Clem Haskins praises Tubby's turnaround

per Myron's blog:

Haskins praises Tubby’s turnaround
Posted on January 15th, 2009 – 11:23 AM
By Myron Medcalf
What’s up, Gophers fans?

Big game Thursday night at the Kohl Center.

Minnesota will seek its first road win at Wisconsin since a 109-78 victory on Feb. 12, 1994. That win, however, was vacated because of the ‘90 academic scandal.

So Minnesota’s last official win at Wisconsin was on Jan. 15, 1992, exactly 17 years ago.

Clem Haskins was Minnesota’s head coach at the time. I spoke with Haskins Wednesday, and he praised Smith’s efforts this year. He called Smith one of the five best coaches in America because of what he’s done without any stars.

“Tubby Smith is a premier coach,” Haskins said. “You mention five coaches, he’s one of the five [best] in the country.”

Haskins said it’s easy to coach a team with a bunch of lottery picks. But if you take a look at the Associated Press’ top 25, you won’t find many that are playing without a legit pro prospect.

Actually, Minnesota, Butler, Michigan State and California are the only teams in the AP poll that don’t have a player listed among ESPN.com’s top 100 NBA prospects.

At this point, the two Minnesota players that have a shot at the NBA, in the opinion of NBA scouts, are Al Nolen and Colton Iverson, and I think both guys have a long way to go before they even get that opportunity.

“That’s where Tubby is head and shoulders above,” Haskins said. “His talent is not superior at Minnesota.” He told me that he wants to make sure that people don’t take his comments the wrong way. He likes Minnesota’s potential, but said Smith’s coaching has been a major factor in its success.

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Go Gophers!!

ESPN.com's top 100 NBA prospects: no Kalin Lucas?

Was surprised to see Michigan State on that list. Maybe I'm overestimating how his game will translate to the NBA, but from everything I've seen Kalin Lucas certainly looks like a top-100 NBA prospect. Absent being 6-4 or 6-5, Lucas seems to have all the necessary tools for a NBA lead guard.

I'm also a bit surprised that Raymar Morgan and Delvon Roe aren't considered pro prospects. I also believe, as Tubby indicated in one of Sid's column's about a month back, that DJ has some NBA potential, particularly if he can extend the range on his jump shot.

Maroon Shower said:

I'm also a bit surprised that Raymar Morgan and Delvon Roe aren't considered pro prospects. I also believe, as Tubby indicated in one of Sid's column's about a month back, that DJ has some NBA potential, particularly if he can extend the range on his jump shot.

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And learn to make free throws

Sorry. It's still way to soon for me to respect Clem's opinion or anyone who quotes him.

Gopher4Life said:

Sorry. It's still way to soon for me to respect Clem's opinion or anyone who quotes him.

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Absolutely correct. Why anyone would even approach Clem for his opinion is mind-boggling. Unless, of course, one is looking for information related to lying and cheating.

Now I have to go punch myself in the brain for agreeing with G4L.

Gopher4Life said:

Sorry. It's still way to soon for me to respect Clem's opinion or anyone who quotes him.

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Great point. Why does it seem to me that Clem was a taboo subject and all of a sudden he's giving interviews and being quoted all over the local media during the past year? I couldn't believe it when he showed-up to the NBA summer league at the Target Center three years ago. You know how you can walk out of the arena to the concourse two people at a time, guess who I was shoulder to shoulder with? It was unreal, we briefly made eye contact, and he must have read my mind because he looked away with a smug look.

But, Sid and others claim that without him Tubby would be somewhere else, so we need to forget about the humiliation and start sculpting the bronze statue of him to be placed outside of Williams Arena. Seriously, what a narcissist, most of us would just go quietly back to Kentucky with a little humility. He'll be courtside soon like Marbury offering to go on the local telecast and expecting all of us to be grateful for his contributions during the 80's and 90's.

I liked Clem until the crap hit the fan. Then he should've crawled away in silent and permanent disgrace. Instead, he was actually paid extra on his way out the door. He presided over the darkest period of Gopher basketball history (yes, even darker than the brawl or the incident in Wisconsin), and he brought us the Monson years on top of it.

Gopher4Life said:

I liked Clem until the crap hit the fan. Then he should've crawled away in silent and permanent disgrace. Instead, he was actually paid extra on his way out the door. He presided over the darkest period of Gopher basketball history (yes, even darker than the brawl or the incident in Wisconsin), and he brought us the Monson years on top of it.

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I agree. But maybe, in his own way, he's trying to make up a little bit for the damage he caused the program by promoting both the program and Tubby. The fact that he can never come close to repairing the damage doesn't mean there's anything wrong with doing what little he can.