State of the BB Program

[gopherbadgerman]

For all the turmoil over the past year and a half, the team is #15 in AP, #19 in coaches, #17 in another Sportsline poll, and #22 in RPI - overall I have to say I am impressed with Smith and the job he has done holding things together all of this time. It seems MN is nationally thought of as a solid top 20 program, and that is what people were hoping for when he came here. In some respects I think it is tough to expect top 10 national rankings year in and year out, but I really feel good about the job he has done here.

 

[GopherinPhilly]

Agreed...and if things would have worked out differently last year with Mbakwe and White...we would have both those players in thier second year of big ten play with this team...we would have been a top 5 team and favorites to win the big ten imo.

But things didn't work out last year but we still have managed two top 10 vicories this year and a very good record...so hats off to the Gophers that stuck around and worked hard for this and the coaching staff for keeping it together.

 

[boston.gopher]

Some are disapointed that we haven't competed for a big ten title yet and had very high expectations upon Tubby's arrival. Despite all of the distractions and having to rebuild interest in the program we have been very competative since Tubby got here and are most likely heading for our third straight tourney appearence which we have never done before in our history. Tubby is also recruiting the state well which is one thing we all know is a priority and what we expect from our coach. I'm excited to continue following this team this year to see how we do in the NCAA's and I'm excited for our incoming recruits. I hope Tubby and Co. can win a game in the tourney this year and I hope we recruit a pure point and some more muscle inside for the future but count me as one who is so glad Tubby is hear and that we have a lot to look forward too over the next few years. Ski-U-Ma!!!

 

[GopherHomer]

Any rational person knew we would likely be 3-3 at this point. Sometimes it hurts to watch us getting there, but we really haven't disappointed in any of the games.

 

[millions2spare]

Lets hope Joe Maturi finds a way to build Tubby his practice facility and contract extension. I am not optimistic on Joe M's ability to execute on these requirements to keep Tubby at the U of M. I agree with the point and "What might have been" had Tubby been allowed to manage Royce White and his suspension which would have kept him at the U of M . I know most on this board are big supporters of Joel Maturi and his achievements in his tenure at the helm of the Athletic Department. I will agree that s the state of the basketball program is currently in good shape in spite of Dithering Joel Maturi.

 

[KyGopherfan]

I'm very satisfied with the state of the program considering some of the trouble. I have to give credit to the coaches for keeping the wheel steady.

Tubby sure had the pieces in place for a B10 winner if Royce White had worked out. It's too bad Tubby wasn't here earlier when Minnesota had some great talent that fled the state, like Cole Aldrich.

 

[khoffman43]

I know most on this board are big supporters of Joel Maturi and his achievements in his tenure at the helm of the Athletic Department

This is a joke, right?

I think Gopher basketball is exactly where it should be. We can compete with anyone in the country and in a couple years the recruits that come in will be better. Its hard to bring in good players right away but the consistent winning is going to help. Might take a couple years but Tubby will get a few blue chip players and we will be on top of the Big 10...for a season at least.

 

[howeda7]

Lets hope Joe Maturi finds a way to build Tubby his practice facility and contract extension. I am not optimistic on Joe M's ability to execute on these requirements to keep Tubby at the U of M.

If there's no announcement of a contract extension by the end of the regular season, I think there's a decent chance Tubby's decided to give it one last go somewhere else. It's been 'with the lawyers' since last May. Clearly one side or the other doesn't want it any longer. I have a feeling that the seemingly sudden shift in the stance on Mbakwe's status last week may have been due to Tubby drawing a line in the sand. Sid has illuded to as much in his column (I know, I know) but it seems perfectly plausible.

As for the Practice Facility, good luck. To my knowledge that haven't done squat on the baseball stadium since the Twins donated their share. That has now reached crisis mode due to the Dome, and they clearly won't do anything on the Practice Facility until the baseball stadium is done.

 

[tjgopher]

To my knowledge that haven't done squat on the baseball stadium since the Twins donated their share.

They've named Paul Molitor the fundraising chair, they've enlisted the former Gophers who are big leaguers for donations, and have a $2000/table dinner planned on February 4th.

they clearly won't do anything on the Practice Facility until the baseball stadium is done..

They are actively seeking donations right now for the basketball practice facility. They are looking for the first "major" big-time donation/naming rights agreement to get the campaign rolling. I know a donor who said that Tubby took some major boosters with the team to Ohio State to help this effort.

 

[GoldenHerbs]

Solomon's temple will be rebuilt before the practice facilty.

 

[howeda7]

They've named Paul Molitor the fundraising chair, they've enlisted the former Gophers who are big leaguers for donations, and have a $2000/table dinner planned on February 4th.




They are actively seeking donations right now for the basketball practice facility. They are looking for the first "major" big-time donation/naming rights agreement to get the campaign rolling. I know a donor who said that Tubby took some major boosters with the team to Ohio State to help this effort.

On the baseball stadium, fine, I guess that's progress. But they still raised half of the money needed to get started in one swoop, yet nearly a year later, no one would dare take a guess when a shovel will go in the ground. Is that fair to say?

As for the practice facility, they've been 'looking for the first "major" big-time donation/naming rights agreement to get the campaign rolling' for a long time. Meanwhile, they seemingly won't accept any smaller donations and have no fund set up to do so. So if you wanted to make a small donation to the facility specifically, you can't, and it's more likely to go to the women's rowing team.

 

[sec105]

As for the Practice Facility, good luck. To my knowledge that haven't done squat on the baseball stadium since the Twins donated their share. That has now reached crisis mode due to the Dome, and they clearly won't do anything on the Practice Facility until the baseball stadium is done.

I have said it before and I will say it again. Building a stadium for a non revenue sport like baseball before building a needed basketball practice facility is exactly why Joel Maturi needs to retire. I don't care if the Baseball stadium is totally paid for by donations, there is no way Joel should be focusing on anything other than getting the basketball program what it needs to succeed.

If the Twins have offered the use of Target Field then John Anderson should be very happy with that. He can then take his team to Florida or Arizona in February and March and spend all kinds of money his sport did not help generate in any way and make us all proud.

Building a new baseball stadium will not change the fact that baseball is a drain on revenue generating sports.

Basketball, Football and Hockey First then everyone else get in line.

 

[tjgopher]

if you wanted to make a small donation to the facility specifically, you can't.

Is that true? Quincy Lewis was on the radio last week saying he'd "accept any and all checks." Maybe he was being facetious, but I took it to mean they are raising funds for the facility.

 

[howeda7]

Is that true? Quincy Lewis was on the radio last week saying he'd "accept any and all checks." Maybe he was being facetious, but I took it to mean they are raising funds for the facility.

Either that or they're doing a horrible job of promoting it. I would expect to be hit in the face with exactly how to do it every time I go on gophersports.com or least on the basketball page. Instead, nothing. Even an email to good ol' Joel (of course he does reply) netted nothing more then a response to email someone else who may be maybe could advise something. Eh. I'll wait until something is clear. I have no desire to donate money that ends up with the women's rowing team. Admittedly I haven't looked into it much since last Spring. But if they've set anything up since, they've sure done a good job keeping it a secret.

 

[howeda7]

I have said it before and I will say it again. Building a stadium for a non revenue sport like baseball before building a needed basketball practice facility is exactly why Joel Maturi needs to retire. I don't care if the Baseball stadium is totally paid for by donations, there is no way Joel should be focusing on anything other than getting the basketball program what it needs to succeed.

If the Twins have offered the use of Target Field then John Anderson should be very happy with that. He can then take his team to Florida or Arizona in February and March and spend all kinds of money his sport did not help generate in any way and make us all proud.

Building a new baseball stadium will not change the fact that baseball is a drain on revenue generating sports.

Basketball, Football and Hockey First then everyone else get in line.

Personally, I could care less either way. They probably could play most games at TF, or more realistically, they should go in on a joint-venture with the Saints, who also want a new field. But I also realize there are folks like the Pohlads/Molitors who probably wouldn't donate to a basketball practice facility and will to a baseball stadium.

What I can't stand is the Maturi-led mindset that they can only fund-raise for one thing at a time. There are probably a lot of bigger-money folks who would be glad to donate to the practice facility but I sense are either being squeezed to be 'the' donor that gets it off the ground, or are being squeezed to first donate to the baseball stadium. That is just my sense, I could be wrong. Either way, they have flat out said the baseball stadium is 1st priority and I don't see them back-tracking on that. They've been working on that since 2000 or so, so you can figure out what that means for Tubby's hopes.

I also think they boxed themselves into an unnecessary corner by declaring they would do it all with donations. If a Vikings stadium is passed this session, it would have been pretty easy to jump in on that and get a (relative) few million for both of these things. The single biggest factor in getting TCF through was Target Field. No politician is going to say 'yes' the pro team and 'no' to the U, especially if what the U is asking for is a pittance by comparison.

 

[josh087]

It's too bad Tubby wasn't here earlier when Minnesota had some great talent that fled the state, like Cole Aldrich.

I would blame Vincent Grier 100% for this, but the timing just worked out for Tubby/MN. Without Grier (yes, I know A-Rob, Lawson, and Hagen played their hearts out...we love them, they are great, etc.) the 04-05 team may not have even been an NIT club and Monson could have been fired after that season. But would Tubby have been ready to bolt then? Probably not. You can play the "what if" game but things worked out for us in the end.

 

[Friend Of Tubby]

I would blame Vincent Grier 100% for this, but the timing just worked out for Tubby/MN. Without Grier (yes, I know A-Rob, Lawson, and Hagen played their hearts out...we love them, they are great, etc.) the 04-05 team may not have even been an NIT club and Monson could have been fired after that season. But would Tubby have been ready to bolt then? Probably not. You can play the "what if" game but things worked out for us in the end.

Tubby was encouraged to leave UK in 2001 by then-AD Larry Ivy and nearly left for South Carolina.

He considered leaving in 2005 for Virginia. He didn't really start looking until 2007.

 

[gopherbadgerman]

I would blame Vincent Grier 100% for this, but the timing just worked out for Tubby/MN. Without Grier (yes, I know A-Rob, Lawson, and Hagen played their hearts out...we love them, they are great, etc.) the 04-05 team may not have even been an NIT club and Monson could have been fired after that season. But would Tubby have been ready to bolt then? Probably not. You can play the "what if" game but things worked out for us in the end.

Grier did carry that squad. He'd look great on this years team playing instead of Williams or Hollins, IMO...

 

[JimmyJamesMD]

Don't forget about the defensive coaching contributions by Molinari. I was watching the game at Purdue from that year, and that team really got after it defensively.

 

[panndder]

Don't forget about the defensive coaching contributions by Molinari. I was watching the game at Purdue from that year, and that team really got after it defensively.

I was a little surprised that Tubby did not keep him on his staff. I'm a Molinari fan.

 

[Mulligan]

What I can't stand is the Maturi-led mindset that they can only fund-raise for one thing at a time. There are probably a lot of bigger-money folks who would be glad to donate to the practice facility but I sense are either being squeezed to be 'the' donor that gets it off the ground, or are being squeezed to first donate to the baseball stadium. That is just my sense, I could be wrong. Either way, they have flat out said the baseball stadium is 1st priority and I don't see them back-tracking on that. They've been working on that since 2000 or so, so you can figure out what that means for Tubby's hopes.

As I've pointed out before. There is a pretty new football stadium on campus with which donors were involved. We have been in a really bad recession that affected even rich folks. The state is in a 6 billion plus budget shortfall. You act like these can't possibly be bigger factors than the fact Maturi is a "ditherer". Maybe it's as simple as the money ain't coming in.

I also think that the folks at the University whose job it is to raise funds and get donations have a lot more expertise in this field than you. I can certainly see why you might want the big donations before you go for a whole lot of little ones that really don't get you anywhere. I also can see where you might want to finish off one project before you sap the energy from that by starting another one.

You "sense' a lot. Well, I "sense" Maturi doesn't want Tubby's leaving as a part of his legacy in addition to Brewster and is doing what he can to make sure it doesn't happen. Now he might have promised the baseball folks that they will be absolutely taken care of before anything else. If so, he (and we) might be screwed.