The folks at Big Ten Geeks, god love ‘em, have broken down the non-conference schedules of all the Big Ten teams, complete with odds of winning. Things look bleak against Louisville, but we have the same chance of beating the Cardinals as Northwestern does beating the truely depleted Stanford Cardinal.

You can read the entire Gopher preview here.

Ralph Sampson III was born to be a twin tower. His father, Ralph Sampson II, was the lesser known half of the original “Twin Towers” when he played along side Akeem (at the time) Olajuwon with the Houston Rockets. Colton Iverson probably won’t impact the game of basketball like Olajuwon unless he has his own version of the “Dream Shake,” but the younger Sampson has the potential to at least match his father’s pro-career.

Sampson III is not as tall as his father, by almost half a foot, but he isn’t small. He is a solid 6’11’’ with room to grow. He is built more like an ACC big man than the typical Big Ten bruiser. Judging by the flailings of the Big Ten against other major conference and especially the ACC in recent years, he could present serious match-up problems.

In a word, versatility is Sampson III’s biggest asset. He has shown he can score with his back to the basket with a more effective than graceful hook shot, and can knock down the outside shot. Don’t expect him to be Rick Rickert, as comfortable on the outside as he is on the inside. The outside shot will not be his biggest weapon. Instead, it will be a tool to keep the defense honest. He can also run and jump. Just call him the anti-Tollackson.

After the first exhibition game against Saint Cloud State there was much criticism of his performance. Among the many complaints were that he didn’t look very enthused about his first college game. Since then we learned that he was dealing with the flu, which has made an unwelcome and early appearance in Minnesota this year. Even when healthy though, he will not be an energy guy. He possesses an odd combination of somber intensity. He’ll make a huge block, have a monster dunk, or rise above a defender for a soft jumper, and you might as well have killed his puppy. His reaction won’t change. He is the strong silent type. Every team needs a calming influence, and it should be beneficial, especially for the freshman center. Too many young players get too amped up or too down when they make a mistake. Keep this in mind the next time, and there will be a next time, some one says he looks like he doesn’t want to be there. Instead watch the stats and how he plays the game instead of whether there is a smile on his face.

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If everyone in Yankton, South Dakota wanted to come to Williams Arena to watch Colton Iverson play, they could, and 1,000 of them could bring a friends. The entire city of Yankton could fit on the University of Minnesota campus. Its first college, Yankton College, is now a federal prison. But Colton Iverson is not the most well known Yanktonian, and he won’t be, thanks to Tom Brokaw.

To say that Colton Iverson will face a steep learning curve is a bit like saying that Yankton won’t be getting an NBA team any time soon, its almost not worth saying. Despite the upgrade in competition, Colton Iverson is poised join the ranks of Gophers from small towns that made a big impact. Appropriatly, Iverson is most reminiscent of Rob Shoenrock, who was never afraid to throw himself on the floor or into anyone who got in his way, and Dusty Rychart, who willed himself to more double doubles than he probably deserved. Iverson is poised to do the same. Even though he is from a blip on the map, his talent was noticed far and wide, including a scholarship offer from the Florida Gators. No, he didn’t want to follow in Mike Miller’s foot steps.

Iverson will be a physical rebounder for the Gophers who is not afraid to mix it up on the inside. However, the most encouraging part of his game is that he does not have to mix it up to be effective. He has great basketball instincts, and can get as many rebounds by being in the right place at the right time as he can pushing people out of the way. He will get most of his points on put backs and getting open underneath, but he is no slouch with his back to his basket. If he gets fouled, he will make his free throws, and unlike a lot of freshman, he doesn’t turn the ball over often. He will have to work on his defense and be careful about fouling, but the tools are there for impressive career.

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Devron Bostick was supposed to be the player to put the Gophers over the top. He was the supposed to be instant offense, able to take over a game, or even a season. He was supposed to be the guy we always needed, and would be lucky to keep for more than 1 year. However, after two exhibition games, a lot of people are asking what they are supposed to think now.

Even a week ago the hype seemed to justified. Bostick, a junior college transfer from Southwestern Illinois Community College led scored 18.5 points per game last season a long with 4.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists. The previous season, his numbers were even more impressive. With statistics like that, it is not surprising that he was named the National Junior College Athletic Association Player of the Year. He has been described as a great scorer, deceptively good ball handler, and long. He is supposed to be able to get to the rim at will. And if that wasn’t enough, he is supposed to be able to shoot.

After two exhibition games, he not lived up to expectations, or even come close. In his first game against Saint Cloud State, he was outscored by Travis Busch. Against Northern State on Thursday, he was outscored and generally outplayed by Kevin Payton. It was not just the lack of scoring, it was his lack of involvement in the game. He often looked lost and confused. He played more like Kevin Nathanial than Vincent Grier, the last Junior College transfer to be an impact player on the Gophers.

So, what’s the matter with Devron? It could be nothing. It could be everything. It could last all season or be solved in one night. Among the possibilities

1. Absolutely nothing is wrong. Bostick had two bad games, two games that by the way did not count. Every junior college player needs time to adjust, and in a couple weeks we won’t even remember his early struggles.
2. Bostick needs to start. He is used to being a star, being the man, and being in the game from the opening tip. Some players have a hard time getting into the flow of the game, especially coming off the bench. Maybe Tubby Smith should start Bostick in one of the games this weekend, just to see what happens. He won’t do any worse than Travis Busch, and if he does, it won’t make the Gophers lose to Concordia-St. Paul. If he plays well, he makes the team better and deserves to start, so why not give him a shot.
3. Bostick just needs more time on the court. Exhibition games create some crazy substitution patterns as coaches try to get everyone some playing time with as many different players as possible. Just when a player gets into the flow of the game, they get taken out. Bostick played quite well on Monday against Saint Cloud State in the first half, but was taken out of the game after less than 4 minutes. He came back in later playing the final 3:41 of the first half. After that, he didn’t get in the game until there were a little more than 6 minutes left in the game, and only stayed on the court for three minutes. After so much time on the bench, he didn’t play well at all. Against Northern State, his longest stint on the court in the first half clocked in at a whopping 4 minutes. He played quite a bit more late in the second half, but the psychological damage may have already been done.
4. He is intimidated by Tubby Smith. According Bostick, via Myron Medcalf (caveat emptor). According to Medcalf, Bostick’s poor play is due to Tubby Smith’s reputation as an excellent coach, and because of that Bostick is out of position, and can’t make a jump-shot. As a once upon a time psychology major, perhaps Myron is the one who needs his head checked out.
5. The only thing that is wrong is our ridiculous expectations. Down with Goldy, girding his loins against another disappointing season (what else is a reasonable Gopher fan to do?) pointed out months ago to beware of the hype surrounding Junior College players.  The top 6 Junior College players in 2007 and 2006 respectively weren’t exactly program changers, and if they live up to expectations, they don’t stick around for their senior season. Minnesota’s good luck with Bobby Jackson and Vincent Grier could just be the exception that proves the rule that most Junior College transfers aren’t impact players

The good news is that the Gophers might not need Bostick to be competitive. There is no shortage of big guards/small forwards on the team now, or coming in next year. Paul Carter is clearly an impact player. Royce White and Rodney Williams look like they’ll be able to contribute immediately. If the best that Bostick can be is a back up, he will definitely be an upgrade, and a bad Bostick is better than a good Busch/Payton any day.

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A few pictures from yesterday:

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Nothing particularly newsworthy happened. Damian Johnson’s recovery is well underway, and I wouldn’t be shocked if he came back a week later. He didn’t really participate in a low of the practice, but is able to shoot. His knee also looks much better and he was not wearing a brace and seemed to be moving fine. Jonathan Williams is out with a groin injury and sat out most of the practice.

According to Marcus Fuller:

The Gophers men’s basketball team held an open scrimmage Saturday afternoon at Williams Arena. Pioneer Press intern Brice Lehner attended the scrimmage and provided some notes.

- Junior forward Damian Johnson, who is out with a broken left (non-shooting) hand, shot around a little with his left wrist taped up. He participated in practice but didn’t play in the scrimmage.

- Seniors Jamal Abu-Shamala and Jon Williams are recovering from injuries but participated in practice drills. Williams (groin) didn’t participate in the scrimmage, but Abu-Shamala (back) did. Gophers coach Tubby Smith said both players should play Monday in the first exhibition game against St. Cloud State at Williams Arena.

– Smith said he was unsure of what the starting lineup would be for Monday’s exhibition game.

– Teams in the scrimmage were split up as follows:

Gold Team: Blake Hoffarber, Devoe Joseph, Ralph Sampson III, Travis Busch, Devron Bostick.

Maroon Team: Al Nolen, Paul Carter, Colton Iverson, Lawrence Westbrook, Kevin Payton and Abu-Shamala.

– The Gold team won the 20-minute scrimmage 46-42.

Gold team scorers:

Hoffarber – 17

Joseph – 6

Sampson – 6

Busch – 8

Bostick – 9

Maroon team scorers:

Nolen – 4

Carter – 15

Iverson – 6

Westbrook – 7

Abu-Shamala – 7

Payton – 1

– After the 20-minute scrimmage, the Gophers ran a five-minute overtime session with the score starting at 60-60. The Gold team won 71-66.

Gold team:

Hoffarber – 2

Joseph – 1

Sampson – 6

Busch – 2

Maroon team:

Carter – 2

Iverson – 2

Westbrook – 2

And Myron Medcalf

Carter impresses at U basketball scrimmage

By MYRON P. MEDCALF, Star Tribune

November 2, 2008

At 6-8, Paul Carter has the size and versatility to contribute in a variety of ways for the Gophers men’s basketball team during the upcoming season.

And if his performance in a 25-minute intrasquad scrimmage at Williams Arena on Saturday is any indicator, Carter is ready to make an impact now.

The junior college transfer led the maroon team — Carter, Al Nolen, Colton Iverson, Kevin Payton, Lawrence Westbrook and Jamal Abu-Shamala – with 15 points. But his team lost 46-42 to the gold team of Blake Hoffarber, Travis Busch, Ralph Sampson III, Devoe Joseph and Devron Bostick in the first part of the scrimmage. The gold team also outscored the maroon squad 11-6 in a five-minute scrimmage after that.

Hoffarber made three three-pointers and led all scorers with 17 points. Sampson added 12 for the gold team and Westbrook had 11.

Gophers coach Tubby Smith said both Carter and Hoffarber could start in Monday’s exhibition game against St. Cloud State at Williams Arena.

“We had some guys who performed well, and we had some guys who need to work on some things,” Smith said. “Both Blake and Paul … they’re both probably guys that we’ll have to look at and see what we come up with our starting lineup.

“It gives us something to evaluate tonight and tomorrow.”

Flip likes new lookFormer Gophers standout and Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders attended Saturday’s scrimmage and gave the Gophers coaching staff a few pointers, too.

Saunders said the Gophers, who have five newcomers, look like a more athletic team than they were last season.

“I think the biggest thing you can see is one, the amount of depth they have, much more size, much more athletic and like I said, a lot of depth,” said Saunders, whose son, Ryan, is a graduate assistant for the Gophers after being a guard on the team the past four seasons. “They have a very good melting pot.

“… The biggest thing is going to be how as a young team and new team, how quick is it going to take to blend together.”

Williams may not play Monday

Senior Jonathan Williams, who is expected to start at center this season, is nursing a groin injury and is questionable for Monday’s exhibition game.

Williams suffered the injury last week and missed some practice because of it. He sat out of Saturday’s scrimmage.

Play of the nightToward the end of the scrimmage, Iverson, a 6-11 freshman center, grabbed a high rebound and stayed in the air to finish with a thunderous two-hand dunk that excited the few hundred fans in attendance.

Iverson turned down a scholarship offer from Florida to play for the Gophers, and Smith cited that play as a testament to the team’s upgrade in athleticism.