Preview: Gophers vs. Central Michigan

Being a Central Michigan fan in recent years has been a roller coaster ride. For four years running now, the Chippewas have alternated between first and last place in the MAC. Two years ago, NBA Lottery pick Chris Kaman led them to a 25-7 season. Then last year, they struggled to a brutal 6-24 record (just 2-16 in conference play).

So will Central Michigan continue the pattern by winning the MAC in 2004-05? Well, if the preview magazines are an accurate indication (not always the case), the answer is a resounding “No”. The Chippewas are a consensus pick to finish in the cellar of the MAC Western Division again.

It won’t be the fault of their backcourt, however. Central Michigan is very guard-heavy and returns quite a bit of firepower and experience from last year. 6’3″ junior Kevin Nelson has upped his scoring average from 12 ppg as a sophomore to an impressive 17.2 ppg this year. 6’3″ senior Tony Bowne has shown similar improvement, stepping up from 7 ppg to 12.7 ppg this season. Both are shooting around 40% from 3-point range and aren’t afraid to let shots fly (they average a combined 13 three-point attempts per game).

Adding to the Chippewas’ perimeter depth are 5’10” freshman Giordan Watson (12 ppg, 5 apg, 2 spg), 6’5″ senior Robert Sevalia (10 ppg), and 6’6″ sophomore Eddie Spencer (5 ppg, 50% 3-pt).

Inside is where Central Michigan has some issues. 6’8″, 250-lb senior Steve Harris is putting up a solid 7 points and 7 rebounds per game, but he’s the only big man who’s doing much of anything on the boards. 6’8″, 215-lb senior Tom Pantlind averages 5 points and 3 boards, and freshmen forwards Jeff Bohnhoff and Justin Blevins see a few minutes. 7’1″ freshman Drew Walker still has some work to do before he becomes a regular part of the rotation.

The Chippewas are actually off to an ok start this season. They have impressive home victories against Valparaiso and East Tennessee State, and their road losses to Evansville and Kent State were fairly close and are nothing to be ashamed of. Throw in a couple of cupcakes, and Central Michigan’s record currently stands at 4-2. That’s already just two wins shy of last season’s total.

Here are my Gopher Keys of the Game:

1. Smother the Arc. If the Chippewas don’t get hot from 3-point range, they have no chance of winning this game and probably won’t be able to keep it close. They don’t have the inside players to hurt the Minnesota, so the Gophers can really focus on playing tight perimeter defense. Don’t give them anything easy.

2. Double the Boards. It might be tough to do, but I’d like the Gophers to try to double up Central Michigan on the boards. Minnesota will have an edge in size and strength, and they should be able to dominate the glass on both ends of the court. They did it to Nebraska in the second half, and they need to keep that momentum going.

3. Power and Speed. In their two road losses, the Chippewas actually shot the ball at a 50% or better clip. The reason they lost is primarily because they allowed their opponents to shoot around 55%. In other words, they haven’t played very good defense. Minnesota should look to get the ball as deep in the paint as possible before shooting, and they should also look to get out in transition each time they get the ball (bad ‘D’ typically means bad transition ‘D’ as well). The Gophers should be able to shoot 50% from the field even if their shots aren’t falling.

This starts a string of 6 very winnable nonconference games leading up to Big 10 season. The Gophers probably won’t have to be on top of their game to win any of them, but it’s important that they keep building on the Nebraska victory and head into conference play a better team than they are now. The score doesn’t matter in these next 6 games nearly as much as how the team plays, but of course getting the ‘W’ is still critical. The first one shouldn’t be any problem. My prediction: Minnesota 84 Central Michigan 60.

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