gophers/ncaa

There are a number of hurdles--expected and unexpected--that will prevent the Gophers' potential from being realized. Unexpectedly, the Gophers' bench has gone from a strength to a serious liability, threatening not only this season's expectations but the future success of the team. Can a squad that relies on Ahanmisi, Osenieks, Walker and Eliason for more minutes hope to be successful? On the other hand, Smith's lack of coaching ability is all too familiar to Gopher fans, and every Big Ten coach, and will continue to act like an anchor on the team's success for the foreseeable future. That is, unless Teague surprises everyone by demanding accountability in the top-tier programs. In fact, that would be a bigger surprise than anything the Gopher basketball team does on the court.

The things I find most distressing are the lack of solid screens, the lack of movement in the offense, and the turnovers. These factors have been a part of this team all year. This, having been said, why has there been no improvement in these areas? It is said insanity is doing the same thing over-and-over, and expecting different results.

Everyone is going to blame Tubby for the office standing around during the game but look at the quote from Hollins, he said it, they are standing around on office. I can guarantee that Tubby is not telling them in practice or during time outs to just stand there and not move. Tubby is the escape goat but heck lets b*&^ch about a 17-5 record.

It doesn't appear there is any offense in a half court set What do they actually run in a man to man ? there is a lot of standing around. at the very least run a motion offense in man d. And when a team goes 2-3 on us.. the gophers are baffled you can't live and die with the 3 pt shot....how about our big guys flashing to the open spot in the zone, playing more high/low to distribute the ball inside and are guards penetrating the zone and passing off to our bigs ?? I'm sick of being down by 10 and fighting all game to come back against good teams It is extremely frustrating to watch them do nothing with the talented players they have. I hope they figure it out tonight

So far other then Mich. St. who have we beat? Illinois, Northwestern, Iowa and Nebraska. Check the standings and see where these teams are in the standings. They were extremely lucky to not get beat at home by Iowa. The Gophers could finish 9-9 by not beating anyone that will make it to the NCAA's other then, again, Mich. St. Why do Tubbys teams get worse as the season goes forward, they peak in early December and go south from there. Tubby might be a great guy a good mentor and all but as a coach especially in the B1G he is completely lost.

"Why do Tubbys teams get worse as the season goes forward, they peak in early December and go south from there"... Last season 6-12 in conference and NIT Finals in March.

No one seriously expects them to win tonight in East Lansing but, hopefully, they will not embarrass themselves by getting blown out but that could easily happen, of course. They will lose for the same reason that they have lost tot he good teams in the conference and some others as well, that is, too many turnovers, too many missed point blank shots and too much horrible free throw shooting when the game or a comeback is on the line. That is who they are and while they can get by with that kind of play against teams like Nebraska (although maybe not in Lincoln, they cannot get by with it against the top teams in the conference.

To all commenters, the best gopher reserves are Buggs and Ellenson. Can you imagine how Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan would do without their freshman. Offer these teams a trade, Ooselinks, Walker, Ingram and Maverick for their freshmen. I do not think Calipari would make that trade.

What about Wally? Can we get him involved? Freshman, yes...but he's a decent outside shooter from what I hear.

What really cracks me up when I see stories like this is that this is the same stuff over and over again. Both Smith and the players admit it they have shortcomings. So if everyone knows what the real problems are then why do we keep seeing the same thing in every lost so far this season. Where is their motivation, their killer instinct, Where is their desire to push themselves to even higher limits. NW and Wisc. are two examples of what happens when u can't do it. And if they did do it right then MN's conference record would be 7 and 4 instead of 5 and 4.