Preview: Gophers vs. St. Thomas

Welcome back for another season of Golden Gopher Basketball! The offseason has flown by as usual. The Gophers are already in their third week of practice, and the exhibition opener against St. Thomas is just a few days away. While optimism for the upcoming season certainly isn’t at a high, that first trip to The Barn each season always still manages to get my blood pumpin’.

The St. Thomas Tommies will play the 2004 underdog role in what has become an annual series of intrastate exhibition showdowns. They’re the junior high kids trying to steal a game from the varsity, and they’ll be fired up. The Gophers have historically been a little flat or soft in these games, which has resulted in them being much closer than they should have been. This year could potentially be different however.

While a lot of questions would have to be answered before I would venture to label this a strong Gopher team, it won’t take much convincing for me to call it enthusiastic and energetic. With 12 newcomers on the 16-man roster, it should be. This might be a meaningless exhibition game for many fans, but for those 12, this will be their first Division 1 college basketball and their first time playing in front of a (relatively) large Williams Arena crowd. They’ll be full of jitters and excitement and will be looking to prove themselves. Don’t expect them to take the game lightly.

I confess I knew absolutely nothing about the Tommies before doing my research for this article. I found out that they have a well respected coach with a 25-year tenure in Steve Fritz, and they have a strong winning tradition in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), where they had winning records in 23 of the past 24 seasons. That lone down year came this past season though, when they finished with an 11-15 record.

The Division III Tommies graduated an all-conference center but return their other 4 starters from a year ago along with 6 of their top 8 reserves. They also have three transfers coming in, including two that I’m very familiar with. Sean Sweeney was a key part of Cretin Derham-Hall’s backcourt for several seasons, and 6’8″ Isaac Roosefelt had an outstanding senior year at St. Thomas Academy two seasons ago. St. Thomas’ top returning scorer is sharp-shooting senior guard Neal Anderson (15 ppg, 45% 3-pt), and they also return a double-digit scorer in 6’5″ forward Joey Shimek (10 ppg, 7 rpg).

Here are my Gopher Keys of the Game:

1. Set the Tone. I’ve probably used this one for the season opener every year, I’m it hasn’t really been followed so far. This year needs to be different. By coming out and playing hard from day one, these dozen Gopher newcomers (along with the returnees) have a chance to do a lot of good. They can help make fans forget past disappointments, they can help fill some seats in the crowd, and they can help return the intimidating aura of The Barn. That’s what this season needs, and that’s what we need to see begin on Saturday.

2. Just Watch. The reason exhibitions are actually some of my favorite games to watch is because you typically get a chance to see the full Gopher bench in action before it shortens up for the regular season. That’s especially appealing with some many new and unproven players. I’ve been fortunate enough to see them all in offseason scrimmages, but game action is a completely different thing. I’m intrigued to see how some of the unique talents the Gophers have added will be able to blend together and adapt to a game setting.

3. Defense. Setting the Tone implies this, but it’s important enough to single out. Defensive intensity is the most important thing for this year’s team to bring to the table. Fortunately, it’s also the easiest area of the game for inexperienced players to make an immediate contribution. The Gophers have some athletes with the physical potential to be very good defenders. This will be our first chance to see if they have the necessary attitude.

I would suggest focussing on defense more than offense in this one. As we saw in the intrasquad scrimmage, it’s going to take some time for this team to learn the offensive system. Defensive basics can be taught much quicker. The same goes for hustle. Don’t pay as much attention to the final score as you do to the energy on the court and the interaction amongst the players. And now of course I’ll ignore my own advice and talk about the score. My prediction: Minnesota 80 St. Thomas 66.

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