College

Emo-tion

Filed under: College

This is a pretty cool SI article about Memphis's incredibly high-scoring Dribble-Drive Motion offense, as it's known, which is based on the radical notions that players should be more than just automatons and that basketball should be fun to play. The article is pretty good, for Sports Illustrated (not too much about what John Calipari's Mom taught him about commitment or whatever, more about basketball) and the discussion of the offense is really interesting if you like that kind of stuff. Calipari seems pretty slimy and Pitino-esque to me, but I'm intrigued by the notion of him voluntary relinquishing power to his players. This is the money quote:

In fact, Calipari says he now does far more coaching in practice than during games, when he used to bark out play calls nearly every trip down the court. "The biggest strength of this offense," Walberg says, "is I feel we're teaching kids how to play basketball instead of how to run plays."

How to play basketball, huh? Imagine that!

Posted by Benjamin Polk at February 18, 2008 11:15 PM | Comments (0)

 

Your next Gopher football coach: Jeff Severns Guntzel

Filed under: College

Have you heard about the booster trying to bribe the University of Washington to fire Ty Willingham? He offered $100,000 to the university if they'd fire the former Stanford coach (and another 100 large if Athletic Director Todd Turner, who later resigned anyway, was shown the door).

Gophers coach Tim Brewster has had only one year, and is regarded as a top recruiter. He's obtained dozens of commitments, many from highly-rated players. But, upon hearing this revelation, he has to go.

He has to make way for our own Jeff Severns Guntzel.

Continue reading "Your next Gopher football coach: Jeff Severns Guntzel"

Posted by Jeff Shaw at January 10, 2008 3:39 PM | Comments (0)

 

College hoops: Always Be Closing

Filed under: College

Enjoy college basketball? Can't get enough of Benjamin Polk's Gopher posts? Me too, and me either. Aside from handcuffing Benjamin to Tubby Smith and forcing him to type a post a day on an iPhone with his off-hand, though, we're probably on a once-a-week schedule from him for the foreseeable.

For national college hoops perspective, though, I recommend my friend Jonah Keri's new column, "College Basketball Closer," that runs more or less daily at Deadspin. You may have seen Jonah's work on ESPN.com or at assorted other outlets, and he always turns out quality. Don't tell anyone I said so, but college basketball is actually his favorite sport. For your non-Gopher roundball needs, it gets the City Pages seal of approval to feed your hoops fix.

Unless you want to donate us an iPhone and send Benjamin Polk lots of fan mail. Though I support those plans, too.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at January 3, 2008 11:29 AM | Comments (0)

 

Adopt-a-Duck Sooner Ummm ...

Filed under: College

Love college football? Want to forget that the Gophers have a team? Looking to root for a feel-good team as the national championship picture takes shape?

Well, me too. After this past weekend, anyway.

I was prepared to offer you my alma mater, the University of Oregon by-God Ducks. I even had a post half-ready with the reasons, including Oregon's slow, steady climb from obscurity, the team's jarring uniform transitions which will always keep you guessing, and the inherent awesomeness of having a duck as the mascot -- a fighting duck that is not afraid to whup a cougar. I mean, who roots against a duck? Even hunters don't.

I even had a cute and eerie video ready to include:

Naturally, my hubris was punished. The Ducks not only fell on the road at Arizona, dooming their national championship hopes, but Heisman hopeful Dennis Dixon tore his ACL -- perhaps karmic retribution for my Top 10 Worst ACL Injuries post.

Then it got worse.

Continue reading "Adopt-a-Duck Sooner Ummm ..."

Posted by Jeff Shaw at November 19, 2007 3:57 PM | Comments (1)

 

Can you smell the roses?

Filed under: College

Normally I wouldn't waste my time reading about the putrid Gopher football team. They've gone from being a boring, marginally competent Big Ten also-ran to a squad that deserves to be relegated to the Pop Warner league. That game against Miami (Ohio) University a couple of weeks ago has to rank among the most incompetent displays in the history of organized sports. Listening to it on the radio I thought Dave Lee was going to hang himself before the final whistle.

But I noticed this headline the other day in the Pi Press--"Criticism Comes Early for Brewster"--and couldn't help myself. Who would have the temerity to criticize the great leader of "Gopher Nation"? The man who will lead the Gophers back to Rose Bowl glory? Unfortunately, the answer is no one. The piece does not quote a single source saying a single critical word about the first year coach.

So let me be the first: The only team that Tim Brewster is qualified to lead is the cheerleading squad.

Posted by Paul Demko at September 24, 2007 4:36 PM | Comments (6)

 

In Defense of Pam Borton

Filed under: Gophers , Gophers , Gophers , Gophers

I don't know Pam Borton and I never played ball for her. All I know is what I saw and what I wrote in City Pages two years ago; a scenario of a tough coach and a tough player who found each other and who wanted the same thing:

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Posted by Jim Walsh at April 9, 2006 8:19 AM | Comments (12)

 

March Madness: High School Edition

Filed under: Prep , Prep , Prep , Prep , Prep , Prep , Prep

Last week, Kevin Garnett "scolded" (Star Tribune) some of his teammates for laughing after another loss.

It was difficult to not think about Garnett and the moribund style of basketball the NBA plays while watching two terrific high school basketball games Wednesday night. The gym in Maple Grove was packed with parents and students, all of whom had a stake in the outcome: win or go home. Gophers coach Dan Monson sat on the bleachers in the corner, eating popcorn and salivating over the raw and tough city kids before him (salivating, that is, if he's got an iota of coaching acumen left in him).

Greg Boone was there, too. Boone played for Minneapolis Central in the glory days of Minneapolis basketball, and is now an avid youth-sports organizer. He once told me that people often tell him that the '75-'76 Central team featuring Boone, William Henry, Greg Maddox, Duane Nelson, and Andre Griffin was the greatest high school basketball team they've ever seen. They once beat Edison, 100-25.

Continue reading "March Madness: High School Edition"

Posted by Jim Walsh at March 15, 2006 10:53 AM | Comments (13)

 

The Inaugural "Buck the Idiot" Tip Sheet

Filed under: College

For well over a decade now, I've made a habit of perusing the point spreads of college and pro football games and circling what I consider to be the "no-brainer" picks. And pretty much every year I get hammered, guessing wrong on what I imagine to be anywhere from 60 to 80 percent of the games.

So why not put this stupidity to good use? The guys in Vegas obviously count on casual fans like me--those armed with only the "outside" information of the daily sports page and sporadic time on the couch clicking through games--to be lulled into sucker bets. Rather than wasting your time on expensive shills who "guarantee the Monday night game as our lock of the year!" why not just check out who I honestly think will cover the spread, and wager your money the other way?

My grand plan is to pick ten college and five pro games for the next few weeks, including my most confident "lock" in both pro and college. Let's see if I can prove to you that I don't know what I'm talking about.

Here we go:

MINNESOTA minus 2 and a half over Penn State: Glen Mason's ground game is simply too overwhelming to lose to a mid-tier Big 10 team, even on the road.

AUBURN minus 14 and a half over South Carolina: Steve Spurrier gets his ass handed to him again.

Continue reading "The Inaugural "Buck the Idiot" Tip Sheet"

Posted by Britt Robson at October 1, 2005 7:30 AM | Comments (0)