Impressive!

I mean the Gopher men.

I mean Minnesota 72 American 36. American was 20-12 last year and has 4 of its top 8 back.

And I mean Minnesota 82 Toledo 56. Toledo went 19-17 last year and has 7 of its top 8 back.

I thought these would be a couple of tough games. Instead, against American the Gophers ran out to a 15-0 lead and led by 30 (44-14) at the half. Against Toledo it was 12-0 and the Gophers led by 28 before the half was over.

Across 4 games, including the 2 exhibitions, here's Tubby's rotation.

Center--Eliason 16.5 minutes Ingram 13 Walker 10 Mbakwe 0.5
Power Forward--Rodney Williams 21 Mbakwe 12 Buggs 7
Small Forward--Joe Coleman 23 Oto 14 Halvorsen 3
Point Guard--Austin Hollins 23.5 Welch 13.5 Shell 3
Shooting Guard--Andre Hollins 21 Ahanmisi 17 Welch 3

And here's the performance.

Center--Eliason, Ingram and Walker 11.5 pts 19/37 FG 52% 10 boards 2.5 assists 2 blocks 2 steals. Pretty solid, though EE's reluctance to shoot the ball is a little troubling.

Power Forward--Rodney, Mbakwe and Buggs 17.5 pts 30/44 68% 11 boards 2.5 assists 2 steals 2 blocks. What happens when Mbakwe is ready to start. Rodney drops down and the top scorer so far, Joe Coleman, sits? Or does Rodney sit? Or maybe Trevor starts in the post?

Small Forward--Coleman and Oto 19 pts 27/52 54% 6.5 boards 3.5 assists 1 block 3.5 steals Coleman is the top scorer at 15 ppg and is shooting 67%.

Point Guard--Austin, Welch and Shell 18.5 ppg 28/59 45% 6.5 boards 7 assists 1 steal

Shooting Guard--Andre, Ahanmisi 12.5 ppg 18/44 42% 3.5 boards 4 assists 1.5 steals

Obvious Strengths 

A bunch of guys shooting 50% +. Scoring in the paint. Hitting the boards. Some steals. Depth. Quickness. Ability to play an up-tempo game.

Obvious Weaknesses

Outside shooting, 3-point shooting. Turnovers.

Next up: Tennessee State on Thursday and Richmond on Sunday, both at the Barn. Gophers should be4-0 going into the Battle 4 Atlanta vs. Duke, Memphis, VCU and others.

Best lineup: Mbakwe in the post (?) with Williams and Coleman, with Austin Hollins and Maverick Ahanmisi?