Ah, Thanksgiving at the Star Tribune. Sure, it’s in the middle of several seasons, from basketball to football to hockey, but Thanksgiving is for one article: Patrick Ruesse’s Turkey of the Year. This year, instead of actually picking someone who is a turkey (i.e. someone who has embarrassed themselves and/or their teams and the state) he went with perhaps the best coach the University of Minnesota has ever had. Yes, the Turkey of the Year was Tubby Smith. The only reason I can think that he would feel that Tubby was the most embarrassing sports figure in Minnesota over the last year was one of two reasons A) Ruesse is stupid, B) Ruesse holds some sort of stupid grudge. Perhaps it’s all of the above.
Ruesse assails Tubby Smith’s record as a coach by asserting that he plays his best games in November, and that he hasn’t won any NCAA tournament games. Well, the fact that he is winning 20 games a season, and even making it to the tournament is a drastic improvement to what the Gophers had done before Tubby’s arrival. That’s improvement. He is tangibly better than what was there before. That’s what you want. I don’t know what established history of success the Gophers have had before that Ruesse would like the Gophers to match, because there isn’t any. The Gophers can’t recruit based on tradition or the program.
Oh, and make no mistake, the Gophers would even be better if it weren’t for matters beyond Tubby’s control. Al Nolen, the team’s veteran point guard, and Trevor Mbakwe have arguably been the Gophers’ best players in Tubby’s tenure. Of course, when the Gophers were looking strong before heading into the Big Ten schedule in the ’10-’11 season, Nolen broke his hand, and Mbakwe hurt his knee Then Mbakwe was injured again last season. Both seasons started strong at full strength, then fell apart with injuries. He also lost Royce White to White’s own troubled mind, but know that White was an NBA caliber talent. Smith can recruit. He can coach too. He just can’t fix broken bones and ruptured tendons.
If Ruesse wants to cite some discipline issues with Mbakwe and Tubby’s own son, which he does, then so be it. But if he is assailing his record on the court, it’s unfounded and not justified.
(For the record, the Turkey of the Year should have been Craig Leipold, who sold the state on a successful, exciting hockey team, then played a key part in locking them out. Shameful.)
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