Easily 3-0 with Mbakwe

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Just wanted to remind people we lost one of the top 5 players in the B10 and the hands down MVP on the team. Season buckled when his knee buckled. Rebounding has completely tanked, as totally expected. And that equals three losses right out of the gate. And it will get uglier with better competition.

Why hammer away on the team/coach? It is what it is; MN basketball will NEVER have much margin for error and this year and last injuries did them in.

Coaching has NOT been the issue! Tubby has shown he can beat the best with a full roster.

Chilax!
 

Why won't Minnesota EVER have much margin for error? Because saying something ridiculous like that makes you feel better? I really don't understand this mentality of "NEVER or EVER" that some have. Northwestern would NEVER play in a Rose Bowl, Wisconsin won't EVER be any good in basketball, Indiana will NEVER be a bottom of the Big Ten basketball team. All of these things could have been said within the past twenty years and all have been proven wrong.

It's also not a fact that Minnesota would easily be 3-0 with Mbakwe in the Big Ten as it's no guarantee that last nights issues against the zone would have been helped at all with the presence of Trevor.
 

Why hammer away at the coach? Let me count the reasons!

1)Because the players who are healthy don't seem to improve under his coaching.

2)The same mistakes (turnovers) and problems (poor shooting) plague this program year after year.

3)He recruits and plays pedestrian talent (Mav, Eliason, Hollins, Armelin) that no other schools in the BiG would even consider offering scholorships to.

4)His record in close games is beyond AWFUL...in the past 3 years, I reckon the Gophers are 2-14 in OT games or games decided by 6 points or less.

5)The main thing he was supposed to be able to hang his hat on (Defense) has been one of his biggest flaws, allowing opponents wide open shots all over the court. The players are either not athletic enough to play his zones or simply too confused because he hasn't taught them well enough.

Yes, Tubby had some terrible luck with injuries and suspensions....But the transfers are on him for not being able to run things smoother and keep players happy. You could also make the case that the suspension are on him as well for not providing more guidance, oversight and discipline.

In short, he hasn't gotten it done!
 

The Gophers might be 3-0 with Trever if he'd been hurt and came back for the Big Ten season. If he'd been healthy it's likely the other plays would have continued to overly depend on him as they had been before his injury.
 

I think that is pure conjecture on the OP's part. Rodney and Julian have been our best players since Trevor went down. While Trevor brought alot to the table,
we spent the majority of the clock trying to involve him in the offense which made Rodney and Julian non factors. What Trevor gave us was great rebouding and shot blocking defense along with true grit. He couldn't hit a shot over ten feet and the B1G would've have adjusted accordingly. I think our record would still be 0-3 or at best 1-2 with that win being Iowa ( they killed us on the boards on both ends and White ate Sampson's lunch) Do I hope he comes back?, absolutely!
 


Rodney and Julian have been two of the better players since Trevor went down but I think Ralph has also been very important. I know not many people think he is worth a crap but he had been playing pretty well until the end of the first half against Iowa. I think most players productivity will be reduced when they are doubled like his did but he did do some stupid things that really screwed us against Iowa. He is still very important offensively to us. Defensively he needs to improve but I see no one else on our team that can give us what he does right now unless Mo decides he wants to play this year.
 

Even if we accept, ad arguendo, as fact that the Gophs would be 3-0 with Trevor, then that might be relevant if the selection committee based on what our record would be with Trevor. If "ifs" and "buts" were candy and nuts, then every day would be Christmas. Winners find a way to battle through adversity, losers point to the adversity as the reason they aren't winners.
 

Then are you saying that a 2 million dollar a year coach set up a team based upon 1 player ?
Other teams lose something when their best player goes down but few have a total collapse.
As the person responsible for putting a team together, Tubby should have enough players so
that losing one hurts but doesn't have this kind of effect. If it's not up to Tubby to recruit and
land the best players he can get, and enough of them to have a "solid" team then who's job is it?
 

We are 0-3 and the sky is falling.

Let us not forget that Michigan started 1-6 in the BigTen last year and came back very respectably the rest of the season.

It's a good thing the players and coaches don't give up as easily as the fans.
 



nuggett said:
Then are you saying that a 2 million dollar a year coach set up a team based upon 1 player ?
Other teams lose something when their best player goes down but few have a total collapse.
As the person responsible for putting a team together, Tubby should have enough players so
that losing one hurts but doesn't have this kind of effect. If it's not up to Tubby to recruit and
land the best players he can get, and enough of them to have a "solid" team then who's job is it?
Click to expand...

3 Things:
He doesn't get paid $2 million and even if he did, it's irrelevant.

If we had just 1 roster spot missing from injuries and defections over the last 3 years, your point would have merit. Trevor Mbakwe was brought in 1 year after Ralph Sampson, Colton Iverson, and Devoe Joseph in the same class as Royce White, Rodney Williams, and Justin Cobbs. Of those 7, 2 are currently active on the roster. I wouldn't call that building your team around 1 player. Losing all those players over a 2 year span and replacing them with spring recruits and a diminished bench is going to thin out any team. Not to mention Mo Walker who also would be seeing time at the 4/5.

It's been 5 years, time to let go of the personal anguish OTS put you through during his tenure at UK. 5 years and 2 coaches. Your work here is done, the entire state of Minnesota feels your pain and loathes Tubby.
 

No doubt we're 3-0 with "The Beast". We weren't an NBA player away from winning those games. Very few teams have much margin for error. Thank God most of these posters weren't around when Lou Hudson broke his wrist. Gopher fans were quite a bit different back then. The state of the program and coach weren't rehashed game by game ad nauseam. Back then I was the average Gopher fan. Today I'm labeled a Tubby apologist.

Just cause Lou broke his wrist, how come we can't be third in the nation anymore? Why didn't we recruit depth in case our superstar got hurt?

The I want it and I want it now crowd never were Gopher fans. First on, first off. The sky isn't falling, things aren't going to be like this forever.
 

Moses87 said:
4)His record in close games is beyond AWFUL...in the past 3 years, I reckon the Gophers are 2-14 in OT games or games decided by 6 points or less.
Click to expand...
In games decided by 6 pts or less:
6-3 in 2008-2009
5-7 in 2009-2010
6-5 2010-2011
4-2 2011-2012

They are 2-3 in OT games
 

Dr.Don said:
We are 0-3 and the sky is falling.

Let us not forget that Michigan started 1-6 in the BigTen last year and came back very respectably the rest of the season.

It's a good thing the players and coaches don't give up as easily as the fans.
Click to expand...

Butler started out last year 14-9 with a 6-5 record in the Horizon conference and I would say that they had a pretty good year.
 



This is bigger than this year, it is the last three years of a lifeless program.

Matt Painter rebounded nicely when he lost Hummel.
 

We made the dance two years ago. Hummel was part of the #1 recruiting class in the nation I believe. Can you come up with more than one example?
 

howieramone said:
We made the dance two years ago. Hummel was part of the #1 recruiting class in the nation I believe. Can you come up with more than one example?
Click to expand...

How many examples can you give of teams last season who allowed an injury to take them from the top 20 to missing the NIT? I think the Hummel example is right on point and from very recently.
 

But Mbakwe got hurt so they are 0-3...wait that's Tubby's fault. Blame Tubby for his knee!!
 

New rule for coaches.....you cannot blame them for failure if they have injured player. This will make a loto f coaches breathe easier when their contracts come up. Here is the list of excuses for Tubby:

1) injured Trevor
2) no practice facility
3) White transfer
4) Joseph transfer
5) Nolen injury
6) Walker injury
7) Cobbs transfer
8) Carter transfer
9) Iverson transfer
10) Monson left him nothing
11) He had to quick recruit second and third rtae recruits because of transfers
12) Nobody can win at MN, not Tubby's fault
13) The Barn is too old
 

minngg said:
New rule for coaches.....you cannot blame them for failure if they have injured player. This will make a loto f coaches breathe easier when their contracts come up. Here is the list of excuses for Tubby:

1) injured Trevor
2) no practice facility
3) White transfer
4) Joseph transfer
5) Nolen injury
6) Walker injury
7) Cobbs transfer
8) Carter transfer
9) Iverson transfer
10) Monson left him nothing
11) He had to quick recruit second and third rtae recruits because of transfers
12) Nobody can win at MN, not Tubby's fault
13) The Barn is too old
Click to expand...


You forgot 14), GopherHolers know more..
 

bleedsmaroonandgold said:
How many examples can you give of teams last season who allowed an injury to take them from the top 20 to missing the NIT? I think the Hummel example is right on point and from very recently.
Click to expand...

A very good and experienced #2 PG transfers mid-season. Shortly thereafter our #1 PG goes down for the year. You're right, I can't come up with a single example where that has happened before.
 

Moses87 said:
3)He recruits and plays pedestrian talent (Mav, Eliason, Hollins, Armelin) that no other schools in the BiG would even consider offering scholorships to.
Click to expand...

Mav and Armelin maybe, but not EE and Hollins.
 

howieramone said:
We made the dance two years ago. Hummel was part of the #1 recruiting class in the nation I believe. Can you come up with more than one example?
Click to expand...

How many teams make it through a season without injuries? Tubby has had two big problems of late 1) Players quit (or if you're Sid, he's too nice and releases them from scholarship) 2) Players don't get better playing for him.

Everyone points to recruiting, but a respected local coach pointed to what Bo Ryan gets out of his Minnesota kids specifically the trajectory of their careers. How much better are Rodney, Ralph, Austin, and Chip two, three, and four years later? Not much better in my opinion. That bad trend can't continue to happen if you are recruiting mid-level talent and players keep quitting on you. Mbwake's injury just scratched the surface to why this season is on the brink of being another disaster.
I also expected more than bubble appearances two and three years ago in the tourney. I'm not saying Tubby should go, but I'm really concerned about the direction and present situation of the program. I don't think we should fire him, just on the uncertainty of the AD situation alone.
 

Most teams don't lose their their most important player two years in a row.
 


when you have only one competent point guard he is almost by default the most important player. Did you even watch games last season?
 

From the Barn said:
when you have only one competent point guard he is almost by default the most important player. Did you even watch games last season?
Click to expand...

The problem wasn't losing Nolen. It was not having a better pg than Nolen on the team. Even you have to admit, Nolen was a below average pg in the Big Ten last year. If having a pg is so important, why has Tubby never recruited one other than Maverick and Cobbs?
 

minngg said:
The problem wasn't losing Nolen. It was not having a better pg than Nolen on the team. Even you have to admit, Nolen was a below average pg in the Big Ten last year. If having a pg is so important, why has Tubby never recruited one other than Maverick and Cobbs?
Click to expand...
LOL OKAY
 

Signed is not the same as recruited. You forgot Devoe Joseph by the way.

Nolen was above average last season and was playing on one foot. He was a below average scorer, but above average in several other areas.
 

From the Barn said:
Signed is not the same as recruited. You forgot Devoe Joseph by the way.

Nolen was above average last season and was playing on one foot. He was a below average scorer, but above average in several other areas.
Click to expand...

Devoe was not a pg. He was a shooting guard. Big difference. Just because he played pg for Tubby means nothing. So does Andre Hollins and he isn't a pg either.
 

zambam said:
LOL OKAY
Click to expand...

Better than Taylor, Jackson, Thompson, Lucas, Craft, Morris, Jones III, McCamey, Battle? That leaves Nolen and Cartwright. Not sure which was better to be honest. I'll give Nolen the edge. Feel free to tell me which guards on this list he was better than. If it isn't 5 or more, he is, by definition, average.
 

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