Julian Welch is averaging 13.8 points per game over the last four.
- Prior to the start off the season, I thought this was a team that could finish in seventh place (but much closer to eighth or ninth than to fifth or sixth) in the conference and be on the bubble, with the thought that Mo Walker would be able to play some minutes by the time conference games began. With the timing of Walker’s availability continuing to be in question, I thought this looked like the ninth or tenth best team in the Big Ten. Trevor being lost for the season doesn’t change that. Still looks like ninth or tenth best to me, but with some of the question marks that other teams have there is certainly a possibility that the Gophers could sneak into a bubble position. As for the Virginia Tech game, it proves nothing other than the team held it together and won a game they were expected to win. The schedule provides a great opportunity to take a six game win streak into Champaign.
- Saturday’s game against USC will be played at a slow pace, but possessions should be higher than the Virginia Tech game that, thanks in part to a lower than normal level of turnovers, was down around 54 possessions. No game in all of Minnesota’s 2010-11 season had as few possessions as there were on Wednesday night.
- Against Virginia Tech, the Gophers scored 38 points in the paint on 19/27 shooting (70.4%). When further out, Minnesota managed to convert only 5 of 21 (23.8%) attempts. Three-point shooting (2/13 for 15.4%) and free throw shooting (8/15 for 53.3%) were especially bad.
- Hokie guard Erick Green (25 points on Wednesday) got a good shot off at the buzzer. His three-point try didn’t go in, but it would have sent the game into overtime. The Gophers had a foul to give and should have used it.
- The Gophers caught a break with under 10 seconds to play when Virginia Tech, who was down by a point, got called for an over and back violation. The Big Ten has since scolded the official who made the call, but that won’t help the Hokies. The inbounds pass was touched by guard Robert Brown in the front court, causing the ball to bounce into the backcourt. However, under Rule 4, Section 3 of the NCAA basketball Rules Book, “after the throw-in ends, an inbounds player in the front court, who is not in control of the ball, may cause the ball to go into the back court.” Because Virginia Tech never had control of the ball in the front court, the violation that was called was not appropriate.
- 2012 Gopher commit Wally Ellenson and his two younger brothers, including 6’7” freshman Henry, open the season up for Rice Lake (WI) tonight at Amery. It’s probably an hour drive from St. Paul to Amery, which is considerably closer than the two hours it takes to get to Rice Lake. Check the GopherHole message boards for updates from some of the folks in attendance at this event that gives the world hope—both schools are nicknamed “Warriors”.
- As mentioned in the Virginia Tech game preview, resting Ralph Sampson for a couple of weeks or more is an option to be considered due to the weak schedule Minnesota faces until the first conference game on December 27. The boxscores year to date don’t look impressive, but he showed heart and toughness down in Orlando and the best from Sampson is yet to come. He is key to this season.
- Elliot Eliason was great on Wednesday. Just the fact that he played 32 minutes is mind boggling to me. I didn’t think he could make it more than 20 minutes without getting into severe foul trouble. Not only did he stay on the court and give a great effort throughout, but the redshirt freshman scored 8 points, grabbed 7 boards (3 offensive), had a pair of assists and blocks and didn’t turn the ball over once. Incredible job. He’s a bright kid with a good head on his shoulders. That said, remember he was going up against 6’8” Victor Davila. I still think Eliason is a couple of years off before he could be a regular contributor and there are some guys in the Big Ten who could eat him alive this year, but he’s got great size, pretty nice hands and is working hard. His performance against Virginia Tech may be as good as it gets for him this year, but it was very, very good. Job well done.
- Trevor Mbakwe isn’t completely lost for this season. He won’t play, but he still can offer a lot of value to this team. Some people might refer to him as just a cheerleader, but he’s more than that. He needs to be another coach and mentor for his teammates and Mbakwe will do well in that capacity. It was nice to see the mutual appreciation Wednesday night between fans and Mbakwe in the ‘reception line’ after the game. As the kids kept chanting, ‘Trevor!, Trevor!’ after he had gone through the line to give high-fives, he turned back as best as he could on his gimpy leg and gave another wave and a smile. Indeed, he’s still a big part of this team.
- Since free throw percentage matters very, very little to a team winning or losing games, I’m rarely fascinated by it or even that interested in even talking about it. Sure, Virginia Tech shot 100% from the line compared to the Gophers’ 53.3% and those percentages should be closer, but I’m far more interested in effective field goal percentage, which was in the Gophers’ favor 52.1% to 45.3%. Still, some folks love to harp on free throw percentage. Don’t sweat it, the Gophers have more important things to worry about. But, let me bring up another topic that irks me from time to time…
- Positions! Due to Rodney Williams “moving to the 4”, it’s once again being highlighted. In my small mind, basketball doesn’t have 5 strict positions. Rodney’s college career isn’t going to be “saved” because he “moved to the 4”. Williams is going to improve because he’s working his tail off and playing smart basketball. He’s going to do better on the court because he is maturing. Sure, “playing smart basketball” might include taking more shots near the basket instead of out on the wing, but who said he could only shoot jumpers and wasn’t allowed to rebound relentlessly unless he was declared “the 4”? The positional talk is way overdone and I’d rather a Jehovah’s Witness (be it USC’s 7-plus-footer Dewayne Dedmon or even a normal-sized one) come to my door right now than talk more about this topic, so that’s it… for now. As for Rodney, he’ll likely continue to have inconsistent games from a stat sheet perspective—teams can do things to take away parts of his game if they wish—but as long as he keeps working hard good things will come to him and the team.
- Julian Welch is averaging 13.8 points per game over the last four. I made no secret of the fact that I was a fan of his game prior to the season beginning and again, when some pointed out that they felt my thoughts on Welch being very important to this team had been proven wrong based on his first four games in which he averaged just 3.0 points and was blanked in two outings, I told them my thoughts on Welch remained the same. Now, I believe people are starting to understand, but more importantly, Julian understands what his role can be for this team. Hopefully his bum ankle can get closer to 100%. He can play even better than he has to date and he will need to if this team is going to enjoy as much success as they would like this year, but it’s been great to see him contributing nicely over the past week.