After two exhibition basketball games it seems a lot of people are asking questions about Devron Bostick. A JUCO transfer that came to Minnesota with some decent hype, Bostick has apparently struggled in two exhibition games. I'd be lying if I said I watched these games. I haven't. They are exhibitions, which to me sounds a lot like a scrimmage.
But let me just say . .... Whatever. These are two SCRIMMAGES!!.
First we have Myron Medcalf reporting that Bostick has been intimidated by Tubby Smith.
During Thursday’s game, Smith said he pulled Bostick aside to ask him what was wrong. Bostick told Smith that he was intimidated by him. Smith told Bostick to “get used to it … because I’m going to be here.” Not only is Bostick struggling with a new system, but he’s also trying to get over the reality that he’s being coached by Smith and he’s playing in the Big Ten. Smith said he still has confidence in Bostick but said there are some things he has to “re-learn” because he’s been with another team for the past two seasons.
Based on the practices and games I’ve watched so far, Bostick has a tendency to rush shots. He’s a proven scorer that will probably help his team out if he settles down once he gets into the game. But that’s easier said than done.
For someone like Bostick, who has probably gotten away with sheer athleticism and talent, it could come as a shell shock to have someone challenge your every move as I'm sure Tubby Smith does. Bostick probably used to have the green-light whenever he had the ball. Now he's on a team. Just like Lawrence Westbrook had to learn to let the game come to him instead of forcing his game, Bostick will have to learn the same thing.
From the Barn picked up ont the Bostick conversation in a post here. He writes "It could be nothing. It could be everything. It could last all season or be solved in one night."
Until we have more than two scrimmages to judge Bostick on, I think we should give the kid a little time to adjust.
- Oh, by the way, Tubby's Gophers won their second exhibition game 92-62. Paul Carter had 17 points and 7 rebounds. Westbrook led the team with 19 points. Devoe Joseph had 14. Ralph Sampson III had 12.
- I'm sure GN will have more (he has the football recruiting beat), but Ra'Shede Hageman has committed to play for Tim Brewster and the Gophers. He has looked like he could be a great tight end.
- At least the Gophers football team laying an egg Saturday made one Michigan fan--who really seemed like he needed it--happy.
- The Star Tribune's Jim Souhan wrote something I've been thinking myself: "Ten games into a supposedly transformative season and three weeks after what coach Tim Brewster called a "program-changing'' victory at Illinois, we still don't know if the Gophers are capable of beating a good team, or even a bad team playing decently for one afternoon."
- If you missed the Minnesota-New Hampshire series at Mariucci this weekend, Don Lucia's boys took another series 1-0-1. The Boston Globe has more on Minnesota's 6-2 Saturday night win.