent in the world, but character will limit them in the long run. ( also see the Viking's examples of players with poor character/morals recently, and the success it has brought the team this year i.e.- Moss, Favre)

[mrklean]

when does Royce White report to camp?

[Scott M]

This Devoe Joseph thing is getting interesting.

Gophers hold on to beat a good Winona State Squad. Winona State will make a strong run at another D2 championship.

[Scott M]

Joseph suspended indefinitely. Wish we could have all the pieces come together and develop but instead we deal with drama every year. That said, I don't believe Tubby has mishandled any of these situations yet...the guys know who the boss is and that they earn everything they get.

[CJH]

They are saying its academic reasons, but I wouldn't be surprised he's PO'd they gave Nolan the starting point back. Kind of scratching my head on that one. I know he's a good defender, but he's one dimensional - he brings nothing offensively. Not only that, but he didn't keep his end of the bargain and stay eligible academically.

[fishingMN4eyes]

Isn't Joseph more of a two guard anyhow? He is a scorer more than he is a point guard. He was kind of forced to play it last year when Nolen went out and the next best option at the point was that Cobbs. I don't like Nolen, but I agree that the Gophers are going to want him in there for defensive purposes as well as being a leader. He brings almost nothing offensively. I am interested to see how long the Joseph drama lasts. He was a lock for big minutes this year after the way he finished last year. What a doorknob!

I agree with da-chise. You can't blame Tubby for this garbage. He has handled this stuff about as well as he could. Can't help that some of these kids are dumbarses.

[CJH]

How about them bigs!!!???? Good games for Sampson, Iverson, and Mwbawke. Looks like that will be their strength this season, as they easily outmatched Wofford.

If they truly are a threat, then it will help Hoffarber and Joseph (when he comes back) have open looks from downtown.

[Scott M]

Yes, nice opening night win.

[mr_jman]

Excited to see the Gophers on ESPNU tomorrow night! Finally on TV and we can really get this season going!

[CJH]

Definitely excited for the first televised game of the year!! (8PM-ESPNU)

[Scott M]

That frontcourt makes me salivate! Mbakwe is a beast on the boards. Hoff has turned into a more well rounded player in year number 4. I thought he was the player that made the difference tonight, hit his free throws, hit some big threes when Siena was on fire, got after some loose balls, and really saw the floor well, distributing a couple nice assists.

If Minny can win 2 of 3 in Puerto Rico, they will be in good shape. Upsetting UNC is a tall order, they need to beat WKU first. But anything is possible.

I get to see my first live game a week from Wednesday against NDSU, hopefully the team is receiving a few more votes in the polls by that time. Some work in the tourney will help.

[fishingMN4eyes]

Agreed on Mbakwe, I have been to the two regular season games so far and the word I have been using to describe him is beast. He gets rebounds he has no business getting. He gets after loose balls. Most imprtantly (as long as it doesn't get too over the top) he is bringing some emotion to this team and the rest of the guys can feed off that.

I think Nolen has taken some heat from people but I think he has played well and smart so far this year.

Freshman look ready to step in. Namely Hollins has looked great to start the year as well as Chip off the bench.

As for Puerto Rico, the Gophers have to find a way to beat WKU. See what happens against UNC. The will likely lose that game but you never know. Then they will likely end up playing West Va or Vanderbilt. All of those games will look good on a resume come March if they are fighting for a tourney bid especially if they can fight out 2 wins. The teams that will be in the loser's bracket don't look to be very impressive and will not look so good on a non-conference schedule.

[Scott M]

Agree on Nolen, felt he had a good game, hit a few open shots and looked to force the action by penetrating...people forget he has a pretty good first step and finds guys under the basket.

Hollins started off very strong in the first half. He looks like he could really be a player, a guy to replace Hoff after he graduates.

Chip did a nice job getting to the rack. Our frosh could really help us; Tubby always finds a way to get them involved. As in years past, he is starting off the nonconference schedule with alternating lineups to see what guys give him.

[fishingMN4eyes]

Tubby has publicly said he has major confidence in his freshmen and it shows because they come off the bench ready to contribute.

I just hope the big guys not named Mbakwe get back to playing strong like they did down the stretch last year in that BTT run they made. They were back to looking soft like they did as freshmen.