Minnesota scouting report???

4

4realhorn

500+ Posts
I haven't watched them play at all this year. What can we expect from them? With Tubby coaching them I'm sure they will be sound defensively and with Tubby coaching them I'm sure they'll be lacking offensively. What's their personnel look like?
 
I can't recall whether I've watched them play this year... but here is what jumps out at me from their stats...

1. They appear to run fairly deep. Of the 13 players on their roster, 10 have started at least one game this season. 8 of those have started at least 5 games. 11 players average at least 10 minutes a game.
2. They have 3 players capable of playing Center (which is important given Dexter's prominence in our offense lately). All three are 6'9 or taller and range in weight between 220 and 250. All three have played significant minutes.
 
From Sporting News:

No. 7 Texas (22-11) vs. No. 10 Minnesota (22-10)
Thursday, Philadelphia

Reason to watch: To see if either one of these teams is for real. If you would have offered Minnesota a 10 seed in October, the Golden Gophers would've jumped at it. But the Longhorns would have scoffed at such an insult as a No. 7 seed. Then Minnesota was an early season success--the win against Louisville (a No. 1 seed!) was huge--followed by a late-season swoon, and Texas was an early season flop but improved on that.

Texas will win if ... Dexter Pitman dominates playing in the post and A.J. Abrams gets his stroke going. Pitman's play is more important than Abrams'. Proof: When Pitman played poorly against Baylor in the Big 12 semifinals, Texas was eliminated. But Pitman can't do it alone; he needs Damion James to be aggressive and point guard Dogus Balbay to create opportunities for his teammates.

Minnesota will win if ... Devron Bostick continues to emerge and avoids the defensive struggles that have cost him playing time. The junior college transfer looked lost early but played well late. The Gophers could have a size advantage, too, with 6-10 freshmen Colton Iverson and 6-11 freshmen Ralph Sampson III getting in Pitman's way.
 
Dex shouldn't have a problem with either one of the freshman centers. Both pretty talented, but not strong enough yet. I could see Dex putting Sampson in the hoop along with the ball. Wouldn't be surprised to see them bring in Williams off the bench to bang around and use a few fouls also. Dude doesnt play that much, but is close to 300.

James vs. Johnson could be a great matchup. Kid is long, athletic, and blocks a lot of shots. James will have to use his strength advantage and do some work inside. Johnson does a little bit of everything for them.

Nolen and Westbrook are both solid defenders in the backcourt...which makes me worry a bit about AJ. Fortunately, neither one is very big. Offensively, Westbrook is their go to guy. He's the one they trust with the big shot and probably the only one that has the ability to take a game over.

Their best shooter is probably Hoffarber, who comes off the bench. He's the one that won an ESPY for hitting a shot as time expired in the Minnesota state title game while sitting on the three point line a couple years ago. Outside of him and Westbrook, not a lot of outside shooting, much like us.

They do have quite a few other guys that play quality minutes...all capable, but noone that really stands out.

This could end up being one ugly, low scoring game. I do like our chances though.
 
The Horns haven't been very good on the road. If Pitman has an off night, I don't see anyone else able to step it up and fill the void. MU is not that impressive; beating Louisville looks like their best effort, and not that much since.

Close game I think something like Texas 63-58.
 
this might be one of the biggest "who cares" games Texas could play in. I really want this season to be over, it's been beyond pathetic to watch, but OTOH, the opportunity to beat those douchbag blue devils in the 2nd rd would make me happy.
 
Unfortunately I am with Ricky. I want this nightmare of a season to be over. I think we are one and done, but even if we somehow get by the Gophers then we lose by 20 to the Dookies. Awesome.
 
To be honest - I like our chances to beat Minnesota and then escape past Duke.
Dont get me wrong, a victory over Duke will take everything we have, but I think we play much better against non-conference foes. I would much rather play Duke than OU or Kansas right now.

A win over Duke would not shock me
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Sorry, should have pre-empted the typical responses of how far the program has come when 22 wins and a 7 seed is considered bad. Frankly, I could have written the responses myself because I see them on every thread where the Texas basketball team is questioned.

But, IMHO, yes, the program has come a long way and a 7 seed with a potential match up in the second round against Duke is considered a bad season. We have made runs to the Sweet 16, Elite 8, and Final 4. This season we will do none of the above. That makes this basketball postseason disappointing for me. This team is not good and is not what we have come to expect at Texas. Whether it is what Barnes has done this year, the collection of talent, poor recruiting (not having a PG that can throw the ball in the ocean or another shooter on the floor), or whatever - this team is bad and will not do anything in the postseason.

Sorry to be negative Nancy, but I have watched this team all season and looked at this from every angle. I just don't see any other way of analyzing it.
 
No, I was talking more about the season as a whole. Dex has been a pleasant surprise. But his real improvement came through in the Big 12 tournament. If he plays like that against Minny, then we have a shot in that game (not sure it will make a difference against Dook). That will be one of the fascinating things about next year is to see how the new guys mesh with the old guys (namely Dex). There will finally be some shooters (plural, shooters) on the floor and that should open it up for Dex even more.
 
So the Freshman coming in are shooters that we can depend on next year?

I like this team, I don't care if they are one and done. The effort and hustle has been everything that I would expect from a Longhorn team. No true drop dead superstar, one and we would be talking 1-2 seed.

Whether we win or lose any more games this year, hats off to the boys for playing their tails off!!!!!
 
I am excited about the tourney as well... and I hate to look ahead... but good-grief is Texas going to be good next year. The footage I've seen of our recruits is impressive. As insane as this may sound, anything less than a Final Four would be disappointing.
 
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