Tubby's tip off is Friday, the official start to Gopher basketball practices starting.

"Friday, October 17th will mark the first official practice of the 2008-09 season for your Golden Gopher Men’s Basketball team. The event is open to the public and admission is free. Doors will open at 8:30pm and the lights-out introductions will begin just after 9pm. Come out to Williams Arena and get your first look at the Gophers during the 3point contest, dunk contest and Intrasquad scrimmage!"

A free look at some of this year's talent. Should be another fun year and another team on the bubble...but you're thankful they are on the bubble as they are super young and full of potential!

A week from tonight is the first night of exhibition ball. I don't think I'll be getting season tix this year...too many expenses have popped up and I'll probably be fishing during some of the games. But I will be popping into the Big Ten Network for some games and buying tickets for a few others. Sounds like Tubby's tip off went well. Shamala led scorers in the scrimmage, Bostick won the dunk contest, and Westbrook beat Hoffarber in the 3 point contest final.

Season opener tonight!!! Hopefully by Monday we are talking about 3-0!

Gophers also inked Trevor Mbakwe to a letter of intent, in addition to Cobbs, White, and Williams.

Gophers set team record with 17 blocks. Freshman Colton Iverson settles into the school record books with 9 rejections, tied for third best ever.

Minnesota improves to 2-0 and plays Georgia State tomorrow.

3-0 with the win. Westbrook named tournament MVP, Nolen and Westbrook on the All-NABC Classic team...Gotta get Damian Johnson and Jon Williams back. Hard to start two true freshman at your 4 and 5, but they are learning the hard way I guess. Given those injuries, maybe that creampuff schedule was the way to go after all.

Well, I had a family gathering so I missed the game from Fort Collins. Sounds like I missed a doozy!

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Johnson, defense carry U past Rams for 4-0 start
By TONY PHIFER

November 23, 2008

FORT COLLINS, COLO. — With their outside game struggling and their inside game missing in action, the Gophers men's basketball team discovered Saturday night it can still win with an old reliable: defense.

The Gophers used stifling all-court pressure to force 20 turnovers and got a clutch layup from Paul Carter with 18.9 seconds left to pull out a 72-71 victory over Colorado State before an announced crowd of 5,956 at Moby Arena.

Colorado State had a chance to steal a win when Andre McFarland launched an 18-foot jumper from the left baseline as the final horn sounded. The shot was just short, giving the Gophers their first 4-0 start since the 2002-03 season.

"They got a very good look at the end; somebody blew an assignment," Gophers coach Tubby Smith said. "But this was a good win for us."

His team simply refused to allow Colorado State's significant inside advantage to rule the night. They outrebounded the Rams (2-1) 25-17 in the second half and grabbed 19 offensive boards.

"They were really pounding us inside, but we ran down just about every loose ball," Smith said. "We had to play small but we are quick, and that made a difference."

The Gophers got a huge performance from junior forward Damian Johnson, making his season debut after missing the first three games because of a broken left hand. It was his interior pass to Carter that set up the winning basket, and he added a block on Rams guard Marcus Walker's 15-footer in the final seconds. Johnson finished with six points, five rebounds, five assists and three blocks.

"It was a big lift for us to get him back," Smith said.

The Gophers also got a break when Walker, the Rams' standout senior guard, was injured Friday in an auto-pedestrian accident when he was walking near campus. Walker, who was coming off a 31-point performance Tuesday against Northern Colorado, played with his right (shooting) shoulder in a harness and shot 2-for-11 from the field.

With Walker hurting, the Gophers managed to find just enough offense from their backcourt to win. Blake Hoffarber did the damage in the first half, scoring 17 of his game-high 20 points -- one shy of his career best last year, which also came against Colorado State. In the second half, it was sophomore Al Nolen talking over with 13 of his 16 points.

"We got contributions from a lot of people, which is what you need in a game like this," Smith said. "Al hit some huge baskets for us in the second half. Blake had his shooting eye tonight, and I'm glad he did."

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Sounds like they were down 8-10 a few times, but they never gave up. Played a lot of small ball. It helps that CSU's leading scorer was in an accident Friday, but with the injuries the Gophs have had to Williams and DJ they'll take it. Johnson is back to his old self: stuffing stat sheets. Love to see Hoff find his touch again, and what a difference Sophomore Al is against Freshman Al. Should be a valuable learning experience for the twin frosh bigs. Gotta play smart...lots of teams are going to go right at those two and try to get them in foul trouble. Still, have to love the team effort, all the loose balls and offensive boards (hustle stats), the total rebounding and defensive effort. A game like this under Monson was a blowout, last night under Tubby it's a win. Losing a game like that hurts your confidence and makes the tournament tough to get into. Gotta scratch out some wins against these lower tier teams while you build your confidence and improve...lots of new face to work in.

Gophs cruise to 6-0 with the win against NDSU yesterday and Eastern Washington on Wednesday.

Versus the Bison, Shamala goes for 20, tallying the team's first 7 points. It's nice to have Damian Johnson back, as he puts up 11 points, 6 assists, 4 steals, and 3 blocks. Quite the morphing player, he's capable of nearly every position on the floor.

Against Eastern Washington, five players scored in double digits and the game was never in doubt.

The gophers will finally play a real team on Tuesday, as Virginia comes to town for the Big Ten/ACC Classic. Then it's two more cupcakes in Cornell and South Dakota State. #3 Louisville will be the real test, can the Gophers stay in the game?

If you're not watching the Gophs, it's only halftime and they are up 3 on Virginia. Thought they were going to blow them out of the building for a couple minutes there, but they let them back in. Still figuring the game out.

The defense is looking fantastic, and it's nice to actually see some athletes in maroon and gold. Bostick with a nice alley up finish.

Gophers win 66-56. POG to Colton Iverson. That kid is amazing. He finished with like 14 and 7, and he missed one that he'll make when he gets more experience, and he had some poor lob passes that didn't work out. Great Big Ten Body. If Sampson III plays like Iverson, we could be talking about a heck of a tandem inside. The steady play of Al Nolen and Damian Johnson pace the win. I wasn't too impressed with what looked like a lackluster performance by Virginia. Their McDonald's All American freshman Landesberg, a potential ACC ROY, went like 1-11. Minny might not get much RPI help from this win.

7-0 for the first time this decade. Should be 9-0 by the time they meet up with Louisville. Then it will be time to see how far they've come.

Are you the only one on this forum that likes the Gophers?
I finally sat down and watched the entire game, first time I've seen anything this year. I was really impressed. They have soooo much energy, and that Iverson kid is unbelieveable for a freshman. If they play like that the whole year, I will be very entertained. I bet we can see a short run in the NCAA tourney this year, but watch out next year.... I predict final 4 in 2010, National champs in 2011, if Tubby keeps doing what he's doing.

As a Badger fan I'm a bit concerned about the improving groundchucks.

Unfortunately I took the 7 1/2 points and Virginia last night!

Go Gophs!

the goph definatly looked good last night...Nolen and Iverson are good players and that Johnson plays the game real well....Hoffbarber can really shoot....I like this teams chances in the next 2 years!!!

Gophers looked pretty good. One thing I don't get is their offense. It doesn't seem to lead to anything. Just perimiter screens and passing around the three point line.