The Tubby Smith era begins!

Snacks here with some thoughts from the Gophers exhibition opener tonight vs. Mankato State (I left with ten minutes left, so all comments pertain to before then):

*I got a serious chill when Tubby Smith was announced as the Gophers coach for the first time. It was awesome. It's amazing watching a guy I've watched on TV time and time again in big time games wearing a gold tie and gold pants coaching the Gophers.

*Definite emphasis on pushing the ball up the court and playing more up tempo. A lot of long outlet passes to a guys breaking away after a defensive rebound. And a lot more movement on offense. Good to see. Also a lot of full court pressure on D.

*Travis Busch. Who the hell is this guy and where did he come from and why is he on the team? He's slow. He's short. He's white. He can't shoot (he had a three pointer hit nothing but backboard). How the fuck is this guy a D-I player?

*Blake Hoffarber. See Travis Busch. Also, one of the kids in the Old Dutch little chipper game at half time was the absolute spitting image of Hoffarber. That's not a good sign. The kid dominated the little chipper game, but that's still not a good sign. (He is a lefty though, so there's hope).

*The blond chick in the low cut black top in section 112. Best talent in the arena tonight hands down. If you are a regular at the barn, I suggest checking out the first few rows of section 112 every time you are there. Always some talent there, that must be where the players girlfriends sit or something.

*Lawrence Mackenzie. Absolutely torched them for 19 in the first half. Of course, he was chiefly guarded by a 5 foot 8 inch white kid. I'm going to reserve judgment on this for now.

*Westbrook. I have very high hopes for him and love his athleticism, but he looked like crap tonight. I figured he could relive his 40 point a game high school career against the collection of slightly above average high school players that is Mankato. Not to be. I hope he figures it out. He was probably distracted by the smoking hot blond chick in the third row of section 112. In fact, he's probably the one who's banging her. I sure hope it isn't Hoffarber.

*Maas and I are not perverts for checking out every college chick we saw tonight (we also went to Stub & Herbs before the game). You would have done it too. Sicko.

Bottom line, they looked good tonight and I liked their new style of play. Of course, it was against pathetic competition. I don't think they have the athletes to play that style in the Big Ten and actually succeed, but we'll see.