Gopher Basketball
The Golden Gophers
* I did not see yesterday’s game versus the Badgers (more on that later), but thanks to Channel 45 was able to see their nice comeback versus Purdue this past Wednesday and I think the past week gave a view of how the Big Ten season may progress-blowouts on the road and competitive games at home. This optimism for home games comes more from what I have seen thus far from the rest of the Big Ten, save Wisconsin and Ohio State, rather than great strides taken by the Gophers on the court. I will echo the comments offered by many others-the 12-2 streak late in the second half against Purdue was a rare commodity during the Monson era and I think this squad will take on a more mentally tough persona with Molinari at the helm.
* That all being said, this season is feeling like. . .purgatory? hibernation? that someone pressed the pause button? However you want to describe it, I’m having a tough season engaging with this season. There’s a few factors involved (obviously the mid-season coaching change, the lack of seniors to send off, the lack of excitement from the newcomers) and I find it surreal-in a season where there is incredible action across the college basketball landscape, I find myself wanting to fast forward the Gopher season, so some positive energy can once again fuel the fanbase.
* There are six Golden Gophers who are in their first year of Division-1 basketball this season (Limar Wilson, Engen Nurumbi, Kevin Payton, Damien Johnson, Lawrence Westbrook, and Bryce Webster). In watching these newcomers, I am hard-pressed to find much excitment from what I have seen thus far and what they will bring to the team in the future. Earlier this season in the Ramble, I used the analogy of the Twins struggling in the mid-90s and how we watched those teams with the hopes the struggling youngsters would emerge into solid contributors, if not All-Stars. This collection of Gophers seems to mirror the likes of Rich Becker, Scott Stahoviak, and Matt Walbeck. A couple other posters have already stated this, but the new head coach will have considerable work over the next few seasons to not only undue the malaise surrounding the program, but also the mediocre talent that Dan Monson brought to campus.
* As one sees the limited minutes that Bryce Webster has been logging this season, a sneaking suspicion emerges that we’ll be lamenting the fact in 2009-10 that his freshman year was burned logging limited minutes in a lost season.
* Time for the first question from the mailbag. . .
Coolhand Luke,
I won’t even ask who you think should be the Gophers’ next coach. However, what’s your gut feeling on which way Joel will lean for the hoops job, especially now that he’s shown he has the (cajones) to dismiss a true “power coach” (Mason).
Will the Gophers’ next head coach be someone who is?. …
(1) not currently coaching college basketball
(2) currently a head coach at another BCS school
(3) currently a head coach at a non-BCS school
(4) currently a top assistant at a big-name program
(5) none of the above
Thanks, keep up the great work.
Tony in Pullman
Thanks for the question Tony, and don’t be too anxious-I think you’ll be happy to see where you land in this question. But before we get to that, I’m just wondering-choice #5 is none of the above-seeing as how you pretty much covered every scenario in options 1-4, I’m just going to attribute that to your education in the Wisconsin university system, but we won’t hold it against you. To the question. . .I think it’s becoming more and more apparent, Flip Saunders is the top choice from the administration’s viewpoint. #2? I’m thinking that as things progress, the other Tony Bennett might be supplanting Rick Majerus as the next best thing to Flip. He’s younger, probably cheaper, likely to be more reliable than Majerus, and also someone who could build the program for many years. I’m guessing he was a major recruiter for his dad and you have to be impressed with the results he has brought to Washington State this year. One wonders though-will there be a sense of commitment to Pullman on Bennett’s part since they agreed to hand the job over to him, despite mediocre results when his dad was coaching? Will he become such a hot commodity with teams such as Colorado and Michigan that his price or timetable will not be workable for the Gophers? And there is this-no matter how impressive, it’s his first season as a head coach. Is Maturi ready to hitch the program’s wagon to a coach from a rural Washington university with limited head coaching experience or are the similarities to the previous coach too much?
The Big Ten
* I already have to revise my projected Big Ten standings-I originally had Indiana finishing sixth after the undisputed top two followed by Purdue, Illinois, and Michigan State. I now put them as the third best team in the Big Ten, and not because of the pasting they put on Michigan State today, but rather from their impressive road loss versus Ohio State this week. I get the feeling that beyond the top two teams, heading onto the road for the rest of the Big Ten will be a dicey proposition as evidenced by the opening week of action (losses from Purdue and Michigan State against subpar teams). No matter what you think of Kelvin Sampson, he can really coach and seems to instill mental toughness in his teams.
* I was expecting Brian Randle to have a very good season for the Illini, but his injury-plagued, lackluster start has been a major reason for the Illini’s struggles. They got hammered at home against the kids from Ohio State yesterday and while I expected the Buckeyes to win, I did not expect them to stomp the Big Ten team that can lay claim to the best homecourt advantage in recent years.
* Tune in Tuesday night for the first of two heavyweight clashes between the Buckeyes and Badgers, 8 p.m. at the Kohl Center. I’m not sure who’ll be broadcasting, but start bracing yourself for Dickie V. If there’s ever a reason for an invention of a TV where the voices can be muted, but background noise can be heard, it’s this man.
The National Scene
* I spent a lot of time on the Pac-10 last week, but I’m going to spend some more time on them this week, simply because they are the most compelling conference going right now. Let’s start with the USC and their spectacular freshman forward Taj Gibson. Among the many highly regarded freshman playing, Gibson has not received much due, but he certainly jumped into my consciousness while watching the Trojans play Washington State last week. He had a solid game versus the Cougars, but followed that up with a spectacular weekend up in Oregon versus both the Ducks and the Beavers. On a team with a veteran backcourt, this lithe freshman from Brooklyn has contributed 13 points and about 10 rebounds per game. He may be the primary reason on the court that the Trojans have the distinct look of a NCAA bound team.
* I was quite impressed that Oregon was able to bounce back and beat UCLA yesterday afternoon, it will certainly help their resume when March rolls around. That being said, they will now have to travel away from McArthur Court and visit some pretty formidable teams in the Pac-10. Just as USC is helped immensely by Gibson, the same goes for the Ducks junior power forward Maarty Leunen who is averaging 12 points and 10.5 rebounds per game while often surrounded by four guards on the floor. He’s emerged as a consistent force after averaging 7 points and 6 rebounds per game as a sophomore.
* I began the season with serious doubts about Arizona and it was largely due to the fact that Mustafa Shakur was still leading the Wildcats from the point guard position. During his first three years in college, Shakur was one of the more enigmatic talents out there and the inconsistency of the Silver Fox’s squad could often be drawn back to their guard play. But during his senior campaign, Shakur is averaging about 14 ppg and is second in the nation in assists at just under 8 per game. I remember reading one of the national guys in the preseason stating that Shakur would emerge as a more consistent force now that dominant forces like Hassan Adams and Chris Rodgershad used up their eligibility-I looked upon that skeptically, but it seems to have been prophetic.
* I really like what Lorenzo Romar has done with the Washington program, but their home loss to Arizona could be ominous. They stand at 1-3 in the conference, and with a string of three away games coming up, they could quickly be advancing to the bubble or beyond for a NCAA berth.
* LSU’s blowout of Connecticut last night came at a good time, just before they begin conference play and coming off a pretty inconsistent non-conference schedule. Glen “Big Baby” Davis was involved in a car accident last night, but went through a walk through with the team today, so it looks like they’ll be ready for the conference season. If you recall, LSU was inconsistent last year also before they went on their great run in the tournament.
* Bobby Huggins return to Cincinnati was met with a big thud this week, when his Wildcats lost to Xavier by ten, but the margin seemed larger. Of more concern, his spectular freshman Bill Walker left last night’s game against Texas A&M with a knee injury. I could not find any hard news on the injury, but according to a poster on their message board, fox news is reporting it could be a torn ACL and he’d be out for the year.
* Two more questions in the mailbag, let’s take them both now. . .
Now that Bobby Knight has broken the record, what else is ESPN going to go on & on & on & on about? What is the next college hoops topic they will bludgeon to death?
Dick V in Storrs
C’mon Dickie V. . .you know that exactly a month from today, your favorite group of scrappy, floor-slapping underdogs will be hosting North Carolina at Cameron Indoor. I’m actually surprised that that we haven’t seen the previews and banners on the bottom of ESPN already. Along with this storyline, expect a heavy, heavy dose of Greg Oden from here on out, with the “doesn’t he look old?; he’s shooting free throws with his left hand!; and how he’s enjoying the college experience so much he might just stay another year” becoming familiar refrains. It’s too bad, because he seems like a very nice kid who we’ll likely be sick of hearing about by the end of this year.
Thou Wise One Coolhand,
If you had to name one team that started the season red-hot but will crash and burn as the season progresses, who would it be?
Turge from Wichita
Don’t worry Turge, I’m not going to select your Shockers; I think you guys are still NCAA bound, although your kids better start bringing it on a consistent basis in the MVC. No, my selection for the biggest flameout is the team LSU took apart yesterday, the Connecticut Huskies, who rose to #8 in the polls based on victories against a bunch of nobodies. In two of their last three games, Jim Calhoun’s squad has lost to West Virginia and LSU by double digits. Yes, those are two talented squads and their games were on the road, but their Big East schedule will be tough and they still have non-conference games at home against Indiana and on the road versus Georgia Tech. When you look at their weak preseason schedule and figure that they may struggle in Big East play, I think they may be hard pressed to make the tournament.
* I’ve decided to mix in a new feature this week, which I think will become a consistent fixture, the games of the week, day-by-day. RPI guy, in previous years under a different moniker used to do a more in-depth variation of this, but I thought it might be worth the effort. . .I know I always like a bit advance notice on the noteworthy games of the week.
Games of the Week
Monday
Old Dominion vs. Hofstra-While Drexel seems to be setting the pace in the Colonial Athletic Association, these two teams are both off to a 3-0 start and if a second team comes from the CAA, it seems likely to be one of these two (but don’t count out Virginia Commonwealth). Hofstra struggled early in the season after being the consensus sleeper pick for the national prognosticator’s, but seem to have righted their ship, and Old Dominion can claim a non-conference win against Georgetown.
runner up
Texas Tech vs. Kansas State-The potential loss of Bill Walker takes some shine off this match up, but the coaching matchup of two irritable grown men who go by Bobby is intriguing. It’s on ESPN at 9:00.
Tuesday
Ohio State vs. Wisconsin-I’ve already mentioned it, but this seems to be one of the two Big Ten matchups that will have implications on the national scene this year (the other being the rematch in Columbus in late February). On ESPN at 8:00.
runner up
LSU vs. Alabama-LSU will be opening up their SEC season and ‘Bama will be trying to come back from the blowout suffered on Saturday at Arkansas. This features a matchup of two potential All-Americans at the center position, Glen Davis and Jamereo Davidson. On the deuce at 8 p.m. also.
Wednesday
Oklahoma State vs. Kansas-These two squads are shaping up to be the two best teams in the Big 12 this year. I really like the makeup of the Cowboys and Kansas certainly has the talent, but do they have the grit? Game time is at 8:00 p.m.
runner up
Marquette vs. Connecticut-I’ve already spelled out by doubts about the Huskies, but Marquette has to start playing more consistently. Any chance to watch Marquette’s PG Dominic James should be seized. Game time’s at 6 p.m.
Thursday
Hofstra vs. Drexel-There’s a lot of games on the docket, but not too many attractive matchups. Hofstra can really stake an early claim for conference supremacy with a win over Drexel, who have already defeated Villanova and Syracuse on the road this season.
runner up
Washington State vs. California-Tony B. leads his Huskies on the road again, against a pretty middling Bears team.
Friday
Creighton vs. Northern Iowa-Thank goodness a few more games other than the MAAC conference have been added this Friday, starting with what should be a pretty competitive matchup down in Cedar Falls. UNI is pacing league play with a 4-0 start, and the Blue Jays are right on their tail at 3-1.
runner up
Princeton vs. Columbia-It looks like these two squads will be the class of the Ivy League this year.
Saturday
UCLA vs. USC-Tim Floyd looks to have the Trojans prepared to challenge the Bruins for supremacy of L.A., if not the Pac-10. It may be a year early before the Trojans are truly ready to challenge, but it should be a pretty compelling matchup on USC’s campus. Game time’s at 1:30.
runner up
West Virginia vs. Marquette-John Beilein has his Mountaineers playing awfully tough again with another cast of unknowns, but they have to travel on the road to take on the talented squad from Milwaukee.
Sunday
Oregon vs. Arizona-Amazing athleticism aplenty at Arizona. 7 p.m. gametime.
runner up
Illinois vs. Michigan State-Both these teams have started Big Ten play 0-2 and to keep NCAA hopes alive, a win here would be key. Time to be announced.
Odds and Sods
* I spent a few hours inside the Target Center yesterday, witnessing the afternoon slate of games featuring Hopkins, Osseo, Campbell Hall, and Lake Oswego. I’ve spent plenty of time here tonight, so I’m going to make this quick, but Kevin Love was extremely impressive, and that’s an understatement. My favorite part of his game was his inbound passes, which caught Osseo sleeping early on, as he unleashed three quarter of the court passes to a streaking teammate for lay-ups. The Holliday brothers, Justin and Jrue were very impressive-long, athletic, and strong. Justin is headed to Washington and defended Blake Hoffarber most of the time, while Jrue is a junior being recruited by most of the nation’s powers and was able to get into the lane quite easily most of the day. Hoffarber started very hot, but Campbell Hall adjusted and kept him pretty quiet until deep into the second half. What was most concerning wasn’t that his shot wasn’t falling, but that he had a tough time getting the ball after Campbell Hall put the clampdown on him. Granted, Justin Holliday was a pretty tough defender and a matchup nightmare for Hopkins and Hoffarber, but there will be similar players in Big Ten play. Watching Hoffarber yesterday, I saw a great deal of similarity to Jamal Abu-Shamala. Hopkins has a lot of very talented youngsters, particularly in their sophomore class. Their basketball factory keeps chugging along.
* Okay, time to say adios for the week. Next week’s Ramble won’t be arriving until sometime on Monday, as I’m out of town for the weekend. Have a good week ‘Holers.