Battle for Atlantis 2012

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Per Andy Katz:

Battle 4Atlantis bracket (Nov22-24): Top bracket Missouri-Stanford; Duke-Minnesota; bottom bracket Memphis-VCU; Louisville-Northern Iowa

Damnit...
 

Yikes, tough draw. Should be a fun one to watch though!
 

I'm really excited for the matchup against Duke. Should be a great game.
 


I like the matchup for us, I think this its a better matchup then Missouri which is who CBS Gary Parish had thought we would get and think this is a very winnable 1st round game.
 


Could have been better, but why even go if we aren't prepared to face the best? This is a win win for us. A loss doesn't really affect us, and a win would stick us in the top 15. This reminds of a few years back when we faced UNC and took it to em.
 

I'm ecstatic with this match up, like the poster above said, this is a win-win. Should definitely get us ready for conference play too.
 

This is awesome. I'm so glad we are playing Duke. My buddy is a big Duke fan so this is a dream come true. Even if we get rolled it doesn't really hurt us. Now I just want it to be November...
 






Andy Katz ‏@ESPNAndyKatz
Correction from Battle 4 Atlantis bracket Lou-Niowa and mizzou-Stanford in same draw while duke-Minny and memphis-VCU are in same half

Doesn't change 1st round matchups, just later round matchups.
 




Goldy Gopher said:
I like the matchup for us, I think this its a better matchup then Missouri which is who CBS Gary Parish had thought we would get and think this is a very winnable 1st round game.
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Completely agree. Duke is a big name and is always in contention, but they play in the somewhat weak ACC and haven't had a truly elite team the last few years. Throw in the talent on the Gophers roster and I think we have a great shot. The name will give the Gophers credit for beating them, but this is a team that lost to Lehigh when they had the #1 recruit in the country.

If Gophers can keep Curry from getting hot (Austin, looking at you!) and keep Kelly from outhustling us and getting open threes/rebounds (I'd guess Trevor is assigned this matchup) we've got a good chance. I honestly don't know much about their freshman, but based on last year they certainly look beatable by this Gopher team. They may make the mistake of overlooking us too.
 


Like this idea from FTB as well:

‏@FromTheBarn
Dear @GopherBBall please show Duke game on new scoreboard at The Barn, invite the Big Ten to cater, and I will gladly pay lots to get in.
 



If ya wanna be the best, ya gotta beat the best. Who gives a *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!# where and when?
 

sidefx182 said:
It got updated. We would get either Stanford or Mizzou.
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Thats what was 1st reported, but Andy Katz tweeted a little bit ago it was wrong and the correct bracket has us in the same bracket as Memphis and VCU
 


MadtownGopher said:
We have to watch the game online? What kind of BS is that? WTF?
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I have a secret, Madtown. I go to ESPN.com I follow the game on that. No radio, no TV. Maybe a few seconds/minute behind, but still live and living to me. End result??? I find out then.

I either drink in celebration, or I drink in misery. Either way, I feel the same the next morning when the sun rises in the West. oops.
 


MadtownGopher said:
We have to watch the game online? What kind of BS is that? WTF?
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From the Strib article "AXS TV was formerly known as HDNet. It is listed locally as Comcast Digital Channel 420, DirecTV Channel 306 and Dish Network Channel 131."
Doesn't help me at all, guess I will just watch the 1st game online and when the Gophers get in the winners bracket I'll be able to watch them on NBCSN.
 

Goldy Gopher said:
From the Strib article "AXS TV was formerly known as HDNet. It is listed locally as Comcast Digital Channel 420, DirecTV Channel 306 and Dish Network Channel 131."
Doen't help me at all, guess I will just watch the 1st game online and when the Gophers get in the winners bracket I'll be able to watch them on NBCSN.
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Mark Cuban's Channel. I think I actually have that.
 

scher215 said:
Completely agree. Duke is a big name and is always in contention, but they play in the somewhat weak ACC and haven't had a truly elite team the last few years. Throw in the talent on the Gophers roster and I think we have a great shot. The name will give the Gophers credit for beating them, but this is a team that lost to Lehigh when they had the #1 recruit in the country.

If Gophers can keep Curry from getting hot (Austin, looking at you!) and keep Kelly from outhustling us and getting open threes/rebounds (I'd guess Trevor is assigned this matchup) we've got a good chance. I honestly don't know much about their freshman, but based on last year they certainly look beatable by this Gopher team. They may make the mistake of overlooking us too.
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They did just win a NC 27 months ago.

Duke will be better next year. Can almost guarantee. They're much more balanced and actually have wing players this year. Losing Rivers is addition by subtraction according to most Duke fans. He'll be a better NBA player than college player. Good player but was kind of a black hole at times that made the offense stagnant. They're a top 10 team. Not a NC contender like they likely will be the following year but a strong team with upperclassman making up over half the rotation.

Also, Duke doesn't lose very often in these preseason tourneys. Last year's team went to Maui and beat Tennnesse, Michigan, and Kansas in consecutive days. In fact their last loss in a preseason tourney was all the way back in '06. They've won their preseason tourney the last 5 seasons. Duke teams don't always finish strong but it's very rare when they don't start strong.

This is how good Duke is early in the season: Since the '05-06 season, Duke is 49-3 thru November (technically thru the BT/ACC Challenge) with 15 of those games against top 25 teams. Can't remember a time they overlooked a team early in the season. That's not going to happen with the Gophers.

This is the best Gopher team on paper in a long, long time. They can beat Duke. In fact, they can be anybody on any given day. I think they have that potential. It's just that alot of teams thought they had a good chance against Duke in these preseason tourneys and came away disappointed.
 

Pewterschmidt said:
They did just win a NC 27 months ago.

Duke will be better next year. Can almost guarantee. They're much more balanced and actually have wing players this year. Losing Rivers is addition by subtraction according to most Duke fans. He'll be a better NBA player than college player. Good player but was kind of a black hole at times that made the offense stagnant. They're a top 10 team. Not a NC contender like they likely will be the following year but a strong team with upperclassman making up over half the rotation.

Also, Duke doesn't lose very often in these preseason tourneys. Last year's team went to Maui and beat Tennnesse, Michigan, and Kansas in consecutive days. In fact their last loss in a preseason tourney was all the way back in '06. They've won their preseason tourney the last 5 seasons. Duke teams don't always finish strong but it's very rare when they don't start strong.

This is how good Duke is early in the season: Since the '05-06 season, Duke is 49-3 thru November (technically thru the BT/ACC Challenge) with 15 of those games against top 25 teams. Can't remember a time they overlooked a team early in the season. That's not going to happen with the Gophers.

This is the best Gopher team on paper in a long, long time. They can beat Duke. In fact, they can be anybody on any given day. I think they have that potential. It's just that alot of teams thought they had a good chance against Duke in these preseason tourneys and came away disappointed.
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Don't get me wrong, Duke is very very good. Are they national championship, chance of going undefeated, good? Absolutley not in my opinion. To me, that makes them beatable especially by a Gopher team very good and very versatile (on paper at least).

Duke usually plays smart, team basketball but they shouldn't physically overmatch the Gophers in athleticism or size, like teams did last season. Duke gives us a chance to use those superior physical skills. I'd imagine we want to press a Duke team lacking a real experienced ball handler and run as much as we can. Take them out of the half court set and make them try to run with us.

We will also want to win the turnover battle. Duke is one of the few teams who is a big name, but will be beatable. IMO, they give us the lowest risk with the biggest reward. This is the best match up for us and I do fully expect that the Gophers will win. I am aware of Duke's impressive record, and short of Kansas this Gopher team should be better than Michigan and Tennessee were last year. Heck, last years Gopher team was probably better than Tennessee and came within a few plays of beating Michigan in the BTT. I won't be shocked if Duke wins, but I'd put money on the Gophers in this one.
 



Official release from the U:

http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/168100?referrer_id=331171



The University of Minnesota men's basketball team will open the second annual Battle 4 Atlantis tournament against Duke, tournament directors announced today. The Gophers and Blue Devils matchup is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. CT on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 22, from the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, Bahamas.

The Missouri Tigers and Stanford Cardinal will open tournament play at Noon, followed by Minnesota/Duke, Memphis vs. VCU at 6:00 p.m. and Louisville vs. Northern Iowa 8:30 p.m. All times Central.

The entire Battle 4 Atlantis tournament will be televised live on AXS TV, formally HDNet, and NBC Sports Network. The Minnesota/Duke matchup is schedule to appear on AXS TV.

Minnesota and Duke will be meeting for the third time in each school’s history, but the first time since the Gophers lost to the Blue Devils, 87-70, in the 1989 Sweet 16. Minnesota won the other matchup, 79-73, in the non-conference portion of the 1954-55 season.


The Gophers have a combined record of 72-41 in in-season tournaments, dating back to the Chicago District Olympic Tournament during the 1935-36 season. Minnesota is 11-4 under Tubby Smith during in-season tournament play, including a pair of victories over top-10 teams; a 72-67victory over #8 North Carolina in the second round of the 2010 Puerto Rico Tipoff and an 82-73 win over #10 Butler in the 2009 ESPN 76 Classic in Anaheim. The Gophers went on to win the Puerto Rico Tipoff title with a win over West Virginia.

Minnesota returns all but one player from a team that finished the 2011-12 season 23-15 overall, including an appearance in the NIT Championship game. The 23 wins during the 2011-12 campaign were the most at Minnesota since the 1989-90 team also won 23 (vacated years not included).

The Gophers have appeared in the postseason in four of the five seasons under head coach Tubby Smith. Smith will enter the 2012-13 season with 103 career wins on the Gopher sideline, joining just seven other coaches to win 100 games at the University of Minnesota. His current winning percentage of .602 (103-68) is the fourth-highest in program history. Smith is 490-213 overall in 21 seasons as a head coach.
 

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