sdogg1m

March 25th, 2013 at 2:36 PM ^

Also, not sure why anyone would say Tubby is not a good coach. He is!

Tubby has won everywhere he has coached. He took Kentucky to the NCAA championship and three more elite eights. He took Minnesota to three NCAA tournaments in his short tenure. They had only previously made the NCAA tournament nine times. He won .600 of his games at Minnesota which is above the historic level.

I do hope this AD knows what he is doing. Love the fact that Michigan is apart of the "best conference in NCAA basketball."

 

tbeindit

March 25th, 2013 at 2:40 PM ^

Yeah, but you also have to look at his coaching trends, which typically aren't good.  He has success, but as time goes on, it usually dries up.  This was the best roster he had at Minnesota and he went below .500 in the Big Ten and only won 1 NCAA Tournament game.  Also, let's not forget he inherited that championship roster from Pitino at Kentucky.

AtkinsDiet

March 25th, 2013 at 2:51 PM ^

Hope he doesn't take it. When Beilein retires, I want Shaka to still be at VCU or a place where a move to Michigan could still be considered upward or lateral.

Shaka was a big Michigan fan as a teenager and would look great on our sidelines one day.

JimBobTressel

March 25th, 2013 at 3:05 PM ^

I completely sympathize with this point of view, but it just isn't going to happen. Brad Stevens and Shaka are going to be long gone by that point. My predictions are Duke and UCLA, respectively

jmblue

March 25th, 2013 at 3:53 PM ^

I'm not sold on Shaka Smart (and not just because of Saturday's game).  I'm sure he'll get a huge payday from some school, but it would not surprise me if he struggled at a major school.  He walked into a great situation at VCU.  That program has been good since Jeff Capel was there.

 

M-Wolverine

March 25th, 2013 at 4:27 PM ^

Or unless Bacari is tearing it up at a new job, I don't really see that as a way Brandon would go. At that point the program is probably humming and attractive to whoever the "new hotness" Stevens-Smart of tomorrow is.  It'd be nice, but other than football, sorta, which sells itself, he hasn't really hired that way.

I think we'll find out sooner what way Brandon is thinking when he has to replace Red; that might give us some insight.

not TOM BRADY

March 25th, 2013 at 4:02 PM ^

MN does an awful job of firing and hiring coaches. I don't think MN put Tubby in a position to grow with their facilities. And the Jerry Kill hire for FB. There is just so much wrong with that hire.

Dantana

March 25th, 2013 at 4:18 PM ^

List of some of the in-state talent that has escaped Tubby since he took over:

2008: Jared Berggren (Wisc); Jordan Taylor (Wisc)

2009: Mike Bruesewitz (Wisc); Trent Lockett (Arizona St.). Also Royce White ('09 Mr. Basketball) committed to Minnesota then transferred to Iowa St before ever playing for the Gophers. *Other lightly recruited players in this class include Ethan Wragge (Creighton) and Mike Muscala (Bucknell).

2010: Kevin Noreen (West Virginia, '10 Mr. Basketball)

2011: Shelby Moats (Vanderbilt); Ross Travis (Penn St.). Other than current Gopher Joe Coleman, there was nobody really of note that year.

2012: Mr. Basketball Siyani Chambers (Harvard) was only a 3* according to Scout. His other offers were CMU and Nebraska.

2013: Similar to 2012. 3* Riley Dearring is going to Wisconsin but his other offers were Drake, Illinois St. and Northeastern.

2014: Five-stars Tyus Jones and Rashad Vaughn are two of the top players in the country with offers from all the traditional powers.

Aside from a few players, Tubby really hasnt missed out on much talent because, well, there wasnt much talent to begin with, particularly 2010-2013.

Yeoman

March 25th, 2013 at 8:27 PM ^

I don't actually have any objective evidence for what I'm about to say, it's just an eyeball test, but I had a chance to watch a lot of Minnesota high school basketball a couple of winters ago and the general caliber of play was pretty poor by B1G footprint standards. I doubt there was a team in the state that would have been top 20 in Illinois. I'd been living in Chicago for a long time, and before and after that Cincinnati/Dayton, and MSP basketball was hard to watch.

I'm guessing it's because basketball is very much secondary to hockey as a winter sport at most Minnesota high schools. Games aren't well attended, there isn't much buzz around the sport, good athletes are being siphoned off at a young age to play something else.

UMxWolverines

March 25th, 2013 at 4:19 PM ^

Honestly it seems like it's about time. Face it, Tubby is a decent coach. Not good, decent. He had the nickname ''ten loss Tubby'' for a reason. I feel like if Minnesota could get the right coach they could become a program like Michigan. 

AtkinsDiet

March 25th, 2013 at 4:26 PM ^

Tubby was 46-62 in the Big Ten and never finished in the upper echelon of the league. I think some of you are severely overrating the job he did.

You see this mentality everywhere of "Look at what their program was before he got there." Well, who are coaches supposed to compete against? Their contemporaries or the ghosts of their predecessor? If you have the aforementioned mentality, you would be answering the latter and that is ludicrous.

snarling wolverine

March 25th, 2013 at 4:41 PM ^

We are a pretty schizophrenic community.  We've been mocking this guy all season for being clueless on the sidelines, and then when the Minn AD comes to the same conclusion and fires him, we think it's a bad move?

I don't know who is the answer for Minnesota, but Smith was not the guy.  He was basically their Amaker, only he managed to sneak into the tourney a couple times despite never posting a winning conference record.

 

jdub55

March 25th, 2013 at 5:21 PM ^

I guess I'm not too shocked but I wonder if Minnesota would have the pull to lure away a up and coming coach that would make it worth it.

 

On paper Minnesota seemed talented, which is why a lot of people peged them as a sleeper in the big ten this year. But if you look deeper Mbakwe wasn't as productive as he was pre injury and couldn't play more than 20 minutes a game and they didn't have a true PG. Add to that Williams getting hurt off and on and they went on a skid in conference.

 

I was actually impressed with how they played in the tourney though. They crushed UCLA then ran into a Florida team that was making everything they threw up and getting rediculous help from the officials. They played at a high level, hung in there and kept making runs and cut it down to 6 or 8 points before Andre Hollins then Mbakwe both had to sit with 4 fouls.

gwkrlghl

March 25th, 2013 at 6:36 PM ^

to use your piles of BTN cash to actually make a step-change improvement. Go hire Shaka or Gonzaga's coach or especially FGCU's coach. Florida Gulf Coast is not going to hold onto him for long and you have lots of $$$$

TheLastHarbaugh

March 25th, 2013 at 6:44 PM ^

Honestly, this was shocking to me. Is Minnesota still chasing that 97 dragon? If they consistently make the tourney more than they miss it, and are at least competitive in conference play, shouldn't that be a home run for them? I really feel like this was a mistake. Tubby regularly brought in legitimate talent and was a solid coach.

UMgradMSUdad

March 25th, 2013 at 6:48 PM ^

Given the strenght this year in the B1G, Minnesota's record is nothing to be ashamed of. And while Shaka is a hot name, and rightly so, I'm not so sure he will fare any better than Tubby did. Sure he'll be able to recruit better athletes, but will they be able to compete with the big boys in the league?

maizeonblueaction

March 25th, 2013 at 7:06 PM ^

I see why it's a good idea if they have a smart move in mind. Obvious point is obvious. Remember though, UConn has only been good in the last 20 years or so, Duke was largely built by Coach K, Syracuse is tied to Boeheim, etc. Basically, they aren't a bad basketball school now, and given the right move, they could step it up. Obviously, they won the tournament game this year, but then the argument is that they should have played to a better record overall, and gotten a better seed and better matchups.

GoBlueMAGNUS

March 25th, 2013 at 8:00 PM ^

This is an example of an athletic dept saying "heres what we got, win with it"

Successful programs say "heres what we got, what do we need to be successful?"

pbmd

March 25th, 2013 at 9:09 PM ^

tubby brought with him a ncaa tournament championship on his resume. to fire him without a a clear replacement in mind- poor move by AD. 

minny has a fair program and should be as good as wisconsin but not consistently elite.

are the facilities, the university, community and state support consistent with winning at a high level?

michigan has ascended and has clear support of the coach, AD, elite facilities, university community and the state. the governour sitting courtside and getting kicked in the face by mcgary is not a coincidence.

bronxblue

March 25th, 2013 at 9:18 PM ^

Sad that he lost his job, but Minny obviously feels it should be better than the 5th or 6th-best team in the B1G.  I don't know if they'll get a better recruiter than Tubby, but at the same time all of the talent he's brought in really hasn't amounted to much.  He's never got beyond the second round of the tourney since he's been there, and at some point you have to wonder how much he has left in his tank.  I know he won a title in 1997, but considering what he inherited from Pitino and how his last couple of Kentucky teams under-performed, it isn't like they are ditching Wooden here.  The next hire is obviously essential to keeping the momentum going, even if it wasn't particularly inspiring.

chewieblue

March 25th, 2013 at 10:09 PM ^

This is the same school who fired a guy who made a perennial loser into a bowl staple in Glen Mason, to hire.... Tim Fucking Brewster.

I hope for their fans' sake, they have someone good in mind. I'm sure they are chasing Shaka or Stevens, but who knows if anyone wants to take that leap for a school that historically screws things up.