Submitted for discussion: Who is the MOST IMPORTANT player on the Gophers men's basketball team right now? To help you out, these are the leading contenders:

BLAKE HOFFARBER: His overall game has improved by a crazy amount since he first arrived here. He's an underrated passer, he gets his shot off 10 times quicker than he used to and now he can score on a variety of little floaters and runners instead of just from beyond the arc. As THE shooter on this team, he has a lot of pressure. And he very often delivers.

TREVOR MBAKWE: Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson are nice big men. They bring a presense, rebounding and sometimes scoring. But Mbakwe is a beast. We simply didn't realize what the Gophers were missing last year. It is Mbakwe. We are absolutely infatuated with his game.

... And here's where you see the other part of the above photo from last year, which we split into two parts to take out Royce White.

AL NOLEN: He's the floor general, and the team's defensive barometer. As he goes, often times so go the Gophers. If we see more of the Nolen we saw last night, the Gophers are a Sweet 16-type team -- and maybe more. If not, they're just another squad.

RODNEY WILLIAMS: This is a longshot choice, but think about it. Rodney is the most athletic player the Gophers have. He's very one-dimensional, but he also has the greatest ability to send the crowd into a frenzy with a dunk. What he brings to the table cannot be replicated. And when it's working, it's a sight to behold.

Write-in candidates accepted, but basically we'd say these are your choices in the comments. Please explain your answer ...