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Barn Blurbs 4/4/12
Posted on 04. Apr, 2012 by JF.
More Big Changes The Big Ten continues to hemorrhage big men. Jared Sullinger will announce his professional aspirations today. Oft injured Jorge Brian-Diaz of Nebraska is headed back to Puerto Rico. We knew Ralph Sampson wouldn’t be playing college basketball, but he will have the chance to impress some NBA scouts. In too short for the [...]
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Barn Blurbs 4/3/2012
Posted on 03. Apr, 2012 by JF.
Now that the soon to be vacated national championship has been decided, the focus finally turns to next season. Unfortunately, it is 7 months away. Big changes for Big Ten big men Meyers Leonard will take his two last names to the end of the first round of the NBA draft. Derrick Nix was arrested [...]
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Barn Blurbs 4/2/2012
Posted on 02. Apr, 2012 by JF.
We’ll get around to reviewing the Golden Gophers 2011-2012 season at some point. Until then, we’ll be resurrecting Barn Blurbs, our occasional round-up of stories around the series of tubes about Gopher Basketball and college basketball in general. Hiring a coach is a lottery It turns out that any coaching hire is a 50-50 proposition, [...]
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A special guest post by Dan Hanner: The Future is here
Posted on 28. Mar, 2012 by JF.
Something special is happening, and we aren’t the only ones noticing. Statistical guru, college-basketball extraordinaire, and occasional Gopher observer Dan Hanner broke down the team’s transformation by comparing the last six games to the season as a whole. Being born in Minnesota and witnessing the Gophers previous N.I.T. title runs in person, it still isn’t obvious why he bothered to calculate Gopher basketball statistics right after digging through the NCAA Tournament statistics for every player who matters. Regardless, he was generous enough to share his work with us. Dan writes regularly over at RealGM, and is mandatory follow on Twitter.
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Gophers face mid-major powerhouse Washington in NIT Final Four
Posted on 26. Mar, 2012 by JF.
Mission accomplished. The Golden Gophers’ post-season has already been a resounding success, and the opportunity to play two more games against solid competition in the arena that claims to be the most famous (the Roman Colosseum humbly disagrees) could lead to a mass outbreak of irrational exuberance. Over the last few weeks, we learned that this team could win basketball games, and in entertaining fashion. Add the news of Trevor Mbakwe’s potential return for senior year part two, and more than a few Gopher fans are eagerly awaiting November. Who needs summer after last winter, and a chance to skip months of political ads would be pretty fantastic too.
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On to Murfreesboro! Gophers play MTSU in the N.I.T. Elite Eight
Posted on 20. Mar, 2012 by JF.
Coming off what could be considered their most impressive performance of the season, the Gophers take their talents from South Beach to Murfreesboro to take on the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders with a trip to New York City on the line. If you missed Minnesota’s win at Miami, you missed a dominating performance that [...]
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The Gophers play Miami in the not-so-sweet 16.
Posted on 18. Mar, 2012 by JF.
Last week the Gophers won their first post-season basketball game of the Tubby Smith era. Now they take their talents to Coral Gables (which I am told is almost South Beach) to take on the Miami Hurricanes, one of the few team that could argue they were an NCAA tournament snub. The N.I.T. is not [...]
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Next year is now
Posted on 13. Mar, 2012 by JF.
Once Trevor Mbakwe crumpled to the court with a torn ACL in an ultimately meaningless game, the focus shifted for the Golden Gophers. Making a run at the NCAA tournament was still the goal, but avoiding a horrendous collapse would be more important. They avoiding a collapse of the horrendous variety, and only had an ordinary collapse, allowing the team an opportunity to salvage something from their disappointment. That something is a deep run in the N.I.T. tournament.
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No America, we will not apologize!
Posted on 08. Mar, 2012 by JF.
Now you know our pain. Thank you @shipesmash even if you have too much time on your hands.
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Northwestern on the precipice
Posted on 07. Mar, 2012 by JF.
With the Gophers on the NIT bubble and Northwestern precariously perched on the important bubble, Thursday’s Big Ten Tournament game between Minnesota and the Wildcats matters a lot more to the folks down in Evanston than it should to you. So what better time to check in with the good folks at Lake The Posts, who cover the Wildcats when they aren’t collecting flag pictures.
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Ralph Sampson III was a success, even if you expected more.
Posted on 02. Mar, 2012 by JF.
On Saturday morning Ralph Sampson III will take the court in venerable Williams Arena for the final time. During his career, he became one of five Gophers to ever score 1,000 points, collect 500 rebounds, and block 200 shots. No player has achieved that since Michael Bauer nearly a decade ago. For many Gopher fans, his career will be considered a disappoint. To them, I ask why?
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Gophers need some confidence after close losses.
Posted on 25. Feb, 2012 by JF.
Another game against a better team, and the Gophers lost another close game. When there once would have been gasps of horror, there were instead grumbles of inevitability. Losing close games has been become something of the norm for Gopher basketball teams in recent years.
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Playing for next year
Posted on 21. Feb, 2012 by JF.
For the optimists, there is always hope. The Gophers face three quality opponents in their last four games, and any combination of three wins should be enough to get them to the NCAA tournament. For the pessimists, the program is hopelessly broken, the Gophers may never win another game, and they should be in the [...]
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The Battle in Bubbleville
Posted on 18. Feb, 2012 by JF.
Welcome to Bubbleville, USA, more commonly known as Evanston, Illinois where the Minnesota Golden Gophers will play the Northwestern Wildcats in what should amount to a bubble elimination game. Both teams find themselves with 5-8 conference records and are precariously perched on the bubble, running out of chances to return to the dance in Minnesota’s case or finally get there in Northwestern’s.
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Running out of chances, Gophers face the Buckeyes at The Barn
Posted on 13. Feb, 2012 by JF.
The only thing worse than being on the bubble is being on the wrong side of the bubble, and despite the Golden Gophers falling two games under .500 in the Big Ten, by almost all accounts, they would still be in the NCAA tournament if the season ended today. Whether it is the strength of the Big Ten, those two extra at-large bids, or some mediocre basketball being played all across the country, it is becoming more and more likely that an 8-10 record will be enough to garner a bid. An 8-10 record will be far from a lock, unless one of the remaining wins is a true stunner. Beating the Ohio State Buckeyes would qualify as a stunning win.
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From the Barn by Jonathan Foster is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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