Gophers' two favorite sons need to shine

GREENSBORO, N.C. - In real life, dreams are just dreams. Winning the lottery demands nothing of the dreamer other than imagination.

In sports, dreams are imbued with responsibility and risk, and the possibility of public failure.

Al Nolen and Blake Hoffarber grew up in the Twin Cities fantasizing about playing for the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the NCAA tournament. Today, as sophomores who will face Texas in the first round of the tournament in Greensboro, they will fulfill that ambition at the end of a season in which their progress more closely imitated the stock market than the unemployment rate.

As a freshman, Nolen became a throwback Gophers point guard, a hyperactive defender and deft passer. Often his passes landed in the hands of Hoffarber, who would stake out a spot beyond the three-point line and arc shots that seemed guided by GPS.

Fans imagined four years of this -- the unselfish point guard dishing to the purest of shooters.

As sophomores, Nolen and Hoffarber were supposed to be two of the Gophers' three best players, along with Damian Johnson, and yet they enter the tournament unsure of how many minutes they will play or whether their shooting strokes are sound.

"I'm feeling very confident," Nolen said bravely on Wednesday, before the Gophers worked out at Greensboro Coliseum.

Nolen peaked during the Gophers' signature victory. He played strong defense while producing 18 points, five rebounds, five assists and just one turnover during Minnesota's dissection of Louisville in Arizona in December. That victory over the eventual overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament probably earned the Gophers a spot in the tournament, and Nolen's performance prompted Louisville coach Rick Pitino to say: "I love him as a basketball player. He goes left and right, makes his free throws. I love him. Tell him to transfer."

Nolen has not matched that 18-point total -- or his 36 minutes played in that game -- since. He has scored in double digits once in his past 13 games, and went scoreless against Michigan State in the Big Ten tournament.

Hoffarber became a YouTube sensation by hitting improbable buzzer-beating shots at Hopkins High and then as a freshman in the Big Ten tournament. With his simple, efficient shot, Hoffarber figured to come back as a sophomore with a more well-rounded game.

Like Nolen, Hoffarber faded just when you would have expected a surge. After shooting 43 percent from the three-point line last year, he is shooting .341 this year. Last year, he made 70, this year 44. Against Michigan State in the Big Ten tournament last week, Hoffarber produced zero points on zero shots in 17 minutes.

How Nolen and Hoffarber perform could determine the Gophers' prospects the next two years, as well as the next couple of days.

"My game changed a little bit," Nolen said. "But also, in the Big Ten, they know me the best, and they've known me for a year now, and they scouted me really well. I think it will be the same with Texas -- they don't know us and we don't know them, so I should be able to do some things that I couldn't do, playing against Big Ten teams."

Asked which Gophers players worry them, Texas players and coaches named Johnson, Lawrence Westbrook and the inside duo of Colton Iverson and Ralph Sampson III.

If Minnesota is to advance, Nolen and Hoffarber must reintroduce themselves to the Minnesota offense, and the nation's college basketball fans.