Gophers primed for big season?

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SelectionSunday

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I don't subscribe to ESPN Insider, but they have a headline this morning saying, "Minnesota primed for big season?". Am very interested to see how the Gophers handle increased expectations. It beats the alternative. It's not just the homers giving them love. Some of the national guys are seeing the potential some of us see.

The Battle 4 Atlantis, followed by the game @ Florida State (first true road test), will tell us a lot about this team, win, lose or draw.

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/feat...ttp://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/features/rumors
 

It's not much, just some guy reacting to a previous post by Fran Fraschilla putting Minnesota in his top 5 under the radar teams:

While teams like Indiana, Michigan State, Michigan and Ohio State are all garnering attention heading into next season, one school not being talked about is Minnesota. ESPN.com's Fran Fraschilla, in his list of "five under the radar teams," thinks this is about to change.

The Gophers look primed for a big year largely thanks to their big man, 6-foot-8 Trevor Mbakwe, who is returning from a knee injury suffered last November. Entering the season he was as preseason All-Big Ten selection and, until getting hurt, was averaging 14 points and nine rebounds.

Coupled with Mbakwe down low will be 6-foot-6 athletic forward Rodney Williams, arguably the conference's most improved player from a year ago. Guard play also remains strong, as Andre and Austin Hollins form a reliable backcourt for Tubby Smith.

Minnesota didn't make last year's NCAA Tournament, but it did reach the finals of the NIT with a fairly young squad. That confidence and cohesion should be on display in 2012-2013. You might not hear the buzz now, but you most certainly will come March.
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I'm thrilled to hear Fraschilla is a guy high on the Gophers. In December of 1996, after his St. Johns Redmen were completely manhandled 77-39 by a Courtney James-less Gopher team at Williams Arena, Fraschilla was the very first person I ever heard use the words "Gophers" and "Final Four" in the same sentence. I remember his quotes in the Strib catching me off guard. Paraphrasing, I distinctly remember Fraschilla saying, "That is a Final Four caliber team that just whupped us."

If you believe in omens, this could be a good one for the Gophers. Thanks, Fran.
 

Not sure how high Fran is on the Gophers. The stuff from Fraschilla is just about "five (teams) that haven't seen the top 25 in a while, but could be knocking on the door at some point in 2012-13."

The other four are St. Joseph's, Drexel, Colorado St. and Miami (FL).
 

Are you always this serious, GW, so literal? Work with me a little bit. Simply telling a story, as it's related to Fraschilla in his past talking about the Gophers. No one's saying 2013 Final Four or bust.

Is it really necessary to poo-poo the Gophers' potential (a dangerous word, we all know) every time someone mentions the mere possibility that they have a chance to be pretty good? You've made it crystal clear you expect the Gophs to finish between 7th and 10th, heck, I think roughly the same thing (pegging for 6th), but I certainly see potential for a better finish than that.
 


GW pretty much visits this board to rain on any grouping of Gopher fans that he suspects might attempt to form a parade. Don't listen to him SS. Personally, I'm with Fran. I think the Gophers, if healthy, and if players take a step forward, have a chance to make a real run this season.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Are you always this serious, GW, so literal? Work with me a little bit. Simply telling a story, as it's related to Fraschilla in his past talking about the Gophers. No one's saying 2013 Final Four or bust.

Is it really necessary to poo-poo the Gophers' potential (a dangerous word, we all know) every time someone mentions the mere possibility that they have a chance to be pretty good? You've made it crystal clear you expect the Gophs to finish between 7th and 10th, heck, I think roughly the same thing (pegging for 6th), but I certainly see potential for a better finish than that.
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GW does, on occasion, provide some needed objectivity around here. If I was the type to take the low road, I'd say about 2% of the time. However, most of the time it's like he's the Dr. Kevorkian of Gopher sports. He's simply waiting around sort of hoping for things to go bad so he can spring into action. It's either that or he's a fairly close relative of Art. (At least a nephew if not a son.)
 

SelectionSunday said:
Are you always this serious, GW, so literal? Work with me a little bit. Simply telling a story, as it's related to Fraschilla in his past talking about the Gophers. No one's saying 2013 Final Four or bust.

Is it really necessary to poo-poo the Gophers' potential (a dangerous word, we all know) every time someone mentions the mere possibility that they have a chance to be pretty good? You've made it crystal clear you expect the Gophs to finish between 7th and 10th, heck, I think roughly the same thing (pegging for 6th), but I certainly see potential for a better finish than that.
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I clarified what Fraschilla said because it didn't' seem clear / understood that it wasn't Fraschilla who was especially high on the Gophers, rather it was some other guy - that's all. The "primed for a big year" and "You might not hear the buzz now, but you most certainly will come March" talk is all from someone other than Fraschilla. That was my only point.

I'm a lot higher on this year's Gophers than I have been in the past. I hope I haven't made it crystal clear that I expect the Gophers to finish between 7th and 10th - that was true of last season's team, but not 2012-13. I would put them at 6th with a nice upside that could find them closer to 3rd. While there is downside risk and a 9th place scenario wouldn't be all that surprising (though disappointing), the upside is higher than the downside this season. Could be a very strong year (and should be).

Remember, I'm the one who steps up and speaks well of guys like Ralph Sampson and Julian Welch when many around here s*** on them. I realize it upsets some people when I point out facts (i.e., guilt in a court of law, inaccuracies in the AD's bio, etc.), but I think I'm quite level-headed and fair when it comes to the Gophers.

Again to be clear - Minnesota (aka OUR TEAM ;)) can have one of their best years in some time this season. (Although things potentially get rough for awhile after 2012-13.)
 

Trust me GW, I'm aware of your defense of Welch, and I appreciate it. I agree with you on that one, and I think Julian has been far too undervalued by many folks on this board. I also agreed with you that Trevor had little chance to get a 6th year (I was wrong, thankfully).

On other things, such as Ralph's overall impact on the Gopher program (on the court), we can agree to disagree. I appreciate Ralph's contributions, citizenship and loyalty (when others were abandoning ship).
 



Mulligan said:
GW does, on occasion, provide some needed objectivity around here. If I was the type to take the low road, I'd say about 2% of the time. However, most of the time it's like he's the Dr. Kevorkian of Gopher sports. He's simply waiting around sort of hoping for things to go bad so he can spring into action. It's either that or he's a fairly close relative of Art. (At least a nephew if not a son.)
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I'd say he is the Skip Bayless of Gopherhole.
 


I'll put it simply.

As a long time Gopher fan, it appears a lot of pieces are in place to be the best team in a very long time.

As a long time Gopher fan, I need to see it to believe it.

I don't really mean that as a negative, they just need to prove it on the court they can take it to the next level.

We shall see.
 

GW can find a negative spin on anything. Just ask him, life is miserable, and he has statistics to back it up.
 



Biggest factor is how Mbakwe does coming off his injury. Also how much Andre, Joe and Elliot develop in year two, plus Rodney coming back and playing with confidence. If everything falls into place plus mo staying healthy this will be a very good team.
 

SelectionSunday said:
I don't subscribe to ESPN Insider, but they have a headline this morning saying, "Minnesota primed for big season?". Am very interested to see how the Gophers handle increased expectations. It beats the alternative. It's not just the homers giving them love. Some of the national guys are seeing the potential some of us see.

The Battle 4 Atlantis, followed by the game @ Florida State (first true road test), will tell us a lot about this team, win, lose or draw.

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/feat...ttp://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/features/rumors
Click to expand...

Time for tubby and co. to perform. Lots of seniors, all positions well stocked with more than capable players.

Anything less than 4th place in conference (~12 wins) and one win in the round of 16 will be considered a disappointment.
 

BarnBurner said:
Time for tubby and co. to perform. Lots of seniors, all positions well stocked with more than capable players.

Anything less than 4th place in conference (~12 wins) and one win in the round of 16 will be considered a disappointment.
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Uh oh.. You aren't supposed to have such high expectations for a Tubby squad here on GH.
 

tikited said:
Uh oh.. You aren't supposed to have such high expectations for a Tubby squad here on GH.
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Believe me, I know.

The best you will get from the loyalists and apologists is a 5th place finish.

Time for excuses to stop, results to start.
 

I honestly don't think 5th in this year's B1G is necessarily a bad thing. I think this is one of those years where the 5th place team could be a 4 seed in the dance. IU is loaded, scUM will be good, although we get them at home, OSU we have on the road so that will be tough, I think will split with sparty this year. Bucky will be the interesting match up, I think both of those games could go either way. in those six games I see us going at best 5-3, but I'm thinking 4-4. I think will sweep Nebraska and Illinois, beat Penn State. We need to sweep Iowa, after last year, I thinking will split with NW and Purdue seems to have our number so 12-6
 

SelectionSunday said:
I'm thrilled to hear Fraschilla is a guy high on the Gophers. In December of 1996, after his St. Johns Redmen were completely manhandled 77-39 by a Courtney James-less Gopher team at Williams Arena, Fraschilla was the very first person I ever heard use the words "Gophers" and "Final Four" in the same sentence. I remember his quotes in the Strib catching me off guard. Paraphrasing, I distinctly remember Fraschilla saying, "That is a Final Four caliber team that just whupped us."

If you believe in omens, this could be a good one for the Gophers. Thanks, Fran.
Click to expand...

Entertaining post.
 

Gopher Warrior said:
Not sure how high Fran is on the Gophers. The stuff from Fraschilla is just about "five (teams) that haven't seen the top 25 in a while, but could be knocking on the door at some point in 2012-13."

The other four are St. Joseph's, Drexel, Colorado St. and Miami (FL).
Click to expand...

Fun police.
 

XMan said:
Biggest factor is how Mbakwe does coming off his injury. Also how much Andre, Joe and Elliot develop in year two, plus Rodney coming back and playing with confidence. If everything falls into place plus mo staying healthy this will be a very good team.
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We can lose any player on this team including Trevor or Rodney & still be a very good team. The one weakness is PG. If we lose Dre, Welch can only take us so far.
 

Monty519 said:
It's not much, just some guy reacting to a previous post by Fran Fraschilla putting Minnesota in his top 5 under the radar teams:
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Williams stepping up his game when Trevor went down and Mo back as well...if they can stay healthy, the Gophers should be right up there.
 

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