Flip Saunders was in Glendale, Ariz., on Saturday to watch the University of Minnesota men's basketball team surprise No. 9 Louisville 70-64 for its 10th straight victory to start the season.
Saunders was a senior point guard on the 1976-77 Gophers team that started the season 11-0, finished 24-3 and was runner-up to Michigan in the Big Ten Conference with a 15-3 conference record.
Minnesota's only losses that season were in the Big Ten. However, the team couldn't play in the NCAA tournament because it was on NCAA probation. And because the Gophers used an ineligible player that season, the Big Ten lists their record as 0-27 (0-18), all forfeits. Among the on-court victories, though, was a 66-59 win over Marquette, which won the NCAA championship that season.
After watching Minnesota upset Louisville, Saunders, a former Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons coach, said Minnesota guard Al Nolen and forward Damian Johnson are as good defensively at their positions as any players in the country.
"The biggest thing about Minnesota is that they're a great defensive team that's fun to watch because they play as a team," Saunders said. "Tubby (Smith, the Gophers coach) plays a lot of guys who step up at different times of the game, whether it's Blake (Hoffarber), or Travis Busch, like today.
"And the thing is that they are really young, with a mixture of some older kids. But defensively, how they play defense, they're as good as most teams in the country. And part of it is because of Al's and Damian's ability defensively."
Nolen, a sophomore, scored a career-high 18 points Saturday.
"The biggest thing Al's doing now is he's learned how to control a team offensively and do what Tubby wants him to do on the floor," Flip said.
Gophers men's basketball players practice at 7 a.m. daily at Williams Arena.
"We know they're getting to bed at night," Smith said. "And their legs are fresh and the energy is there."