Utah State wins MWC tourny over #4 SDSU -- hire Craig Smith now??

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MplsGopher

MplsGopher

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It absolutely deserves its own thread. Huge win. Also two years in a row that Utah St has beaten SDSU for the MWC tourny title.

https://www.deseret.com/sports/2020...n-san-diego-state-mwc-tournament-championship
"
Sam Merrill drilled a 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds remaining to lift Utah State past No. 5 San Diego State in the Mountain West Conference Tournament championship at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, Utah State earned the MWC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season.
"



How do you not hire Craig Smith, right now??

GET IT DONE COYLE!!!!!!!!!
 

More importantly, get it done before someone else gets it done !!!
 

I saw the game and Sam Merrill was fantastic. Onions. Loved his game. Queta was great as well. Those two can make a coach look very good. Just a little devils advocate for the thread.
 


sal said:
I saw the game and Sam Merrill was fantastic. Onions. Loved his game. Queta was great as well. Those two can make a coach look very good. Just a little devils advocate for the thread.
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The question is really, what does a good coach do to give players confidence to make 25-foot winning shots (in contrast to good free throw shooters badly missing crucial free throws in pressure situations late in games)? I always jealously marveled at Bo Ryan's teams repeatedly drilling long jump shots in desperation situations at the end of games. Whatever he was doing to put his players in the right frame of mind, it worked. And for those who detest Bo, I remember Bob Huggins' Cincinnati teams daggering Clem's Gophers with late 3s, to the point where, if the game was close at the end, you knew they were going to do it. IIRC, one was by a walk-on from the football team due to a depleted roster--might have been Huggins' first year there.
 


On the subject of the OP, I said in another thread a couple weeks ago that it would be a simple matter of Coyle reaching out to Smith's rep, and Smith would take the job. I'm not so sure anymore. Last night's win might translate to multiple suitors for his services.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I remember Bob Huggins' Cincinnati teams daggering Clem's Gophers with late 3s, to the point where, if the game was close at the end, you knew they were going to do it. IIRC correctly, one was by a walk-on from the football team due to a depleted roster--might have been Huggins' first year there.
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"UC’s first regular-season men’s game was on Nov. 25, 1989 against Big Ten foe Minnesota. Only 8,468 fans – nearly 5,000 fewer than capacity – showed up to christen the new building and watch the Bearcats upset the 20th-ranked Golden Gophers, 66-64, on a last-second 3-point shot by Steve Sanders, a walk-on from the football team. "

Was it Clem's influence on Bobby Jackson that made him a B10 MVP or was he just plain a born cold blooded assassin? Willie was another one. Very few and far between at Minnesota.
 


theczar said:
Has nothing to do with BIG TEN basketbal much less gophersl....stupid thread....
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The Golden Gopher Basketball Forum is where die-hard Gopher basketball fans talk about the program, upcoming games, recruiting, and college basketball.
 



Tredwell said:
The Golden Gopher Basketball Forum is where die-hard Gopher basketball fans talk about the program, upcoming games, recruiting, and college basketball.
[/QUOTE
Why not Start a thread on every college team in the country in the gopher basketball forum .. what part of Gopher Basketball do you not understand....try using your noggin before posting
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Recruiting and identifying and developing. No strategy by a coach in that particular situation. I believe the same with free throws. Natural shooting ability combined with mental toughness and then putting in the work
 


Some guy said:
To be honest, if Pitino drew up that play everyone would rip on him
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To be honest, you should watch the replay and realize he didn’t call a timeout so no, he didn’t draw up that play.
 


Here’s to hoping Pitino is back next year. My apologies to all you suffering from PDS.
 

MplsGopher said:
It absolutely deserves its own thread. Huge win. Also two years in a row that Utah St has beaten SDSU for the MWC tourny title.

https://www.deseret.com/sports/2020...n-san-diego-state-mwc-tournament-championship
"
Sam Merrill drilled a 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds remaining to lift Utah State past No. 5 San Diego State in the Mountain West Conference Tournament championship at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, Utah State earned the MWC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season.
"



How do you not hire Craig Smith, right now??

GET IT DONE COYLE!!!!!!!!!
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no, need a coach who can win in a physical conference not a finesse one
 


Because it’s a terrible shot.
It’s putting your guy 1 on 1 and letting him take a contested long shot.

he hit it.
I’m not offended by it. If the guy misses it is it good coaching? Because you should have the same opinion of the strategy whether he makes it or misses it.
skiumah1 said:
I think we're missing the point that our team never actually made this shot.
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Some guy said:
Because it’s a terrible shot.
It’s putting your guy 1 on 1 and letting him take a contested long shot.

he hit it.
I’m not offended by it. If the guy misses it is it good coaching? Because you should have the same opinion of the strategy whether he makes it or misses it.
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I'm good with Sam Merrill taking that shot. I'm not good with Marcus Carr taking that shot. I get it he made the shot so it's easier to say now, but Merrill makes tough shots consistently throughout the game/season. Carr does not. Ball should go into Oturu for us. I'd take that one-on-one Oturu had against Reuvers in the Wisconsin loss all day. He just didn't make it happen there.
 

skiumah1 said:
I'm good with Sam Merrill taking that shot. I'm not good with Marcus Carr taking that shot. I get it he made the shot so it's easier to say now, but Merrill makes tough shots consistently throughout the game/season. Carr does not. Ball should go into Oturu for us. I'd take that one-on-one Oturu had against Reuvers in the Wisconsin loss all day. He just didn't make it happen there.
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Actually, Carr did make the shot against Ohio State.
 


MplsGopher said:
It absolutely deserves its own thread. Huge win. Also two years in a row that Utah St has beaten SDSU for the MWC tourny title.

https://www.deseret.com/sports/2020...n-san-diego-state-mwc-tournament-championship
"
Sam Merrill drilled a 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds remaining to lift Utah State past No. 5 San Diego State in the Mountain West Conference Tournament championship at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, Utah State earned the MWC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season.
"



How do you not hire Craig Smith, right now??

GET IT DONE COYLE!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...
We might do it and I won't complain. However, that level of competition isn't the Big Ten. San Diego State is a really good team but they built their record by playing zero ranked teams the whole year.
Utah State played only San Diego State as a ranked team all year. Facing the Big Ten where there are as many as 8 ranked teams in conference. Craig Smith might be as good as we get though. We'll see.
 

About a minute and a half before that shot Steve Lappas said he didn't like Utah State taking the air out of the ball and running the clock down. I believe this led to a wild drive and missed shot from Merrill that gave SDSU the chance to take the lead.

This is something we have all complained about with Pitino. But it is not just him.
 

bga1 said:
We might do it and I won't complain. However, that level of competition isn't the Big Ten. San Diego State is a really good team but they built their record by playing zero ranked teams the whole year.
Utah State played only San Diego State as a ranked team all year. Facing the Big Ten where there are as many as 8 ranked teams in conference. Craig Smith might be as good as we get though. We'll see.
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San Diego St beat Creighton and Iowa earlier this season. Utah St played BYU, all three teams are currently ranked.
 

LongLiveMilesTarver said:
About a minute and a half before that shot Steve Lappas said he didn't like Utah State taking the air out of the ball and running the clock down. I believe this led to a wild drive and missed shot from Merrill that gave SDSU the chance to take the lead.

This is something we have all complained about with Pitino. But it is not just him.
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I do not understand running a 1-4 low set and then stand/dribble until 8 seconds left on the shot clock. It is so easy to guard and generally results in a desperation shot before the buzzer.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
San Diego St beat Creighton and Iowa earlier this season. Utah St played BYU, all three teams are currently ranked.
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I get that, but they were not ranked at the time they played. I just won't trust that they are as good as advertised until I see them in action in the grinder. It is just different than playing Maryland, MSU, OSU...that kind of talent night after night with almost no relief in the schedule.
 

Kid hits a lucky basket and you wanna hire the coach.... great

Pitino will be back...just saying
 

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