Thoughts on Minnesota's 61-66 loss at home to Michigan State last night, from someone who has spent a great deal of time thinking about Tubby Smith.
I'm not sure that any coach has ever done more to damage the reputation of another coach than Izzo has done to Tubby. On March 21, 1999, Tubby Smith was a genius who had won the national championship in his rookie season at Kentucky and who was on the verge of taking his Cats to yet another final four. In the Elite Eight against Michigan State, Tubby's Wildcats were leading the Number-2 Spartans 36-35 at the half. But in the second half, Michigan State got hot from the outside and beat Kentucky 73-65.
Six years later, On March 27, 2005, Tubby was trying desperately to get back to the Final Four for the first time since 1998, and thereby restore his reputation as a big-time winner. His Wildcats, ranked number 7 in the country, needed only to beat number 15 Michigan State in the Elite Eight to set up a glamorous Final Four match-up with UNC. At the half, the Wildcats led 37-33. But they blew that lead, and needed a miracle shot from Patrick Sparks to get into overtime. At the end of overtime, the game was tied and UK had the ball -- but they couldn't get off a shot. In double overtime, the Spartans pulled away for a 94-88 victory. Two years later, Tubby's career in Lexington was over.
Tubby went to Minnesota, seeking to rebuild his reputation and prove that the UK fans who doubted him were wrong. But in his first four seasons there, he only made two trips to the NCAA's, and was never seeded higher than 10th. This year, his team was on the bubble, but tonight's loss probably knocked them off of it. A big part of his trouble is that he cannot beat Michigan State -- the Gophers are 1-11 against Izzo's men since Tubby arrived. Seven of those losses -- including the one tonight -- were by less than 10 points.
I've come to realize that the Big 10 was a horrible place for Tubby to land because they all play his style of ball. He seemed to work at Georgia because his teams were so unique in the SEC. I hated when UK had to play his Georgia teams, never saw any team turn a game more ugly than those Georgia teams could, that is until you watch any Big 10 match up.
ReplyDeleteThe problem though for Tubby in the Big 10 is that he is playing the same style with less talent than they are going to get at the other big time athletic schools.
excellent point. it'd be interesting to see what Tubby would do in, say, the ivy league.
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with Matthew.
ReplyDelete