9194gophs.....the truth is very hard to chew on isn't it. Why do you settle for mediocrity? If you are this way in your life I feel pity for you
I am so sick of this stupid "accepting mediocrity" crap. It's just used by people who want Tubby gone to passive-aggressively say that you're wrong if you don't agree with them. Gotta love how you guys think that anyone who doesn't want the coach fired immediately is totally cool with going 6-12 in conference and hopes we can go 6-12 next year too.
We all (claim to) want what is best for the team. I think most of us agree things have not gone as well as we had hoped. It seems to me the difference between those who want Tubby fired and those who want to keep him is what we believe the cause of our last couple of lackluster seasons. We want Tubby to stay for the same reason you want him out, because we believe it is what is best for the team.
I'm not sure if some of you realize this, but pretty soon we will be ending our third consecutive season without playing even a single game with a full squad. Minnesota vs. Texas, 3/19/09 in Tubby's first NCAA tournament game was the last time we played with a full squad. At the beginning of the next season, the 2009-10 season, two newcomers, and probably the best players on the team, Royce White and Trevor Mbakwe, were suspended for the full season, and Al Nolen was ruled academically ineligible even after a waiver was applied for because he was reportedly experiencing family issues.
In the 2010-11 season, Oto Osieniks did not pass through the NCAA clearinghouse, and Devoe Joseph was suspended for the first 6 games of the season, the game he came back, against Virginia, Al Nolen sat out with a foot injury. By the time Devoe and Al Nolen saw the court together for the first time that season, Mo Walker had torn a ligament which took him out for the rest of last season and most of this season before the coaching staff decided to redshirt him this year. That January, Devoe Joseph transferred to Oregon, and about a week later, Nolen suffered a foot injury at Michigan that would take him out for the rest of the season.
Going into the 2011-12 season, Mo Walker was still out, and then 6 games in, our all-conference power forward and senior leader Trevor Mbakwe tore his ACL and was out for the rest of the season. Welch also sat out for a couple of games, as has Ralph these past two (which is part of why last night has me excited for next year: every Gopher who played last night is (in theory) back for next season).
I see all these mostly injury-related setbacks as the reason we haven't done well, other people look at all this and see poor coaching as the main reason we haven't done well, and think another coach would have done better given the exact same circumstances. And looking back, our first 5 and a half games this season are actually the only ones we've played since Texas in the 2009 tournament that we haven't had at least TWO players sitting out. I want to see how Tubby does with a full squad, no clearinghouse issues, no midseason transfers, no injuries, ya know, the way most teams play most years, without their best and/or most important players on the bench.
I want to see Tubby succeed because I am a fan of the Minnesota Golden Gophers basketball team, and I think he will based on how well we did before the plethora of injuries and transfers in the last 2 or 3 seasons. I want to keep him here because I think, right now, him staying is our best hope for success, not because I "accept mediocrity."
