Giant Fail in Ann Arbor

by PJS on Mar 2, 2010 7:47 PM CST

The Gophers made a statement against Michigan tonight. We can all now see quite clearly that this team has no business sniffing the NCAA Tournament. That bubble? Yeah, it's sufficiently exploded.

With an opportunity to beat a very average Michigan team to take one step towards an NCAA berth, the entire Minnesota roster decided that they'd take a night off from playing defense. They had no intensity. All of them. For 40 minutes. Nothing. No spurt. No player slapping the floor encouraging a defensive stop. No heart. Almost every Michigan possession ended in either a layup or good outside look. Giant fail.

Unlike other losses, I have nothing positive to offer out of this one. And for those who want to blame Tubby Smith for this loss, don't. He tried everything defensively. He played man, but no one was playing help-side defense. No one was working. He played a 2-3 zone and the rotations were awful. He played a 3-2 zone and somehow the 3 defenders up top were allowing dribble penetration. The defense wasn't Tubby's fault. He threw everything this team has at the problem. This was a lack of execution and want-to.

Tubby has said something recently that rings true tonight, that this team lacks any poise or any leadership. That was on full display in Ann Arbor as not one Minnesota player brought with them any sort of game or intensity that justifies their scholarship.

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Nolan where are You/

Never thought they’d miss that guy this much. Any kind of pressure all year and Michigan collapses, Hof and Devoe are not quick enough. Sims and Harris are all world against the Gophs

by Tomguu on Mar 2, 2010 8:15 PM CST reply actions

Such a sad game to watch

what you say here can, and will, be used against you

by GopherNation on Mar 2, 2010 10:39 PM CST reply actions

Looks like I picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue.

what you say here can, and will, be used against you

by GopherNation on Mar 3, 2010 10:36 AM CST reply actions

Team chemistry #1 problem all year

clear to me that this team from the get-go lacked senior/captain leadership and esprit de corps. Bostick gets suspended to start the season and Westbrook and Nolan get into it out in California. I will miss DJ but I am sure few will miss the other 2 seniors. If Bostick and Westbrook never see the court again this year, it is fine with me. The significance of comoraderie is huge. I would go so far as to suggest that Nolan flunked out bc he was disgusted having to play with Westbrook.

by Texas Gopher on Mar 3, 2010 12:18 PM CST reply actions

I agree...

but i am not sure about Nolen flunking out not to play with westbrook. But i do agree that the westbrook saga has been annoying and i would assume harmful to team chemistry. The gophers will miss his offense some, but hii don’t think it will be as much as people think. None of his offense ever came from running the offense and getting open looks, it was always dribble penetratoin and clear outs. No doubt he can put the ball in the basket, but his type of scoring is easily replaced if the offense that runs correctly. I am a little surprised that DJ is not more of a leader. He seems like it on TV, but behind the scenes he must be more quiet than it appears. Too bad Tubby couldn’t land Draymond Green, not only is he a good player, but from all accounts he is a very strong leader.

by tc_brent on Mar 3, 2010 2:46 PM CST up reply actions

Disgusting game

It’s sad that this game was so important to our season and the team came out this bad. Really says a lot about the team.

Kill, maim, pillage, burn! Kill, maim, pillage, burn! Eat babies! Badger babies!

by Felix on Mar 3, 2010 2:39 PM CST reply actions

What this team need is someone to step up and seperate themselves.

What i mean by this is that we have a deep team (10 players in rotation before nolen suspension), but that isnt necessarily always a good thing. When you have that many guys on a team that are similarily talented, it is tough to know who to go to and to play as a coach. Its kind of like you dont know how is going to show up. I think this is part of the reason why the team has been so inconsistent this year. If a couple of these guys can step up their games this offseason so they can become 30+ min per night players, alot of our chemsitry issues would be solved.

by MinnesotaCatFan on Mar 3, 2010 3:23 PM CST reply actions

MCfan

correct—-we do not have a superstar and I don’t see a Turner/Lucas in the making. If you don’t have a superstar as the leader a team usually defers to seniors. This year our seniors were not up to the task but I think Carter and Hoff may do a better job of building a cohesive unit next year.

by Texas Gopher on Mar 4, 2010 7:30 AM CST reply actions