A Few Observations

Tubby could be the greatest coach in the world, but this is still a depleted roster.

This team looks really flat, like the season can't end soon enough. I think the NCAA tourney is a pipe dream.

Tubby had no business calling out Hoffarber.

This is where coaching comes in. Three players (Williams, Hollins, Ahanisi) look timid. Sampson and Mbakwe look disengaged. Only Iverson, Hoffarber and Armelin look like they really want to be out there.

The strength of the offense is the inside game which means that perimeter players should be open. However, when every player who touches the ball holds it defenses can adjust easily. That's coaching. I don't know X's and O's that well but I can recognize an offense that lacks flow, and this one lacks flow.

The refereeing this year hasn't been bad. There are some new faces and it seems for the better. Of course, we've always got Hightower.

Television and coaches have conspired to destroy a great sport. College basketball has lost it's mojo and as long as coaches have to make $2M a year ther will be 20 timeouts per game. It kills the ambiance and for all of the complaining about the aging of the fans in the barn, it's the stoppages in play that have killed the famous Williams vibe. It's a damn shame. The NBA is now a much better game and it shouldn't be that way.

I agree with the timeouts taking the atmosphere out of an arena. 4 automatic stops per half plus each teams 5 is too many. I think the timeouts called just to bail out a player from getting a 5 second call or to save a possession somehow should just be counted as a timeout and inbounds the ball and lets play.

Agreed on all points; well said. Only quibble is that NCAA isn't quite a dream yet. I think it's possible, maybe 50/50 at the moment.

jamiche said:

The NBA is now a much better game and it shouldn't be that way.

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Now that is just an absolutely outlandish statement.

The rest I am more or less ok with.

fryguy22 said:

Now that is just an absolutely outlandish statement.

The rest I am more or less ok with.

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Pick a night when the wolves (the worst team in the NBA) and the gophers are both on TV and go back and forth. There will be plenty of opportunities because of all of the timeouts, particularly in the college game. The gopher game will look like both teams are playing in a bucket of molasses. The defense will be better, but not by much. The college game will have more hustle, but not that much. The college coaches and refs will take the game away from the players. You will hear a lot of clanking. The fans at college game are better. Overall, even an NBA game featuring a couple of lousy teams is an esthetically better game. I didn't say I was happy about it but that's the way it has become.

jamiche said:

Pick a night when the wolves (the worst team in the NBA) and the gophers are both on TV and go back and forth. There will be plenty of opportunities because of all of the timeouts, particularly in the college game. The gopher game will look like both teams are playing in a bucket of molasses. The defense will be better, but not by much. The college game will have more hustle, but not that much. The college coaches and refs will take the game away from the players. You will hear a lot of clanking. The fans at college game are better. Overall, even an NBA game featuring a couple of lousy teams is an esthetically better game. I didn't say I was happy about it but that's the way it has become.

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That is essentially what Lionel Hollins was saying.

I went to the Gophers game Thursday night and then watched Lakers / Knicks and Jazz / Suns last night. I love college ball, but after watching the Gophers the night before, it looked like someone had put basketball in fast forward when I was watching the NBA. I'd never noticed it as much before.

I like going to college games much more and the fact it isn't paid professionals, it is younger guys who are going to make mistakes which means anything can happen.

The things I wish College would change to make it more fun at least

Switch to a 30 second shot clock.
get rid of the possession arrow and jump the ball
Start giving out more technicals to screaming coaches.

I agree about the college game being often slow and 'ugly' to the eyes, but it doesn't have to be that way. It's still possible to run it and gun it and play a highly entertaining style of basketball like that. I remember those Billy Tubbs coached teams at Oklahoma which would regularly average 90+ ppg and sometimes would average in the triple digits, or the Paul Westhead teams at Loyola Marymount, in which it was his goal on every possession that his team get the ball down the court and have a shot in the air within 15 seconds at max, and for me, freewheeling and open college basketball like those two teams played was highly enjoyable and beautiful to see. Our style of ball and that of most of the B10 and most of the NCAA right now really, not so much.

Seany said:

I agree about the college game being often slow and 'ugly' to the eyes, but it doesn't have to be that way. It's still possible to run it and gun it and play a highly entertaining style of basketball like that. I remember those Billy Tubbs coached teams at Oklahoma which would regularly average 90+ ppg and sometimes would average in the triple digits, or the Paul Westhead teams at Loyola Marymount, in which it was his goal on every possession that his team get the ball down the court and have a shot in the air within 15 seconds at max, and for me, freewheeling and open college basketball like those two teams played was highly enjoyable and beautiful to see. Our style of ball and that of most of the B10 and most of the NCAA right now really, not so much.

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Among other things that would require the coaches to check their egos at the arena entrances.