2010-2011 Gophers

[Scott M]

Another loss. They couldn't rebound and (I felt) they lost their composure on some bad breaks and a couple bad calls in the second half. The gophers have played to their competition all year, but you aren't making a move on Ohio State, the #1 team in the country without some momentum going in. The gophers have momentum, but in the opposite direction in the win/loss column. I'll guess Wisconsin upsets Ohio State later this week, we'll see.

There are 8 guaranteed games left for Goldy, if they go .500 they won't be dancing. This is the wrong time to be playing poorly. They're going to have to rally around something or someone. Now it's time for Tubby to coach them up and earn the big bucks.

Every team around the country deals with injuries and transfers. What I'm sick of is watching this team, with a towering front line, flip up weak shots inside, not box out on rebounds, not post up properly, give up position on the other end, and not play fundamentally sound basketball. They've been outplayed a number of times, but lately they are getting outhustled, and that just should not happen.

[harvey lee]

As always, just another lackluster season for the Gophers.

Back to the pretenders.

[Dotch]

What were you smokin', Duffman? No doubt, every team deals with defections and injuries although I have never seen a Gophers team or recall any team that counted for that matter deal with what this one has short of being on probation. I look at it a lot the same as what we experience in the purebred livestock showring. If you took 5 of the top animals out of my show string of 16 - 18 head over a 2 year period, it's going to leave a mark and we won't compete at the same level. I know, I've had it happen. No amount of slick showmanship and fancy fitting will change that. And the officiating is just as subjective and political as college basketball!

The Gophers are going through a rough stretch and w/o some of the freshmen stepping up, it will continue to be that way. Getting the freshmen some major playing time today probably did not hurt their cause. I've maintained all along that the big guys, Sampson and Iverson need to finish. They're not doing that consistently or catching and hanging onto the ball for that matter. They have had some decent games too so it's in there, they just need to figure out how to bring it with them every time out. They need to fish 4 games out of their remaining schedule and win them to get into the NCAA IMO.

Frustrated? Sure but I also watch a lot of Gopher hockey and if you want frustrating, watch what has happened over there the past several seasons. I'll take what this basketball team has done given the circumstances anyday over that. Difference there being if they fire Donnie, there's a waiting list of coaches who would love to come here to coach. Get the Fire Tubby bandwagon rolling and you'll probably get another coach of the caliber of Monson or worse. Or hey, maybe Mich St. will fire Izzo after the whupping they took at Madison today! Talk about leaving a mark.

[Scott M]

I hear ya Dotch. The gophers have had more than their fair share of incidents and injury during Tubby's reign, but the transfers, academics, and legal issues were the baggage that came with the players. Take the scholarships elsewhere or get these guys to buy into the system or you deal with the issues of the Mbakwes, Whites, Nolens, and Josephs.

I look at it a lot the same as what we experience in the purebred livestock showring. If you took 5 of the top animals out of my show string of 16 - 18 head over a 2 year period, it's going to leave a mark and we won't compete at the same level. I know, I've had it happen. No amount of slick showmanship and fancy fitting will change that. And the officiating is just as subjective and political as college basketball!

I too spent time in the purebred livestock showring. A way to restate my frustration in this analogy is if those 5 top animals are gone and you roll into Hickville county fair open class with your remaining string, you don't pay attention to the start time of the show, and you have animals that aren't ready for the ring. You show up, unclipped, unprepared, and unready and get dropped a few spots back in your respective classes that you should have won. Same thing. There are coaches that would love to have Sampson, Iverson, and Mbakwe inside and Hoffarber outside, but Tubby's offensive coaching rating is about a 2 out of 10. They get beat on the glass, turn over the ball too much, miss way too many free throws. Always a piece away, always an excuse, always on the bubble. Put up or shut up, it's time to earn that money. If Tubby wants that practice facility, take this team somewhere besides one and done.

[CodyDawg]

I hear ya Dotch, I can understand some blips here and there, they happen. The Virginia loss? Oh well. But I am seeing a very unimpressive pattern with Tubby. That team was not prepared to play at Indiana. Coaching. 5 defections? 1 or 2 might just happen, but 5 you say? the coach has to take some responsibility for that. The end of the Michigan game? Absolutely horrible coaching. the half court offense? or should I say lack of offense? bad coaching. No originality, just the same old, same old thing that doesnt work. I think you are seeing hollins and armelin start to play some productive minutes, so we should start to see more of them and less of rodney williams who is just brutal (somehow he managed to not break the backboard or bend the rim yesterday). Williams has not progressed at all, yet tubby sticks with him. again, at least questionable coaching. my .02

[EBass]

Cripes...

[Duffman]

I didn't predict they'd win, I just said don't be all that suprised if they somehow pulled out a vic, it's a home game in the Big Ten, anything's possible.

That said, a sixth grader could snatch the ball out of Iversons hands, Sampson still can't decide if he actually wants to play the game of basketball. The young guys are just that, young. The team is always a step slow and cannot see a man when he's open or about to be open. They are always a second slow to recognize what's going on on the court. There's some talent on the team, just not a lot of it.

[Dotch]

Injuries plus defections = 5 Cody. Joseph, Carter and White defected and Walker and Nolen are key injuries. Just funnin' ya Duffman especially after some of your exchanges with MM down under. I'll admit in the back of my mind I thought the Gophers might have an outside shot but it was way back there behind moving snow, getting the chores done and thinking about a friend who suddenly wound up getting a quadruple bypass last Friday. Will be interesting to see how Ohio St. fares in Bucky's building on Saturday.

I agree about the offense: It's painful to watch at times even to an old wrassler like myself. When no one is moving around, there are large chunks of the floor unoccupied near the basket, someone is being double teamed, someone needs to be getting their arse open and attempting to use some of that free space to score, whether it's a called play or not. There have been flashes of promise and to me that's probably what frustrates me the most about the year. I'm frustrated too though by the athletes who bail, not just at the U but all over the place in the NCAA. It's happening with greater frequency it seems right down to the local level, especially since open enrollment took off in MN. Guess there must be an "I" in team these days. Oh well, along those same lines, I've been told that the "N" stands for knowledge at Nebraska! They should be almost as much fun to trade barbs with as the Hawkeye fans.

[Duffman]

Just funnin' ya Duffman especially after some of your exchanges with MM down under.

I was wondering what in the heck????? A guy has open views on a lot of things and next thing ya know he's awarded title of the local burnout. (Do they still use that term these days?)

[CodyDawg]

Carter? I cant think of who Carter was. But you missed Justin Cobbs.

Iverson....i am okay with Iverson. he is what he is. But both he and Sampson need to be taught the simple fact that if you cant get a 2 foot hook shot over the rim, it aint goin' in. Ever. Give that pumpkin a chance my 8th grade coach would say....you gotta get it over the front iron. Miss long, dont miss short. ohhh, that makes me mad.

I like some of sampsons game, but someone needs to light his britches on fire to get some passion in his game.

[CodyDawg]

since I am critiqueing some, I will do it for all. And at 5' 10", it is easy for me to offer up advice!

Mbakwe. Love his fire. Wish he could give 5% of it to Sampson. Needs to take a extra millisecond once in awhile to make sure of that easy put back, secure the rebound, etc. but that is nitpicky, i like his game.

Hoffarber. I like his game too. He needs to be a little more selfish though and be aggressive. take more shots, Blake, just about anyone else shooting a jumper wide open is much worse than you shooting one with a hand in your face. good passion.

Williams. should be riding the pine. he is not ready for big ten hoops. his shot is horrendous. a project. might be serviceable as a senior.

Armelin. Potential here. can drive. can shoot. needs to understand the game a little more. i think he needs more minutes. take those minutes from williams.

hollins. copy what I said about armelin. a little better at the rest of his game than chip, but not as good on the drive. nice potential.

ahanmisi. needs woork. needs time on the pine and practice time. good potential on the jumper.

[Dotch]

Paul Carter was the lanky forward who would spell Damian Johnson some and could score. His sister had cancer and he transferred to UIC. I forgot about Cobbs, not that there was a lot to remember necessarily. I agree about those hooks. I just cringe every time those guys put one of those up. Will it or won't it and too many times they clang it off the front rim.

[CodyDawg]

oh yeah, paul carter. cant really put that one on Tubby. i will give him a pass on Carter.

Cobbs would be looking good right now without any sniff of a PG on the team.

I really think the front of the rims at Willum (A flashback to the Haskins era) Arena have GOT to be dented in with so many clanging off the front.

By the way, how does Hoff shoot so dang fast and hit anything???

[Trucks]

My question is how they are still ranked. They are 25 in the Espn rankings and just missed the top 25 rankings in the ap poll.

[Scott M]

This team left a ton of points on the court tonight and it cost them. The game played for the Gophers like a beginner learning to swim. They had to work so hard to keep the game close much like a swimmer trying to keep their head above water. Hoping for two minute miracle is futile because they can't make clutch plays or hit free throws.

The refs didn't help by blowing the Mbakwe and-one, the Armelin sideline call, the out of bounds ball pounded down by Illini player in front of the Illinois bench, the Sampson bump, etc. Normally bad calls even out but the Gophers didn't get any breaks. Maybe they'll return to the mean in another game, but it didn't happen tonight.

Now's a good time to jump off the bandwagon. This is going to be a slow and ugly fall from grace, a slow death by attrition. They had to win this game at home tonight to keep pace. They aren't looking like an NCAA team and as their conference record continues to dip below .500, their chances continue to drop. You can say the schedule gets easier with no more ranked teams, but don't you think this is going to open the door to Michigan State, Iowa and Penn State? Those teams want in, and Minnesota is going to be on the outside looking in.

What's amazing to me is Tubby is willing to change the lineup for every single nonconference game to see how his team develops chemistry. Now when the games mean everything, he refuses to budge with Hoffarber running the point. What's the worst that could happen by running Armelin or Ahanmisi out there? They are already free falling and losing games. Weber starts the game by benching his star seniors. Tubby needs to send the same message to Williams to pick it up. Last year the talk was that the team would go as Williams go. Thankfully that hasn't been the case, but they absolutely need someone to pick it up and getting anything meaningful from Williams would be huge.

No pride tonight, no attention to details....WAY too many turnovers. It would make me sick to lose at home to Illinois when you've only won like 1 of the past 25 games in the series. And to see Illinois' student section show up, make noise, and celebrate a win...no pride by your Gophs.

[Dotch]

This team is NIT bound after seeing this performance. Painful game to watch in almost every aspect, and yes the officiating was horrendous even by Big 10 standards. The Gophs will have to get their [PoorWordUsage] in a group in order to impress anyone and win at least 4 of their last games to be considered for an NCAA berth unless of course they win the tournament. I have a better chance of hiring Kim Kardashian as my next secretary than that. The way teams like Iowa have suddenly awakened, winning 4 games is no easy task. I agree, the freshmen need to play. Hoff looked gassed in the 2nd half. And maybe after getting racked up like they have, the NIT is what they need. Clem had some teams back in the 90's that were of a similar makeup and it certainly didn't hurt them.

[guideman]

First of all, it's never better to go to the NIT than the NCAA tournament.

As disapointed as I am by the way this team has responed to losing it's point guard, I am even more disapointed in how Tubby has handled it. Williams at the shooting guard spot, what are you high Tubby? They have broken my heart so many times over the years, that they should change their name to the Vikings.

Hofharbor threw up nothing but bricks when they needed him the most, he's outa gas in the second half. Play someone else at the point Tubby....

"Ace"

[EBass]

UGH...

[Dotch]

OK, maybe I worded the last couple lines poorly but let me ask you this guideman, if they're not going to make the NCAA which most of us are convinced they won't, would you (A) rather have them sitting at home playing video games or ( going to the NIT to gain more game experience for the freshmen? And don't tell us you'd rather see them going to the NCAA because we already know that.

[hunter76]

When we first got Tubby I was very excited, but after watching this years team I wouldn't care if he left. We have 2 big men that run around the top of the key, why not have them down low and post them up. Mbakwe is a stud, why not post him up more and clear everyone out for him? Very poor coaching in my book.

[Duffman]

There's just no team chemistry on this years team.

Did anybody else notice on one of Hoffs drives to the basket he put up a little floater that was way off, to me it looked like a pass to Mbakwe for a jam? It just seems like there's never two Gophs on the same page at the same time. It's like they've never played together before.

Frustrating.

[mrklean]

Sad to say this team is cooked

[Scott M]

Gophers are fortunate that Iowa plays into their hands and casts a bunch of 3's, most of which were contested. They were also shooting cold as a number of shots rolled out. Tonight Minnesota looked hungry and prepared. They hustled to loose balls and made plays. Rodney attacked the rim, threw some pump fakes, and had a decent game. Mbakwe also attacked the rim and made a couple jump shots. If they ran their offense through Trevor it wouldn't be a bad thing. I still think that 14 turnovers against an Iowa team that applies little pressure is not a good thing

Sampson still has weak hands and lost a number of loose balls that were in his grips. He hasn't had a good game since North Carolina. He needs a psychologist more than anything...whatever it takes to get his mind right before games.

Maverick Ahanmisi played a nice game off the bench. 7 points and capable ball handling; altogether the freshman played quite well.

The Big Ten needs to standardize their video replay. We come back from commercial and Mbakwe is issued a flagrant foul for reversing the ball across his body and inadvertently catching his defender with an elbow. If you play defense that tight, that's what you get. Contrast that to the Illinois game where the officials refuse to consult instant replay for Mbakwe's And-1 and you see what I mean. Hopefully there is some clarification in the off season.

Gophers didn't look devastating tonight but they played well enough to win. Nothing's a gimme anymore on the schedule, but the silver lining is the only team that is above them in the conference standings is MSU. I don't see them going 4-1 to close, but if they do they will get in the tournament no strings attached. I can't even make a prediction because this team is so erratic and their personnel groupings can be exposed by even a mediocre team, that nothing would surprise me. I put the range of possibilities to anything from 0-5 to 3-2. I can see them again being a team that needs to win a conference tournament game or two in order to get in as the last Big Ten team.

Side note, I did call that Wisconsin upset correctly. Wisconsin is doing a great job of using their bit parts to win...would love to see that offense in Minnesota.

[schmitty3]

For those of you watching the game tonight or any of the games left for that matter keep an eye on colton iverson and ralph sampson and how little they do on both ends of the court. They just dont play hard at all. Instead of flashing hard in the middle of the zone they both just kind of walk around real lazily not giving it much effort at all. Then you watch Mbakwe and he's all over the place. They could be such a dominate team inside the paint if iverson and sampson showed some effort and toughness. They are always getting pushed out to the top of the key also.

[Bryce]

Was about to post similar but yours was better stated. Both are marginal D1 players. Fear this program is on the same track as football. Love how my taxes are being spent.

? Aren't Tubby and Clem buddies? Hmmmmm

[Dotch]

Yeah Clem and Tubby are buds. But back to matters on the court. Coulda called this one earlier today. What a fitting end to the %#*^-ing day! I go home at noon and lamb out a ewe so I nicely get a chance to eat. The power goes off at work when a transformer blows about the time I was meeting with my last client of the day. Then I go home for chores and they take almost 2 hours while lambing out more ewes as the wife is "working". Meanwhile I get to watch the last 3 minutes of the Gophers imploding. Not amused! Time for another brewski and some vittles to forget this stinkeroo of a day and Gophers performance!

[Scott M]

Don't say we didn't tell ya so! Too many turnovers, no poise down the stretch, no answer for Battle. This is the same PSU team I watched lose to Maine in front of their home crowd in December. They have to win out to lock up a bid. Three home games and at Northwestern. If this team had the roster they started the year with, they would be fine. But not this group. A one and done in the NIT sounds about right.

[paceman]

I say they get 2 wins in the NIT.

[Dotch]

I think if they can collect 3 wins out of their last 4 games they'll get in. That would give them 20 wins. Add in the "Tubby factor" and the possibility of winning one or two in the Big 10 tournament to that total & I don't think there'd be any doubt given the expanded number of teams. They still might get in if they win 2 of their last 4 and won a couple in the tournament. As you said da chise given the personnel they have now vs. the start of the season, they have painted themselves into a corner. They're are a one and done in the NCAA if they do get in, maybe a couple game winner if they go to the NIT methinks. I haven't done my homework on Al Nolen to see where he's at yet so that may be an intangible should they go to the NIT.

[CodyDawg]

I have a slightly different view of Iverson and Sampson...that is the offense! The offense, I think, calls for them to do what they do. I have always thought Iverson in particular was pretty scrappy and an effort player.

as this season continues to swirl down the porcelain throne, I keep coming back to Tubby's incompetence. my 3 main complaints: the half a dozen defections, the total and complete lack of an offense, and his poor personnel decisions and unwillingness to change it up.

The freshmen trio now has most of season and all three has been dependable. I would predict if they gave ol' Mav half the time at point, chip a few minutes and the rest to Hoff, they would make the toureny.

Continue to wear out Hoff and you are looking at 1 and done in the NIT.