Golden Nugz 3.29.11- It's all Tubby Smith's Fault
by Jeffrick on Mar 29, 2011 9:21 AM CDT
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PrintAnd a good morning to you. Some Nugz hot out of the oven...
PP columnist Bob Sansevere is concerned about Colton Iverson leaving the Gopher basketball program. FIFTH- yes five!- player to leave the program in Tubby's tenure. He wants AD Joel Maturi to think before- are you ready for this- "pushing Smith to sign a contract extension." Hahaha Bob. I didn't know you were so funny. We all know Joel doesn't push ANYBODY in his athletic department. He doesn't force them to do anything. He doesn't push, he GIVES contract extensions to coaches whether they deserve it or not (and lately, like the cases of Timmy Brew and Don Lucia, "not"). Anywho, if Bob would have simply read TDG on Sunday he would have already known this isn't a big deal and isn't something to blame Tubby for. Colton wasn't going to play as a senior, and wants to transfer somewhere where he will. The other four guys all had reasons (two head cases, two to be closer to family) that can't be blamed on the coach. Golly gee willakers Bob, if you'd have read your own paper a few days ago you'd see Colton has no ill will toward the Gopher program, and just wanted to go somewhere he'd play his final season.
What is it with columnists in this town wanting to blame Tubby for everything? Yes, we would have liked a better result from this year's team, and yes, not just getting to the NCAA tourney but actually winning a round or two would be great. But I get the feeling he lined up all of the columnist's dogs and ran over them, or keyed their cars in the parking lot, or declined to share a post game beer with them or something because these guys have an axe to grind. Pick up your favorite local daily tomorrow when Jim Souhan will blame Tubby for the nuclear meltdown in Japan, and Bob Sansevere will blame Tubby for America's recession. Because it's all his fault, you know.
I knew Gopher football coach Jerry Kill was running a tough spring camp, but former Marine snipers trying out for the team? That is a new one. Gerry Delaney is a four year veteran of the Marine Corp, including a tour in Iraq, and is now competing for playing time on the D-line. Very cool story from Marcus Fuller.
Speaking of Mr. Fuller, and Gopher football, he has a blog post about Friday's practice up (forgive me if we linked to this in an earlier Nugz) which looks at the chemistry building between QB MarQueis Gray and probable starter at center Ryan Wynn. He also mentions some of the early two deep lineups on offense. And while Kill still hasn't officially given MarQueis the starting QB job, he has given him a new nickname.
FSN looks at the Top 5 returning Gopher football players- and manage to name seven guys. I don't agree with all of them, either.
Some links from the MN Daily: Josh Katzenstein says Coach Kill's approach isn't just new for the players, Derek Wetmore looks at the inconsistency in Gopher baseball's schedule and play, and Dane Mizutani profiles junior sprinter Chimerem Okoroji.
Hockey! The Frozen Four is set for this weekend in St Paul, and it includes two teams the Gophers share a conference with now, and one they'll share a conference with in the near future. And not rub salt in the wound, but they'll be plenty of Minnesotan to watch at the X this weekend, but none obviously playing for the Gophers. Four are playing a key role for Notre Dame, including two on their top line.
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Okay, I'll bite
While I’m fine with extending Tubby, my sentiments are starting to shift closer to Sansevere’s feelings than yours.
Of course players like Iverson are not going to come out blasting his former coach. That would look bad on the player. He is going to say all the right things, especially when he is looking for a new team. A player leaving before his senior season does look bad to me. I think Iverson still would have played a role. White was a head case and Paul Carter had legitimate family reasons for leaving. But Cobbs, Joseph, and Iverson all leaving in a year is a bad sign to me.
This year’s coaching job by Tubby has got to be the worst of his career, right? His players seemed to give up on him. Sure, Nolen would have helped, but I don’t think he would have made THAT much of a difference.
I’m not ready to run Tubby out of town just yet, but the lack of depth at guard can be blamed on Tubby. We are going into next year with very serious question marks. The team has certainly regressed. The front court should be fine with Walker, Mbakwe, and Sampson all returning. But I don’t feel very good about the guards at all. Everyone seems to be putting all their eggs in the Hollins basket, but I wouldn’t depend on a freshman to turn things around.
Agree With Much Of That
Lack of G depth CANNOT be “blamed” on Tubby. Nolen got injured. Joseph left to avoid supension. Neither was Tubby’s fault.
The Gophers (WITH Nolen) were 15-4. After he got injured, they finished 2-10. HUGE difference.
The team will be adding (3) very good G next season – Andre Hollins, Coleman, and Welch.
by FortyYearCatFan on Mar 29, 2011 11:28 AM CDT up reply actions
There was also a HUGE difference
in the teams they played, so that record does not tell the whole truth.
Also, you CAN blame Tubby for recruiting head cases. In the case of White, I don’t think he had much of a choice since he was in state.. But I can certainly blame Tubby for recruiting the types of players that won’t fit with his mission and coaching philosophy. He can not be completely absolved for that.
Neither Joseph Nor Nloen Was A "Head Case" As U Say
The Gophers beat some very good teams with all players on hand and playing. I’ll name 3 for you – NORTH CAROLINA, WEST VIRGINIA, and PURDUE.
by FortyYearCatFan on Mar 29, 2011 12:45 PM CDT up reply actions
Sure...
that is 3 out of 15. I’m just saying that looking at before and after records is misleading. Look at the margin of victory over the weak teams. There was plenty of evidence that there were problems before Nolen went down.
I don’t think Nolen was a head case at all. But Joseph got himself suspended twice and then decided to leave the team in midseason. I would call him a head case.
Not In My Opinion
The Gophers (with a healthy Nolen and the others) probably get 5 or 6 more W.
With just Nolen, they get 3 or 4 more W.
by FortyYearCatFan on Mar 29, 2011 6:59 PM CDT up reply actions
AGREE!!!
Tubby gets a free pass because some guys left, some were head cases, some cry to their moms at night, whatever. But he goes out and recruits…what is he recruiting? Guys who will do anything to succeed in a system? Does he have a “system”?
Good little read in the Chicago Tribune today about Butler. They recruit guys who may be 2nd or 3rd best on their teams….but guys who fit the system in place. The Butler system. The one that is in their second consecutive Final 4. Guys go there and say “teach me and I’ll do it”.
That’s what we need to figure out in Minnesota…we love chasing “3 star, 4 star, 5 star” guys….it means everything. What we need is 1 star and 2 star guys who all know and play their roles well. Fundamentals.
Yes
Tubby recruits certain players who fit his system.
Examples – Chuck Hayes, Erik Daniels, Gerald Fitch, Kelenna Azubuike, Jodie Meeks.
And (I think) Andre Hollins, Joe Coleman this year.
None are/were McDonalds A-A. But the 5 from UK were excellent players in college and made the NBA.
by FortyYearCatFan on Mar 30, 2011 5:22 AM CDT up reply actions
No college-educated people can count...
At least it seems that way… of course they list 7 in a top-5 players list, after all the Big 10 is 12 teams and the Big 12 is 10 teams. I think any top 10 list any Big10 blog puts out should contain 12 items.
Tubby’s problems stem back to Maturi. He should get his share of the blame – throwing Blake under the bus when he has done everything in his limited skill-set to help the Gophers and not playing the freshmen guards earlier are two recent examples of miscues that will cost him (not to mention the lack of a half-court offense that gets guards open on the perimeter and utilizes the post advantage he has). But I still don’t think it matters if Wooden or Coach K were here – with Maturi playing Robin Hood (taking from the rich programs to give to the poor – gymnastics, rowing, etc) and being way over his head, nothing changes until he leaves.
Agree On Blake
And I told his Dad that at Conseco earlier this month, namely that I don’t think Blake deserved the criticism he got (for playing PG as well as he could).
There was NO REASON to play freshman guards with Hoffarber, Joseph, and Nolen getting 70-75 minutes of G play the first 2/3 of the season.
by FortyYearCatFan on Mar 29, 2011 11:30 AM CDT up reply actions
Anyway...
Kill and the Twins are the darling of the media, but they will turn on Kill if he doesn’t produce immediately.
I have said this before and will say it until i am blue in the face
What were we expecting? Did we honestly beleive Tubby could take a near dead program and turn it into a success without some failure? If so, than shame on us for having unrealistic expectations. The Gophers had very little talent when he arrived, he took some chances on talented players that had potential problems. All of those players failed to some extent and that got us to the season we had last year.
I am not giving Tubby a free pass. I think the Blake thing was a little ridiculous, but honestly I can’t say that I would have done any different. He had a Guard who was familiar with the system, who had logged countless minutes in Big Ten games, and he took a chance that Blake would be able to manage the game enough to allow us to win some games until AL came back. It looks foolish now, but at the time it seemed pretty reasonable. Furthermore, Mav was not playing alot before Al went down, and when he did play really showed nothing.
All that said, he didn’t need to come down on Blake as much as he did and I think that showed a side of Tubby that i didn’t expect and for that he deserves blame.
I think this year will be pretty interesting. If we don’t see some improvement from Rodney, Austin, Chip and Mav, or Andre Hollins, Joe COleman, Oto, and Eliot all look overwhelmed than yes i beleive there are legit reasons to blame Tubby for not getting this program on track. I just can’t say that it is fair to question Tubby’s coaching acumen after 3 years of coaching teams that overacheived, and only 1 year of underacheivers.
brent, you should start a blog (or blog here)
I completely agree with you and could not have put it better myself.
Even with the notion of blaming the recruiting on Tubby is kind of strange to me. J Cobbs left late and Tubby did what he could to land Chip and Mav very late. How awful would this past season have been without those guys? Both were two late pickups that are fringe BCS caliber recruits who were picked up out of necessity.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you The Daily Gopher
by GopherNation on Mar 30, 2011 1:01 PM CDT up reply actions
2011 Recruiting By Gophers
Gophers lost 3 guards – Hoffarber, Nolen, and Josepg.
Replaced them with TN Mr. Basketball (Andre Hollins), MN Mr. Basketball (Joe Coleman), and Conf MVP from Nor Calif JC (Julian Welch). VERY good recruiting, in my opinion.
Also lost 1 C – Iverson – but Eliason © and Osenieks (F) are redshirts who can replace him.
by FortyYearCatFan on Mar 30, 2011 3:18 PM CDT up reply actions
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