First and foremost, I was as angry as a fan can get after the Illinois game, but I came to realize that Tubby Smith is a giant upgrade from Clem Haskin. Haskin was greats for the Gopher and Dan Monson was great too - for my season ticket move from the baseline to center court.
But here is why Tubby is the best Gophers' coach (by far) in my short 40 years as a fan.
Good recruiter...he can identify talent (some high profile, some under the radar) and get them to come here and play. In 2 years, he closed off the borders and made Minnesota his home base for recruiting.
Good practice coach.....Tubby is very good at building a team of 7-9 guys that will get after you, get after rebounds..and as a rule his players get better after 4 years in the program. Right now, pretty sure Rodney Williams and Ralph Sampson are breaking this rule....hence his frustration.
Good man...he tells his kids the truth, he helps his kids graduate, he holds kids to higher standards than the NCAA will, and he won't be in trouble with them ever. I'm not saying he's perfect, he just strikes me as a no bull type of guy.
Repeat: by all historical accounts he won't be in trouble with the NCAA, kids won't be in trouble with the law (and stay in the program) and they will win a lot more than they lose. Will he bring us to the promise land of college hoops? Probably not. Has he made the Gophers relevant and much better than even Haskin ever dids? Yes.
Repeat: by all historical accounts he won't be in trouble with the NCAA, kids won't be in trouble with the law (and stay in the program) and they will win a lot more than they lose. Will he bring us to the promise land of college hoops? Probably not. Has he made the Gophers relevant and much better than even Haskin ever dids? Yes.
So if you read this garbage yesterday by Jim Souhan and you started to second guess Tubby's prowess as a coach, consider this:
Tubby lost the best point guard in the Big Ten to injury and kicked his second best Guard off the team. On top of that, lost a promising big man to injury in December. Leaving him on the island of misfit toys:
Rodney Williams (aka the gun that shoots jelly) - if dunks counted for 10 points he'd lead our team in scoring.
RS III (aka the boat that sinks)- he plays with the same emotion as the Mona Lisa
Colton Iverson (aka the cowboy who rides an ostrich)- we could use him on the gridiron or ice, but he just lacks consistentcy
When and if Al Nolen returns, this is the 2nd best team in the Big Ten. Hopefully they will return to the B10 title game this year and prove it...and prove to the naysayers that Tubby is a great fit for Minnesota.
Oh and Souhan, before you choose Tubby for your weekly bloodbath, please look at the facts:
-Sold out arena
-3 straight NCAA appearances (first time ever for MN)
-Top recruiting classes
-Tough love for players
-Respectability to school and Big Ten
And most important a better product than we've ever had here at the U. Comparing Kentucky basketball's expectations to Minnesota is like comparing Yankees and Twins (did I just say that?).
Z
Z
12 comments:
Didn't Clem Haskins take the Gophers to the Final Four?!?!?!
Z - Don't knock on Souhan. When the sun never shines on your world, you tend to see everything as negative. The Trib should move himi to the Obituary columns, he'd be perfect...
Thanks for writing this. MN fans turn on coaches/teams the first opportunity they have. Unfortunately, that's just the way it is around here. People forget how bad this program was when Tubby took it over.
I do agree that we miss Nolen a ton! However, I think he is middle of the pack in terms of PG's in the Big 10. With that being said, we are a completely different team without him, and he is sorely missed.
The main thing I wanted to comment on is the Williams, Sampson, and Iverson section. Had me laughing at my desk. Nice work!
Z, I'm a huge Tubby fan, but at the same time think that Souhan's article was for the most part, right on the money. Tubby has been outcoached at times this year, the Gophers offense is a joke, his big guys aside from Mbakwe are soft, and Hoffarber is obviously playing way out of position and doing as good a job as anyone could expect. There have been too many players lost in the past few years, some beyond his control. Why do people in Minnesota hate hearing the truth, and why are we so willing to settle for mediocrity?
Two more things...
1) after the article the Gophs had one of their most impressive and dominant road wins in a long time
2) Where in that article did it call for Tubby's head? He simply said that we shouldn't make Tubby out to be such a winner/hero.
Tubby's a class act, and I agree one of the best coaches this program has ever had, but let's win a Big 10 title...heck let's just compete for one, before we get ahead of ourselves about what he's accomplished here
Etts,
Agree with you on all points, however, he's the best we've ever had. I'm just sayin'. We can be above average with Tubby and heck win a B10 Title every once in a while.
Tony,
Nolen is magic with the ball and puts pressure on the opposition better than anyone i've seen in the B10. Not middle of the pack.
Anonymous,
Last time I checked there is no banner at Williams Arena. They did go to F4, but it was tainted by cheating (one of the main points of difference between Clem and Tubby).
No shit, you should be happy to have him.
Eman
I agree with Souhan's frustration but Tony's patience...we all want to win, win big, and win now. The program has a slight bit of national relevance, a shot at making the tourney each year, with little chance of being a national title contender. I'm a realist - the only time in my lifetime that we were good is when we had a bench full of cheaters and crooks, which includes the coach. Recruiting from in state is good, but I still don't think UM can compile a team 7-8 players deep that can compete nationally with the big boys without some crazy stroke of luck or a LeBron.
The early season wins in P. Rico were a blip, and the ranking climbed on the backs of some really weak non-conference opponents. Thus the local expectations rose in concert; unfairly IMHO.
Tubby calling his players out in public is leverage, not scapegoating. When they won't listen to him, maybe they'll listen to each other, and play for each other and not the coach. You watch. The last 5 games they will go 3-2 or 4-1, end up 9-9 or 10-8, with at least 20 wins, and be a bubble team, needing to win a couple in the conf. tourney to go dancing. Same as every year. Which is fine by me. Now hockey is another story...
Jordan Taylor, Talor Battle, Demetri McCamey, Kalin Lucas. 4 PG's I would take over Nolen, just off the top of my head.
Jordan Taylor - Al will babysit him on half a leg
Talor Battle - He can't play D
Demetri McCamey - has been horrible this year
Kalin Lucas - See McCamey
I'll give you Taylor....Al is the MVP of his team, plays great D, breaks down defenders on O...his only flaw is shooting. If you have Blake on your team you don't need to shoot.
I still think he's the best PG in B10.
Phil Says:
I agree with some parts but I am growing a bit impatient with Tubby
Sue W. says:
"I agree that Tubby has brought credibility to the Gophers and that the Soucheray column was not his best work. Sometimes I think he writes stuff like this just to get the blogs fired up, don't you? Although I heard Dan Barreiro talking on KFAN yesterday about this subject and he was saying he thinks Tubby will be gone next year by his own choosing. He said he thinks he's going to take the Georgia Tech job which looks as though it's going to be available soon. He's another one who says stuff just to get people to call in and argue with him, so I take statements like this with a grain of salt!"
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