Players say Gophers practices are getting a lot more intense these days, and there was proof of that today on Elliott Eliason's face, after he ran into freshman Joe Coleman in a practice and had to get four stitches in his lip.


"It's been pretty competitive, it's been pretty hard-fought," Eliason, a redshirt freshman, said. "I think it's been more physical than it has been these last few practices, and I think that's led to success on the floor."
Perhaps some of that intensity comes from a legitimate head-to-head matchup between the Gophers' starting five and the second five, which has outscored the starters in the last two wins.
The discrepancy of talent between the two groups is getting slimmer by the day, coach Tubby Smith said. The bench has outscored the starters in the Gophers' past two victories – 39-38 against Illinois and 40-29 at Nebraska – and has been critical in lighting a fire underneath the Gophers.
And yes, Smith admitted, some of that probably comes from his often-talked-about, sometimes criticized method of substituting -- replacing five starters with five reserves, and playing them as two separate teams.
"They probably know each other better because in practice they play all the time together," Smith said. Therefore their execution is a lot better."
Said Eliason of the switches: "I think it helps from some chemistry aspect. We know how each other plays and what to expect out of everyone that is on the floor with you at the same time. So it definitely does help from a chemistry and a flow aspect."
Plenty have criticism for the method – it's unorthodox and many believe it gets starters out of their own flow, just when they're starting to get comfortable. Even Smith himself doesn't have a really good explanation for why he uses the technique. To him, it simply makes sense.
But regardless of its perceived flaws, the players say it's working – and the outside world is now starting to see the results.
"It doesn't frustrate us at all, because sometimes you just get tired, and he's trying to rotate people in and get fresh legs on defense and offense running the floor," Austin Hollins said. "So I would say it's a good thing. I have seen an increase in bench play. Part of it comes from that and part of it comes from working hard in practice."