Tag Archives: Trevor Mbakwe
Let’s wrap the 2012-13 season
Posted on 24. Apr, 2013 by zipsofakron.
Okay, so I usually do a season-ending recap soon after the final game of the season when the misery/optimism/exhaling is extremely fresh. It provides the best foundation to really review the season, scrutinize what went wrong, praise what went right and dream of the following year when everything will be better … or something. This [...]
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Golden Gophers blow out the Bruins, and now get the Gators
Posted on 22. Mar, 2013 by JF.
A truly rewarding journey isn’t easy. There are wrong turns, detours, and delays. The college basketball season is 30 games long, and the Golden Gophers got lost along the way, and more than once looked like they wanted to give up and go home. Instead, they’ll be playing to go to the teams first Sweet 16 (that counts) since 1989. In basketball as in life, without negatives there can be no positives.
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Who is UCLA? A Q&A with some Bruin bloggers
Posted on 21. Mar, 2013 by zipsofakron.
Maybe it isn’t where we thought we’d be after topping out at 8th in nation. Maybe it wasn’t where we thought we’d be in Tubby Smith’s sixth season at the helm. While it was another disappointing season in Gopher Land the important thing to remember now is that none of that matters; at least for [...]
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Gophers return to dominance (and SportsCenter) in win over Penn State
Posted on 03. Mar, 2013 by zipsofakron.
Fresh off a thrilling, court-storm-inducing victory over Indiana, the Gophers kept up the intensity and cemented their status as a tournament team with a 29-point drubbing of Penn State. On a day where Tubby started all seniors on Senior Day, Minnesota dismantled the Nittany Lions in all aspects of the game. With a significant size, [...]
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Gophers end home slate against Penn State on (super) Senior Day.
Posted on 01. Mar, 2013 by JF.
All good things must come to an end, and hopefully on Saturday, that includes the home careers of Trevor Mbakwe, Rodney Williams, Julian Welch, and Andre Ingram. We don’t want to see them go. Rodney Williams soaring through air and Trevor Mbakwe’s chest pounding dunks will be sorely missed. But if we do see them play another game in venerable Williams Arena, it means something has gone horribly wrong over the final three games of the Big Ten season. Thanks to the thrilling, potentially season saving win over the best team in the country on Tuesday night, the Gophers need only one more win to make the NCAA tournament. The three remaining games are against three of the worst teams in the Big Ten, starting with Penn State.
Once the season winds down we’ll take a closer at the careers of the departing seniors. They deserve so much more than a short blurb on a random blog in the middle of a game preview. But until then, thank you, sincerely, for your two to seven and a half (or s0) years with the basketball program. You will be missed.
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Oh, it’s such a glorious evening!
Posted on 26. Feb, 2013 by zipsofakron.
What can you really say when your team knocks off the #1 team in the nation unexpectedly? It’s one of the greatest feelings a college basketball fan can experience. It’s pure euphoria. My words can’t do this victory justice, so I’m just going to let this one steep and have the below video do the [...]
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A few thoughts before the Iowa game.
Posted on 16. Feb, 2013 by JF.
If you are interested in a more formal preview of Sunday’s game between the Golden Gophers and the Iowa Hawkeyes, you should read our preview from two weeks ago. The information is still valid, and rehashing it all would be boring. So instead, here are a few thoughts. I’ve often discussed the life, death, and [...]
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Gophers save season in win over Wisconsin
Posted on 15. Feb, 2013 by zipsofakron.
In what was perhaps the biggest game of the season in terms of postseason implications, the Gophers fought tooth and nail against Wisconsin to notch an overtime victory that went down to the final seconds. After a solid start to the season, the Gophers ended a free fall that saw them fall out of the [...]
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An important rematch, without any hype.
Posted on 09. Feb, 2013 by JF.
No, nothing makes sense in college basketball this season. After another crazy week in the Big Ten, the Golden Gophers start an important stretch of three potentially winnable games. There is a catch of course, and that is their first two opponents, Illinois and Wisconsin, beat the two best teams in the country this week. The Iowa game is on the road, and the Hawkeyes are more than due to beat a decent team. To keep Selection Sunday boring, the Gophers need to find a way to win two of the next three. Otherwise, we’ll all have to start worrying about bubble again.
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4 things the Gophers need to do to right the ship
Posted on 07. Feb, 2013 by zipsofakron.
It hasn’t been a pretty ride recently in Gopher Land. After blowing through the gauntlet of games that opened the Big Ten conference season with a couple nice wins, the team has fallen on tough times recently with losses to Northwestern, Wisconsin and Michigan State and an unnecessary nailbiting win over Iowa. The Northwestern loss [...]
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Finally, the Gophers have a chance to play a bit of consequence-free basketball.
Posted on 05. Feb, 2013 by JF.
And now, for one night only, the Golden Gophers can play some consequence-free basketball against the Michigan State Spartans. Two wins last week gave the Gophers a bit of breathing room. Losing five out of six games would have put the Gophers squarely on the bubble, or even the wrong side of the bubble, and Wednesday evening’s game in East Lansing would have been a true must-win. As a team, Minnesota is not the most mentally stable, and their decision making leaves a lot to be desired. I don’t want to think about how the team would likely react in a pressure-cooker of a game in a mad house like the Breslin Center. Instead, the Gophers can play like they have something to prove without dire consequences if they do not, like New Year’s Eve when these two teams first met.
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A rivalry renewed.
Posted on 02. Feb, 2013 by JF.
For the last several seasons, the Minnesota Golden Gophers have had only one basketball rival, and it was not the Iowa Hawkeyes. Iowa was very bad at basketball, struggling to stay out of the Big Ten cellar, and if we are going to be honest without ourselves, the Gophers were not usually that much better. Even those mediocre Gopher teams found a way to beat the Hawkeyes, who because of lack of talent and lack of coaching, couldn’t put up much of a fight. In the early days of the Monson era, the Gophers and Hawkeyes took turns between being bad and medicore, which led to some not very compelling basketball games, and the rivalry nearly died.
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Gophers hit the road to Northwestern to get back on track
Posted on 22. Jan, 2013 by JF.
It may be a bit early for such grand pronouncements, but the Golden Gophers Big Ten season has reached a crossroads. We know they can not beat teams ranked #5 on home, road, or neutral floors. We also don’t know where the Gophers sit in the Big Ten pecking order. Losing to highly ranked teams is fine if there is consistent effort and the game is close throughout. Unfortunately, the losses to Indiana and Michigan featured minutes long lapses along with insurmountable deficits that could not be overcome. Now after two straight losses, Minnesota hits the road for two games in historically unfriendly venues.
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Once more unto the breach, dear Gophers, once more.
Posted on 16. Jan, 2013 by JF.
One score and 16 years ago, midway through the Big Ten season, the #10 Golden Gophers played the #5 Michigan Wolverines, and lost a heart breaker 86-80. It was the last time two top 10 teams played each other in The Barn. On Thursday we get to do it all over again. After two miracle comebacks fell just short, both Minnesota and Michigan hope to stay in second place in the Big Ten and keep their title hopes alive. The loser won’t be out of the title picture, but may need to just their expectations a bit.
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