Tubby can thank Austin Hollins for saving his job

[SelectionSunday]

Gophers stole one today, Iowa out-toughed us, but we found a way to win after being down 4 late in the game. All in all am relieved with the win considering how little we got from Mbakwe and Andre.

17-5, 5-4 (I thought we'd be 6-3 at this point), top 15 (conservatively) in the RPI? I could think of a lot worse places we could be. Put it behind us, move on, beat State.

 

[tinyarch]

+1

Two great in-bounds plays today late in the game. The "one second on the shot clock" timeout followed up by a wide open Coleman for the jumper and of course the timeout that led to the Hollins 3. Great to see the drawn up plays work so well in clutch times.

Go Gophers!!

The first inbound play with Coleman worked because the Iowa player completely blew his coverage, not because it was an amazing play. However, I was hoping to see someone turn and seal down at the block like Coleman did. It's just that Coleman got an amazingly easy look because of two Iowa players completely screwing up their coverage. Coleman didn't even have anyone to seal. The second inbounds play to Austin was very nice.

I am disappointed, though, that we let Iowa dictate the game to us on our own court. Iowa is young and we have important senior leadership on this team. It should not have been as close as it was and we shouldn't have had to go on a 7-0 run to end up winning.

 

[lakesgopher]

I may well have no clue but I have a ton of company. There is a lot of concern among the fans in the Barn and it's not over lack of talent.

Why the concern? Because we have struggled shooting? I'm so sick of the b*tching about tubby when we shoot poorly from the field. If we shoot 40% vs the badgers and nu we beat them both by double digits. We are 5-4 in conference play. Wisky plays everyone tough and beat Indiana on the road. They aren't a bad team. Iowa is sneaky good and nu is no push over at home. I don't get why ppl can't have fun with what we are doing this season. If your expectations sky rocketed to being pissed when we miss a shot maybe watching basketball is not the sport for you!

 

[Blackhammer]

There are reason to complain, but not fouling at the end of the game is not one of them. To consider that bad coaching to me made you lose credibility on Tubby in general. My biggest pet peeve about Tubby's teams is despite being considered a defense coach we don't defend the three. basically year in and year out. Offense? we really don't have one. Pass the ball around for a while and jack a shot. Our guards seem to be scared to pass the ball inside.

 

[ethomasp31]

We have had one year with 11 wins in the Big Ten in the last 30 years besides the Final 4 season. We have a good chance to have our best record in 30 years in the Big Ten besides the Final 4 year. We are doing this in a year the Big Ten is probably better than it ever has been, and we have people on this board calling for the head coaches job? Minnesota fans are just sickening. I watched the game at a bar today and one of the fans tried to tell me the Gophers had the most talented roster in the Big Ten. Do we have one player who was a top 50 recruit in his high school class on our roster? Do these people have any idea how many top 100 recruits MSU, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio State have on their rosters? And for that matter, Purdue and Illinois? We have Mbakwe and Williams who are good senior leaders, but our roster is not that talented compared to other Big Ten schools, especially ones at the top of the conference.

 

[gopherbadgerman]

I may well have no clue but I have a ton of company. There is a lot of concern among the fans in the Barn and it's not over lack of talent.

I am in the minority then, I have said all year that the talent level is over-rated on the team. MN has good, not great, talent, IMO...

 

[From the Barn]

There is a lot of concern among the fans in the Barn

stop projecting.

 

[GopherHoopsFan]

We have had one year with 11 wins in the Big Ten in the last 30 years besides the Final 4 season. We have a good chance to have our best record in 30 years in the Big Ten besides the Final 4 year. We are doing this in a year the Big Ten is probably better than it ever has been, and we have people on this board calling for the head coaches job? Minnesota fans are just sickening. I watched the game at a bar today and one of the fans tried to tell me the Gophers had the most talented roster in the Big Ten. Do we have one player who was a top 50 recruit in his high school class on our roster? Do these people have any idea how many top 100 recruits MSU, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio State have on their rosters? And for that matter, Purdue and Illinois? We have Mbakwe and Williams who are good senior leaders, but our roster is not that talented compared to other Big Ten schools, especially ones at the top of the conference.

A voice of reason among a sea of people who don't know how to enjoy sports... to quote Common.. High Aspirations Low Expectations (HALE). I for one am going to enjoy this win, we could have been 4-5 but we're 5-4.

I'll have to disagree with you in some regards, Rodney was top a top 50 ESPN recruit, and Joe and Andre were both top 100. With Trevor and Austin being our two most consistent players that makes for a pretty talented starting 5. Our talent falls off a cliff at the bench but I thought EE brought some good defensive minutes today.

It is absolutely sickening to listen to the average Minnesota fan however, why can't people just enjoy a win and hope for the best? I'll just stay off GH for another two weeks, it's the only way to have a prayer of enjoying the season.

 

[Roland Brooks]

I thought we moved the ball very well in the zone at times. Part of the problem was we weren't hitting outside shots.

Agree Gophers could not hit an outside shot. The Gophers got beat up on the glass and Iowa got to the loose balls. Iowa is more athletic than some people think.

 

[ethomasp31]

I'm not saying we don't have talent, but in the last 4 recruiting classes, we were rated in the top 25 classes once...and that was in 2009 because of Royce White....we were the 22nd ranked class that year with Williams, Mbakwe, Cobb and White. Cobb and White are gone!!

Here are the top 25 recruiting classes in the Big Ten the last 4 years according to ESPN:

2012
MSU #9
Ind #11
Mich #14
Purdue #19
Iowa #25

2011
OSU #6
Illinois #11
MSU #17

2010
OSU #2
MSU #10
Illinois #13

2009
Ind #12
MN #22
Illinois #23

To say we are the most talented roster in the Big Ten is crazy!! Our talent is right about where we will finish in the Big Ten...in the 4 to 6 range. We aren't nearly as talented as Michigan or indiana, and probably not as talented as MSU or tOSU either. To be honest, Illinois probably has as much talent as well. That's not as rip against the Gophers, but just how much talent there is in the Big Ten. Joe Coleman may have been in the top 100 his senior year, but he can't shoot, couldn't in high school, and doesn't stretch the defense. Neither does Williams. With only two threats as shooters on the team (the two Hollins), it kills our offense, and it is amazing we are as good as we have been. I think it is natural to overstate our own talent while understating the other teams in the conference. The reason we are pretty good has more to do with our experience than our talent level.

 

[gopherbadgerman]

I'm not saying we don't have talent, but in the last 4 recruiting classes, we were rated in the top 25 classes once...and that was in 2009 because of Royce White....we were the 22nd ranked class that year with Williams, Mbakwe, Cobb and White. Cobb and White are gone!!

Here are the top 25 recruiting classes in the Big Ten the last 4 years according to ESPN:

2012
MSU #9
Ind #11
Mich #14
Purdue #19
Iowa #25

2011
OSU #6
Illinois #11
MSU #17

2010
OSU #2
MSU #10
Illinois #13

2009
Ind #12
MN #22
Illinois #23

To say we are the most talented roster in the Big Ten is crazy!! Our talent is right about where we will finish in the Big Ten...in the 4 to 6 range. We aren't nearly as talented as Michigan or indiana, and probably not as talented as MSU or tOSU either. To be honest, Illinois probably has as much talent as well. That's not as rip against the Gophers, but just how much talent there is in the Big Ten. Joe Coleman may have been in the top 100 his senior year, but he can't shoot, couldn't in high school, and doesn't stretch the defense. Neither does Williams. With only two threats as shooters on the team (the two Hollins), it kills our offense, and it is amazing we are as good as we have been. I think it is natural to overstate our own talent while understating the other teams in the conference. The reason we are pretty good has more to do with our experience than our talent level.

good post!

 

[bemidjigopher]

bga, by ton of company you mean three others? The minority is always the loudest

 

[gopherbadgerman]

I'm not saying we don't have talent, but in the last 4 recruiting classes, we were rated in the top 25 classes once...and that was in 2009 because of Royce White....we were the 22nd ranked class that year with Williams, Mbakwe, Cobb and White. Cobb and White are gone!!

Here are the top 25 recruiting classes in the Big Ten the last 4 years according to ESPN:

2012
MSU #9
Ind #11
Mich #14
Purdue #19
Iowa #25

2011
OSU #6
Illinois #11
MSU #17

2010
OSU #2
MSU #10
Illinois #13

2009
Ind #12
MN #22
Illinois #23

To say we are the most talented roster in the Big Ten is crazy!! Our talent is right about where we will finish in the Big Ten...in the 4 to 6 range. We aren't nearly as talented as Michigan or indiana, and probably not as talented as MSU or tOSU either. To be honest, Illinois probably has as much talent as well. That's not as rip against the Gophers, but just how much talent there is in the Big Ten. Joe Coleman may have been in the top 100 his senior year, but he can't shoot, couldn't in high school, and doesn't stretch the defense. Neither does Williams. With only two threats as shooters on the team (the two Hollins), it kills our offense, and it is amazing we are as good as we have been. I think it is natural to overstate our own talent while understating the other teams in the conference. The reason we are pretty good has more to do with our experience than our talent level.

Ill add one more thing on this post...How pissed woudl Gopher fans be if Illinios level talent was here? A bunch of top end talent in the program and pretty poor results...

 

[jovs]

I may well have no clue but I have a ton of company. There is a lot of concern among the fans in the Barn and it's not over lack of talent.

I agree.

This is an experienced team with a fair amount of talent, they shouldn't be losing to Northwestern or almost losing to Iowa at home, there is nothing that indicates things are on the right track, had they not gotten lucky they would be on the outside looking in as far as the NCAA is concerned, they still have a chance to turn it around but nothing in the last six years suggests it will happen. If the best we can do is be a bubble team that will get into the first round of the NCAA every three or four years then something is wrong.

My guess is that the heat will really turn up as far as Tubby is concerned when the instate 2014 recruits head else where.

 

[Scoreboard]

I'm not saying we don't have talent, but in the last 4 recruiting classes, we were rated in the top 25 classes once...and that was in 2009 because of Royce White....we were the 22nd ranked class that year with Williams, Mbakwe, Cobb and White. Cobb and White are gone!!

Here are the top 25 recruiting classes in the Big Ten the last 4 years according to ESPN:

2012
MSU #9
Ind #11
Mich #14
Purdue #19
Iowa #25

2011
OSU #6
Illinois #11
MSU #17

2010
OSU #2
MSU #10
Illinois #13

2009
Ind #12
MN #22
Illinois #23

To say we are the most talented roster in the Big Ten is crazy!! Our talent is right about where we will finish in the Big Ten...in the 4 to 6 range. We aren't nearly as talented as Michigan or indiana, and probably not as talented as MSU or tOSU either. To be honest, Illinois probably has as much talent as well. That's not as rip against the Gophers, but just how much talent there is in the Big Ten. Joe Coleman may have been in the top 100 his senior year, but he can't shoot, couldn't in high school, and doesn't stretch the defense. Neither does Williams. With only two threats as shooters on the team (the two Hollins), it kills our offense, and it is amazing we are as good as we have been. I think it is natural to overstate our own talent while understating the other teams in the conference. The reason we are pretty good has more to do with our experience than our talent level.

How many stars did they get?

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Just to rant:
The game was a little sickening.
The zone annoyed me. A large portion of the offensive rebounds came against that stupid zone and I can't help but think we would have (and were) rebounded better in man to man.
Eddie Johnson annoyed, he continued talking about how Iowa wasn't hitting threes as they were burying threes.
Elliot deserved more minutes.

That said....
we beat Iowa. How annoyed can I really be?

 

[Rouser]

Gophers stole one today, Iowa out-toughed us, but we found a way to win after being down 4 late in the game. All in all am relieved with the win considering how little we got from Mbakwe and Andre.

17-5, 5-4 (I thought we'd be 6-3 at this point), top 15 (conservatively) in the RPI? I could think of a lot worse places we could be. Put it behind us, move on, beat State.

+1000

We found a way to win. I loved Austin's quote after the game on the radio. To paraphrase.. "Sometimes, there are going to be games like these and we found a way to win." Its sports you meatheads. Nothing goes to script and you need to find ways to win ugly games. We did not against Northwestern.. we did today. Would I like a 20 point win every game? Yes. But thats only for people who think puppies and flowers are issued with each season ticket. I don't mind being critical.. but as has been pointed out, the loudest are being tossed as the majority. I was at the game and I tell you what. Walking out of the barn, I said to myself.. thats why I own season tickets to gopher basketball. The ride is the most fun. Enjoy it folks. Stop fretting and worrying about who is our next coach for a minute and enjoy what could be a darn good season. If we tank, or finish poorly, I will also analzyze what went wrong, call for a new coach, or coaching changes. But as SS pointed out, we are 17-5, 5-4 in the toughest conference in the country (think 7-2 or 6-3 in any other BCS conference), top 10 to 15 in RPI. No that F'ing bad.

ps- they sky is falling crowd will never admit it, but Iowa is a pretty good team...a team we should beat at home no question, but a good team. Not a bad team. Not a great team.

 

[jamiche]

mattw- you must not have a TV or tickets. Yes you are right - no one should be discussing firing Tubby. But his offense LOOKS hideous. This is just not a well coached team. Thankfully we have a lot of talent on this team and that is indeed a credit to Tubby. If you saw today's game know that Iowa just looked better, got more open shots and played with better pace and movement. We had the better players and the Barn advantage.

Precisely.

 

[jamiche]

+1000

We found a way to win. I loved Austin's quote after the game on the radio. To paraphrase.. "Sometimes, there are going to be games like these and we found a way to win." Its sports you meatheads. Nothing goes to script and you need to find ways to win ugly games. We did not against Northwestern.. we did today. Would I like a 20 point win every game? Yes. But thats only for people who think puppies and flowers are issued with each season ticket. I don't mind being critical.. but as has been pointed out, the loudest are being tossed as the majority. I was at the game and I tell you what. Walking out of the barn, I said to myself.. thats why I own season tickets to gopher basketball. The ride is the most fun. Enjoy it folks. Stop fretting and worrying about who is our next coach for a minute and enjoy what could be a darn good season. If we tank, or finish poorly, I will also analzyze what went wrong, call for a new coach, or coaching changes. But as SS pointed out, we are 17-5, 5-4 in the toughest conference in the country (think 7-2 or 6-3 in any other BCS conference), top 10 to 15 in RPI. No that F'ing bad.

ps- they sky is falling crowd will never admit it, but Iowa is a pretty good team...a team we should beat at home no question, but a good team. Not a bad team. Not a great team.

This is definitely the best Iowa team in probably five or six years. They physically dominated the gophers, especially Mbakwe. They play tough defense, set hard screens and move well without the ball. If they had one more athletic player (not elite, just good to very good) they would be a top 3-4 B1G team. McCaffrey has them playing at or near the top of their collective ability.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

I agree.

This is an experienced team with a fair amount of talent, they shouldn't be losing to Northwestern or almost losing to Iowa at home, there is nothing that indicates things are on the right track, had they not gotten lucky they would be on the outside looking in as far as the NCAA is concerned, they still have a chance to turn it around but nothing in the last six years suggests it will happen. If the best we can do is be a bubble team that will get into the first round of the NCAA every three or four years then something is wrong.

My guess is that the heat will really turn up as far as Tubby is concerned when the instate 2014 recruits head else where.

A good synonym for "almost losing" is "winning" (just like "losing" is my favorite synonym for "almost winning" and "moral victory"). I'll give you that we should not have lost to NU, and that one may come back to hurt, but yesterday we took care of business. We are in better shape today than we were in on Saturday. On Saturday, we were 4-4 with a game we should win coming up next, today we are 5-4 coming off a win in a game we should have won.

 

[BOUNDOUTPASSDUNK]

33, 33, 35, 30, 37

Those are the number of minutes played by our starters against IA.

Gophers' zone did look soft. IA plays a fast paced game. So do you think the idea might have been: play zone, they're running fresh troops against us, this is the way to keep our starters on the floor in a game we absolutely had to win?

Welch and Mav both played ineffectively. The substitute pattern reflected the must win at home nature of the game.

IA is an NIT team with good depth. They will continue to improve over the next two years. Beating them a home and showing some team guts down the stretch is not a bad win. Beating them in Iowa City in the rematch will be no easy task.

 

[Gopher in Dixie]

What a pathetic performance by the Gophers at home. Completely out coached by Fran, this looked like the absolute end of the Tubby era (error?) and it still might be if things don't change. Did the Gophers look like they had seen a zone before? Why on earth did the Gophers play zone against a team that they are more athletic than? Giving up 3's (even to a poor shooting % wise team like Iowa) is never a good idea in college basketball. Even the last play of the game showed a major flaw in Tubby's coaching...4.3 seconds left and Iowa has to go full court and they get a decent look at a 3? You HAVE TO FOUL in that situation.

17-5 at this point. Back slowly away from the ledge.

 

[Blackhammer]

We have had one year with 11 wins in the Big Ten in the last 30 years besides the Final 4 season. We have a good chance to have our best record in 30 years in the Big Ten besides the Final 4 year. We are doing this in a year the Big Ten is probably better than it ever has been, and we have people on this board calling for the head coaches job? Minnesota fans are just sickening. I watched the game at a bar today and one of the fans tried to tell me the Gophers had the most talented roster in the Big Ten. Do we have one player who was a top 50 recruit in his high school class on our roster? Do these people have any idea how many top 100 recruits MSU, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio State have on their rosters? And for that matter, Purdue and Illinois? We have Mbakwe and Williams who are good senior leaders, but our roster is not that talented compared to other Big Ten schools, especially ones at the top of the conference.

Recruit better players then. A name coach should be able to do that.

 

[Holy Man]

+1000

We found a way to win. I loved Austin's quote after the game on the radio. To paraphrase.. "Sometimes, there are going to be games like these and we found a way to win." Its sports you meatheads. Nothing goes to script and you need to find ways to win ugly games. We did not against Northwestern.. we did today. Would I like a 20 point win every game? Yes. But thats only for people who think puppies and flowers are issued with each season ticket. I don't mind being critical.. but as has been pointed out, the loudest are being tossed as the majority. I was at the game and I tell you what. Walking out of the barn, I said to myself.. thats why I own season tickets to gopher basketball. The ride is the most fun. Enjoy it folks. Stop fretting and worrying about who is our next coach for a minute and enjoy what could be a darn good season. If we tank, or finish poorly, I will also analzyze what went wrong, call for a new coach, or coaching changes. But as SS pointed out, we are 17-5, 5-4 in the toughest conference in the country (think 7-2 or 6-3 in any other BCS conference), top 10 to 15 in RPI. No that F'ing bad.

ps- they sky is falling crowd will never admit it, but Iowa is a pretty good team...a team we should beat at home no question, but a good team. Not a bad team. Not a great team.

Rouser, are you calling me a meathead? I am with you on this one as I am on most. I walked into the arena yesterday knowing there was no way they would beat the 9 point spread. Iowa has played a tough front end loaded schedule and had Michigan State, played with Indiana until the last four minutes, got blasted by Ohio State and then made a mad comeback, and should have beaten Purdue on the road. They can play with anyone and had a lot to play for yesterday. A road win against a high RPI team and their soft schedule coming up could have vaulted them into NCAA consideration.

I was on vacation two weeks ago and saw a boat load of college hoops on TV and I can tell you that what we see in the Barn is what college basketball is. Not always pretty and teams that are world beaters one night can look awful the next (see Oregon). The best teams can go on losing streaks against teams they should beat (see Louisville and Syracuse). Talented teams do not always play to potential (see North Carolina). I am becoming more convinced that fan bases are unrealistic about the game and those who play it. Afterall, they are basically 18-21 year old kids and while adults by the law, they are still young.

That having been said, I would sure like to see this team figure out a way to get some penetration against zones. Elliot showed some promise breaking to the free throw line and passing the ball quickly a couple of times. We will see a lot of zone until it is figured out.

 

[station19]

IMO, if there had been a little more success in the past five years(say a couple NCAA tournament wins and 1 or 2 top four finishes in the Big Ten), there would be far less criticism of Tubby and the state of the program presently.

 

[MadtownGopher]

At the moment we're ranked in the top 25, have a top 10 RPI and in-line for a 5 seed or better in the NCAA tournament. We are even 100% healthy (or close to it). If you are bitching about our current situation, you are not a Gopher fan.

 

[station19]

At the moment we're ranked in the top 25, have a top 10 RPI and in-line for a 5 seed or better in the NCAA tournament. We are even 100% healthy (or close to it). If you are bitching about our current situation, you are not a Gopher fan.

That is a very opinionated view. Just because some disagree with your views, doesn't mean they aren't a Gopher fan.

 

[bga1]

At the moment we're ranked in the top 25, have a top 10 RPI and in-line for a 5 seed or better in the NCAA tournament. We are even 100% healthy (or close to it). If you are bitching about our current situation, you are not a Gopher fan.

Madtown- this you aren't a fan stuff is silly. Everyone has their own way of dealing with sports. Some watch the games and then it's over. Others live and die with their squads. Of those- some defend the home squad no matter what. It might always be the zebras that killed them. The others look for the maximum from the team they have and aren't happy if they don't get it. This team is in good shape to finish off with an NCAA berth and that's nice. However, the talent is here to do far better and barring something unexpected now- the hope of a really high conference finish is remote. That's too bad and leaves a lot of people wondering about what they are seeing on the floor and why it is looking like it is. To complain about the play of the squad or the coaching tactics when the home team is underachieving versus expectations does not eliminate one from being a fan.

The stats you rattle off in your post sound great. However, what we are seeing on court should be a concern to any die hard fan. They are not real well coached. If we had had upper division finishes in ANY of Tubby's first five years then I think the analysis would be different. When a $2 million coach never finishes higher than 6th (which is where we are again) in 5 years going on 6, I think a little questioning is in order.

 

[MadtownGopher]

Madtown- this you aren't a fan stuff is silly. Everyone has their own way of dealing with sports. Some watch the games and then it's over. Others live and die with their squads. Of those- some defend the home squad no matter what. It might always be the zebras that killed them. The others look for the maximum from the team they have and aren't happy if they don't get it. This team is in good shape to finish off with an NCAA berth and that's nice. However, the talent is here to do far better and barring something unexpected now- the hope of a really high conference finish is remote. That's too bad and leaves a lot of people wondering about what they are seeing on the floor and why it is looking like it is. To complain about the play of the squad or the coaching tactics when the home team is underachieving versus expectations does not eliminate one from being a fan.

The stats you rattle off in your post sound great. However, what we are seeing on court should be a concern to any die hard fan. They are not real well coached. If we had had upper division finishes in ANY of Tubby's first five years then I think the analysis would be different. When a $2 million coach never finishes higher than 6th (which is where we are again) in 5 years going on 6, I think a little questioning is in order.

We are talking about our CURRENT situation, there is no reason to dwell in the past or bring up Tubby's salary. We are in a really good position at he moment, why bitch and complain? If you are bitching and complaining you are just trying to stir the pot and troll for responses, hence you are not a true fan.

 

[station19]

We are talking about our CURRENT situation, there is no reason to dwell in the past or bring up Tubby's salary. We are in a really good position at he moment, why bitch and complain? If you are bitching and complaining you are just trying to stir the pot and troll for responses, hence you are not a true fan.

Is it possible for someone to fit that discription? Possibly, but to claim that everyone/anyone that complains is a troll and not a true fan is absurd.