Doogie says that Saul Smith is in over his head

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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Tonight when Doogie had Nadine on 1500 ESPN, they were discussing the Gophers' offense and the idea that some on here have suggested of a shaking up the assistant staff a bit came up. Doogie made an interesting comment that sources that he has spoken with have indicated that Saul Smith is in over his head as a BT assistant.

Go Gophers!!
 

Interesting.

But isn't he 4th in command? Are you really going to lay blame for 1/2 of the the game on the 4th in command? What are Taylor and Jirsa and Tubby doing during practice, playing Wi-Golf in the locker room?
 

What does he actually do that could place him in position to be in over his head?

Minnesota's offense was fine before Nolen was hurt. Now if Saul broke Nolen's foot, the sources would be on to something.
 

Not popular here

but Tubby deserves a huge break.

Recruiting? Devoe, Ralph, Colton, Royce, Rodney, Hollins (s) Coleman, etc.

Coaching? 9-22 to 20 wins routinely, Louisville (1 seed), Ohio St. three times, Purdue, Big Ten Tourney last year, N. Carolina/West Virginia, WI Sweep, etc.

They guy has just had some terrible breaks, literally. Think about last year, Nolen, Mbakwe and a 5 star recruit on the bench. This year, Nolen, Joseph and Walker (How nice would Cobbs be right now). If we stayed even remotely near a full roster we would be fine.

This cycle has nearly passed. Hoff and Nolen won a ton of games for us. Starting this new cycle, I can't think of a coach I'd rather have in charge (a realistic one, anyway) Let's take Hollins, Hollins, Coleman, Armelin and kill the PG/front court recruiting and see if we can't keep a full roster.
 

I agree with balds in that I don't think Saul being in over his head, if that were true, would have a huge impact on the team from an X's and 0's standpoint. He's clearly 4th in command behind Tubby and Jirsa/Taylor, so the problems clearly start someplace else. I don't think replacing Saul with another assistant with a similar level of stroke/power in the program would make much of a difference on the court.
 


BleedGopher said:
Tonight when Doogie had Nadine on 1500 ESPN, they were discussing the Gophers' offense and the idea that some on here have suggested of a shaking up the assistant staff a bit came up. Doogie made an interesting comment that sources that he has spoken with have indicated that Saul Smith is in over his head as a BT assistant.

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

I think Doogie was looking in the mirror. He is (pure and simple) a complete idiot. Pitiful.

Bobby Knight routinely praised Saul Smith at UK and offered to take him as a transfer to IU.
 

Could it be Doogie is trying to be Souhan like and stir up controversy with this kind of conjecture? How will we ever know if Saul is in over his head or not this year? We won't !!

Rumor has it that some on the GopherHole message board think Doogie is in over his head on KSTP and that's a pretty shallow pool.
 

balds said:
but Tubby deserves a huge break.

Recruiting? Devoe, Ralph, Colton, Royce, Rodney, Hollins (s) Coleman, etc.

Coaching? 9-22 to 20 wins routinely, Louisville (1 seed), Ohio St. three times, Purdue, Big Ten Tourney last year, N. Carolina/West Virginia, WI Sweep, etc.

They guy has just had some terrible breaks, literally. Think about last year, Nolen, Mbakwe and a 5 star recruit on the bench. This year, Nolen, Joseph and Walker (How nice would Cobbs be right now). If we stayed even remotely near a full roster we would be fine.

This cycle has nearly passed. Hoff and Nolen won a ton of games for us. Starting this new cycle, I can't think of a coach I'd rather have in charge (a realistic one, anyway) Let's take Hollins, Hollins, Coleman, Armelin and kill the PG/front court recruiting and see if we can't keep a full roster.
Click to expand...

I think Googie should apply to be Gopher HC. He obviously (thinks) he knows a lot.
 




sources that he has spoken with have indicated that Saul Smith is in over his head as a BT assistant.

Sounds like talk radio gossip/BS to me, I guess we have moved on from who needs to take blame for losses. Did he mention the sources?
 

From the Barn said:
What does he actually do that could place him in position to be in over his head?

Minnesota's offense was fine before Nolen was hurt. Now if Saul broke Nolen's foot, the sources would be on to something.
Click to expand...

Our offense was fine before nolen got hurt? Really. Has Tubby ever had a good offense? I know you are a huge Tubby backer, but cmon dude.
 

OK...Im sorry...Doogie called me before his show and I told him I thought Saul was in over his head...Im Doogie's source. I am spartacus!!!
 

Friend Of Tubby said:
I think Doogie was looking in the mirror. He is (pure and simple) a complete idiot. Pitiful.

Bobby Knight routinely praised Saul Smith at UK and offered to take him as a transfer to IU.
Click to expand...

Stalker of Tubby, which you are based on the stories: Nadine or Chris, can't remember for sure, brought up the question of a shake-up w/ the staff, and I simply stated my opinion, not dodging the question. Talk directly to people who have been around Saul, whether out recruiting, out in social circles, etc. Report back to me what they say.
 



Sorry I didn't listen to the show last night Doogie,

How would you, as a member of the media, respond to this?

Joel Maturi Spoke at a class of mine today and focused a lot on the negativity of the Twin Cities media. He said how we're the only school in the Big Ten who has to deal with reporters lashing out at coaches and players. He also mentioned that 2 players were nominated for turkey of the year by a media outlet. He was extremely appalled by that, as am I. Negativity is contagious and it seems like some are only happy when they take down others. Anyone agree with Maturi on this?
Click to expand...
 

Doogie said:
Stalker of Tubby, which you are based on the stories: Nadine or Chris, can't remember for sure, brought up the question of a shake-up w/ the staff, and I simply stated my opinion, not dodging the question. Talk directly to people who have been around Saul, whether out recruiting, out in social circles, etc. Report back to me what they say.
Click to expand...

I know Saul personally. He was a close friend of my nephew when they attended UK together about 10 years ago.

Saul is well respected for his basketball and coaching skills.
 

JackiO said:
Our offense was fine before nolen got hurt? Really. Has Tubby ever had a good offense? I know you are a huge Tubby backer, but cmon dude.
Click to expand...

Yes. At Tulsa, Georgia, and Kentucky. Not EVERY year but most years.

The Gophers were 2nd in B10 scoring offense in 2010. That's 2nd out of 11 teams.
 

Doogie said:
Stalker of Tubby, which you are based on the stories: Nadine or Chris, can't remember for sure, brought up the question of a shake-up w/ the staff, and I simply stated my opinion, not dodging the question. Talk directly to people who have been around Saul, whether out recruiting, out in social circles, etc. Report back to me what they say.
Click to expand...

Here's what Booby Knight said about Saul (clipped from Big Blue History website) below:

Knight was also supportive of UK player Saul Smith, after he came under criticism by some Kentucky fans.

"And before I answer any questions I'll tell you I would take Saul Smith in a heartbeat. All that call-in bull(spit), that's ridiculous for a kid to have to put up with any crap. This is a really, really good kid. He's a kid who plays his ass off, plays harder than hell. He scrambles, scratches and scrapes. People down there ought to realize what kind of a kid this is and get off his ass because he's just a great kid. Send him up here. Damn it I'll play him Tuesday night." - Bob Knight postgame comments after Indiana beat Kentucky 83-75, December 4, 1999.
 

Friend Of Tubby said:
I think Doogie was looking in the mirror. He is (pure and simple) a complete idiot. Pitiful.

Bobby Knight routinely praised Saul Smith at UK and offered to take him as a transfer to IU.
Click to expand...

When have you ever heard a coach not say a nice thing about another coach or his kid? Your comments are in reference to Saul as a player, that has nothing to do with his ability to coach.

Saul has been with Tubby for several years now and hasn't moved up or on.

The fact that Tubby runs a stagnant offense, regardless of injuries, is on Tubby, not Saul.
 

jamiche said:
When have you ever heard a coach not say a nice thing about another coach or his kid? Your comments are in reference to Saul as a player, that has nothing to do with his ability to coach.

Saul has been with Tubby for several years now and hasn't moved up or on.

The fact that Tubby runs a stagnant offense, regardless of injuries, is on Tubby, not Saul.
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First ? yes. Knight would have said nothing at all in that case (you speculated).

Why would Saul have to move up or on?

The third point is debatable.
 


My sources

My sources say Doogie is a no-talent hack with a need to feel relevant. I would encourage you to ask people in his social circles if that's the case in their opinion as well. I'm guessing you'll find the same out about him as I did.
 


Sauly

In over his head? Doing what? Rebounding in pre-game shoot around? A source has info about the 4th assistant- reminds me of CJ's column. How do other 4th assistants rank at other schools?
Good humor.

I am more curious about what Vince Taylor does? Or who coaches up our bigs?
 

Technically

Roland Brooks said:
In over his head? Doing what? Rebounding in pre-game shoot around? A source has info about the 4th assistant- reminds me of CJ's column. How do other 4th assistants rank at other schools?
Good humor.

I am more curious about what Vince Taylor does? Or who coaches up our bigs?
Click to expand...

Saul is 3rd assistant. Jirsa #1 and Taylor #2. Only 3 coaches can recruit - Tubby and those 2. NCAA doesn't allow 4th coach to recruit on the road.
 

While the Gophers may have been 2nd in Offense in the BT in the past, it's not necessarily due to our "offense." The Gophers (past) generated a lot of points off their defense, something that is not happening this year as frequently without Nolen and DJ. When Nolen was healthy and eligible, there were just as many complaints about the half-court offense.

My bigger "whine" in regards to the offense is the focus on killing clock at the end of the game (< 4 minutes left) with a narrow lead as opposed to focusing on scoring - drives me nuts. Generally, we are successful in killing the shot clock, but rarely score a point.
 

Minnesota's offense was in the top 25 in points per possession when Nolen went out. The real issue early in the season was defense, not offense.
 

I like Doogie's contributions here..its a great addition. But Saul Smith has little to do with the recent meltdown..thats more a function of injuries and poor coach/player relationship with Devoe which falls on Devoe AND Tubby. With Nolen, we were a top 15 team.....so the coaches are certainly at fault a bit, but there are other factors. Saul Smith? Really?
 

Doogs - can you define "in over his head as a Big Ten assistant"???

Are you suggesting that people are telling you that Saul doesn't know Xs and Ox? That he cannot coach?? Or, that he can't build relationships with team members?? Because, I have heard he's strong in those three categories.

So, is it something else?

I mean if you're going to throw that accusation out over the radio airwaves and on a popular message board, I truly believe you have to bring more to the table than "ask someone close to Saul." You seem to have access to those people. If you're going to make a claim about a coach, then give some specifics on what "people close to Saul" are telling you. Why do they think he's over his head?

Otherwise, this comes across as just a cheap shot at a guy who is fourth in command for a struggling basketball team that could use a little luck right now.
 

balds said:
but Tubby deserves a huge break.

Recruiting? Devoe, Ralph, Colton, Royce, Rodney, Hollins (s) Coleman, etc.

Coaching? 9-22 to 20 wins routinely, Louisville (1 seed), Ohio St. three times, Purdue, Big Ten Tourney last year, N. Carolina/West Virginia, WI Sweep, etc.

They guy has just had some terrible breaks, literally. Think about last year, Nolen, Mbakwe and a 5 star recruit on the bench. This year, Nolen, Joseph and Walker (How nice would Cobbs be right now). If we stayed even remotely near a full roster we would be fine.

This cycle has nearly passed. Hoff and Nolen won a ton of games for us. Starting this new cycle, I can't think of a coach I'd rather have in charge (a realistic one, anyway) Let's take Hollins, Hollins, Coleman, Armelin and kill the PG/front court recruiting and see if we can't keep a full roster.
Click to expand...

Don't forget about losing Paul Carter too. Carter was such a spark off the bench last year. Solid defender and could actually create his own shot from time to time. And he always hustled. Sure miss Carter. However, glad he's having a nice season at UIC, and is close to his sister.
 

fot and balds

Friend Of Tubby said:
I think Doogie was looking in the mirror. He is (pure and simple) a complete idiot. Pitiful.

Bobby Knight routinely praised Saul Smith at UK and offered to take him as a transfer to IU.
Click to expand...

I agree with FOT and balds.

Am I the only one who sees the irony of the title of this thread?

:)
 

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