gophers/ncaa

Too bad we couldn't get Barb Smith back as head coach. I am sure Noorwood is putting out some feelers. VCU had an up and coming women's coach.

Tough loss. I am proud of the ladies. We hung in there. I think it was the last 3 or 4 minutes of the game was when the wheels just fell off the wagon. At one point we were within 3 or 4 points of Purdue. We just could not get over that hump. We just have to keep working, Lady Gophers. Keep fighting. We are just about there. Go, Gophers!!

This was a bad loss, and I don't think it was all that encouraging a performance. Consider the situation: you are one of the conference's highest-scoring teams, with one of the conference's leading scorers. You have a home game against a team that is ranked but which has had four losses recently, and you played them pretty tough at their place earlier in the year. First half you play well, and are just two points down when taking a TO at 3:30 left in the game. You score not a SINGLE POINT the rest of the way, and during that time your big gun does the following: commits a turnover, misses a three, misses a two, and fouls. Plus, your second gun shoots something like 6-for-18 for the game.

How can the U be so lucky? Pam B. and Tubby S.

This was a frustrating loss, but it is about the third B1G loss of this variety so it's not all that surprising. Gophers played a good team tough, were in a good position to win with about 4 minutes to go and then let it slip away down the stretch. Penn State on the road, Illinois at home and now Purdue. To be fair, these are all well coached teams with solid senior leadership that should know how to close out games, but it is irritating nonetheless. The killer in this one was the inordinate number of easy looks that the posts were unable to drain (mainly the 5's). The other elephant in the room is that Banham's decision making was highly questionable (as was some of the officiating) down the stretch (as mentioned by regionguy). Though the season has been disappointing, I think that those anticipating the impending end of the Borton Era will be disappointed. If one takes the last four years of Gophers basketball in the aggregate, there are plenty of statistics that could be used to justify dismissal. I suspect, however, that administration will focus on a) the statistical improvement in this years team over last years (RPI around 70 and a probable WNIT berth vs. RPI 122 and the WBI sham), b) the fact that the Gophers will return all of their starters next year with the addition of a high profile post (Amanda Zahui B.) and c) the continued national exposure that Banham will give the program. Honestly, the Gophers just haven't performed poorly enough this year for Teague to buy her out at this point IMO. Most of the teams above the Gophers in the standings will graduate a ton of scoring this year - Iowa (Printy, Johnson), Illinois (Penn, Godbold), Purdue (Osterello, Mingo), Penn State (Bentley, Nixon, Greene). Heck, Michigan will graduate practically its whole starting lineup. I think Teague is smart enough to look at the big picture and I think that he will come to the conclusion that now is not the time for a change - especially a costly one (though most fans, including myself, would probably think otherwise). If the Gophers don't improve substantially next year given all of the aforementioned facts, however, it is DEFINITELY the end of the line for Borton. JMHO. Go Gophers!

What I find especially discouraging is the Gophers being last in the conference in scoring defense, since defense is typcially more a matter of hard-nosed, grinding effort than anything else.

Another Sunday, another disappointment. I'm afraid Pam Borton does not know the difference between 'Blue Chip' and 'Cow Chip' but will surely continue to mine the same old tired NT program.

nomorebrew That up and coming VCU Women's b-ball coach is now an asst coach at Notre Dame, where she played her college ball. This gm was lost in the 2nd half when the team some how forgot how to play team offense & took a bunch of bad shots. Its just time for Borton to go. She's lost out on all of the top HS seniors from the class of 2013. Under Borton this program just is not going to get better then middle of the pack, at best. Even with the graduations through out the rest of the Big10. Because those teams are run by better coaches who know how to get more out of the players they recruit. But true enough, the administration has to deal with the Tubby mess first so it is likely we and the poor players are stuck with Pam Borton for another year. Too bad, what a waste :(

Thanks for the update mnhigh5. Yes, it is pretty sad to think that the program could go even further into disrepair under Borton just because they have to find money to get rid of Tubby. This program has been set back years under Borton and it will take a long, long time to recover if she is allowed to coach next season.

Must be something about Mn. ALL their teams are the best in the Nation at blowing leads.