The Banham Era Gets Underway

The "next generation" of Minnesota Gopher women's basketball got off to a significantly better start Wednesday than the men did the night before. Both opened their 2011-2012 schedules against mediocre D2 opponents (the Bemidji State men were 11-15 last year, the St. Cloud State women 12-14). But unlike the men, Pam Borton's crew put a big hurt on the Huskies, 86-51.

Of course, there's a question whether the men's season marks a "next generation" at all. Yes, there's guards Joe Coleman and Andre Hollins to replace the departed Blake Hoffarber, Al Nolen and Cory Joseph. But it's also true that seniors Trevor Mbakwe and Ralph Sampson III led the way against the Lumberjacks.

Among the women, there's no such doubt that this is a new era. Not only did highly-touted point guard Rachel Banham appear in a Gopher uniform for the 1st time but 3-year starter Jackie Voigt started the game on the bench, replaced by sophomore Sari Noga, a smaller but more offensively-minded player.

That leaves Kiara Buford as the only member of that highly-rated recruiting class of 2008 who is starting. Kionna Kellogg replaced Brianna Mastey late last season, and now Noga replaces Voigt (and Voigt did nothing to reverse this). The other starter is junior post Katie Loberg.

The game went something like this: Gophers 7 St. Cloud 0 as Buford scored on a put-back and a 3, and Banham had a 2 on a right baseline drive plus an assist on Buford's 3. After a St. Cloud bucket, the Gophers extended their lead to 14-2 on buckets by Micaella Riche, Noga and Leah Cotton. The closest the Huskies got from there was 9 at 16-7. The lead went to 15 at 29-14 (and 38-23 at the half).

The Gophers extended their lead to 20 at 45-25, then 25 at 53-28. With the score 69-47, the Huskies gave up the ghost and the Gophers ripped off 13 straight points for an 82-47 lead. They matched that at the final horn at 86-51.

Along with "shellacking," "balance" was another word for the Gophers effort. Buford scored 14, Noga 13, Loberg 12, and Banham, Riche and Cotton 11 each. Loberg, Riche and Voigt had 8, 7 and 6 boards; Banham and Buford 6 assists each, and Cotton 4; Banham had 2 of the Gophers 7 blocks; while Loberg and Cotton had 4 steals, Banham 3.

The Gophers shot 51 percent, including 56 percent on 3s, while holding St. Cloud to 30 and 31 percent, respectively. The rebounds were 49-34 Minnesota, and the Gophers forced 25 Huskies' turnovers. The only dark cloud was 20 turnovers by the Gophers themselves, which is about double where you should be against a team (St. Cloud) that frankly did not produce a lot of defensive pressure. (Banham, Cotton and Buford had more than half of the turnovers among them.)

Despite everything else that the Gophers did and did well, it was their defensive pressure that was the difference. St. Cloud simply could not run its offense no matter who was on the court for the Gophers. The St. Cloud turnovers were indeed forced; the Gophers' were the result of carelessness or of getting a little too fancy. St. Cloud did not "force" them in any way. Still, cutting down on turnovers will be necessary as the schedule toughens up.

Banham

But more than "balance," the word for the night was "Banham." Her 1st half stats didn't jump out at you: 4 points on 2-of-7 shooting, an assist, a steal and a block. But with her running the show on offense, the Gophers kept moving, kept working, and played at a higher pace than they've done in many years.

Then she opened the 2nd half with an 18-foot jumper and then a 3 out of the offensive set, and a coast-to-coast drive for 2 off of a defensive rebound. Loberg added a 2 + 1, and suddenly it was 47-25. In the 2nd half, she had 7 points, 5 assists, 2 steals and a 2nd block. She is the real deal and already the Gophers' MVP.

The Other Freshmen

Or should I say freshman, as Kayla Hirt is, well, hurt, and out for the year. That leaves Romanian guard Alex Ionescu. She was last up off the Gophers bench and played 2 minutes. She appeared athletic enough but will probably not be a contributor until her junior year, if then.

The Sophomores

Kionna Kellogg and Sari Noga were the Gophers starting forwards, which qualifies this as a "small lineup." (Towards the end of last year, Kellogg joined the starting 5 at the small forward. Tonight she was the "big.") Neither was flashy, but when all was said and done Noga had scored those 13 points. Kellogg did not play well and finished with 4 points and 5 boards.

Micaella Riche is the back-up post, and entered the game ahead of Mastey and Voigt. And she was terrific. She gets to the rim on offense and scores with either hand and finished with 11 points and 7 rebounds. Frankly, she was better than Loberg.

Shonte Clay played sparingly and still does not look ready for prime-time.

The Juniors

Riche was better but not because Loberg was not solid. She had 12 points and 8 boards, but those 4 steals represent the best part of her game, which is her defense.

Leah Cotton still seems on the very edge of control most of the time and, indeed, she tied for the team lead with 4 turnovers in 8 fewer minutes than Banham. But her quickness caused big problems for St. Cloud's offense, and she matched those turnovers with a game-high 4 steals--and also contributed the same number of assists. So she had a solid game on both ends of the court. And the fact that Banham has the Gophers playing at a faster tempo than last year helps Cotton, as her teammates will be more accustomed this year to the pace and energy that she brings to the court.

Finally, Amber Dvorak (technically she's a redshirt junior) is strong around both boards, and scored 4 points in 4 minutes.

The Seniors

Buford, Voigt and B. and N. Mastey have disappointed over the course of their 3 years in Gopher uniforms, and for all but Buford the disappointment continues. Voigt started in 89 of 91 Gopher games the past 3 years, and B. Mastey 19 last year. A year ago, they were the Gophers' starting forwards, and one could have expected them to do so now. But, no. Now they're even behind Riche in the rotation, and so they saw 23 minutes of action between them. To their credit, they contributed 4 points, 9 boards and 2 assists. They give the Gophers their deepest bench since the "exodus."

But it was little-used Nicole Mastey who made the play of the game among the seniors--that is, a pretty drive to the rim from the left wing for the Gophers 85th, 86th and final points of the night.

Buford, finally, had a nice game. She even looked completely comfortable running the Gopher offense from the top of the key, which she did sometimes even when Banham was on the court, to give Banham a bit of a blow and to give the defense a different look. Her 3 turnovers are still too many, but otherwise she was solid.

St. Cloud

Meanwhile, things have not gone well for the Huskies since the departures of all-America post Erika Quigley after the 2007 season and coach Lori Ulferts a year later. Quigley and Ulferts led St. Cloud to a 29-5 record and to the D2 Final Four in 2007. And Coach Lori Fish was regarded as an up-and-coming coach when she came to St. Cloud in 2009. She had in fact built what turned out to be the 2009 NCAA D2 champion at Mankato State under her successor there, Pam Gohl.

The Huskies were no slouch that year--winning the NSIC post-season title, and going 22-9 overall. Post Rachel Booth was the NSIC playoff MVP in her sophomore year. But Booth left St. Cloud after that and the Huskies fell to 10-17 and 12-14 the next 2 years.

Now St. Cloud looks like it will continue as an also-ran in the NSIC. They have some guards in Jordi Gerking, Nicole Anderson (Cannon Falls) and, especially, Amanda Wagner (New Prague). But their inside game consists of 5-10 Aaryn Booker (DeLaSalle). And 5-10 certainly didn't get it done against the Gophers' size, and it doesn't get the job done even in the NSIC, where she's a career 6-point scorer.

Also starting was Jessica Benson of Grand Meadow, MN. Minnesotans off the bench included Rachel Moen (Burnsville), Morgan Lof (Detroit Lakes), Christina Steele (Apple Valley), Jamie Noonan (Richfield), Rey Robinson (Becker) and Elizabeth Zilverberg (Minnetonka).

In a Nutshell

The Gopher women have depth that Tubby Smith can only dream about. Regardless of who starts the rest of the way, they go a legitimate 9 or 10 deep. But coach Borton has always preferred a shorter bench than that, and if she settles on an 8-deep rotation, Voigt or B. Mastey could be on the outside looking in. Riche or Cotton could contend for the Big 10's 6th-man award. This is a talented team. Will Banham be the glue that holds it all together?

Can they rise above the 6th or 7th place finish that's been projected for them? Yes, they can. With perennial champion Ohio State in a down cycle, a Big 10 title is not out of the question. A 10-4 start with the "tough enough" non-conference schedule will signal that it's coming together. More than 4 non-conference losses will probably signal that they're not as good as I'm projecting today.

Tonight's 3 Stars

1. Rachel Banham

2. Kiara Buford

3. Micaella Riche

Gopher Men at First Glance: In Search of a 3-Point Shot

It was a game of runs. It would be too much to say the game was in doubt. In fact you could say that the Gophers were in command...sometimes. But Bemidji State was in command sometimes, too. It was a game of runs. And Tubby Smith's Gophers got the 1st one and they got the last one, and so they survived the Beavers 71-58.

Minnesota took an early 8-0 lead and then (after Bemidji closed within 14-12) had another early 8-0 run to lead 22-12. Bemidji got back within 26-21 but then the Gophers led 30-21 at the half.

The early second half was just about the only time that the two teams played evenly. The Gophers stretched their lead to 39-26 but Bemidji came back within 47-40. A 12-2 Gopher run pretty much put the game away at 59-42 at 8:01. But the Beavers came back again to within 65-56 at 4:21 and 67-58, but they failed to score in the final 3:09.

Statistically, the Gophers won the possession game. The turnovers were even at 14, but Minnesota got 16 offensive boards to Bemidji's 6, and as a result got 59 FGA and 19 FTA. The Beavers had 54 FGA and just 9 FTA. Overall the rebounds were Minnesota 45 Bemidji 23.

But statistically, let's be honest. The Gophers lost the shooting contest. Bemidji hit 10-of-25 3 pointers, and considering that one of the Gophers chief weaknesses last year was 3-point defense, this is not a good sign. David Berthene, who scored 5 ppg last year, led the Beavers with 5-of-11 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc. Overall, Bemidji hit 10-0f-25 3s.

The Gophers, whom Tubby described just the day before this game as one of his best shooting groups, made 1-of-7 3s and 12-of-19 FT. They made 28-of-52 2-point FG, however, as Trevor Mbakwe and Ralph Sampson III dominated inside. They made 7-of-8 between them in the 1st half and 8-of-14 in the 2nd. Mbakwe finished with 17 points and 11 boards, Sampson 15 and 4 boards. Rodney Williams scored 10 (mostly on a shocking 6-of-6 from the FT line) and added 4 boards.

During that decisive 12-2 run, Mbakwe (twice) and Sampson scored off the offensive glass.

Back out on the perimeter, Tubby decided to start Andre and Austin Hollins. Andre, the freshman, had 8 assists and no turnovers, but shot just 2-of-7 for 6 points. Austin, the sophomore, shot 3-of-6 for 7 points, with 3 assists and 1 turnover. These may very well be your starting guards the entire way.

Freshman guard Joe Coleman added 7 points but shot 1-of-4 FT and had 2 turnovers and no assists. Chip Armelin had 2 points and 4 turnovers. Maverick Ahanmisi, Elliott Eliason and Oto Oseniaks played 10 to 13 minutes and didn't do a whole lot either good or bad (5 points on 2-for-10 shooting among them).

So, in summary: I said the game was never really in doubt. But, think about it this way. The Gophers spotted their opponent a 30-3 lead on 3-point shots. Minnesota got 10 more offensive boards and converted their opportunities smartly from 2-point range (54 percent) and outscored Bemidji 56-24 on 2-pointers. Plus the Gophers got to the FT line 10 extra times and converted 8 more FT than Bemidji. Add it all together and it was enough to overcome that 30-3 deficit against a team that went 11-15 last year in D2.

But, let me ask you this: Does this sound like a winning formula in the Big 10?

College Season Underway

The 2011-2012 college season got underway over the weekend with a schedule of women's exhibition games.

South Dakota State 85 Moorhead State 52

EDIT: Forgot to mention that transfer Angela Christianson (formerly of Alexandria High School and Drake U.) is out with an injury. No word on when she will debut with the Dragons. We will now return to our previously scheduled programming.

I get that the Jackrabbits are D1 and Moorhead is D2. Still, I am shocked at the shellacking taken by the Dragons in this one. The only numbers you really need to know are Moorhead's: 39 field goals attempted, 33 turnovers. The Rabbits' 3 starting (non-Minnesota) guards combined for 11-of-24 shooting, 34 points, 12 assists and 4 turnovers. Moorhead's (Haley Thomforde of Eastview, Marissa Yernatich of Duluth East, and Brittany Mayclin of Benilde went 1-for-10 with 4 assists and 14 turnovers.

But the main interest here is in checking to see how several Minnesota girls are progressing with their college careers. This is of course only one game, and a blowout at that. Still:

Last year I wrote about SDSU's stockpiling of Minnesota 6-footers. Jennie Sunnarborg, a senior from Osseo, is hardly the best known of the group, but she's the best of them at the college level, at least at the present time.

Jennie Sunnarborg, Osseo, 6-foot senior--started, played 18 minutes, 7-of-13 FG, team high 17 points, 6 boards and an assist

Megan Waytashek, Centennial, 6-2 soph--16M, 2-of-5, 6 points, 3 boards, 3 assists

Hannah Strop, New Prague, 6-2 soph--14M, 0-for-2, 0 points, 2 assists

Leah Dietel, Jordan, 6-2 junior--13M, 0-for-2, 3 points, 3 boards, 1 assist

Megan Stuart, Roseville, 6-2 freshman--8M, 1-for-3, 6 points, 2 boards, 1 block

Mariah Clarin, Princeton, 6-1 freshman--7M, 0-for-1, 3 boards, 1 steal

Gabby Boever, Worthington, 5-9, soph, guard--5M, pretty much all 0s except for 1 board

For Moorhead, Angie Jetvig (senior, Hawley) was the only bright spot. My NSIC pre-season player of the year hit 7-of-9 shots for 23 points, and added 4 boards, an assist, a block and a steal. Nobody else scored more than 8 points.

Wisconsin-Green Bay 59 Michigan Tech 39

Meanwhile, the powerful Phoenix of Wisconsin-Green Bay (34-2 last year) opened up with an easy win over D2 Michigan Tech. 2 Minnesotans on the Phoenix roster, inside players Jenny Gilbertson (Winona Cotter) and Stephanie Sension (Hopkins), remain near the bottom of the depth chart. The 2 combined for 13 minutes, 1-of-8 shooting for 2 points, 2 boards, an assist and a turnover.

Gopher Men, Women Tabbed for Middle of the Pack

The Big 10 media and coaches pre-season polls are in, and the Minnesota Gophers are mostly out. Out of all of the top 3s, which is what the Big 10 released for publication.

Men's Media--1. Ohio State, 2. Wisconsin, 3. Michigan

Men's Coaches--1. Ohio State, 2. Wisconsin, 3. Michigan State

Women's Media--1. Penn State, 2. Purdue, 3. Michigan State

Women's Coaches--1. Penn State, 2. Purdue, 3. Iowa

It's hard to argue for the Gophers--men or women--rating this high. There's upside for both (defined as better than the #7 or thereabouts that is being predicted) but there's upside for a lot of Big 10 teams this year, especially among the women.

Da Men

Except that poll details were released for just one of the 4 polls--that would be the men's teams as voted on by the media. And what it shows is that:

• Ohio State was a unanimous #1 pick.

• 4 different teams got 2nd place votes, but all 4 were also picked as low as 5th.

• The Gophers and Illinois make up the middle of the pack.

• If there was ever any doubt that expansion of the Big 10 is all about football, look at who comes in 11th and 12th.

1. Ohio State (unanimous with all 12 1sts) so their range was 1st to 1st--288 points total

2. Wisconsin ranged from a high of 2nd to a low of 5th--248 total points

3. Michigan ranged from 2nd to 6th--233 points.

4. Michigan State also ranged from 2 to 6, with 219 pts are here.

5. Purdue was as high as 2nd and as low as 9th, with 194 points.

6. Illinois was rated from 4 to 9, with 150 points.

7. Minnesota is just behind the Illini, with a range of 3 to 10, and 142 points.

8. Northwestern ranges from 6 to 11.

9. Indiana ranges from 5 to 12.

10. Iowa ranges from 6 to 12.

11. Nebraska ranges from 8 to 11.

12. Penn State--nobody picked 'em higher than 11.

Both the media and the coaches picked the following pre-season all-conference team:

Draymond Green, Michigan State

Robie Hummel, Purdue

Trevor Mbakwe, Minnesota

Jared Sullinger, Ohio State--also pre-season player of the year

Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin

Sullinger averaged 17 points and 10 boards last year as a freshman, and he is a pre-season all-American. Also returning for the Buckeyes to complement Sullinger's inside game is William Buford, who scored 14 ppg last year. Otherwise the Buckeyes will be relying on some new faces.

But the fact is that the Big 10 lost a tremendous amount of talent, and all of the Buckeyes' competitors are in the same boat--relying on new faces--but without a superstar like Sullinger to man the oars.

Wisconsin has Taylor (formerly of Benilde-St. Mary's) back, but lost Jon Leuer (Orono). Minnesotans Mike Brusewitz (Henry Sibley) and Jared Berggren (Princeton) will be major contributors while freshman Jordan Smith (also of Orono) is also on the roster.

Michigan has 4 starters back including sophomore guard Tim Hardaway, Jr. The question is whether coach John Belien, now in his 5th year at Ann Arbor, is really a big-time coach. The Wolves are 68-67 (30-42 in the Big 10) under Belien. So this is his year and his team and his time to prove he's got what it takes.

Michigan State has coach Tom Izzo back and that's all you need to know. Of course, they also have Green. But not much else from a 19-15 team. Still, no need to feel sorry for the Spartans.

Meanwhile, the Gophers are universally acknowledged as having a first-class front court led by all-America candidate Mbakwe. His stock rose significantly after a stellar performance at the World University Games. The question for the Gophers is whether Tubby Smith has got his point guard troubles fixed and behind him. Maverick Ahanmisi and Julian Greer are the two pure point guards on the roster. Still the betting in most corners is that newcomer Andre Hollins, not to be confused with sophomore bro Austin Hollins, will be da man. He's a natural "2," but his his skills appear to be so good that he's better at the "1" than anybody else. Meanwhile the "2" could end up being fellow frosh Joe Coleman. Time will tell.

My Take: The Gophers are slotted appropriately at #7, until they prove otherwise. There's a lot of talent but the perimeter talent is young. Too bad there's not a little more overlap between the young perimeter talent and the veteran frontcourt. They'll be better than last year's 17-14 but not as good as the 11-1 and 16-4 Gophers of last year before the point guard dearth struck. 10-2 in the non-conference portion of the schedule is within reach, but 9-9 will be a solid record in the Big 10.

The Women

It seems strange to see any Big 10 standings--projected or not--that doesn't have Ohio State on top, the Buckeyes having won 6 straight conference championships before last year's surprising 3rd place finish. Surprising because center Jantel Lavender gave the Bucks their customary rock in the post (before Lavender it was Jessica Davenport) and point guard Samantha Prahalis was one of the Big 10's best.

For 2012 the focus shifts out to the perimeter where Prahalis and Penn State guard Alex Bentley share pre-season player of the year honors. Prahalis is the #4 returning scorer at 14.5, Bentley is #5 at 14.4. Prahalis is the #1 returnee in assists with 7, Bentley is #2 with 5.

And, each has some help. For the Buckeyes, Tayler Hill (Mpls. South) is the #9 returning scorer at 12.4, while Bentley has Maggie Lucas with 15.8 ppg (#3 returning) and 3.2 3-point shots per game (#1 among returnees).

Iowa also has 2 players among the returning stats leaders. Jamie Printy is in fact the #1-returning scorer at 18.8, and she also kicks in 3.5 assists per game. Kamille Wahlin (Crookston, MN) is #10 among returning scorers at 12.0 and #3 in assists with 4 per game.

The full pre-season all-conference team includes:

Bentley--unanimous player of the year (i.e. by coaches and media)

Prahalis--co-player of the year by the coaches

Karisma Penn, Illinois, jr., F--may be the best player but her talents are lost on a weak team

Jaime Printy, Iowa, jr.--top returning scorer

Lykendra Johnson, Michigan State--the top inside player

My Take: So, in a nutshell, while the coaches and media like Penn State, Purdue and Iowa and Michigan State, I have to take Iowa and Ohio State at 1 and 2 (or 2 and 1), with Penn State 3, and Purdue and Michigan State 4 and 5 (or 5 and 4).

That leaves #6 as the highest the Gophers can expect to finish, and they'll have some stern competition from improving Northwestern to do that. Much of the Gophers hopes ride on freshman "1" Rachel Banham. And, don't get me wrong, Banham will be terrific. But as a freshman, she's going to be facing highly skilled and more experienced guards game in and game out. The Gophers fate also rides with senior Kiara Buford, hoping to fulfill the high expectations that came to the U of M with her (and classmates Brianna Mastey and Jackie Voigt) 3 years ago. With less need to handle the ball, Buford should score a few more points and reduce her turnovers by 1 or more per game. All of which still leaves the Gophers #6 at best.

Can't/won't argue the all-conference teams, but: There's no freshman of the year but one reason I have Iowa rated highly is freshman guard Sam Logic, who is rated more highly even than Banham (#10 nationally in her class vs. Banham's 18). Logic and Banham head up the all-freshman team.

NSIC Coaches Pick Augustana and Wayne to Win; I Don't

The NSIC got the jump on pre-season prognosticating this week with the publication of their coaches polls.

The Men

The men's coaches picked Augustana to win it all this year, and why not? Only Augustana returns 2 1st team all-NSIC players in Cody Schilling, a 6-5 senior who also led the NSIC in scoring last year with 21 ppg, and Cameron McCaffrey, a 6-1 junior who was #6 in scoring at 18.5 ppg. If successful, this would be Augie's 1st-ever NSIC champion. Augie only joined the NSIC in 2009 with the demise of the North Central Conference.

The coaches have Winona State, Minnesota State-Mankato and Concordia-St. Paul next, and all 3 get 1st place votes. Mankato is 2-time defending regular season champ, while Winona is the defending play-off champ. Concordia has a 1st (guard Peter Olafeso) and 2nd (6-10 Brent Barz) team all-conference players returning. Winona will be led by 6-7 junior Clayton Vette, whose post-season play was the reason for the Warriors' jump from 4th in the conference in the regular season to 1st in the playoffs. He is the only 1st team all-tournament player to return.

Personally, I like Augustana but I like Winona State better, and I have Vette among the candidates for my all-Minnesota team for 2011-2012. But of course Cody Schilling is not a Minnesota-based player and so not eligible for my little honorarium.

The Women

I strenuously object to the women's poll which has defending regular season champ Wayne State on top, followed by defending post-season champion Winona State, then Augustana, Moorhead State, Minnesota State-Mankato, Northern State and Concordia.

My choices are Winona State first, UMD second, and then Moorhead State, Wayne State, Concordia, Northern and Augustana.

The coaches further have the 2010-2011 player of the year Ashley Arlen of Wayne St., a 6-2 senior forward, as their pick to repeat as PoY. I don't agree with that, either. Nothing against Arlen, who is terrific, but she doesn't have much help coming back, and if Wayne indeed finishes below first place, there will be a tendency to look elsewhere when it comes time to vote on the PoY.

My pick is another 6-2 senior forward, Angie Jetvig of Moorhead State. Jetvig, from Hawley, MN, is the defending conference scoring leader at 19.5 points per game; Arlen scored 16.5. Jetvig shot 52 percent from the field, Arlen 43 percent.

And Moorhead State added Angela Christianson to an already formidable roster during the off-season and will challenge for the conference championship this year--even finishing ahead of Wayne if I am correct. Christianson, of course, was an all-stater at Alexandria High School, then played 1 year of Division 1 ball at Drake, where she scored 8 points per game as a freshman before transferring back closer to home.

But it is Winona and UMD who will fight it out for the title this year, IMHO. Winona is of course defending conference play-off champion with 6-foot senior forward Michelle McDonald, 1st team all-conference a year ago, and 5-6 junior guard Katie Wolff, who made the all-tournament team, coming back.

UMD, meanwhile, takes less of a star-studded approach, though 5-9 senior guard Lindsay Miller, 2nd team all-conference last year, returns. But it's their depth and their coach who moves me to put them at (or near) the top of the list. 5-11 forward Katrina Newman was Freshman of the Year last year, and will jump into the 1st team all-conference level of play this year. 6-foot senior Shelly Stemper, who made the 1st all-defensive team last year, is also back. The Bulldogs will miss Kelsey Hewitt in the paint, but 6-5 senior Emma Van Winkle and 6-2 junior Hannah Rutten are back. And perhaps 6-2 Julie Kruse will be ready to contribute now in her sophomore year. Alyssa Kerkhoff and Jessica Newman are probably not ready to contribute as freshmen, but make a pretty classy 2-person recruiting class.

And then there's coach Annette Wiles, who got a lot out of these Bulldogs the past couple of years while also building up the stock of talent in what was a pretty empty cupboard when she arrived at UMD. UMD finished 16-12 her 1st year (2008-2009) compared with 4-23 the year before. She was 300-141 when she arrived at Duluth, and the cumulative record says she can coach a little. My choice for coach of the year, which will of course be a no-brainer if the Bulldogs finish as high as 2nd.

To Summarize

The candidates for my post-season awards include:

Team of the Year--Winona State men, Winona State women, UMD women

Player of the Year--Angie Jetvig, Moorhead State; Clayton Vette, Winona State

Coach of the Year--Annette Wiles, UMD women; Mike Leaf, Winona State men

Grace Coughlin the Latest, as Gopher Women Suddenly Stockpiling Guards

EDIT: This post was written back in August, then updated today (10-14-11) with the announcement that Grace Coughlin also has verbaled the Gopher women.

One (of many) knocks on Pam Borton has been her persistent lack of depth at guard. After passing on Minnesota guards like Alyssa Karel, Kamille Wahlin, Courtney Boylan and Brittney Chambers, she had to go out and sign stop-gap, junior-college guards like Kay Silva and China Antoine just to form a minimum rotation at the position.

Now, suddenly--with the verbals she has received from Kenisha Bell of Bloomington Kennedy (back in August) and Grace Coughlin of Benilde-St. Margaret's yesterday--Borton has turned over a new leaf; she's into her "stockpiling-Minnesota-guards" phase.

In 2011, Rachel Banham comes aboard and brings big expectations with her. She and Kayla Hirt--just the two of them--are rated as the #16 best recruiting class in America by Hoopgurlz, though it's also true that Romanian guard Alexandra Ionescu has also signed on.

In 2012, Mikayla Bailey and Shayne Mullaney have verballed. They're not as highly rated as Banham and Kayla Hirt in 2011 but Mullaney, at least, looks to me to have the skills to complement Banham quite nicely. On the other hand, there are better guards on the horizon and I don't necessarily mean Bell.

But for 2014, Bell represents the #1 rated girl in her class and she is of course another guard. Coughlin is rated #5 or #6 among the 2014s, which would translate to the #3 or 4 guard.

But note that Borton still has no verbals from the highly-rated 2013s Rebekah Dahlman of Braham is likely to be the most highly recruited Minnesotan since Tayler Hill. Nia Coffey, Hopkins, the daughter of Gopher great Richard Coffey, would look especially good in maroon and gold for that reason. But does Borton need either one of them now, with all of the guards she's already recruited?

Well, yes, of course, you always need to best player to come out of Minnesota in 4-5 years. Remember when the Gopher men had big Minnesota kids stacked up like cordwood--back in the days of Kevin McHale, Randy Breuer, et al. If you ended up with too many kids, somebody could always transfer to Augustana or Maryland or wherever.

So, as of now, the Gopher roster is projected to look like this at the guard spot if Borton is able to land Dahlman and Coffey. (NOTE: That's a lot of guards.)

Gopher Guards

2011-2012 Rachel Banham (fr.), Kiara Buford (sr.), Leah Cotton (jr.), Alex Ionescu (fr.), Sari Noga (soph.)

2012-2013 Banham (soph.), Cotton (sr.), Ionescu (soph.), Noga (jr.), Mullaney (fr.), Bailey (fr.)

2013-2014 Banham (jr.), Mullaney (soph.), Ionescu (jr.), Noga (sr.), Bailey (soph.)

2014-2015 Banham (sr.), Kenisha Bell (fr.), Mullaney (jr.), Coughlin, (fr.), Ionescu (sr.), Bailey (jr.)

2015-2016 Dahlman (jr.), Coffey (jr.), Bell (soph.), Mullaney (sr.), Coughlin (soph.), Bailey (sr.)

What this says to me is that Borton is preparing and is prepared to lose Dahlman and all the other 2013s. It's true, however, that at 6-feet Coffey could also play the small forward spot.

This also says to me that if Borton can get Dahlman and Coffey, that Mullaney and Ionescu and especially Bailey will be candidates to move out to other schools if they can't adjust to a role coming off the bench, as some cannot or will not do. Heck, it remains to be seen if Leah Cotton will be happy continuing to come off the bench for another year, though it's true that she projects as the starting guard alongside Banham in her senior year.

But, meanwhile, that mythical 2nd D1 program Minnesota State could do worse than load up itself on the guards the Gophers didn't recruit. In other words, you've still got kids like Tessa Cichy and Alexis Foley (2012), Jessica January and Mikaala Shackleford (2013), Ta'Kendra Elbert and Grace Coughlin (2014) hangin' out there--not, again, to mention Dahlman and Coffey.

Which just reinforces the notion that Borton and the Gophers should never be short of guards. The dearth of guards these past few years, in fact, has been entirely self-inflicted, especially when you consider that Kamille Wahlin of Crookston, MN, has been starting for Iowa for almost 3.5 years and earned all-Big Ten honors these past 2 years. Borton's failure to recruit Wahlin was the primary cause of the guard dearth, which forced her to go out and spend a scholarship on stop-gaps like China Antoine and Kay Silva.

But secondly, it's great that Borton has signed the #1 girl among the 2014s but, hey, don't forget about the 2013s!

Da Lynx "Run" to WNBA Title

Ignored by the mainstream media most of the season, the Lynx enjoyed wall-to-wall media coverage during the WNBA Finals this past week. I didn't have a whole lot to add to what you've been able to hear on TV or read in the newspapers. But now, let me return to my #1 Lynx theme of the year.

The Lynx' success in the finals, as all year long, has been characterized by killer runs that they've laid on their opponents. Against Atlanta in the finals, it went like this.

Game 1: 13-0

Tied at 62 after 3 periods, the Lynx scored the 1st 13 points of the 4th quarter. Lindsay Whalen scored the 1st 5 points of the 4th on a driving layup 2 + 1 and a "J." In between the 2 scores, Whalen blocked a Lindsey Harding shot, then tied up Harding and tapped the ensuing jump ball to Maya Moore. 8 more consecutive points, 4 by Rebekah Brunson, followed and at 5:44 it was 75-62. Game over.

Game 2: 16-2

Trailing 85-81 with just 4:53 to go, Seimone Augustus hit 2 throws, then a "J." A Moore "J" from Brunson, a Brunson throw and another driving 2 + 1 for Whalen, and suddenly the Lynx were up 91-85. Another minute later it was 97-87 as Seimone hit 8-of-10 FT down the stretch. Again, game over.

Game 3: 19-8

Trailing 37-33 at the half, the Lynx owned the 3rd quarter 19-8 including 11-2 in the 1st 3 minutes. Whalen opened the half with another of her specialty, the driving layup. Moore scored on 3 lay-ups, Augustus a hook and a "J," and Brunson and Wright a pair of "J's" and it was 49-43 Lynx. Entering the 4th quarter ahead 52-45, the Lynx never again trailed. Game and series over.

Da Runs: 48-10

In total, the Lynx enjoyed a ridiculous 48-10 edge over these 19 crucial minutes.

The Rest of the Way

Atlanta out-scored the Lynx a shocking 226-214 over the rest of the 3 game series!

No I in Team

Looking at individual stats, what comes through is the other major Lynx theme for 2011 which is team, team, team. Series MVP Seimone Augustus led the Lynx in scoring during the 3 big runs with 18 points, but 10 of them came on 12 FT attempts at the end of game 2. Augustus also tied for the team lead with 3 assists and added 3 boards, a steal and a block. Lindsay Whalen scored 10 points, including the 1st 5 points of the game 1 run, with 2 steals and an assist.

Rebekah Brunson scored 9 points on 6-of-7 shooting, with a team-high 6 boards plus 3 assists (tying for the team lead) and a block. Maya Moore scored 8 points on 4-of-5 shooting with 4 boards, an assist and a steal. Taj, Adair, Wiggins and Wright all scored during one or more of the 3 big runs, too.

The Future

Today's papers are full of speculation that the Lynx are well-positioned for the future and that additional WNBA titles are a reasonable expectation. Maybe. There's likely to be some fall-off among the 8 "regulars." Augustus and Whalen can't play any better than they did this year. Taj, 40, could be calling it quits, you'd think. And the team's health can hardly be better than the zero days lost to the disabled list in 2011.

Of course, Moore, a roll player this year, is likely to emerge as the team's star player by 2014 if not sooner. And the Lynx have a top 4 draft pick, which could end up as #1 in the 2012 lottery, thanks to the trade of Nikki Anosike to the Washington Wizards.

Seattle would seem to be the primary road block if 2010 MVP Lauren Jackson returns at 100 percent after her injury troubles this year.

But there's time enough for that. Right now, Twin Cities sports fans are simply enjoying the region's 1st professional championship since 1991, earned by a very classy group of young women, at that.