With or Without Youth

Two perspectives on youth:

Without freshmen guards Al Nolen and Blake Hoffarber, the Gophers don't win their game against Penn State yesterday. After watching Hoffarber knock down shots, and Nolen play defense and distribute the ball, I had the feeling that whatever success the Gophers have this year will be dependent on how well those two play. The three key seniors--McKenzie, Tollackson, and Coleman--had decent stat lines, but the critical plays belonged to the two youngsters.

Let's be clear: Penn State lost this game. They missed 7 of 8 free throws in crunch time, which would have put them over the top. Jamelle Cornley and Geary Claxton--PSU's two best players--were often men among boys, but didn't deliver when their team needed it. As good as the Gopher defense was, they couldn't seem to locate Danny Morrissey for most of the game, who like Hoffarber was knocking down threes. Penn State's offensive rebounding was the key to breaking open what had been a close game in the first half, and had created the prime opportunity for Penn State to win the game in the last seconds. This was a moral victory waiting to happen, but when the Nittany Lions stumbled, Nolen was there to seize the moment. He slid into the passing lane, intercepted the feed and got intentionally fouled as he was breaking away for the score. He was able to do what Penn State couldn't: knock down 3 of 4 critical free throws for the win.

As was repeated frequently throughout the last two broadcasts, Coach Smith doesn't trust freshmen. For Hoffarber and Nolen, he has recognized their skill level, put them in a position to maximize their talent, despite their inexperience. On the college level, it's where superior coaching makes all the difference in the world.

For the Wolves, their attempts to manage youth has been inept and disastrous, a buzzkill for the ages. After 36 games into the season, the Wolves are left with filling sections of their broadcasts with revised history snippets of analyst Jim Petersen's journeyman NBA career, instead of focusing on the team itself. Why? How many ways can one say they're terrible? There's no stabilizing force, no veteran or coach available who can provide a thread of continuity that would lead to progress.

Whatever fans felt about trading KG, what I've been to able to glean from all the postings and blogs is that most get the rebuilding concept. They are patient, willing to give the benefit of the doubt IF progress is demonstrated. That's the problem. What progress HAVE they demonstrated? What do they know that they didn't at the start of the season? They get blown out at Houston, show up for a half at San Antonio, only to have the Spurs finally awaken and put them out of their misery. All this after a win against Miami, where they finally demonstrate --for one game only--they MIGHT be able to the little things that win basketball games: defense, sharing the ball, creating opportunities for easy baskets. We've seen this all before.

The worst thing you can say about this club right now is that they've taken all the FUN out of watching. For example, as loathe as I am to say this, why not accept the fact they play lousy defense and put the scorers--primarily Gerald Green and Rashad McCants--together to try and outscore the other team? Or, don't worry about the nightly matchups, but establish a defined rotation where Jefferson will STAY at the four, and bring the two centers (Richard and Doleac) in for regular minutes? Make something fun for the fans, give them something to talk about, other than abject failure. Give us hope, don't expect that we will generate our own in the face of such incompetence.

The bottom line here: one organization has optimized their youth and made it a key to their success, the other hasn't and continues to use it as an excuse for the lack of progress. Win or lose with Tubby this year, we will be excited to watch the froshes play, because he has a plan and we can already see progress. With the Wolves, we're still waiting....for anything.