For the first time in his tenure coaching the Gophers, Tubby Smith has lost four games in a row. And it could get worse, judging by the way his team is playing right now.
After the Gophers' 71-62 loss to Illinois on Thursday night at Williams Arena, Smith vowed to accept any criticism that comes his way after the program's worst stretch since the 9-22 season in 2006-07. But he said it's up to players to find a remedy.
"I'm going to do the same thing I normally do. It's not much you can change. The system works, you just gotta have the right people on the bus," Smith said. "We gotta get those folks believing and trusting and believing in what we're doing and doing it the right way, but obviously, what happens is people start questioning Coach's philosophy. ... 'Coach don't know what he's doing.'
"After 30-something years, everybody's going to question you when you're losing. I don't care if it's a four-game losing streak or a one-game losing streak. I don't mind taking it, but I'm not going to take it with guys not doing it the way we say do it. And that's what we're going to get back to ... the basic fundamentals. ... Physically, maybe they ain't capable of doing some of the things that we're asking them to do. So I gotta figure that out."
By that juncture in the most candid postgame news conference of his tenure, Smith had spent nearly 10 minutes questioning individual players' abilities and decisions.
Blake Hoffarber, who scored 15 points but shot 3-for-10 from three-point range and missed his final five tries, caught the worst of it.
"I thought Blake took some bad shots. That cost us. Just to be point blank, tell you exactly what it was," Smith said. "I don't know what it was. I just asked him, I just told him, 'Why don't you shot-fake and get a foul one time, please, during a game?' "
Rodney Williams, whose offensive struggles continued with a 2-for-8, four-turnover performance, got some, too.
