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?

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.

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?

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...

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

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

If Damian Johnson hadn't come back for the Golden Gophers men's basketball team's first road game, Tubby Smith's 2008-09 season would have started with a 3-1 mark.

Fortunately for the Gophers, Johnson came back and did what we grew accustomed to what Johnson does. He provided energy. He was on the floor for loose balls. And when the Gophers found themselves in a nip and tuck game in the final seconds, Johnson unselfishly found Paul Carter under the basket for a game-winning assist with 21 seconds left. And for good measure, Johnson blocked a Colorado State shot that could have won the game seconds later.

Minnesota 72, Colorado State 71. Thank you Damian Johnson.

It was a fantastic game really. The CSU crowd was behind a vastly improved CSU team. It had the feel of a road conference game during crunch time during the final few minutes. And it wasn't always pretty, but the Gophers did what a young team needs to do to gain confidence: win a close game on the road that perhaps they didn't deserve to. 

Minnesota native Dan Vandervieren had 15 points and 8 rebounds and was way too much to handle for Ralph Sampson III, or any Minnesota big man really. The Rams' transfer from Ole Miss, .Andy Ogide, might have been the best player on the floor during stretches of the game. He finished with 16 points and nine rebounds. The combination of Vandervieren and Ogide--a banger and an athletic big--exposed a tremendous weakness for the Gophers.

Minnesota started off the game ice cold. The team was firing off three pointers left and right. Our guards weren't penetrating. We were a jump shooting team and CSU quickly ran out to a double-digit first half lead. The Gophers were able to trim that a at the end of the first half and took an early second half lead by playing full-court pressure with a small-ball lineup. A lineup that had both Carter and Johnson on the floor at the same time--sacrificing size for speed and athleticism--was Minnesota's key to getting back into the game.

But it was Blake Hoffarber who single-handedly kept Minnesota close in the first half. He finished the game with a team-high 20 points, shot a red-hot 5-8 from three and did most of that damage in the first half.

Mostly because of the high-pressure defense that forced 20 turnovers, the Gophers built a 6 point second half lead with just a few minutes to play. But at that point Tubby mysteriously pulled off the Minnesota pressure. The only explanation I could come up with was that CSU was in the double-bonus. But the minute Tubby took off the pressure, CSU calmed down. They got the ball back inside to Ogide and eventually took a 70-69 lead before Johnson found Carter for the game winner.

General Positive Thoughts:

• For the first time, Carter lt the game come to him. He had eight points on 4-7 shooting, and I'd be all of his makes were layups. He also crashed the offensive boards.
• Speaking of rebounds, the Gophers were superior on the boards with the small ball lineup. The Gophers eventually outrebounded CSU 38-36. We probably don't win that game without 19 offensive rebounds.
• Al Nolen played 37 minutes. He looked for his shot often and hit a clutch three at the end of the game. He was 6-14 from the field and 2-6 from beyond the arc. I was glad to see him shoot often. He also played his typically aggressive defense.
• The Gophers won this game with only 21 minutes on the floor from real forwards/centers. Colton Iverson played 11 minutes before fouling out. RSIII played 10. We outrebounded a team who was superior inside without a real forward/center on the floor.
• We scored 27 points off of turnovers. Another reason why calling off the press didn't make sense to me.

General Negative Thoughts

• Lawrence Westbrook forced his shots early and often and must have found himself in the Tubby doghouse. He played 18 minutes and shot 3-11 from the field and 0-4 from three. Not a pretty game for Westbrook, who forced quite a few shots from the outside and even when he was penetrating.
• Turnovers. We committed 17 turnovers against a CSU team that wasn't really forcing them. Unforced errors led to CSU's big first half lead.
• Devron Bostick played one minute.
• RSIII had the ball in the post twice and both times threw up shots that richocheted hard off of the backboard. He's not ready but I'm intrigued to watch him grow.
• Travis Busch played the third most minutes on the team after Nolen (37) and Hoffarber (30) Busch played 23. I don't think the Gophers win a lot of Big Ten games if Busch has to play this extensively.

It wasn't always a sight to behold, but Tubby Smith's 2008-09 Gophers got the job done and left the NABC Classic with a 3-0 mark. Lawrence Westbrook deservedly was named tournament MVP.

We some preseason storylines take shape. Devron Bostick looks a bit lost on the floor. Paul Carter, as had been reported, is full of confidence. Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson showed spurts of potential. We learned that it's going to be Westbrook who will be responsible for the bulk of Minnesota's offense. After three games, he's the only Gopher averaging double-digits in points (16).

The Gophers struggled some on the glass. They were outrebounded by Georgia State and allowed far too many offensive rebounds aginst Bowling Green. Some of this can be explained by the fact that Damian Johnson and Jonathan Williams were both out of the lineup due to injury. With RSIII and Iverson as the only true bigs, oftentimes the Gophers were playing a four guard lineup. I'm not going to worry too much about rebounding yet.

What concerned me most was the team's pace of play. Ken Pomeroy's tempo free stats indicate the Gophers are averaging 66.3 possessions per 40 minutes, or roughly at about the same pace the Gophers played at last season. For a team like Wisconsin, a methodical pace of play is fine and dandy. But for the Gophers, a team that is still in search of an offensive identity, a slower pace equals fewer chances to score. For comparison, North Carolina, a team that gets up and down, averaged 74 possessions per game last season.

I bring this up simply because it was my hope that with an infllux of athleticism--Bostick, Carter and Joseph speficially--that the Gophers would be able to get out in transition more often. That wasn't the case this weekend. The Gophers rarely applied full-court pressure and even more sparingly applied half-court trapping pressure, a staple of the team's success a season ago. It's my guess that this will change as the newcomers learn to effectively apply full-court pressure.

But the pace of play also should tell us a bit about Coach Smith. On more than one occasion Tubby yanked one of his touted new players for taking an open shot early in a possession. Without an obvious go-to scorer, the Gophers need to take open shots when they have them. I'd like to see Tubby embrace the quick and quality shot when it's available. A quick hook for a Joseph or Carter sends the wrong message, in my opinion. We want them to be aggressive.

Other items to note:

• Blake Hoffarber was cold from the perimeter all weekend. He shot 28 percent (4-14) from beyond the arc. I imagine he'll shoot a higher percentage, but I wonder if the extra distance has his shot off a bit?
• On Saturday night it was Iverson who was in during crunch time. He deserved it he was having a nice game defensively (9 blocks.) On Sunday, it was RSIII who was in down the stretch. RSIII showed increased aggression and awareness on Sunday, a sign that the game at the college level started to slow down for him.
• Hoffarber is the team's leading rebounder after three games with 17. Al Nolen (16) is tied for second. That should demonstrate how well we were rebounding!
• The three new wing players didn't show us much offensively. Joseph shot 20 percent from the floor and didn't drive to the basket playing primarily point guard. Carter shot 22 percent from the floor and was mostly content taking jumpers. Same for Bostick who shot 50 percent in the most limited action of the three.
• Kevin Payton played in just one game and as was the case last year looked extremely hesitant.

For another take on the weekend, Down with Goldy has his thoughts up as well.

Game two brings Bowling Green of the MAC into Williams Arena for the second game of the NABC Classic's round robin.Tip is tentative for 8 p.m. central time. Free streaming video is available here.

On BGSU. ...The BGSU Falcons returned every player from last year's team that went 13-17 and found itself in the middle of the pack in the MAC. Point guard Joe Jakubowski led the Falcons Friday night with 24 points against Georgia State. Guard Brian Moten and forward Erik Marschall had 19 and 17 respectively last night.

According to ESPN Insider, BGSU coach Louis Orr (in his second year) brings a defensive mindset.

More from last night. ... The Minnesota Daiily says Al Nolen was the leader Friday night.

Other reading. .... Our friends at Hoopraker announce they too have love for Damian Johnson.

Breathe. .... If you thought last night was ugly, it really wasn't. Calm down. You could be a Kentucky fan who watched your team lose to the VMI Keydets on opening night.

Keys for tonight:

• Finding an offensive identity. If the Gophers don't score on the fast break and get easy baskets, this could be close.
• Turnovers. Nolen and Devoe Joseph need to protect the ball.
• Shot selection: Quick shots are fine if they are good shots. Bostick and Carter need to let the game come to them.
• Rebounding! We got away with small ball against Concordia. We won't against most teams. Ralph Sampson III and Colt Iverson need to play minutes and contribute on the boards.

It wasn't always pretty, but the Gophers led throughout in the season opener last night against Concordia-St. Paul. Here are my shotgun thoughts of the game.

• Al Nolen has more confidence with his shot. He had 17 points on 7-11 shooting include 3-5 from three. He made defenders pay when they gave him room to shoot and he showed a willingness to drive to the basket and finish or dish. All around improvement from Nolen.
• Anomaly of the night: Blake Hoffarber grabbed 12 rebounds. Don't expect that to continue. But Hoffarber also didn't make a three point shot (0-4). I wouldn't expect that to continue either.
• Both Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson got in early foul trouble. With Damian Johnson and Jon Williams out, this is something that could hurt the Gophers. They're young and this is going to happen, but at least one of Iverson's fouls--near midcourt--was inexcusable, even if it came because of effort.
• RSIII looked a bit hesitant. This was expected. I'm not overly concerned. He has to adjust and get comfortable.
• Devron Bostick looked nervous. This was expected. I'm not overly concerned. He has to adjust and get comfortable!
• Paul Carter looked very confident even shooting 2-8. I like the confidence and think he has the capability of being a difference maker. I eagerly awaiy seeing him and Damian Johnson on the floor together.
• The Gophers didn't apply full-court pressure, at least not much. I wonder if Tubby Smith didn't want to show his hand against Concordia or if the newcomers weren't ready.
• Devoe Joseph only played at point and never at shooting guard. For the most part he did fine running the point and pushing tempo. There was a stretch in the second half when he had trouble getting the Gophers into their offense. I'd like to see Joseph, Nolen and Westbrook on the floor together at some point. Devoe didn't look for his shot (0-2). I'm sure he would more often if he wasn't the floor general.
• That was more observations than I thought. You notice anything else?

Basketball Preview: We've previously looked at the newcomers to the team and returning sophomores, juniors and  seniors. We also pointed out that the newcomers will have ups and downs. Today, we look at various rotations Tubby Smith might well employ this season. Expect the basketball preview to continue throughout the week in anticipation of Friday night's season opener.

During his career, Tubby Smith has displayed a tendency to tip his cap to upperclassmen when it comes to picking a starting five. We saw that last year for a time as Jamal Abu-Shamala started a majority of games during the first half of the year. Eventually, JAS fit into a bench role.

I lead with that because I expect Tubby to make his youngsters earn playing time. A couple of them might be forced into action early on. Maybe they will be ready, maybe they won't. With that in mind, here's my guess at your starting five and subsequent rotation.

Starting Five: PG: Al Nolen, SG: Lawrence Westbrook, SF: Blake Hoffarber (Damian Johnson when healthy), F: Colt Iverson, F: RSIII.

I could see Tubby starting Jonathan Williams over either of the two freshman big men and wouldn't be surprised if that's the case. But I'd be shocked if Paul Carter, Devron Bostick or Devoe Joseph began the season in starting roles. Iverson and Sampson get the nod simply because of necessity. Hoffarber gets the nod over JAS for myriad reasons. Ideally, Hoffarber is a sixth man, and he'll be that once Johnson returns.

What I'd like to do now is throw out various lineups I'd like to see for different situations.

Three-guard lineup: Against smaller or slower teams, Tubby Smith can play three guards at one time. If RSIII and Iverson can join Williams and Johnson in holding down the boards, expect to see quite a bit of Westbrook, Nolen and Joseph on the court at the same time.

Run, run, run: The incoming class will do wonders for Tubby Smith's desire to push tempo and create turnovers. Once the newcomers have their feet wet, I would love to see some Don Nelson style small ball, ultra athletic lineups. Example: Nolen, Westbrook, Carter, Johnson and Sampson.

Defense: It's clear JAS and Blake Hoffarber aren't defensive stoppers. So, when Tubby wants high pressure defense who will he turn to? My guess is Nolen, Westbrook, Travis Busch, Johnson and either Sampson or Iverson. (Note: I haven't seen enough of Iverson and Sampson to know which will be best in what role).

Let's calm down: WIth so many newcomers, and especially on the road come Big Ten season, things are bound to get ugly from time to time. When that happens and the Gophers simply need to calm down, here's my guess: Westbrook, Hoffarber, Johnson, Williams, Sampson/Iverson.

Going big: Assuming the two JUCO transfers pan out, they give Minnesota a chance to go big against opponents, something we couldn't last year. What we could see: Nolen, Westbrook or Joseph, Bostick, Carter, Johnson, Sampson/Iverson. That would bring four players onto the court that could potentially battle underneath.

End of season crunch time: Since I expect the starting lineup to fluctuate, I prefer to look at who is closing games. By the end of the season, individual players will have established roles. Those ending games will be those that have won Tubby's heart. My best guess: Nolen, Westbrook, Johnson, Sampson, Iverson.

Clearly, there is no science to this speculation. Educated guesses perhaps. What do you expect to see, or what would you like to see?

Basketball Preview: We've previously looked at returning sophomores, juniors and  seniors. Today, we take a look at what to expect from the new faces that will roam Wlliams Arena. Expect the basketball preview to continue throughout the week in anticipation of Friday night's season opener.

You know their names. You know what positions they play and where they are from. You know that if Tubby Smith's 2008-09 Gophers are to improve on a 20-win NIT season from last year, our five-man incoming class is going to have to contribute.

We know that Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson are going to have to play big minutes. With the graduations of Spencer Tollackson and Dan Coleman, both Sampson and Iverson will be forced into large roles, whether they are mentally or physically ready. Paul Carter and Devron Bostick will be asked to contribute athleticism from the wing positions. The Gophers will need at least one of the two to step forward in a big way to give the team another offensive element.And Devoe Joseph enters a relatively shallow backcourt. Al Nolen is your starting point guard and Lawrence Westbrook is your two guard. Joseph should be able to play both positions and will likely be asked to do a bit of everything. They'll need him to do that.

Fact is, we know we need these newcomers, but aside from knowing that we need them to play large roles, what should our expectations be? We saw with the recent criticism of Bostick that the masses are demanding a lot. Afterall, this recruiting class has been pitched as one of the best the university has ever put together. Your expectations are probably high.

I want to temper those expectations a bit, especially for the five newcomers. Look over to your right at FortyYearCatFan's fanpost. In it he points to 2011 for the Gophers to make a big time run nationally. Why 2011? Well, RSIII, Iverson, Joseph and Carter will be upperclassmen. Royce White and Rodney Williams will have a year of experience. Simply put, they won't be learning on the job.

Forced into action this year because of a lack of depth, all five newcomers will go through ups and downs. RSIII will need to learn to play a physical style of basketball. Bostick, Joseph and Carter, all three had the green light all of the time on their previous teams, will have to learn to excel in a sophisticated offense. All of the newcomers will need to learn Tubby's ball-line defense. They'll need to learn how to play full-court defense and transition to offense.

In previous posts on the Minnesota roster, I centered around what to expect from each player this season. For all five freshman I offer only this: They'll have good moments and bad. Don't get too excited about the good moments and too down when things are ugly.