Gophers 2014-2015

[Rick]

I think Pitino starts taking the jump up this year. We get an NCAA bid and get to the sweet 16.

[schmitty3]

Joey King is a solid DIII player, why he is playing let alone starting in the Big 10 is completely beyond me.

[Snag]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota sophomore guard Daquein McNeil was jailed Tuesday without bail after his arrest on a felony domestic assault charge involving his girlfriend.

McNeil, who was suspended from all team activities pending the investigation, was booked Monday, according to jail records. The Hennepin County attorney’s office had until Wednesday to charge him, spokesman Chuck Laszewski said.

McNeil was arrested for second-degree domestic assault and domestic assault by strangulation. According to the Minneapolis police report, the 20-year-old McNeil and his girlfriend, who is 28, got into an argument Monday morning at an apartment on campus. McNeil tore off her clothes, hit her multiple times with a large belt, choked her and poured cold water on her, the police report said.

She fled outside wearing a small robe and coat to another apartment around the corner, where a man called in the emergency and she waited until police and medics arrived. Officers observed the victim distraught, with several bruises and welts over her body, the report said. She was taken to a hospital.

Minnesota athletic director Norwood Teague said the school was gathering information and cooperating with authorities.

“This athletics department values respect and positively impacting the lives of others and will not tolerate any form of domestic assault from its staff or student-athletes,” Teague said in a statement released by the university.

The team was unavailable for comment. The Gophers play St. John’s on Wednesday in New York in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden.

McNeil was averaging 3.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 18.8 minutes per game. He was usually the second guard off the bench, behind starters Andre Hollins and DeAndre Mathieu and backup Nate Mason. McNeil played sparingly as a freshman, averaging 1.6 points and 9.8 minutes per game, but coach Richard Pitino mentioned him last month as the team’s most improved player over the summer.

McNeil was the first player to sign with Minnesota after Pitino was hired last year, after originally committing to play at Florida International where Pitino previously coached. He was a three-year starter at Vermont Academy, a prep school in the small town of Saxtons River, after leaving behind a rough upbringing on the east side of Baltimore where he lived with his aunt. In 2007, when McNeil was 13, his father was murdered and his mother died after a long bout with lupus.

[mrklean]

In the news already and not for anything good

[Scott M]

Shot it pretty well from 3 tonight to get the win in Winston-Salem, but the way they keep turning the ball over they won't be able to get over the hump in the conference...back to your regularly scheduled cupcakes.

[dfv87]

Any win in the ACC/B10 challenge is nice and I like that we have played some teams in the preseason... Louisville St Johns and now Wake Forest... not our typical preseason full of Div 2 schools...

Concerns are the turnovers as stated but also all the fouls!!! I mean cmon, move your feet and get into position. Not a smart team from my view. When we shoot the 3 well we are tough but in the last 10 mins of St johns game we couldnt hit water if we fell out of a boat...

[Huskie]

Went to the Gopher-Southern game last night at Williams arena. What a mismatch, the rest of their pre Big Ten schedule appears to be the same. Even though they won by 30, it was tough to get too excited about them. They announced a crowd of 11,400 and change, must have counted a few people 2 or 3 times. Not much depth left after the last transfer and not much margin for error this year.

[Dotch]

Sounds about right. Was thinking the same thing about the attendance quoted in the box score. Have caught a few games on the tube then while attending some conferences had last minute tickets appear. Yeah, kind of an uninspired performance against hated Southern but looking at the games on today, several Big 10 teams were playing creampuffs. Good for them to get some playing time but as you say pickings get slim quick past the 7 or 8th man. The injury bug needs to stay away.

[CodyDawg]

Just read that the cupcakes have won 10 games against Big Ten teams this year already including Incarnate Word beating Nebraska. Can you imagine how this board would have exploded if we had lost to Incarnate Word? (incidentally, that should be a crowd chant when Nebraska comes to the barn...INCARNATE WORD....INCARNATE WORD....INCARNATE WORD!). Our rodents escaped without an ugly loss and come tourney selection time, I hope we can point to that as a reason we got in and someone else didn't.

[Huskie]

It's put up or shut up time come January. I hope they continue to improve and those early wins put them over the top. I figure they need to have a winning record in the Big Ten and 1 or 2 in the tournament. And that will not be easy for them, hope they can do it.

[Dotch]

I like your thinking Cody Dog! Poor 'Fuskers. Never hurts my feelings to see them get beat by anyone at anything, including by the Gopher women's BB team at the game Mrs. Cheviot and I attended last night. Great comeback ladies! I admit, I will miss Bo Pelini's temper tantrums however.

Just hope the Gopher men start off on the right foot with a good thumping of Purdue, another of my least favorite B1G schools. Now that they actually call fouls for clutching and grabbing along the boards, Purdue isn't as formidable as they once were.

[CodyDawg]

Lets hope they are still calling the clutching and grabbing fouls when we play Becky....errr Bucky.

[CodyDawg]

just watched the first half of the game vs the boilers. I haven't had a chance to watch much this year but here are my really early impressions:

1. Nate Mason looks oh-so-smooth! He is going to be a good player for us!

2. Carlos Morris looks like he could develop into something really good as well.

3. Whoever said Joey King doesn't belong on an B1G roster is delusional. Now he might not be the greatest of all time, but the kid has heart and plays hard. All those kids on both sides that are supposedly better than him....have less points than him. So tell me why he is leading both teams in scoring if he doesn't belong on a B1G roster.

4. How do we merge EE and Mo W? Together, they would be a decent center. It is funny how they are polar opposites. Pitino must think, hmmm, can I get away with no offense but some good defense and passion? Lets put EE in the game. or hmmm, can I get away with little passion and no defense but good offense? Lets put Mo in the game.

5. I think this team is similar to our football team but maybe a year or two behind them. We just need an uptick in overall average talent plus a star and this could be a really fun team to watch. Like deep run in the tourney type fun to watch. Mason could be that star in a couple of years.

[Scott M]

Don't see Pitino jumping ship anytime soon. Another season opening loss to a doormat on the road

[Dotch]

Amen. 1st bad loss of the season. Had their foot on the Boiler's throat and let them up. Pew!

[CodyDawg]

I take back all the good things I said. Horrible basketball performance and it honestly makes me look forward to Twins baseball. Wait, did I just say "look forward" and "Twins baseball" in the same sentence?

Seriously, after this performance, I don't see them making the NIT this year.

[Huskie]

Always tough to win on the road in the Big Ten. Very poor performance when the Boilermakers made a charge in the last few minutes. Maybe now they will see a need to schedule a few more good teams on the road instead of cupcakes at home. My initial thought after going to one of those easy games in Dec was 8-10 in the Big Ten and NIT bound again. One question, did Buggs ever see the court yesterday???

[Dotch]

Think he played about 3 minutes, attempted maybe one 2 pt. field goal and one 3 pt. attempt. No points or rebounds that I recall.

[CodyDawg]

It has pushed me to apathy. Which I think is the worst thing a fan can have. I don't know when they play again (Saturday? next week?) and I am not looking it up. I really want to be a fan. I will give them a couple of weeks and see how they do, then maybe I will start following them again.

[LMITOUT]

I really want to be a fan. I will give them a couple of weeks and see how they do, then maybe I will start following them again.

Might want to give them more than a couple of weeks...

[Bryce]

Every big conference has its cupcakes. Rodent faithful just have to realize it is their teams that flll this role. At least they have a couple years of hockey left to grasp onto.

[schmitty3]

Great game, but all to familiar ending. Why not call the timeout there at the end?

Joey King sucks.

[Dotch]

Didn't expect a win at Maryland or last night. Now on the road to Michigan? Ish. Schedule on paper looks easier for a few weeks after that but they've lost any mojo they had. Was optimistic after the UNC Wilmington game and the first half of the Purdue game but wow. What a disappointment.

[Big Dave2]

I think Pitino starts taking the jump up this year. We get an NCAA bid and get to the sweet 16.

[Huskie]

Wow, 0-4!!!! With 4 seniors playing major minutes. Let's look for the positives, umm, things have to get better and ticket prices will go down!!