Gophers Loss To MSU Came With Built-In Excuse

Most Minnesota fans were positive when the Gophers went into East Lansing and fought hard before eventually losing. After the loss at home to Indiana, I was upbeat about the Gophers' chances moving forward. But the most recent loss at Williams Arena--if you listened to post-game remarks--came in part because a freshman point guard wasn't able to suit up and play.

Make no mistake, not having Al Nolen in the lineup Sunday afternoon during the 78-73 loss to the Spartans hurt Minnesota. But, in my mind, the Gophers played like a team all afternoon that was ready to level that as an excuse after the final buzzer sounded. Woe was the Gophers.

Without a relatively unheralded freshman to manage the game, the Gophers put up less of a fight then they had in previous games at Michigan State and Penn State and against the Hoosiers in the Barn. The Star Tribune's Jim Souhan picked up on this theme in his column Monday morning.

Nolen is a fine young player, but by the end of the news conferences Sunday, you would have sworn he was the next Michael Jordan.

That's hardly the case. Even without Nolen, the Gophers had plenty of opportunities to make point-blank baskets. Too often, though, when they needed a basket they came down the court and saw only underclassmen such as Lawrence Westbrook and Blake Hoffarber moving without the ball as if they actually wanted it.

For those of you not able to watch Sunday's game, it was as if the Gophers forgot the importance of taking care of the basketball. Lawrence Westbrook turned the ball over five times alone, and while the Gophers squeaked out an edge in the turnover department, as they have all season, it wasn't enough to overcome MSU's advantage in virtually every other area. The Spartans took higher percentage shots, out rebounded the Gophers and went to the free throw line 13 more times than our maroon and gold.

Goran Suton had 13 rebounds to lead the Spartans. The Gophers were led by Damian Johnson and Spencer Tollackson with six apiece. In 32 minutes, Dan Coleman, a two-guard disguised as a post player, grabbed just three rebounds. In many cases rebounding is about position, hustle and desire. When Suton was able to bring in his own rebound off of a free throw miss, we knew something was wrong Sunday afternoon.

While the Gophers pointed to the absence of a freshman, the team's seniors went into hiding in some cavernous corner of The Barn.

*** Spencer Tollackson chucked up two three pointers and was routinely tossed around in the post by Suton, Drew Naymick and Raymar Morgan.

*** Coleman shot 4-13, and his misses were of the ugly variety. For whatever reason, Coleman has found a middle ground between settling for jumpers and taking it to the basket. Now, Coleman is driving to the basket. But when a defensive player bothers to play some defense, Coleman stops, pivots and fades. Or, in other cases, he launches strange-looking runners from the middle of the lane. In Tubby Smith's post game presser he said, "We have to learn to create offense. We have guys who can score but we have to attack the rim and get a foul instead of avoiding contact." That had to be a reference to Coleman.

Even on a layup (dunk!?!?) Coleman shies away from the rim Sunday

*** It would be easy to praise McKenzie for scoring a team-high 20 points, all in the second half. But the transfer from Oklahoma did nothing in the first half when the Gophers had a chance to put a real scare into the Spartans. We need 40 strong minutes from McKenzie, not 29 minutes of up-and-down play. I have tended to look beyond McKenzie's streaky play this year because Tubby Smith has him playing point guard for lengthy stretches, a position LMac is not accustomed to. But he proved Sunday he can score in bunches, and that has to make one wonder where his scoring has been prior to the second half Sunday. Is it his injured hand? Is he trying to find a balance between being a scoring guard and a distributor? Whatever the case may be, McKenzie needs to be consistent for this group to win big games. And he hasn't been.

Each of the three seniors are likeable ball players and individuals, but at times Sunday the team played in a way that made one wonder if they had the perfect scapegoat in mind: Al Nolen's thigh. It's at times like these when Coleman, Tollackson and McKenzie need to carry this basketball team. They weren't up to the task Sunday.

Injury Update: Marcus Fuller of the Pioneer Press wins Gophers Beat Reporter of the Day Award from PJS for providing a smidgen of information on Nolen's injury. At least three days after the injury occurred, Fuller tells us that Nolen "is day to day with a thigh bruise injury. He was injured in practice last Saturday after getting a knee in the thigh." Nolen will be reevaluated on Thursday, according to Fuller, to determine his availability for the game next weekend at Ohio State. Judging by the track record of our beat reporters, that means we'll likely find out sometime during the telecast from Columbus whether or not Nolen will be ready to play again.

Fantastic Reporting Update: For those following Myron Medcalf, well, the STrib's fearless beat reporter decided to make an excuse for not reporting the Nolen injury prior to yesterday's game instead of actually telling us how bad the injury might be. "Nolen's absence, caused when he was kneed in his right leg at practice Saturday -- unbeknownst to most outside of the team. ..." Yes, Myron, that's why it's called reporting. It sounds crazy, but sometimes sources don't go and call reporters every time news breaks. Sometimes, I know it's insane, sources want to keep information from reporters. Unbeknownst? Were you hoping for a press release, Myron?

Sensationalism Saturday, Or Why Kirk Herbstreit Should Shut His Mouth

On a day when the crazy college football season should have taken center stage, some goof named Kirk Herbstreit stole the thunder from Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, LSU and others.

And since ESPN likes to market every Saturday during the college football and basketball season with a ridiculous name, I decided I'd lend a hand to the geniuses in Bristol, Conn. and name this past Saturday for them: Sensationalism Saturday. Beacuse that's what reporting is about at the 4-letter. It's about Internet hits and clicks. It's about gossip, not actual reporting.

The latest display of ESPN's tacky journalism began early Saturday morning on College GameDay, when color commentator and college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit decided to offer his best John Clayton imitation. Herbstreit cited a "source," who may or may not be close to the situation, who had apparently told him that Les Miles would be bolting from his position at LSU to take a job at his alma mater in Ann Arbor. Shortly thereafter, ESPN had a story up on its Web site. Miles was on his way to Michigan, ESPN was reporting just hours before LSU was to meet Tennessee in the SEC title game. Meanwhile, eager Michigan bloggers began sending readers over to ESPN to read the good or bad news, depending on their perspective.

But it quickly became clear that Herbstreit's reporting was shoddy. Other reports trickled out that indictaed Miles was going to have a presser with his LSU bosses and announce his plans to stay in Louisiana. Here's the text of Miles' brief meeting with the press:

There was misinformation on ESPN and I think it’s imperative that I straighten it out. I’m the head coach at LSU, I will be the head coach at LSU, I have no interest in talking to anyone else. I have a championship game to play and I’m excited about the opportunity of my damn strong football team to play in it. And that’s really all I’d like to say. It’s unfortunate I had to address my team with this information this morning. With that being done, I think we’ll be ready to play. There will be no questions for me; I represent me in this issue, please ask me after. I’m busy. Thank you very much, and have a great day.

Miles was pissed. He had a right to be. I bolded the first line for emphasis because on at least one replay of the presser I saw on the 4-letter, the network decided to leave that intro out. But it's the end of Miles' statement that should bother Herbstreit going forward. The mark of any good journalist is to check his information. In this situation, there are any number of reasons why someone would want to leak misinformation about Miles. Perhaps someone from Michigan wanted this story out there to ruin Miles' relationship with his current employer. Who knows? Perhaps Miles leaked it through someone else as a way to pressure LSU to ante-up. We might never know. But if Herbstreit is going to pretend he's a reporter, he at least needs to learn that people have motives from time to time when they decide they want to leak information 'off the record.'

And that's exactly the reason why Herbstreit should have checked his information with an authority, like Les Miles for instance. Because of Herbstreit's arrogant reporting, Miles was forced to address his team (again, before the SEC Championship game) about his fate as coach.

My question is, couldn't this wait? I try to understand the landscape of the modern media. Videos go viral in minutes. News breaks and it's hyperlinked around the globe as quick as someone can make something up. And it's not just Herbstreit. This week, Buster Olney pulled the same crap regarding Johan Santana and the ongoing trade talks between Minnesota and Boston. Olney didn't go as far as Herbstreit, but he implied that a trade was imminent. The result? Links on Minnesota message boards to Olney's story that turned out to be bogus, or at least premature.

Herbstreit took a few moments Saturday night while he was calling the Missouri-Oklahoma game to explain the Miles incident. He didn't offer an apology. He didn't retract his reporting or offer to correct it. In fact, he implied that Miles may well still be on his way to Ann Arbor. Saying that, now with a prime time audience during a game with national title implications, Herbstreit has once again put the onus back on Miles to make another denial. And who knows? Miles could very well bolt. Stranger things have happened.

But wouldn't it all be a lot easier if Herbstreit or other ESPN hacks could wait until they have something solid to report? Here's a good ground rule: If kids' emotions are in play, say like on a day they are playing for a championship, maybe sensational, scoop-oriented reporting can wait for 12 hours until what really matters--the game--is over.

And people think they can't trust what they read on the blogs ...

Sid, Prosecutor Not Worried About Facts Or Ruining Reputations Of Three Minnesota Football Players

In Sid Hartman's Star Tribune column today, the aged sports columnist coaxes Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman to talk about an investigation he knows he shouldn't. The victims in this? University of Minnesota football players Alex Daniels, Keith Massey and EJ Jones and the rest of the Gophers football team

It's one thing if Sid was reporting something new, like a conviction, an indictment or even a smoking gun. But he tells us nothing. The players may be turn out to be guilty, but that doesn't excuse Freeman for blabbing to the press about an ongoing investgation. Here's what Sid wrote:

Investigation of players continues
The investigation of three Gophers football players -- Alex Daniels, Keith Massey and E.J. Jones -- is ongoing, according to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman. The three were jailed and released, but not charged, last April in connection with the sexual assault of an 18-year-old woman.

"I can't talk about an ongoing investigation, but you're an old friend and I'll just tell you that we are investigating every angle of this case as thoroughly as it can possibly be done, and we are talking to Gopher football players," Freeman said.

Freeman said he hopes to complete interviews soon with several Gophers
players. Meanwhile, Gophers coach Tim Brewster doesn't know what to do about
the three players, who are innocent until proven guilty.

So, Freeman admits he cannot talk about an ongoing investigation, then proceeds to do exactly that. Why? Because Sid is 94 and they've known each other a long time? Is that a good enough reason to give weak information regarding a criminal investigation to a sensational reporter?

If Freeman has something to report, like actual charges, then by all means call a press conference. Until then, he needs to keep his mouth shut.

As a reporter by day, I understand Sid's temptation. He probably feels giving an update on this is solid reporting. But it's the opposite. For starters, Sid shows his narcissism by throwing in the quote, "but you're an old friend and I'll just tell you ..." Yuck.

Secondly, Sid should remember an incident in North Carolina a few short months ago when some Duke lacrosse players were wrongly fingered by an overzealous prosecutor and a media looking for juice. The players were innocent. Their reputations? Beyond tarnished.

At this point, the investigation has proved nothing. But, still a prosecutor is talking to Sid about the investigation--and who knows what else Freeman whispered to Sid off the record. Both the media and the prosecutor need some facts before suggesting sexual assault. If these players are proven innocent----and again there have been no charges----will Sid and Freeman apologize for continuing to drag their names into the public eye?