Gophers BigTen Championship?

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Purdue may also be worse than advertised if hummel isnt at least 90%. again i think top 4 for us is wishful thinking. 4 teams in the top 10 in the country. 2. msu 3. osu 5. purdue 9. illinois wisonsin is right on the bubble. I think we will be a dark horse though
 

rychart45 said:
You don't think Penn St. feels like they "gave away" our win at their place? And you still haven't answered my question about our games affecting the outcome of other games.
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Crazy posts are back??? If we had our full roster, we wouldn't have to beat PSU the way that we did. We could have beat them by 20.

Go Gophers
 

Regarding close games, obviously you win some and you lose some, but the point is that the Gophers were something like 3-7 in tight games last year. It's not a big stretch to think with Mbakwe/Nolen or even just a little luck they might have been able to go 5-5 or 6-4 in said games.

As for this season, I am optimistic, but I think that MSU and Purdue are just flat out too good for us to have a shot at the title. I expect both to be Top 10 teams wire-to-wire. But I'll be happy with a 3rd-5th place team that is in the Top 25 most of the year and can make a Sweet 16 run.
 

howeda7 said:
Regarding close games, obviously you win some and you lose some, but the point is that the Gophers were something like 3-7 in tight games last year. It's not a big stretch to think with Mbakwe/Nolen or even just a little luck they might have been able to go 5-5 or 6-4 in said games.

My point is EVERY team has these "what ifs".

I think we could be very good this year, but I'm concerned that we don't have true go to scorer. Hopefully Devoe fills that role. We also aren't particularly deep at guard, so any injury/academic suspension/etc would be hard to overcome.
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Do you really think those are all actually top 10 teams?

Go Gophs eh? said:
Purdue may also be worse than advertised if hummel isnt at least 90%. again i think top 4 for us is wishful thinking. 4 teams in the top 10 in the country. 2. msu 3. osu 5. purdue 9. illinois wisonsin is right on the bubble. I think we will be a dark horse though
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yea, why wouldnt they be? does top 20 recruiting classes and returning 4 or 5 starters on already good teams not put you in the top 10?
 






Why Not 7?

I want the Gophers to do well. I really want them to do well!

But, "Gophs have 4 potential NBA players in Sampson, Devoe, Trevor and Rodney." ?

I guess it all depends on what you mean by potential. But if those four have "potential" to play in the NBA then why don't Hoffarber, Nolen and Iverson?

Blake is a big time shooter. Nolen is elite quick and can defend. Iverson is a 7 foot bruiser, a poor mans Cole Aldrich. So far, those three are more important than Rodney to the Gophers. And so far Trevor hasn't logged a minute. Obviously Sampson is going to get a look but ...

Is Devoe quick enough? Is he strong enough? Who is he going to guard in the NBA? 1's 2's?

I like our team but come on. It is more Tubby than it is talent...and I ain't saying Tubby is Izzo or Coach K. If we finish 4th or higher Tubby did a fine job coaching!
 

60's Guy said:
I want the Gophers to do well. I really want them to do well!

But, "Gophs have 4 potential NBA players in Sampson, Devoe, Trevor and Rodney." ?

I guess it all depends on what you mean by potential. But if those four have "potential" to play in the NBA then why don't Hoffarber, Nolen and Iverson?

Blake is a big time shooter. Nolen is elite quick and can defend. Iverson is a 7 foot bruiser, a poor mans Cole Aldrich. So far, those three are more important than Rodney to the Gophers. And so far Trevor hasn't logged a minute. Obviously Sampson is going to get a look but ...

Is Devoe quick enough? Is he strong enough? Who is he going to guard in the NBA? 1's 2's?

I like our team but come on. It is more Tubby than it is talent...and I ain't saying Tubby is Izzo or Coach K. If we finish 4th or higher Tubby did a fine job coaching!
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Tubby has out-coached both Izzo and coach K. Just give him time. He'll do it again.

Go Gophers
 

Friend Of Tubby said:
Gopher beat each of them last year and return most of their players PLUS added Trevor Mbakwe and Al Nolen back to the roster.
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I agree with that take. Getting back the best on ball defender in the Big Ten and adding a guy who gets his name dropped for the national player of the year (Mbakwe) most definitely puts this team in a position to contend for the title. Not to mention we don't have the erratic Lawrence Westbrook on the team anymore. Granted he could score, but I'm confident Devoe will step up and fill any holes there might be from losing westbrook.

I really am expecting to see a lot more improvement out of Rodney too. I heard his jump shot is still a little inconsistent, but I hope to see some progress in his game.
 








While combes1 is being funny (not bad too), the truth is that none of the gophers on that team were given money to play here versus another school, none were on roids, they were players that we could have recruited and maintained scandal or not. The memories of that year did happen, we did beat those teams (official or not)

The wrongs that were going on were bad and should never happen. Lack of control from top to bottom, however those games were a helluva good time that year and I have fond memories of 1997's Championship year! In my mind, we won the title. Although, in my mind, I'd have a shot with Jennifer Love Hewitt if my wife permitted me... :)
 

I think the Gophers will be right there in the mix for atop 5 finish in the conference. The usual suspects will be battling for the title, but I also think you can add Northwestern into the mix of the top 5-6 teams. Minnesota seems to have its best team on paper on quite some time, especially with Mbakwe. Also, I think you'll see a little more of RS III and Colt on the floor at the same time. That combo seemed to work pretty well at the end of last season. Rodney Williams will be interesting too. Just imagine if he takes a significant step forward in his development.
 

Northwestern 5-6? Think about who they would have to do better than. Who would fall out of hte top 6?

MaroonGopher said:
The usual suspects will be battling for the title, but I also think you can add Northwestern into the mix of the top 5-6 teams.
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Rouser said:
While combes1 is being funny (not bad too), the truth is that none of the gophers on that team were given money to play here versus another school, none were on roids, they were players that we could have recruited and maintained scandal or not. The memories of that year did happen, we did beat those teams (official or not)

The wrongs that were going on were bad and should never happen. Lack of control from top to bottom, however those games were a helluva good time that year and I have fond memories of 1997's Championship year! In my mind, we won the title. Although, in my mind, I'd have a shot with Jennifer Love Hewitt if my wife permitted me... :)
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Indeed 1997 Gophers won ON THE COURT. It was later vacated but they DID win it.
 

OSUfan said:
Don'tcha know? FOT likes to ignore NCAA violations - otherwise, he couldn't logically keep defending Calipari.
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I'm unaware of NCAA violations by JC. NCAA vindicated him at UMass (1996) and Memphis (2008).

If you have information contrary to that, send it to NCAA. I'm sure they'd be interested in it.
 

Friend Of Tubby said:
Indeed 1997 Gophers won ON THE COURT. It was later vacated but they DID win it.
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What a silly statement. Winning by cheating is not winning at all. That's like raping Britney Spears and then going around telling your friends, "I had sex with Britney Spears."
 

dpodoll68 said:
What a silly statement. Winning by cheating is not winning at all. That's like raping Britney Spears and then going around telling your friends, "I had sex with Britney Spears."
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Case in point, the kind of thing that I've seen nowhere else but here. Highly inappropriate remarks.
 


Friend Of Tubby said:
I'm unaware of NCAA violations by JC. NCAA vindicated him at UMass (1996) and Memphis (2008).

If you have information contrary to that, send it to NCAA. I'm sure they'd be interested in it.
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So you decided to quote my statement and respond to it on two separate occasions?

The point is NCAA violations occurred on Cal's watch that resulted in penalties for his schools. HIS schools. UK is next on the chopping block. If you think UK isn't going to get any penalties for things that happen under Cal's watch, you're ignorant.
 

underground629 said:
I'll be very surprised if the Big Ten ends up having 4 top 10 teams.
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It's pretty much an impossibility for the B10 to have 4 top 10 ranked teams at the end of the year. Not to say we can't have 4 of the 10 BEST teams in the country, that is possible - it will just be impossible to keep 4 of them ranked in the top 10 during conference play.
 

I just went through our conference schedule and I think we have a very legitimate shot at being 12-6 (I actually came up with 13-5, but might be being too optimistic w/ MSU at home). This is assuming we actually win the majority of the toss-up games, mostly hold down the fort at home, and win our winnable road games. I believe we can do that this year.

The real key is beating the other teams fighting for 3rd and 4th place (Oh St, UW, Illini) otherwise we'll be in 6th. One odd issue might be the start of the schedule and our propensity to getting in our own way; we could start of 0-2 (@UW, @ MSU) which isn't a big deal in the larger picture, but could be an emotional problem for the team.

I think it is in our best interest that we are not going to Assembly Hall this season, we struggle w/ Illinois SO much its gross. To be a real team in the top half, I think we have to beat OSU and Purdue at home. I have our losses as @UW, @MSU, @OSU, @Purdue, and the Illini at home. I am hoping we can finally nail MSU at home this season and even more strongly hoping we don't drop a silly game along the way ("silly" would include NW or Iowa at home). I went w/ 12-6 since we could beat Sparty at home and then drop a stinker. I honestly think we can split with Purdue, OSU, and UW.
 

TheHofferette said:
I just went through our conference schedule and I think we have a very legitimate shot at being 12-6 (I actually came up with 13-5, but might be being too optimistic w/ MSU at home). This is assuming we actually win the majority of the toss-up games, mostly hold down the fort at home, and win our winnable road games. I believe we can do that this year.

The real key is beating the other teams fighting for 3rd and 4th place (Oh St, UW, Illini) otherwise we'll be in 6th. One odd issue might be the start of the schedule and our propensity to getting in our own way; we could start of 0-2 (@UW, @ MSU) which isn't a big deal in the larger picture, but could be an emotional problem for the team.

I think it is in our best interest that we are not going to Assembly Hall this season, we struggle w/ Illinois SO much its gross. To be a real team in the top half, I think we have to beat OSU and Purdue at home. I have our losses as @UW, @MSU, @OSU, @Purdue, and the Illini at home. I am hoping we can finally nail MSU at home this season and even more strongly hoping we don't drop a silly game along the way ("silly" would include NW or Iowa at home). I went w/ 12-6 since we could beat Sparty at home and then drop a stinker. I honestly think we can split with Purdue, OSU, and UW.
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Why do you think we struggle with Illinois so much? We beat them last year in Assembly Hall in a game that shouldn't have been as close as it was. We blew a 19 point lead late in the game. I think we limited them to something like 14 points in the first half. We also limited them to 36 total points at the barn 2 years ago in a blow out win. I think we actually have Illinois' number. Tisdale and Mike Davis do not match up well with our much stronger frontcourt.
 

Agreed. Regardless of rankings though, I don't think there's any way that the Big Ten actually has 4 top 10 teams like go gophs thinks. Most likely 2, top 10 teams, and a slight chance of a 3rd. Illinois is definitely not a top 10 team though.

josh087 said:
It's pretty much an impossibility for the B10 to have 4 top 10 ranked teams at the end of the year. Not to say we can't have 4 of the 10 BEST teams in the country, that is possible - it will just be impossible to keep 4 of them ranked in the top 10 during conference play.
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