Recent content by Chico Gopher

Can't believe I'm commenting on this, but here goes. Maybe he did make a statement to suits in the big office on his exit interview, thanking them for the opportunity and such. And the suits in the big office didn't feel the need to publicize it, possible at his request. Maybe not. Reminds...

I love making sports predictions because if I happen to guess anything close to what turns out happening, I can brag about how much I know about sports. If, 8 months from now it turns out I was way off-base, I can just hope everybody forgets that what I said because it was so long ago. BTW, I...

you have a limited ability to groom them into playing "your way." With the changes in college hoops over the past couple of years, it seems that instead of "playing right to please the coach and earn playing time", it's more like "coaching right to please the player and get him to stay another...

I still maintain he should go by Pope Bobby the 1st. Why be the 14th when you have a shot at being the first?

While I love having a lot of guys who are possible double figure scorers, my biggest fear is that they might also be double figure defenders in Big Ten play. I'd love to hear more about "stay in front", "Instinctively execute some of the nuances of higher level team defensive concepts" and "Not...

Seems like kind-of a dumb thing to get worked up about one way or the other.

Not to mention that JC's are generally a little less expensive than 4-year schools. One could question the level of coaching at the JC level. I've seen some who are just as good as D-1 and D-2 coaches, and I've seen some that seem pretty haphazard and run a pretty loose program. I would...

Any guesses to the number of times during the course of next season, that "Over Dribbling is a huge issue" is mentioned? Based on the last few years of watching the mens and womens forum, we Minnesota basketball fans HATE a point guard that dribbles too much for our liking.

That might have been the one of the "parts of her game she wanted to work on". Not sure how often it happens, but I have seen instances of a player, spending a summer in the gym, working on their shot and literally raising their % by 10% or more. Maybe a combo of a technically better shot, or...

Just from the little that I saw, I have hopes that Holloway and Klick will turn out to be 10+ minutes/game players at some point next season. A little more athleticism has been a need for this club and I think both Nia and Kennedy have that. There are some whispers on other forum posts hinting...

Pretty much every good team I've ever covered over the last 40 years, had similar numbers. And again, you had 2 players who would have taken up some of that slack injured for the season. Not sure who among the players that didn't play much you thought deserved more time. Maybe you were at...

Gophers only had one player average more than 33 minutes per game. 7 players averaged over 10 minutes per game. Add Braun and Woodson, who were injured and would have easily played more than 10/game and there you have your 9 player rotation. Look at most of the good teams around the country...

I would say that 90% of basketball coaches I've ever talked to, at their core, considered themselves teachers

Like everything in life, every situation is different and there are a lot of different ways that different people react or are affected by those situations. There is no "One Size Fits All".

Same situation. You see many rise to the occasion and become more than they imagined. It's fun to watch and be part of that. But so many of them are also shocked that life was way more difficult and more of a grind than they anticipated. Many of those in the second group manage to dig deep...