gophers/ncaa

Let's all keep this in perspective, last week was Ohio, not Ohio State; this week was Maine, not exactly Connecticut.

Nothing like inviting three patsies to your tourney.

If the Gophers had lost to either of their opponents this weekend it would have been a serious red flag, but they didn't. Last week's victories at the Best Buy Classic were much more significant in terms of the resume (especially Villanova). I would have liked to see better opposition at the Subway Classic, but a 4-0 start to the season is good to see for this team either way. They eviscerated Ohio yesterday in a way that I haven't seen a Gopher team dominate for at least 7 years (patsy or no) and they started and finished strong against Maine. The next five games (Richmond, James Madison, Missouri, Virginia and @Kansas) will be a good litmus test for how good this team actually is. If the Gophers are 7-2 or better after this stretch, I think this team easily does 20+ wins this year and makes the NCAA tournament. This team is developing good chemistry and with Banham in her sophomore year, junior Michela Riche beginning to dominate, Kayla Hirt starting to develop as a red shirt freshmen, Amanda Zahui B. starting in December and a couple of good looking freshmen, this looks like a team on the rise. JMHO.

I am glad to see them go 4-0, and perhaps they are indeed on the rise. But what I want to see is a winning record in the Big Ten. Wasn't the 2008 season the last time we saw that? I have not been impressed with Borton's recruiting or coaching since then.

So she's 200-125 in her tenure. She walked into the Whalen/McCarvelle Era (thanks, Brenda Freese) to go 76-23 in her first three seasons using Freese's recruits. Since then, she's 124-102 including 44-52 the last three seasons before this season. But, as always, it seems like we celebrate mediocrity in this market, so let's hold a parade for her! Congratulations Pam Borton!

rookie6886 I would like to remind you that Freese did not recruit the #1 reason for the Gophers success during those years. Littlejohn recruited Lindsey Wahlen.

Those who question her recruiting obviously have no idea what they are talking about. Look at the roster, look at their national rankings as seniors and get your butt to a game. Then make an educated comment.

krzykt--sorry to disagree with you but Borton has been mediocre at best at recruiting. Her first recruiting class mutinied on her (Broback, Podomonick, Lacey, and Williams). After that she had a string of average recruits who couldn't compete in the B1G. Banham has been her first blue-chip recruit that has panned out. Also, the fact that she has already lost another three of her recruits this year (Dvorak, Clay, and Ionescu) have decided to leave. Granted none of those players were getting any playing time anyway, but they contributed to the depth on the bench and in practices. I am very optimistic about the team this year but sad that this will probably mean Borton is not going anywhere.

WIth Maryland joining the Big-Ten in 2014, Brenda Frese, former Gopher women's hoops coach, will be coming back to the Big-Ten if she remains with Maryland. How ironic! :-)

golffanatic...Lindsey Whalen was a key player during Brenda Frese's coaching tenure...as well as Pam Borton's. But, they also had other key players who sparked the final four run including: Janel McCarville, Shannon Bolden, Shannon Schonrock, Kelly Roysland and others. It was Frese who initially helped to bring out Whalen's talent along with surrounding her with a great center (McCarville) and good complimentary players. The program hasn't had that kind of talent for several seasons. Maybe this squad will have a chance to make its mark in the Big-Ten.