gophers/ncaa

To our beloved Gophers - we need a win on Sunday. That's all there is to it. Good luck vs. the Hawkeyes. We'll all be watching and then gearing up for a Coach Harbaugh win.

It was Nebraska,get over it. Not holding my breath for a win at Iowa.

We'll see if this is really making a difference, and soon. Should be a double digit win today versus Iowa. Then the real test will be in East Lansing versus MSU. If the Gophs can win that one, they'll have found their groove and should compete well during the remainder of the conference season and into the tourney and Big Dance. Go Gophs.

Quit talking like you have it figured out. It took a crappy team to give Tubby all the answers? Tubby should follow Kill's lead, quit talking and let the games speak for you. Words are pretty hollow, but obviously Tubby hasn't figured it out yet. And by the way, beating Iowa is a step in the right direction. But we were talking top 5 in the Big Ten, Iowa should be an automatic win. When you beat some of the teams in front of you in the Top 5 we will start to take you serious.

Screening is what Eliason did well when he played as well as protect the rim and paint on defense. Smith's decision to start Coleman over Eliason when Mbakwe returned to playing form was made because of Smith's desire to prove to everyone that his ball line defense is the number one reason for any Smith coached team victory, which is played better with smaller players. As a result top players can score at will at the rim as we saw against Illinois, Indiana and Michigan and the Gophers offense became stagnant without Eliason's screens.

Somebody's got to say it--about time Tubby figured out they needed to work on ball movement and spacing! Question is--which of the many losses finally turned on the light for him? I could probably go back several years there, as standing around and watching the few players who would attempt to go one on one--only to miss, turn it over, or run out of time-- is a Tubby team hallmark.

Smith builds his rep on defense - "he wins with defense".. and then come Big Ten play he lets his defenses fall apart and defers to offense on every turn... and he loses games he should have won.. and now he makes changes in the offense to win?... The MN inside defense is a joke - even casual fans see layups and jump shots raining over his "small front" and high opponent points in the paint, and Smith has not fixed it... Tubby Smith is not even in the top 50 coaches in using offenses and he is going to turn it around back into the top ten with offense? When the last five teams (before the bottom Nebraska) has forced MN to play their game? Offense will win?... This team can beat Iowa by 20 - but watch to see if any player respects MN inside and pulls back even one shot. Look.

Mbakwe is great rebounding and decent scoring, but he is mediocre at best in defense and no one - not even guards - are pulling back their inside jump shots when he is on defense, and Ingram has shown to be a consistent non-factor on defense and mediocre at best on offense... If you don't like hearing it -- then for those who think you win on offense, go ahead and look at the plus-minus on the inside players vs defended- it's well below average... For those who think you win on defense, chart the opponents shots from layups and the high percentage areas... THE basic coaching strategy for any game - make opponents shoot low percentage shots while you shoot high percentage shots, and MN is failing not for lack of talent to do it... No player can do it all, better than specialists can do their area, but in every Big Ten game opposing coaches exploit MN for expecting it - hey, put the best at each out there together... I can point to two plays in in the last 5 minutes in each of the last three losses where MN needed defense and rebound of the ball, and Smith went with individual "offense" while the opponents went with height -and surprise...MN did not get the ball and lost the lead or the momentum for it. The coaches poll has consistently ranked this team lower by a significant margin over the other polls. There is a reason... I really do hope Smith wakes up and stops shoveling bad theory and MN beats Iowa - but a coach with a clause that says you can't fire me mid season (because a mid season firing is the most embarrassing thing one can do to a coach who clearly can't cut it) is not putting players and team first. Iowa coming up - maybe the coaching will be fixed.

tmrichardson - "...is a Tubby team hallmark"... Relying on athletic ability mismatches and one-on-one street to score has been the mark of a Smith coached team... but you can always hope for team play at both ends and being so good at your plays that the lesser athlete scores regularly over the better athlete, so the team ends up more like a Coach K or Bo team and less like a street-ball-game team... The polls reflect 2010 parity and return to team ball - the late 1990s athlete model teams have faded in the polls.