There are plenty of pertinent examples Gophers coach Tubby Smith can point out to give his limping squad some hope in the Big Ten tournament that starts Thursday and the NCAA tournament that starts the following week.
The bulk of this Minnesota team – sans just Trevor Mbakwe and Wally Ellenson – was also part of the team that plowed through the NIT tournament last season after a disappointing regular-season slate. They won two of three in last year's Old Spice Classic in Orlando, and notched wins in the Bahamas against then-No. 19 Memphis and Stanford. Three of the starting five – Mbakwe, Rodney Williams and Austin Hollins – were part of the team that beat then-No. 8 North Carolina in Puerto Rico.
They've performed pretty well in neutral court situations overall, and have done so partly because of the same reason that the Gophers often struggle, Smith said on Monday's teleconference: the mental aspect.
"I think a lot of it has to do with how you just play," Smith said. "There's not a lot of preparation time, you just go in and play. There's not a whole lot of thinking, or a whole lot of game preparation, and that may be better suited for us, to be honest with you."
Smith noted that the psyche of this players is still somewhat delicate after two consecutive "bad" losses to end the regular season.
After enduring season-ending injuries to Mbakwe last year and Al Nolen the year before that, Smith is entering tournament time with one of his physically healthiest teams. But the scrapes, bruises and tweaks are not what the coach is concerned about with this particular version.
"We're OK physically," he said. "Mentally is where we're hurting, where we've got to do a lot of work, a lot of healing."
If the team can take steps in that regard, they could make a run, Smith said.
