BleedGopher
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per David Shama:
http://shamasportsheadliners.com/
U to Use Extra Scouting for Louisville
The anticipation and determination was evident in Saul Smith’s words. The Gophers assistant basketball coach was talking about next Saturday’s game against No. 9 ranked Louisville in Glendale, Arizona.
Although the Gophers are 9-0, this will be Minnesota’s first game against a nationally ranked team and only the second time playing a school from a major conference. But there’s more to it. Louisville is annually among the royalty of college basketball and coach Rick Pitino, eight years with Louisville, and before that coaching teams like Kentucky, the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks, will one day have the tag "legendary" associated with his name. Pitino won a national championship at Kentucky and then was succeeded by Saul’s dad Tubby, who won an NCAA title in Lexington. Tubby was once an assistant coach for Pitino at Kentucky.
No wonder the Gophers figure to be focused and excited for Saturday’s game which is the first of a doubleheader in the University of Phoenix Stadium (the Desert Shootout also includes Arizona State versus Brigham Young). Saul told Sports Headliners the Gophers are determined to be prepared for the game that starts at 1 p.m. Minneapolis time and will be televised on FSN.
“We’re gonna know a lot about them,” Smith said. “We’re dedicating…all three (assistant) coaches toward this scout(ing). Usually it’s just one. Everybody is going to get a shot at trying to scout against this team and put their wisdom into it. And we’re gonna call around (info from other teams)...and watch every film that they’ve played in the last year or so. We’re going to try and dissect them.
“We want to win this game. We circled this game in the summer as a measuring stick to where we were. We knew they were going to be a top 10 team in the nation. So this is where we’re going to measure ourselves against.”
Smith expects Pitino to be “relentless” in his preparation for the Gophers. That’s often a good word to describe Pitino teams on the court, too. Louisville is known for its relentless defense (68 steals to opponents 39) and so far this season is giving up 56.1 points per game while averaging 80. The Cardinals are 4-1 with their only loss to Western Kentucky (5-3) in Nashville, 68-54.
Louisville’s leading scorer is 6-8 freshman center Samardo Samuels, a Jamaican by way of New Jersey who is a former USA Today prep player of the year and is averaging 17 points per game for Pitino. The Cardinals may have the best front court in the country with Samuels, plus forwards Earl Clark and Terrence Williams. Clark, a slashing offensive player, supposedly returned for his senior season rather than become a first round NBA draft choice last spring while Williams, another senior, often gains attention for his playmaking.
It didn’t take long in a conversation for Smith to bring up the Samuels name and how the Gophers will try to counter with their own freshman center, Colton Iverson. “I think he’s (Samuels) a future pro,” Smith said. “He’s very strong down there. I think the match up with him and Iverson is going to be critical when it comes down to who is going to win the game. …”
Smith used the word critical, too, when talking about Minnesota’s Damian Johnson guarding Clark who is Louisville’s second leading scorer at 11.6 points per game. Johnson, a 6-7 junior forward, is probably Minnesota's best defender.
Smith said the Gophers want to be undefeated in nonconference games (two home softies remain after Louisville) but there’s more to it than that. A win in December over highly ranked Louisville will help the Minnesota resume in March when selections are made to participate in the NCAA tournament. “No question, because we feel like Louisville is a team that’s gonna make some noise in March,” Smith said. “And we feel like if we can come in and beat a team of that caliber we feel confident about our team. …”
The Gophers will look back in March and know whether they had the reputation building satisfaction of beating a school that Smith said has its name in “capital letters” on the Minnesota schedule.
Go Gophers!!
http://shamasportsheadliners.com/
U to Use Extra Scouting for Louisville
The anticipation and determination was evident in Saul Smith’s words. The Gophers assistant basketball coach was talking about next Saturday’s game against No. 9 ranked Louisville in Glendale, Arizona.
Although the Gophers are 9-0, this will be Minnesota’s first game against a nationally ranked team and only the second time playing a school from a major conference. But there’s more to it. Louisville is annually among the royalty of college basketball and coach Rick Pitino, eight years with Louisville, and before that coaching teams like Kentucky, the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks, will one day have the tag "legendary" associated with his name. Pitino won a national championship at Kentucky and then was succeeded by Saul’s dad Tubby, who won an NCAA title in Lexington. Tubby was once an assistant coach for Pitino at Kentucky.
No wonder the Gophers figure to be focused and excited for Saturday’s game which is the first of a doubleheader in the University of Phoenix Stadium (the Desert Shootout also includes Arizona State versus Brigham Young). Saul told Sports Headliners the Gophers are determined to be prepared for the game that starts at 1 p.m. Minneapolis time and will be televised on FSN.
“We’re gonna know a lot about them,” Smith said. “We’re dedicating…all three (assistant) coaches toward this scout(ing). Usually it’s just one. Everybody is going to get a shot at trying to scout against this team and put their wisdom into it. And we’re gonna call around (info from other teams)...and watch every film that they’ve played in the last year or so. We’re going to try and dissect them.
“We want to win this game. We circled this game in the summer as a measuring stick to where we were. We knew they were going to be a top 10 team in the nation. So this is where we’re going to measure ourselves against.”
Smith expects Pitino to be “relentless” in his preparation for the Gophers. That’s often a good word to describe Pitino teams on the court, too. Louisville is known for its relentless defense (68 steals to opponents 39) and so far this season is giving up 56.1 points per game while averaging 80. The Cardinals are 4-1 with their only loss to Western Kentucky (5-3) in Nashville, 68-54.
Louisville’s leading scorer is 6-8 freshman center Samardo Samuels, a Jamaican by way of New Jersey who is a former USA Today prep player of the year and is averaging 17 points per game for Pitino. The Cardinals may have the best front court in the country with Samuels, plus forwards Earl Clark and Terrence Williams. Clark, a slashing offensive player, supposedly returned for his senior season rather than become a first round NBA draft choice last spring while Williams, another senior, often gains attention for his playmaking.
It didn’t take long in a conversation for Smith to bring up the Samuels name and how the Gophers will try to counter with their own freshman center, Colton Iverson. “I think he’s (Samuels) a future pro,” Smith said. “He’s very strong down there. I think the match up with him and Iverson is going to be critical when it comes down to who is going to win the game. …”
Smith used the word critical, too, when talking about Minnesota’s Damian Johnson guarding Clark who is Louisville’s second leading scorer at 11.6 points per game. Johnson, a 6-7 junior forward, is probably Minnesota's best defender.
Smith said the Gophers want to be undefeated in nonconference games (two home softies remain after Louisville) but there’s more to it than that. A win in December over highly ranked Louisville will help the Minnesota resume in March when selections are made to participate in the NCAA tournament. “No question, because we feel like Louisville is a team that’s gonna make some noise in March,” Smith said. “And we feel like if we can come in and beat a team of that caliber we feel confident about our team. …”
The Gophers will look back in March and know whether they had the reputation building satisfaction of beating a school that Smith said has its name in “capital letters” on the Minnesota schedule.
Go Gophers!!