Jon Rothstein Files: Six BCS Teams Primed To Make A Jump (includes Gophers)

"BIG TEN – MINNESOTA

Gophers coach Tubby Smith told me a few weeks ago that this is the deepest team he’s ever had in his coaching career — and he won a national championship at Kentucky in 1998. Minnesota returns all the components from last year’s group that reached the final of the Postseason NIT, as well as Trevor Mbakwe, who should be this team’s sixth man. The key for the Gophers will be consistent guard play from both Andre and Austin Hollins,along with another strong season at power forward from Rodney Williams, whose game went to another level last year when Mbwake went down with a knee injury. Keep an eye on skilled big man Maurice Walker, who could develop into a valuable reserve thanks to his high basketball IQ."

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/11...-primed-to-make-a-jump-in-college-basketball/

Go Gophers!!

Sixth man? Are we really planning on having Mbakwe come off the bench all year? I thought it was just until he feels comfortable again.

These last two years have been great. We went from the best shooting team he has had here to the deepest team he has had here.

Does he think the Gophers are better with Mbakwe on the bench to start because Rodney gets to play the 4? Seems like he could play 4 with Mbakwe in and Elliason on the bench to start the game...

This is just another example of writers picking a team and making stuff up as they go.

khoffman43 said:

Does he think the Gophers are better with Mbakwe on the bench to start because Rodney gets to play the 4? Seems like he could play 4 with Mbakwe in and Elliason on the bench to start the game...

This is just another example of writers picking a team and making stuff up as they go.

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Not that far off, remember hockey like substitution, could be:

Starters

Dre Hollins
Aus Hollins
Coleman
Williams
Eliason

Second with variations of Buggs and Ingram

Walker - Subsititue early for Eliason
Mbwake - Substitue early for Eliason, Williams, or Coleman
Oseniek
Ahamisi
Welch

Mbakwe will start as long as he is healthy

when wally's healthy he can replace mav and eventually I think Buggs will surpass otto, if Mbakwe plays with the second team and mo is healthy the second team could nbe as good as the starters. Plus the best five will be on the court in winning time

That's not great company we're in with Rutgers, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Miami, and Oklahoma as the others in he article. We're better than those teams.

Watching Mbakwe in exhibition play, he is not close to 100%. I don't think it's too far fetched to say he will come off the bench in limited minutes to preserve his health.

mnsports255 said:

That's not great company we're in with Rutgers, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Miami, and Oklahoma as the others in he article. We're better than those teams.

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This is the problem with our crowd.... We always think we're way better than the way we end up. We've been 9th out of 12 teams the last 2 years. When I see that statistic, I'm baffled as to why I spend most of my free time fretting about this team. We belong in this company.... we need to prove something in the worst way!

Madman said:

This is the problem with our crowd.... We always think we're way better than the way we end up. We've been 9th out of 12 teams the last 2 years. When I see that statistic, I'm baffled as to why I spend most of my free time fretting about this team. We belong in this company.... we need to prove something in the worst way!

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Agreed. We have to actually make the jump, first, before we can say we're better than anyone.

WhoFellDownTheGopherHole? said:

Agreed. We have to actually make the jump, first, before we can say we're better than anyone.

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This year we are better.

Madman said:

This is the problem with our crowd.... We always think we're way better than the way we end up. We've been 9th out of 12 teams the last 2 years. When I see that statistic, I'm baffled as to why I spend most of my free time fretting about this team. We belong in this company.... we need to prove something in the worst way!

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Around the time that we would have made projections the past couple of seasons, we likely were better than where we ended up. In 2010-11, we still had Al Nolen and Devoe Joseph on the team and able to play at the start of Big Ten play, and we had done most of our damage without Joseph on the floor, a player who really carried the team at the end of the previous season. We made an early statement in the Big Ten by beating a top 10 ranked Purdue team at home, and we were going to finish in the top half of the conference, we were a lock for the tournament, and life was good. Then later that month we lost both Al Nolen and Devoe Joseph in the span of about a week. You can't project losing that kind of production before the season begins.

Last season I believe I projected a slightly optimistic 10-8 for the Mbakwe-less Gophers. Our young team gave up late leads @Iowa, @Illinois, and against Iowa and Michigan State at home, not to mention Michigan in the Big Ten tournament, which we would have won had Evan Smotrycz not hit that 3 at the end of the game. I don't think the team was quite as bad as the record said last year. I also remember in 2010-11 during our 1-10 streak to end the season, allowing 10 point swings in the closing minutes of games we should have won.

Both of those teams lost major production to injuries, and seemed to have trouble closing out games and underachieved as a result, it wasn't just because the team was bad to start with.

Cayman said:

Around the time that we would have made projections the past couple of seasons, we likely were better than where we ended up. In 2010-11, we still had Al Nolen and Devoe Joseph on the team and able to play at the start of Big Ten play, and we had done most of our damage without Joseph on the floor, a player who really carried the team at the end of the previous season. We made an early statement in the Big Ten by beating a top 10 ranked Purdue team at home, and we were going to finish in the top half of the conference, we were a lock for the tournament, and life was good. Then later that month we lost both Al Nolen and Devoe Joseph in the span of about a week. You can't project losing that kind of production before the season begins.

Last season I believe I projected a slightly optimistic 10-8 for the Mbakwe-less Gophers. Our young team gave up late leads @Iowa, @Illinois, and against Iowa and Michigan State at home, not to mention Michigan in the Big Ten tournament, which we would have won had Evan Smotrycz not hit that 3 at the end of the game. I don't think the team was quite as bad as the record said last year. I also remember in 2010-11 during our 1-10 streak to end the season, allowing 10 point swings in the closing minutes of games we should have won.

Both of those teams lost major production to injuries, and seemed to have trouble closing out games and underachieved as a result, it wasn't just because the team was bad to start with.

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At the end of a season, I think every team is exactly as good or bad as their record. A team's objective is to put together the best possible season as measured by their record. To me, there is no difference between a team who gets blown out every night and finishes 0-30 and a team who puts together a 10 point lead and then blows it with 5 minutes left every time to go 0-30. The extra talent on the second team does not have them any closer to making the tournament, because their inability to close has rendered them as winless as the team that was never close.

If Mbakwe plans on coming off the bench all season he can kiss his NBA hopes goodbye. Nobody is gonna draft him if he can't show he's recovered from ACL and play the 35 minutes a game he was playing before injury.