History has taught me to be pessimistic about pre-season standings, especially for my favorite teams. Last year, it was my OU Sooner football team. This year, the Gopher Mens Basketball team. And once again, they have affirmed my suspicions as they fall to unranked Nebraska 53-51, cementing their chances for an NIT bid.
Coming into the season, my friends and colleagues volleyed various choruses like 'it's different this year' and 'we've finally got some shooters and Mbakwe back'. As they started posting early conference wins against ranked teams like Michigan State, Illinois, and recently Indiana, I thought maybe the prognosticators had it right. Nothing, however, could be further from the truth.
In last night's re-run of 'The Night of the Living Dead', the Gophers returned to their former out-of-synch offense and horrible road performance in front of the scant attendance from the home of the Bugeaters (Cornhuskers for those of you needing some Big 12 trivia).
Question: what do the numbers .380, .231 and .500 represent? That would be the Gopher's field goal, three point, and free throw percentages respectively from last night. My 7th grade boys basketball team puts up better numbers than that on a consistent basis.
As a team, the Gophers are a horrendous 1-7 in conference play on the road, losing to Big 10 'powerhouses' such as Northwestern and Nebraska, who have combined conference wins of 8. Offensively, the Gophers are shooting 38% from the field on road conference games.
So what's the moral to this story?
Go out, root for the team, enjoy the company of others, be amazed at Rodney Williams's high-flying acts, but don't buy into the hype until the Gophers (and the Sooners) find suitable coaching replacements.
PLW
