Gopher Sports Thursday Talkers

by GopherNation on Jan 26, 2012 3:10 PM CST in Gopher Basketball

So we've got nothing today (sorry). Work or life or lack of blogger motivation or a combination of all three is hitting the staff here at TDG. So I'll give a few points you guys talk amongst yourselves...

Football Recruiting - National Signing Day is next week. The Gophers are trying to land Hopkins WR, Andre McDonald. He may make his decision today or tomorrow amongst Minnesota, UCLA and possibly Vanderbilt. Are we going to land him?
Trevor Mbakwe - Appealed to the NCAA for a rare 6th year of eligibility. He missed quite a few games due to injury as a freshman and then again as a senior, which might help his case. He also has graduated, which is always a good thing. To his debit, he did have to miss a year due to some pretty serious legal allegations. Will Mbakwe get his 6th year and if he does will he come back?
Gopher Basketball - The loss to Michigan State really isn't a big deal. But the next three games are hosting Illinois, at Iowa and at Nebraska. Can the Gophers put together another three-game winning streak before the schedule gets really tough?

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1 – I think we land McDonald (though he may change his mind)
2 – I think Mbakwe does not get a 6th year. But if he does I believe he’ll come back.
3 – I think we win three in a row.

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by GopherNation on Jan 26, 2012 3:37 PM CST reply actions

ESPN "experts" predict

4 of the 7 “experts” predict that McDonald will choose Minnesota.

what you say here can, and will, be used against you The Daily Gopher

by GopherNation on Jan 26, 2012 4:13 PM CST reply actions

I agree with your predictions

And would add as a topic for discussion, Myron Medcalf’s article about Royce White’s struggles with general anxiety disorder, which jimipig linked to in the game thread.

I think the article really makes Maturi and the Gophers look bad for the handling of White as if he was just some thug rather than a kid with serious mental health issues who needed some patience and understanding.

by amiller92 on Jan 26, 2012 4:58 PM CST reply actions

good topic

but I don’t know if it still gives the whole picture with what happened at Minnesota.

There may have been plenty of patience with White, who decided to leave after the year because he was frustrated. Just because he had this medical condition doesn’t mean that holding him back in his freshman year after a couple of incidents wasn’t the right move.

Personally, I’m not happy with how everything was handled but I’m not convinced that we know the whole story.

what you say here can, and will, be used against you The Daily Gopher

by GopherNation on Jan 26, 2012 5:07 PM CST up reply actions

That's certainly right

And Myron’s article has a lot of detail about his high school years and his Iowa State years, but not much about Minnesota.

We certainly don’t have the whole story, but even before this I thought Maturi was unfair to the kid based on the facts we know — he punished first and investigated later.

by amiller92 on Jan 26, 2012 5:15 PM CST up reply actions

Maturi was unfair?

Where was Tubby? Maturi is a figurehead when it comes to basketball. Tubby is running that and he could have saved Royce White if he had wanted to do so. It is insane to get one of the top 25 kids in the country and then let him get away. Tubby is to blame just like he is to blame for losing Devoe, Cobbs, and Iverson. As now proved in Ames, The Mayor is a players’ coach.

by DACGold on Jan 27, 2012 11:05 AM CST reply actions

Wait wait wait...

Since when is Tubby able to overrule his boss? Can you point to an example of that happening that would lead you to believe he could do so here?

by GoAUpher on Jan 27, 2012 11:16 AM CST up reply actions

What?

Every report I’ve ever read is that discipline issues like those facing White and Mbakwe were handled by Maturi, not Tubby.

Also, ask Jimmy Williams whether Tubby runs basketball over Maturi’s objections (answer: no).

As for “losing” those other guys, well, Iverson left because he was behind Ralph on the depth chart, and in danger of losing out to Eliasson and Walker too. I guess Tubby’s “to blame” for that, but he’s also right. As frustrating as Ralph can be, he’s a better player than Colton, whose main skill was collecting fouls. Eliasson has been a more than adequate replacement.

I don’t think you can blame Tubby for whatever rules violations Devoe kept making, unless you think there shouldn’t be any rules and guys should get to do whatever they want.

Cobbs is a trickier question. He didn’t show much when he was here. But he’s been good elsewhere. So maybe Tubby didn’t get the most out of him or didn’t use him right or something, but I know I didn’t shed any tears when he left.

by amiller92 on Jan 27, 2012 12:31 PM CST up reply actions