Gophers Basketball – Page 132 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Gophers Goal: Big Ten’s Best Backcourt

Posted on October 22, 2014October 22, 2014 by David Shama

Notes from a Tuesday afternoon of interviewing University of Minnesota basketball players at Williams Arena. The Gophers are preparing for their fall schedule that begins next month with a November 6 home exhibition against UMD and continues November 14 with a nationally televised game in Puerto Rico against NCAA title contender Louisville.

The nucleus of championship college basketball teams is often the guards. Minnesota features shooting guard Andre Hollins and point guard DeAndre Mathieu, team captains and seniors. They led the Gophers in scoring and assists during 2013-2014 when Minnesota had a 25-13 record and won the NIT championship.

Mathieu, who will stay in the gym until he makes 300 or more jump shots to improve his shooting, said he and Hollins “want to be the best backcourt in the conference.” When the coaches and media selected All-Big Teams after last season the two didn’t receive a lot of recognition. Both were named honorable mention by the media. Hollins was an honorable mention selection by the coaches.

Omissions haven’t gone unnoticed. “I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bother me because I was kind of upset about it,” Mathieu said. “I felt like we played good enough. I talk to him (Andre) about it all the time. We got some work to do.

“We’re going out this year and trying to be the best two guards in the league. I know we’re going to have to do our parts to make this team the best team possible. Hopefully being two of the best guards in the conference can do that.”

Last week it was announced that a media panel selected a five players preseason All-Big Ten team and neither Hollins nor Mathieu were included.

Mathieu said there’s no comparison between how the Gophers look now with a year ago at this time. “This team is a lot more intense—a lot more competitive. We’re trying to get it on the defensive end. I thought last year we weren’t as intense on the defensive end.”

Mathieu likes what he sees of the full court and half court defenses. It’s in the half court where he believes the Gophers will have to consistently be at their best to limit top teams including Wisconsin.

The Badgers are a unanimous preseason choice to win the Big Ten Conference regular season title. With four of five starters returning from last year’s NCAA Final Four team, the Badgers who were 30-8 last season, are a favorite to win the national championship. The Big Ten media panel voted Wisconsin center Frank Kaminsky Preseason Player of the Year.

College basketball media has wide ranging expectations for the Gophers. Lindy’s magazine, for example, forecasts a fourth place Big Ten finish behind Wisconsin, Ohio State and Nebraska. Sporting News magazine predicts the Gophers will be ninth in the conference.

Nebraska’s basketball program has newfound respect from forecasters. Gophers senior center Elliott Eliason is from Chadron, Nebraska, a small town in the western part of the state. He said there’s a “bastion of Gophers fans” in his hometown so he’s not worried about receiving a hard time because of Nebraska basketball. “Plus, we beat them (the Cornhuskers) last year in football so I give them heat for that. They care a lot more about that than anything else.”

Eliason is listed at 6-11 but said he’s a “legit” 7 feet with shoes on and wants to be listed as a 7-footer.

Junior power forward Joey King said he is stronger than last season after summer workouts and increasing his weight from 218 pounds to 234. King said basketball for him is “all about energy and effort.” He plays without fear. “I haven’t had any serious injuries to worry about—other than a broken nose and a finger. Those weren’t too bad for me. Definitely no fears out on the court. I mean people are going through worse things.”

King, an Eagan, Minnesota native, said a summer highlight was attending WE Fest in Detroit Lakes. “Me and my friends like to take a camper up there and spend a couple days watching some of our favorite country artists, so it was a good time.”

Senior forward Mo Walker said his weight, 250, remains the same as last season. That was down from about 320 pounds as a sophomore. Last season he looked and moved like a different player.

Walker had career highs of 18 points and nine rebounds in the Gophers’ win over the Badgers last January at Williams Arena. This year the two teams don’t meet until February 21 in Madison and March 5 in Minneapolis.

“Always looking forward to playing the Badgers—border rival team,” Walker said. “Home crowd always wants us to win. The whole state is pulling for us every time we play them.”

Hollins injured his ankle 16 seconds into that January win over the Badgers and not only missed the game but others because of it. He said yesterday he is recovered from the injury. “It got progressively stronger but it was never the same during the season.”

Hollins said in his new role as co-captain he’s “much more vocal than last year” and is looking forward to the season. “We’re a lot deeper than last year. We have a lot of talent.”

Charles Buggs, a sophomore forward, played minimal minutes last season but his performance at home in the Iowa game was a peak effort. He made five of six field goals, including all three of his three pointers, and scored 13 points in 19 minutes to help the Gophers win. Why can’t he play like that more frequently?

“I feel like with me that’s more of a mental thing,” he answered. “I just gotta keep my head together all the time and make sure I am just pushing myself to work hard throughout the whole year.”

Buggs had surgery on his left knee a couple weeks after Minnesota defeated SMU in New York for the NIT title. He was inactive during the summer, limited to shooting and dribbling. “But I was really out the whole summer,” said Buggs who expects to be 100 percent in a few weeks.

Buggs was recruited by former Gophers coach Tubby Smith, now at Texas Tech. Buggs’ parents remain friendly with Smith and they attended the Midnight Madness practice last week when Smith, dressed in a John Shaft costume, fell off a motorcycle. Smith wasn’t injured in the fall.

The Gophers will have a scrimmage starting at 4 p.m. on Sunday that is free and open to the public. Doors at Williams Arena open at 3:30 p.m.

Gophers Football & Hockey Notes

Gophers offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover said yesterday that walk-on true freshman Jacques Perra from Roseville is the No. 3 quarterback behind Mitch Leidner and Chris Streveler. “There’s a real confidence about him and he’s a pretty darned good player, too,” Limegrover said. “He’s been able to separate himself as far as that No. 3 goes.”

Limegrover acknowledged the offensive line is improving but let it be known his standards are high. “One thing you need to understand when you’re an offensive line coach, you never have a good day. There’s never a day when all five of those guys do everything right every play. I’m a perfectionist (and) those guys know it. We win a game and I go into the film room, and if you’re an outsider, you’d think we lost by 30.”

Gophers tight end Maxx Williams said he notices excitement on campus with the team off to a 6-1 start. “We want to keep winning for the school. I think the students love it.”

The Gophers’ two home hockey games with Wisconsin in January are sold out and so, too, are single games on November 1 with St. Cloud State and November 14 against UMD. Tickets are available for the remaining Minnesota home games.

The Gophers’ first regular season home series of the fall begins Friday night against Bemidji State. Junior defenseman Mike Reilly will be honored on Saturday evening for being named All-American last season.

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Ponder Rookie Stats Top Bridgewater

Posted on October 13, 2014October 13, 2014 by David Shama

Christian Ponder and Teddy Bridgewater have similar statistics in their first two starts as NFL rookie quarterbacks.

In 2011 Ponder threw three touchdown passes with a 80.95 rating in a loss to the Packers and win over the Panthers. Bridgewater has no touchdown passes and a 70.1 rating after a win last month against the Falcons and yesterday’s loss to the Lions. Ponder had two interceptions in his first two games while Bridgewater has three. Ponder totaled 455 yards in those games, Bridgewater 505.

Since the 2013 season Ponder’s disappointing play made him Public Enemy No. 1 with Vikings fans while Bridgewater has been greeted this year as a savior. Before yesterday’s home game Bridgewater’s mother drew attention from the media outside TCF Bank Stadium, and then sounded the Gjallarhorn prior to kickoff. All was well when her son took the field for the Vikings’ first offensive possession and the crowd chanted, “Teddy! Teddy!”

Moments later, though, the 21-year-old Bridgewater threw a bad pass that was intercepted in the Lions’ end zone, killing the best Vikings’ drive of the day. The next time Bridgewater took the field in the first quarter there was no chanting. Then on his third series of the day he fumbled, although the Vikings recovered the ball.

Before the game ended the youngest Viking had thrown three interceptions and could have had a couple more picked off by the Lions. It was a bad day for the offense as the Vikings, now 2-4, came up with only 212 yards and three points on a fourth quarter Blair Walsh field goal.

The similar stats of Ponder and Bridgewater aren’t to suggest who was initially better—or will have the superior long-term career. The numbers, though, make the point that fans expecting rookie quarterbacks to carry offenses and teams in their first games, and seasons, is a task beyond almost any player past or present.

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer was angry after yesterday’s 17-3 loss to the Lions, a rival team that is now 4-2 and leading the NFC North with the Packers. He didn’t go overboard to defend Bridgewater in the postgame news conference. “There’s a lot of people that could have done better including him,” Zimmer said.

Bridgewater was sacked eight times in the game, a major indictment of the offensive line. He also threw off-target at times while during other plays his receivers dropped balls or didn’t come up with catches that looked possible.

The Vikings only rushed for 69 yards. Part of that is on the offensive line, too.

Left tackle Matt Kalil was frustrated after the game and pointed out the Lions have been among the best defenses in the league. “We definitely had our hands full. We just let some plays get away from us,” he said. “Just little mistakes we gotta fix. They capitalized on them and got pressure on Teddy, and that was the story today.”

Ponder has seen that story, too, but it’s not one an angry Zimmer wants to get used to. “We’re going to look at everything again,” he said when asked about personnel changes.

Worth Noting

Tickets reportedly were being sold for as low as $10 on the street before yesterday’s Vikings game. Other sellers were asking for prices of $20 and $30 per ticket.

Vikings executive vice president Lester Bagley said last week no “announcement is imminent” about naming rights for the new downtown stadium opening in July of 2016. There are 18 Fortune 500 companies in the state—including 17 in the metro area—and Bagley indicated it’s likely one will buy the naming rights. Benefits for a Minnesota company are expected to exceed those accrued by a business from outside the state.

Jalen Myrick’s 100-yard kickoff return was the difference in the Gophers’ 24-17 win over Northwestern on Saturday. The Georgia native said neither in college or high school had he returned a kickoff for a score. “If they come up at me again, I am gonna have to get’em to pay,” the sophomore said.

Myrick was named Big Ten Co-Special Teams Player of the week with Michigan’s Matt Wile, and Gophers’ senior linebacker Damien Wilson was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for his career high 15 tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss performance in the win over Northwestern. He leads the conference with 11 tackles per game.

Although the Gophers are 5-1 overall, and 2-0 in the Big Ten, they aren’t included in the nation’s top 25 polls. David Cobb, who rushed for 103 yards in Minnesota’s win on Saturday, was asked if the Gophers belong. “That’s up to the people who rank,” he said.

Texas Tech, coached by Tubby Smith, is last in a Big 12 coaches poll released last week forecasting the order of finish for conference basketball teams in 2015. Smith never had a winning league record in six seasons as Gophers coach, nor did he in 2013-2014 at Tech, his first season there. Smith did coach three NCAA Tournament teams at Minnesota and five times won 20 or more games. Iowa State, coached by former Timberwolves player and executive Fred Hoiberg, will place fifth in the 10-team league and Kansas will finish first, according to the poll.

Smith successfully recruited Rice Lake’s Wally Ellenson but after Ellenson transferred earlier this year Minnesota lost any chance of getting his brother Henry, now a coveted high school senior. Both Ellensons will play at Marquette a year from this fall.

Tech has offered a scholarship to Tre Jones, the Apple Valley High School ninth grader. His brother Tyus is a freshman at Duke where first-year teammate Jahlil Okafor is a favorite to win college player of the year awards but he will have competition from Wisconsin senior Frank Kaminsky.

Preseason polls will have Duke and Wisconsin at or near the top, while the Gophers are a contender for an early top 25 ranking.

Apple Valley plays DeLaSalle, featuring Gophers commit Jarvis Johnson, in one of 15 games on December 13 at Minnetonka High School as part of the Tip Off Classic.

Former Timberwolves center Darko Milicic announced last month he will become a professional kickboxer.

Flip Saunders might start answering to the nickname “Cop.” He is coach, owner (minority) and president of basketball operations for the Timberwolves.

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Big Ten Authority Picks Cats Tomorrow

Posted on October 10, 2014October 10, 2014 by David Shama

“J” Leman predicts a close game tomorrow when the Gophers, 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten Conference, play Northwestern, 3-2 and 2-0, at TCF Bank Stadium. But the former University of Illinois All-American who is now a Big Ten Network football analyst told Sports Headliners he predicts the Wildcats will win.

Leman followed Northwestern’s 0-2 start this season, losing to California and Northern Illinois in Evanston, but since then the Wildcats have won three consecutive games including a dominating performance against Penn State on the road and a home win last Saturday over nationally-ranked Wisconsin. Leman, who was the analyst on BTN’s coverage of the Northwestern-PSU game, said this is a “tale” of two Wildcat teams and the group now on a three-game winning streak is featuring an “opportunistic defense” that stops teams from scoring at 20 yards and closer to the goal line.

“They’ve never been a shut down, lock’em down Michigan State style defense,” Leman said. “They bend a lot. They’re not going to give up a big play. …They’re going to make you work all the way down the field.”

Last Saturday the Wildcats held Wisconsin’s nationally-feared run game to 284 yards and only one touchdown rushing in a 20-14 win. The Wildcats came up with four interceptions including three by safety Godwin Igwebuike who was honored this week as Big Ten Defensive and Freshman Player of the Week.

The Wildcats and Gophers are tied for second in the Big Ten behind Michigan State with +6 turnover margins. “Here’s the key for Minnesota—it’s not turning the ball over and it’s red zone efficiency,” Leman said. “Northwestern is great at making a play when they need a play. …If Minnesota can win the turnover battle, they’ll win the football game.”

But Leman predicts the Gophers, who had a bye on the schedule last week, won’t win because of Minnesota’s suspect passing game. The Gophers are last in passing among conference teams averaging 113.2 yards per game, although quarterback Mitch Leidner did have his best performance of the season against Michigan when he completed 14 of 22 throws including one touchdown in an upset win on September 27.

“Until they can find consistency at that position, they’re going to struggle in close games,” Leman said. “That’s usually what happens when you have issues at quarterback. When you have issues at quarterback you’re going to turn the ball over, and you’re already playing an opportunistic defense (Northwestern).”

When Leman looks at the Wildcats he sees an “offense that’s coming together.” Senior quarterback Trevor Siemian can be productive and has talent among his receivers but the player Leman raves about is 5-11, 185-pound freshman running back Justin Jackson. He ran for a career high 162 yards against the Badgers. “I think Jackson will be the premier running back in this conference by the time he’s a junior or senior,” Leman said.

That statement should make an impression with the Gophers and so too is Leman’s comparison of Jackson with former Minnesota All-American running back Laurence Maroney. “I think if you look at Justin Jackson’s build—Maroney was a little bit thicker—but the way Justin Jackson runs with breakaway speed, runs angry and knows when to cut it up (the field) on the stretch play like Maroney…there’s some eerie similarities,” Leman said.

Leman is a fan of Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald and also an admirer of the Gophers’ Jerry Kill. During Fitzgerald’s nine-year career at Northwestern the Wildcats have drawn national attention with their success and have sometimes specialized in winning close games.

Fitzgerald was one of Northwestern’s greatest linebackers in the 1990s and Kill said the Wildcats “reflect” their head coach’s intensity and intelligence. “They’re always in the right place. They always step up with big plays. They have since he’s been there.”

Kill is in his fourth season as Gophers’ head coach and his staff has increased the win totals each season and Minnesota had an 8-5 record last year. “At Minnesota they develop football players,” Leman said.

Leman doesn’t think the Gophers will earn their fifth win tomorrow, but he has a positive outlook for Minnesota—a team whose attributes includes top running back David Cobb and a solid defense. “I still think Minnesota finds a way to get to eight or nine wins this year,” Leman said.

Worth Noting

Cobb ranked sixth nationally in rushing at 144.4 yards per game after last weekend. Leman rates him among the top five running backs in the Big Ten along with Ameer Abdullah (Nebraska), Tevin Coleman (Indiana), Melvin Gordon (Wisconsin) and Jeremy Langford (Michigan State). Kill said Cobb, a 5-11, 229-pound senior, is faster and stronger than last season when he ran for 1,202 yards—the 12th best total in Gophers’ history.

“He’s got great vision at the line of scrimmage, and he’s got a knack of keeping his pad level down—and then the strength in his legs—he’s very strong down below,” Kill said. “I think he’s harder to tackle this year than he’s ever been and we noticed that in camp.”

Cobb often makes runs that are longer than expected. He finds running room where there is minimal space and can turn a four-yard opening into 10 because of vision, burst and strength. “You know what? He’s amazing,” said Gophers offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover.

Maxx Williams, the Gophers’ sophomore tight end who could be named All-Big Ten this season, said he, too, is faster than last year. Could the 6-4, 250-pound Williams, who is known for his speed, run as fast as the team’s wide receivers? “Do my best to,” he answered.

Athletes have different ways of handling pregame anxieties. Gophers’ senior wide receiver Isaac Fruechte told Sports Headliners he vomited before football and track events while in high school, and up until this season at Minnesota.

East Ridge High School junior quarterback Seth Green’s parents, Bryan and Teresa Green, both attended the University of Minnesota. Bryan was a running back for the Gophers in the early 1990s. Seth is expected to announce his college choice October 15, with Michigan State, Minnesota and Oregon the contenders.

Vikings’ executive vice president Lester Bagley told Sports Headliners the franchise has thought about one day hosting the NFL Draft. “We haven’t worked on it but certainly it has crossed our minds,” he said.

New York City has been the long-time home of the league’s college draft but that will change next year in Chicago. The draft will be held at a large Chicago theatre, and NFL fan activities will be staged at the city’s Grant Park.

Bagley said this area has the venues and spaces to host the draft and fan festival but the franchise has its “hands full” now with details in playing temporarily at TCF Bank Stadium, building the new downtown Vikings stadium and planning for the 2018 Minneapolis Super Bowl. “We’re sure it’s something community (Minneapolis-St. Paul) leadership would be interested in,” Bagley said. “We’ll see how it goes in Chicago.”

During an interview Tuesday morning on 1500 ESPN, Gophers’ basketball coach Richard Pitino indicated the most uncertainty about the team’s starting lineup is at small forward and center. There’s competition at small forward between Carlos “Squirrel” Morris and Daquein McNeil, while Elliott Eliason and Mo Walker are trying to win the starting center job. Guards Andre Hollins and DeAndre Mathieu, and power forward Joey King, look like starters at their positions.

The Timberwolves play their second exhibition game of the fall tonight against the 76ers at Target Center and FSN North will televise starting at 7 p.m.

Add Cardinals’ relief pitcher and Minnesota native Pat Neshek to the list of players excelling after leaving the Twins. He has pitched in four games during the post-season with a 2.45 ERA in 3.2 innings. During the 2014 regular season Neshek had a 1.87 ERA and 7-2 record.

Dick Jonckowski, the Gophers’ baseball and basketball public address announcer, said he sold about 4,000 of 8,000 sports memorabilia items during his sale at the Canterbury Park Expo Center. Although he doesn’t have the final total, he thought sales might reach $13,000.00 for the fundraiser to help pay medical bills and restore the basement at his home that was flooded earlier this year. He is planning to sell the remaining inventory from the Canterbury sale to a Minneapolis sports memorabilia dealer.

Jonckowski is being treated for non-Hodgkin lymphoma and type 2 diabetes. He finishes chemotherapy in early December and expects a full recovery from the cancer. His 71st birthday is October 22.

For the first time in 2014 the MIAC has five teams receiving votes in both the AFCA Division III Coaches’ Poll and the D3football.com Top 25. In the D3football.com rankings, Bethel leads at No. 11 with Concordia 23rd, Saint John’s 24th and St. Thomas 25th, and Gustavus made the “others receiving votes” section of the poll. In the AFCA, Bethel is 16th, St. Thomas 21st and Concordia 25th, with Saint John’s and Gustavus also receiving votes.

Wild center Ryan Carter, from White Bear Lake and Minnesota State, is one of 16 WCHA alumni on NHL opening week rosters. Last night the recently signed Carter made his regular season debut with the Wild in the team’s 5-0 win over the Avalanche.

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