Hate to say this, but I hope the Gophers lose out so that the Gophers will rid themselves of Tubby. I'm afraid the game passed him by 10 years ago. He just seems so disinterested these days. On top of that, he's been nothing more than a mediocre recruiter, has lost more players whom have transferred out of his program in his short tenure in MN than any major D1 program I can recall, and is an extremely poor coach when it comes to making in game adjustments. Time for some fresh blood in Minnesota.
Delusional. Especially the mediocre recruiter part.Every time I watch the Gophers play I marvel at the fact that someone convinced all those freakish athletes to go to Minnesota.
All those freakish athletes? You mean all two of them? And the only two that have been freakish in Tubby's six year tenure at Minnesota? Regardless, freakish athletes do not always make good basketball players (see Rodney Williams) and definitely don't define how good of a recruiter you are. Spin it any way you want, but good recruiter Tubby is not.
So Tubby's a mediocre recruiter, terrible in-game coach and totally disinterested in his job, yet Minnesota is 17-6, in the top 25 in the country, and in the top half of the best conference in the country.What exactly do you expect from Minnesota basketball?
Let's be real, you've seen the Gophers ranking, watched them play against Michigan State, and probably caught glimpes of other games. Is that an accurate assumption? The Gophers are 17-6 in the top 25 in the country because they had a bunch of wins over the usual cupcakes to start the year, but actually found a way to add a few name wins early in the season over teams like Memphis, Florida State, and Stanford, which thus far is the only change this year over the past five that he's been here. We're now into the heart of the Big 10 schedule, and once again, Tubby Smith can't get this team to win Big 10 games. "Top half" of the Big 10? Please. When all that means is that you've got a better record than the Northwestern's, Iowa's, Nebraska's, and Penn State's of the Big 10 then that's not saying much. Once again, the Gophers are floundering during the Big 10 schedule, having lost 5 of their last 7 games. They're playing the same motionless offense that Tubby's employed during his tenure at Minnesota, with the only difference this year being that he finally has a little more talent/athleticism on the floor than he's had in season's past. That talent and ocassional defensive tenacity bought him some early season wins over some decent teams, but it doesn't cut it during Big 10 play. You need a coach that can actually, ya know, coach. What do I expect out of Minnesota basketball? You ask that question with a tone that Gopher fans can't reasonably expect anything more than what Tubby's given them in his six years here. If that's your point, I guess I'd disagree. But let's start with what I don't expect. I don't expect that they'll win the Big 10. But I also don't expect that they'll always finish 6th, 7th, 8th, or 9th. I don't expect that the Gophers will be in the Sweet Sixteen every year (but to be honest, making the sweet sixteen once in a while should be expected). But I also don't expect that they'll be in the NIT tourney more often than in the NCAA tourney. I don't expect that they'll get top 25 national recruiting classes, though it would be nice to land an elite player once in a while. Shoot, maybe even retain an elite local kid once in a while. And no, Coleman doesn't count. Regardless, I don't expect numerous players under scholarship to transfer to other programs (off the top of my head, White, Iversen, Joseph, Cobb, Armelin in the past few seasons). Make all the excuses you want, but that doesn't happen to the extent that it's been happening under Tubby if you run a stable program. As to what I expect? Assuming Tubby remains the coach, I guess it's safe to say that I expect more of what we've seen for six years, no? A bunch of wins over creampuffs at the start of every season that leads to unwarranted homer optimism, only for reality to set in when the Big 10 season starts...more underwhelming recruits...an inability to make halftime adjustments that every other team that we play seems to make...middling finishes in the Big 10 (top "half" as you say)...disgruntled players...a coach that blames the players more often than he seemingly blames himself...that glossed over look by the head coach when he seems to have no idea what to do when things start getting away from him during games.
ayne becoming a force inside and outside the paint. Gary Harris is looking like a Freshman of the Year candidate.Probably need to win at least two of the next three to keep pace at the top.
I really do hope ALL teams, NBA and NCAA, stop wearing that stupid color on color jersey where the name and sometimes the number are impossible to see. How does a person get a design that is so bad approved?
