I want Tubby back next year

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bga1

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And we all should. He's the name we still need for a few more years in front of our program.

That said- I think he's done a lousy job this year. His offensive schemes are poor and his ability to adjust to what he has left has really been poor. I really think he needs to bring in some new assistants from an x's and 0's standpoint. But he has faced a rough task. I think we have to give him a look with a fresh and hopefully issue free squad next year.

I think it should be fair game to complain about what we have seen from Tubby this year however. I hope he takes a good long look at how he has managed his roster and his schemes this year. I think he will come back newly motivated. I remain pretty confident he will turn it around next year. Recruit another point for depth and no defections and we should have a very nice year.
 

Assuming Mbakwe leaves, there's not a lot that excites me about next year's roster. Andre Hollins is supposed to be special. Other than Hollins, it's Ralph and a bunch of role players and question marks.

I think Tubby has had a terrific career (I'll let FOT cite the stats) and by reputation is a fine man. However, I am increasingly concerned about paying an elite level of compensation for average to slightly above average results. If Tubby leaves because there is no commitment for a practice facility or for some other reason the world of gopher basketball will go on. I don't see any other school paying him even close to his current salary.
 

jamiche said:
Assuming Mbakwe leaves, there's not a lot that excites me about next year's roster. Andre Hollins is supposed to be special. Other than Hollins, it's Ralph and a bunch of role players and question marks.

I think Tubby has had a terrific career (I'll let FOT cite the stats) and by reputation is a fine man. However, I am increasingly concerned about paying an elite level of compensation for average to slightly above average results. If Tubby leaves because there is no commitment for a practice facility or for some other reason the world of gopher basketball will go on. I don't see any other school paying him even close to his current salary.
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I agree. I don't see Tubby leaving on his own for a better situation anymore because I don't think he's going to be looked at by such a school. If he gets offers it will be more rebuilding deals for him. He could have a pretty good team next year. Still going to have a huge front line and the guards will be better for sure.
 


Good posts BGA and Jamiche.

When Tubby was hired, I think we all would have been more than happy with NIT, NCAA, NCAA in his first 3 years. I think we all also would have been happy that he pretty much signed every Minnesota kid he wanted. On the other hand, I don't think anyone would have believed that Tubby could be here 4 years and not win an NCAA tournament game (still possible) or finish in the top 4 of the Big Ten.

In reality things got worse because we expected to add Royce and Trevor to an NCAA tournament team last year. We had visions of really getting on the map in year 3 and they completely vanished. The situations with both those two, the failure to land Cory Joseph, the Paul Carter transfer, and the less than stellar (to put it mildly) spring recruiting season left us wondering what happened to a potentially stacked team.

As I see it, Tubby has done a good job in 3 of his 4 years here and it's still mathematically possible that he could salvage this year by getting his first NCAA tourney win. On the other hand, if Trevor leaves, we enter year 5 without a proven point guard, no power forward on the roster, and still no go to scorer. I think it is fair to say that by year 5 we shouldn't have to make excuses about injuries or pat Tubby Smith on the back for going 9-9 or 10-8 in conference.
 


bga1 said:
I agree. I don't see Tubby leaving on his own for a better situation anymore because I don't think he's going to be looked at by such a school. If he gets offers it will be more rebuilding deals for him. He could have a pretty good team next year. Still going to have a huge front line and the guards will be better for sure.
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Walker remains an unknown.
Iverson, unfortunately, is a known.
Ralph has skills but won't dominate.
If Eliason were ready to have an impact he would have played this year. Like most freshmen, he'll likely have some moments in the preseason and play 5-8 minutes/games during the B10.
Otto is an unknown.
After watching the three freshmen for a full season I don't see impact talent. Hollins and Armelin do some nice things but nothing to build around.
I think Rodney is unhappy and won't be back. If he does come back he needs to bring a jump shot with him.
Coleman is supposed to be good but he can't shoot. We already have a roster full of guys who can't shoot.
Hollins is reputed to be the real deal, but he'll be a freshman.
New recruit? At this late stage it's likely to be someone closer to Ahamisi talent than Carmelo Anthony.

It's a roster made up of second division B10 talent playing for a coach not known for adapting to the players that he has.

The only good news that may come of it is that Maturi's premium seating plan will likely be delayed for a while.

I'm the guy who predicted that the timberwolves would make the playoffs this year, so I've been known to be wrong a time or two. I'd love for that to be the case now.
 

EG#9 said:
Good posts BGA and Jamiche.

When Tubby was hired, I think we all would have been more than happy with NIT, NCAA, NCAA in his first 3 years. I think we all also would have been happy that he pretty much signed every Minnesota kid he wanted. On the other hand, I don't think anyone would have believed that Tubby could be here 4 years and not win an NCAA tournament game (still possible) or finish in the top 4 of the Big Ten.

In reality things got worse because we expected to add Royce and Trevor to an NCAA tournament team last year. We had visions of really getting on the map in year 3 and they completely vanished. The situations with both those two, the failure to land Cory Joseph, the Paul Carter transfer, and the less than stellar (to put it mildly) spring recruiting season left us wondering what happened to a potentially stacked team.

As I see it, Tubby has done a good job in 3 of his 4 years here and it's still mathematically possible that he could salvage this year by getting his first NCAA tourney win. On the other hand, if Trevor leaves, we enter year 5 without a proven point guard, no power forward on the roster, and still no go to scorer. I think it is fair to say that by year 5 we shouldn't have to make excuses about injuries or pat Tubby Smith on the back for going 9-9 or 10-8 in conference.
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I agree with you, BGA and Jamiche.
 


Good posts. I want him back too. I do however want him to bring a bit more energy with him. Seems to me that when he was at Kentucky, he was up and at em, hollering, and high energy. With the Gophers he seems to have more of the sit back, wait and see type approach. I would love to see a little screaming and that Tubby stare come back.
 



Unfortunately, the University of Minnesota is not yet a basketball power and cannot expect to be in the top 10 every year. For now, we have to build for a one or two year run, then step back and build for another run. I think EG#9 had it right in that we were on track for Tubby's first three years, but this season -- when we were supposed to reap the benefits of builidng -- has not worked out the way we had hoped. And because of the same defections that hurt us this year, next year won't pan out the way we hoped, either. So we'll have to take a step back sooner than we hoped and need to build for two years down the road again.

I think overall, Tubby has recruited well. His Xs and Os leave a lot to be desired, but good players help hide that. The problem has been players leaving, getting injured and getting suspended. For this season, I think playing Hoffarber at point guard turned out to be a huge mistake. Unfortunately, Joel Maturi is the person to decide how many of the problems are on Tubby and how many aren't. But from othe outside looking in, my opinion is that it's one season that didn't pan out the way we had hoped. That happens to dozens of teams every year. I think we have to be willing to live with one. This is different than having a rotten program year after year. We already know what that looks like.
 


jamiche said:
Walker remains an unknown.
Iverson, unfortunately, is a known.
Ralph has skills but won't dominate.
If Eliason were ready to have an impact he would have played this year. Like most freshmen, he'll likely have some moments in the preseason and play 5-8 minutes/games during the B10.
Otto is an unknown.
After watching the three freshmen for a full season I don't see impact talent. Hollins and Armelin do some nice things but nothing to build around.
I think Rodney is unhappy and won't be back. If he does come back he needs to bring a jump shot with him.
Coleman is supposed to be good but he can't shoot. We already have a roster full of guys who can't shoot.
Hollins is reputed to be the real deal, but he'll be a freshman.
New recruit? At this late stage it's likely to be someone closer to Ahamisi talent than Carmelo Anthony.

It's a roster made up of second division B10 talent playing for a coach not known for adapting to the players that he has.

The only good news that may come of it is that Maturi's premium seating plan will likely be delayed for a while.

I'm the guy who predicted that the timberwolves would make the playoffs this year, so I've been known to be wrong a time or two. I'd love for that to be the case now.
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You don't think Austin Hollins is somebody to build around? I could not disagree more. During the Michigan St. game he told Hoffarber to back off on D and just took the ball away from the MSU guard. He was heads up and waited for MSU to stop him in transition, and when they didn't-he took it right to the hole. There was the near behind the rim slam that he drew some contact on, but didn't get a call. He broke the press before the time out on the last or second to last possession, earning an appreciative swat on the chest from Tubby.

Hollins was interviewed briefly during the Wolves game last night. He's a well spoken kid. Don't let your disappointment with this years team blind you. He's got some raw, but serious skills on both ends of the court.
 

MotherNight said:
Hollins was interviewed briefly during the Wolves game last night. He's a well spoken kid. Don't let your disappointment with this years team blind you. He's got some raw, but serious skills on both ends of the court.
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I caught that. He was like "Yeah, this game's boring but whatever..." I LOL'd, nice shot at pops giving him grief on the college game haha.
 



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