Sid Hartman Q&A with Tubby: Coach sees hope in a dismal season

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Good interview. Lots of positive stuff in there:

Ellenson is a good shooter.
Mbakwe maybe back?
Andre Hollins is noted as a potential difference maker.
Good stuff on Buggs.

Little concerned that his is talking about an "insurance big man". I get the concern over the injured guy but I'd hate to see them fill another scholly with an insurance guy.
 


bga1 said:
Good interview. Lots of positive stuff in there:

Ellenson is a good shooter.
Mbakwe maybe back?
Andre Hollins is noted as a potential difference maker.
Good stuff on Buggs.

Little concerned that his is talking about an "insurance big man". I get the concern over the injured guy but I'd hate to see them fill another scholly with an insurance guy.
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I really liked the interview also. I don't expect freshman to shoot real well, but no doubt Ellenson is being brought in to put the ball up. Tubby used the word thin, I always say skinny, my only concern about Buggs is does he have a B1G body yet? Looks to me he has the rest of the package. Next year we are experienced, deep, and balanced. Now we need to win.

I don't want anymore insurance recruits either. Recruit over players currently in the program, build for future, but now it's time to win. I expect to be dancing with this core for the next 3 years.
 

howieramone said:
I really liked the interview also. I don't expect freshman to shoot real well, but no doubt Ellenson is being brought in to put the ball up. Tubby used the word thin, I always say skinny, my only concern about Bugs is does he have a B1G body yet? Looks to me he has the rest of the package. Next year we are experienced, deep, and balanced. Now we need to win.

I don't want anymore insurance recruits either. Recruit over players currently in the program, build for future, but now it's time to win. I expect to be dancing with this core for the next 3 years.
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Ellenson is not a great shooter yet. No Hoff. I like Tubby, but we need better shooters. Look at Shurna. That guy really fills it up, but is otherwise limited. Still, he's a first team all big ten guy.
 


PHP:
sconniegopher said:
Ellenson is not a great shooter yet. No Hoff. I like Tubby, but we need better shooters. Look at Shurna. That guy really fills it up, but is otherwise limited. Still, he's a first team all big ten guy.
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I think Andre could be that shooter next year. I would put money on him being the leading scorer for the team next year.
 

Let's hope you're right. Is he gonna play the 2? Cause I don't think a great shooter works well at PG.
 

sconniegopher said:
Let's hope you're right. Is he gonna play the 2? Cause I don't think a great shooter works well at PG.
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Being a great shooter is a very good asset for a point guard. The issue is whether or not he has a shoot first mentality. I think he will be fine there.
 

If Mbakwe is a sure thing as far as getting drafted by the NBA why would he even bother coming back? His injury this year? Maybe it is more likely he will be playing in some other pro league other than the NBA next year.
 



Agree with GW. Didn't see much, if anything, new here, and I tend to look for the positive side of things over the negative. Plus, it's coming from Sid.

Agree with BGA about "insurance" recruits. We already have a couple of those on our roster. If we have an available scholarship and can't sign anyone of substance with it, bank it.
 

Unedited transcript.

Sid. Who is this black guy?
Dave Mona. It's Tubby Smith, the Gophers B-Ball coach
Sid. He plays for the Gophers? Must be a senior, he looks pretty old
Dave. He is the coach
Sid. Bill Fitch is the coach you genius. Let me tell you how I got Bill Fitch the job.
Tubby. I need to retire. Got any Murray's certificates?
 

scools12 said:
If Mbakwe is a sure thing as far as getting drafted by the NBA why would he even bother coming back? His injury this year? Maybe it is more likely he will be playing in some other pro league other than the NBA next year.
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Mbakwe is far from a sure thing to get drafted. He might feel the need to show that he's recovered in order to get any NBA looks. LIKELY, he'll be playing elsewhere than in Minnesota, but I can see reasons why he'd want to come back.
 

BeaverGopher

Do you taunt old people on the street too?
 



beavergopher said:
Unedited transcript.

Sid. Who is this black guy?
Dave Mona. It's Tubby Smith, the Gophers B-Ball coach
Sid. He plays for the Gophers? Must be a senior, he looks pretty old
Dave. He is the coach
Sid. Bill Fitch is the coach you genius. Let me tell you how I got Bill Fitch the job.
Tubby. I need to retire. Got any Murray's certificates?
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Perfect!!
 

Doc1001 said:
Do you taunt old people on the street too?
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Yes of course I do. I have masters in Geriatric Taunting from the U of M's Geriatric Studies program. As they said in Stripes...........lighten up Francis.
 

sconniegopher said:
Ellenson is not a great shooter yet. No Hoff. I like Tubby, but we need better shooters. Look at Shurna. That guy really fills it up, but is otherwise limited. Still, he's a first team all big ten guy.
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This is the stuff that worries me. The guy isn't a great shooter (yet), but Tubby says he is or thinks he is or whatever. It echoes the stuff in the interview about Oto, where Tubby says he wishes they could have played him out on the perimeter more so he could shoot from outside. Has he noticed that the guy can't even make free throws consistently, much less three-point field goals? (I like Oto, but I also have eyes, for pete's sake.) All I want is for our coach to have a grip on what's what.
 

Bad Gopher said:
This is the stuff that worries me. The guy isn't a great shooter (yet), but Tubby says he is or thinks he is or whatever. It echoes the stuff in the interview about Oto, where Tubby says he wishes they could have played him out on the perimeter more so he could shoot from outside. Has he noticed that the guy can't even make free throws consistently, much less three-point field goals? (I like Oto, but I also have eyes, for pete's sake.) All I want is for our coach to have a grip on what's what.
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Oto's freethrows are amazingly bad for a shooter of his level. He can shoot it- I saw him do it in the summer. However, he looks nervous out there. I agree Bad - this stuff that Tubby says often ends up differently in real life and that is worrisome.
 

bga1 said:
Oto's freethrows are amazingly bad for a shooter of his level. He can shoot it- I saw him do it in the summer. However, he looks nervous out there. I agree Bad - this stuff that Tubby says often ends up differently in real life and that is worrisome.
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I think the more worrisome thing is that we have players who are able to do things in practice in summer league, but when the lights come on, they haven't been able to put it together. I'm referring specifically to the ability to shoot the ball. By virtually all accounts, Oto was hitting outside shots rather consistently during practices last year, this wasn't just Tubby who said that. But suddenly, when he plays for real, he's off. Austin Hollins is another one who can score, but when the lights come on, he's inconsistent with it.

There's something to this, it's not just a matter of playing against "real defense", these guys are getting open looks and they just aren't hitting them like they apparently do in other environments. This could be related to Tubby's sub patterns, their ability to handle pressure, the offense itself, I don't know. But it's one of the reasons I would like to see a staff shakeup in order to invigorate the offense. Not likely, but it's one thing I'd like to see.
 

bga1 said:
Oto's freethrows are amazingly bad for a shooter of his level. He can shoot it- I saw him do it in the summer. However, he looks nervous out there. I agree Bad - this stuff that Tubby says often ends up differently in real life and that is worrisome.
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Tubby also likes to "talk guys up" to help their confidence. Especially with shooting, that's half the battle for a jump shooter.

But I do definitley see your point.
 

scher215 said:
Tubby also likes to "talk guys up" to help their confidence. Especially with shooting, that's half the battle for a jump shooter.

But I do definitley see your point.
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Yeah... especially Austin Hollins.. "he was shaking like a leaf"... "he was scared.. shaking like a tree out there"
 


Monty519 said:
Mbakwe is far from a sure thing to get drafted. He might feel the need to show that he's recovered in order to get any NBA looks. LIKELY, he'll be playing elsewhere than in Minnesota, but I can see reasons why he'd want to come back.
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Agree he is not a sure thing. Didn't think he was even before the injury. The only reason to come back is if he does not want to play in Europe or somewhere else other than the NBA.
 


sconniegopher said:
Let's hope you're right. Is he gonna play the 2? Cause I don't think a great shooter works well at PG.
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Andre is certainly trying at PG, if he averages more than 15 at Pg it is probably not a good sign, to much control from one player, offense cohesiveness tends to be bad, i think he is the one guy that has big time scoring potential though. Maybe with another off guard that can also play point it might work, Welch next year.
 

I hope Andre averages 15 that is a good sign. Offensive cohesiveness? Tubby's teams sure have showed that. Give me guys who can make shots.
This just because a guy is white he can shoot recruiting is puzzling. lol
 

Gopher Warrior said:
Yeah... especially Austin Hollins.. "he was shaking like a leaf"... "he was scared.. shaking like a tree out there"
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Austin responded quite well IMO with a solid game against MSU with 17 pts on 4-6 from three. I wish all our guys responded to criticism that way.
 


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Bad Gopher said:
This is the stuff that worries me. The guy isn't a great shooter (yet), but Tubby says he is or thinks he is or whatever. It echoes the stuff in the interview about Oto, where Tubby says he wishes they could have played him out on the perimeter more so he could shoot from outside. Has he noticed that the guy can't even make free throws consistently, much less three-point field goals? (I like Oto, but I also have eyes, for pete's sake.) All I want is for our coach to have a grip on what's what.
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Bad, I thought Tubby said it in a subtle way. Freshman become sophomores. I never give up on a shooter until they become juniors. I like Oto also, but he didn't show me what I was hoping to see. He did show me he's much more versatile than I was led to believe. I think he can be a mismatch when played at the 3, I just can't tell if it will happen next year.
 

howieramone said:
Bad, I thought Tubby said it in a subtle way. Freshman become sophomores. I never give up on a shooter until they become juniors. I like Oto also, but he didn't show me what I was hoping to see. He did show me he's much more versatile than I was led to believe. I think he can be a mismatch when played at the 3, I just can tell if it will happen next year.
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And, of course, he may be going from what he sees in practice, which we don't get to see.
 

Watching the Wolves game last night they commented about Derrick Williams and what it will take for him to take the next steps. Adelman said: consistency. This was an issue with the Gophers all year - getting a consistent level of performance out of certain players. Knowing what to expect from who. Havign a go to guy. For this year- they are young (some of them). Next year it has to happen.
 

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