Positive Numbers: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: 0). I should put this part of the volleyball team's schedule in more proper, and more hyperventilating, terms. This may be The Hardest Portion Of A Schedule This Program Has Ever Faced. Yes, this team is playing their final four games of the regular season at the Sports Pavilion. But they arguably host the four best teams in the Big Ten Conference, including the clubs ranked first and third.
And they've won the first three. My God, they did it. It wasn't easy, however. Over the weekend they went up by two sets to both Michigan St. and Michigan, but were pushed to the full five sets before winning. The stress of putting away the Spartans and Wolverines seemed to have caught up with them Dranksgiving Night, when #1 Nebraska took the first two sets. I was at the game, and when the U. was up in Set 2 21-17 but then allowed an 8-1 run to the Cornhuskers to go up two-sets-to-none, I tweeted, "Game over."
I was checking my phone for Set 3. I didn't realize that Nebraska had the Gophers 23-20 and poised for the sweep. But, somehow (I don't remember, I still was preoccupied with my smart), they took the Huskers to extra points and pulled out the set, 28-26. That's when the team and the match got my attention back. The U. stormed out to a big lead in Set 4, and while Nebraska battled back, they took the set at 17. So it was a hell of a match where both teams seemed to have been spent coming back from huge deficits. And yet, somehow, Minnesota took Set 5, 17-15, when a Cornhusker was dubiously called for double-contact. The epic comeback was complete. The U. broke Nebraska's winning streak at 14. And they are still in the running not only for a piece of a second straight conference title but also the #1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Still, they have one final contest: Senior Night Saturday night against third-ranked Wisconsin. There's a very real possibility that the U. has run out of gas to finish the season. In fact, all this gauntlet-throwing and character-revealing makes me scared that the team is running on fumes and has nothing for the tournament. Well, we'll see when we get there. In the meantime, I have to enjoy what may be the most incredible volleyball match I've ever seen, stopped paying attention to, and then paid attention to again.
#0: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -1). Last year's squad is an extremely low bar; after all, they racked up the worst record in program history. So it wouldn't take much to improve on that team.
I saw this club in back-to-back games this week, and so far, so good. Friday's Gavitt Tipoff Game vs. St. John's was the dicey one. They were trailing big throughout much of the first half, roared to a double-digit lead till about midway through the second half, and had to survive a hot-shooting Red Storm team to win, 92-86. On Tuesday against Arkansas, they were trailing until Razorback Head Coach Mike Anderson decided to implement his "Forty Minutes Of Hell" gameplan and started speeding up the contest. Somehow, that's when the Gophers started playing their best. They destroyed Arkansas, 85-71, and it really wasn't that close.
The big difference between this year and last is, of course, the players. Amir Coffey (son of Gopher hardcourt great Richard Coffey) is a freshman and may already be the best player on the team. He dropped 30 on St. John's and led the team in scoring with 19 versus Arkansas. Meanwhile, Reggie Lynch is holding his own on the down low; he registered 11 rebounds and nine blocks Friday, then had 10 points and 7 rebounds Tuesday. And they passed much more competently than they probably did last year. Look, I know it's very early, and many prognosticators don't think these guys will reach the NCAA Tournament (if they don't, Head Coach Richard Pitino is in big trouble). But from what I saw in these two games, these players have talent, honest-to-goodness talent.
This week: Southern Illinois at Williams tonight (Friday night), then they play Florida St. (just like the women b-ballers, except this team plays in Tallahassee) for the male version of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Monday.
#-1: Gopher football (Last Week: -5). I don't have too many things to say about this team, I'm afraid. They vanquished Northwestern in the home finale, 29-12, to get to 8-3 overall. They have no shot of reaching the B1G title game, even though they can spoil Wisconsin's chances of doing so if they spring the upset in Madison Saturday afternoon (in which case Nebraska wins the B1G West if they beat Iowa today/Friday). As for these Goofs, I've seen projections putting them in either the Foster Farms Bowl, being played in (I'm guessing) San Diego or the Pinstripe Bowl in Yankee Stadium. Again, they seem to be at a level where they can beat incompetent teams and can't beat superior teams. And that, my friends, is that.
#-2: Gopher wrestling (Re-Entry!). In the first match in the program's Post-J Robinson Era, they barely -- barely -- defeat South Dakota St. of all teams, 18-17. If this is how things are going to be from now on, maybe we should just shutter this program.
In case you don't know, Robinson was suspended and then eventually fired around Labor Day -- ostensibly for covering up his players buying and selling prescription drugs, but really for a long and strange stretch of making up his own rules in his semi-autonomous fiefdom. The U. only looked the other way because Robinson was so successful, winning back-to-back NCAA titles just after the turn of the millennium. But he felt he was too above the law, and when a scandal happened that finally could have held the athletic program and the university liable, Athletic Director Mark Coyle finally had the broom to finally sweep out the eccentric Robinson.
However, in his place, on an interim basis, is Brandon Eggum. Eggum grappled under Robinson. Is a disciple of The Greatest Head Coach In Gopher Wrestling History going to clean up the program, or does he only know what his mentor told him? And, of course, how is he as a coach and a recruiter? If this first dual is any indication -- they had to win four consecutive matches to beat the Jackrabbits -- it's not much.
So, if you want to look at this negatively, you have a coach who has no track record but, theoretically, a belief he can cut corners in his program the same way his predecessor did. That is definitely not a winning combination. And therefore they should lose in their next match, against Oklahoma St. at the Sports Pavilion Sunday afternoon.
#-3: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -2). Well, here comes the correction. They outlasted Georgetown and routed Seton Hall at The Barn over the weekend. But in their second game away from home -- albeit in the Bahamas -- they lost in the Junkanoo Jam tournament opener Thanksgiving afternoon to Georgia, 70-58.
I have nothing else to add to this team. They play North Carolina in the loser's game tonight (Friday night), then host Florida St. in their portion of the ACC/B1G Challenge Wednesday.
#-4: Gopher men's hockey (Re-Entry!). Split a home-and-home with MSU-Mankato: Nipped the Mavericks at Mariucci 1-0 after getting drubbed by them in Mankato the night before, 4-1. One of the most irksome points haters of Don Lucia make is that the flagship school in The State Of Hockey regularly loses to the four other top-flight programs in Minnesota. When you're the biggest and most prestigious school, you should get the pick of the litter, and therefore you should be the most successful. That hasn't been the case lately; you can argue that Minnesota-Duluth has had more success in recent years, and the Mavericks have ruled the WCHA roost for a while now.
Moreover, you can gauge in-state strength with the North Star College Cup played at the X every January. It's a four-team tournament, but because the U. is, well, the U., they are guaranteed to play in it every year. Well, they won it the first year, in 2014, but have finished dead last the last two. Yes, it's just one tournament. But whether it be Gopher talent itching to make money in the NHL, Lucia's shortcomings as a recruiter and a developer of talent, or "chemistry," the smaller teams in the state have routinely stood toe-to-toe with the U., and it's pissing off the blue bloods here in the city.
This weekend they're in the Boston area. Tonight (Friday night) they play Northeastern, then they play another blue-blood program, Boston College, Sunday afternoon.
#-5: Wild (Last Week: -3). Apparently I am reading that the Mild are suffering from a paucity of goals as of late. Seems uncharacteristic of Bruce Beaudreau's MO, or at least his reputation. That may have been alleviated slightly this screening week, where they faced three teams that were stolen from their original cities: They lost at home Saturday to The Bastard Quebec Nordiques, lost in Overtime at The Bastard North Stars Monday, but outscored The Bastard Atlanta Thrashers Wednesday. The lost to Colorado really hurts because they were up 2-0 and then allowed three Avalanche goals. But I can't put them any lower because the two squads below the Mild are in much more dire positions, so in that sense, this team still has hope.
A hard back-to-back to start the week: Home Black Friday afternoon against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins followed by a visit to St. Louis the next night. They then start a trip to the Northwest Tuesday in Vancouver.
#-6: Vikings (Last Week: -6). From 1990 to 2014, only four-of-43 teams that began their season 5-0 failed to reach the playoffs. The ViQueens are on their way to being another.
Even though they finally broke their losing streak at four by beating (more like outlasting) The Bastard Cardinals Sunday, they fell back into the shit with an infuriating blueballs of a loss in Detroit Thanksgiving afternoon. They now sit at 6-5 with a looming humiliation at home at the hands of red-hot Dallas. And even though they now are a game behind the Lions, they essentially are two games behind them because they swept the Vikes.
Injuries have become an even greater factor this season; not only is the offensive line in shreds (I saw something on ESPN that $30 million of salary on the o-line is sidelined), Marcus Sherels did not play yesterday. Still, all three phases on the club continue to malfunction. The defense yielded a drive of 75 yards that led to Detroit's first score of the game (a Touchdown) and a 68-yard drive that ended with a Field Goal and a tie game.
But this game turned on one play, and therefore the blame needs to be pinned on Sam Bradford. There's already been talk that he's reverted to his safe space of throwing only small and immediate passes. That inability (or refusal) to throw deep allows opposing defenses to crowd the line of scrimmage. And that kind of set up the Interception Bradford threw in Vikes' territory. Lion Darius Slay was right in front of Adam Thielen, and somehow Bradford didn't see him. Matt Prater kicks the game-ending FG at the gun, and they might have well shot the Vikings' playoff chances dead.
I shouldn't slag on Bradford a whole lot; after all, he's still upright, which is something you couldn't say about him much in the past. But as his shortcomings continue and his team's losses pile up, the trade for him is becoming a more obvious mistake. And since they traded their first-round pick in the upcoming draft for him, that mistake could be an extremely serious one.
#-7: Timberwolves (Last Week: -4). OK, this shit isn't supposed to happen. I don't really care (at least this week) that these guys are young and you need to give them time. As good as Memphis, Boston and New Orleans are, you can beat one of those three teams. (Their best shot was the home one vs. the Celtics, but they lost that Monday, 99-93.) Their after-half woes continue; they were doubled up, 36-18, to The Bastard Charlotte Hornets in Wednesday's third, and as of November 16, they have a net rating (whatever the fuck that is) of -37 in the third stanza.
A lot of factors go into this puzzling anomaly (they have positive net ratings the other three quarters). Andrew Wiggins has lost his shot. Ricky Rubio has lost his game. Their offense is great overall, but the biggest factor is that their defense overall sucks, which is surprising given that Head Coach Tom Thibodeau made his bones on D. What this team needs is a veteran presence, someone to inject some professionalism and urgency into the first of many long seasons. I've heard some rumblings that Thibs is going to trade a young'un (Shabazz Muhammad is a name I've heard, but that's just speculation) for a veteran. Well, you had a veteran that could show these young pups the Association ropes. His name is Kevin Garnett, and it appears as though Thibodeau decided he wanted KG's space for another youngster. Rumor has it Garnett, even though his body is so racked by injury he probably wouldn't play more than a dozen minutes a game to fulfill the second of his two-year contract with the organization anyway, was so pissed off that he was pushed aside that he wouldn't mind signing up mid-season with another team just so he could get back at the Woofie Dogs. Well, if he did, it would serve this club right.
This screening week: At Phoenix and at Golden State back-to-back starting tonight (Friday night), then Utah Monday, then the beginning of a home-and-home with the New York Knicks Wednesday at Target.
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