"People forget it's only year 2." Interview with Trevor Mbakwe

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Nice interview. Obviously I agree with the main points.

But I don't know if I'll ever get over how we just willingly threw away our chance at a National Championship. Adding Mbakwe & Royce White to our team that made the NCAA the previous year and returned its top-9 players would have been so awesome...I was SO looking forward to that...but we threw it all away for no reason.
 



EasyThere Pilgrim said:
Nice interview. Obviously I agree with the main points.

But I don't know if I'll ever get over how we just willingly threw away our chance at a National Championship. Adding Mbakwe & Royce White to our team that made the NCAA the previous year and returned its top-9 players would have been so awesome...I was SO looking forward to that...but we threw it all away for no reason.
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Well, I mean Trevor beat up a woman while trying to sexually assault her. The U didn't have much choice there.
 



Bob_Loblaw said:
Well, I mean Trevor beat up a woman while trying to sexually assault her. The U didn't have much choice there.
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That's BS. It was a nothing case. It was about to be dropped completely...except his ex-girlfriend complained about something, which violated some type of probation. And he still only got 1 year of probation.

He & White were NCAA eligible. Also, any missing laptop or cell-phone situation should be resolved in 1 day. I've replaced many...all within 1 day. But we chose to turn it into the OJ case.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
It's felt like 10 years, but we all get we're in the middle of Year 2. I actually love it when the apologists will admit that fact, it's refreshing to hear it's not Year Zero or Year Minus 1.
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Well Ben's first recruits are freshmen this year. Clem had his freshmen in his very first year...some recruited by Dutcher.

So yes, Ben had a true Year Zero.
 




EasyThere Pilgrim said:
That's BS. It was a nothing case. It was about to be dropped completely...except his ex-girlfriend complained about something, which violated some type of probation. And he still only got 1 year of probation.

He & White were NCAA eligible. Also, any missing laptop or cell-phone situation should be resolved in 1 day. I've replaced many...all within 1 day. But we chose to turn it into the OJ case.
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Nope. That is not what happened. He was convicted of assaulting a woman while attempting to rape her.

A year later he ALSO violated probation for breaking a no-contact order with his ex-GF. It wasn't because "she complained", it was because a violated a court order against contacting his ex girlfriend. This was a completely different case (different girl, different jurisdiction and different conviction).

So there were two different woman, two different jurisdictions, and two different crimes. He beat up one while attempting to sexually assault her in Florida, and then harassed another one in Seattle (I believe) by violating a court-ordered no contact order.

The fact that he played out three years at the U shows we bent over backwards for him.

The Royce White situation - I agree with you. That was lame. Only an idiot would lump those two situations together.
 


EasyThere Pilgrim said:
Well Ben's first recruits are freshmen this year. Clem had his freshmen in his very first year...some recruited by Dutcher.

So yes, Ben had a true Year Zero.
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LOL. There ya go. Ben had recruits his first year that have multiple years of eligibility - Thompson, Thiam, Fox, Battle. He just did a REALLY bad job with that class.

So yeah, we get it's Year 2. You do not.
 




Bob_Loblaw said:
Well, I mean Trevor beat up a woman while trying to sexually assault her. The U didn't have much choice there.
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He maintained his innocence the entire time but there was no trial and no admission of guilt and nothing currently on his criminal record - Maturi blocked him while he was accused and he lost a year but was allowed back once the no contest plea was entered and the 100 hours was completed - he was back in uniform a few weeks later. The "beat up sexually assaulted woman" agreed not to pursue it further.

I believe that is a pretty accurate take on what we know. Not sure exactly what happened but your comment seems pretty malicious and defamatory.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Nope. That is not what happened. He was convicted of assaulting a woman while attempting to rape her.

A year later he ALSO violated probation for breaking a no-contact order with his ex-GF. It wasn't because "she complained", it was because a violated a court order against contacting his ex girlfriend. This was a completely different case (different girl, different jurisdiction and different conviction).

So there were two different woman, two different jurisdictions, and two different crimes. He beat up one while attempting to sexually assault her in Florida, and then harassed another one in Seattle (I believe) by violating a court-ordered no contact order.

The fact that he played out three years at the U shows we bent over backwards for him.

The Royce White situation - I agree with you. That was lame. Only an idiot would lump those two situations together.
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But the big assault-rape case you're talking about...was nothing. The prosecution recommend he complete a program and the case be dropped. He was 10 days away from completing the program...when his ex-gf made a complaint which caused the program to drop him. He wanted to prove he was innocent...but they offered him a year of probation to make it all go away, and he took it.

I'm glad you agree that kicking White out was lame. But I lump them together because it happened at the same time, and it shows that our administration presumes guilt with immediate suspensions.
 




"People forget there is a Gopher basketball team."

-large percentage of MN sports fans
 



EasyThere Pilgrim said:
That's BS. It was a nothing case. It was about to be dropped completely...except his ex-girlfriend complained about something, which violated some type of probation. And he still only got 1 year of probation.

He & White were NCAA eligible. Also, any missing laptop or cell-phone situation should be resolved in 1 day. I've replaced many...all within 1 day. But we chose to turn it into the OJ case.
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It might have been resolved if White had initially cooperated. But Royce, being Royce, chose to be a martyr. Also, you're conveniently forgetting the Mall of America and the theft and assault charges. Can't remember the timing of that, but that didn't exactly help his cause. It's not all on the U and Maturi; just because you are good at basketball, doesn't excuse you from being an idiot.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
The Royce White situation - I agree with you. That was lame. Only an idiot would lump those two situations together.
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I dunno. I think if the Gophers kept him he would have contributed more needless drama.

I wasn't a Gopher fan when the Royce White situation happened (I heard about it at the time but didn't particularly care) but I am familiar with some of his basketball career after that. From the time he left Minnesota until his apparent last year of playing in 2018, he had exactly three successful seasons: one at Iowa State and two seasons in the Canadian Basketball League at the end of his career. He was a first round NBA pick after his one season with IA State and didn't manage to play for Houston past the preseason of his only year there. After that, Sam Hinkie of the Sixers picked him up as part of his "losing is good!" reclamation project and the same thing happened there. He played 20 games in the G League but was only fair there. His problems at Houston and Philadelphia seemed much more related to behavioral and mental issues than ability to play.

The guy appears to have been a head case through most of this life and that quality seemed to overtake whatever promise he had in most environments.
 

Gopher Teeth said:
Tubby suffered from dyschronometria as does the coach of K State and Iowa State.

​

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I didn't know the meaning of that word; thanks for providing it. Apparently dyschronometria can be a good thing in the right situations!
 


Gopher Teeth said:
Longest two years of our lives
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Yes (figuratively) but likely no (literally). Because we're near the bottom of the league in free throw attempts (both ours and the opponents), probably near the bottom of the league in time outs in the closing minutes of games (due to not having many close ones), and we've had three games postponed or cancelled; this season, in terms of playing time, is probably shorter than most.
 



cjbfbp said:
I dunno. I think if the Gophers kept him he would have contributed more needless drama.

I wasn't a Gopher fan when the Royce White situation happened (I heard about it at the time but didn't particularly care) but I am familiar with some of his basketball career after that. From the time he left Minnesota until his apparent last year of playing in 2018, he had exactly three successful seasons: one at Iowa State and two seasons in the Canadian Basketball League at the end of his career. He was a first round NBA pick after his one season with IA State and didn't manage to play for Houston past the preseason of his only year there. After that, Sam Hinkie of the Sixers picked him up as part of his "losing is good!" reclamation project and the same thing happened there. He played 20 games in the G League but was only fair there. His problems at Houston and Philadelphia seemed much more related to behavioral and mental issues than ability to play.

The guy appears to have been a head case through most of this life and that quality seemed to overtake whatever promise he had in most environments.
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Head case?
That’s an old school term you don’t hear much to describe mental illness nowadays.
 

I/we can see what Coach Johnson is trying to do to build the team. This last recruiting season and now Christie next year are attempting to fill the SQ/wing spots that are not present yet. That is a rebuild process. The previous acquisitions/bets at forward should be assumed to be more than expected. So four years makes sense.

The far more serious situation is over on the women's basketball side where that coach has little to show in now the fifth year except a lot of questionable stuff -- and I say heat seat should go to the AD Coyle:

She had zero head coaching experience. She had zero even assistant coaching experience. OK, she's one of the greatest point guard players ever and initially brought image gravitas when hired. That appears to be gone and now we have questionable stuff.

In 5 years zero NCAA Tournament appearances. The year before she arrived was the last year the Gophers made the NCAA Tournament. Gophers also have zero success in NIT tournament meaning only made that twice and eliminated in the 2nd round each time of the NIT. Other three years no tournament appearance at all.

Both last year and this year lost to nobody schools including NDSU this season and Jacksonville last season. Gophers had better talent. How does the Big Ten lose to those kinds of teams two years in a row?

So many questionable game coaching decisions this year. Gophers were winning against a bad Rutgers team with only 8 players and bungled that away including a 5' 5" point guard assigned to guard a 6' 0" wing, the best player, who feasted on the Gophers. For context. Iowa just set a program record for most points against Rutgers in a 54 point route of Rutgers.

Lost twice to a bad Wisconsin team after leading both. That's the story over and over.

On and on with questionable stuff this season.

Game was tied against Ilinois. Illinois media said Gophers Braun was giving their defense the biggest problem. Gophers coach sits Braun down at around 6 and a half minutes. The announcers on Big Ten + are saying, "I just don't understand this coaching decision by Whalen to put Braun on the bench." And again, "Where is Mara Braun?" When she did come in at I believe under a minute she went 2 of 2 on free throws.

Gophers just one a game this week with 28 points from Braun and apparently one of the players that cannot shoot helped coach the win by at the end asking to be taken out and Gradwell put in who then made the winning bucket after the other team double or triple teamed Braun leaving Gradwell open. Had it been for the coach.

Five years now for of that coach with zero assistant or head coaching experience.

And last year a huge numbers of players left via the transfer portal leaving only 3 players.


mndaily.com

Alexia Smith becomes sixth from Gophers women’s basketball to enter transfer portal

Sophomore guard Alexia Smith is the sixth Minnesota player this year to enter their name into the NCAA transfer portal.
mndaily.com mndaily.com


And before that Big Ten freshman of the year Destiny Pitts left after she was "shocked and blindsided" by the coach suspending her. Two of her teammates sat out a game in protest of the suspension. And then Pitts won the 6th (wo)man award and helped Texas A&M go deep into the NCAA Tournament.

www.espn.com

Minnesota's Pitts to transfer amid suspension

Minnesota's Destiny Pitts said she was informed last Friday that she was suspended indefinitely for her "body language" during a game against Northwestern. On Thursday, she announced she would transfer.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

Program appears to be impaired both picking up good transfer players and now current recruiting.

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How this relates to men's basketball:

OK, so CBJ gets his time to show what he can do. How long does that go on? Five years?

Everyone knows me to be the loyalist but also to a point. CBJ needs time to put it together but Minnesota just is not the fanbase and program to tolerate many years of nothing.

Pay attention to the women's side to see what Coyle does there. Yet another extension?
 

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