Tubby Smith names likely starters for Tuesday's scrimmage
by GopherNation on Nov 1, 2010 4:34 PM CDT
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PrintMyron posts the likely starters for Tuesday's scrimmage vs. Northeastern State.
PG - Al Nolen
SG - Blake Hoffarber
SF - Rodney Williams
PF - Colton Iverson
This is pretty much the lineup I expected to see. I really view this Gopher roster as having a starting seven. The five listed above plus Trevor Mbakwe and DeVoe Joseph are all capable of starting and performing at a starter's level. After that we'll see the true freshman off the bench. Austin Hollins, Maurice Walker and Chip Armelin are expected to be the freshmen who see the most time giving Tubby his typical rotation of 10 players.
If the freshmen can contribute in any significant way, this will be a very deep and talented team. Once again we are lacking that true go-to guy that Big Ten defense will fret over. But we do have seven very good players and a trio of freshmen who hopefully can play enough minutes of quality ball to keep the starting seven fresh.
I am SOOO looking forward to basketball season. My expectations were high last year and were dashed by the suspensions of Royce White, Mbakwe and Nolen. This year I'm excited that this team will be better than last year's and we'll be competitive in every game played. I think we win right around 23 games this year (a 2 game improvement). We'll get to the schedule, the roster and predictions later but for now I'm just thrilled that it is nearly basketball season.
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I love Colten Iverson, but...
I think the biggest difference-maker on the roster is Mbakwe. I think he’s got the best chance to be a Big Ten 1st-teamer.
What are the odds he is named Big Ten newcomer of the year?
But I think Tubby really respects the work and contributions of Iverson… maybe this is just a token-of-appreciation start or something. I think Mbakwe eventually is our starting PF and I think he’ll dominate for stretches this year.
I meant to type this
but I would bet just about anything that for the B10 opener Mbakwe is starting.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you The Daily Gopher
Sooner?
Tubby really likes the Twin Towers approach but Mbakwe’s athleticism will be more effective if we want to try some of that full court pressing we missed most of last season… Mbakwe and Rodney are going to be the difference between just another tournament birth and the ever so Sweet Sixteen.
If
If we stay with the full court pressure you won’t see Colton and Sampson at the same time… Too slow. I think we will have for the most part have a 7 or 8 man rotation with Joseph replacing Hoff and Trevor over Colt when we want to run. And when we want to slow it down Joseph replaces Rodney. I also think Trevor starts from day one.
for the record, sick of the gopher football dedication on this blog. Might be the schools worst sport, and until now has been the focus of 95% of the words written on this blog. Time to give hoops some overdue attention. Very psyced for this team.
Mbakwe should be an improvement...
but let’s see him in action before we crown him. Rodney looked pretty excellent with his athleticism last pre-season, but was rendered useless when matched up against the big boys in the Big 10.
Regardless, the talent level is really high on this team, highest since I have become a follow every game fan (Pryzbilla era) by FAR. This is saying something about our expectations: If we qualify for the NCAAs, it will be the first time ever we have qualified three years in a row… WOW! Good work TUBBY!
mbakwe has played with/against big ten talent
his time at marquette and his well documented domination in workouts last year have given ample evidence that he is going to be a factor, quite possibly a huge factor. Paul Carters upside was his athleticism and ability to have a big long player on the court to extend our defensive pressure. Carters downside was his rebounding against bigger opponents, ie Michigan St. Mbakwe will give us all that athleticism AND a beast on the boards. Get excited, dude is gonna crush.
and I was able to see him in one full practice in August
Mbakwe is very mature, athletic and he’ll be our best player.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you The Daily Gopher
Carter's downside
In my opinion was his inability to finish on his cuts/slashes to the basket. Mbakwe played 11 games to the tune of 1.5 pts and 2.1 coming off an injury… but that’s besides the point.
I don’t disagree he could be great, but I’m going to let him prove it. I saw him at last years tipoff, and agree, he is an athletic freak… It seems like all the talent is there, but injuries, and mental strength has yet to be proven (constant transfers). His play may be the most important x-factor of the season.
Either way, I hope you guys are right ;-), it’s the the MN sports fan in me, can’t buy hype anymore!! Gotta set the bar low so expectations can be exceeded.
I also think Devoe will be important. I’d love for him to up his scoring to 15/ppg, and think he can do it all season. I am expecting a new level from him this year.
Final shout to Carter
It’s probably not a bad thing that Paul Carter transferred, since it will probably give more run to Mo Walker and (maybe) bump the minutes for Mbakwe and Colt. But I do think his steady calming influence will be missed. He was very solid off the bench. Kind of a poor man’s DJ Swat that could hit the open three. So, while I don’t think this team is worse off without him, I’d like to see somebody step up (i.e. Hollins, Walker) and be that “glue guy” off the bench. Those guys can often be X-factors in close games, and there will be plenty of those in the Big Ten this season.
Journalism. Enhanced.
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