With five new players on the roster and without three starters from last season, the Gopher basketball team’s outlook seems as much about guesswork as it does facts.   Coach Tubby Smith is not without expectations, though, and that includes improving on last season’s 20-14 record, 8-10 in the Big Ten Conference.

Smith said on Friday he hopes the improvement equates to “more wins and being in the NCAA tournament.”   The Gophers began practice last week and are preparing for their exhibition opener at Williams Arena against St. Cloud State on November 3 without last season’s three leading scorers, guard Lawrence McKenzie, forward Dan Coleman and center Spencer Tollackson.  Smith and his staff will be trying to figure out how best to blend his eight returning players with newcomers Ralph Sampson III, Colton Iverson, Devoe Joseph, Devron Bostick and Paul Carter.

Sampson and Iverson are forward/center guys who provide size on a roster that doesn’t have much.  Smith said both are two inches taller than Coleman and Spencer, both listed last year at 6-9.  Sampson will be a face-the-basket player, while Iverson is better near the basket, according to Smith.

Joseph, a guard who is considered one of the best young players in Canada, can handle the ball and score.  So, too, will Bostick, a junior college transfer with a big reputation for outside shooting.  Carter, another junior college transfer, is 6-9 and will have to help with the size issue although he only weighs 195 pounds.

Among the returnees are guards Blake Hoffarber, Lawrence Westbrook and Al Nolen, and forward Damian Johnson.  Hoffarber, although only a sophomore, is already considered a clutch scorer and his .427 three point field goal percentage last season is eye-catching.  Smith said Westbrook was one of the team’s “most consistent” players last season, contributing offensively and defensively.  Nolen’s athleticism helped him rank second among Big Ten leaders in steals (1.94 per game) but he needs to be a more aggressive playmaker as the team’s point guard.  Johnson is a defensive specialist who improved his scoring last season, going from 1.6 points per game in 2006-07 to 7.1 last season.

In Smith’s first season as Gopher coach the team improved defensively from 66.2 points per game in 2006-07, to giving up 63.2 last season.  There will be no less emphasis on defense going forward.  “If they don’t defend, they won’t play,” Smith said.  “I promise you that.”

Two college basketball preview magazines add evidence about the guesswork for the coming season.  Athlon Sports predicts a fifth place finish for the Gophers in the Big Ten.  Lindy’s College Basketball puts the Gophers in eighth place.  Athlon forecasts a Big Ten title for Purdue while Lindy’s likes Michigan State (plays here on New Year’s Eve).  Both publications have the same four teams making the NCAA tournament,  Purdue, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Ohio State.

Smith’s teams at Kentucky made 14 consecutive tournament appearances.  Asked on Friday whether he had any regrets about coming here and building a program, Smith said no. “I think every place is good,”  he said.  “We expect to be as good or better here. …”

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Blake Hoffarber is on the regional cover of Athlon Sports along with players from Iowa and Iowa State.  The caption: “Mr. Big Shot.”   Athlon also said the 6-11 Sampson “isn’t far from becoming a monster defensively.”  Lindy’sgave Hoffarber an “Honor Roll” mention as the conference’s top shooter.  The magazine also rated the Gophers’ incoming group of players as the No. 23 recruiting class in the country.

Vikings’ place-kicker Ryan Longwell will return to his Orlando home and spend time with his family for a few days during the team’s bye week.  Longwell will also play golf.  His children, five and seven, are spending part of the fall attending school in Florida and also up here where they receive tutoring.

Vikings wide receiver Robert Ferguson will use his break time to travel home to Houston to assess hurricane damage to his home.

Defensive end Ray Edwards said last week he has no regrets about stating before the season that he wanted to break the NFL single season sack record of Michael Strahan (22.5).  Edwards has 0.5 sacks in six games but his statement is all about goal setting.  “I want to be known as one of the great defensive ends ever to play this game,” he said.  “That’s why I set high goals.”

Edwards, who is in his third season with the Vikings, was married on September 23 to girl friend Djakarta whom he met three years ago in Arizona.

Although some may believe differently, the Vikings have no interest in making the new TCF Bank Stadium a permanent new home.

Timberwolves’ personality-plus bench warmer Mark Madsen had a lot of experience being around people growing up as one of 10 children.

The Wolves’ Rashad McCants, a North Carolina alum, has a sister, Rashanda, playing on the Tar Heels women’s team.

Gopher sophomore goalie Alex Kangas was a major contributor as Minnesota won its opening games against St. Cloud State Friday and Saturday nights, 3-2 and 2-1.  Kangas is still looking for his first shutout but allowed one goal for the 10^th time in his career on Saturday.  He had 27 saves.

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Nationally and locally there’s speculation whether the Vikings franchise will remain in Minnesota.  This week, for example, Forbes.com listed the Vikings among the top five professional franchises most likely to relocate.

The speculation makes for a lot of angst among Vikings fans who gather around the office water cooler during the week or at the local pub on weekends, but the opinion of Sports Headliners is the Vikings will remain in Minneapolis.  The Vikings originated here in 1961 and during that time have moved so far ahead of this state’s other sports attractions in popularity it’s no contest.  How could this town and state give up an entertainment entity that has hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans watching on Sunday afternoons and has embedded itself into the hearts and souls of the masses, young and old?

A franchise relocation isn’t going to happen, even with the Vikings and Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission advocating a $1 billion or so retractable roof stadium on the Metrodome site.  Look for a stadium push to be made during the last weeks of next year’s legislative session.

Yes, economic times aren’t so good but we’re talking about the Vikings, a franchise that has waited its turn in the give-us-a-new-facility line for more than 10 years while the Twins and Gophers were served.  Now the franchise whose revenues have ranked toward the bottom among NFL teams for years and who Forbes magazine ranks last in value among NFL teams is asking for approval of a new facility before the existing use agreement at the Metrodome expires after the 2011 season.

Stadium funding is likely to come from the Vikings and hospitality taxes such as car rental or hotel taxes.  That’s a formula used to finance facilities in other towns.

A roof on the facility is mandatory to help justify the expense.  A covered facility like the Metrodome means a multipurpose facility remains available for community use ranging from high school sports to recreational rollerblading, plus concerts, consumer shows and national events such as the NCAA Final Four and Super Bowl.

Downtown is a central location that can be readily accessed including through public transit in the metro area and throughout the region.  The commission and the Vikings are committed to downtown and the city deserves to continue as home to the Vikings.  Not always recognized is that historically and today, it has been Minneapolis’ area leadership, businesses and fans that have been the foundation to pro sports in this region.

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