The Wake

A tumultuous season of Gopher basketball finally concluded, leaving much more to be desired for next year. Coach Dan Monson resigned seven games into the season and left Jim Molinari to pick up the pieces of a struggling ball club. The team dealt with injuries, a transfer and mounting frustration. This group faced tall challenges all season and did the best they could with the talent they possessed. Jamal Abu-Shamala summed the season up as disappointing but added that it might help build character for next year. The most positive thing this team will take with it from this season is the experience it gained and the fact that everyone is returning next year.

Dan Coleman, Spencer Tollackson, Lawrence McKenzie and Abu-Shamala will all be in Gopher uniforms again next fall. Coleman played solid ball all season and Tollackson appeared dominant inside at times against opponents. But the biggest surprise was the play of Abu-Shamala, who finally showcased some of his scoring ability in games against Northwestern and Michigan. If he can continue that type of shooting on a consistent basis next year, this team will be pretty tough.

McKenzie was supposed to be the next Vincent Grier, a junior college transfer with the ability to score. He played well for the Gophers at times, but his inconsistency (0-10 against Michigan at home) opens a field of questions for next year. Much of the future success for the squad begins with McKenzie.

Molinari deserves a lot of credit for keeping the team’s spirit up while the losses were adding up. He’s a veteran coach who tried different tactics to keep his team competitive. An early strategy was maximizing each Minnesota possession to keep scoring low on the other end of the court. Although it achieved little success it went a long way in showing the character of Molinari. Molinari has said his message has always been to improve everyone on the court and off the court. He also said that he hasn’t had any conversations with Athletic Director Joel Maturi about coming back to coach next season and he hasn’t considered the job. If Minnesota doesn’t land a big name coach for next season, Coach Mo will be a fine candidate with his passion for the game and respect for the players.

The Gophers do need to improve to keep fans coming to the games. It’s not that attendance has waned, but patience certainly has been taxed in recent years. The state hasn’t officially seen a talented team since we’ve had to start saying officially when referring to the Clem Haskins era.

One area the team must work on is defense. Minnesota gave up way too many points in order to be successful in the Big Ten. With the Big Ten, often one player can beat you (i.e. Adam Haluska) and the team has to help play defense. The guards must defend on the perimeter and the big men come in and block shots.

Another area the team struggled with all season was turnovers. The Gophers averaged nearly 15 turnovers a game. This simply will not cut it if they wish to play competitively. Minnesota gave away far too many easy buckets for opponents off of turnovers. Their ball handling skills must improve next season and this starts with guard play.

The transfer of Limar Wilson will affect the team because he gave the Gophers another option at point guard. Kevin Payton and Lawrence Westbrook will compete to see more action next season. They need to elevate their play to the next level in order for their minutes to increase.

This team has a terrific opportunity to get together as a unit because they all went through the growing pains of this season. The most important thing for the squad will be playing as a team. Fans got a taste of this mentality on occasion when someone was having a rough night and someone picked up the slack to keep the Gophers in the game. The future is not as bleak as many make it out to be and under the tutelage of Coach Molinari, Minnesota has a strong opportunity to become a decent, scrappy team in the Big Ten. By playing better defensively and limiting turnovers, the Gophers may turn some heads with some upset wins next year.