Preview: Gophers vs. St. Cloud State

While Friday’s showdown with St. Cloud State is just another exhibition against another overmatched opponent, I actually consider this to be a fairly important game. The final score doesn’t matter, but how the Gophers play does. This is their final tune-up before next weekend’s season opener, and a difficult stretch of games follows right after that.

Sure, many other college teams can say the same thing, but few can say it as emphatically as Minnesota. With 12 new faces on the roster and Jeff Hagen’s 4 points per game making him the leading returning scorer, the Gophers are pretty much starting from scratch. The clock’s ticking fast, and they still have a lot of work to do if they’re going to survive the first two weeks of the season (before the schedule eases up again). So they need to play well in this game.

The Huskies, on the other hand, are a pretty experienced team. They return three starters from last year along with five other letterwinners. That was a solid team with a .500 record in the North Central Conference and a 17-11 record overall. They’re a team now looking to take the next step.

Leading the way is senior guard Nate Miller, who averaged 18 points per game last season and was honorable mention all-conference. Miller is both a shooter (41% 3-pt) and a playmaker (3 assists per game). Junior Matt Siegle is a solid force inside who’s looking to improve on his 13 ppg/6 rpg averages from last season. Forward Steve Trull will also be looking to improve on his 7 points and 6 rebounds from a year ago. The Gophers will also need to pay close attention to guard Pat Weihert (5 ppg), who is a 42% three-point shooter.

Here are my Gopher Keys of the Game:

1. Keep it Up. The top two things on my wishlist for this season were good energy and strong defense. For an exhibition opener, I was pleased with what the Gophers showed in both areas against St. Thomas. The energy and intensity were there throughout, even when though they didn’t always lead to positive results. The defense was also pretty solid. There were certainly breakdowns, and the competition was inferior, but the Gophers were active and didn’t give up the open jumpers that we’ve seen in years past. I want to see more of the same.

2. Board it Better. Minnesota had some solid individual rebounding performances last game (e.g. Spencer Tollackson), but their team numbers weren’t great considering there advantage in size and athleticism. The big men need to box out better, the guards need to help out more, and everybody needs to close the seems when they’re playing zone. Combining with #1, if you have good energy, defense, and rebounding, the rest should take care of itself.

3. Shoot it Smarter. This is the rest, and this is what will take a young team the longest to get down. The Gophers need to improve their efficiency and decision-making on offense. I want to make it clear that I’m not talking about selfishness. Minnesota moved the ball very unselfishly last game. They just didn’t always take the right shot ““ the easiest shot. An open jumper is a good shot”¦unless a big guy has an advantage inside. A pull-up jumper is also a good shot”¦unless you can get a layup and/or get to the free throw line. The Gophers just need to show slow and steady improvement and learning with the ball.

I really enjoyed watching last Saturday’s game, and I’m really looking forward to this one. Now is the time to get a look at everybody, which enables you to watch their improvement in the months to come. When the young guys and the few veterans play with the energy they showed last week, this is going to be a fun team to watch. Let’s hope it becomes a trend. My prediction (factoring in the solid “˜D’ the Gophers displayed last week): Minnesota 85 St. Thomas 58.

Talk about the game on our Gopher Basketball message board.