Senior leadership

[BBF]

Not for us, of course. From a blog from Minnesota's coach about how his players look in the pre-season:

"Akeem Springs - Has the chance to be the heart and soul of our team. It's not too often a fifth year senior comes in and takes over a huge leadership role but Akeem has done that brilliantly. His shooting is improving. He plays extremely hard."

Good thing our perspicacious administration saw right through that kid who's good enough to be the heart and soul of a Big Ten team and realized he was actually just a "fifth placer." We really dodged a bullet.

Hey, anybody hear where the Panthers were picked in the Horizon League media poll? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

[dylanrocks]

Congratulations to Akeem for reaching his 1000th career point last night as part of an 18-point MVP effort against Ohio State! With 712 of his points coming at Milwaukee, I believe that D. Kelly and I agree that Akeem ranks among the five or six best shooting guards to ever play at Milwaukee. He becomes the second expatriate Panther to score his 1,000 point this season after Austin Arians turned the trick for Wake Forest in November.

Owing to the decisions made by a school administration hellbent on change at any cost, Akeem's stay here was one year too short. What a year it might have been!

[Jimmy Lemke]

Link: Look who just cracked the starting lineup (http://www.startribune.com/gophers-to-try-starting-lineup-change-inserting-senior-akeem-springs/410971475/)

[dylanrocks]

I've watched at least 10 Golden Gophers' games this season in their entirety.

It should have been that way from the start of the season, but better late than never.

[BBF]

Little Richard was playing for next year when he should have been playing for this year. Akeem may not be the most talented player on that roster (which is no knock on him as the Gophs have some very talented players), but no one can match his experience, leadership and character.

By the way, if "experience, leadership and character" was the answer to a Jeopardy question, I'm pretty sure the question would be "What are three things that insecure, out-of-their-depth athletic directors abhor in the coaches who report to them?"

[Jimmy Lemke]

Austin had a tough shooting night last night as Wake Forest lost a heartbreaker at Syracuse. I texted him this morning to keep his head up and keep shooting. He got back to me less than a minute later with "You know I'll keep shooting!"

I don't think it can be overstated how great the kids were on the last couple rosters Jeter and his staff put together. They're all good, quality guys who are a genuine joy to be around. The other day I was cracking up after the game - everyone was in a rush to get out because overtime put us past the start of the Packer game - and there's Studer in the traditional high five line for courtside fans, high fiving a lot of air. Hey, everyone had to go home, but he was diggin it anyways.

I tried to block out the fact that it was Youngstown State we beat in overtime, that the CSU we squeaked by on Friday remains a shell of its former glory. I tried to focus on the game, but eventually I couldn't ignore the size of the crowd. It just fueled my rage every time I happened to look down and to my left and see the architect of this shitshow.

I know that I'll get along great with the new staff just based off the limited interaction I've had with one of them and what others have told me. I believe they'll be able to fix the wreckage AB has wrought. But I also know that if we're going to line up 100% of the Panther faithful behind LaVall Jordan, there are people that have to go. Amanda Braun is first among them.

I like using a crude medical analogy to describe the situation. Lovell viewed the Jeter situation as a cancer; maybe not Jeter himself, but the notion that Andy Geiger put in his head that previous AD's lost their jobs because of Rob. That's a truly ridiculous notion, but that's the only way I can reconcile the hiring of Amanda Braun over Paul Plinske. Lovell had Plinske telling him all he needed was medicine, that the cancer would go away with treatment and time. He had Braun telling him that he needed to cut the athletic department open, go in with a scalpel and cut out everything affected. Lovell went with Braun. Every move she made the next three years was that of a scalpel cutting out that "cancer." Except now that Rob Jeter and everyone else who was loyal to Bud is gone, the university just sewed a scalpel into the open wound. No wonder everything has been so toxic since - everything's infected.

I know that sounds ridiculous and I know it's not a perfect analogy, but it's the best I got. The AD cut into us, cut out the stuff some people thought was toxic, and ended up being even more toxic for the program. Can we go back in and get the scalpel out? This place needs a healing. It's not going to happen as long as that awful AD is out of the chair.

The great thing is, you get her out (and hopefully Mone), and the whole program can get behind Coach Jordan. The anti-Jeter fans love Jordan for not being Jeter, and those of us who supported Rob in the end can find solace in the fact that Coach Jordan was not her choice.

[Jimmy Lemke]

Austin had a tough shooting night last night as Wake Forest lost a heartbreaker at Syracuse. I texted him this morning to keep his head up and keep shooting. He got back to me less than a minute later with "You know I'll keep shooting!"

I don't think it can be overstated how great the kids were on the last couple rosters Jeter and his staff put together. They're all good, quality guys who are a genuine joy to be around. The other day I was cracking up after the game - everyone was in a rush to get out because overtime put us past the start of the Packer game - and there's Studer in the traditional high five line for courtside fans, high fiving a lot of air. Hey, everyone had to go home, but he was diggin it anyways.

I tried to block out the fact that it was Youngstown State we beat in overtime, that the CSU we squeaked by on Friday remains a shell of its former glory. I tried to focus on the game, but eventually I couldn't ignore the size of the crowd. It just fueled my rage every time I happened to look down and to my left and see the architect of this shitshow.

I know that I'll get along great with the new staff just based off the limited interaction I've had with one of them and what others have told me. I believe they'll be able to fix the wreckage AB has wrought. But I also know that if we're going to line up 100% of the Panther faithful behind LaVall Jordan, there are people that have to go. Amanda Braun is first among them.

I like using a crude medical analogy to describe the situation. Lovell viewed the Jeter situation as a cancer; maybe not Jeter himself, but the notion that Andy Geiger put in his head that previous AD's lost their jobs because of Rob. That's a truly ridiculous notion, but that's the only way I can reconcile the hiring of Amanda Braun over Paul Plinske. Lovell had Plinske telling him all he needed was medicine, that the cancer would go away with treatment and time. He had Braun telling him that he needed to cut the athletic department open, go in with a scalpel and cut out everything affected. Lovell went with Braun. Every move she made the next three years was that of a scalpel cutting out that "cancer." Except now that Rob Jeter and everyone else who was loyal to Bud is gone, the university just sewed a scalpel into the open wound. No wonder everything has been so toxic since - everything's infected.

I know that sounds ridiculous and I know it's not a perfect analogy, but it's the best I got. The AD cut into us, cut out the stuff some people thought was toxic, and ended up being even more toxic for the program. Can we go back in and get the scalpel out? This place needs a healing. It's not going to happen as long as that awful AD is out of the chair.

The great thing is, you get her out (and hopefully Mone), and the whole program can get behind Coach Jordan. The anti-Jeter fans love Jordan for not being Jeter, and those of us who supported Rob in the end can find solace in the fact that Coach Jordan was not her choice.

[BBF]

Jimmy, you nailed it about the players Rob and Chad and the others recruited. Just some awesome young men. One of my absolute greatest sports experiences in a long life of being a sports fan was at the victory over UW last year. And I'm not talking about the final bell. Games are won and lost. If you lose one, there will always be another. What made that night special was celebrating with kids like Keem and JJ and Tiby and Austin and all the others in the Kohl Center concourse afterwards. That's what a program is about. That's what true fandom is about, imho. I suspect that a very big reason that attendance has utterly collapsed this year is because so many of us have realized that our AD couldn't care less about that. Just as I will never forget that night at the Kohl, I will never forget being at the Resch last year for our game against the Phoenix. The team fell behind big, but caught fire in the second half and reeled GB in. At the moment we tied the game, those of us sitting right behind the bench were jumping and hugging and high-fiving. No better feeling than coming back from a big deficit against your biggest rival on its home court. And at that very moment, I looked up and saw our AD and her SID toady sitting by themselves about 15 rows up. She looked like she had just bitten into something rotten. No smile, no joy, no excitement. It could not have been more obvious that the idea of our players, our team, our coaches succeeding was intolerable to her. That's the moment I knew that she had only one purpose. Everything that happened after that confirmed it.

And by the way, the idea that Rob got ADs fired is beyond ludicrous. Has a D1 coach ever been so ill-served by such a clownish parade of incompetents in the AD job? Like you, I went out of my way to get to know each of those ADs personally and offer (and give) my support in time and money. Like you I was repeatedly left astonished by their sheer ineptitude.

I miss the program. I miss the games. But like so many others, I'm voting with my feet until things change.

[dylanrocks]

Yet another bittersweet pill: I had Akeem tonight with 15 points and 10 rebounds in a narrow road loss to Ohio State. He's taken the bull by the horns since his overdue promotion to the starting lineup and run with it. Every time I see him, I think to myself: class personified!

[dylanrocks]

I've been falling behind on my basketball of late. Does anyone know how Akeem's been doing?

[Skrapheap]

I've been falling behind on my basketball of late. Does anyone know how Akeem's been doing?

Perhaps this will help you catch up: http://www.twincities.com/2017/02/15/gophers-basketball-umn-edges-indiana-improves-to-19-7/

[dylanrocks]

Thanks, 'Heap.

Good players -- and leaders -- find a way to win ... and Akeem is a winner. He'll always be a winner.