Impact starters: Gophers coach utilizing talented lineup

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Tubby Smith drew some criticism in his first five seasons in Minnesota for a substitution pattern that often looked more like a hockey philosophy.

He would run groups of five players in and out, playing his starters almost the same amount of minutes as his bench players.

Now that he has a talented, versatile starting group that believes it can play with any team in the nation, Smith is taking an entirely different approach. He's riding his most talented players hard this season, a strategy that has taken Minnesota to the No. 9 ranking and a highly anticipated game against No. 5 Michigan on Thursday night.

In the first four Big Ten games, guard Julian Welch is the only reserve playing more than 10 minutes a game. Three starters are averaging at least 30 minutes, with point guard Andre Hollins’ 28.5 the lowest number.

“As you get into conference play, there's going to be tighter games and better athletes,” Smith said Wednesday. “So you want your better athletes in the game at the same time. I don't have somebody measuring. This isn't Little League where everyone is going to play so many minutes.”

Gophers starters have accounted for 87 percent of the team's scoring, with Hollins leading the way at 19 points per game in the conference. The biggest producer off the bench has been Oto Osenieks at just 2.5 points per game.

So far, the imbalance hasn't been much of an issue. The Gophers won at Illinois last week even though they didn't get a single point from their reserves. But in the rugged Big Ten, where foul trouble and injuries await with every collision under the basket, Minnesota's depth is sure to get a test sooner or later.

“I think we can hold it up,” senior starter Rodney Williams said. “And then when he's ready to go to the bench, we know we've got guys that are ready to come off the bench as well.”

Where the Gophers appear to be most thin is the front court. Williams and Trevor Mbakwe are getting all the minutes, while big man Maurice Walker has been slow to come back from a knee injury and center Elliott Eliason has been inconsistent behind them. In such a physical conference, it will be key for Mbakwe, who at 6-foot-8 is an undersized starting center, to stay out of foul trouble.

Backup point guard Maverick Ahanmisi hit a couple of 3-pointers against Indiana, an encouraging sign for a second unit that has been lacking offensive punch to this point. He said going against the Gophers’ talented starters in practice should have them ready once the games begin. They're trying to pattern themselves after the Los Angeles Clippers’ reserves, widely considered the best bench in the NBA.

“We're playing against the first group all the time, so we're going to push them because that's going to make them better. That's going to help us out, too,” Ahanmisi said. “The other day, coach said we play like the Clippers. So I think that was a big part of what we do as a second group, coming in and pressuring the ball and things like that, also in practice helping the starting five bring their intensity as well.”

Michigan trying to rebound after losing to Ohio State

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Trey Burke and Michigan can put aside for now the idea of being ranked No. 1 in the country.

An undefeated start to the season? That's over too after the Wolverines sputtered last weekend at Ohio State.

Now, the focus is on a Big Ten schedule that will test Burke and his teammates plenty more over the next few weeks. No. 5 Michigan plays at No. 9 Minnesota on Thursday night, part of a nine-game stretch for the Wolverines that began with the loss to the Buckeyes and will eventually include six road games.

“The level of intensity that we had in practice (Tuesday) was very high,” said Burke, Michigan's star point guard. “We know just from watching film that we had a lot to learn, a lot to get better, a lot of adjustments to make.”

The Wolverines (16-1, 3-1 Big Ten) were uncharacteristically sloppy at the start of Sunday's game at Ohio State, falling behind by 21 points in the first half before rallying to force a tense finish. The Buckeyes eventually won 56-53.

Michigan was poised to take over the top spot in the AP poll before that game, but the Wolverines shot a season-worst 38 percent from the field and turned the ball over 13 times. In the first half, they looked nothing like the team that had been rolling over opponents by playing smart, precise basketball.

The road won't get any easier. Minnesota (15-2, 3-1) leads the Big Ten in offensive rebounds, and the Golden Gophers will challenge a Michigan team that has done a terrific job limiting second chances this season. The Wolverines have been preparing for another physical game around the basket.

“We had the bubble on the rim, and no shot goes in — everybody's got to box out,” coach John Beilein said. “Real proud of our guys. We've had these situations before, whether it was Pitt, Kansas State, some other teams that were really getting high numbers of rebounds.”

The Wolverines managed to hold Pittsburgh to six offensive rebounds in a November win over the Panthers.

Minnesota is coming off an 88-81 loss to Indiana over the weekend. After four games, Wisconsin is the only team with an unbeaten Big Ten record.

Michigan looked out of sorts early against Ohio State in what was easily the team's toughest road test so far. Sharp-shooting freshman Nik Stauskas was held scoreless, and freshman Glenn Robinson III finished with only one rebound.

The two newcomers that made the biggest contributions in that game were probably guard Spike Albrecht and forward Mitch McGary — perhaps because they began the game on the bench and had a chance to survey what was happening before taking the court in front of the raucous Ohio State crowd.

“It's kind of easy, because you get to sit there and watch the game, see what we're doing right and wrong and kind of just go from there,” said Albrecht, who scored seven points in 11 minutes. “Coaches told me to get in there and run the offense, and that's just what I tried to do.”

Michigan will need to keep its composure in another tough environment Thursday. The Wolverines beat Minnesota twice last season, but one game was in Ann Arbor and the other was at the Big Ten tournament, when Burke scored 30 points on 11-of-14 shooting to lead Michigan to an overtime win.

“We could have lost both games very easily last year. They were both last-second games,” Beilein said. “It's another great opportunity for us to grow. ... It is all about the process, and the journey and the process are what leads you to the end.”

Tags: sports, gophers, basketball