Last nights game - Anyone there? Anyone care? I'm kind of intrigued by the upcoming season. Last night they barely beat St. Cloud State. I had a buddy that was there (we will call him Moe), and he sent me a long email detailing his thoughts. He isn't a huge Gophers follower, but he is a great basketball mind (and player)...here are Moe's thoughts:

The gophs looked pretty rough last night. High level, things looked much the same as last year – smothering, all out defense and inept on offense. The first half ended at a 49-49 tie!

The biggest disappointment was that a d2 team made the U look silly several times – stc would break the press or trap for a wide open layup, or make an extra pass to a wide open shooter. For as many points as the u got off turnovers, they likely gave up as many with total lapses on d. What’s more they really seemed to have no advantage on the boards. I’d say they could be hurting for a big man, but that would imply that they were only hurting for a big man.

There still doesn’t seem to be much talent on this team. The interesting thing was that hoffarber and abdul shamala played less than last year, so tubby must think he has more talent. Still no one is the go-to guy on offense (which sounds bad when no one can beat a d2 guy). An actually, that could be said for every lackluster aspect of the gophs play – bad, made worse by the fact that they’re playing st cloud and not Indiana.

Anyway, the second half turned out much better, the defensive intensity and consistency picked up and the open looks were shut down. Al nolen showed he might be a go to guy if needed. They generated points off of turnovers to put the game out of reach.

Thoughts on players…
Nolen and westbrook will probably have to do most of the scoring. Iverson, who I’m guessing is a freshman, doesn’t look ready but will have to be a scorer inside. Travis busch is a no talent ass clown but could be huge for the u this year with his d and scrappy play. Carter, if he has a decent j, could make things happen. He’s a good combination of quickness and size. Devoe jospeh, who I don’t remember from last year, is garbage. He looks like he could score 30 and give up 40 on any given night. He kinda reminds me of mccants, I’d rather not see him on the floor. Ralph Sampson wins the mr. irrelevant award from last night.

Wow... very interesting. Thanks for posting this.

Man, I thought Ralph would be a stud. That's too bad. I refuse to call him "Sampson" or even "Ralph Sampson III" until he starts playing better...

Wow, thanks for sharing that in-depth pre-season analysis Bonk! Sounds like the Gophs might have a tough year ahead of them...Didn't we finish the year above .500 and get a bid to the NIT though? From the sound of it, that might be a struggle this year.

Do you think the 3 pt line moving back will hurt or help the Gophs? My guess is hurt. Although when you have a kid who can make a jumper while on his backside(Hoffarber), maybe 1 extra foot isn't a big deal.

Speaking of which, here is a link to preseason top 20 (with Scouting reports)

sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/basketbal...s/index.html?eref=T1

1) UNC - Soo incredibly loaded its not fair.
2) UConn - Boo!
3) UCLA - Ranked way too high, especially after losing Love/Westbrook
4) Louie-ville
5) Purdue ??!?!?!?
6) Notre Dame
7) Pitt - What a bunch of thugs.
8) Duke
9) Texas - Longhorns must find a replacement for DJ Augustin
10) Tennessee -
11) Memphis - Lost a lot of talent from last year, it'll be interesting to see how they reload.
12) Mich St - I'm pretty sure they're in Bilas' top 5.
13) Gonzaga - New Rule: Until Gonzaga makes it past the sweet 16, they can no longer be ranked pre-season. Deal?
14) GTown
15) Marquette
16) Arizona State
17) Oklahoma
18) Davidson
19) Miami
20) 'Nova



Ends with some non-traditional powers. With OU, ASU & Miami it almost looks like a college football poll. Looking forward to watching Davidson "The Year After" their magical run. Curry is entertaining to watch, and I'm sure Davidson will be picked up for a few national broadcasts this year!

In Closing I'm PUMPED! Although I'm also a little puzzled on why SI failed to include the Gophs...Typo?