Tubby: They were told about the implications, but they just didn't rise to occasion

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go4rob said:
Tubby didn't rise to the challenge either. Every time Eliason was in the game we got close, then he sits him down and puts RSIII back in and we fall way behind. Is he watching a different game? What's the deal?
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Ralph only played 18 minutes and we went small most the second half. I was cringing watching Ralph guard Shurna.
 

CrocShots said:
Ralph only played 18 minutes and we went small most the second half. I was cringing watching Ralph guard Shurna.
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I was also and hated that RS3 was starting, but i don't think he gave Shurna any points when he was guarding him man to man.
 

minngg said:
G Austin Hollins played 22 scoreless minutes in Saturday's 64-53 loss at Northwestern, and coach Tubby Smith said he couldn't handle the moment in a game dubbed as must-win. "Austin was shaking like a tree out there, like he was scared to death," Smith said

Was this necessary for Tubby to say?
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Sometimes the truth hurts. Austin was terrible tonight. We'll see how he responds Wednesay. He really needs to improve his handles to take the next step in his development.
 

WILLBGOPHER said:
Sometimes the truth hurts. Austin was terrible tonight. We'll see how he responds Wednesay. He really needs to improve his handles to take the next step in his development.
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You don't embarrass a kid like this in the paper. This is why you get transfers. Maybe if Tubby played a better NC schedule with some actual road games his teams would be better prepared to win on the road in the Big Ten.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
I've said all season the kid's got some Ralph Sampson in him. Super-nice kid, but lacking fire. Apparently Tubby wants to light that fire under his ass & possibly toughen him up some? I've seen Tubby do this with Ralph as well. In both cases I question the tactic. On the other hand sometimes people need to be challenged to maximize their potential. That's part of why the decided to come to the U & play for Tubby.
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A coach's job is to instill confidence in his players to succeed and be proactive. I don't have a problem with a coach occasionally calling the players out. I'm interested in how confidently they play on the floor. We play not to lose. Period. And it's not just this year. If a guy makes a play and it doesn't work he's much more likely to be riding pine than a guy who is passive the whole game long out there for Tubby.
 


howieramone said:
half these guys still have the dream of playing in the NBA. Ralph, Rodney, Joe, Dre, and EE still believe they have a chance to never have a real job. They won't give up and I won't stop watching. The NIT looks very good to me right now.
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This isn't meant to be a rip on the character of these players-just the talent/game.

They all should have a plan B because only one of them has a shot at the NBA unless major changes happen. One doesn't have the strength or passion. One only has athletic ability but nothing else right now. One is too short and has no jumper. One is going to have to learn how to play one of the toughest positions before this is even possible. The last has no offensive game what-so-ever beyond one foot. Lots of things need to change if the dream of the NBA is going to become a dream come true.
 

bga1 said:
A coach's job is to instill confidence in his players to succeed and be proactive. I don't have a problem with a coach occasionally calling the players out. I'm interested in how confidently they play on the floor. We play not to lose. Period. And it's not just this year. If a guy makes a play and it doesn't work he's much more likely to be riding pine than a guy who is passive the whole game long out there for Tubby.
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I agree. I don't know if it is the character of the players or tubby that causes them to be passive. I look at Frank Martin as a guy who screams at players, yet they don't even play this tight. I just don't get it. Maybe it is tubby, I don't know, but everyone just waits for someone else to make a play. I'd rather a guy be aggressive and miss a shot than a turnover from being passive.

I think the "calling players out" is tubby's way of motivating. Some guys respond really well to that some guys don't. He's gotta know which guys he can motivate which ways.

The good thing about gopher teams, and I'm not saying this is because of Tubby (I have no idea), but they really are like a family. Every team he has had here. They all seem to get along well and like each other and fight and work hard together. Just need to see that chemistry and hard work to carry over to the court more often.
 

I think the passive nature is a combination of the players and the coach. Some of the players are simply passive and are not aggressive by nature. This has nothing to do with being younger players. Either you are aggressive such as Joe Coleman seems to be or are not such as Austin Hollins seems to be. Hollins becoming a Jr / Sr is not going to make him more aggressive. Just don't think he has it in him. Doesn't mean he can't become a good player.

As far as the head coach he has seemed to become more passive in his demeanor over the last 2 years Teams do take on the personality of their coach.
 

tikited said:
This isn't meant to be a rip on the character of these players-just the talent/game.

They all should have a plan B because only one of them has a shot at the NBA unless major changes happen. One doesn't have the strength or passion. One only has athletic ability but nothing else right now. One is too short and has no jumper. One is going to have to learn how to play one of the toughest positions before this is even possible. The last has no offensive game what-so-ever beyond one foot. Lots of things need to change if the dream of the NBA is going to become a dream come true.
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Adelman in today's paper talking about the Wolves early in the season. "One game it'd be one guy, the next game it'd be someone else. You were always kind of mixing and matching. When a guy like Pek separates himself so much, then you're that much more comfortable. Then you try to figure it from there."

Well, Tubby isn't seeing it happen. These guys all have their weaknesses. Most of them have had their moments, but then they'll just disappear in a game. There is nobody he can count on, and he's got to be really frustrated. None of us know how much is on the players and how much is on Tubby, but they often do play "scared." (Iowa, Michigan State, 20-0 run by Ohio State, yesterday) Yes, he recruited these guys, but he also lost the leader of this team. His remaining senior looks like he's checked out which just adds to the bad vibe.

Going to be an interesting end of the season. If Tubby can land another gig, will he leave? Where would he go? Don't want him to yet, but I certainly wouldn't be depressed like I would have been 3 years ago. A bigger question is with the players. If any of them (with the exception of Ingram or Mav) leaves, Tubby will really come under fire. I still wish there would be one year in which there are no injuries or no drama. Then folks could get a better read on what Tubby has left.
 



Mulligan said:
Adelman in today's paper talking about the Wolves early in the season. "One game it'd be one guy, the next game it'd be someone else. You were always kind of mixing and matching. When a guy like Pek separates himself so much, then you're that much more comfortable. Then you try to figure it from there."

Well, Tubby isn't seeing it happen. These guys all have their weaknesses. Most of them have had their moments, but then they'll just disappear in a game. There is nobody he can count on, and he's got to be really frustrated. None of us know how much is on the players and how much is on Tubby, but they often do play "scared." (Iowa, Michigan State, 20-0 run by Ohio State, yesterday) Yes, he recruited these guys, but he also lost the leader of this team. His remaining senior looks like he's checked out which just adds to the bad vibe.

Going to be an interesting end of the season. If Tubby can land another gig, will he leave? Where would he go? Don't want him to yet, but I certainly wouldn't be depressed like I would have been 3 years ago. A bigger question is with the players. If any of them (with the exception of Ingram or Mav) leaves, Tubby will really come under fire. I still wish there would be one year in which there are no injuries or no drama. Then folks could get a better read on what Tubby has left.
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Man oh man that is so true. Now it seems Chip has just disappeared completely.
 

minngg said:
You don't embarrass a kid like this in the paper. This is why you get transfers. Maybe if Tubby played a better NC schedule with some actual road games his teams would be better prepared to win on the road in the Big Ten.
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Is that the reason why we have had transfers? Maybe i missed an interview with such information. None of the players we have had transfer were ripped in the paper - nice try though. He should really start to rip mav and chip so they would transfer...

Have you ever thought about coaching? You seem to have all the answers. I would argue that this team has been more competitive on the road - and with 3 wins-than many of our teams in the past.
Our play and record on the road has been fine, its been the play and loses at home that have killed us.
 

WILLBGOPHER said:
Is that the reason why we have had transfers? Maybe i missed an interview with such information. None of the players we have had transfer were ripped in the paper - nice try though. He should really start to rip mav and chip so they would transfer...

Have you ever thought about coaching? You seem to have all the answers. I would argue that this team has been more competitive on the road - and with 3 wins-than many of our teams in the past.
Our play and record on the road has been fine, its been the play and loses at home that have killed us.
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Good lord man. We have 3 road wins. One against PSu and one against Nebraska. The Indy game is our only good win all year. Home or away. 3 raod wins in 27 games. Yeah, we are real road warriors. You would rather see us beat App State than lose to Texas or someone. That's BS and why I sold my season tickets. Crap for games.

As far as Tubby embarrassing a player in the media, if he does that there what do you think he does in private? Calling out college players by name in print is dumb. To say they were shaking so badly they couldn't play is terrible for a coach to say. That is not how you motivate players.
 

minngg said:
Good lord man. We have 3 road wins. One against PSu and one against Nebraska. The Indy game is our only good win all year. Home or away. 3 raod wins in 27 games. Yeah, we are real road warriors. You would rather see us beat App State than lose to Texas or someone. That's BS and why I sold my season tickets. Crap for games.

As far as Tubby embarrassing a player in the media, if he does that there what do you think he does in private? Calling out college players by name in print is dumb. To say they were shaking so badly they couldn't play is terrible for a coach to say. That is not how you motivate players.
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Oh - and you know how to coach and motivate players??? As Doc Don always says..."just another expert".
 



Parski1 said:
Oh - and you know how to coach and motivate players??? As Doc Don always says..."just another expert".
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Obviously the methods tubby is/has been using are not working. The kids dont seem to be responding well.
 

I'd love for Tubby to acknowledge even a modicum of personal responsibility, rather than saying 'they' didn't rise to the occasion, saying we, myself, my coaches, my players, we all failed together, because that's how this is supposed to be as a team, you succeed or fail together, and beyond that, as captain of the ship, the ultimate responsibility for success or failure lies with the head coach himself.

I'm not a fan at all of this type of deflection, of finger-pointing, and of 'they' as compared to 'we'. To me that's kind of a chickensh*t way to be, and I'm also not at all a fan of publicly throwing players under the bus as he did with Austin Hollins. If you've got a problem with a player, then tear him a new one in the locker room and ride his ass endlessly at practice, but don't throw him out there to the wolves like that.

He needs to take ownership of this. It wasn't only the players failed, it was the all of them and most especially Mr. Tubby Smith himself.
 

Seany said:
I'd love for Tubby to acknowledge even a modicum of personal responsibility, rather than saying 'they' didn't rise to the occasion, saying we, myself, my coaches, my players, we all failed together, because that's how this is supposed to be as a team, you succeed or fail together, and beyond that, as captain of the ship, the ultimate responsibility for success or failure lies with the head coach himself.

I'm not a fan at all of this type of deflection, of finger-pointing, and of 'they' as compared to 'we'. To me that's kind of a chickensh*t way to be, and I'm also not at all a fan of publicly throwing players under the bus as he did with Austin Hollins. If you've got a problem with a player, then tear him a new one in the locker room and ride his ass endlessly at practice, but don't throw him out there to the wolves like that.

He needs to take ownership of this. It wasn't only the players failed, it was the all of them and most especially Mr. Tubby Smith himself.
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Totally agree. There is a certain degree of irony in the fact that Tubby has recruited these nice kids who don't "rise to the occasion." When he throws his own recruits under the bus, he is essentially throwing himself under the bus. No matter what his motives are for deflecting like that (motivation or whatever), we've all seen the questionable coaching decisions that Tubby won't own up to. It's really frustrating.

As Mulligan said, Tubby's only court leader is out for the year. The negative effects of Mbawke's injury, though tough to measure, have been pretty wide-ranging. But with that said, when you have a young team with little experience, you can't throw them in the fire like that and expect results. But I guess we'll see.
 

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