At some point, you have to look at the product on the court. On the court now.
Asked whether he thought the Gophers' recent performances were not indicative of what they are capable of, coach Tubby Smith shook his head.
"I don't know," he said. "We're playing that way. So it's pretty obvious we haven't gotten much better."
Instead, it seems the Gophers have gotten worse. They continue to look extremely likely to make the NCAA tournament, based on their early-season success and strength of schedule, but this current squad looks nothing like the one that gave them that padding.
The same deficiencies – inconsistent shooting and turnovers – have continued to plague the Gophers, while at times threatening to become worse, such as tonight when Minnesota tossed away a season-high 24 turnovers.
At the same time, the spirit and the fight has been drained. A team that made adjustments, had strong seconds halves and finished with fire now looks weary and accepting as they plod ahead to their fate.
Coach Tubby Smith seems out of answers – admitting that the team "didn't do much differently" after an Iowa loss that he called the most disappointing of his career and players dubbed "embarrassing."
And the players are running out of ways to explain away the same old problems. Asked what has changed about this unrecognizable team, Andre Hollins thought for several seconds before replying "I guess our mental toughness. I guess that's the difference, just [not] being mentally tough."
