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Home  Sports News College Basketball News Minnesota Golden Gophers College Basketball Betting Preview (12-13-2007) |
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Minnesota Golden Gophers College Basketball Betting Preview (12-13-2007) |
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Written by DavePrice
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Friday, 14 December 2007 |
Minneapolis is excited about Gophers basketball with Tubby Smith coming to town in 2007. Find out if Smith will be able to make an immediate impact in our 2007 Minnesota Golden Gophers betting preview.
Here’s the good news for Minnesota. Tubby Smith has won at least 20 ball games in each of the past 14 seasons. During that span, Smith collected a national title, four elite eight appearances and nine Sweet 16’s. Minnesota, who has only one NCAA Tournament appearance since 1999, is hoping Tubby can bring some of his success with him. With a big name coach now installed, the Gophers should start to gain some respect after Smith gets a few recruiting classes under his belt. Currently, oddsmakers have the Gophers picked to finish next to last in the Big Ten Conference this season.
Minnesota’s frontcourt houses a pair of double digit scorers in Dan Coleman and Spencer Tollackson. While both seemingly have potential, neither player plays with any grit or toughness to separate them from other inside guys in the league. Smith will be trying to bring out that grit this season.
The backcourt features Minnesota’s leading scorer from a season ago, Lawrence McKenzie. The senior averaged 14.9 points per game. He’s going to need some more help this season if Minnesota wants to start making a turnaround. Kevin Payton cannot average nearly five turnovers per game and Lawrence Westbrook is going to have to be a more complete player-doing more than just hunting his own shot. The Gophers are hoping that freshman Blake Hoffarber can strengthen this unit. He was a lights out shooter in high school and a winner as well.
I didn’t think Minnesota had a chance to get a guy like Tubby Smith. That could prove to be the program's best move in history before it's all said and done. Only time will tell if Smith can succeed in this rebuilding job. Currently the Gophers are giving up quite a bit of talent to the top half of the league, but I’m optimistic that Smith will begin to get top recruits. Minnesota won just 9 games all of last season and endured 22 losses. The Gophers only recorded three Big Ten wins. Seven of the guys on the current roster are from Minnesota and that kind of recruiting has not been getting the job done. Perhaps, Smith can bring some boys from the south up to the land of 10,000 lakes and make Minnesota an elite Big Ten team.
Going against the Gophers will be a very profitable bet for you money line guys this season, especially in Big Ten play. Make going against Minnesota a regular part of your college basketball betting repertoire.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 13 December 2007 )
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