Gophers Rodney Williams: most overrated NBA Draft prospect ever?

February 23, 2012 By 1 Comment

rodney-williams

Minnesota Golden Gophers forward Rodney Williams is a bonafide NBA draft prospect. Not so much this year, but for 2013 (where we have him projected as a mid-2nd rounder), and I can’t for the life of me understand why. (But I’m a NFL draftnik, not an NBA draftnik) When fighting for their NCAA Tournament lives this week, the 6-7, 205 junior forward from Minneapolis just disappeared in the 2nd halves of both games. Each of these contests saw Minnesota drop a second half lead and eventually lose.

When you lead the team in scoring, rebounding, blocks, steals, field goal percentage and minutes, you are expected to BE the leader, and THE GUY who takes over in crunch time.

In the loss at Northwestern, Williams had 7 points at halftime, but just two points and two shots in the second twenty minutes. In the 66-61 loss to Michigan State, Williams VANISHED in the second half when Minnesota Tubby Smith needed him most. And in the closing minutes with the game tied, he cost his team dearly at both ends of the floor.

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Minnesota vs. Northwestern Tips Off Big 10 Tourney: Injuries Aplenty

March 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

tubby smith minnesota

In this corner, you have the Minnesota Golden Gophers, a tean that’s been a train wreck ever since losing their starting point guard Al Nolen.

And in this corner, you have the Northwestern Wildcats, a team missing one of their starters in Jershon Cobb, a key reserve (and fill-in starter) in Mike Capocci. Not to mention their star player, John Shurna is still not even close
to 100%.

Something’s got to give in the Big Ten Tournament opener, the #8 vs. #9 game. Someone will be healthy enough to advance to take on #1 (in both the league and the nation) Ohio State.

By Paul M. Banks

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A Bad Week for Gopher Basketball

January 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Devoe Joseph

A season that had only one blemish the first 361 days of 2010 has quickly turned into a nightmare of a new year for Minnesota Gophers Basketball. [Read more…]

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Gophers Lose Walker for the Rest of the Season

December 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

goldy

The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers program announced today that freshman forward Maurice Walker will miss the remainder of the 2010-11 season with a torn posterior cruciate ligament and meniscus. Walker suffered the injury on Dec. 23 in the college basketball game against South Dakota State.

Walker is scheduled to undergo surgery at some point in the upcoming weeks.

“We feel extremely saddened for Mo Walker. He was doing everything we asked him to do this season and was playing extremely well for us, said Gopher head coach Tubby Smith.

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Minnesota Gopher Basketball Hot, but Can it Last?

November 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Tubby Smith

The Minnesota Gophers basketball team is the hottest in the country right now.

As pretty as those words sound to what Tim Brewster once called “Gopher Nation”, the last two of that sentence are the ones that will matter the most in the long run.

With great success comes great scrutiny, and with great scrutiny you might start to see things that you may not want to.

Is that the case with this team?

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Tubby Smith: We “Need to Win the Big Ten Tournament” to get in

March 1, 2010 By 3 Comments

By Mike Gallagher

I’d call that a little much, but Tubby Smith shot straight from the hip when discussing the team’s NCAA tournament chances on Minnesota Vikings voice Paul Allen’s radio show.

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Gophers Al Nolen Done For Season; Royce White Officially Gone

February 5, 2010 By 1 Comment

By Mike Gallagher

Al Nolen’s appeal for re-instatement was denied Tuesday, while Royce White’s saga officially came to an end on Wednesday, two things that are desperately hurting the Gophers on the floor in their quest to the NCAA tournament.

At this point, after their helpless effort at Ohio State Sunday, Tubby Smith can’t even comprehend the idea of the NCAA tournament. [Read more…]

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White: “I’m Withdrawing From the University of Minnesota”

February 2, 2010 By 1 Comment

By Mike Gallagher

Royce White has made many claims over the past four months, one of which already included him “quitting college basketball” via YouTube.

The claim as he was leaving a Hennepin County courthouse on a video posted on StarTribune.com, however, may hold a little more water than his previous claims of departure.

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Gophers Hopes Fading With Heartbreaking Loss to Michigan State

January 23, 2010 By 1 Comment

By Mike Gallagher

What a difference a week makes…..

The Golden Gopher basketball team’s hopes were higher than ever at the beginning of this week, with Royce White practicing for the first time in nearly three months.

The next day things took a drastic turn for the worst.  One of the nation’s top perimeter defenders and captain of the Gopher offense, point guard Al Nolen, was ruled academically ineligible by the NCAA.

It seems that’s how the season has gone for the Gophers, good news followed by equally damaging information.

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BREAKING NEWS: ROYCE WHITE PRACTICES FOR GOPHERS

January 20, 2010 By 6 Comments

By Mike Gallagher

For the first time since Royce White’s shoplifting incident back in early November, Minnesota’s Mr. Basketball and the 17th ranked recruit in the nation was back on the court for the Golden Gophers, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

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Nolen Key to Gophers Success

January 8, 2010 By 4 Comments

By Mike Gallagher

After a good start to the conference season with a win over Penn State, the Gophers found themselves in Iowa City for a clash with the struggling Hawkeyes.

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In Gophers Big Ten Opener, Halftime Draws Most of the Attention

January 2, 2010 By 1 Comment

By Mike Gallagher

The Gophers basketball team got off to a good conference start on Tuesday, with a 75-70 win over Tailor Battle and Penn State.

The Gophers got a great performance out of Lawrence Westbrook, who matched his career high with 29 points.

In all reality, this was a game the Gophers should win nine of ten times, especially if they’re going to be in the top half of the conference when tourney time is upon us.  Maybe the fact that the Gophers weren’t playing Michigan State or Purdue is part of the reason that the people aren’t focusing much on the game, but thinking more about what happened after the first half of it.  It also could be the fact that the halftime events were monumental not only for the program, but for a man that was once a giant in this town.

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