Minnesota Golden Gophers Basketball

After Minnesota beat Penn State in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament, Coach Tubby Smith was asked what his team needed to do to beat Michigan State.  Coach Smith didn’t hesitate in answering, “We need to rebound, all of Coach Tom Izzo’s teams rebound well.”

Most people believed going into the game that the Gophers would play well but fall short to the Spartans.  In the two earlier match-ups in the season, Michigan State beat Minnesota 60-53 and 65-64.

The Gophers played their usual tough on the ball court defense.  Minnesota also dove for loose balls with abandon.  However, there was something different watching the Gophers battle the Spartans in their third match-up of the season.

Minnesota was actively contesting every rebound with passion and energy as if the outcome of the game depended on each rebound.  Coach Smith had clearly impressed upon his team the need for every player to fight, scrap and claw for every rebound.

Was it a coincidence that in the first two games won by Michigan State that the Spartans won the war of the boards but in the final matchup, the Gophers grabbed more rebounds?

No Gopher had more than six rebounds.  Eight Gophers had at least four rebounds.  Minnesota’s rebounding effort was a complete team effort.

One play late in the second half epitomized the commitment by the entire team to attack the glass.  On an errant shot, Colton Iverson locked into a battle with a Michigan State post player that caused several Spartans to commit their attention to him.  As a result, Damian Johnson flew in for the rebound and an uncontested dunk.

The Gophers played with more confidence on the offensive end than almost any game of the season with the possible exception of their early season win over Butler in the Anaheim Classic.  The curious aspect of the confidence exuding from the Gophers is that as a team they didn’t shoot well hitting less than 40 percent of their shots.

Michigan State gave Minnesota’s sharp shooter Blake Hoffarber little breathing room but it didn’t matter as he knocked down four from beyond the arc on his way to scoring 14 points.  Iverson showed patience in the paint getting solid position on his way to scoring 12 points on six for nine shooting. 

The big man on campus for Minnesota that hit shots in the clutch was converted point guard, Devoe Joseph.  Joseph hit two three point shots in overtime.  On one shot, Joseph emphatically waived his teammates down on the low block to allow him to break down his defender before draining the long jumper. 

As Joseph raced down the court, he had the look of a player that was not going be denied.  The Gophers would never trail in the game again.

The Gophers did however make a couple of silly plays in the final minute of the game to keep people in the stands until the final seconds. 

Westbrook inexplicably dribbled with his head down and turned the ball over in the backcourt.   Ralph Sampson III for some reason felt that he needed to foul Draymond Green.  In his career, Green is 2-13 on shots from beyond the arc.

In a post-game interview on the court, coach Tubby Smith aptly described why his team was able to beat the Michigan State Spartans, “We played with a lot of heart and toughness.”

Minnesota played a hard fought game against the Spartans and deserved to win.   The Gophers just may be rewarded for their efforts with a bid to the NCAA tournament.  A win tomorrow over Purdue would undoubtedly put the Gophers into the big dance. 

When asked what the Gophers needed to do to advance to the finals of the Big Ten tournament, Coach Smith said his team would have to play with the “same heart and toughness because Purdue is as tough as any team in the country...we are going to have to take care of the basketball.”

If Minnesota limits their turnovers and play with intensity, the Gophers could find themselves in the Big Ten Tournament Championship game and dancing the following week in the NCAA Tournament.

Most basketball experts earlier in the week felt that the Gophers were going to make a quick exit in the Big Ten tournament and didn’t have a chance at an NCAA at-large bid[1] .

Minnesota opened the Big Ten Tournament by playing an outstanding game in the opening round and dispatching the Penn State Nittany Lions 76-55. 

The Gophers were unselfish in dishing out 14 assists, and as a result eight Gophers scored six or more points.  The Gophers took care of the ball in limiting their turnovers to eight while forcing the Nittany Lions into 14 turnovers. 

The most impressive aspect of the game for the Gophers was the intensity they showed at the beginning of the second half. 

At the 18 minute mark of the second half, Penn State trailed by eight points.   In the next five minutes, the Gophers extended the lead to 20 points and never look back, as Penn State never made a serious run.

Can Minnesota now take the next step and upset the Michigan State Spartans?  The Gophers will need to bring the same level of intensity that they brought against the Spartans in order to pull off the upset.

Coach Izzo has made winning the Big Ten Tournament a priority for his team, as it has been 10 years since the Spartans have cut down the nets.  Coach Izzo’s team has heard him loud and clear. 

"Coach is real fired up about this weekend," Kalin Lucas said. "We haven't won it in 10 years, so as far as him and as far as our team, we want to go out there and we want to win it this time[2] .”

Draymond Green echoed Lucas’ sentiments about the need to end the dry spell for the Spartans.   “When you're in a program like this, with all competitors, of course, it's going to come up," Draymond Green said. "We don't want it to keep living on for years and years to come, so we want to put a stop to it right now[3] .”

Minnesota will clearly not be able to sneak up on the Spartans.

Minnesota comes to this game with the intention of creating their own tradition of being a perennial fixture in the NCAA tournament and one of the elite teams in the Big Ten. 

Minnesota needs to beat the Spartans to have a shot at making the NCAA tournament.  Minnesota needs to beat the Spartans to stake its claim as one of the elite teams in the Big Ten.

The Gophers played two competitive games against Michigan State this year; the Gophers lost on the road by seven and lost by one at home.   

In analyzing their two previous meetings, Minnesota will need to improve upon the following three areas in their game in order to beat Michigan State. 

First, Minnesota will need to limit its turnovers.  In the two meetings with the Spartans, the Gophers averaged 12 turnovers.   The Gophers need to have fewer than 10 turnovers to give themselves more shots and limit Spartan fast break opportunities.

Second, Minnesota will need to be willing to share the basketball and quickly rotate to the open man.  The Minnesota coaching would probably like to see the Gophers dish out 19 assists again similar to the last meeting between the two teams.

Finally, the Gophers will need to box out on the defensive end to limit offensive rebounds by Michigan State.  The Spartans are averaging 12 offensive rebounds a game against the Gophers.  If the Gophers can keep Michigan State in the single digits for offensive rebounds, Minnesota will be primed for an upset.

Minnesota catches a slight break in that starting guard Chris Allen has been suspended from the team and will not play.  The lack of the additional defensive perimeter player may create more open looks for Minnesota’s perimeter players.

Blake Hoffarber has not scored more than 10 points in Minnesota’s last six games.  Hoffarber is due for a big game, and what better time than against the Spartans to put Minnesota in the semi-finals of the Big Ten Tournament?

Earlier today, I wrote an article suggesting that the Minnesota Gophers could make a late season run for an NCAA berth if they went into Ann Arbor and beat the Wolverines. 

I identified several things that the Gophers would need to do to beat Michigan.  I posted a photo of Ralph Sampson III with my article. 

I want to apologize to Coach Tubby Smith and any fans of Minnesota Gopher Basketball.  I didn’t realize the consequences of my actions. 

Minnesota went into Ann Arbor and got blown out by 28 points.  This was one of the worst games the Gophers played under Coach Tubby Smith’s tenure.

I suggested in my article that the Gophers needed to stop DeShawn Sims.  Sims torched the Gophers for 23 points and six rebounds.  Four of Sims six rebounds were offensive rebounds.

I suggested in my article that one of the players that the Gophers needed to get a solid game from was Sampson.  Sampson played uninspired basketball, scoring only seven points and grabbing five rebounds. 

Sampson's play was so lacking in effort that he was benched.  In fairness to Sampson, he was not the only player to be benched for lack of effort.  Coach Smith pulled all of his starters out of the game in the second half in an effort to send a message.

In my article, I also suggested that the Gophers had an advantage, as they are a much better three-point shooting team than the Wolverines.  Before the game, Minnesota was connecting on 40 percent of their three-point shots, in contrast to Michigan's 30 percent.

I even suggested that Michigan relied too much on the three-point shot, and that maybe the Wolverines would shoot themselves out of the game.  I also noted that Michigan often failed to guard their opponent’s best three-point threat.

Michigan stayed true to form in shooting 19 three-pointers to Minnesota’s sixteen shots.  As predicted, Michigan even allowed Blake Hoffarber, the Big 10’s best long-distance sharp shooter, to get five good looks from beyond the arc.

Unfortunately for Minnesota, the rest of the story did not follow my proposed script.

Minnesota shot only 19 percent from downtown, with Hoffarber going only one for five from beyond the arc.  After throwing up several initial bricks, Michigan began knocking down threes and ended up shooting a blistering 42 percent from beyond the arc.

Minnesota’s tenacious defense was non-existent.  The Gophers only forced four turnovers, and several of them occurred in one mad scramble that caused head scratching to occur on both benches.

Minnesota picked a very bad time to play a poor game.  The Gophers needed this victory and a win over Iowa to give them a shot at a 10-8 record in the Big 10.

Minnesota’s 10-8 record and a little help from their friends, and the Gophers could have finished fifth in the Big 10.  In the history of the NCAA tournament, 112 of the 116 teams that have finished with a winning record in the Big 10 have received an invitation to the NCAA tournament.

The trend will likely continue this year, as the top four teams in the Big 10 will end the regular season ranked among the top 25 teams.  Minnesota could have been the beneficiary of being in the fifth spot with a winning record; the honor and bid to the NCAA tournament now appears to be solidly in the hands of Illinois. 

There can be only one explanation for why Minnesota played so poorly in Ann Arbor with so much on the line.

I clearly jinxed Minnesota. I especially jinxed Sampson by putting his photo as the lead to my story.  I therefore apologize to Coach Smith, Sampson, the team, and the fans.

In the best interests of the team, I’m therefore going to bench myself until after the Iowa game.  Hopefully, the Gophers will bounce back with a victory on Seniors Day.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Joe Lunardi, ESPN's Mr. Bracketologist, has the Minnesota Gophers as one of his last four teams to be on the outside looking to get into the NCAA tournament.  Lunardi opines that the Gophers need to beat Michigan and Iowa in their final two games to receive a bid.

How can anyone disagree with Lunardi’s assessment? Minnesota’s record of 17-11, with an 8-8 record in the Big Ten that boasts four teams in the top 25, is the very definition of a bubble team.

Tonight, the Gophers play the 13-15 Wolverines in Ann Arbor. 

A win tonight and Minnesota likely goes on to crush Iowa in the season finale at home.  A loss tonight and the Gophers will need to the win the Big Ten post-season tournament to make the NCAA tournament.

In order to beat Michigan tonight, Minnesota will need to: (1) stop DeShawn Sims, (2) get a solid performance from their young "Twin Towers" Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson, and (3) get good ball rotation between Devoe Joseph, Blake Hoffarber and Lawrence Westbrook.

Michigan is basically a two man team with an outside and inside presence.  Mr. Outside is 2009 First Team All Big Ten player Manny Harris.  Mr. Inside is 2009 Third Team All Big Ten player DeShawn Sims.

In the first matchup between the Gophers and Wolverines this year, Sims destroyed Minnesota, scoring 27 points on 12 for 18 shooting from the field with four offensive rebounds.

The 6'8'', 235 pound Sims poses a unique match-up problem for Minnesota. 

If the Gophers put Damian Johnson, Rodney Williams or Paul Carter on Sims, Sims can use his 30 pound size advantage to secure a good position in the low post.  Coach Smith could go big on Sims by sending Ralph Sampson III or Colton Iverson to cover him, but then Sims can use his quickness to his advantage over the taller Gopher players.

The Gophers will likely use quick double teams when Sims gets the ball in the post.  While Minnesota likes to play man-to-man defense, Coach Smith may mix in some zone defense to stymie Sims, or if the Gophers get into foul trouble early in the game.

Minnesota's "Twin Towers" of Sampson and Iverson need to show up and play hard in Ann Arbor.  They didn’t play well on the offensive end and they didn’t play well on the defensive end the last time these teams met.

In the first game, Sampson scored only seven points on two-for-seven shooting; Iverson scored only one basket in limited action.  Also disturbing for Gophers fans was the fact that Sampson and Iverson grabbed only six rebounds between them.

The Wolverines have only one player in their rotation, 6'10'' 220 pound reserve Zach Gibson, who can match up with the length of Sampson and Iverson.   Gibson, coming off the bench, outplayed Sampson and Iverson in the first meeting.  In a mere nine minutes, Gibson scored eight points.

If the Gophers are going to win in Ann Arbor, Sampson and Iverson are going to need to play well and use their length to their advantage.  The Gophers likely need to generate 20 points and 12 rebounds or more between Sampson and Iverson. 

The guard combination of Joseph, Westbrook, and Hoffarber played well the last time the teams met.  The Michigan guards got very few open looks as they shot four-for-ten from beyond the arc and only two-for-seven inside the three point line.  Minnesota in comparison made 9 of their 22 field goals and was 5 of 13 from beyond the arc.

Joseph, Westbrook, and Hoffarber, with a potential NCAA bid on the line, can’t be satisfied with simply matching the guard play on Michigan.  The Gophers need to outplay the Wolverines.

There are a couple of facts that suggest that the Minnesota guards will get the job done in Ann Arbor. 

First, Minnesota shoots 40 percent from beyond the arc, whereas Michigan shoots only 30 percent from beyond the arc.  Joseph shoots 36 percent and Westbrook shoots 42 percent from beyond the arc, while Hoffarber leads the Big Ten in shooting from downtown at 48 percent.

Second, Michigan's guards are way too overconfident in their ability to shoot from three and sometimes shoot themselves out of games with their shot selection. 

Despite making only 30 percent from beyond the arc, Michigan has shot 674 three pointers.  In contrast, Minnesota has only 491 three-point attempts.  Michigan may do the Gophers a favor and rely too much on the three point shot.

Finally, Michigan does not do a good job locating their opponent’s deep threat option.   Hoffarber went four for eight the first time the Gophers played the Wolverines.  Hopefully, Michigan’s bad habit will continue against the Gophers and Hoffarber will get several good looks tonight.

Minnesota can receive a NCAA tournament bid this year.  The Gophers, however, need to get busy and beat the Wolverines tonight.

A win over Michigan and Lunardi will need to move Minnesota from one of the last four teams out of the tournament to one of the last four teams to make the tournament.

A couple of baskets, a few rebounds, or key defensive stops in crunch time can change how your fans look at whether you had a successful season.

The easiest measuring stick for fans in assessing whether their favorite college basketball team is successful program is whether their team is consistently receiving an NCAA bid on a regular basis. 

Of course, when you are making trips to the Final Four every three of four years you then know that your favorite team is among the elite in college hoops. 

The University of Minnesota in hiring Coach Tubby Smith had high hopes that he would make the Gophers into one of the more consistent and successful programs in the country. 

Eventually, Minnesota fans dreamed that their program would become one of the elite programs in college hoops under Tubby’s tutelage.

Last year, the Gophers finished 22-11 and Minnesota fans believed that the future looked bright for the team to regularly make trips to the NCAA tournament. 

While Minnesota started the season without a legitimate Big Ten Player of the Year candidate, no team in the Big Ten returned more players averaging more than 15 minutes of playing time.

Fans expected Minnesota to build upon their success from last year.   Minnesota boosted a solid backcourt with experience; a stingy shot-blocking front line and one of the best recruiting classes in the country. 

Most pollsters agreed with the enthusiasm in Minneapolis and ranked the Gophers among the top 25 teams in the country at the beginning of the season. 

Unfortunately, Minnesota will not finish among the top 25 teams in the country at the end of the regular season and with two games remaining in the regular season there is no guarantee that the Gophers will even make the NCAA tournament.  

Whenever a college teams fails to live up to pre-season expectations, it is only a matter of time before questions are asked about whether the team is being led by the right coach. 

Coach Smith isn’t immune to this scrutiny as some Minnesota hoop fans have subtly suggested that Coach Smith might not be the right person for the job.  

The criticism of Coach Smith falls into the following three categories: 1) Minnesota has had too many off-court issues; 2) Minnesota can’t execute a half-court offense late in the game; and 3) Minnesota can’t play with the “big boys” and is stuck as a second tier team.

Minnesota clearly has had too many off-court issues this year.

Three key players that are supposed to be in maroon and gold this year are in street clothes.  Starting point guard Al Nolen was declared academically ineligible on January 13. 

Incoming freshman Royce White left the team without playing a minute. Transfer Trevor Mbwake is suspended pending resolution of a criminal matter in Florida.

In addition, senior reserve Devron Bostick was suspended several games for his involvement in an altercation. 

Senior and leading scorer Lawrence Westbrook during the course of the season has also missed a start and seen his playing time diminished for failing to follow team rules.

Coach Smith, however, shouldn’t be criticized for the off-court issues of his team as he has applied a firm hand and he has handled the distraction well. 

Coach Smith has stayed on message throughout the season with the focus on the next opponent and the future.  

In listening to the players in post-game interviews they clearly support Coach Smith.  The players also appear to have bonded as a tight knit group, all of the players recently shaved their heads in a show support to Paul Carter and his sister.  Carter’s younger sister is battling leukemia.

In the last few minutes of a ball game, Minnesota can’t execute a half-court offense. The Achilles heel for the Gophers all year has been their inability to get good looks at the basket during crunch time.

However, when you look at the adjustments made by Coach Smith during the course of the season you have to appreciate that he is making the best out of a bad situation and in the end may have found a silver lining.

Nolen as a point guard in the half-court offense had little difficulty in getting past the first line of defense to the basket.  Unfortunately, Nolen could not always finish as he had struggled getting his shot off among the trees.

In Nolen’s absence, sophomore Devoe Joseph has been given the reins to the team.  As expected, Joseph initially struggled finding the right balance between looking for his shot and creating scoring opportunities for his teammates. 

Joseph, however in his last two games, has looked every bit the part of a true point guard.

In addition, Coach Smith has strategically used the height and passing skills of Ralph Sampson III to the team’s advantage by periodically getting him off the block and into the free throw line extended area.  The move by Coach Smith has given the Gophers more good looks at the basket in the second half.

Taking Sampson III off the block has allowed Forwards Damian Johnson and Paul Carter more room to slash to the basket and use their post moves to get good shots. 

Ralph also seems more comfortable facing the basket and with his soft touch from within 20 feet of the basket he is more of an offensive threat for the Gophers than when he has his back to the basket.

Minnesota isn’t going to have many impressive wins on its resume at the end of the year.  The Gophers' signature wins this year came against then ranked No. 10 Butler on a neutral site at the Anaheim Classic and at home in the Barn against Ohio State. 

While the Buckeyes are currently ranked No. 9 in the country, Ohio State was unranked when they lost to the Gophers.

Criticism that Minnesota is not making progress in competing against the “big boys” however is misplaced especially when you review how the team did against teams ranked in the Top 25 last year and against teams ranked in the Top 25 this year.

Last year, the Gophers 22-11 and went 3-5 against teams ranked among the top 25 in the country.  Here is how Minnesota fared last year:

12/20 Beat No. 9 Louisville 70-64                          

12/31 Lost to No. 15 Michigan State 70-58                                   

1/3 Beat No. 23 Ohio State 68-59                          

1/22 Lost to No. 18 Purdue 70-62                          

1/29 Beat No. 20 Illinois 59-36                               

2/4 Lost to No. 14 Michigan State 76-47

2/26 Lost to No. 20 Illinois 52-41

3/13 Lost to No. 6 Michigan State 64-56

The win against the Cardinals on Dec. 20 likely deserves an asterisk.  Louisville played Mississippi at 9:00 p.m. on Dec. 18 in a hard fought 77-68 game in Cincinnati.  Louisville then had to travel to play Minnesota at 2 p.m. in Glendale, Ariz. Who made Louisville’s travel arrangements? Goldy Gopher?

This year, the Gophers are 2-6 against teams ranked among the top 25 in the country. 

11/26    Beat No. 10 Butler 82-73

1/5       Lost No. 4 Purdue 79-60

1/13     Lost No. 8 Michigan State 60-53

1/23     Lost No. 7 Michigan State 65-64

1/31     Lost No. 24 Ohio State 85-63

2/18     Beat No. 16 Wisconsin 68-52

2/24     Lost No. 3 Purdue 59-58

When you look at the Gophers schedule this season, three things stand out. 

First, the Gophers dropped two one point losses to teams (Spartans and Boilermakers) ranked in the top 10 in the country. 

Accordingly, Minnesota was one play from matching last year’s record against ranked teams and was two plays away for improving upon last year’s record. 

Second, the Big Ten competition that the Gophers are playing against is thought of among coaches and sportswriters in the country as being better than last year. 

Last year, the Gophers played only one Big Ten team that was ranked among the top 10 in the country.  This year, the Gophers played three Big Ten teams that were ranked among the top 10 in the country.

Third, the Gophers are making progress against the current standard bearer in the Big Ten – Michigan State.  Last year, the Gophers lost three games to the Spartans by a margin of 49 points. 

This year, the Gophers lost two games to the Spartans by only 8 points.   If the Gophers could have made one of their last three shots at home against the Spartans, they would have beat Michigan State.

Currently, the Gophers sit at 17-11 with two games left in the regular season.  Minnesota travels to Michigan on March 2 and they then come back to the Barn to finish the season at home on March 7.

If the Gophers win their final two games and win at least one game in the Big Ten tournament, the Gophers will likely receive an NCAA bid. 

Minnesota’s resume will be NCAA tournament worthy by virtue of accumulating 20 wins and finishing in the top half of a conference that currently boasts four teams among the Top 20 teams in the country. 

So, everything is fine with Coach Tubby Smith? No, I think if Coach Smith was asked he would acknowledge that this year’s squad has left too many plays on the court this season. 

A couple of clutch shots, a couple tough stops, and a few plays were the Gophers outhustle their opponents for a rebound over the next two weeks and not only will no one question whether Coach Smith should be on the hot seat but he will likely once again be the toast of the town.

Leading into the 2009-2010 Minnesota Men's Basketball season, Gophers fans were just grateful that they didn't have to watch another down of Tim Brewster's football program. An impressive exhibition season by many of the youngsters on Tubby Smith's team was followed up by a quick start and a win over a top-10 Butler squad. Three straight losses later and a quick reality check for the players and the team re-grouped and moved into the Big Ten Conference season.

With the Gophers as high as No. 16 in the country early in the season, fans hoped for that Big Ten Championship they have been missing. Even after the losses to Portland, Texas A+M, and Miami (Fla.), the Gophers had shown the ability to compete at an extremely high level. Their senior leadership, along with the upstart sophomore and junior classes, were leading them to impressive victories over soft competition.

Tubby Smith looked to have his team measured and was using his typical wholesale substitution system looking for depth and answers. The full-court press was causing havoc and led them to one of the highest turnover ratio's in the country.

But a suspension, a dismissal, some benchings, and a little bad luck later and the Gophers on the outside looking in when it comes to the NCAA Tournament. At this point, Minnesota is 14-10 overall (5-7 Big Ten), and would need to go at least 6-1 to just make it on the bubble.

Former Gophers Head Coach Dan Monson currently coaches at Long Beach State. He had little success during his years at Minnesota, but left Tubby Smith five contributors to this year's team: Lawrence Westbrook (Sr.), Damian Johnson (Sr.), Devron Bostick (Sr.), Blake Hoffarber (Jr.), and Al Nolen (Currently Suspended - Jr.)

After an NCAA Tournament bid last season and a first round loss to the Texas Longhorns, Gophers fans and the nation thought the program had taken the next step to making this team relevant again. Two very nice recruiting classes by Tubby Smith were highlighted by the signing of the much coveted top recruit in Minnesota, Royce White. A local kid, White was supposed to be the Gophers answer to their scoring troubles for the next four years.

We'll never know now, I think. White was suspended indefinitely from the Gophers due to legal issues regarding a theft at the Mall of America. After posting some questionable videos on youtube.com in which he basically made a jackass of himself and his coach, he was still considered part of the team.

During the month of January, though, it was made public that White was no longer enrolled at the University of Minnesota after a bizarre series of events that really were a distraction from the beginning of the season.

In addition, top transfer recruit Trevor Mbakwe was indefinitely suspended due to legal issues from a fight in Miami. Smtih continued to state in interviews that Mbakwe would not play until those issues were cleared. To this date his trial has been pushed back to March and he has not cleared the issue. Also, senior guard Devron Bostick was suspended for the first seven regular season games because of an undeclared violation of team policy.

When Tubby Smith left Kentucky to come to Minnesota, fans in Minnesota were ecstatic that they were getting an elite coach back at their university. Kentucky fans were ecstatic that they were getting rid of Smith after years of mediocrity with some superior talent.

Some critics said that Wildcats fans were just holding him to unrealistic expectations. They wanted an annual run to the Final Four, they wanted an SEC Championship at the very least, and considering the amount of talent Kentucky gets on a yearly basis, could they have been right? Was Tubby Smith overrated? Was Tubby Smith just a product of Rick Pitino's recruits when he won them a national title in 1998?

Maybe. And, maybe he is just a good coach with the inability to run a decent offense. In his time at Minnesota the offense that the Gophers run is really elementary at best. Most of time the players on the floor look like they don't know what set is being run. Not once has the offense looked in sync for an entire game of importance.

In their most important moments, the offense is stagnant, the players look lost, and when they win it's because of transitional offense. The half-court sets the team runs are so slow. The on-the-ball screens and looking to confuse the defense during every half-court set will not win you games against the Michigan State's, Purdue's, or Kentucky's of the world for that matter.

Can you blame the lack of talent in the upper classmen as the reason for the Gophers lack of success this season? No would have to be the answer considering where they went with practically the same group as last season. They added some freshmen who have been okay at best.

Blake Hoffarber leads the nation in three point field-goal percentage. Damian Johnson is an All-Big-Ten defender. Lawrence Westbrook and Al Nolen are the two that have caused the biggest problems. You can see that Westbrook is the leader of this team. His displeasure with Smith is evident and it shows.

He has rubbed off on Al Nolen who talks back to his coaches. He's now suspended and was the key to their defense when it was at its best. Westbrook was benched at multiple points in the season, and I'm not sure if it's because he wants to win more than anyone else or if he is mad his points just are not where they should be. He needs to play the wing and make plays against a teams two or three, typically in Smith's system he is forced to make miraculous things happen.

He is easily the best on the team at doing that on a one-on-one basis, but what the team needs he can't provide. They no longer can use the full-court press to turn games in their favor after the Nolen suspension. They have no true point guard on the court. Sophomore Devoe Joseph looks like he has the ability to be the shooting guard and do that very well, but his dribbling skills are very average. He turns the ball over at an extremely high rate when running the point, and doesn't seem comfortable running an offense where it revolves around the ability to play a one-on-one type of basketball to make plays.

Freshman point guard Justin Cobbs looks like he should be playing for a junior-college and should not be on a Big Ten court ever again. The stupid fouls in the Michigan game made me think he has no clue how to play basketball. His fouls looked intentional at meaningless points in the game.

Royce White and Rodney Williams were supposed to be the two freshmen that could come in and score immediately: It's obvious that dream has ended. Williams could be that one day, but he needs some work. He does have some nice hops and the ability to get separation, but there is little chance he will make that impact before he is a junior.

The two big men in the middle have been huge disappointments as they suffer their sophomore slumps. Ralph Sampson and Colton Iverson need to be playing together, and a ton of minutes. The Gophers offense should revolve around the two big men who have shown some nice touch around the rim.

Sampson seems to have developed a little quicker than Iverson, who looks unsure of himself since the Big Ten season opened up. They both need to add about 20 pounds this offseason and just pound their bodies down low every game. With both of them in the game and some guards who can get some separation and create space for Hoffarber, the team has a chance to be really good next year.

It's time to look towards the Fall of 2010 because this season is practically lost now. Tubby should start the following line-up every game the rest of the season:

C: Ralph Sampson

PF: Colton Iverson

SF: Paul Carter

SG: Blake Hoffarber

PG: Lawrence Westbrook / Rodney Williams

Something seriously needs to change in the backcourt, and if it's who brings the ball up the court, then make it happen. Even a point guard by committee approach is better than Cobbs. That kid needs a ton of offseason work and can't run an offense at this point.

Let Joseph, Westbrook, and Williams take the ball up and break guys down. Joseph has shown that he is a much better player off of the bench. Tubby needs to mix in Paul Carter as well during the final weeks of the season. He has the ability to break guys down and could be one the leaders on the team next season.

If nothing changes, this will be definitely be Smith's retirement gig and it will end embarrassingly unsuccessful.

The formula for success for the Minnesota Gophers is simple.  Success for the Gophers this season is spelled Blake Hoffarber. 

The Gophers are undefeated when Blake Hoffarber scores at least 10 points.   When Hoffarber scores 20 points, the average margin of victory for the Gophers is 18 points.

On the other end of spectrum, the Gophers are only 3-7 when Hoffarber scores less than 10 points.  When Hoffarber attempts five or fewer shots, the Gophers are 2-5.

Why is Hoffarber the key?

Is it because Blake can beat people of the dribble?  No.  While Blake has improved his dribble drive penetration to the basket, he rarely shoots within the arc.  Hoffarber has attempted only 35 shots inside the arc.

In order to truly appreciate how rare it is for Hoffarber to shoot a two point shot consider this—Hoffarber has 36 three-point shots in just his four games against Northern Illinois, St. Joseph’s, Ohio State, and Northwestern

Is it because he has an uncanny knack of getting to the free throw line?  No.  Hoffarber has shot free throws in only seven games this season.  Hoffarber has only 23 attempts on the season.

Hoffarber is the key because when he gets enough open looks from beyond the arc to knock down a couple of shots, the Gophers are clearly moving the ball around on offense.   

Hoffarber is the canary in the coal mine that signals all is well for Minnesota.

If you want to know if Minnesota’s half-court offense is getting good ball rotation and not relying solely on players beating someone of the dribble, find out how many shots Hoffarber has taken during the game.

When Minnesota is moving the ball in transition, Hoffarber can be found lurking at the three-point line eager to launch a missile. 

When Minnesota is moving in its half court offense, Blake can be seen licking his chops waiting for his defender to briefly turn his head so he can get off a quick jumper.

The Gophers most recent 65-61 win against Northwestern is a good example of the Hoffarber effect. 

Minnesota struggled to create separation against the Wildcats.  Hoffarber was the difference in the game as he hit three long range bombs against Northwestern late in the second half to give the Gophers the lead and momentum to finish off the Wildcats.

Two of Hoffarber’s three pointers came in transition.  The Gophers used their defense to create a fast break opportunities.  As the Wildcats raced back to protect the basket, Hoffarber stopped at the arc and made them pay for forgetting about him.

Hoffarber hit his third three-point shot in the second half run by the Gophers in the half court offense.  The Wildcats gambled on a steal.    As the Wildcat defender came up empty handed, Hoffarber was zeroing in on the bottom of the net.

After Hoffarber’s heroics, Minnesota’s lead stood at 59-54, and they would never look back again.

Hoffarber’s work in the offseason is evident as he has extended his range on the court; his stamina has improved and he has improved the quickness of the release on his shot.

Hoffarber’s game is reminiscent of former Indiana guard, Steve Alford.  Hoffarber is as good of a three-point shooter as there is in the country, and similar to Alford, he has the clean cut boy next door looks ala the Jonas Brothers.

Unlike Alford, Hoffarber does not have the luxury of running through two picks to give him a clean look at the basket.  If Hoffarber continues to be the bell weather for the Gophers, Coach Tubby Smith might have to consider drawing up a few plays for his sharp shooter. 

Gophers’ fans just hope that Minnesota just keeps moving the ball to give Hoffarber enough open looks at the basket to keep him scoring more than ten points a game.

In most preseason polls, Minnesota was the fifth highest ranked team in the Big Ten behind Purdue, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Michigan. 

If the Gophers were going to emerge from the crowded field to have an opportunity to hoist the Big Ten Title Championship banner, they would need to pull an early season upset win over the Spartans or Boilermakers.  Additionally, the Gophers would need to avoid an early upset themselves to avoid having too high of a hill to climb to the top. 

The Big Ten season started well for the Gophers as they held serve at home against Penn State and trounced the young Hawkeyes in Iowa City to get off to a quick 2-0 start.

The Gophers were a confident squad going into the toughest stretch of their schedule.  Minnesota’s next three games were against Purdue in West Lafayette, Ohio State at home and Michigan State in East Lansing.   If the Gophers could pull off an upset on the road and get a win at home, Minnesota would be in a solid position to likely contend for the outright title for the remainder of the season.

Unfortunately, Minnesota could not secure an early season upset on the road over either the Boilermakers or Spartans.  The Gophers however took care of business against the Buckeyes with a 73-62 win.

Minnesota’s next game was on the road against Indiana.  The game against the Hoosiers was the classic trap game of the season as it was sandwiched between the away and home games with Michigan State.

The Gophers could not afford to commiserate about the loss, nor could they look ahead to the rematch at home.

While Indiana is not as talented or deep as Minnesota, coach Tubby Smith undoubtedly impressed upon his squad that the Hoosiers should not be underestimated as they had previously defeated Pittsburgh 74-64 on a neutral site and Michigan 71-65 at home.

The Gophers did not get the message.  Minnesota came out flat and Indiana took advantage racing out to a 14 point lead in first half and 15 point lead in the second half.

The Gophers, to their credit, battled back to take the game into overtime where Devoe Joseph hit two three points to start the extra period.   Minnesota however ran out of gas and lost 81-78 as they were only able to score on two free throws in the last 3:22 of the game.

Minnesota had little time to wallow in the loss as they received news that starting point guard Al Nolen was being suspended from the team after being declared academically ineligible. 

Nolen is one of the best perimeter defender’s in the Big Ten, and his 3:1 assist to turnover ratio places him among the elite point guards in the nation in taking care of the basketball.  Which Gopher would step up to replace Nolen’s defensive presence and leadership in running the team?

Coach Smith needed to have the Gophers come out strong against the Spartans if they were to beat Michigan State.  This time, Minnesota got the message from their coach, and they played with intensity from the opening tip racing out to a 12-3 lead.

The Gophers got solid play from seniors Damian Johnson and Lawrence Westbrook.

Johnson played like a man possessed on the defensive end blocking five shots.  Johnson wasn’t satisfied to simply swat away shots as he also came up with three steals.

Westbrook scored 16 points and was two out of four from beyond the arc.   More importantly, Westbrook had only one turnover while dishing out four assists. 

Joseph also had a solid game filling in for Nolen at the point dishing out seven assists.  Joseph was most impressive however in creating his own shot on the way to scoring 16 points on six for ten shooting.

Minnesota appeared to be on their way to an upset win as they held a 55-45 lead with nine minutes to go. 

Unfortunately, the ball stopped moving around the perimeter and easy interior shots became non-existent.  The Gophers would not score on successive possessions for the rest of the game.

The Spartans slowed crawled back into the game as the Gophers became stagnant on the offensive end.

The Gophers clung to a two point lead in the final minute.  The Gophers made several passes around the perimeter before the ball landed in the hands of Westbrook. 

As the shot clock was winding down, Westbrook launched a three point shot from the top of the key.  The shot rattled around in the rim but the ball came out.

The Spartans did not fail to take advantage of their opportunity. 

Kalin Lucas, last year’s Big Ten player of the year, launched a three point shot off the dribble from the top of the key.  The shot hit nothing but the bottom of the net.

Adding injury to insult, Lucas hit the shot while Westbrook was guarding him.

The Gophers now have four losses and are in seventh place in the Big Ten.  In order to catch the Spartans to win the Big Ten title, the Gophers would need to pass six teams in the Big Ten and make up five games on Michigan State.

Minnesota has not been mathematically eliminated from winning the Big Ten title; however, it is hard to imagine a scenario in which the Gophers can become Big Ten champions.

Coach Tubby Smith needs to regroup the troops and focus on securing enough wins to be awarded an NCAA tournament bid. 

While the dream of a Big Ten title is likely gone, Minnesota can still make the dream of a deep run in the NCAA tournament a reality.

The Minnesota Gophers Men's basketball team lost a heartbreaking game to Michigan State today 65-64. Michigan State's first lead came with only minutes left in the game as Kalin Lucas hit yet another 3, ending with a game high 22.

At first glance, thiss looks like a well played game by the Gophers who were 3-3 in the Big Ten coming into the game and on the inside track for an NCAA tournament bid. Now their biggest win come tourney time may be... a close loss to Michigan State. A casual observer may view the loss with anxiety as the Gophers led by double digits for the majority of the game and second half as well.

Yes, it is always tough to give up a big lead like that after a well fought game, but the problem is not the loss, it is the complete lack of half court offense of the Gophers. The Gophers held the high powered offense of #7 State to under 40% field goal shooting and only 65 points in the game.

Yet, when the game was offered up to the rafters and Minnesota needed a bucket at the end with 15 seconds left, Lawrence Westbrook was forced to create 1 on 1 and ended up being stuffed in Draymond Green's lane. The previous five possessions all followed the same tune with 4 people standing around watching and either Westbrook or Joseph casting up seemingly impossible shots.

The sorrowful inability of the Gophers to produce a bucket in the half court offense hurts the most when the game is on the line. Yes they play great team defense. Yes they fastbreak usually well. However, when a basket is needed in a half court set the Gophers look lost at what to do.

This is again echoed by the number of times the shot clock nearly expires when the Gophers are forced to run a half court set. This problem falls on Tubby Smith.

Tubby has no idea what to do with his team's in the half court. This is why he was run out of Kentucky and why he is not living up to his name here either. I am a huge Tubby Smith fan, but facts are facts. He is a commendable man for suspending Royce White as well as numerous other players at the start of the season for improper conduct detrimental to the team.

Plain and simple Tubby Smith is a fantastic person and mentor. He is not however the amazing coach he is thought to be. He was spotted attending a St. Thomas practice, a local D3 college in Minnesota last year.

Smith cannot run an offense to do several things that need to happen for the Gophers. They need to stop getting the ball into the suckhole low posts that include Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson as much as they do. Once the ball goes in it hardly ever comes back out or creates a quality shot. Secondly, the Gophers need to get Blake Hoffarber more looks. Today, against a great defense, he was only able to attempt four 3 pointers and five total field goals. He is shooting over 50% from 3 on the season and is arguably one of the best shooters in all of college basketball.

If Tubby Smith is able to accomplish these things within a half court set, the Gophers will be back in the top 25 rankings and be contending for a Big Ten Championship. Until that happens, however, the Gophers will continue to suffer losses, especially at the end of games, because of their inability to execute a half court offense.