Thoughts on this tourney appearance vs. last 2?

Just wondering, out of our last 3 appearances, which one has meant the most to you - or are you (or were you) the most excited about?

2004-05: When our 2 walk-ons (Lawson and Hagen) and PG with heart (ARob) led a team that went 3-13 in the BT the year before to the tourney. After losing almost every player on the team, and being picked to finish 2nd to last in the BT?

2008-09: Tubby's 1st run to the tourney as the Gophers head coach. Tubby turned a team around from 3-13 in the BT, to a NCAA team in just 2 seasons. JAS and Big Jon were the players that were fortunate enough to go to the tourney twice, under 2 different coaches.

2009-10: The real soap opera that puts Bold and the GopherHole to shame...I think we all know how this season turned out, and what went down all year. Too much to recap - but this was the team most had given up on, and got the the BTT championship game by knocking off PSU, MSU, and PU.

I would post this as a poll, but I'm more interested in people's thoughts, moreso than numbers of votes.

04-05, no one expected crap from that team...

although I am happy with any tourney team, I guess...

I still don't put the odds at very high - but this is easily the best chance the Gophers have had to advance out of the first weekend this century.

2005 - I picked against them, but we could have beaten Iowa state - sure. But UNC? Fouggitaboutit.
2009 - Going up against Texas was tough enough. I had very very little faith they would even compete. That was an easy Texas pick.

2010 - I have them beating Xavier in my bracket. It won't be easy obviously, but I think it could happen. Then Pitt. Despite being in the Big East, this is a team without a lot of meaningful NCAA experience. I am actually rooting for a Pitt blowout of Oakland in the first round. The worst thing that can happen is for Pitt to survive a scare and figure things out. I am still picking Pitt to win against MN - but in Milwaukee it is totally possible that the Gophers could get to the sweet 16. The first two seed lines in this tourney are strong, but after that there is a steep dropoff. Think about it. Pitt, New Mexico, and Georgetown are 3 of the #3 seeds. Pitt is hardly an elite team. New Mexico? Please. Georgetown has talent but is not that good. This was a team that was crumbling before they won against Syracuse in the Big East tourney. Don't forget they were a number 8 seed in their own conference.

2004-2005: Had started to sour on Monson by this point, but was glad to see the team finally make the tournament again. I thought they overachieved and didn't give them much of a chance to actually advance in the tournament until I saw they were playing Iowa State. They really should of been able to beat Iowa State, but put on a pretty terrible performance. Vince didn't shoot well in his home are and as Vince went, usually that's how the Gophers went.

2008-2009: "The shot" was to lock up an NIT bid in Tubby's first year. I was more excited about making the tournament in 2008-2009 because it seemed like the start of something big. We made the tournament and it really seemed like a building block to bigger and better things. I didn't like the match up with Texas and it sucked seeing the season end in barrage of 3 pointers.

2009-2010: A season of disappointment that could possibly be salvaged. Very good tourney run dampened slightly by the 2nd half of the title game. Was really happy that the team went on such a nice run to end the year as it seemed like they were ready to pack it in with the horrible back to back performances against Michigan and Northwestern. This season could end up being a step forward for the program with a win or two in the tournament and that certainly didn't seem possible as recently as a few weeks ago.

GL,

Blake's shot in the Big Ten tournament was in Tubby's first year, the NIT year.

What I hope I see extrapolating from what you've listed there GL, is that we have a nice string of tourney appearances up to Tubby's retirement, with periodic deep runs in the brackets. I don't think its too much to ask!

anonymous said:

GL,

Blake's shot in the Big Ten tournament was in Tubby's first year, the NIT year.

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You're right (see how easy that is to say)? I think my story is better though - that his shot secured us a spot in the Dance. Haha - got that mixed up. Just edited it. Thanks!

Btw - My vote is far and away, the 04-05 year. That was a special team, made of heart, Vincent Grier, selfless play, and good D (particularly perimeter D). When you only sell 300 student season tickets, and The Barn is 1/3 empty, it's clear that mostly everyone had given up on the team that was post that was the year after Humphries...and mostly everyone transferred. I think that's why it was so special to see every minute of one of their games, and follow them when others weren't. It made it even more special when they shocked the BT, and fans, and made it to the tourney. I do believe we would have won that game against Iowa State, had Brent Lawson not gotten into foul trouble, and Hagen was pretty beat up by the end of the season too. Deep, that team was not. I really loved that team, and was obviously more emotionally attached as I was on The Barnyard board...after investing so much, it makes the wins that much sweeter.

With that being said, every trip is special. I still wait for the day that we wait to see what seed we get, vs. sitting on the edge of our seats on Selection Sunday, seeing if we get in.

As EG9 pointed out, we didn't have a prayer after that. That's why I hate that 8/9 seed...I love our bracket this year, and if we don't advance, we'll have no one else to blame but ourselves.

04-05 was definitely special and the descriptions of heart, growth as players, and combining it with one very talented player made it a great year. Who could forget J'son? However, it proved to be a minor uptick in a major downward trend line for me. If they would have made a run, it would be in a category of very memorable.

08-09 team overachieved slightly, which is something I always enjoy. Again, no run in the tourney casts a bit of a pall over the experience.

09-10 is still up for discernment. If they make a run, which is very possible, it for sure goes into the memorable category. Even if they don't, but this is the beginning of a long string of tournament appearances and success, I will give it a thumbs up as the foundation of what happens down the road. Their resiliency down the stretch and the unprecedented success in the BTT makes this team and season one for the books, no matter what happens at the NCAA's, though.

Holy Man, I was so relieved that the 1 pt loss we saw firsthand to Texas A&M didn't wind up costing the Gophers a bid to the dance. I had been lamenting that one for 3 months, even more than the MSU & Purdue losses.

The '05 tourney team was special just cause they were supposed to suck so much. I thought they would win that first game against Iowa State, then take their UNC beating like men. This year, I think we stand a chance to maybe make a tiny bit of noise. Last year, I'll admit, I didn't expect a whole lot.

Ope3 said:

Holy Man, I was so relieved that the 1 pt loss we saw firsthand to Texas A&M didn't wind up costing the Gophers a bid to the dance. I had been lamenting that one for 3 months, even more than the MSU & Purdue losses.

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Ope, I remember vividly you announcing after the Portaland debacle that the A&M game would now be huge in the grand scheme of things. I try to avoid the "what might have beens" but it did cross my mind near the end of the season. A&M turned out to be much better than I thought they would be. If it wasn't for three minutes of crappy zone in the first half they would have won the game, too.

Now, it's a new season. Beat the X-Men!!!!

Won't get into all the details but I am more excited for this years team than 04/05 or 08/09. Mainly because we have talent to make some noise. I had the happy to be here vibe in 04/05 and 08/09. While its probably 50/50 whether we win on Friday, I certainly could see us going to the S16. That alone makes this more exciting for me.