2012-2013 Gophers

[LMITOUT]

The game looked pretty good on AXS.tv!

GO DUKE!

[hugonian1]

Nice win over Memphis today.

[Snag]

Definitely the most talented Tubby Team. Hopefully they can stay healthy and out of jail. Williams and Hollins should be able to take over quite a few games this year.

[Scott M]

Nice game from Dre Hollins. It's been a long time since the Gophers had a 40 point scorer. Did it against his hometown University.

Time for a rematch with Stanford. Would be a nice win for for the Gophers.

[LMITOUT]

And Duke upsets #2 Louisville to win the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament!!!

Oh wait...this is a Gophers thread.

Carry on.

[Scott M]

It was a good tourney for the Gophers, a couple wins, and they got some good play from Dre Hollins and Mbakwe, amongst others.

Florida State is next on Tuesday night in the B1G/ACC challenge. Last year's ACC champions lost a number of players but will still get after it on defense. Won't be a runaway but I'm hoping the Gophers can sneak one out.

[schmitty3]

Gophers ranked 21 in the new AP poll.

[Scott M]

Nice game for the Gophers, controlled it from the tap and shot pretty nicely from the floor. Should help the RPI if FSU gets better as the year goes along as is expected. Pretty cakey for the rest of the non-conference schedule. @USC will be a little tougher, but that was a bad team last year.

[Scott M]

Gophers ranked #14 in the AP poll. Too high as they aren't a Sweet 16 team from the looks of em now, but if they jell a little and things go their way they could get that far and maybe further. Gotta take care of the rock for that to happen though. SDSU tomorrow night. You'll get to see the ball on a string style of Nate Wolters. I'll say he goes for 25 on 20 shots and the Jacks next closest guy in shot attempts will take 6 or 7.

[schmitty3]

Wow, at least they are getting some respect. No way they are #14 in the country though. If they can keep the turnovers down maybe, but right now I see them more as team that should be ranked around 25.

[schmitty3]

Well after posting I looked at the rankings, and realized there really aren't too many real good teams surrounding the Gophs. A few teams are having down years so far, which is allowing the Gophers to sneak up there. So now I see how they ranked where they are.

[rundrave]

SDSU tomorrow night. You'll get to see the ball on a string style of Nate Wolters. I'll say he goes for 25 on 20 shots and the Jacks next closest guy in shot attempts will take 6 or 7.

SDSU has had some issues as of late. They are getting complacent and seem to stand and watch Wolters. I just hope its a close game, and fun to watch.

[rundrave]

Local beat writers twitter:

Quote:

SDSU injury report given last night was incomplete: Wolters turned ankle at practice. He did participate in shoot around but is questionable.

Regardless he wont be 100% if he plays. Bummer I was looking forward to watching him tonight.

[Scott M]

Bummer is right. This game was over by halftime, 48-24. I too was hoping to see him fill it up. Last year I went to the game.

Everybody got some run for the Gophs. Out to USC on Saturday to try and get a solid road win. USC has some transfers that are finally playing and playing well. Will be a nice little test. Then it's home for NDSU before Finals break.

[schweady]

Andre Hollins couldn't miss in that first half.

Austin Hollins is incredibly quick.

Coleman is providing some very solid play.

Even when Mbakwe only scores two points, he gets you off your seat.

Hopefully, Walker is still in the gym, working on free throws.

Nice ball movement, aggressive play.

Fun to be watching a #14 team, eh.

[CodyDawg]

Here is the good news as I see it. I dont think we have hit our potential yet. When Mbakwe is back to form and starting, then we will be in top form.

Need to stay away from the injury bug.

one last thing....Mo hasnt looked good to me so far. I was expecting more. Are they bringing him along slowly like Trevor?

[schmitty3]

Not a very pretty win tonight, but a win on the road none the less. They had no answer for Arabi inside, brought back memories of the Duke game with Plumlee.

[Scott M]

No Pac12 network here. Gophers took care of the rock early and built up their lead, then turned it over as usual but came out on top with a solid finish. Too many points for USC's big man off the bench.

I like how the team is handling their success. They appear to have good chemistry and bring a pretty good defensive effort from game to game. Congratulations to Tubby on win number 500. Should have hit it some time last year, but that's for a different thread.

NDSU on Tuesday night, then 11 days off for finals.

[mr_jman]

Gophers ranked 13/16 in the polls. Two more "exhibition" games then we'll see if this team is for real on December 31st! Hoping to ring in the new year after a beat down on Michigan State!

[schweady]

What an athletic team. Really fun to watch tonight.

Weakest link? Walker needs to start earning his feed.

[schmitty3]

Weakest link? Walker needs to start earning his feed.

The guy can barely move, maybe he's still not 100%, but man he doesn't look anything like the guy pre-injury. Otto Osenieks has looked pretty bad too though, can't believe we can't find anyone better than that to come off the bench.

[birchbranch]

I agree about Moe. He is very slow, cannot jump, and rebounding is a challenge unless it falls in his hands. I think Eliason will hurt them in Big Ten play unless his minutes are limited. He plays hard, but it appears to be a struggle for him. No question Mbakwe should be starting. Otto O. doesn't appear to bring much to the table for Minnesota. The Gophers should be tough if guard play is solid. Rodney Williams was a pleasure to watch this evening. NDSU has a decent team. They sure played hard....

[schmitty3]

On a positive note though, Rodney Williams had the #1 play on SC top 10 and Mbakwe had #3. That 360 was nasty!

[Snag]

Normally, the gophers don't improve in the off season, but everyone except for Eliason has gotten better. He needs to step it up when we get to the Big 10.

Our defense is much better this year.

[Scott M]

Went to the game last night, Gophers looked really sluggish. They have 11 days off but looked like they were coming out of a break rather than going into one.

Mo Walker is in need of some conditioning. I remember his freshman year he hit some outside shots, grabbed some rebounds in traffic, and had a soft touch inside. This year he's got no touch, isn't catching cleanly, and is jogging down the court.

Elliason made Marshall Bjorklund look a lot better than he is by giving up position and getting carved up by drop steps and up and unders.

Oto got beat up by Taylor Braun, looked two steps slow at all times.

AusDre Hollins dropped 10 dimes but shot 5 of 17 finishing with 16 points. Those two were decent but can and should play a notch or two better.

Rodney was very efficient. He missed an opportunity for a breakaway in the first half but got his buckle up, 360 dunk later before the end of the first half. It was #1 on SC's Top Ten. If Rodney can keep hitting outside shots (long 2's, I prefer he not shoot 3's although he's hit a few), he'll help stretch the defense.

Trevor was a beast. He'll probably come off the bench one more time for the last non-conference game, but beyond that he needs to start. He grabbed a career high 18 rebounds in 21 minutes (grabbing a couple boards away from team mates ) and abused NDSU's front line. I actually thought his tip dunk was the best dunk of the game. You could see it coming in slow motion when his man rotated and Trevor ran to the rim on the shot attempt. If he makes more plays like that, he won't be reading any more articles that declare him a "below the rim" player that's been robbed of his athleticism.