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quote:
ORIGINAL: Mr. Ed
quote:
ORIGINAL: Miles K
The temptations of Minneapolis are too great to get the players to focus?
Tubby needs to go.
Where did that come from Miles?
http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/Zulgads_Roundup_Tubby_Smith_searching_for_solutions_to_teams_issues022712
With his team in the midst of a five-game losing streak and a second consecutive late-season free fall, Minnesota Gophers men's basketball coach Tubby Smith is a man looking for answers.
Smith, appearing Monday on his weekly show that is part of the Gophers Radio Network on 1500 ESPN, said that he might need to make some changes in the freedom he gives players off the basketball court; talked about the early exits of several players who could be helping the team; and added that the club's strength and conditioning program may need to be looked at after some key injuries the past two seasons.
A day after the Gophers suffered an embarrassing 69-50 loss to No. 23 Indiana at Williams Arena that dropped them to 5-11 in the Big Ten, Smith also acknowledged he knows that some think he has lost touch. This comes after the Gophers lost 10 of 11 to end last season and failed to make the NCAA tournament.
"A lot of people say, 'Well, Coach Smith is out of touch or old school or this type of thing,'" said Smith, who is in his fifth season with the Gophers. "I don't know what you mean by that. I just want to win and teach them how to be good citizens and get a degree.
"Those things are happening for us. The kids that stay here, they're all graduating. We've had off-court incidents with two or three players before, so those were distractions that we've overcome and we haven't had this year. I sleep a lot better because of that. I'm not sleeping well because we're not winning right now. It's a different type of distraction."
The Gophers, who are 17-12 overall, will play at Wisconsin on Tuesday night and then close the regular season on Saturday at home against Nebraska. The Gophers almost certainly will need to make a run through the Big Ten tournament to not miss the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive season.
In his postgame news conference after the Indiana loss, Smith said: "I don't know what happened. I have to look at it and say there must be something else going on, maybe that I'm not aware of."
Smith elaborated on that thought on Monday, admitting that he was simply thinking out loud about what off-the-court issues could be impacting his players.
"A guy could be breaking curfew, could be at a party doing something he shouldn't be doing," Smith said. "(It) could be anything. Could be a lot of things. It happens. I hope not, but you understand what I mean? That's what I mentioned before, maybe isolating (the players), doing more things with them."
Smith used this past week as an example of where a potential problem could develop for the Gophers. The team practiced at 2 p.m. Saturday in preparation for a noon game Sunday against the Hoosiers. That might Saturday's practice was done by 4 or 5.
"What are they doing with the rest of their day?" Smith said. "Or what did they do Friday night? We don't have a curfew on Friday night."
That is going to change.
"I will from now on," Smith said when asked if he would put a curfew in place two days before a game. "I can promise you that. I'm going to try to control everything I can control now. Before you hoped they were mature enough and smart enough, but I've been here long enough to know that when you're having these types of things and you're losing the way we're losing, it's not a physical problem.
"It's usually mental or not (being) mentally focused. What's distracting you from being mentally focused on the game? It could be other distractions in your life. Girls. It could be a home situation. It could be other things. Staying up past curfew, not taking care of your body. We work them pretty hard, and I think they all are pretty. ... We have a great group of kids, so we really haven't had any of those issues. You asked me. I'm trying to figure it out."
Smith did reference that there are some teams that put their players in a hotel before a big game so the coaching staff can keep a close eye on them.
"Maybe that will eliminate some of the distractions," he said. "We used to do that in the past, but most of these guys live in apartment complexes (in) Wilkins (Hall) where no one has access to them except their friends."
One thing Smith wondered was whether his decision to go see Gophers recruit Charles Buggs of Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia for a one day trip on Friday sent an unintentional message to his players.
"Sometimes when that happens kids are like anything else," he said. "When the cat's away the mice will play. And they don't take things seriously. ... I wasn't there Friday and maybe they're sensing, 'Coach Smith, maybe he's not serious about this game."
They were talking about it on 1500 today, after the interview (probably yesterday) and wondered if the distractions are any greater in Minneapolis than in other big 10 towns and is so, isn't it the coaches job to remove distractions and get players to focus.
_____________________________
I am collecting for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in memory of my fiance who passed away on 9/9/2006. If anyone would like to donate just go to http://pages.lightthenight.org/mn/TwinCiti09/SMiller Any and all donations will be greatly appreciated.
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