The last time Gopher Basketball exceeded your expectations?

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Dano564

Dano564

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I'm wondering if our expectations are too high.
It's been a considerably long time since Gopher Basketball exceeded expectations.

I think the last time I remember them exceeding my expectations was when they hired Tubby Smith. Although after that it didn't pan out as optimistically as I had hoped.

There have been a few players who have exceeded expectations. The Dusty Rychart's of the world, but can anyone recall other recent instances when they exceeded expectations?

Prior to Tubby, I think it was probably the 1997 team, or maybe a surprising home win against a particular team like our win over Michigan this year.
 


My expectations operate on a year-to-year basis. So, 2017 vastly exceeded my expectations since the preceding year was horrible. That was the last time the basketball team clearly exceeded my expectations. Perhaps Pitino's first season may have slightly exceeded my expectations in that the team ended up playing long enough to win 25 games.
 

They far exceeded my expectations part way through this last season. After they beat Michigan I looked at the schedule and thought: "hey, maybe they win 12-13 big ten games, a couple in the big ten tournament and get a high seed in the NCAA Tournament".
 

For a season? Its very rare. Maybe two or three times since 97. For a game? Plenty of one offs.
 


cjbfbp said:
My expectations operate on a year-to-year basis. So, 2017 vastly exceeded my expectations since the preceding year was horrible. That was the last time the basketball team clearly exceeded my expectations. Perhaps Pitino's first season may have slightly exceeded my expectations in that the team ended up playing long enough to win 25 games.
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True.
Both good points.
 

Exceeded expectations for a full season? Pitino's first year. The time before that? Tubby's first year. They have exceeded my expectations at the beginning of the year at least four more times during Tubby's and Pitino's tenure only to crash hard at some point and end very disappointingly.
 


Pitino exceeded my expectations almost every year. I don't know the answer: How many times did Richard have the Gophers ranked in the Top 25 during the season throughout his 8 years?
It seems it was often? But then the bottom fell out and we didn't make the NCAA tournament.
That is just not a normal coaching season timeline....once sure...but it seemed like it happened to Richard every year in addition to the times we did go to the NCAA's.

You went into the season skeptical...we beat some teams we didn't expect to...get ranked and flounder.

Hopefully, Ben and his staff can get us ranked as often and keep us there at NCAA time.
I do think we maybe have a better staff than we have had for a long time. But, Ben as a head coach is completely unknown.

I'm a little worried Gabe gathered all his intel and transferred. I'm a little worried nobody from Xavier in the transfer portal is a Gopher yet. Overall, very confident they'll put together a decent roster.
 



GopherChaos said:
They far exceeded my expectations part way through this last season. After they beat Michigan I looked at the schedule and thought: "hey, maybe they win 12-13 big ten games, a couple in the big ten tournament and get a high seed in the NCAA Tournament".
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This
 

This season they exceeded early then came back down to my expectation.

2016-17 and 2018-19 both exceeded my expectation but I had lower expectations than the average.
 


Last year's spring signing period when we got 3 starters from the transfer portal (Robbins, Johnson and Gach) and a highly touted foreign shooter (Mutaf). Robbins and Johnson were major contributors, Gach was a disappointment after a promising start and Mutaf was never given a chance before he decided to leave to join a Spanish pro team.
 





jamiche said:
The Vincent Grier/Zach Puchtel year when they made the tournament.
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Pretty sure Zach was not a big factor on that team. I remember Hagen, Robinson, Brent Lawson, Grier. I think Zach made his debut as a contributor the following year when they started the Big Ten at 0-6, and he started against Indiana and led them to victory. But no tourney that year. Memory is fuzzy, though.
 

Two times actually and I was at both. 1997 Final Four and 1982 winning the Big Ten at Williams Arena
 

Holy Man said:
Pretty sure Zach was not a big factor on that team. I remember Hagen, Robinson, Brent Lawson, Grier. I think Zach made his debut as a contributor the following year when they started the Big Ten at 0-6, and he started against Indiana and led them to victory. But no tourney that year. Memory is fuzzy, though.
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He wasn't. He was a bigger factor the next year. They started of 0-4 in the B1G, inserted him into the line-up and went like 5-7 after that and made the NIT.
 

In the past covid season, I looked at our roster in October and figured a sniff of the tourney was a pipedream. Then, they struggled in November against mediocre competition before hitting their stride in January. In January they looked like a round of 32 team for sure, then Gach goes down. Then Liam was hobbled. Then Gabe got hurt. Then Liam aggravated his ankle and the death spiral ensued. But, absent injuries and had they played Nebraska in Lincoln as scheduled, I believe they win that road game early against a still gelling Cornhuskers squad and avoid the mental and physical collapse. If you would have told me the Gophers make the tourney this year in October, I would have said you are nuts. The conference was stacked.
 

jamiche said:
The Vincent Grier/Zach Puchtel year when they made the tournament.
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The 2004-05 season immediately came to mind-some of you might think I'm being a broken record regarding this season, but it was a truly remarkable year, an oasis in a desert that sadly, has remained a one-off in the life of a Gopher fan since Gangelgate.

Consider the 2003-04 season we were coming out of-shorthand,it was the Kris Humphries year. 12-18 record, 3-13 BT record. Almost all the minutes and points, rebounds, assists, etc. had left at the end of the season--Humphries to the NBA, Ben Johnson and Mike Bauer exhausted their eligibility, Moe Hargrow, Aliou Kane, and Stan Gaines transferred out (with Hargrow transferring back later to join the '05-06 squad). Adam Boone didn't play in '04-05 (I think it was an injury RS season).

Who made up the '04-05 team? Three hold overs, two junior college transfers, and three freshmen. None of these players were coming in with sterling credentials.

Here were the holdovers:
Jeff Hagen, SR, center: 16 mpg, 4.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg ('03-04 stats)
Aaron Robinson, SR, point guard: 14 mpg, 2.6 ppg, 1.4 apg
Brent Lawson, SR, wing: 10 mpg, 1.5 ppg, 1.2 rpg

Juco Transfers:
Vincent Grier, first college season, averaged 5 ppg at UNC-Charlotte
J'son Stamper

Freshmen (none of whom were a Top 100 RSCI recruit):
Dan Coleman
Rico Tucker
Spencer Tollackson

Somehow, this collection became the only Dan Monson coached team at Minnesota to make the NCAA's, finishing 21-11, 10-6 in the BT, good for 5th place.

Robinson and Lawson played more than 30 mpg, while Hagen played about 27 mpg and along with Dan Coleman, they supplemented Grier on the offensive end and played a cohesive, team-orientated style.

On the heels of this season, even though Hagen, ARob, and Hagen graduated, everyone returned the following season and one (me) thought that the increased seasoning of the freshman now sophomores, along with the return of Boone and Hargrow would keep the good times rolling. Instead, it was a middling season that was rescued by Zach Puchtel to get us into the NIT and a year later Monson was fired after seven games. Sigh.

In an alternate universe, this '04-05 deserved to be a team that kicked off the sustained success of the post-Gangelgate era. Twas not to be, but that was a great year filled with few expectations.
 

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