Remember when Gopher basketball fans thought the great benefit of hiring Norwood Teague was the possibility of him bringing Shaka Smart to Minnesota?
Smart is 4-10 this season in the Big 12.
Remember when we all got excited about Tubby Smith arriving in Minnesota?
Smith hasn't won 10 conference games in any of his stops since he did so in 2005 at Kentucky.
Richard Pitino's fourth Gophers team is 10-6 in the Big Ten with two games remaining.
Smith never won more than nine Big Ten games in one season.
I'll agree with something Pitino said on Saturday: Enjoy the journey.Now, that's a cliche, and I hate cliches, but I've heard from so many Gopher fans who are obsessed with where the Gophers will be seeded in the NCAA.That's not where to place your focus. The tournament selection committee might make a bad decision. Or the Gophers could wind up with a tougher matchup at a higher seed than they would at a lower seed.If you like college basketball, you should be enjoying this Big Ten season. If the Gophers perform well in the Big Ten, they will always make the NCAA tournament.The atmosphere at Saturday's Penn State game was the best I've seen at Williams in years - in games that don't involve a traditional rival.Enjoy the Big Ten schedule. If the Gophers handle this portion of the season, the NCAA Tournament will always take care of itself.------------As I wrote this morning, I like the Wild's trade for Martin Hanzal. I think Wild GM Chuck Fletcher has become better at trades and decision-making in general during his tenure. After a lot of early mistakes, here are some of his recent decisions:Trade for Devan Dubnyk.Re-sign Dubnyk.Sign Eric Staal.Hire Bruce Boudreau.Trade for Nino Neiderreiter.Stick with his young core.He's on a winning streak.------------I'm taking a short vacation this week so the live MNSPN.com shows at Hell's Kitchen are as follows:4:15-5 Wednesday with Marcus Fuller, Jon Krawczynski and Ryan James, leading into Music From Hell with Barb Abney.4:30-5:15 Friday with Anthony LaPanta and Michael Russo.Check MNSPN.com for other shows and updates.@Souhanstrib
