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Texas Basketball vs. Minnesota Opening Round Preview

Posted by Trips Right on March 18th, 2009 under Basketball

The enigmatic Texas Longhorns face Tubby Smith’s resurgent Minnesota Golden Gophers Thursday night at 6 pm in an opening round game played in Greensboro, NC. Much like Texas, the Gophers received a ticket to the Dance mostly because of their stellar play out of conference, going 12-0 with a signature win over Louisville. In conference was a different story, however, as Tubby Smith’s club was a disappointing 6-9 in its last 15 games.


Westbrook is the leader of the Fighting Kevin McHales.

Much like his Kentucky teams, Tubby plays a bunch of kids for a bunch of minutes which means either Smith is trying to of confuse opponents with different personnel matchups or he’s not happy with some of the different moving parts of the team. For a team that’s been sub .500 since February, I’m guessing it’s the latter. With that said, here’s who I think will get the majority of minutes on Thursday evening. If I happen to offend the knowledgable Gopher posters with my ignorance of the inner-workings of Minnesota Gopher basketball then I apologize in advance. Although I’ve watched Minny play a number of times this year, I found that I’d rather have a rabid ocelot gnaw off my tongue than watch most Big 10 games. I promise not to call them Minny anymore if you promise not to metaphorically switch pivot feet Kevin McHale style all over the preview. Treat my review like a single pivot foot and humor me.

    Personnel

The Backcourt
Minnesota, for all their faults offensively, actually has a pretty nice complementary backcourt. Not that it’s Chris Corchiani to Rodney Monroe complementary, but it’s pretty darn solid. Instead of fire and ice, we’ll call them simmer and chill. 6-1 sophomore Al Nolen is a nice distributing point guard averaging nearly 5 assists with just 1.8 turnovers a game. Al has been able to create a ton of opportunities for teammates even going against some of the better defensive guards in the nation, but against the elite on ball defenders that Michigan State and Purdue possess, Nolen was a horrifying 7-31 from the floor with a respectable 17-9 assist/turnover ration. Nolen struggles to score, shooting under 30% from three and just 34% overall. He’s thinly built which is good news for Texas on-ball defenders used to guarding pseudo-running backs like Byron Eaton, Sherron Collins, and Donald Sloan.

The two guard and Minnesota’s stud, is 6-0 Junior Lawrence Westbrook. He’s a good perimeter shooter, can put the ball on the deck, and can finish inside after absorbing contact because of his strength. Texas is going to have to play good team defense against Lawrence, and I’m mainly talking about hedging ballscreens set for the Junior, because he’ll get Pittman in foul trouble if Dex shows to aggressively. Texas has the length to bother Westbrook’s jumper, so if I’m the Horns I entice jumpers and then contest. If he knocks down a couple, you adjust. Allowing Lawrence to penetrate and get in the lane will end up costing Texas dearly.

The Frontcourt
Damian Johnson is an athletic 6-7 195 lb wing that stuffs stat sheets beyond Clark Kellog’s cliched definition of the phrase. Johnson averages nearly 10 points, 2 assists, 5 boards, 2 steals, and 2 blocks per game and plays terrific m2m defense. He’ll give Damion James fits if Texas’ star forward wants to be a jumpshooter. James must use his strength advantage and take the ball right to Johnson’s chest if he wants to be successful. On offense, Johnson is a limited shooter who tries to get points finishing point blank looks either in transition, off of rebounds, or dimes dropped by the Gopher backcourt. Texas can help off of him as long as the rotation includes keeping the athletic forward off the glass.


Sampson is a good shot blocker if no contact is initiated.

Minnesota’s center is 6-11 Ralph Sampson the third. If I’m Dex Pittman I’d wear a Chaminade head band for the occasion. Sampson, like his father, is slightly built, but he’s blessed with plus athleticism and good timing for blocking shots. Dexter has faced better post defenders and embarrassed them, so this matchup should cause some worry for Tubby and crew. So long as Dex is killing his bunnies. Sampson isn’t a polished low post player and he struggles on the offensive glass against clubs with decent size. Again he’s looking for dimes he can finish, or face up 10 footers.

Blake Hoffarber is the other wing or third guard depending on when you were born. He’s a 6-5 shooter that’s looking to spot up from beyond the arc where he’s averaging 34% (he shot 43% lasty year). He’s not a threat to put it on the deck as he’s taken 27 foul shots the entire year. He’s a guy that must be guarded off the catch and chased off the jumper. But he’s not a dynamic cover so Texas has outs with who they matchup on him. Don’t be surprised to see any of Damion James, AJ Abrams, Ward, or Mason on Blake at some point.

The other player of note is 6-11 Colton Iverson. His friends call him CI. He wears a sleeve and a swatch on his left arm and has a supply of temporary tattoos he’s collected from Cracker Jack boxes over the years. When his teammates tell him that they’ve bought a “tight pair of shoes dawg”, he tells them to return the shoes for a bigger pair. He’s CI, and he’ll be on Dex for half the game because he’s as tall as Sampson and has a stronger base.

Other Players of Note
Devoe Joseph is a skinny 6-3 freshman who’s coming in to shoot the basketball from deep. He’s hitting 38%.


Good opportunity to win a bet with your redneck cousin.

Jamal Abu-Shamala is another role player. Texas will accidently leave Shamala open for an easy dunk at least once because our players, handicapped by perfectly reasonable stereotypes, will be confused. I can hear it now, “Damion, you got Abu-Shamala.”

“Naaah dawg, coach said I got the white guy.”

Shamala is a decent shooter and athlete who’s started some games this year.

6-8 sophomore Paul Carter gives the Minny explosive athleticism off the bench.

    Keys to the Game

Pressure Nolen
Nolen struggles against solid on ball defenders, especially defenders that have strength. Dogus, Ward, and Mason should be up in Nolen’s Jersey picking up at 3/4 court to wear down the slightly built guard. Once Minnesota gets into an offense, then Texas needs to play softer on him and take away driving lanes enticing Nolen to shoot. Help off Nolen to Westbrook, and recover back to Nolen under control should be our cheat sheet.

Attack the Wings
Johnson, Hoffarber, and whomever Minnesota brings off the bench will be undersized vs. James, Johnson, and Atchley. This is one spot where I’d like to see frontcourt stints of Johnson, James and Pittman. Let James pull help away from Pittman along the baseliine while Johnson should be able to pull his man away from the paint with a decent face up game. Lift Pittman fromt he weakside block and then go to work on the undersized wings on the strong side. We’ll get buckets and easy rebounding opportunities from the double that’s sure to come.

If James isn’t attacking the glass, and Johnson is settling for 15 footers, they need to be ripped by the staff. Texas can impose its physical will not only with Dex Pittman, but with James and Gary Johnson against the Gopher wings or third guards.

Spot Press
I think Texas can steal some possessions and get to a favorable tempo against the Gophers by pressing a little with its smaller personnel. Minnesota lacks a good third ballhandler and they don’t go very deep at the lead guard position anyway. I’d love to see some pressing or trapping after made foul shots this game in an effort to steal a cheap bucket or two and perhaps wear down the smallish Nolen.

Defending Westbrook
I talked about it earlier, but a big key to this game is defending Westbrook and specifically the ball screen. Minnesota doesn’t have the frontcourt talent to pull Dexter away from the basket unless its done with a high ball screen. As a counter, Dexter needs to show only if Westbrook is in shooting range, and even then show only enough to dissuade dribble penetration. Don’t go balls to the wall until Westbrook has knocked a couple down. Westbrook is short, so our length can bother his shot by just contesting. Heaven forbid your best player picks up 2 cheap fouls 30 feet from the bucket.


Five minutes of hell would be nice.

I like how Texas matches up here. Minnesota hasn’t played good basketball for a couple months now, and I doubt the light just turns on against a good team like Texas.

Thoughts?

_________________________

Please visit JF’s great Minnesota Golden Gopher blog From The Barn.

He has great stuff here and here.

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17 Responses

  1. Huckleberry said:

    March 18th, 2009 at 6:20 am

    Don’t forget about Hoffarber’s knack for making ridiculous game-winning shots. Which has continued in college. Not sure what our plan to defend that kind of stuff is.

  2. Minnesotahorn said:

    March 18th, 2009 at 6:24 am

    Ya. Real good then.

  3. ballrific said:

    March 18th, 2009 at 8:27 am

    nice. He’d probably still get that shot off on AJ, while sitting on his ass. Abu-Shamala? interesting.

  4. ballrific said:

    March 18th, 2009 at 8:32 am

    also, here’s an interesting stat to use for your brackets…seems like a bad % going against us..

    In fourteen trips to the NCAA tournament, teams coached by Tubby Smith have won at least one game thirteen times.

  5. Mack Tripper said:

    March 18th, 2009 at 8:33 am

    Dude is straight outta Shakopee, Minnesota and is apparently of Jordanian decent.

  6. Scipio Tex said:

    March 18th, 2009 at 9:38 am

    Is he in any way related to Sha-Na-Na?

  7. Stuck in MN said:

    March 18th, 2009 at 10:19 am

    Shakopee holla

  8. From The Barn said:

    March 18th, 2009 at 2:22 pm

    Thanks for the links. I thought I would swing by and expand/correct/agree with some of your thoughts. You did quite the good job considering what I am guessing is limited exposure to the Gophers. Lord knows I tried to do the same with the Longhorns, with mostly mixed results.

    Nolen is a great on the ball defender, but as struggled mightily on the offensive end. It is true that he has struggled against some of the better teams in the Big Ten, but that has more to do with his psyche in big games than who his defending him. He becomes tentative, content to dribble the air out of the ball, and reluctant to drive. If and when he does drive, he’ll stop about five feet from the basket and flail around until he commits a bad turnover. The statistics are good, but they were much better in the non-conference season.

    Westbrook is best when he puts his head down and barrels towards the basket. He isn’t afraid of anyone, and won’t be intimidated by Pittman (though he probably should be). He can knock down open three pointers, though the Gophers will be in trouble if that is where most of his shots come from. He has the uncanny ability to take over the game at just the right time (ask Wisconsin about that) and will play way over his abilities.

    Johnson should have been the defensive player of the year in the Big Ten, and will guard anyone from Abrams to Pittman. He has shown flashes of a mid-range jumper that is markedly improved since the beginning of the season (he missed several games with leg and hand injuries). He has become something of an offensive force since the Gophers began making a more concerted effort to get the ball inside.

    Sampson is just about spot on, though his defense is better than you say, and he is more than willing to draw bigger players away from the basket with surprising ball handling skills and 15 foot shot (it doesn’t always fall, but look at the free throw numbers).

    Hoffarber is a streaky shooter (mostly cold lately) but the general thinking is that he just needs to face a team that doesn’t know who he is and who will give him more space. We shall see. He will play a bit of point guard, especially if the team is having a hard time getting the ball inside.

    Iverson is raw and scrappy. He isn’t pretty on the inside, but finds a way to get the ball in basket and is a fierce rebounder. He tends to lose opposing bigs when they draw him away from the basket.

    Devoe Joseph has started a few games at point guard, but shifts over to shooting guard when he is in the game with Nolen. He is the Gophers’ best outside shooter and he puts a ton of arc underneath it. The offense tends to run much better when he is in the game, but the defense suffers. He also commits more turnovers than Nolen, leaving the Gophers with a dilemma at the point guard position.

    Carter is the team’s best rebounder, hustler, energy guy. He has occasionally exploded on offense, and gets most of his points on put backs. He will throw up an outside shot or two early, and if it falls he’ll shoot again.

    The biggest omission is Devron Bostick, the national junior college player of the year last season. The always defense oriented Tubby Smith held him out of several games because of defensive lapses, but finally decided that defense is meaningless if your own team can’t score. He is Minnesota’s best pure scorer, and will scorer from three, driving, and with the occasional Jordan-esque fade away jumper.

    Pressuring Nolen wouldn’t be smart, as he is an exception ball handler as long as he more than 5 feet from the basket. To stop Nolen, just stay in front of him in the half court, and he will play defense against himself.

    Carter and Johnson may be vulnerable to bulkier players, but they also are long and quick off the ground, so it will be interesting to see how those match-ups turn out.

    If Texas wants to speed up the game, it should work to Minnesota’s benefit. If Texas wants to dominate, they should play a slow half court game and wear the Gophers down. Minnesota is at its best playing fast and staying out of what is allegedly a half court offense.

    Defending Westbrook will be a key. He is at his best hitting one handed floaters from around 7 feet out, and tends to forget he is so short when he gets further inside than that. However, if the Longhorns try to defend him too far out, he could conceivably drive right around him. I don’t know exactly when, but it will be obvious, that Westbrook will decide it is his game and he is going to the basket come hell, high water, or formerly 400 lb centers. When this happens, he will either be at his best or at his worst. There is no middle ground.

    The Gophers have shown some life lately, beating the Badgers twice, handling Michigan for all but the last five minutes, and hanging with MSU for most of the game. The hope of most Gopher fans is that the offense will come to life once it is away from the over-scouted and rough and tumble Big Ten. I guess we will find out tomorrow.

  9. Texas Longhorns vs Minnesota Gophers Preview | BrianCombs.net said:

    March 18th, 2009 at 2:31 pm

    [...] Texas Basketball vs. Minnesota Opening Round Preview [...]

  10. Work said:

    March 18th, 2009 at 2:35 pm

    Trips…have you noticed, ever since the Kansas game, we seem to be almost entirely going under the ballscreens or hedging out very flat? It seems to be working for the most part, especially with Dex even with Collins @ KU.

  11. Trips Right said:

    March 18th, 2009 at 3:16 pm

    FTB, thanks for stopping by. Your takes sound solid and you certainly seem to justify your premises with good hoops knowledge. I think Texas fans are hoping for the same overscouting issue to take care of itself by simply going out of conference. It’s pie in the sky because Barnes and Smith are great coaches. The team that can get out their own way shooting the ball will most likely win.

  12. Trips Right said:

    March 18th, 2009 at 3:17 pm

    Work, I have noticed that and it’s one of the sacrifices you have to make when Pittman is in the game. Minnesota’s inability to consistently knock down that shot is one of the main reasons I think Texas can win.

  13. Bob in Houston said:

    March 18th, 2009 at 4:07 pm

    I’ve always thought that the host school of the Maui Invitational should use Sha-Na-Na as inspiration for the fight song.

    “Ahh, yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip
    Mum-mum-mum-mum-mum, Cham-i-nade!”

    OK, maybe it’s just me…

  14. Shaggy Aggie said:

    March 18th, 2009 at 6:26 pm

    Put me down for Texas losing and bowing out in the first round. Don’t know a thing about Minnesota, but, if they are anywhere close to being a decent B-Ball team, they are going to beat Texas. TU just has a mismatched bunch of motley players who just do not fit well together and who, as a group, are as horrific at shooting the ball as any team I have seen in a while. Also, bet on it being an ugly type of game, cause that is just how this TU teams plays and your D is usually good enough to force the opponent to play ugly ball as well.

    And if it makes any of you Horn lovers feel better, I am also picking the all honkie team from Utah to beat the always underachieving Ags. It is a sad, sad state of affairs when you cannot even expect your multi-cultural team beat an all white B-Ball team. That’s pretty low on the bar, but we’ve gotten use to being perennial losers at everything over here. We’ve gone lower than that around here lately, believe it or not.

  15. SonnyQuarles said:

    March 18th, 2009 at 10:58 pm

    Leave it to an Aggie to predict the outcome of a game in which he professes to know nothing about one of the teams.

    The jokes just write themselves when it comes our friends from College Station.

  16. kevwun said:

    March 19th, 2009 at 5:11 am

    Tight End:
    Texas – None
    ATM – None
    Advantage: ATM

  17. Vasherized said:

    March 19th, 2009 at 2:36 pm

    Excellent Kev.

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