SB Nation - Travis Busch

Colorado State Rams Basketball Preview 09-10

bhsmarine — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:23:18 -0000

The Rams are coming off a 9-22 season with a 4-12 record in the Mountain West Conference. The Rams will look to improve on both those records, however they were picked to finish 8th in the conference. Tim Miles is going into his third year as the Rams head coach and looks for his recruits and system to start taking effect. Let's check out the roster.

The Rams are returning three of five starters. They lost their main scoring threat in Marcus Walker which will hurt, he averaged 17.1 points per game last year. The other loss was guard Willis Gardner. The returning three are Jesse Carr, Andre McFarland, and Andy Ogide. None of those three are seniors so they should start throughout this year and next giving Miles some stability in his lineup. Jesse Carr was impressive as a freshman when he was healthy. He brings the three point threat which opens up some lanes. At 6-6 McFarland is small for a forward but has scoring potential. Last season he shot .399% from the field, and was actually better from behind the arc at .423%. Ogide was a bit of a work in progress last year averaged 10.2 points per game, while shooting 50% from the field.

This leaves the Rams with two open starting spots. I expect one to go to Harvey Perry. He is a great athlete but struggled shooting last year. He has the talent to put it together as a senior. The other spot depends if Tim Miles wants to go with a 3 guard or 2 guard lineup. The guard choices are a little slim with Adam Nigon or Arin Dunn being your choices, both are rather unattractive. The forward would be Travis Franklin who averaged 18 minutes and 6.5 points per game. That would be the best route for Tim Miles to take as the guard options are thin.

For new comers the Rams picked up three transfers Travis Busch, Johnny Del Bene, and Wes Eikmeier. Eikmeier is ineligible this year so lets skip him. Busch is coming from Minnesota but tore his ACL this summer. He is on the roster however his health is up in the air for sure. Bene is a junior college transfer out of San Diego Mesa College.

As for freshman the Rams have four listed on the roster. They have a seven footer in Trevor Williams out of Denver, CO. Greg Smith out of Nebraska was named "Mr. Basketball" for the state. None of these players are world beaters and will see limited minutes unless they surprise the coaching staff. If any of them do surprise my pick would be Dorian Green out of Kansas.

Last year The Mtn ran a show covering the Rams and Tim Miles called "Reaching the Peak". It was nominated for an emmy so there will be a follow up show of the same nature. You can catch a inside look at the Rams on The Mtn this fall leading up to the season.

Tim Miles is putting his system into place and if the players follow it should show results. The Rams were picked for 8th but I think they could jump a few spots higher if things start clicking in Fort Collins. Are they going to win the MWC? No. Can they do better then 8th? Absolutely. To do this they have to establish a inside game to compliment their guard play. This is easier said then done but essential for the Rams success.

A good season for the Rams would be a 6-7 place finish in the MWC with most those wins coming at home, along with coming out strong against their non-conference opponents. They can't lose to smaller schools like they have in the past. Simply win the games you should and try and suprise a few in upsets. Just around .500 should be a goal for this team, 14-17(6-10) would be a good season for this team.

A bad season would see them in the same place as last year with the only wins in conference against Air Force. They have a schedule that they can win some games early and get confidence, if they fail to do so it could be another 9-22 year on the horizon.

Golden Nugz for 06-19-09

GopherNation — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:47:46 -0000

Remember the guy Tubby wanted to hire but the U of Minn rejected the hiring? Jimmy Williams already has a negligent misrepresentation suit against the U but now he also has a suing Tubby, requesting damaages in excess of $50,000.

Williams is alleging fraud and negligent misrepresentation. He said he has been unable to find alternative employment as a coach because of the damage caused by Smith's "false representations of authority."

I am not in his shoes, so I don't know what he is goign through, but it would seem suing the guy who wanted to hire isn't going to help you get a job either. I'm also not a lawyer but it seems like a stretch to me that you can prove that Tubby was fraudulent in this process. And then I get back to if you can't prove it then you get nothing and your chances of landing a job are much slimmer.

Scout has thier top 10 players from Minnesota. No surprise that Henderson is #1, then in order it is Gjere, Beau Allen, Tobi Okuyemi and Lamonte Edwards to round out the top 5.
Gopher volleyball has a former Shakopee standout transferring back. Jess Menden (ed note: she's cute click on the link :) ) originally signed with TCU and is coming back to the U.
I always find this topic very interesting. The interplay between bloggers and traditional media is fascinating and while I was working at Wolves games I would hear a lot of talk about the struggles of the newspaper and traditional media. Always very interesting.
Finally, Sid tells us that Travis Busch is getting a special waiver from the NCAA and will be allowed to play immediately should he transfer to another D1 school. Busch is heading to Colorado State. I had a dream about seeing Busch and asking him about it, that's all that happened.

Travis Busch is leaving the Gophers

GopherNation — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:56:51 -0000

We all knew this was coming, Travis Busch was not offered a scholarship for next season and he then has made the decision to leave the University of Minnesota and continue playing elsewhere.

Busch, an academic All-Big Ten Conference honoree with a 3.6 grade-point average last semester, has nothing but positive things to say about Smith and the Gophers.

"(Smith) understands where I'm coming from, and I understand where he's coming from," Busch said. "It's not like there's any bad blood or animosity. He's been a great coach, and I've learned a lot from him.

"It's one of those things, a numbers game. That's why I've got to make a change. I've had a great time there; I love the coaches and players, and it's been a great experience."

According to the Pioneer Press Busch is being pursued by the likes of Winona State and Nebraska-Omaha.

Like I said above, we all knew this was coming. And I'm sure Travis did as well. It really is a numbers game and in order to accomdate the incoming infusion of talent Busch would have had to accept not only paying his own way through school but essentially zero minutes of playing time.

It is unfortunate and while I was critical of what he brought to each and every game I do believe he adds value to the team. A kid with this effort and ability to get things done is extremely valuable to make others around him better. A year from now nobody here will be saying how much better we would have been if Travis "What Else" Busch were still on the team, but he will be missed and hopefully someone can fill his role.

Golden Nugz 2.26.09

PJS — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 09:00:13 -0000

This should be obvious: Postseason college basketball > postseason college football.

Why? For starters, basketball teams are awarded for their achievement on the court. Their success on the court determines if or where they play postseason basketball. In football, a team's achievements are only part of the process. Corporate control of the football postseason creates a situation where the bottom-line can sometimes win out over merit. Which team will sell more tickets, or be a better television draw is too much of the conversation when it comes to determining the college football postseason.

And so it's no surprise that the Big Ten has made a decision to play right into this model. From the Wisconsin State Journal's Badger Beat.

The Big Ten Conference is tweaking the tiebreaking procedure in football for determining the league's automatic representative to the Bowl Championship Series, Wisconsin Badgers athletic director Barry Alvarez told the Athletic Board on Friday.

The first tie-breaker has not changed and will remain head-to-head. But the conference has eliminated the next tie-breaker, that the team that played more games against Football Championship Subdivision teams (formerly Division I-AA) is eliminated.

The conference also eliminated the tie-breaker that the most recent team earning the BCS berth will be eliminated. That was a product of bygone days and was implemented when the conference sent only one team to a bowl game (Rose).

Finally, the conference added a final tiebreaker that the highest-ranked team in the BCS standings will get the automatic berth, which is what the Big 12 used to break its three-team tie last fall -- much to the chagrin of Texas fans.

(emphasis mine)

The highlighted portion is the part I have a problem with. And since I cheer for the Gophers, there's some homerism behind my objection. Afterall, the Gophers would benefit from that tie-breaker more than any other team in the conference.

But I don't think that tie-breaker was eliminated because it was "a product of bygone days." It was a tie-breaker that favored equity. What this does is favor teams like Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin who have a national reputation, garner more media coverage, enjoy a larger following and can put more butts into BCS stadium seats. Your traditional conference powers will inevitably be given more credence by poll voters, making it more difficult for less heralded teams like Minnesota to crack into the BCS.

Anyway, maybe that's way off base. Even so, the Gophers have lost a tie-breaker that might eventually come into play that would have favored us.

1978. That would be the last time the Gophers won at Illinois according to the record books. The Gophers have a chance tonight of course to win on the road against a nationally ranked team. Strangely, I like our chances. The boys should be confident after holding illinois to under 40 the last time out.
Gophers hockey fans might be interested in an update on former goaltender Kellen Briggs.
Interesting question from fellow Minnesota blogger Buck Bravo. Do Big Ten bloggers parallel recruiting class rankings?
We've mentioned Travis Busch's hobby of creating odd videos for public consumption previously. His WhatElseMedia.com production now has a long feature article dedicated to it in the Pioneer Press. Apparently Tubby Smith OK'd the show and makes Director of Basketball Operations Joel Esposito monitor its content. Somehow I think Esposito's time could be spent more productively.
As referenced in the comments section in yesterday's Nugz, there is a raging thread at Gopher Puck Live about whether Don Lucia needs to be let go. Here is the link to that if you want to join the conversation. Those who want Lucia out remind me a bit of Kentucky's basketball fans.