It's November 7th, 2013, the day before the home opener, and I tell you...

[Miles Tarver]

The Gophers will be 17-11, and 6-9 in the B10 as of February 24th

They will have wins over Ohio St. Wisconsin and Florida St, and although they are probably on the outside looking in now the Gophers are definitely still in the talk to make the NCAAs

What would your reaction be?

 

[Dr.Don]

The Gophers will be 17-11, and 6-9 in the B10 as of February 24th

They will have wins over Ohio St. Wisconsin and Florida St, and although they are probably on the outside looking in now the Gophers are definitely still in the talk to make the NCAAs

What would your reaction be?

The same as usual. GH'ers become experts on everything.

 

[bga1]

Mods- were there any preseason polls taken back in November that we can take a look at? Now THAT would be interesting.

 

[SelectionSunday]

Right about where I expected. Pretty sure I picked Gophs 8th in the preseason on the outside looking in, then 6th prior to the Big Ten season (and in the NCAA). They're splitting the difference (would be #7 seed at BTT).

 

[Monty519]

I expected this team to win around 7,8 conference games, so they're still right around that pace. I didn't think they'd be as bad as the worst in recent years (6-12), but I didn't have high hopes they could break that mystical .500 barrier. Barring a furious close, that's not gonna happen. My disappointment lays a little in how we've gotten to where we are (another good start followed by February sorrows). It felt like we were on the cusp, and then Dre got hurt and we fell off, like a movie we've seen already a few too many times.

But Pitino's fresh, I'm not gonna hold our previous issues in this program against him. He's done a solid job his first year, and I look forward to seeing him grow and seeing what kind of kids he gets in here.

 

[Gold Vision]

I think the only thing that would be conflicting in my mind would be we have wins over Wisconsin and Ohio State, yet we are still 6-9. That would signify some let downs in the mix. But overall I thought this should be around an 8 win team.

 

[RichardWhat's Happening?]

It's about where I thought we would be record-wise, but not how I thought it would play out personnel-wise. Coming into the year, I thought Dre Hollins would have a monster year averaging close to 20 ppg and Austin would be as steady and reliable as they come night-in/night-out. While I expected some contributions from Dre Mathieu and Mo, they are the only two that I would say have exceeded my expectations. Hopefully the Hollins boys hit a hot late stretch here and we can ride that into a fun March!

 

[tinyarch]

I didn't have high expectations for a new coach and four new players mixed in with a squad where only two players had significant playing time. I hoped that we could be competitive and fun to watch, but I fully expected us to land in the NIT with little chance at an NCAA post-season. I am happy to say that this team has been fun to watch even though they have been inconsistent. I attribute the inconsistency to the mix of players that we have in combination with a first year coach. I also attribute the enjoyment to the same scenario. Having little expectation for this year has simply allowed me to enjoy watching kids play basketball. I don't expect to come into next season with the same feelings. Next season we should be much more consistent than we have been this year...and we should expect to make the NCAA tournament. I'm just enjoying this season, come what may.

 

[cjbfbp]

I guess the current record is acceptable enough given preseason expectations, but I never thought this team would be as bad as some of the pundit predictions.

Still, one always adjusts expectations around new events. Just like the football team that lost its first two Big Ten games handily. At that point, you're feeling very fortunate if they get 6 wins. But, when they got to 6 wins with plenty of season left, you wanted more.

After an 11-2 nonconference and a 4-3 start in the Big Ten, I was hoping for better than 17-11 after 28. Maybe without Andre's injury the record would have been better.

 

[whogoofed]

That's a refreshing attitude tinyarch, especially for this board.

 

[DeathClutch]

Pre season i thought we were a borderline tourney team, and nothing has changed. I would love for us to make the tourney with two wins over our next three games, but would not be dissapointed with a NIT bid. Our last NIT bid, Andre came into his own, and I think a NIT bid this year would be great momentum for Mathieu going into next year. He and Martin are our keys for next year.

 

[ethomasp31]

Before the season......I thought they would be about a 6 win B1G team. After the Syracuse game I thought they would be an 8 win team. Some things have surprisingly good.....and others have been a little disappointing. If we finish 7-11 it will be a little disappointing considering the start of the B1G....BUT I'm not blaming Pitino for a disappointing finish....it just happens that way sometimes.

 

[XMan]

Frustrated that we are still in the same pattern. Decent pre-big ten record. Some good opening wins and then a melt down. Past two games have been exactly that. We need our surprising home win now. Last year was Indiana that put us back on track and this year it could be Iowa at home.

One thing for sure. I wish we had Buckles at the four

 

[Gold Vision]

Frustrated that we are still in the same pattern. Decent pre-big ten record. Some good opening wins and then a melt down. Past two games have been exactly that. We need our surprising home win now. Last year was Indiana that put us back on track and this year it could be Iowa at home. One thing for sure. I wish we had Buckles at the four

Me too. Frustrated we are getting worse while others are hitting stride.

 

[underground629]

The irony. What would this board be without your 17,000 posts that basically all say this in some form?

The same as usual. GH'ers become experts on everything.

 

[EG#9]

It was kind of a tough team to gauge for me as I thought anything from 5-13 to 10-8 was in the realm of possibility. My answer was about where I expected, but I think the way the season has played out certainly makes how I (we?) feel today different than how we'd have felt in early November given just a record and the little information about we received. Two big reasons in my mind: 1. The B1G is down this year as evidenced by Nebraska's record and the lack of any truly elite national teams. The best teams in the B1G both reside in Michigan and each has dealt with a significant injury/injuries for the entirety of the B1G season. 2. Failure to improve as the season went along. I'd actually say the team has regressed and the early season Gophers win those home games against Northwestern and Illinois easily.

On the other hand, if you told us that Andre Hollins was 12th in ppg in conference play at just 13.5 ppg and Austin Hollins would be close to a non-factor for much of conference play, I think most would be shocked that the Gophers still had a shot at the dance (especially without knowing the state of the B1G).

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

I had us at 16W's, 10 non conference and 6 in the BIG going into the conference tourney and possibly the NIT depending on how we do in the BIG tourney.

 

[howeda7]

Slightly disappointed. While the record is only about one game worse than expected, I really hoped we'd be playing better at the end than at the beginning for a change.

 

[Monty519]

It was kind of a tough team to gauge for me as I thought anything from 5-13 to 10-8 was in the realm of possibility. My answer was about where I expected, but I think the way the season has played out certainly makes how I (we?) feel today different than how we'd have felt in early November given just a record and the little information about we received. Two big reasons in my mind: 1. The B1G is down this year as evidenced by Nebraska's record and the lack of any truly elite national teams. The best teams in the B1G both reside in Michigan and each has dealt with a significant injury/injuries for the entirety of the B1G season. 2. Failure to improve as the season went along. I'd actually say the team has regressed and the early season Gophers win those home games against Northwestern and Illinois easily.

On the other hand, if you told us that Andre Hollins was 12th in ppg in conference play at just 13.5 ppg and Austin Hollins would be close to a non-factor for much of conference play, I think most would be shocked that the Gophers still had a shot at the dance (especially without knowing the state of the B1G).

While the conference as a whole is still pretty strong, it does feel like we missed some opportunity this year to move up, like Nebraska did. And all you have to do is look at losses v.NW, @Purdue, and v.ILL. Those are three wins you need to get in our position if you want to move up in the conference ladder. Things would look a heck of a lot different at 9-6 than 6-9, and it wouldn't have really required the team to be better personnel-wise, they just needed to "handle business", so to speak, especially at home. So it's completely fair to be a little disappointed in where they're at despite what you thought coming into the year.

 

[SelectionSunday]

. ... And all you have to do is look at losses v. NW, @ Purdue, and v. ILL. Those are three wins you need to get in our position if you want to move up in the conference ladder.

Well said. It has been so difficult for the Gopher program to move up the conference ladder, and those are games you gotta' get. Let's see how things shake down these last couple weeks, but an argument could be made by season's end another program (Nebraska) will have shot past Minnesota. Now the 'Huskers have some on-court success to point to to go along with their shiny new facilities.

I actually think Miles' success at Nebraska applies the most pressure to Chambers @ Penn State. Chambers has done a decent job there (speaking of how difficult it is to climb in B1G basketball, think no further than PSU). His teams play hard & have become increasingly competitive, but it can't help Chambers' cause as a 3rd-year coach that Miles -- also coaching at a "football school" -- already has surpassed anything Chambers has done in Happy Valley.

 

[scools12]

After the 4-3 start thought the team was going to at least get to 9 conference wins. Still a chance to get to 8 or 9 wins which would still exceed what I thought they would do.