Minnesota – 2010 Tournament Summary- Stats had them matched up very well with Xavier but Xavier ended up winning by 11. What was interesting about this team is it led the Big Ten in scoring with a ton of balance. Also, they had height but didn’t dominate the boards. The key they said to beating them was outside shooting and being able to handle the press.
2011 Outlook: This team returns a lot of pieces to a decent team. Gone is the reliable scoring of Westbrook, replaced with newcomers like forward Mbakwe who is a stud and athlete down lown. This, matched with the return of Al Nolan should position the Golphers to improve from last year. At the very least, they should be more consistent since they lost Nolan ½ way through the year and could never establish offense in the post.
My Take: I watched this team so much last year and they were so Meh.. they had a million chances to be above average and seized half of those? They never put it together. That said, the addition of an athlete in the post like Mbakwe to go with the sheer size of the other bigs creates an offense and defensive presence. The guards last year were solid but seemed a half step off the elites. Let’s see what they can do this year.
Game Notes:
UNC: Saw them play UNC and they were painful to watch on offense. They didn’t have any offensive creator, but they were playing without a main scorer Joseph. That said, Tubby just rotates a ton and I am not sure why? They don’t press or push or anything like that, so it seems hard for them to get into a rhythm. They do have size to match almost anyone. Mbakwe does add attitude to their otherwise palatable bigs. But their bigs are slightly slow and also low on energy. They ended up winning this game.
Sienna: “Do not pay attention to Minnesota struggling with Siena. Siena hit everything they threw for 25 minutes, then Minnesota woke up. They are huge, athletic and Al Nolen is a pretty good point guard, our staff thinks they can compete to win the Big Ten. Blake Hoffarber is fearless and Trevor Mbakwe is going to average a double-double in this league … wow,” said a Big Ten coach who was watching North Carolina fall to the Gophers.
Viginia: The Cavaliers kept making open jumper after open jumper to stay in the game and withstand Minnesota’s strong start. “It was probably one of our worst defensive games in a while,” Hoffarber said. “Hopefully this will be a wakeup call for us.” But the Gophers were missing point guard Al Nolen because of a foot injury, and they looked lost without their defensive catalyst there to set the tone. Kirk Notes: This is EXACTLY what I saw last year from this team. They have a chance to become elite. Ranked 13th, they face a mediocre and struggling Virginia and they lay an egg. They have the heart of a Panda bear.. weak..
Vs Michigan State: I am trying so hard to not hate this team again.. but vs Michigan State.. here were notes that I agreed with.. Minnesota closed the first half on a 12-5 run for a 28-22 lead. Michigan State got plenty of good looks from the field in the opening half but shot just 26 percent (8 for 31). The Spartans entered the game averaging more than 16 turnovers per game but gave it away just eight times as Izzo improved to 6-0 in Big Ten openers at the Breslin Center. The Gophers hurt themselves as eight of their 14 turnovers came in the second half. The loss was their 12th straight in East Lansing. ”Fourteen turnovers and eight were from our guards,” Smith said. “You can’t have that.” SOOOO they played mediocre D, played mediocre O, and were in general.. mediocre? Do you start to question Smith.
Game Breakdown on ESPN: And considering the Minnesota Golden Gophers can’t hit a 3-pointer… the Gophers are coming off a loss to Ohio State in which they hit just 2 of 14 shots from deep. That’s 14.3 percent. On the season, Minnesota has shot a tad better — 33.0 percent, ranking outside the top 200 — but Tubby Smith’s team relies on 2-pointers for 54 percent of its points. It’s no mystery where the Gophers look for offense: Trevor Mbakwe. but the team’s lack of consistency on the perimeter will leave the teams free to focus almost solely inside on Mbakwe and 6-11 junior Ralph Sampson III . Bottom line: Minnesota doesn’t have a potent enough offense (ranked 51st in efficiency) to put Purdue’s defense on its heels.
