It appears that despite the midseason swoon, Tubby Smith’s Golden Gophers are going to the "Big Dance." There was some question before the Indiana game as the Gophers were getting blown out by 20 points or more in successive games. They were not only getting beaten badly, they looked they really didn’t want to be playing basketball.
A great many people were crying for Tubby’s head. The Indiana game stopped the "Get rid of Tubby" movement and Smith’s job is safe for at least another year. However, Tubby Smith had better get Trevor Mbakwe the big box of chocolates next Thanksgiving. He is the big reason the Gophers were able to defeat #1 ranked Indiana.
Usually a team is led by the point guard, much like the year Bobby Jackson took the Gophers to their only Final Four appearance. However, in the Indiana game it was clearly Mbakwe who took the team on his back and showed them how it was done. So behind Mbakwe, it seems that Tubby’s team will make the tournament and not only that, they will get a pretty good seed.
As the Gophers head into the NCAA Tournament they enter with a long tradition of not doing well. They have only succeeded in making the Final Four in 1997. Then the academic scandal under Clem Haskins came to light and the Gophers’ success was wiped out by the NCAA rules committee.
Can our team reverse their fortunes this year? As a Minnesota fan with one son who is a Minnesota grad, I sure hope so. But I would be very surprised to see the team advance beyond the first or second round.
Most NCAA winning teams have excellent guard play, particularly from the point guard. What with the advent of swarming zone defenses, inside play has been negated to a degree. In order for one good team to win against another good team, fine play is needed from a point guard to distribute the ball along with a shooting guard on the order of Blake Hoffarber. The Gophers have neither. It was expected the Hollins boys would supply both. It hasn’t happened, and the lack of production by those two have resulted in the team’s mediocre Big Ten record.
Perhaps the biggest flaw in the Gophers is the lack of outside shooting. In addition to the guards’ lack of marksmanship, the two starting forwards Rodney Williams and Joe Coleman, are not good long-range shooters. And by long range I mean anything beyond 15 feet. Williams is a wonderful athlete and occasionally will rock the "Barn" with his play ,especially with his dunks. (Did you see his block of an Indiana last-second shot? He must have gotten close to 13 feet in the air.) However, I’ve seen high schoolers with a better outside shot. Joe Coleman is an undersized Big Ten forward who also doesn’t own an outside shot.
The Gophers’ progress in the NCAA Tournament depends on one of our inconsistent outside shooters getting hot. If they do, that would open up the middle for Mbakwe and the Gophers will be tough to beat. Mbakwe is a big plus and if he gets some help, the Gophers can cause problems for any team.
If they are going to make any kind of statement in the tournament, they need to do it this year for the Gopher basketball future looks bleak as they lose both Mbakwe and Williams after this season. And judging from the past, Tubby Smith seems to be a little short on miracles.
