Golden Nugz for 2.16.09

After 19 turnovers and 7 assists, Tubby Smith had this to say after the Gophers fell Saturday against Penn State.

"I thought we had a pretty good ballhandling team, but obviously we don't," Gophers coach Tubby Smith said.

Yeah., the ball-handling has been atrocious. Especially for a team that allegedly prides itself on defense as a means to overcoming some offensive defeciencies.

The turnovers were painful. It's true. But with a young team, I can forgive that IF the turnovers are a byproduct of offensive aggressiveness. But the Gophers are the opposite of aggressive on offense.

Case in point. The team's best offensive player, Lawrence Westbrook saw action sparingly. Travis Busch, perhaps the most limited offensive player on the team, saw the second most floor time on the team.

Can anyone explain this? Busch goes from role player to playing starter minutes in a tight game?

Sorry, I'm ranting here. But this team is just infuriating at this point. They seem, um, disinterested?

• Basketball Predictions writes that UCLA needs a sense of urgency. I feel the same way about our maroon and gold. The blog post also covers Penn State and Minnesota with both teams on the proverbial bubble.
• Four points would have been better, but three will have to do for Don Lucia's Gophers who went to Alaska and skated to a tie Friday night before winning 4-2 on Saturday. GopherPuckLive has a Minnesota perspective here.
• Sticking with the hockey Gophers, if you're interested in how the curiously named UAA Hockey Fan Blog covered the 1 point weekend for the SeaPuppies, look no further than the headline: UAA 2 - UofM 2 - Referees 2. I shouldn't tease. It must be a chore to write about UAA hockey.
• I don't feel good about the basketball team's chances heading into Ann Arbor. The Wolverines went into Northwestern and pulled out a win. Similarly, earleir this week Illinois went into Northwestern and dug deep late and came back for a win. Minnesota? Blown out in Northwestern. Unlike Michigan and Illinois, MInnesota never adjusted during its game with Northwestern. UMHoops.com has more on Michigan's win Sunday.
• A new SBN Big Ten blog is coming soon. Our Illini friends at Paint the Town Orange are moving to Hail to the Orange. We welcome them to SBNation while at the same time hoping that Bruce Weber's boys fail to put up 40 points, again, when they play Minnesota next.