Sid Hartman: Gophers show they still have fight left



I don't know about you fellas...

but I dread the day Sid is no longer writing columns. He is the only consistent supporter of U athletics in the Twin Cities media. Some say he is "out to lunch", but his philosophy and love of U athletics more closely mirror mine than the rest of the schmucks in the TC news media (a few notable exceptions), who seem to revel in every opportunity to insult, denigrate, and knock the U.

Go Sid. Go Gophs!
 

we will miss him but his credibility takes a hit every time he talks. Everybody in the studio was laughing at him this morning on CCO at 7:45. He was clueless about what is in his column. I know, I know he is old and better than most people his age and still does pretty well etc, but at some point you can't trust him being right on the day of the week.
 

But the other big performer Sunday was 6-7 sophomore Rodney Williams, who had scored a total of 20 points over his previous five games combined and was another player from whom Smith demanded more. He responded with 13 points Sunday, including 11 in the first half, finally showing some of the potential that many had seen out of the former Cooper High School standout when they predicted he might be a first-round draft pick in the NBA someday soon. Williams scored six consecutive points in a 24-6 Gophers run to end the first half.

Williams, who entered the day averaging 6.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, also had seven rebounds and five assists.

"Rodney Williams stepped up and had a solid game, probably one of his best games in a long time," Smith said. "We also got good play from our freshmen and that's a big help."



• Former Bloomington Jefferson standout Cole Aldrich is back up with the Oklahoma City Thunder after being recalled from the Development League on Wednesday. He averaged 10.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 19 games with the Tulsa 66ers.
 


The hacks like Souhan who know virtually nothing about college basketball and the unabashed maroon-and-gold glass wearers like Sid. ...

there has to be happy a median somewhere.
 

SS

There needs to be a glass-half-full supporter in the media, and Sid is the man. I hope someone steps up to the plate when he finally retires. Maybe I'll start a column.
 

I think we know her!

The hacks like Souhan who know virtually nothing about college basketball and the unabashed maroon-and-gold glass wearers like Sid. ...

there has to be happy a median somewhere.
Nadine Babu. She has the personality to do it, too.
 




The hacks like Souhan who know virtually nothing about college basketball and the unabashed maroon-and-gold glass wearers like Sid. ...

there has to be happy a median somewhere.

There used to be.. Jeff Shelman was his name..
 


I gotta say, if she were on that cable access show with Sid, Dark, and Reusse, I'd actually watch.

Correction. With Sid, Reusse and Max. Dark Star is the worst of all time. And his commercials, Yuk.
 

But the other big performer Sunday was 6-7 sophomore Rodney Williams, who had scored a total of 20 points over his previous five games combined and was another player from whom Smith demanded more.

I guess four games equals five games in Sid's world. He did have 20 over the previous four.. and 24 over the previous five.. but, no matter which average you take, it's about a point and a half off his season average.. not anything too dramatic.

In a six game stretch earlier this year... from WVU to EKU.. he had 15 points in six games... or 2.5/game.

No doubt, this was a very important win... but, we simply did what we should do against a bad team with no quality height such as Iowa, especially with Basabe on the bench.
 



Thought this was the easiest of the 3 remaining road games. A must win if they want to get to 9 BT wins(20 overall). Road games at PSU and NU will be much more difficult.

Winning the 3 remaining home games is a must.
 

Our biggest margin of victory since we beast NDSU the 6th game of the year and we did it on the road. I'm pretty sure Iowa is much better than some of those squads we saw in non conference at home earlier this year. I'll take it. If this team is gonna go anywhere, it's gonna have to happen on defense, cause when they play defense, they can get out and run more and get some easier baskets on broken courts. I feel like while Iowa got some decent looks, the Gophers did a relatively decent job getting out to shooters and contesting. They'll have to keep improving on that aspect in order to finish this year off right.
 

Our biggest margin of victory since we beast NDSU the 6th game of the year and we did it on the road. I'm pretty sure Iowa is much better than some of those squads we saw in non conference at home earlier this year. I'll take it. If this team is gonna go anywhere, it's gonna have to happen on defense, cause when they play defense, they can get out and run more and get some easier baskets on broken courts. I feel like while Iowa got some decent looks, the Gophers did a relatively decent job getting out to shooters and contesting. They'll have to keep improving on that aspect in order to finish this year off right.

You nailed it. They defended on every possession. They got out and challenged shooters and never let Iowa get going. It's what they did at Purdue in the first half and stopped doing in the second half. If they can defend like that, they'll be tough to beat even with the depleted lineup. Incomplete as the offense is, they have enough offense if the defense is playing.

Someone posted how awful Iowa is. Give the Gophs some credit. Iowa can hurt you if you let them; the Gophers didn't let them. They stepped on their neck early and didn't let up until late in the 2nd half. The question is whether a depleted team can sustain that and for how long.

Someone else posted a few days ago that Puerto Rico seems like a long time ago. Watching the team last night, Puerto Rico suddenly didn't seem like that long ago anymore. The interior passing was sharp. What a pleasure to watch them play like that again.
 




Top Bottom