Gopher Men Are Deep 2

After 2 games, Tubby Smith is playing 12 Minnesota Gophers for 10 minutes or more. That's about 2 or 3 guys more than most rotations that you see. What's gonna give?

Center

Elliott Eliason plays 15 minutes and scores 2.5 points on 50% FG shooting, with 5 rebound
Andre Ingram 14 minutes 6 points 50% 2.5 boards
Mo Walker 10 minutes 6 points 67% 2 boards

The 3 of them are scoring 14. 5 points with 9.5 boards on better than 50% shooting. If they can do that in the Big 10, of course, it would be a terrific record. The oddity is starter Eliason's extreme reluctance to shoot: 2 shots in 30 minutes so far versus Ingram's 8 in 28 minutes and Walker's 7 in 19 minutes.

Power Forward

Rodney Williams 18 minutes 10 points 66% 5.5 boards
Charles Buggs 14 minutes 3 points 50%
Trevor Mbakwe 11 minutes 3.5 points 100% 3 boards, 2 assists

Mbakwe is obviously going to start and the frosh Buggs is not going to play. But Tubby's got a problem here. Rodney has never quite seemed comfortable at the small forward spot, where Joe Coleman is going gangbusters. What happens to Rodney? But if they can score 16.5 on 65% shooting in the Big 10, the Gophers can be very good.

Small Forward

Joe Coleman 24 minutes 18 points 81% but 3 turnovers
Oto Osieniks 13 minutes 4.5 points 25%

22.5 points would be terrific in the Big 10, and Coleman looks to me like he is ready to bust out even against better competition. But what to do with Rodney?

Point Guard

Austin Hollins 22 minutes 9.5 points 50% 6 assists
Julian Welch 19 minutes 6 points 33% 3 boards, 3.5 assists, 2.5 turnovers

15.5 points and 9.5 assists would be very acceptable in the Big 10.

Shooting Guard

Andre Hollins 19 minutes 8 points 64%
Maverick Ahanmisi 17 minutes 5 points 57% 3 boards

I guess the question is whether Welch or Ahanmisi is really the back-up point guard. The fact is that Welch has more assists than Mav does so far. 13 points is a little disappointing at this position, though 60% is a nice percentage. But you'd like this position to be covered by a go-to type of guy, and I'm not sure Andre is it. It's the only place the Gophers have not been up to par.