Jamal Abu-Shamala wishes every game could be against Northwestern. The occasional starter and moderately used reserve who has averaged about five points per game has found a way to excel against the Wildcats. During his Freshman year, he scored 15 points on 4-4 three point shooting. The following year he scored 17 points on 5-8 three point shooting. Last year, he scored another 16 points on 5-8 shooting. However, against most other teams, he rarely takes shots, and is far from the most effective player on the court.

Why you ask? It has nothing to do with playing teams that wear purple or eating some deep dish pizza before the game, and has everything to do with Northwestern’s general lack of athleticism. Abu-Shamala, who is not particularly athletic himself, has regularly been able to find open shots on the offensive end, and has generally been able to capitalize.

Although he didn’t always show it last year, Abu-Shamala is one of the better shooters in the conference. He made 47.5% of his three point shots his freshman year and 43% his sophomore year. Given the opportunity to shoot an open shot, more often than not he will make it. Last year, as the Gophers often struggled to pull down offensive rebounds and were unable to penetrate in the lane, Abu-Shamala often looked lost.

Like Travis Busch and Kevin Payton, Jamal Abu-Shamala is very one dimensional. However, there is room for his one dimension.

What we like

Four years ago, no one would have believed you if you predicted that Jamal Abu-Shamala would end his career as a scholarship player, especially after a coaching change. Even Tubby Smith acknowledged the impact that Abu-Shamala has had. Whether it is making open shots or taking charges that result in bloody noses, Abu-Shamala follows rule #1 of being a bench player: first do no harm.

What needs to improve

There is a lot of thing Jamal Abu-Shamala could do better. He could be faster and stronger. He could play better defense and jump higher. After three years though, we all know those things won’t happen, and it would be unfair to expect them to. What Abu-Shamala can do is get his shooting percentage back up. Last year was the worst shooting year of his career, making only 34% from behind the three point line and 37% from the field. The two previous years he shot three pointers better than two pointer. If he could get back to his career averages, it will make every one on the court better. And no one would complain if he created his own shot once in a while.

What to expect

Every team needs a shooter, or two. With the addition Devron Bostick, Paul Carter, and Devoe Joseph and the continued development of Lawrence Westbrook and Al Nolen, there should be many more opportunities for Abu-Shamala getting kick-out passes from penetrating guards. Colton Iverson and Ralph Sampson III should also be able to create many more opportunities with what we can only hope will be more offensive rebounds. Coupled with what should be more confidence after a very successful summer, expect Jamal Abu-Shamala to have a career year, that is, if he finds playing time. He won’t create his own shot. He won’t beat anyone off the dribble. But he will be more open, more often than last year, and his numbers should reflect that.

We all know what he can do against Northwestern. Now imagine what he could do in a tournament full of Northwestern level competition. Averaging 16 ppg over the first 7 games of the Jones Cup isn’t bad, especially for a kid who will be lucky to see 16 minutes in any game this coming year. Abu-Shamala is of course playing for the Jordanian National Team. In the championship game against Athletes in Action, which featured players from barely DI college teams, he scored 11 points.

And if you are desperate to watch a little basketball before the Olympics start up, the Internet does provide:

Jordan vs. Australia

No word on any Shane Heal or Luc Longely sightings.

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Online Videos by Veoh.comIn other Gopher News…

Royce White will play at Hopkins, if he doesn’t get expelled first. Trying to start a fight with a future teammate isn’t the best idea.

The rest of the Big Ten is really, really interested in the Gopher football team. At least someone is.

So much so that we are now a “rival” of Penn State. Yeah, it was news to me too. Too bad that North Dakota State is more of rival than Desperatetofitin Valley. Of course, that NDSU rivalry has more to do with Gopher ineptitude than geography or history.

Go outside…winter is on the way.

Note to certain Gophers, don’t skip anything mandatory.

Talk about drastic changes, I certainly didn’t expect that to be the headline.

Led by recently under-achieving players and a new starting line-up, Minnesota beat the Wildcats in energetic and high scoring fashion. If only anyone would have been able to see it. The Evanston, Illinois area was pounded by a blizzard throughout the game which apparently interfered with the satellite signal, and  even the few hearty souls who still care about Northwestern basketball generally avoided the snowy and icy mess outside. Don’t believe me?

Like just about everyone else, I was also unable to watch the game. I did however listen to the game, and managed to not throw my radio out the window. Due to the um…lack of descriptiveness from Mike Grimm and Kevin Lynch, this won’t be the most informative game review I have ever written. Though, I can tell you that the Gopher radio announcers spoke often of throat stomping and describing a Northwestern fan they may or may not have been Ray Romano. Very useful when you can’t see what they are talking about.

On to the game, something Mike Grimm and Kevin Lynch should focus on…

Tubby Smith’s changes started on Tuesday in practice. In a typical practice, the majority of time is spent focusing on the opponent, but this time, the majority of the practice consisted of scrimmaging and working on the Gopher’s weaknesses. As Minnesota had demonstrated throughout the season, preventing an opponent from carrying out their game plan will not get you very far if you are not prepared execute your own.

For the first time this season, Tubby Smith instituted major changes in his starting line up. Previously, minor changes were made because of Lawrence McKenzie’s groin injury, and recently Damian Johnson took Jamal Abu-Shamala’s place in the starting line-up. Since the Wisconsin disaster I had been advocating that the Gophers should go small and fast, and to try to run their opponents out of the gym. Instead, Tubby went slow and moderately sized. While I would still like to see small ball, slow ball worked. It should be obvious by now why Tubby Smith is a future hall of fame coach and I write an occasionally read blog.

The new starting line-up consisted of Spencer Tollackson, Damian Johnson, Jamal Abu-Shamala, Lawrence Westbrook, and Blake Hoffarber and point guard. Eager to show that they were ready to make the most of the opportunity, the Gophers came out fast and furious, quickly jumping out to an 8-2 lead led by Blake Hoffarber from long distance and the unstoppable low-post presence of Spencer Tollackson. Northwestern was able to claw back and was within three points with three minutes left in the half, but then the wheels came off.

In the last three minutes of the half the Gophers went on a 12-2 run, led by 8 points in that stretch from Jamal Abu-Shamla to take a 14 point half time lead. Abu-Shamala, as he always seems to do at Northwestern, played his best game of the season. He finished the game with 16 points, 5 rebound, and three assists. It was by far his best game of the season, but doesn’t come close to matching his other dominating performances in Evanston, where he has made 12-16 three pointers in his career.

The hot outside shooting of Abu-Shamala and Hoffarber opened up the middle of Northwestern’s zone for Spencer Tollackson. The nearly always maligned senior center was perfect on the night scoring 19 points (7-7 from the floor and 5-5 from the free throw line). Undoubtedly Tollackson benefited from the unathletic and undersized Northwestern front court, and was probably very close to the basket on all of his field goal attempts, but regardless, he displayed tremendous improvement over his previous efforts.

The individual performances were tremendous, but the team statistics were even more impressive. The Gophers outrebounded 38-17, shot 58% from the field, 52% from the free throw line, and made 76% of their free throws. On Saturday when the Gophers take on Iowa at Williams Arena, they almost certainly will not  put up numbers like this, but for a team needing a confidence boost, a blow-out win on the road, regardless of how bad the opponent is, is a step in the right direction.

Who did what? 

• Dan Coleman was largely on non-factor on both ends of the court. He scored 10 points, one of six Gophers in double figures, and had 8 rebounds. However, he shot poorly and committed four turnovers.
• Jamal Abu-Shamala made the most of his first substantive playing time in several games. He scored 16 points and forced Northwestern to extend their zone more than they wanted to.
• Spencer Tollackson was perfect, except he still hasn’t found a way to rebound. He finished with 19 points and three rebounds, despite being the tallest player on the court.
• Lawrence Westbrook continues to get better and better. He was three rebounds short of a triple-double, and added 12 points and 10 assists with only one turnover.
• Blake Hoffarber started at point guard. While he is far from a typical point guard, he ensured that the Gophers did not simply stand around on the offensive end, and was consistently able to get the ball to Lawrence Westbrook in a position where Westbrook could make an assist. Hoffarber had 15 points, 4 assists (though he would have many more if they handed them out like in hockey) and no turnovers.
• Al Nolen as of yet has not climbed over the freshman wall. He played only 10 minutes and 2 turnovers.
• Despite not starting (has he ever really started playing before halftime?) Lawrence McKenzie scored 16 points on 5-8 shooting.
• Damian Johnson was in foul trouble most of the night.
• Travis Busch played briefly.
• Thanks to not being able to watch the game, there will be no Ryan Saunders update tonight. But I can tell you that Tubby Smith decided to dress like Bob Huggins for a night: mock turtle neck and sport coat. Thank you Kevin Lynch for this important information.