The Daily Gopher

Golden Nuggets for 12.5.08

2008-12-05T09:00:07Z

It's PJS' birthday. I'm older and still not good at shooting free throws. So, this is going to be quick.

The nickname conversation went well yesterday. I'm partial to Colt 45, Absolute Zero (Nolen) and DJ Swat. Objections? Other nominations? I really, really like Absolute Zero. Colt 45 seems too obvious to me. But as someone pointed out below, he's obviously desirous of this namesake, else he wouldn't have been granted (asked for?) #45.

The Cornell Basketball Blog posts here an update on the Cornell Big Red and a semi-preview of the game Saturday against the Gophers (live blog here of course). We should take the Big Red lightly. They went into Jim Boeheim's house and played with the Orange for 40 minutes Wednesday night before losing by 10.
Rivals' Bob McLellan had this observation about the basketball team: "Tubby Smith's Minnesota Golden Gophers have only one player averaging double figures in scoring, but they have eight players averaging at least 5.0 points and a ninth averaging 4.9 points. Guard Lawrence Westbrook leads the way at 14 points. The surprise so far has been former three-star prospect Colton Iverson, a 6-10 freshman who is third on the team in scoring (9.4 ppg) and leads the Gophers in rebounding (4.9 rpg). Iverson led the Gophers with 14 points and seven rebounds in their 66-56 win over Virginia in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge."
I have to prefice this by saying the UofM folks have been incredibly kind to us here at The Daily Gopher, probably because many of you make this a daily stop. But I have to offer some constructive criticism. This blog post on Gophersports.com regarding the football team's season is titled "Tremendous Turnaround." A great turnaround indeed. But must we always use the word tremendous?
Ralph Sampson III gets the lead in this Detroit News Big Ten notebook.
HoopAddict's 50 Reasons to be Excited About College Basketball was a good read. Number 16 made me smile: "Wisconsin having another 30 win season: Only for us to realize once again that a team that starts four slow white guys doesn’t win many NCAA Tournament games." Also, #21 discusses BJ Mullens' pencil thin mustache and Tubby Smith gets a mention.

Golden Nuggets for 12.4.08

2008-12-04T09:00:11Z

Instead of stretching to find something to lead this with today--and becahse I'm damn exhausted--I want to instead issue a challenge.

The 173 Twins bloggers have a knack of creating interesting lame nicknames for players (think Go-Go), I'm wondering if The Daily Gopher community can put its collective mind together and give a few of our key basketball players a nickname they can be proud of.

Throw out your thoughts below. We absolutely need a way to build up Damian Johnson. Big Ten country and the nation needs to know about him. Heck, the damn local paper didn't mention his superb game against UVA becuase he did things that show up in columns of the stat sheet that don't tabulate scoring production.

So, let's brand DJ, and perhaps Al Nolen and Colt Iverson?

From Scout, four of Brewster's 2009 commits have been named to the AP All-State team. They are tight end Ra'Shede Hageman, tackle Ed Olson, tackle Josh Campion and defensive lineman Matt Garin. Two tackles. Nice.
FoxSports.com has good things to say about Colton Iverson.
Does anyone else enjoy reading Down with Goldy but you're not exactly sure why? After 6W told me I was wrong about Miami v. Ohio State, to which I now respond that 6W was wrong about Minnesota v. Colorado State, I did enjoy this line: "Busch = one catch, one shot." Clear, crisp, accurate and understandable prose at its absolute finest.
There was a reason why I haven't published my picks for the Big ten basketball regular season. Before the season started I would have quickly tapped Purdue to win the conference. I've loved them since before it was cool to love them. But they didn't impress me against Oklahoma and if you read Purdue blog Off the Tracks, you'll see that Duke exposed quite a few weaknesses. Then again, maybe it was just Duke.
I link to anyone who says I made "keen observations," but in this case there is the added benefit of a unbiased and positive view of Tubby's Gophers. From Hoopraker:
The Damian Johnson Fan Club: PJS runs down some keen observations from last night UVA game at The Daily Gopher. Suffuce it to say, in year two, Tubby Smith has the makings of something special in Minnesota. Led by the talented and, as of today, under the radar players Damian Johnson and Al Nolen, the Gophers controlled Virgina in Williams Arena last night. Johnson, in particular, is a pure joy to watch, effecting shots and passes on defense on seemingly every possession. Add to the equation the highly skilled freshman post player Colton Iverson and the development of Blake Hoffarber as a reliable jump shooter, Minnesota is poised to challenge Illinois as the most improved team in the Big Ten. It’ll be fun to see the Gophers run through the league this year.

Minnesota 66, Virginia 56

2008-12-03T17:00:09Z

Damian Johnson was his energetic self. Colton Iverson played a strong game under the basket. Al Nolen was the defensive catalyst he has always been, and a good floor general. And Lawrence Westbook and a few others played great defense on UVA's best player to lift the Gophers to a win over Virginia Tuesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

It was 66-56 and the Gophers had control of the game--despite a few bad stretches--for most of the game. The final was 66-56 and we could have won by more.

You don't need to look at the stats--if you watched the game--to know how we won. Johnson blocked shots, changed shots, was a ball hawk. The first team of Johnson, Nolen, Westbrook, Blake Hoffarber and Iverson pushed tempo, created turnovers, disrupted UVA's offense and dominated the Cavaliers first team.

It was only when Minnesota's second team was in that Virginia was able to cut into our leads and keep the game close. And there were considerable reasons for that we'll get into shortly.

Virginia isn't the ACC's best. But for this team of basically kids to handle with relative ease any ACC team is an accomplishment we should be excited about. Here are my positives and negatives from the game. I'd be intersted to hear what all of you thought.

Positives:

Westbrook, Johnson and whoever else manned up on UVA's excellent guard Sylven Landesberg to 1-11 shooting. People always pay attention to Westbrook offensively. His defense was very good.
Six rebounds, three steals, three blocks, six points and countless other plays that turned momentum. Damian Johnson might be the best defensive player in the BIg Ten.
Al Nolen did a great job of getting Minnesota into its offense. Five assists and five steals to go with nine points and just two turnovers. The Gophers were significantly better with him on the floor.
Turnovers. We committed 12 and created 18.
Ball-line defense. Especially when the core group was in, the team defense was much, much better than it was against North Dakota State. We rotated better on defense. We crashed and trapped the ball well. That led to 10 steals and transition offense.
Minnesota held UVA to 31 percent shooting.
Williams Arena. Sounded like it was loud and a fun environment.
Finally, Iverson. He led the team in points (14) and rebounds (7) in only 22 minutes. He's a freshman and he looked like the best big man on the floor Tuesday night. I laughed a week or two ago when someone wrote about the beginning of the Iverson era. Maybe I should have bit my tongue. He can be very good.

Negatives:

Tubby Smith justifiably pulled Devoe Joseph in at least one instance for not getting the Gophers into a half-court set and instead launching a quick, ill-advised shot. Joseph did seem to calm down in the last 5 minutes, but the Gophers took an obvious step back when he was the point guard and Nolen was getting a breather.
Jamal Abu-Shamala. As always, he's a gamer and busts his butt. But he's simply not athletic enough for this level of competition.
Substitutions. At various times, perhaps most notably with about five minutes left in the first half, Tubby lifted his starting group that had just went on a huge run that uplifted the Barn and gave Minnesota a 8 point lead. Then with the second group, the lead immediately diminished. The defensive intensity was gone. The offense, stagnant. We need to have a bench, but moving the groups in and out wholesale didn't seem to work on this night. And, I'd love to see RSIII with Nolen and company sometimes too.
This is picky, but Johnson shot 3-9 from the field. He shot 0-3 from three. If he can add that outside shot, he could be not only a beast defensively, but quite the force on offense as well.

The win puts the Gophers at 7-0 with Cornell and South Dakota State coming to The Barn on Saturday and Wednesday. If we can get by both of those teams we have Louisville waiting on Dec. 20.

Is anyone excited?

Golden Nuggets for 12.3.08

2008-12-03T10:00:09Z

Hey the Gophers won their ACC match up, what is the problem with everybody else?

Oh ya, Minnesota's Iowa's Andrew Brommer took his 21.4% free throw percentage to the line down two. He missed the front end of the one-and-one. BC wins 57-55.

Illinois, down two, with the ball, under 20 seconds is unable to even get a shot off. I mean, not even throwing up a prayer with guys in the shooter's face. Ball never got above the shoulders, game over. Clemson wins 76-74. This was a great chance for the B10 to steal one.

Purdue got rolled by Duke 76-60. My personal commentary is that Purdue expected to get better just by getting older. They didn' work hard enough in the offseason to get BETTER. Personal opinion, for what it's worth.

On the bright side Ohio State went on the road and beat PJS's favorite to win the ACC (or something like that). OSU wins 73-68. Seriously though this is a big win for the Big Ten as Miami is ranked and is rather talented.

The Big Ten is going to get rolled tomorrow after going 3-3 to start the "challenge." Northwestern will not beat Florida State, North Carolina is unstoppable right now, Maybe Penn State over Georgia Tech, maybe Michigan over Maryland and Indiana will be luck to be within 25 of Wake. ACC is a lock for three wins and Big Ten has a chance at two, but 0-5 isn't out of the question.

Back to football for a moment. Talk is increasing about potentially Wisconsin passing up the Champs Bowl for an Arizona location and the Inight Bowl. Conventional thought is that Minnesota would move "up" to the Champs Bowl and have a trip to Florida. Why would Wisconsin do this? Apparently they are bored with Florida cause they have played there four years in row. Boo hoo, go to Detroit if you want a change of pace.

What does this mean for the Gophers? Not much really. If Ohio State gets a BCS game we'll likely move up to the Insight. If we get to move one game up and go the Champs it is technically a more prestigious bowl but anything between a Jan 1 bowl and the Motor City Bowl are all kind of the same thing imo.
Bruce Feldman of Eee Ess Pee Enn believes that Brewster did the 10th best job coaching this year.

With all due respect to Joe Paterno and Pat Fitzgerald, no one took a program that was worse off a year ago than Brewster. He made a key move bringing in defensive coordinator Ted Roof to overhaul the defense. Brewster, a guy who has a solid reputation as a recruiter, was able to plug in a crew of gifted junior college transfers to infuse more speed and playmakers into the defense. Obviously, Brewster would be higher on this list had his team not dropped its final four games of the season.
It's about right. This was a remarkable turnaround that ended in a major buzz kill. It's easy to rip the team or their finish but in total this was a significant turnaround and a successful season. He needs to continue to build.
Hats off to the Gopher Volleyball team who recently wrapped up their regular season. Three Gophers were named to first team All-Big Ten and Christine Tan was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. In addition to their post season awards the Gophers are a #6 seed in the NCAA tournament and are hosting a first round regional.

ACC/Big Ten Challenge Game Thread: UVA at Minnesota

2008-12-03T02:00:06Z

If you haven't been here today, GN did a preview of the game below. I did a Q&A with a UVA blogger about the matchup. We'll see soon how the Gophers compare with major conference competition. I can't wait. Join us for a chat tonight as the Gophers (hopefully) help the Big Ten win the challenge.

Virginia @ Minnesota in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge

2008-12-02T22:42:11Z

Time: 8:30 CST
TV: ESPN2
Radio: WCCO-830
Open Game Thread: right here at TDG

As I type this the Big Ten is leading the ACC/Big Ten Challenge thanks to Wisconsin's win last night over Virginia Tech. While pretty much everybody is predicting the ACC will move to 10-0 all time in this event, let's see what the Gopher's chances are of at least giving the Big Ten a second win this year.

The Virginia Cavaliers are making the trip to the Barn. Doing a preview like this is a little difficult when you haven't seen the Cavalier play. So I'll start with the facts and end with the commentary.

Efficiency Stats

	Virginia	Minnesota
Off Eff	1.069	1.138
Def Eff	1.049	0.977
Differential	0.020	0.161

eFG%	48.3%	56.6%
Turnover %	18.0%	21.3%
Off Reb %	39.8%	37.7%
Def Reb%	70.8%	63.9%

The numbers, especially for Minnesota, are a little skewed because the opponents have been pretty weak. Virginia has played and lost to Syracuse which gives them a stronger strength of schedule but they also lost to Liberty which has to mean something.

By the numbers Minnesota shoots much better, scores more per possession and allows fewer points per possession, all against non-BCS and likely non-NCAA Tournament level teams.

Virginia turns it over less and rebounds better but again these numbers will be a little misleading based on their schedule. The rebounding numbers are a little off because of the Liberty game. The Flames tallest starter is a 6-5 freshman, this five guard lineup led to UVA outrebounding Liberty by 15. Against teams with decent size in the middle rebounding was essentiall even. The guy to look out for on the boards is 6-8, forward Mike Scott who has three games of double digit rebounding.

One number not included in the table above (maybe I should) is defensive eFG%, this is a key stat for tonight's game as UVA ranks 286th in the country in Def eFG% giving up a percentage of 53.1 per game. If you recall, eFG% is your typical FG% calculation with a little bonus added for making threes. This has been documented that UVA has had trouble defending the three and this stat adds to that fact. This will be a huge key for tonight (Blake Hoffarber anyone?).

Key Players for UVA

PLAYER	Yr (Hght)	POS	PTS	REB	AST	NOTES
#15 - Sylven Landesberg	FR (6-6)	G	20.8	5.6	2.6	true freshman scoring nearly 21 per game
#13 - Sammy Zeglinski	rFR (6-0)	G	13.8	4.0	3.4	redshirt freshman
#4 - Calvin Baker	JR (6-2)	G	9.0	2.4	3.6	most recent two games have been his best two games
#32 - Mike Scott	SO (6-8)	F	12.0	11.2	1.4	has rebounding nights of 10, 17 and 18 on the books this year
#24 - Mamadi Diane	SR (6-5)	F	6.0	3.8	1.0	Led team in 3pnt FGs last year but is 0-14 in 2008-09.

#23 - Jeff Jones	SO (6-4)	G	6.0	1.6	1.4	starter last year
#12 - Jamil Tucker	JR (6-9)	F	6.6	3.8	0.2	offensive threat off the bench
#5 - Assane Sene	FR (7-0)	C	1.0	1.0	1.0	freshman big man started Syracuse game, played only 7min
#21 - Tunji Soroye	SR (6-11)	C	3.7	4.0	0.0	playing time has decreased with each game

Their biggest contributors are on the perimeter yet they tend to not play great perimeter defense and tend to do well on the boards. On paper their forwards do not scare me offensively (I say on paper, because I have not actually seen them play). One would think that holding Landesberg and Zeglinski in check would make scoring difficult for the Cavs. Looking at their schedule Landesberg is averaging 23.6 in their three wins and 16.5 in their two losses. So I guess that makes him key #1 for the Gophers.

Keys to the Game

Minimize Landesberg. Through his long career as a Cavelier his team is undefeated when he reaches 20 points and 0-2 when he doesn't. True, it is only through five games but the McDonald's All-American is a dynamic scorer and a 6-6 guard is not a great matchup for the Gophers. Nolen and Westbrook generously top out a 6-1. Abu-Shamala matches up in size but God help us if he is guarding Landesberg on the perimeter. It will be very interesting to see how we match up and handle this kid. His minutes have been down but I wonder if Bostick will get a chance to use his 6-5 frame to guard Landesberg when he comes off the bench.
Rebounding, especially that Mike Scott kid. I'm declaring Mike Scott as the UVA version of Damian Johnson. He scores some, rebounds a lot and does things necessary for teams to win. 17 and 18 rebound nights are impressive, but I'm counting on Damian to neutralize Scott. Keep him off the boards. Whether it is DJ or one of our freshmen bigs, keep
him off the glass.
Inside THEN Outside. I want to see a big night from Hoffarber and anyone else who wants to score from the perimeter. But first I'd really like to see is a concerted effort to pound the ball inside to start the game. Let Johnson, Iverson and Sampson work to get things going on the inside then once they are sucked in a little let the Hoff get it going from the outside. I'm predicting a big game from the sophomore instant offense.

This game is entirely winable for the Gophers. Virginia is probably more athletic and has the most dynamic scorer on the floor, but I also believe Minnesota is the better team defensively and is playing on their home floor. I'm counting on a big night for Nolen defensively, Hoffarber offensively, Johnson on the boards and another impressive performance from one of the freshmen big men.

It has been discussed here a number of times but our schedule is incredibly weak. This is the team's only realistic chance to get any credibility outside of the Big Ten schedule. A must win, it is not; but it would do a lot for our tournament resume by getting this in the W column.

Golden Nuggets for 12/2/08 Interviews a UVA Blogger

2008-12-02T09:00:11Z

Note: We thought we'd get you prepared for tonight's ACC/Big Ten Challenge game between the University of Virginia and the Golden Gophers by asking UVA blogger Rob Mahini of the The Good Ol' Blog a handful of questions about the Cavaliers. We answered questions for The Good Ol' Blog as well and will link to those when they are published. This takes the place of the daily links post for the day. Many thanks, Rob!

1) This is the fourth year (I think) that Dave Leitao has had the reigns of the UVA program. Are Cavs fans pleased with what he has done? What are his perceived strengths and weaknesses? Has he met expectations since his hire?

For some fans, they are still patient given that Leitao's first few years were still heavily influenced by the Pete Gillen era of poor defense and undeveloped talent. Of course, Gillen also gave Leitao Sean Singletary, J.R. Reynolds, and Jason Cain -- so it wasn't all bad. But, there's a sense that, once Singletary was alone last year, the cupboard was pretty bare in the supporting roles.

However, there's some grumbling now. This is his fourth year, and it's likely to be his third subpar season. Having a rebuilding year is one thing, but losing to Liberty is quite another. We all knew that this one would be a tough one given the youth on the team, so next season will be the critical season for Dave.

2) The Cavs were 5-11 last year in the ACC and an uninspiring 17-16 overall. The team lost senior leader Sean Singleton to graduation. So, what are the expectations for the 2008-09 Cavaliers?

The Cavs were picked to finish dead last in the ACC, and they are living up to that prediction so far with close wins and a loss against the tune-up part of the schedule. If Virginia makes it to the NIT, it would be a major miracle. So, we're just hoping for some positive player development and some signs of progress for next season. The near-upset of Syracuse in the Carrier Dome in the last game may have been the first positive signs yet this season.

3) What should Minnesota fans expect from UVA in terms of style of play? Does Leitao push the ball? Does he play pressure defense? Zones?

On offense, Virginia has recently been a Singletary-or-bust team. This year, the team is trying to use more of its parts. When the offense is doing well, the squad will move the ball more effectively using point guard Sam Zeglinski, feeding the post and getting open shots off set plays. Sounds pretty basic, but that's where the Hoos are right about now: just trying to nail down the basics. And, of course, a heavy dose of true freshman guard Sylvan Landesberg, who has quickly become Virginia's key offensive threat.

On defense, which is ironically Leitao's calling card, Virginia has struggled the past couple years. He likes to emphasize aggressive and physical play in the interior and on the wings, and he will likely rely on inside shot blocking from the towering senior Tunji Soroye and true freshman Assane Sene. You'll see some zones from time-to-time, but expect a standard man defense for most of the game. Or, you'll see Virginia stand around confused while the Gopher's shoot lights out.

4) Freshman Sylven Landesberg seems to really be leading UVA. He's playing 32 minutes per game and averaging 20 points. Impressive for a freshman. Can you tell us about his game?

Sylven is definitely the future, and has all the offensive tools to be the next big star for the Hoos. He a smooth, gliding player that can also abruptly pull-up with a very quick shot and drill a perimeter shot if the defender isn't on top of him. He also very good at driving and scoring as well, with a knack to find the hoop in traffic. And as he draws attention, he's able to find his teammates as well. So, he's a tough guy to guard, since he's capable of hurting a defense in multiple ways.

5) If you were an opposing coach, how would you attack UVA? Would you pound the ball inside? Would you apply defensive pressure and try and create turnovers? What are opponents doing when they have success against the Cavs?

The match-up zone gave Virginia problems with feeding the post and getting open looks in the early season games, so I'd bet that any coach will be looking at this defensive alignment against the Hoos. On defense, the Hoos have struggled with switching up to protect the perimeter against high-octane teams. The interior is adequately guarded with the big guys, so more success will come to teams that can burn the Hoos from the outside. And given that this is a young team, any defensive pressure could certainly lead to some untimely turnovers.

6) Finally, UVA just lost to Liberty. We offer our apologies. How did that happen?

Liberty stymied Virginia's offense with a troublesome zone, and destroyed the Hoos' defense with pinpoint perimeter shooting. As Leitao said after that game, Virginia was "flirting with disaster" in all of its previous games, though, so it was just a matter of time before one of these teams broke through and nailed the Hoos with an embarrassing loss.

Gopher basketball schedule upgraded for 2009-2010

2008-12-01T21:41:37Z

Marcus Fuller of the Pioneer Press is reporting that the Gophers will be a part of the 2009 field of the 76 Classic basketball tournament. The tournament will occur over the Thanksgiving weekend next year and the eight team field will include...

UCLA - assume will be highest ranked team
Texas A&M - leading scorer will be gone, returns the rest
West Virginia - leading scorer will be gone, returns the rest
Long Beach State - Dan Monson's club
Clemson - has two significant seniors on current team
Butler - zero seniors on roster
Portland - zero seniors on roster
Minnesota - no significant seniors on roster

This is going to be a decent little tournament. Looking at current rosters every team brings back almost their entire roster. UCLA loses a LOT but we all know they'll reload. Other than that Clemson loses two, and the rest of the field brings back nearly all of their significant contributors.

As far as the Gopher's schedule is concerned we know that Nebraska is on the schedule and of course we'll get an ACC opponent that will be at our perceived level of competence. So at the very least we'll have three or four quality opponents on the non-conference schedule as opposed this year's two. Likely we'll play two or three good teams in the 76 classic which will be a nice change of pace compared to the previous few seasons.

Blog Poll v.14.1

2008-12-01T17:30:07Z

Final Blog Poll of the regular season. This was a fun one to put together (for the first time in several weeks. At the top it is really hard to argue against Alabama. Only undefeated team in a major conference, the Tide is #1 until they lose. After that it gets tricky...

Oklahoma vs. Texas - arguably the two best teams in the country and one of them is going to get screwed. Even if Alabama loses to Florida, we all know that Florida will leap-frog Texas into the BCS Title game. But I chose OK over TX in spite of the obvious head to head win by the Longhorns, because if I factor in that game then I have to factor in the Tex loss to TT and then when you factor in the OK win over TT we are back to square one.

The OK win over Tech was the most dominant and that is my primary evaluator. Strength of schedule is very similar with a slight edge to Texas. Total defense and total offense are very similar with slight edges going to Oklahoma.

The whole scenario is intriguing and would all be moot if a playoff was in the cards, but it 's not and my unofficial vote goes to the Sooners.

USC vs. Florida - this debate is getting lost in the discussion. But it is equally as important as the OK/Tex debate. I for one am not convinced that Florida belongs ahead of USC. Both teams have one loss to 8-4 teams that are by most measurables better than average in their conference. Both teams have bounced back to win any perceived big game along the way in convincing fashion.

Two things stand out to me as to why USC should get the nod at 4th place. First of all they lost on the road while Florida lost at home. Secondly USC's defense is just so dominant that I believe they are clearly the better team. Since their loss to Oregon state they have given up a total of five touchdowns in eight games (average of just over six ppg). In that stretch they have had three shutouts and two games allowing just a field goal. Granted, two of those shutouts were against the Pac-10 teams from Washington but Florida allowed 19 points to Citadel!

Unfortunately their win over UCLA will not be as sexy as Florida's potential win over Bama and Florida will remain ahead of USC, but I do not believe it is accurate. If Missouri were to upset Oklahoma and Florida were to beat Alabama, I think USC would have a very strong argument for a spot in the BCS title game.

Utah vs. Boise State vs. Ball State - the unbeaten non-BCS teams. This simply comes down to strength of schedule. Utah (72), Boise St (115), Ball St (119). ANd I'm sorry, Boise State fans but a strength of schedule of 115 does not warrant a BCS game over a team like Ohio State. If you want further proof. Minnesota beat Bowling Green 42-17 on the road. Boise State had the Falcons at home and won 20-7. Not exactly enough evidence to put Minnesota in a BCS game but proof enough to me that BSU does not belong.

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Alabama	--
2	Oklahoma	--
3	Texas	--
4	Southern Cal	1
5	Florida	1
6	Penn State	1
7	Texas Tech	1
8	Ohio State	--
9	Utah	1
10	Boise State	4
11	Ball State	5
12	Cincinnati	3
13	Oklahoma State	2
14	Oregon	6
15	Georgia Tech	9
16	Boston College	6
17	Michigan State	1
18	TCU	1
19	Georgia	10
20	Northwestern	1
21	Pittsburgh	4
22	Iowa	1
23	Oregon State	10
24	Mississippi	2
25	Missouri	13

Dropped Out: West Virginia (#23).

This ballot may look a little different. I didn't post last week's ballot so I kind of had to start from scratch. This is probably a good thing as it makes me re-look at my entire ballot.

Golden Nuggets for 12.1.08

2008-12-01T09:00:07Z

It's that week of the year again when Big Ten men's basketball teams give it their all and inevitably come up short in the annual battle of conferences with the ACC.

This little conference tournament of sorts began in 1999 and has seen the Big Ten lose every year. This wasn't lost on Detroit Free Press columnist Drew Sharp.

If repeated Thanksgiving Day exposure to Lions' football has indeed sickened the nation to the point where the NFL must alter its holiday schedule, then shouldn't the powers that rule college basketball spare unsuspecting eyes another disastrous ACC-Big Ten Challenge?

It was a great concept nine years ago.

It's a joke now.

The Big Ten is 0-9 in the Challenge.

ESPN created the "tournament" as a means for creating national interest in what's become the sports' scheduling calendar's wasteland -- the nonconference college basketball season. It combined the Carolina obsession in college hoops with large Midwestern television markets such as Chicago, Detroit, Columbus, Ohio, Cleveland and Indianapolis.

The "challenge" is contracted to run through 2011. Does the Big Ten have what it takes this year? Let's look at the match-ups (and I have to admit I've watched a lot of Big Ten basketball and not so much ACC basketball).

Wisconsin at Virginia Tech: The Badgers have struggled to start the season against some of the cream puffs on their schedule, but the Hokies have lost at home to Seton Hall and Xavier. I'll give Wisconsin and Bo Ryan a slight edge in Blacksburg.

Duke at Purdue: Watching Purdue blow the game against Oklahoma last week creates some questions for me about the Boilers. I think Duke wins this game handily even on the road.

Clemson at Illinois: The Clemson Tigers have perhaps played a weaker schedule than the Gophers. Illinois on the other hand has beaten Vanderbilt and won tight games against Kent State and Tulsa. Give the edge to Bruce Weber's team at home.

Ohio State at Miami (Florida): If I were to pick a team in the ACC to sneak up and take the conference from North Carolina or Duke this year it'd be Miami. They hung with a very good Connecticut team and are a legit top-20 team nationally. Ohio State meanwhile doesn't seem to have found it's groove yet. I pick Miami.

Virginia at Minnesota: UVA has lost two straight--against Liberty?? and Syracuse--but the Cavs are better than that. Minnesota young big men will have to come to play, but I think this is one of the better possible matchups for the Gophers. Pick Minnesota.

Iowa at Boston College: The Hawkeyes should enter their game with the Eagles with some confidence after bouncing back from a loss to West Virginia by beating Kansas State. BC gets the nod for being at home.

Indiana at Wake Forest: This might be the worst Hoosiers team of my lifetime. Wake is a top-25 team. This is almost a given in the ACC's column.

Michigan at Maryland: The Terrapins just dispatched Tom Izzo's Spartans handily. Meanwhile Michigan is hard to put tabs on. First they upset UCLA and then they require a buzzer beater to get by Savannah State? I'm picking Maryland at home.

Florida State at Northwestern: The Seminoles simply are far too athletic for the Wildcats. This is another almost sure win for the ACC.

Penn State at Georgia Tech: Penn State is one of the teams in the Big Ten more people should talk about. Talor Battle and Jamelle Cornley are a very good inside-outside combo. The Nittany Lions win on the road.

North Carolina at Michigan State: The game that's supposed to be the marquee game this year won't be close. I just got done watching MIchigan State sleepwalk their way through a game against Wichita State. They are playing sloppy basketball. Raymar Moran isn't touching the ball enough. I don't think this will be close. UNC wins.

Final: ACC 7-4, which would be an improvement on last year's 8-3 mark.

Good news and bad news for Tim Brewster commit Hayo Carpenter. The good: He caught 10 balls for 236 yards and two touchdowns in a playoff game. The bad: He was recently suspended for "conduct unbecoming of a Cougar."
Would a Big Ten football conference championship game be a joke? I don't think so and I think it's needed.
It looks like Brewster's Gophers will be facing Kansas in the Insight Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., on Dec. 31 on the NFL Network. Mid-level bowl games don't excite me personally, but had anyone told me we'd be playing Kansas in a bowl on Dec. 31 when the season started I'd had laughed at you.
I'm writing this as I watch Indiana host Cornell in men's basketball. Indiana's Verdell Jones--who Minnesota nearly signed--was just leveled on a screen near midcourt. Jones went down and didn't get back up and while he was moving, was taken with a stretcher off of the court. In watching IU this year, Jones has looked very good for a young point guard. Here's hoping he has a quick recovery. IU needs him, being depleted as it is.

Minnesota 90, NDSU 76

2008-11-30T16:45:06Z

First things first, congratulations to the NDSU Bison. They fought for 40 minutes against the Gophers. And for the last two years it has been an absolute joy to watch Ben Woodside play the point guard position for the Bison.

As for Minnesota's 90-76 win Saturday afternoon, I think it must be described as Ralph Sampson III's coming out party. He wasn't as offensively dominant as fellow big Colton Iverson was against Eastern Washington, but Sampson did a bit of everything. Sampson was very active on the boards--he grabbed 6 in 23 minutes. He blocked 3 shots and impacted others (and had a block taken away due to a questionable goaltend call when he came from across the lane and used his length to turn back a shot). He also did the small things, like quickly hitting the outlet man after a rebound to spur a fast break.

Offensively he wasn't shabby either, even if he didn't display a repretoire of moves. He made a Tim Duncan-esque bank shot. He attacked the offensive glass. And he was 5-6 from the floor for 12 points.

Some day soon, as Tubby noted after the game, we'll probably see a Twin Towers alignment with both Sampson and Iverson on the floor together.

“That is why we practice and why those two are here now. We expect big things from them. We want the freshmen to be confident and the other players to be confident in them. We eventually want to have a “twin tower” and we’re almost there. They both really add the quickness in the four and five spots.”

Sampson was the most obvious positive of the game, but there were others. The Gophers shot an impressive 61 percent from the field (and from long distance) for the game. Damian Johnson was an efficient 5-6. Jamal Abu-Shamala led the team with 20 points on a 6-10 afternoon. Blake Hoffarber and Iverson were both 2-3.

What does that tell us? Unlike the Colorado State game where Minnesota was taking low-percentage shots, the Gophers on Saturday were much more inclined to get the ball closer to the basket for high-percentage looks.

All in all, this was Minnesota's best game, in my opinion. Here are some other observations.

Johnson, as usual, did a bit of everything. He had 6 assists, 3 blocks and 4 steals to go with his 11 points.
One game after looking for his shot often, Iverson was less aggressive on Saturday. I hope to see both him and Sampson be more aggressive offensively as we move forward.
Rebounding. Minnesota outrebounded NDSU 30-25, but gave up 13 offensive reboudns. In comparison, the Gophers had 7 offensive rebounds.
Lawrence Westbrook came off of the bench a game after not playing due to a "shin injury." He looked healthy in scoring 17 points in 24 minutes.
Finally, Spencer Tollackson was the color guy for the BTN. He was OK, in what I guess is his second outing for the network. He did seem a little nervous, and Miss PJS commented that he really ought to shave if he's going to be a television guy. I have to agree. The scruff is probably cool as a college kid, but as a professional broadcaster, not so much. Otherwise, keep up the good work Spencer!

Up Next: Minnesota hosts Virginia on Tuesday as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

What were your thoughts on the NDSU game?

NDSU @ Minnesota Game Thread

2008-11-29T18:30:07Z

This is the last game that a casual fan would consider a warm-up. Come next week, the Gophers host Virginia of the ACC and we'll really begin to learn what we're dealing with in the 2008-09 Gophers.

But don't sleep on North Dakota State. We might think of them as the red-headed step child to the west, but it's a team that will pose more of a challenge than Eastern Washington did.

A Summit League member (ex: Oakland, IUPUI, Oral Roberts), North Dakota State came to Minnesota last year and was dispatched rather easily, 88-56. But returning to Williams Arena again is senior guard and Albert Lea native Ben Woodside (who led the Bison with 17 points last year). Fellow senior and Minnesota native (Brett Winkleman of Morris) had 16 points last year. Both NDSU seniors will be playing in Williams Arena in front of family and friends for the last time. That's some motivation.

Expect the Gophers to do what they did to Eastern Washington and run the offense from the inside out. NDSU, like most low majors, lacks size. Seniors Lucas Moormann stands 6'10, but plays rather sparingly.

As Myron Medcalf writes, the Bison have had their share of big victories since joining the D1 ranks, and that this year they are eligible for postseason play. This is a team that is more experienced than our Gophers and while I think we win, it could be close.

Keys for the Gophers:

Get the ball to the basket. That means our guard penetrate and draw fouls and we get the ball inside to our big men. The perimeter-oriented team that Colorado State almost upset could lose to NDSU.
Create turnovers. NDSU turned the ball over 19 times last year against Minnesota. Whether it's a full-court press or high-pressure half-court defense, we need to create turnovers.
Ball movement on offense. In watching more college basketball than I should admit this weekend, the one weakness I see in Minnesota is our inability to move the ball on offense and create shots. Our halfcourt game has been hard to watch at times, stretching back to last season. Clean, crisp ball movement.

Keys for the Bison:

Play error free. Minnesota is at its best when they are creating turnovers and scoring in transition. Forcing Minnesota to play half-court basketball by protecting the ball is paramount.
Rebound. Minnesota is a taller team, but isn't vastly superior to anyone on the glass. Minnesota's offensive rebouding barrage against Colorado State was more of a statistical anomaly than a sign of things to come.
Second half run. Minnesota has let teams back in the game all season in the second half. Staying close enough in the first half to make it count is important.

Prediction: Minnesota 82, NDSU 74.

If you weren't aware, sophomore Paul Carter is not playing today due to a sprained ankle he suffered against Eastern Washington. And I was very interested to see that Spencer Tollackson is apparently serving as an analyst for the BTN today.

Should be fun!

Painter Loses It, And Other B10 Notes

2008-11-29T14:15:03Z

In the waning seconds of 9th ranked Purdue's 87-82 overtime loss Saturday afternoon to 13th ranked Oklahoma, Matt Painter completely lost it. With a reddened face, Painter berated the officiating crew for (probably) a couple questionable calls towards the end of the NIT Season tip-off championship. At least I hope he was yelling at the officiating crew.

It had to be a tough loss for Purdue. They controlled the tempo of the game and led throughout and even after OU took a late lead, they had a chance to tie the game up at the end of the overtime session. But miscommunication--and a fouled out Robbie Hummel--knocked Purdue out. With Hummel out, Purdue lacked an interior presence, not that they were an inside-oriented team to begin with. (Though I should note that senior center Nemanja Calasan was perhaps Purdue's best player yesterday).

Things have been rocky in West Lafayette early in the season. The team's go-to scorer, E'Twuan Moore was reprimanded earlier this year for an apparent exchange at practice. Here's a taste from the local reporters.

During the postgame press conference, neither confirmed nor denied a verbal exchange during practice Wednesday.

"How you perform in practice is going to lead to how many minutes you play or if you start," Painter said when asked why Moore did not start against Detroit.

...

Painter was asked if Moore was OK with not starting.

"I really don't care," Painter said. "I'm talking about the five guys I thought deserved to start. You have to reward guys."

I could be wrong, but I sensed a tense Purdue team in the waning minutes of its loss to Oklahoma yesterday. Could this still young team be struggling with lofty expectations? They have Duke at home next and something tells me that won't be pretty.

Michigan State Shocked, Bounces Back

It wasn't even really close on Thanksgiving when Gary Williams' Terrapins did anything they wanted against Michigan State. No doubt that MSU played poorly. Kalin Lucas shot 3-11. Raymar Morgan played just 14 minutes after getting into foul trouble.

With big man Goran Suton out for at least another week with a knee injury, Tom Izzo expected to find leadership from Morgan.

Izzo was bothered by the actions of Morgan, who he felt should be experienced enough to avoid such errors. He also was called for traveling earlier in the game, an issue that has plagued him in past years.

“He’s got to realize that if it’s a bad call, not a bad call… whatever it is, he’s got to play smarter,” Izzo said. “There were some things early on where he just put us in a position by not being as aggressive as he needed to be defensively before guys got the ball. Raymar’s got to learn how to adjust to that. It seems like we’ve been talking about that for a few years.”

Morgan is very, very talented. Lucas and Travis Walton are nice and Suton will be very good when he's back. But Michigan State is also very young. We'll see how this plays out as the season progresses.

The Spartans did bounce back yesterday to beat Oklahoma State 94-79. Morgan had 29 points.

Minnesota Product Leading Iowa

West Virginia had no problem with Iowa Friday night, but one Hawkeye stood out. Freshman Anthony Tucker of Minnetonka played 34 minutes, shot 8-12 and 6-9 from three to lead Iowa with 24 points.

Not too shabby for a young man who at one time had a Minnesota scholarship offer before it was pulled back by Monson's regime. It doesn't appear Tubby's crew ever offered Tucker. This wasn't an aberration either. Tucker has been in double-digits in each of Iowa's six games.

Another Minnesota product, forward Andrew Brommer from Roesmount, played a season-high 22 minutes in the WVU win.

Finally ....

Hoopraker states that Ohio State big man BJ Mullens isn't ready yet. For those of you wanting to see more from Ralph Sampson III, well, it's obvious big men take some time to develop.
Illinois staved off Kent State (also known as "Can't Read, Can't Write, Kent State," according to Ohio University grad Miss PJS) in overtime yesterday. Mike Tisdale was big down the stretch for the Illini. This really ought to be the year we actually beat Illinois.
And lastly, be sure to stop back for a game thread this afternoon at 1 p.m. central time as Tubby's Gophers take on North Dakota State in a game that might be closer then you would imagine.

Gopher hockey vs. Michigan preview

2008-11-28T16:37:41Z

This weekend's hockey slate will have a Big Ten feel to it as the Gophers will host Michigan on Friday night and Michigan State on Saturday. For those interested Mich and Mich St will be facing off against Wisconsin on the opposite nights.

Tonight your #1 ranked and one-loss Gophers take on a Michigan team sitting with an 8-6 record. Since it is well established that I know only little about Gopher hockey I think it should be absolutely clear that I know nothing about Michigan hockey. So I got a hold of Tim from the House that Yost Built to give us a little color on the Wolverines. Tim gave us some great info on what we can expect to see tonight.

Michigan has been maddeningly inconsistent this season. Sometimes they look like world-beaters and sometimes they look like they belong in the CHA instead of the CCHA. We're Western Michigan's only win in the conference and we've lost to last-place Northern Michigan as well.

The good news for Gopher-fans is that generally Michigan has sucked on Friday nights and been pretty good on Saturday nights, so you're getting us on the right night (though, with the way you guys have played (last Saturday aside) it probably doesn't matter anyway). They've only scored 10 goals in 6 Friday night games (and 8 of those were in two games: OSU and St. Lawrence). Billy Sauer is 2-5-0 on the year but they've only scored 10 goals in the 6 2/3 games that he's played. For Bryan Hogan, they've scored something like 31 goals in 7 1/3 games. It's been crazy.

Surprisingly the defense has been pretty good, even with Mark Mitera and Steve Kampfer out. Tristin Llewellyn has made a pretty big step forward in his sophomore season and Greg Pateryn has improved throughout the season. Chad Langlais has been great and Summers has been very good too. Our D had major problems with penalties in the early going, but they've gotten better.

The goaltending hasn't been stellar, but they've been pretty darn good. Sauer's numbers look horrible, but his record is bad because they're not scoring any goals for him, and his GAA/Save percentage is shot because of the PPG-fest against BU (without looking it up, I think 5 of BU's seven goals were on the PP and one of the two that wasn't came something like 1 second after a PP was over). Hogan has gotten a lot more support, but he's been really strong for the most part. Hogan has shown a penchant for making huge stops, but a lot of the goals he has allowed have been pretty weak. Sauer's been giving up some softies lately as well, but they've been good enough to keep us in games, even if we haven't scored enough to win a lot of em.

Both special teams units were an absolute disaster at the start of the season. We would've been better off declining penalties against our opponent and our PK couldn't kill anything off. BU slaughtered us via their PP and our two units combined were around 80% in the early going. But the PK has really gotten it together. They were wonderful against Miami's top ranked PP (Miami was 0 for 12 on the weekend, including a 5 minute major and two long 5 on 3s) and for the most part, they look like a Michigan PK again.

The PP has been better as well. They're only at 15% for the season, but being that they were down at 3% for a good long while, 15% is pretty good.

As far as players to watch: Aaron Palushaj and Louie Caporusso have both had breakout seasons. It's strange to say that about Palushaj because he was 2nd in the nation in assists last year, but he's turned into a player you have to pay attention to every time he's on the ice. He's the guy on our team that's most likely to make someone look stupid. The goal he scored against St. Lawrence (splitting the D, then shooting the puck over the goalie's shoulder as he was falling) is an early entry for "Goal of the Year".

Caporusso is shooting the puck more and it's paying off. He's got 12 goals in 14 games and seven of those are with the man advantage. He's been playing with Palushaj lately and they're a very dangerous combo. The problem is we haven't had a whole lot of offense apart from those two. Rust and Hagelin have cooled off after hot starts, though I've heard they'll be reunited this weekend, which should help.

The best of our freshmen has been David Wohlberg. He's not a huge offensive threat (though he did score 4 goals in 5 games) but he's solid as a rock defensively, a great penalty killer and very good on faceoffs. Robbie Czarnik can really skate, but he hasn't put it together offensively yet. I'm sure he'll get it going, because he is a good player, but he's been disappointing thus far.

A year ago we split with Michigan beating them early and geting beat soundly later in the year. After losing the Jug in football I'd love to see us drop a 5-nil game on the Wolverines. Assuming they still struggle on Friday night, assuming Kangas plays his usual self and assuming we continue to dominate power play and penalty kills I think we should be just fine.

Official TDG prediction guess

Mich - 1
Minn - 4

As far as Saturday's Michigan State game, I would not expect to see a preview tomorrow as I'll be focusing on the men's basketball game against NDSU. Mich St has lost five consecutive games and looks to be very beatable. A 2-0 weekend for the Gophers over the state of Michigan.

Thanksgiving Open Thread

2008-11-27T17:07:08Z

I hope everyone is having a tremendous thanksiving full of outstanding spreads of food. Since we actually do have lives and are spending most of today with family I thought I'd give a little chane for Gopher fans to share with their TDG family what they are thankful for.

Have at it...

Eastern Washington at Minnesota Offical Game Thread

2008-11-26T23:45:04Z

I'd be lying if I said I knew much of anything about Eastern Washington and I assume that you are in the same boat.

Here is a little snapshot of the EMU Eagles....

Record: 3-1
Wins over: Idaho, UC-Irvine, Texas-Arlington
Lost to: Illinois by 16

Players to watch...

		Pnts / Gm	Reb / Gm
Bobby Valentine	Junior, PG	18	1.8
Brandon Moore	Junior, C (6-9)	13	7.5
Milan Stanojevic	Senior, G	9.3	2.5

Efficiency stats for both teams (brief explanation below)...

	EWU	Minn
Off Efficiency	101.1	101.3
Def Efficiency	99.7	92.8
Eff Differential	1.40	8.50

eFG%	49.8	50.0
Off Reb %	30.5	38.3
Def Reb %	27.4	35.5

Steal %	7.6	11.6
Turnover %	18.9	23.3

You will see a heavy dose of efficiency stats from me throughout the season as it is so much more accurate than your typical accumulation of box score numbers. A full explantion of the KenPom Efficiency stats can be found HERE, but I'll give you the dummy version.

Basically everything gets broken down to the possession level. Ken Pomery explains the formulas to get to that point, but it is important that everything get reduced to that level. A team like North Carolina will have a ton of possessions which leads to a lot of points scored per GAME. This will also lead to their opponent having a lot of possessions which leads to a lot of points give up per game. A team like Wisconsin will obviously have opposite results. But this means points per game or points allowed per game are misleading stats so everything is reduced to possessions. Like I said you can find more info on the site, this isn't a lesson in statistics, but a brief explanation of the stats I picked for team comparison...

Off / Def Efficiency - average points scored / allowed in a game with 100 possessions
Eff Differential - obviously score more than you allow, teams that are +2 or greater do well come NCAA time.
eFG% - combo of regular FG% and thee point %, basically you get a little bump for made threes because they are worth a little bit more (looking for 51.5% or greater)
Off Reb% - the % of time you rebound your own misses (strive for 35%)
Def Reb% - the % of time you rebound your opponents misses
Steal % - % of opponents possessions you steal
Turnover % - obviously the amount of possessions you turn the ball over (should be sub 19%)

Numbers that should jump out for this game are the Gopher's turnover % which is really high (234th in the nation). This overall really doesn't concern me through just a handful of games, but it is worth keeping an eye on tonight. Rebounding looks good for the home team tonight and there really is no reason to think we have anything to worry about.

With our young and inexperienced team I cannot ever expect a blowout (although it is possible), but I'm pretty confident in a W tonight over the Eagles.

PreGame Meal:

Hoffarber to have a "bigger role"
Tubby wants them to play defense
From the Barn has some keys to the game

Rescuing Minnesota: A Three-Point Plan To Effect A New Paradigm of Success

2008-11-26T14:25:06Z

Oops Pow Surprise is a founder and senior member of Black Heart Gold Consulting, an Iowa-based form that specializes in strategizing and public relations.

Greetings, Daily Gophers! If you're wondering why this post is here, before last weekend's game, BHGP and TDG made a bet that the winner would get a post front-paged on the loser's website.

Well, here we are, and to no sane man's surprise, the Hawkeyes won. By a lot. By so much that we started screwing married chicks in the bathroom out of boredom.

But to be perfectly honest, as Hawkeye fans, we're not terribly eager to come by here and gloat. It's just not sporting. After all, if a child beats a substantially smaller child, he is no hero or warrior, he is a bully.

Simply put, we're not into that. As a matter of fact, Minnesota, we're here to help, so here are three easy steps your school can take to avoid this sort of embarrassment in the future. All three suggestions are perfectly reasonable and well within Minnesota's best interests. We won't even ask for credit when they're enacted; virtue is its own reward.

1. Bring back Glen Mason.

At least under Uncle Glen, Minnesota was halfway competitive in the Big 10. Mason was the fourth-most tenured coach in Minnesota's tumultuous history, and the other three are long since dead. Mase won literally over half his games and never, ever lost by 55. Brewster has never been a head coach before and needs to learn how to manage a game that is not going his way, and if there's one coach that knows about that, it's Uncle Glen.

2. Avoid the embarrassment of being outdrawn at your own stadium by an out-of-state rival by moving to a smaller stadium.

Downsizing is so 21st century, and we think the TCF Bank move is a decent first step. Not many teams would have the self-honesty to construct the second-smallest stadium in their conference. But at the same time, it seems fairly obvious that an open-air stadium in Minnesota can never consistently draw 50,000 Gopher fans, especially after the first deep freeze of the fall (usually around September 12). The stadium's architects noted that it can be expanded to up to 80,000 seats, which is adorable, but perhaps it would be wise to look into contraction.

Our state-of-the-art computer rendition of a more realistic stadium size is shown here, and we feel it's much more in line with the Gophers' long-term goals.

3. Move to the MAC.

The Mid-American Conference is home to many proud academic and athletic institutions, and such a move would be benificial to not only Minnesota, but the MAC and Big Ten as well. The MAC could finally field an even number of teams, and the Big Ten would no longer have its 11-team identity disorder. Moreover, Minnesota would truly be among its peers, both in terms of geography but athletic prowess and fan support as well. The MAC would potentially afford the Gophers multiple bowl opportunities, such as the Motor City Bowl in picturesque Detroit, and also the ubiquitous "At Large Bid (if applicable)." Seems exciting!

And there you have it. By redirecting efforts toward more modest, reasonably attainable goals, the Minnesota athletic department can avoid its decades-long tradition of embarrassment against Iowa and the other legitimate members of the Big Ten (basically everyone but Minnesota and Northwestern). Die-hard fans can revel in the prospect of a Gopher Renaissance in the MAC, which is still technically I-A, and the rest of the Big Ten can switch to a, shall we say, more opt-in system of playing Minnesota, rather than being mandated to do so by conference officials.

Again, no need to thank me. Black Heart Gold Consulting is a labor of love, not glory or profit. We look forward to seeing Minnesota on Iowa's schedule once every ten Septembers or so, when Iowa needs a MACrifice to fill out the year's slate. In the meantime, we'll sure miss you.

Golden Nuggets for 11.26.08

2008-11-26T14:22:30Z

This is late again, only premieum subscribers get the early edition. There of course are not subscriptions, but for the right price we might be able to e-mail you somehting a little earlier.

Ed Note #2 - As a result of the close loss on Saturday night the guys over at BHGP have won our little blogger bet. As a result they get a post on TDG for the day. Be careful what links you click and despite being Iowa fans they are good guys and try not to get too riled up over what may appear on this fine blog.

Lets kick things off this morning with a few choice words from Gopher hockey coach, Don Lucia as he talked about some of the biggest changes he has seen over career.

"The biggest change in my ten years at Minnesota is the exposure. Gopher games on TV, pre & post game shows & talk radio. "

"The internet has probably had the biggest impact, because it is a sounding board for people. They want the instant gratification. Maybe they think they understand what is going on and they really don't."

"The internet is a way for people to get together and say how great our program is or how bad our program is. I always say its never as great as you think our program is or as bad as you think it is."

"I think you need to not get caught up with what people say on a talk radio show. Not what somebody's saying in a newspaper. Not what somebody's saying on a blog."

So let me get this straight. Talk Radio = good. Internet = bad. I'm willing to bet that your average TDG reader who cares about Gopher hockey knows more about it than anyone who is currently employed at KFAN or WCCO. I know very little about Gopher hockey but give me 60 min and a laptop and I'm certain I can talke more coherently about it than Chad Hartman.

In a mix of radio and blogging excellence, I represented TDG on the award winning CFB Weekly and their podcast. It is quick and if you are only interested in TDG's portion it comes at about the 32 min mark.
Alabama's blog, Roll Bama Roll discusses exactly what I was thinking. Bob Stoops thinks that a playoff would end the jockeying for position by coaching staffs interested getting the Big 12 South bid. The problem is, even with a playoff only one or two Big 12 teams gets into this mythical playoff. And even if you eliminate Texas Tech then Tex/OK will still be politicking for seeding and which team gets into the B12 Championship game.
Charlie Walters is throwing poo against the wall again (sometime his speculation will stick). Maybe Glen Mason will end up at Syaracuse and face the Gophers to start the season in 2009. Maybe.
Lew's Blues has some interesting Tennessee coaching speculation and editorial. There is nothing about Brewster but he nicely ties in Kentucky's search to replace Tubby.

'Bama's Davis Hired as Running Game Coordinator/Line Coach

2008-11-25T21:16:54Z

Tim Brewster acted quickly to replace jettisoned offensive line coach Phil Meyer. He has named Tim Davis the running game coordinator and line coach. Clipped from a U press release:

University of Minnesota head football coach Tim Brewster named Tim Davis as the Gophers’ running game coordinator/offensive line coach Tuesday. Davis will join the Minnesota coaching staff and begin his duties in the Twin Cities on Monday.

“Tim has worked alongside the greatest minds in football and possesses exactly the kind of credentials I was looking for in an offensive line coach,” Brewster said. “He has played a key role in helping develop some of the game’s most punishing and physical rushing attacks and I could not be more excited about the North-South mentality he will bring as our running game coordinator. Tim also possesses impeccable character, is an outstanding family man and I believe he will be a great fit on our staff here at the University of Minnesota.”

“Obviously, I’m very excited about Minnesota Football and working with Tim Brewster,” Davis said. “Coach Brewster has a great background and I’m really looking forward to getting up there. Minnesota was a real draw for me because of the great city and having an opportunity to work in the Big Ten again. I can’t wait to get started.”

Davis has a wealth of collegiate and professional coaching experience. He comes to Minnesota from the University of Alabama, where he has served as the director of player personnel under head coach Nick Saban since February. He was also on Saban’s staff as an assistant offensive line coach with the National Football League’s Miami Dolphins.

In Davis’ first season with Miami, the Dolphins offensive line improved from allowing 52 sacks in 2004 to just 26 in 2005. The Miami offensive line led the Dolphins to 4.3 yards per carry in 2005 and 4.2 in 2006. It was the first time the Dolphins averaged more than 4.0 yards per carry in back-to-back seasons since 1986 and ’87.

Prior to his time in Miami, Davis spent three seasons (2002-04) coaching the offensive line at USC. In his first season with the Trojans, Davis coached the guards and centers. In 2003, he took over coaching responsibilities for the entire offensive line. USC won two national championships and three major bowl games in the three seasons Davis was with the Trojans. Davis’ USC offensive lines protected Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks Carson Palmer (2002) and Matt Leinart (2004).

From 1997-2001, Davis was the tight ends/offensive tackles coach at Wisconsin. During his five years in Madison, the Badgers made five bowl appearances, including two Rose Bowls. The Wisconsin offensive line paved the way for Ron Dayne, who won the 1999 Heisman Trophy and set the all-time NCAA career rushing record.

Davis also spent seven seasons coaching the offensive line at the University of Utah – his alma mater – from 1990-96. During that span, the Utes earned their first bowl invitation in 36 years and made four bowl appearances. He began his collegiate coaching career at Idaho State in 1989.

SEC connections sound good. Experience at a top level program sound good. NFL offensive line experience can't be bad.

I'm curious about the "Running Game Coordinator" title and how Davis will work with Dunbar.

It sounds like a good hire. What do you think?

Golden Nuggets for 11.25.08

2008-11-25T09:00:07Z

A couple posts down, GN noted the hard news from Monday that offensive line coach Phil Meyer had resigned.

As a former reporter, I'm always skeptical when someone "resigns." Dan Monson "resigned" after all, and we all know that he had to be led to that decision. The collapse of this football team, culminating in one of the more embarrassing games in Minnesota football history Saturday was partially to do with offensive line woes.

I can't sit here and talk offensive line technique, maybe some of you can, but I do want to come to Meyer's defense a little. His offensive iine was hit with injuries all season and it is incredibly young. I believe we started three freshman against Iowa. My point here is that although the o-line was abysmal for most of the year, Meyer didn't have a lot to work with.

Meanwhile, offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar did little to help offset the team's primary offensive weakness. It had been clear at the beginning of the Big Ten season that the offensive line wasn't capable of creating a pocket for Weber really ever. Do you think we rolled Adam Weber away from the pocket enough to take some of that heat off of one of our lineman? And did we keep a tight end in to block often? Or a fullback? Do we even have a fullback?

The offensive line needs to be priority #1 in the offseason for Brewster and his recruiters. That would have been the case whether Meyer was here or not. But it could have been a less obvious need had Dunbar tried to mask the weakness just a little.

Marcus Fuller of the PiPress suggests Brewster consider bringing back Gordy Shaw from the Glen Mason regime. Shaw was popular among area high school coaches in the area. From a purely public relations perspective, I doubt this happens. It would be an admission on Brewster's part he should have kept Shaw to begin with.
Dave Campbell of the AP thinks Mike Dunbar should be fired. I'm not sure I agree, but I have always preferred coordinators who are trying to make a name for themselves. Mike Tomlin comes to mind. He busted his rear with the Vikings to get his shot with Pittsburgh. That said, Brewster probably needs vets around him. Anyway, harsh words from Campbell:
In the Big Ten standings, so far, it’s the same old middle-of-the-pack situation, but in two years Brewster and prized offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar have taken what was a proud, powerful running attack and literally driven the Gophers into the ground by forcing the trendy spread offense upon them. Brew up something different, coach. This is unwatchable. After the 55-0 defeat Iowa whacked them with on Saturday night, the Gophers left the Metrodome for the last time. They’re going outside where the sport ought to be played, and despite Minnesota’s warmer-than-you-think fall weather — the average gameday temperature over the last six seasons was 64.3 degrees — the natural conditions will demand an even greater ability to run the ball well. "That’s an area where obviously there’s going to be some great focus of mind," Brewster said. "We’ve got to find a way to run the football better." So get rid of Dunbar before he enters the final year of his contract. Call up Gordy Shaw, the well-regarded offensive line coach under Glen Mason, and make him your offensive coordinator.
In Down with Goldy's review of Saturday night's men's basketball win over Colorado State, the blogger praises Blake Hoffarber and questions Travis Busch's decision to toss up six shots.
Speaking of Down with Goldy, somehow they are on this list but TDG isn't. Hmmmmmmm.
Some jerk at The Bleacher Report--which I don't think I'm linking to anymore--called the University of Minnesota fanbase "horrific" and "rather pathetic" because Iowa fans travelled north and had a significant presence in the Metrdome Saturday. Oh, he added that we're "not worthy of a new stadium." With columns like that I'm not sure the writer is wroth a spot even on some random Internet outpost like the Bleacher Report.
Some Indiana football fans are asking Bill Lynch to resign.