Series: Minnesota leads 94-57
Of Note: Northwestern has won 6 of 7 in the series including three straight in Minneapolis.
Tip: 8 p.m. central time
Television: Big Ten Network (We get Trent Tucker tonight!)
Liveblog: Not so much. I'm likely going to miss the first half of the game :-(
Ken Pomeroy Scouting Reports: Minnesota, NorthwesternLiveblog: Not so much. I'm likely going to miss the first half of the game :-(
Rankings:
AP and ESPN: Both Unranked.
Basketball Predictions: Minnesota "Just Missed Cut," Northwestern Unranked.
Ken Pomeroy RPI: Minnesota 52, Northwestern 178
RPI Ratings: Minnesota 53, Northwestern 178
Real Time RPI: Minnesota 62, Northwestern 171
Articles and Blog Posts:
CSTV: All of your need to knows, even if they don't know how to spell Al Nolen.
From the Barn: "The Gopher players, coaches, facilities, and school colors are all better than Northwestern’s but if the Gophers can’t get rebounds, it doesn’t matter. However, there are no indications that rebounding will be a problem tomorrow night, and I predict a 71-57 win."
Star Tribune: Myron Medcalf article suggests the Gophers are ready to be back at The Barn after four straight away from Minneapolis.
Star Tribune: Jim Souhan takes a look at the first few months of the Tubby Smith, Dan Monson and Billy Gillispie tenures at their respective schools. Souhan throws in the requisite potshot at UK fans, stating Lexington, Kentucky is the "epicenter of the mentally imbalanced basketball universe." Because I miss KFAN out east: I always loved that one.
Pioneer Press: Charley Walters tells us the Gophers are now a "big deal."
Pioneer Press: Marcus Fuller talks to Tubby Smith about making The Barn a tough place to play, and eventually replacing the storied building. Uh-oh.
Chicago Tribune: "Gophers, Smith may see a Golden age." Gotta love opposition press like that.
15 comments:
I'm torn, do I add a "Save The Barn" page to my site, or some sort of "What is my really saying"/stupid Myronisms running tally. Any suggestions?
"Magnificent Myron" could be a good series.
Find room for both... Also, my favorite place for college rankings, one you may not know about is the Colley matrix. He uses un-biased, pure W-L results to calculate rankings, and is pretty accurate.
http://www.colleyrankings.com/hcurrank.html
PJS, you've got lots 'o links here. Impressive. Most impressive. The Golden Gophers need to control tempo. Northwestern is sneaky in games like these.
Hopefully this first half will show Tubby that Hoffarber should be playing more.
Also, anyone know where Al Nolen is? I'm just watching GameCast on my computer, but it doesn't look like he's seen the floor yet.
Alex, Nolen seems to be playing his fair share. He had a nice little run in the second where he provided a nice little spurt. We've seen some three guard lineups tonight, which I like, but are also because NW lacks size.
In the bad news department, we're shooting free throws like fifth graders.
Dave, Thanks for the site, I'll check it out.
Hoopraker, Thanks. I like to read as much about my teams as possible and assume that others are the same way. ... NW is sticking around. Annoying they are, that's for sure.
Honestly, I don't know what else Hoff has to do to get more minutes.
He's played almost the least minutes and is our one of our leading scorers. He scored 15 pts. in 18 minutes tonight! He gets more rebounds than any other guard on the team too.
Nothing against JAS or Westbrook, but in looking at the straight numbers, Hoffarber should be getting A LOT more time on the court.
Honestly, I don't know what else Hoff has to do to get more minutes.
He's played almost the least minutes and is our one of our leading scorers. He scored 15 pts. in 18 minutes tonight! He gets more rebounds than any other guard on the team too.
Nothing against JAS or Westbrook, but in looking at the straight numbers, Hoffarber should be getting A LOT more time on the court.
sorry for the double-post :(
rodentramble: Without a doubt, Hoffarber should be starting. For that matter, so should Al Nolen.
I do think Tubby has a reason for not starting them (improves our "second line"), but that is no reason for not giving Hoffarber ample playing time. He's clearly one of our better scorers, there's no reason he should be on the back end of the bench with Ryan Saunders.
Hoff is usually one of the first subs into the game, so he isn't at the FAR end of the bench (the back end of the bench would be...I don't know, near the water boys?). Also, before you turn him into the next Jimmy Chitwood, keep in mind that in the two games that he has had a big first half, Blake has completely disappeared in the second half.
http://fromthebarn.org/myrons-musings/
Not that I have too much time on my hands...
But From the Barn, he probably only got 4-5 minutes in the second half, despite getting probably double that in the first?
Of course he's not going to score nearly as much if he's not getting comparable minutes.
You're probably right FTB, back of the bench is probably an exaggeration. But while you're right that he's usually one of the first subs, after that first rotation, he usually gets lost on the bench somewhere.
I mean, he's no Eric Gordon, but he's our best 3-point threat, and there's no reason he shouldn't be one of the first 'second stringers' to come into the game consistently, if not a starter over Abu already.
Give Tubby credit for this: When Hoffarber got hot in the first half, he kept him on the floor for extended minutes.
Leaving Hoffarber on the second line gives that group scoring punch and a quicker player at the 3 spot. With Nolen, Payton, Hoff, Johnson and Williams on the floor, the Gophers can keep up the defensive pressure. That line would me worse off if JAS was there instead of Hoff.
Nolen right now is our best PG. But Tubby can't afford to start both Nolen and McKenzie.
Busy day for me. I'll be back later on this afternoon with more thorough thoughts on the win. And for those who saw the game ... didn't you think Tollackson played his best game of the year?
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