Expectations and Tubby

Donate To GopherHole
S

Section201

Active member
Joined
Nov 20, 2008
Messages
4,523
Reaction score
0
Points
36
I believe one of the reasons for the level of unhappiness in some folks has to do with the expectations folks had with hiring such a well thought of, successful, big time coach like Tubby.

Only Clem has done better by his third season as head coach of the Gophers. In Clem's third season, 1988-1989, the Gophers reached the Sweet 16.

Let's review the Tubby results so far. All records gleaned from http://ericthrall.com/gophers/basketball/

3 20 plus win seasons in a row. The last time we did that was NEVER. Remember, seasons 1993-1994 through 1998-1999 were zeroed out due to CHEATING. Another mitigating factor is that the further you go back in time, the fewer games were played in a season. In any case the numbers are what they are.

2 NCAA bids in a row. The last time we did that was the 1989 and 1990 NCAA.

We have beaten Wisconsin three times in a row. The last time we did that was 1990-1991 season through 1991-1992 season.

18-18 in the Big Ten the last two seasons. Certainly not great but we have only been .500 in two successive Big Ten seasons one other time since the 1982-1983 season.

I for one am optimistic that Tubby will continue to improve the program, including making progress on the practice facility. The roster coming back has some real potential and next year should have (hopefully) less drama and distractions.

It may be good for folks to remember back to when Tubby was hired. If not Tubby, who? What recruits could that person have attracted? Obviously the team would look significantly different than it does today. Quite frankly it is hard to envision better results with any of the other options we had in spring of 2007.

I am looking forward to next fall!!

Go Gophers.

:clap::clap::clap:
 


Well said, 201. What we have in this day and age are a huge number of "instant gratification" people from the masses. It takes time to build a complete, talented, mature, team. I, for one, have a tendency to still live by the statement that "good things happen to those who are patient and work for them".

Instant gratification or throw a temper tantrum, just like when younger and Mom and Dad let the kids get away with it.

Thanks for your comments.
 

When Tubby came on board, I think the consensus was Year 3 we would return to the Dance. We beat that by a year. Folks seem to forget how bad the program was when he took over.

Assuming we add at least 2 of the following 4 players next year (Nolen, Mbakwe, C.Joseph, White), we will be a lot better next year...so hopefully we will take the next steph (i.e., do some damage in the tourney)
 

FOT

Friend Of Tubby said:
But expectations should be higher.

Tubby averages 24 W per season. Goal should be 25+ W next season.

Tubby averages 2 W per NCAA appearance. Goal should be Sweet 16 next year.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/88507327.html This article is pertinent, I think.
Click to expand...


I most certainly agree with raising our expectations going forward but our appreciation of the results of the past three seasons should be tempered by the acknowlegement of where we have come from.

I do agree with your stated goals.
 


But expectations should be higher.
Click to expand...

Expectations this year were higher. I listened to a recent interview with Tubby regarding some of what went on with White and Mbakwe. He compared it mostly to what Gardenhire is doing now or previous to Nathan's injury. His quote was somewhere along the line of " you're penciling guys in ". What happened with Mbakwe/White/Nolen is unexpected. I think what happened with Westbrook is worse. I caught Tucker on KFAN talking about Westbrook yesterday. He implied, I thought, there was a lot of tension between him and Tubby this year and how that affected the whole team's chemistry.

How do you plan for that? How does that change expectations? Mine were high this year but I think this year was beyond challenging for the coaching staff.
 

Section201 said:
I believe one of the reasons for the level of unhappiness in some folks has to do with the expectations folks had with hiring such a well thought of, successful, big time coach like Tubby.

Only Clem has done better by his third season as head coach of the Gophers. In Clem's third season, 1988-1989, the Gophers reached the Sweet 16.

Let's review the Tubby results so far. All records gleaned from http://ericthrall.com/gophers/basketball/

3 20 plus win seasons in a row. The last time we did that was NEVER. Remember, seasons 1993-1994 through 1998-1999 were zeroed out due to CHEATING. Another mitigating factor is that the further you go back in time, the fewer games were played in a season. In any case the numbers are what they are.

2 NCAA bids in a row. The last time we did that was the 1989 and 1990 NCAA.

We have beaten Wisconsin three times in a row. The last time we did that was 1990-1991 season through 1991-1992 season.

18-18 in the Big Ten the last two seasons. Certainly not great but we have only been .500 in two successive Big Ten seasons one other time since the 1982-1983 season.

I for one am optimistic that Tubby will continue to improve the program, including making progress on the practice facility. The roster coming back has some real potential and next year should have (hopefully) less drama and distractions.

It may be good for folks to remember back to when Tubby was hired. If not Tubby, who? What recruits could that person have attracted? Obviously the team would look significantly different than it does today. Quite frankly it is hard to envision better results with any of the other options we had in spring of 2007.

I am looking forward to next fall!!

Go Gophers.

:clap::clap::clap:
Click to expand...

Great post. Thank you.

I was watching UL-California game last night. I was amazed to see how badly UL was playing. Pitino has lost his greatness. Players were not even listening to him toward the end of the game. Tubby is one of the few fine coaches left in this business. Lets hope that he sticks around and cut the net for us one day.

Go Gophers
 

Friend Of Tubby said:
But expectations should be higher.

Tubby averages 24 W per season. Goal should be 25+ W next season.

Tubby averages 2 W per NCAA appearance. Goal should be Sweet 16 next year.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/88507327.html This article is pertinent, I think.
Click to expand...

Pretty much agreed here. Need a clear upper-half finish in the conference and at least one win in the dance.... I think that's reasonable.
 

Reserve said:
I caught Tucker on KFAN talking about Westbrook yesterday. He implied, I thought, there was a lot of tension between him and Tubby this year and how that affected the whole team's chemistry.
Click to expand...

That is 100000% on Tubby. His responsibility.
 



I agree with just about everything said. Overall, I'm very happy with the progress Tubby has made in recruiting players that can play at this level. That didn't happen under Monson. Of all the players that Tubby has recruited here, I don't see any that can't compete at this level. This year was disappointing with off-court distractions and on-court distractions. Our expectations should be higher for next year. If we can land CJ and get either Trevor or Royce on the court and get some continued improvement from Sampson and Iverson, 25 wins should not be unrealistic.
 

The-Real-Truth said:
Great post. Thank you.

I was watching UL-California game last night. I was amazed to see how badly UL was playing. Pitino has lost his greatness. Players were not even listening to him toward the end of the game. Tubby is one of the few fine coaches left in this business. Lets hope that he sticks around and cut the net for us one day.

Go Gophers
Click to expand...

I watched that game wondering if we could have gotten Mike Montgomery if we hadn't gotten Tubby. He was my first choice (not knowing Tubby was a candidate.) In the end, I don't think he'd have left the West Coast, but he'd have been an excellent choice if he could have been pursuaded.

Someone asked who would we have if we hadn't gotten Tubby. My prediciton, if not Montgomery, is Rick Majerus. Based on what he's done at St. Louis, I think we'd be in a similar spot.
 

Ironically

howeda7 said:
I watched that game wondering if we could have gotten Mike Montgomery if we hadn't gotten Tubby. He was my first choice (not knowing Tubby was a candidate.) In the end, I don't think he'd have left the West Coast, but he'd have been an excellent choice if he could have been pursuaded.

Someone asked who would we have if we hadn't gotten Tubby. My prediciton, if not Montgomery, is Rick Majerus. Based on what he's done at St. Louis, I think we'd be in a similar spot.
Click to expand...

Those are the 2 coaches (Monty, Majerus) whom Tubby beat at 1998 Final 4 to win NCAA title.
 

Friend Of Tubby said:
But expectations should be higher.

Tubby averages 24 W per season. Goal should be 25+ W next season.

Tubby averages 2 W per NCAA appearance. Goal should be Sweet 16 next year.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/88507327.html This article is pertinent, I think.
Click to expand...

I was about to reply to the lead post when I saw that FOT said about what I would have. No doubt in my mind Mr. Smith feels the same way. They were on the verge of bigger things this year until a few wheels fell off. I feel that's an important measure of where we're at.

Had Dan Monson not been fired and went on to have the same accomplishments the last three years as Smith had, there would be lots of excitement about the upswing of the program. We can allow ourselves the same amount of excitement under these circumstances even if the progress so far is a bit less than we or the coach would have hoped for by this point.

Coach Smith is responsible for letting the White/Mbakwe situation become as much of a distraction to the players as it was. I have no inside information, but the effects of all that uncertainty on the team was unmistakable to me. He should have kept them more focused. Additionally, there's little doubt that LW was a drag on the chemistry of the team, but Studwell's full of it when he says that it's 100000% on the coach. I've seen the best coaches in the country tangle unsuccessfully with those situations. It's a two-way street.
 



You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom