The Minnesota’s men’s basketball team has exhibition game No. 1 in the books — a 96-56 defeat of Team Concept on Tuesday — but the verdict on the season’s future is as undecided as the presidential vote in Florida.
As the Gophers prepare to host the Yugoslavian Select team in another exhibition on Saturday, team chemistry is far from being established. Injuries keeping getting in the way.
Senior guard Terrance Simmons is questionable for Saturday. After playing 33 minutes and scoring 11 against Team Concept, Simmons did not practice Wednesday or Thursday.
Instead, he sported a boot-like brace on his left foot, the same foot which required surgery during the fall for a stress fracture.
Junior forward Dusty Rychart fared no better. Rychart, who has a back sprain, did not play in Tuesday’s game.
He did practice Wednesday, however, with no complications. Rychart said he should return to the floor on Saturday.
“My back is feeling alright,” Rychart said. “It’s not stiff or giving me any real problems.”
Junior forward Travarus Bennett is also among the ailing. Bennett suffers from a chest injury.
Finally, there is junior guard Kerwin Fleming, who is out with a hamstring injury. Gophers coach Dan Monson said he’s not ruling anybody out for Saturday’s contest, but that Fleming “would be the most likely not to play.”
“He’s popped it twice trying to come back on it,” Monson said.
Despite the mounting list of injuries, preparation for the Gophers second game continues.
Following his team’s win over Team Concept, Monson said he was concerned about the play of the interior defense. Team Concept’s 6-foot-11 center Todd Lauktenbach dominated inside against the Gophers and ended the game with 24 points and 14 rebounds.
“Our post defense is a huge concern after the first game,” Monson said. “Obviously we’re going to see a lot of better post players then we saw and yet a weakness that we know we have was even exposed against an exhibition team.”
Monson also said the Gophers “need to clean up our zone responsibilities because we are going to have to play a lot more zone this year.”
But more important to work on than the fundamentals is team chemistry. With four banged up players, Minnesota has a long way to go.
“Just getting everybody on the same page is obviously a huge concern when we have guys playing in new positions and not having everybody healthy,” Monson said. “These practice days are more vital than normal.”
The solution?
“Nothing heals guys better than games,” Monson said.

Sarah Mitchell covers football and men’s basketball and welcomes comments at [email protected].