ESPN college basketball analyst Dan Dakich told Sports Headliners the slumping Gophers can’t give up on their season but they need to elevate their play against the Big Ten’s best teams.
“You get to a point when making a move from (being) a good team to an upper echelon team, that you gotta expect to win,” Dakich said. “I think that’s the big hurdle for Minnesota to get over. Minnesota has certainly had its chances.”
In the last two weeks the Gophers have lost four consecutive Big Ten games after starting the conference schedule 3-0. Three defeats have been against some of the league’s best teams: Indiana and Michigan, both 6-1, and 5-2 Wisconsin.
How do the Gophers start winning games against the league’s better teams? Dakich said coach Tubby Smith’s team needs to continue “situation work” in practice. That means tasks such as simulating close games in the last few minutes.
With four losses in the first seven games, Dakich believes the Gophers are now an unlikely contender for the league title. But that doesn’t mean they can’t have an extraordinary season including a high finish in the standings and memorable NCAA tournament performance.
“They have enough ability, and (also) leadership from older guys,” said Dakich, a former Indiana Hoosier and head coach at Bowling Green.
Minnesota plays four of its next five games at home after just finishing a portion of the schedule that had the Gophers on the road for four of five games. Nebraska, 2-6, is at Williams Arena to play the Gophers tomorrow night.
Worth Noting
Jerry Kill told Sports Headliners his staff may now have been together longer than any other group in major college football coaching. Kill has the same core of assistants he hired after taking the Gophers job in late 2010.
Many assistants, including offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover and defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys, also worked for Kill at Northern Illinois where he was head coach from 2008-2010. Limegrover and Claeys have worked for Kill since the 1990s.
The longevity of Kill’s staff is impressive in the job-fragile world of head and assistant coaches. It’s not uncommon for head coaches to be dismissed within a couple of years. And dissatisfied head coaches—under extreme pressure to win now—routinely shake up their coaching staffs, including coordinators.
There were 30 FBS head coaching changes made in recent months, according to a January 7 listing by ESPN.com. But the loyalty between Kill and his assistants, and their longevity together, is a signature difference for Gophers’ football. The stability sends a message to potential recruits that it’s likely they will play for the same coaches throughout their careers. Players already in the program benefit from the continuity of not having to learn new systems and adjust to different personalities.
Gophers’ basketball coach Tubby Smith’s name has been rumored with the USC opening after the Trojans dismissed Kevin O’Neill earlier this month. Shaka Smart and Flip Saunders are names that keep coming up if the Gophers basketball job were to open. Smart, the VCU coach who worked for Gophers’ athletic director Norwood Teague when Teague was at that school, has a Midwest connection having lived in Wisconsin.
Saunders, the former Gophers guard, lives in suburban Minneapolis and is thought to be interested in coaching again after being with three NBA clubs including the Timberwolves. Although Saunders hasn’t coached collegiately since the 1980s, he would be a popular choice with Gophers’ basketball alums and donors.
Saunders was fired by the Wizards on January 24, 2012 with a 2-15 record. Today the Wizards have won 11 games so far this season, tied with the Bobcats for the fewest wins in the NBA.
College basketball needs to adopt the NBA approach of discouraging fouls called on offensive players when defenders flop. Bo Ryan’s Badgers use flopping theatrics as displayed in the last minute of Saturday’s Minnesota game in Madison when Gophers’ point guard Andre Hollins was called for charging when he made minimal contact with a Wisconsin defender.
At Sports Headliners’ request, prep basketball authority Ken Lien sent his rankings of state boys’ teams listed below.
Class 4A: Park Center, Apple Valley, Hopkins, Osseo, Minnetonka, Lakeville North, Roseville, Eden Prairie.
Class 3A: DeLaSalle, Austin, Delano, Waconia, Grand Rapids, Blake, Holy Angels, Hemantown.
Class 2A: Melrose, Hawley, Byron, St. Peter, Pelican Rapids, Litchfield, St. Cloud Cathedral, Hayfield.
Class 1A: Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, Upsala, Southwest Minnesota Christian, Heritage Christian, Maranatha, Rushford-Peterson, West Lutheran, Browerville.
Lien e-mailed that Osseo’s Bridge Tusler, who had been interested in Northern Iowa, has committed to South Dakota State. He helped lead Osseo to the Class 4A state title last March.
Tyus Jones continues to have a bothersome back. The Apple Valley junior point guard is noncommittal about his college choice but it wouldn’t be surprising if a decision comes before next fall.
Word is national football power USC is very interested in DeLaSalle junior quarterback Reid Travis. He is also highly recruited in basketball.
Larry Fitzgerald Sr., the local newspaper and radio personality, is covering his 35th Super Bowl in New Orleans this week.
Meaningless statistic for 2013 Super Bowl: the 49ers are 5-0 in previous games.
Ravens’ assistant head coach Jerry Rosburg was the secondary coach for the Gophers in 1996 under head coach Jim Wacker.
The Vikings had seven players selected for yesterday’s Pro Bowl including tight end Kyle Rudolph who won the MVP award playing for the victorious NFC team. Rudolph, Matt Kalil, and Blair Walsh are all 23 years old. The other Vikings selected were Jared Allen, 30; Jerome Felton, 26; Chad Greenway, 30; and Adrian Peterson, 27.
TwinsFest, the three day fan festival that ended yesterday, boosts the Twins’ image and showcases the personalities of the players. The roster has a lot of nice guys, from 2012 newcomers Scott Diamond and Josh Willingham to veterans Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau.
The Twins go to spring training next month with Morneau in the last year of his contract. At 31 and with a history of injuries, don’t expect to hear much about contract extensions for awhile.
The Twins will keep the advertising revenue on new radio home KTWN, 96.3 FM. The station has the same ownership as the Twins. The hope is that Twins broadcasts will improve KTWN’s minimal ratings, and FM broadcasts will provide a clear sound.
If the Twins are in contention for the AL Central title late in the season, that could drive attendance to near 3 million at Target Field. With a last place division team in 2012, the Twins drew 2,776,354, according to MLB attendance figures from ESPN.com. That was 12th best among 30 franchises but poor performance on the field is reducing ticket buying interest including for season tickets.
Former reliever Eddie Guardado and ex-public relations director Tom Mee will be inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame during a pregame ceremony on June 14 at Target Field.
The MIAC had a record number of fall academic all-conference selections. The 329 total exceeded the 305 in 2009 and 2010.
