While the blogtacular summer vacation isn’t quite over (unlike some schools poor kids, I am waiting until after Labor Day “get to work”) the Gopher basketball schedule has been released and it can’t go without comment. Things kick off as they always seem to, with a barrage of mid to low majors parading through The [...]
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The University finally announced its 2010-2011 non-conference schedule, showing a movement towards bringing higher-quality opponents to the Barn, something it has been averse to in past years. Now, it’s not like the team has scheduled games with anybody like Kansas or Connecticut, but the overall quality (read: RPI) of teams has definitely improved from last [...]
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Though the calendar keeps creeping towards June and next season is little more than an afterthought for most people, the Gopher basketball team continues to stay in the local, and national, headlines. In a story that developed and ended quickly, sophomore point guard Justin Cobbs decided to transfer from Minnesota and enroll at the University [...]
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or at least will be sometime Wednesday. It is being widely reported that the nearly seven foot tall, 300 pound center has verbally committed to the Gophers and will be sending in his letter of intent sometime on Wednesday, the first day of the late signing period. Walker, the #9 ranked center in the class [...]
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The offseason is just a few weeks old and already the Gopher basketball team has a couple things to report. First and foremost, Paul Carter has announced that he will be transferring from the U to be closer to his sister, who is battling cancer in Chicago. Carter has said he will consider the University [...]
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Summer is silly season in politics, and if the last few days are any indication, spring has to be the silly season in college basketball. Tubby Smith will be coaching at either Auburn (wrong), Georgia Tech (which never even had an opening), or Oregon (if Tom Izzo doesn’t accept the richest contract in college basketball [...]
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We laughed in disbelief, cried at Ed Hightower’s injustices, scratched our heads, threw pillows and even cheered wildly at times, but the roller coaster that was the 2009-10 season mercifully came to an end in a 65-54 loss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to the Xavier Musketeers. The specifics of the game [...]
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If you haven’t had enough previewing of tomorrow’s first round NCAA tournament game, why not a look at the keys to the game and a prediction? Keys for the Gophers 1. Establish an inside presence. Ralph Sampson will need to be strong with the ball, and Colton Iverson will need to be strong with his [...]
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As you probably noticed in the previous post breaking down Xavier’s conference season, the team goes as its big 2 (or 3) go. Jordan Crawford and Jason Love are the core of the team, but they are not the entire team. Three players average in double figures and three more average more than 4.5 rebounds [...]
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Jim Souhan is giving the Gophers the edge in their game against the hated Musketeers. Hard to disagree with Marcus Fuller; Devoe Joseph really looks to be getting comfortable in the offense. Sad and unfortunate that it’s true, but it’s been 20 years since the Gophers have officially won an NCAA tournament game. The Washington [...]
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Needless to say, Xavier got things straightened out once the Atlantic 10 season started. They lost only three games, two in the regular season and in the final of the conference tournament. Here is how it happened: Score Leading Scorer Leading Rebounder Key Statistic XU 68 – LaSalle 62 Jordan Crawford – 22 Jason Love [...]
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Even in the face of difficult personnel issues this season, SI.com reminds us that Tubby Smith still did a great job at overcoming this year’s adversity. Take the Vegas odds for what they are, but Minnesota is a one point favorite heading into Friday’s contest. Out of the dog house and playing the best ball [...]
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As was the case last year, we’ll go right up to game time slicing and dicing Minnesota’s NCAA tournament first round match-up. Today, we look back at Xavier’s non-conference schedule, over the next few days we’ll also look at their players and strengths and weakness, culminating Thursday with the final preview and a few predictions. [...]
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The reaction: “We all jumped together,” point guard Devoe Joseph said. “I think we might have damaged the couch in there.” Damaged would be putting it mildly. “We did break the couch,” shooting guard Lawrence Westbrook confirmed. “We were excited to see our name.” “I honestly had no clue,” said Joseph, who made the All-Tournament [...]
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Interstate 94 should be pretty crowded on Thursday night. The Gophers, the 11th seed, will take on #6 Xavier. More later on the match-up and the crazy weekend that made it all possible.
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Let me try this, but don’t expect much in the way of complete sentences or proper punctuation. We are officially in uncharted territory and I am as close to being at a loss for words as possible. It is a very good thing this is in writing, the facial cramp resulting from a giant smile [...]
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Last year I wrote that March is the season of redemption. This year, the Gophers need some redemption and then some. Even though they finished with the same Big Ten record and higher in the conference standings, they find themselves in a much worse position in terms of reaching the NCAA tournament. Coming into this [...]
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First off, a belated congratulations to the entire Gopher men’s basketball team for showing up to play against the seething, tenacious 2009-2010 Iowa Hawkeyes. Honestly, it probably wouldn’t have surprised even the most skeptical of Gopher fans had Minnesota dropped the season finale on Senior Night against arguably the worst team in the conference. Such [...]
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Pathetic. Embarrassing. Unbelievable. What ever negative word someone wants to use to describe the Gophers effortless, aloof performance against the Michigan Wolverines would probably be deserved. At a time when Minnesota needed to come out firing against a team with nothing to play for, a time that called for nothing more than a solid performance [...]
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Three weeks ago I was cursing Michigan for ruining the Gophers’ season. Now I should be thanking them, profusely. Minnesota’s embarrassing home loss to the Wolverines may be the final nails in the NCAA tournament coffin, but it also awoke a struggling Gopher team that was threatening to sleep walk its way through the rest [...]
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A ten point half time lead was surprising. A seemingly insurmountable 19 point lead with just over seven minutes left was shocking. The final score, a 62-60 victory for the Gophers was only unexpected because the Gophers won. Assembly Hall has been a house of horrors for the Gophers for decades. The last win at [...]
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More later, but now, belt it out with me!
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I hope you’ll excuse me for not delving into the finer details of Minnesota’s latest blown lead and missed buzzer beater. If you saw last season’s Michigan game, or this year’s games against Michigan State or at Indiana and Northwestern you know how the story goes. This team is as formulaic as any of the [...]
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On his first field goal attempt of his college basketball career, punt returner/point guard rolled in a three pointer. Moments later he hit Justin Cobbs on a three-quarter court bounce pass that led to a thunderous dunk. A second later it was Rodney Williams streaking to the basket, too contested to dunk but not for [...]
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Two days after ripping Wisconsin with the season on the line at Williams Arena, the Gophers once again came back ready to play and dumped the Indiana Hoosiers by 23 points. The Gophers held Indiana to 32% shooting from the field and, perhaps more important, didn’t allow them to get anything going from beyond the [...]
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With one tongue wagging push off and an obvious travel, Minnesota’s season fell apart. Verdell Jones, on track to become one of the least likeable player in the Big Ten was giddy, not because his fall away jumper knocked off the Gophers, but because he knew he got away with another one on a day [...]
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Well I’ll be….where in the name of Clem Haskins has this team been all season. Intensity, concentration, EXECUTION. If all it takes is a shaved head to win in this business, than maybe Joel Maturi should consider bringing Andre Agassi on board as a consultant. Not that it even comes close to making up for [...]
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In the darker days of Gopher basketball, and for the last 40 years or so in Gopher football, there was always a saving grace to even the most atrocious season. Beating the Badgers has a way of making up for countless losses and blown opportunities, and can make even the darkest off season tolerable. This [...]
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Gophers vs. Northwestern: Playing for pride, if the Gophers have any left
Posted on 13. Feb, 2010 by JF.
A week ago this looked like it could be quite a game. The Gopher would have been looking for a big road win to build momentum for an end of the season run that would include 3 wins over probably NCAA tournament teams, two easy home wins, and a winnable game at Northwestern. That first [...]
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I came into yesterday’s game with above-average expectations for a team that, for the most part, has underachieved all season. They’d been up and down for the better part of the last month but were coming off a stretch where they had won two of three and seemed to have been gaining some momentum after [...]


