Tubby-led Gophers gathering notice
BY JOHN SUPINIE
GATEHOUSE NEWS SERVICE
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. - Tubby Smith guided Kentucky to the NCAA title in 1998 in his first year as Wildcats coach. Despite 10 straight appearances to the NCAA tournament, he never again reached the Final Four. Therefore, his seat in Big Blue Country was getting red hot when the Wildcats failed to advance to the Sweet 16 the past two seasons.
Meanwhile, Minnesota needed some credibility after former coach Dan Monson rebuilt the off-the-court image but couldn't get the Gophers over the hump in the Big Ten Conference. In a surprisingly quick move last spring, Minnesota had what Smith needed.
"You always want to be wanted," Smith said last spring, when he took over Minnesota basketball with a seven-year contract that pays him $1.7 million per season plus incentives. "You know they have a need.''
Evidently, Smith also had what the Gophers needed. When Minnesota hosts Illinois in a Big Ten Conference game tonight at Williams Arena, the Gophers still have an eye on the postseason. The Illini must regroup to extend a 17-game winning streak over the Gophers - the longest active streak by any Big Ten school against a conference opponent.
The expecations aren't so high in Minnesota. By nearly upsetting Michigan State and Indiana before winning three of the last four games, the Gophers regained their spot in Twin-Cities sports. Smith meshed three seniors with his discipline and defense to join Purdue as the league's best stories this winter.
The Gophers have just one NCAA appearance since reaching the Final Four in 1997 and an academic fraud scandal gutted the program under former coach Clem Haskins. Smith isn't ready to talk about NCAA bubbles just yet.
"If we can put together a good second half of the Big Ten schedule, we'll have a shot to go somewhere in the postseason,'' Smith said. "The players have bought into what we're trying to do. We know we have to overachieve. Our guys are getting the most out of themselves and their ability.''
The Gophers were 9-22 last year, the most losses in the 111-year history of the program. Monson was fired in November and replaced by interim coach Jim Molinari, the former Bradley coach. In online voting, Smith earned 64 percent of the ballots concerning this year's team MVP.
Seniors Dan Coleman, Lawrence McKenzie and Spencer Tollackson provided Smith a starting point. They combine to average 35.6 points per game. Junior forward Jamal Abu-Shamala has 46 starts in his career, and freshman guard Blake Hoffarber leads the Big Ten with 47.2 percent 3-point shooting in the Big Ten.
"Tubby gives them toughness and direction,'' Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "Especially after last year, it was kind of floundering. Of the three new coaches in the Big Ten (including Iowa's Todd Lickliter and Michigan's John Beilein), the situation was the best for Tubby. Having four experienced main guys returning.
"He's gotten them to play harder. They guard people and play with intensity, all the things he got his Kentucky teams to do.''
After averaging near-capacity crowds throughout the 1990s, attendance dropped significantly at the 14,625-seat Williams Arena. Last season, the Gophers averaged only 10,438 tickets sold and had only two crowds larger than 12,000. Minnesota has a string of four straight sellouts and is averaging 12,964 in home attendance.
With road games against Minnesota and Penn State this week, Weber is concerned about a dropoff in energy from the Illini, who have lost three straight.
"I don't think effort as much as spirit,'' Weber said. "They've played hard. I think it's that little extra that gets you through the dog days in the season, that spirit and emotional lift, that confidence. It's been taken out of us several times because of the close games and tough situations we've been through.
"That's what you worry about a little bit. You have two road games. You don't have the adrenaline of the crowd to get you through the tough times. It will be interesting how the guys respond.''
In Minnesota, Smith and the Gophers have earned some attention around the league. In the meantime, Kentucky is 12-9 under first-year coach Billy Gillispie.
"I wonder what they're saying now down there,'' said Michigan State coach Tom Izzo. "I bet you they respect (Smith) a little more right now. If you know him at all, he's a very good coach, a tough son of a (gun) and a good guy. It's hard to be that combination.''
