Terrible Reusse Article

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underground629

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http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/70119062.html

Oops, already posted on here. Anyway...does he have any idea about what he's talking about? He basically blames Tubby for all of Royce's troubles and says he should've said no to Royce when he told Tubby that he wanted to play for the Gophers. It pisses me off when people say he never should've offered Royce a scholarship in the first place. I'm sure if Royce went to play for Wisconsin or Michigan State and didn't have problems the same people would be bashing Tubby for not offering him. You obviously take a chance on a top 20 player from MN.
 

Wow, even for Reusse that article was misinformed and just plain wrong
 

so it looks like the b-ball squad finally gets to deal with good ole' fatrick reusse and his "amazing hindsight is 20/20 super-glasses" approach to writing. you can keep him or toss him in the dumpster. the football program doesn't want him either. he is so much fun isn't he?!

talk about mr. hindsight......i only take a stand on something after the fact. what a little turd fatrick is. i don't think reusse has ever had a pre-determined opinion on anything. he only "forms" one once something bad happens and it is almost always the contrarian one. until then all he does is make inaudible grunting noises on AM1500. he is giving dark star over on WCCO 830 a run for his money in that dept. why do some folks buy/enjoy this old phoney's approach?!
 

I'm not going to lie - I actually think that quite often, Reusse writes what other people are thinking. However, I think this column is really off-base, and out of all the articles he's written, I have the most issues with.

Let's start with his comment:
Smith let White call the shot on being a Gopher, and let the kid arrive on campus as if he had the power, and now Tubby has a player in his program who has established an all-time record for Gophers athletes in the category of "quickest to become a complete pain in the neck.''
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Are you kidding me? I'm pretty sure Royce had an offer from the U long before Tubby was even here. After you make an offer to a kid - how on early does the kid call the shot by accepting? I would also challenge the comment about Royce having all the power. If that had been the case, Royce would be starting and playing right now. The fact that Tubby nipped any issues in the bud, proves the complete opposite.

The popular defense granted to Smith is that he had no choice but to aggressively pursue White -- as both a local kid and the 19th-rated recruit among 2009 seniors.
The theory is that if you don't do everything to get a player like this, then you are somehow taking a slap at Minnesota's coaches and basketball development, and at the fans that fill Williams Arena.
Hogwash, hogwash and more hogwash.
White's talent was clear to anyone with a hoops interest, and so were his behavioral blotches.
Plus: Once he was drummed out of DeLaSalle, White chose to show up at Hopkins and sign on for a sweat-free ride to a state title with the already-loaded Royals.
White couldn't have shown less of a competitive edge than in choosing Hopkins, and he couldn't have done more to create ambivalence toward him among local basketball fans.
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Are you kidding me? You're going to criticize Tubby for recruiting a 5 star recruit? A kid that would have most likely been a McDonald's AA had he not been on such a stacked team? This may be one of the most ridiculous points I've ever seen. I guarantee you, had Tubby not gotten him, people would have said he was a lazy recruiter and bashed him 100 times as much for not getting MN instate top talent. As for Royce's behavioral blotches, yes, he got kicked out of De La Salle. From then on, when was there any publicly documented issues? I have heard nothing from his time at Hopkins. And to fault Royce for choosing Hopkins...that's digging. That has nothing to do with any precursor that he would be an issue.
And who needs White when you have Cooper's Rodney Williams to elicit all the cheers necessary for a hometown freshman?
Rodney draws the howls with his leaping but also can shoot and drive, and Tubby will teach him to play defense. And there's also this:
A coach of a Cooper rival was watching Friday's game and said of Williams: "He's a good kid. When he walks in the gym, he's respectful of everyone."
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At the same time, everyone said Rodney was a huge risk. People lumped him into the risks Tubby was taking. Many thought he would never even qualify. So far, Rodney was a risk that turned into a great, coachable player, and a good kid.
 

Reusse

Reusse - Moron.

Reusse - Irrelevant.

Tubby - National Championship ring on his finger.

:clap: :clap: :clap:
 


Reusse was up in arms when Tubby gave him an offer. I remember because that is the only time I've ever left a comment on the Strib.

You have no way of knowing if kids in high school will be the same kids in college. They either grow up or they don't. It's not Tubby's fault for a) wanting to give the kid a chance and b) wanting someone of that caliber on his basketball team.

While I wouldn't mind seeing White go because he's been the ultimate distraction - if this latest move wakes him up and if he didn't steal that laptop - maybe he can still turn this around. His life and his future is more important than basketball.

As for Reusse - I think he would find something wrong with a piece of chocolate cake
 

97alumni said:
As for Reusse - I think he would find something wrong with a piece of chocolate cake
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It is obvious he has had no quarrels w/chocolate cake.

Reusse over-states his opinion as always, but White has been a huge and predictable distraction and its not unexpected. I defend Tubby's need to recruit him and the real responsibility lies with White himself. Concensus was that if anyone could get through to White, it would be Tubby. Royce did not give him the chance.

That Reusse goes on to contrast w/Rodney is ridiculous. Rodney was, and still is, a risk. Again, I remember Al McGuire saying the reason he left coaching is he got tired of 18 year old kids running around with his paycheck in their back pocket.
 

"As for Reusse - I think he would find something wrong with a piece of chocolate cake "

By all appearances, you seem to be wrong in this statement.
 

"I'm not going to lie - I actually think that quite often, Reusse writes what other people are thinking. However, I think this column is really off-base, and out of all the articles he's written, I have the most issues with. "

+1 Well stated, GopherLady - I seem to be one of the few Reusse fans on this board, but this column made no sense to me.
 



I guess I should be glad Reusse laid off Gopher football for the weekend.

Had he written this prior to White's signing, I'd be impressed with his insight and willingness to try and slit the throat of the potential career of a troubled student-athlete.

But of course, Reusse waits until the situation clarifies, so he doesn't need to go out on a limb. Yet another editorial that serves no purpose, other than to tear down the U a little bit more. Well done sir.

Where's the shared criticisms of the other programs that recruited the kid hard? I wasn't as if the Gophers were the only team to recruit White...
 

The premise of the entire article is flawed, but I will say one thing. I agree with Reusse that this is potentially a top-4 Big Ten level team with or without Royce.

Having said that, there are several areas where his facts are a little off. First off, Royce was the first recruit to commit in last year's class. He also had a big impact on helping recruit Rodney Williams to the U. I don't know if Rodney would have come here without Royce being in his ear. Of course, it's entirely possible Rodney would have come here anyway, but I got the feeling that Royce's input had a lot to do with Rodney committing to the Gophers.

Second, Royce had been expelled from DeLaSalle for an academic impropriety, not criminal activity. He didn't have a criminal record at the time and from reports had stayed out of trouble while at Hopkins as well. In other words, the academic problem looked like an isolated incident and therefore, he appeared to be on the right track. Therefore, blaming Tubby for recruiting White is far-fetched at best. White made his choices after he came to campus in the Fall. It has nothing to do with Tubby simply saying "well, he's a good basketball player and that's all that matters." It was to do with a kid making really really bad choices and putting himself at risk.

There are also others, but those are the ones that jumped out at me right away. But at least he acknowledges the Gophers have a pretty nice team regardless. ;)
 

I'm no Reusse fan.
But maybe if Royce White had behaved himself we wouldn't have to read this tirade.
I, like many others, am tired of the coddling and enabling of athletes who just can't seem to grasp how fortunate they are.
When you screw-up in a high-profile athletic program, the media comes at you hard. I have no sympathy for people like Royce White.
 

I tend to agree that Ruesse goes overboard on many of his articles, and can be ridiculously negative. However, many parts of this article aren't that far off base. The one part that is, is that Tubby shouldn't have recruited Royce. You have to take your chances on a 5 star player if you want to be the best. You just do. It's that simple. However, I completely agree with Ruesse's take on White going to Hopkins, what a joke. He already had a full ride to basically where ever he wanted, why not take the challenge of going to a decent program that would be capable of challenging Hopkins with him there?
Also, and more importantly, its ridiculous that you guys feel the need to start bashing Rodney, the kid who has lit up the gym so far this year, just to make points about Royce. Ruesse is spot on when it comes to that argument, yes Rodney was academically a concern. But there is a huge difference between that and a character concern. I'm sure Rodney has had his slip ups as a kid, but 96% of people will tell you that he is a fantastic kid, and as Gopherlady has previously mentioned, with a great smile. Royce on the other hand, even the other great players in the state last year couldn't stand him alot of times. He thinks he is above others around him. Rodney is an easy kid to cheer for, Royce is not. Bottom Line.
 



Article hits the nail on the head. Tubby and the Gophers have been White's enabler through all of this. Tubby and Maturi need to grow a pair. Win at all costs. Bring back the Haskins shame?
 

Final Four Quote: Also, and more importantly, its ridiculous that you guys feel the need to start bashing Rodney, the kid who has lit up the gym so far this year, just to make points about Royce. Ruesse is spot on when it comes to that argument, yes Rodney was academically a concern. But there is a huge difference between that and a character concern. I'm sure Rodney has had his slip ups as a kid, but 96% of people will tell you that he is a fantastic kid, and as Gopherlady has previously mentioned, with a great smile. Royce on the other hand, even the other great players in the state last year couldn't stand him alot of times. He thinks he is above others around him. Rodney is an easy kid to cheer for, Royce is not. Bottom Line.


Nice first post, Final Four. With its basketball history the U should NEVER take a chance on a kid with character issues. Let him go to a school that doesn't care about the character of the athletes that represent them. An athlete with academic issues is another story. I assume that most schools can help those kinds of students.
 

UpnorthGo4 said:
Final Four Quote: Also, and more importantly, its ridiculous that you guys feel the need to start bashing Rodney, the kid who has lit up the gym so far this year, just to make points about Royce. Ruesse is spot on when it comes to that argument, yes Rodney was academically a concern. But there is a huge difference between that and a character concern. I'm sure Rodney has had his slip ups as a kid, but 96% of people will tell you that he is a fantastic kid, and as Gopherlady has previously mentioned, with a great smile. Royce on the other hand, even the other great players in the state last year couldn't stand him alot of times. He thinks he is above others around him. Rodney is an easy kid to cheer for, Royce is not. Bottom Line.


Nice first post, Final Four. With its basketball history the U should NEVER take a chance on a kid with character issues. Let him go to a school that doesn't care about the character of the athletes that represent them. An athlete with academic issues is another story. I assume that most schools can help those kinds of students.
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Are you kidding me? A LOT of these kids come from very troubled backgrounds and rough homelifes. That often, leads to some issues, and you'd be surprised how many of these kids have had at least a problem or two in high school - which many would interpret as character issues. You simply have to take a risk on kids - a lot have a ton of potential, and if taken out of their environment and have some discipline, they flourish. With our history, you have to keep a short leash on any players and be conservative...like suspending Trevor even though most of us believe he is innocent. That, I am in favor of - never taking a chance on a kid that has "character" issues is absolutely absurd unless you want to be bottom 3 of the Big 10 every year.

As much as I loved our walk-ons, if you would have a team of Ryan Saunders, Randy Challs and Wade Hokensons if our coaches followed your theory, UpNorth.
 

samthebutcher said:
Article hits the nail on the head. Tubby and the Gophers have been White's enabler through all of this. Tubby and Maturi need to grow a pair. Win at all costs. Bring back the Haskins shame?
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Gopherholers keep making me update my Dumbest Post Ever By GH-ers. You are the current leader in that respect.
 

I am a Reusse fan and understand that he frequently aims to be provocative and throw contrarian curves at people but I disagree with his premise of the article that we shouldn't have recruited Royce. Coach Smith has earned the credibility to try to turn a kid around and help make something better of him. Selfishly, we are a top 3-5 team with Royce, and potentially a Big Ten Championship team with him next year and the following year.

I do agree with Reusse that I thought showing up at Hopkins was lame. I would have respected his decision if he'd chosen to attend his neighborhood public school or even joined Cooper or Osseo to try and knock off the two favorites Hopkins and Sibley.

I saw him travel with his grandparents and mother, but I didn't see a father. If there isn't one in the picture, maybe Coach Smith saw a bigger window for personal growth with his influence.
 

Wow, I think I've disagreed with everything you've ever said on here, but that statement is number one.

UpnorthGo4 said:
Final Four Quote: Also, and more importantly, its ridiculous that you guys feel the need to start bashing Rodney, the kid who has lit up the gym so far this year, just to make points about Royce. Ruesse is spot on when it comes to that argument, yes Rodney was academically a concern. But there is a huge difference between that and a character concern. I'm sure Rodney has had his slip ups as a kid, but 96% of people will tell you that he is a fantastic kid, and as Gopherlady has previously mentioned, with a great smile. Royce on the other hand, even the other great players in the state last year couldn't stand him alot of times. He thinks he is above others around him. Rodney is an easy kid to cheer for, Royce is not. Bottom Line.


Nice first post, Final Four. With its basketball history the U should NEVER take a chance on a kid with character issues. Let him go to a school that doesn't care about the character of the athletes that represent them. An athlete with academic issues is another story. I assume that most schools can help those kinds of students.
Click to expand...
 

GopherLady said:
Are you kidding me? A LOT of these kids come from very troubled backgrounds and rough homelifes. That often, leads to some issues, and you'd be surprised how many of these kids have had at least a problem or two in high school - which many would interpret as character issues. You simply have to take a risk on kids - a lot have a ton of potential, and if taken out of their environment and have some discipline, they flourish. With our history, you have to keep a short leash on any players and be conservative...like suspending Trevor even though most of us believe he is innocent. That, I am in favor of - never taking a chance on a kid that has "character" issues is absolutely absurd unless you want to be bottom 3 of the Big 10 every year.

As much as I loved our walk-ons, if you would have a team of Ryan Saunders, Randy Challs and Wade Hokensons if our coaches followed your theory, UpNorth.
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And the funny thing is, given the recent history of the program, academics should be a bigger concern than "character issues".
 

OK... we show a little reference and try save a young man from a life of crime. The time and money spent to do this is miniscule compared to dissing him and have to imprison him for a few years. At what cost? $30,000+ a year to house a prisoner. I say turn the kid over to Tubby, let Tubby and Donna Smith be his probation officers. Tubby and Donna have done this before. Save the kid, with some "tough love".
 


Keep in mind Sam the Butcher's a Badger troll whose purpose here is to inflame.

As for UpNorth's comments, you continue to boggle the mind. If you go through any D-1 roster, you would be hard pressed to find a program that doesn't have at least one player on their roster whose past history, upon close examination (high school, AAU ball, school history, etc.) does not term them an "at risk" player. Royce White's resume before entering the "U" is not that unique. White was worth the shot, I would guess that Tubby Smith has had countless players in his days who he took chances upon and was rewarded with a solid contributor to the team, basketball community, and society after maturing in college.

And for those who love to jump up on the soapbox about the off the court issues for the Gophers-keep in mind that neither White nor Mbakwe have played a game yet for the Gophers and neither will until their names get cleared, if that happens. If either of these guys were out on the court right now or it was discovered down the road that their misdeeds were covered up, then by all means, people could and should be roaring.
 

I cannot even imagine the throwdown that would have occurred if Tubby had let Royce slip through his fingers and play basketball somewhere else. Can you imagine what would have happened if Tubby had turned down Royce in his desire to play at Minnesota, and Royce had in turn ended up somewhere else (Michigan State, Ohio State...). I sure would have enjoyed seeing Ruesse defend that decision.
 

GopherLady - You have zero credibility on this matter for two reasons:

(1) You are a friend of Royce White - it is only natural that you will try to make excuses for him.

(2) Your are a Woman - it is only natural that you will always try to see the best in people and give them the benefit of the doubt. Most women I know were raised that way and I would not be with any other kind. But people who have to make personnel decisions in any field (including athletics) cannot afford to ignore evidence about the worst in people. The overall success of any organization absolutely depends on correct decisions being made.

Tubby screwed up big time with his decision to sign Royce White. We can only imagine what kind of behavior it takes to get kicked out of any high school when you are one of the best basketball players in the country. What is the over/under on how many chances they gave him before they decided to expel him. I put it in double digits. There were red flags all over this kid and he has fully justified the concerns that many people had about him. I agree with Reusse. Tubby never should have signed White. And he should have immediately suspended him for at least the entire season for assaulting a security guard (twice).
 

UpnorthGo4 said:
GopherLady - You have zero credibility on this matter for two reasons:

(1) You are a friend of Royce White - it is only natural that you will try to make excuses for him.

(2) Your are a Woman - it is only natural that you will always try to see the best in people and give them the benefit of the doubt.
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Wow...just wow.

Upnorth, you might want to check yourself...questioning GopherLady's credibility, of all people on this site, is really something.

I hope that your post was entirely sarcastic and an attempt at humor, but based on most of your posts, I'm guessing it wasn't.
 

I figured Ruesse was overdue for another rip on anything Gopher so I'm actually happy he took on Tubby instead of Brewster after yesterday's game. Tubby has so much respect that another hack job by Ruesse is basically a wasted effort by him; especially one as poorly reasoned as this one.

It's funny that Souhan was left to rip on Brewster, but his column is so predictable and poorly written that it hasn't even generated a thread on the football board.
 

You are well on your way to pissing off every single person on this board. Keep it up.

UpnorthGo4 said:
GopherLady - You have zero credibility on this matter for two reasons:

(1) You are a friend of Royce White - it is only natural that you will try to make excuses for him.

(2) Your are a Woman - it is only natural that you will always try to see the best in people and give them the benefit of the doubt. Most women I know were raised that way and I would not be with any other kind. But people who have to make personnel decisions in any field (including athletics) cannot afford to ignore evidence about the worst in people. The overall success of any organization absolutely depends on correct decisions being made.

Tubby screwed up big time with his decision to sign Royce White. We can only imagine what kind of behavior it takes to get kicked out of any high school when you are one of the best basketball players in the country. What is the over/under on how many chances they gave him before they decided to expel him. I put it in double digits. There were red flags all over this kid and he has fully justified the concerns that many people had about him. I agree with Reusse. Tubby never should have signed White. And he should have immediately suspended him for at least the entire season for assaulting a security guard (twice).
Click to expand...
 

Gopher Lady doesn't need me to defend her-she's quite capable by herself of doing so. In fact, I'm thinking of popping up a bag of popcorn to read her reply, if she feels it's worth her time, to your ill-informed, sexist, and clueless statement.

Within your ridiculous rant is a great deal of hilarity actually-questioning the credibility of Nadine when the person doing the questioning doesn't seem to have a clue about the realities of recruiting players to D-1 athletics entails. The days of the set shot and the flat top have long passed and even then it wasn't so clean (rampant point shaving scandals, anyone?). College basketball is a filthy business, populated by hucksters, con artists, and leeches all anxious to exploit young men whose athletic talents often outpace their emotional maturity and intellect. We have one of the finest men working in this dirty game in Tubby Smith and anyone who bases their judgement upon him on the knuckle-headed misdeeds of Royce White is living in la-la land.

That all being said. . .you actually sat at your computer, had a chance to delete/edit your post, and yet you still went with the "You are a woman" line??? My goodness. . .I'd love to introduce you to some of the women I've worked for over the years who would gladly slice your manhood off and shove it down your throat if you advanced that drivel in conversation with them. Might be time to step out of the 19th century.
 

I had to read that post again just to make sure I read it correctly. No credibility because she's a woman? Wow, what a viewpoint!!!:eek::eek::eek:
 

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