2010-2011 Gophers

[LMITOUT]

University of Minnesota basketball standout Trevor Mbakwe was arrested Monday for violating a restraining order. He was booked into the Ramsey County jail and remains there Monday night.

[harvey lee]

Does not sound good for Purdue this evening.

[TR21HP]

Mbakwe posted bail and was out late afternoon Monday. Posted a message on facebook and violated a restraining order. It's unfortunate but Tubby can't control these players 24 hours a day. For coaches to get these players after 18 years of reinforced questionable behavior in sports, school and life and expect to change them or control them with the limited time they are in contact with them is wishful thinking I'm afraid. Tubby is responsible as head coach but how much can you actually do?

[Scott M]

Some people need to rethink contact in today's electronic age. How could you be so foolish? Bad news to wake up to.

[Coach1310]

Kinda forgot about this thread for a while..... my take on the Gophs.... some of the same old, same old. We still really don't have anyone who can create their own shot. Mbakwe is a BEAST, but Tubby feels obligated to limit his minutes or something that I can't understand. How they don't isolate him more and use Sampson as a Hi-Lo option to feed him more is beyond me. Tubby is COMPLETELY inept on installing a decent half court offense in my opinion. It has been like this since day one.... try to run Hoff of a few screen and take a peek inside early, 15 seconds of swinging the ball around, then 5 seconds of panic when nobody can beat anyone off the dribble. I don't expect them to beat OSU, Michigan State or Wisconsin on the road, BUT if you want to elevate your program and be a top 25 team you have to beat somebody worth a dang on the road.

I'm at a crossroads with Tubby and this program. I know we won't be able to land a coach with as good a pedigree and name recognition as Tubby, but finishing in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten, with 20 wins and a 8 or 9 seed in the tournament isn't a great accomplishment in my mind. I hope they Gophs and Tubby prove me wrong, but I see us headed for the same kind of finish we have had in the past again this year.

[Snag]

NCAA sports (Football and Basketball) are what they are-Money making businesses. Facebook post sounded harmless, but a restraining order is a restraining order. No contact means no contact.

Ohio State football

Cam Newton

Reggie Bush

Didn't Barkley say he got a pay cut going to the NBA.

[harvey lee]

It was good to hear on the tube that Trevor will not miss a game. I guess I had the wrong day for Purdue also.

[Scott M]

Coach, we're on the same page brother. I don't disagree one ounce.

[CodyDawg]

It is time to admit this team is not nearly as good as we were led to believe. There have been signs for awhile. Barely beating the nonconference patsies, the lack of a clear leader, suspensions, defections, law troubles, it just never ends.

I was not happy with the coaching in the loss at Mich St. That last play was horribly designed. Hoff doesnt get open on screens ever, everyone knew it would be him and there was only 1 other option cuz Nolen cant shoot. Tubby should have had a minimum of 3 and prolly 4 guys on the floor who were capable of making that shot. he had 2. actually, he had 3, but sampson wasnt prepared for it. I think the best play would have been Hoff setting a screen for Sampson. Would have caught Mich St completely off guard and Ralphie would have had an uncontested shot. Best we could have hoped for. Or even if Nolen would have given the flippin ball to Hoff out further it would have better than what happened.

Now with Mbakwe in trouble it just continues. Ugg.

[Snag]

I think they are fine without Joseph. He was shoot first, shoot second and shoot third mentality.

Iverson needs to get going and they need to play more inside out. They don't dump it inside enough.

On another note, the gophers don't look too bad considering this news story for the #3 ranked Jayhaks.

Mario Little, the senior forward for No. 3 Kansas who missed six games after being charged in a fight, has been cleared to play.

Coach Bill Self announced the decision late Monday. The 22-year-old Little was arrested Dec. 16 after a fight involving his girlfriend and others. He was charged with seven misdemeanors.

Self said Little received a diversion agreement from Lawrence Municipal Court for two battery charges and will receive weekly counseling through the end of the season. He said Little deserves a second chance to finish his career in uniform.

Little played in nine games before he was suspended and averaged 6.2 points per game.

[Mudcutter]

What I can't understand is that the top schools in the NCAA (Kansas etc.) have to recruit kids with ?? backgrounds. I can see MN etc,, they don't get the cream of the crop and have to take a chance on JUco etc's. As successful as Iowa football has been under Ferentz,, they have led the Big 10 in arrests since 2001. same thing,, they take a chance on the shady kids,, and pay for it,, but still win.

Winning is all that matters,, and that's why middle of the road schools with fairly easy entrance credentials (not Duke for example,) have to take a chance to compete agst the bigger schools. See Cincy and wait until the bomb explodes in Storrs under Calhoun when leaves,,, it will make Pete Carroll look like a Saint,, The UConn mens' program has more violations not reported then the US GOVT.

[Dotch]

I agree. In the Big Ten, start turning over rocks at places like Ohio State and Michigan and I don't think it would surprise anyone what might crawl out. The U was not as tough to get into back in the days when I was a student. The TC campus had about 55,000 students and there were a lot of Viet Nam vets who were going to school then on the GI Bill. Times have changed. It's all about SAT's and ACT's. They won't take the chance on a student coming out of high school if they don't score very well on the tests. It was easier to stay in school too with some of the classes that were offered and having General College as well as University Without Walls, where it was essentially build your own degree. It seemed too that there was an understanding that athletes were special. Mychal Thompson made it to 2 or 3 of the Physical Geography class labs I had over on West Bank in the fall of '77. And there were definitely some real cupcake classes to help keep people in school by keeping your GPA up. "Angling Moderate Intensity" was a real class that basically consisted of watching films of Murray Warmath's fishing trips. Ah, those were the days!

[dfv87]

Now I don’t have all the previous facts about this whole deal but to be arrested for this is weak… (from Star Trib article)

According to a university release, the message said: "I know we haven't talked in forever and trust me I'm not trying to start any drama with nobody in your life or anything. I just wanted to wish u the best with everything and I hope all has been well with you and your family. I am still disappointed how everything played out and I do wish that in the future we could be cool again. Idk how u r going to take this msg hopefully its not bad but I just wanted to wish u a happy new year and send out a congrats for graduating. I've been well I'm finally playin bball again in everything down in miami finally got taken care of thank god. Well idk if u will respond or not but best wishes for 2011."

Mbakwe is scheduled to make a court appearance in Ramsey County on Jan. 20.

Mbakwe's lawyer, Laura Nolen of Berndt Law Office in Minneapolis, said this is the first time she's heard of police arresting someone for allegedly violating a restraining order without violence. She said she worked as a domestic violence attorney for 13 years.

[Bryce]

My bet is that this kid is lucky to be on the roster by the end of the season. Absolutely no chance he stays out of trouble until next season.

[Dotch]

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, er, Barn, the Gophers take care of #8 Purdue 70 - 67. Would've liked to have seen them bury 'em when they were up by 8 but a win is a win. Only saw the last half but a very satisfying win after the games last year.

[harvey lee]

It was a needed win.

[TR21HP]

Also noticed a little more up tempo game instaed of the stagnant half court offense. The team needs to figure out who they are and maybe this bit of running will help.

[mrklean]

huge win hopefully it gives them great momentum

[CJH]

Good win against a good team. Hoffarber played with fire and agressiveness and scored 24 points. Gotta love it!!! Nolen misses two free throws but hits a clutch three, which you would think would be backwards for him. Bigs didn't play great, but did just enough to get the W. The freshman need to step up and contribute more, Nolan and Hoff can't play 40 mins/game and it will come back to haunt them later in the season.

In response to some of the points above, the U is a lot tougher academically than it used to be. There is a reason kids "fail" (hate that term) here and do fine other places. Additionally athletics aren't looked at as a positive for the university by the administration, but as a drag on the academics and budget. Hopefully the new president will turn things around. Athletics are the best marketing tool a university has to attracting students.

[Dotch]

Gee CJH, when I started reading your post, at first I thought you were talking about the IA game. Luckily I happened to look at the date! They had IA exactly where they wanted them after the 1st half, then looked they would phone it in to start the second half, even let the Hawks go ahead after they were down 15 at halftime. IA is terrible but they have a couple guys who can play and the Gophers let them off the hook. Hoffarber had an off night or they might've buried IA like they were capable of doing. A win is still a win as they say.

It'll be 30 years ago this spring I graduated from the U. Things have been messed up since Ken Keller and his Commitment to Focus or words to that effect. In the days of C. Peter Magrath, it was all about getting the money as Cannon used to say daily. Mine in particular. I agree, athletics are a big deal at a major university. This ain't Stanford, never was and never will be. The U has turned its back on agriculture too in many respects even though 1 in 5 jobs in MN are directly related to it. Ironically it is more than eager to point out the accomplishments of Nobel Peace Prize winner Norman Borlaug, who coincidentally was a varsity wrestler at the U.

[Scott M]

Missed the IA and Purdue game while on an ice fishing trip. Looks like they took care of business and can get back into the swing of classes before their next game this weekend at MI. The Purdue win was a big one!

[harvey lee]

Yes a win tonight but it was interesting to the end. Man could Michigan score the 3 pointers.

[09ultra]

well atleast they pulled out a win

[thatoneguy]

Yes a win tonight but it was interesting to the end. Man could Michigan score the 3 pointers.

mn has been terrible at defending the 3 most of this year. if they don't improve, psu and nw will beat them, and these good wins will be for naught.

[hamrej23]

Are you kidding me?

That's just an excusr to a few early losses.

I don't care what anyone thinks, you go into michigan and control the game like they did that's impressive. 15-4. Without joseph. Ill take that and more. Tubbys got his guys and they will play for him. Who haven't they played with? come on now, get on the wagon cause its on skis in this mn snow baby

[Scott M]

Ha ha! Love the enthusiasm hamrej23! I'll admit I expect perfection and tend to focus on the negative but I'll take a road "W" since they controlled the game from the opening tap. They do need to better defend the 3, but no one has blown them out. OSU was close but the Gophers made it a game in the end.

Plenty to work on for this team, but this is as good a week to start as any...Take care of Northwestern at home on Wednesday, then beat Purdue at Mackey on Sunday and they will have some momentum. They do match up pretty well with Purdue...

[harvey lee]

Hopefully Nolen can play. They did look pretty darn good.

[EBass]

Nolen is out - from the Stib.

Gophers basketball coach Tubby Smith said this morning that point guard Al Nolen Jr. broke his foot durimng Saturday's game at Michigan.

Nolen, who had been troubled by foot issues earlier this season, will have surgery on Wednesday.

Smith said that a timetable for Nolen's return will be discussed after the surgery.

[Dotch]

Let's also hope Northwestern hits their three pointers like they did yesterday against Wisconsin. Ouch! Didn't hurt that the Badgers were unconscious from just about anywhere on the court and getting most of the boards on the offensive end. Release the beast and let's go!

[Scott M]

Tough news. That might be all we've seen from Al Nolen, and no true point guard to lead the way. The ceiling will be lowered a bit as far as expectations with this group with no true PG.