Daily Skinny (Sept. 7)-Butler love, Gophers picked 5th, etc.

[coolhandgopher]

ESPN wraps up their Summer Shootaround Series with a “Best of the Rest” look at the anticipated best mid-majors this upcoming season. Not only do they have Butler perched at the top spot on this list, but they also point out that the potential second round opponent for the Gophers in the 76 Classic (Portland) could be quite formidable also:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/notebook?page=notebook/shootaround/bestofrest

Gary Parrish sends more love towards Butler, although his main point is that the postseason for college basketball is more equitable than college football-you’ll get no arguments here:
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/12158271

I don’t know if you recall the story of Freddy Asprilla from earlier this summer, but this blog post from Jeff Goodman brings the story up again. If you recall, Asprilla wanted his release from scholarship with Florida International after the previous head coach was fired and Isiah Thomas was hired. Thomas and FIU AD Pete Garcia wouldn’t provide the release, so now Asprilla’s in the juco ranks. Thomas/Garcia really are off to a wonderful start before official practice even begins, aren’t they?:
http://community.foxsports.com/good...i_dade_loads_up_adds_vargas_boyd_and_asprilla

Jason King at rivals.com has the Gophers pegged to finish fifth in the conference this season:
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=jn-bigtenrank090409&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

I thought this was an interesting look at the college visits of top prep players during opening weekend of the college football season:
http://nationalhoopsreport.blogspot.com/2009/09/fastbreak-friday.html

 

[samthebutcher]

Taylor and Glover have already been suspended by the UW.

How is Mbakwe's suspension going?

 

[Mikie S]

Jason King at rivals.com has the Gophers pegged to finish fifth in the conference this season:
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketb...yhoo&type=lgns

"Minnesota – Tubby Smith has done an excellent job of convincing in-state talent to play for the Gophers, who will be one of the deeper teams in the conference this season. Lawrence Westbrook is back after averaging a team-high 12.6 points last season, but the catalyst for Minnesota’s backcourt is guard Al Nolen, who is regarded as one of the top defenders in the league. Forwards Colton Iverson and Ralph Sampson III – also known as “Tubby’s Twin Towers” – struggled at times last season. But they were only freshmen. They should be much better this season, especially since they’ll be getting help from touted signee Royce White, who is expected to make an immediate impact down low. Look for the defensive-minded Gophers – who lost 10 of their final 16 games last year – to make the NCAA tournament for the second straight season."

Sorry, I said it last year and I'll say it again ... Nolen's defense is overrated. He did look good (and sometimes spectacular) against inferior non-conference opponents last year, but once the Big-10 season got under way, he showed to be an only average on-the-ball defender.

Iverson and Sampson are forwards?