From Marcus Fuller

The Gophers men’s basketball team will have an open scrimmage at 4 p.m. Saturday at Williams Arena.

It will give fans an opportunity to see the 2008-09 team before the the first exhibition game Monday against St. Cloud State at home. The second exhibition game is scheduled for Nov. 6 against Northern State at Williams Arena.

Go after the football game!

With just over a week before the first exhibition game, tickets appear to be more in demand than they were last year.

According to Gopher ticket office website, the best seats available for home games are:

Saint Cloud State: Row 30 in the lower deck behind the basket

Northern State: Row 13 in the upper deck at the free throw line

Concordia-St. Paul: Row 13 in the upper deck at the free throw line

Bowling Green: Row 13 in the upper deck at the free throw line

Georgia State: Row 29 in the lower deck behind the basket

Eastern Washington: Row 30 in the lower deck behind the basket

North Dakota State: Row 15 in the upper deck at the free throw line

Virginia: Row 15 in the upper deck at the free throw line

Cornell: Row 15 in the upper deck at the free throw line

South Dakota State: Row 29 in the lower deck behind the basket

Southeast Louisiana: Row 30 in the lower deck behind the basket

High Point: Row 30 in the lower deck behind the basket

Michigan State: Row 14 in the corner in the upper deck

Ohio State: Row 15 in the corner in the upper deck

Penn State: Row 15 in the corner in the upper deck

Purdue: Row 15 in the corner in the upper deck

Illinois: Row 15 in the corner in the upper deck

Indiana: Row 15 in the corner in the upper deck

Northwestern: Row 14 in the corner in the upper deck

Wisconsin: Sold Out

Michigan: Row 14 in the corner in the upper deck

In short, there are still plenty of tickets left, but not as many as usual, and if you don’t order them soon you may be out of luck.

From the start of last season, it was obvious that Al Nolen would be pleasent surprise. He was clearly an above average defensive player, and didn’t take too much away from the offense. At least that was the conventional wisdom until the Michigan State home game last January. A Gopher team that nearly won in East Lansing a few weeks earlier and barely lost to a then highly ranked pre-collapse Indiana team looked absolutely dreadful on offense and could never quite get the stop they needed. Nolen was out with a thigh injury, and it probably cost the Gophers the game. At the very least, Drew Neitzel would not have made five three-pointers.

What we like

Al Nolen is the best perimeter defender the Gophers have had since Eric Harris. He is not only a lock down defender, but he can force plenty of turnover. Those turnovers more often than not led to fast-break baskets, which were the life blood of a Gopher offense that regularly struggled when they actually needed to run something. He led the team in steals, with nearly two per game. But he also led the team in assists and assist to turnover ratio, as a Freshman.

What needs to improve

The only thing keeping Al Nolen from being an elite point guard is his shooting. He shot less than 33% from the field and his three-point shooting was worse than that, barely breaking 29%. Unlike Kevin Payton, he is a credible offensive threat, in the sense that he will dive to the basket and will take outside shots when he has the opportunity, but he doesn’t draw the defense’s attention. His poor shooting gives defenses the option to double team interior players or hedge towards the better shooters that the Gophers have.

What to expect

If his performance at “Tubby’s Tip-off” is any indication, Al Nolen’s shooting woes may be over. He made several three pointers, including one from well beyond NBA range. He also looks much strongers, which should help to prevent injuries. His already impressive defensive skills will only be helped by a much more athletic team, and the addition of Devoe Joseph will make the Gophers’ perimeter defense all the more impressive. In short, expect more of the same with better shooting, and because of those, a much improved team.

Best last name since Ernest Nzigamasabo?

More…

I just got off the phone with Trevor Mbakwe. The former Marquette forward told me that he verbally committed to Minnesota tonight. The 6-7 forward was a star at Henry Sibley, before he ended up at Marquette. He’s playing at Miami-Dade Community College this season.

Mbakwe will bring a much-needed physical presence to Minnesota’s frontcourt. With Mbakwe signing on with Tubby Smith’s 2009 class, the Gophers may have one of the top 15 recruiting classes in the country.

Here

Former Marquette forward Trevor Mbakwe, a 6-foot-7, 240-pound sophomore at Miami-Dade Community College, gave an oral commitment Thursday night to play for Gophers coach Tubby Smith next season.

“It feels great to get it over with,” Mbakwe said. “My mother (Ann), called Tubby tonight to let me know I was going to be a Gopher. I was planning on waiting it out to see how things would go, but after talking with my family, they said why wait if I like Tubby and I felt I could come in and help the team right away.”

The former St. Bernard’s and Henry Sibley High School standout made his official visit to the Gophers last Friday while attending “Tubby’s Tipoff” at Williams Arena. He was also receiving scholarship offers from Miami (Fla.), Louisiana State and Oregon, among others.

The St. Paul native said he looks forward to doing “big things” with the Gophers in 2009-10 when he has two years of eligibility remaining. He will bring the physical rebounding presence Minnesota will need to climb to the top in the Big Ten Conference.

Mbakwe said he needed six stiches on his left non-shooting hand this week after cutting himself, but he should be fine when the season starts for Miami Dade on Halloween night. He will join Memphis commit Will Coleman in the frontcourt and expects to compete for a junior college national title.

A not completely thorough season preview I wrote for UM Hoops, can be viewed here. Check it out, and check them out for all your Michigan needs. Their football team, God love ‘em, isn’t doing so well, so the basketball team might get a boost.